Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 157 Governing a Country with a Sect, Reversing the Heavenly Gang
"No need for further words. Li Renshun is dead, and Li Jing'an has been killed by Mingjing. Now the Zhou Kingdom is leaderless. Who else can temporarily manage the government?"

Zhang Chengdao glanced at Wang Yanqing indifferently, which frightened the latter so much that he immediately stopped crying. He could only stammer and reply tremblingly, "This... His Majesty has indeed appointed a Crown Prince..."

Thinking of what his second disciple, Murong Ruyan, had said earlier, Zhang Chengdao waved his hand impatiently and said, "Let's not talk about that brainless crown prince. Do you really want to throw the Zhou Kingdom into chaos?"

"An immortal... even immortals know this..."

Wang Yanqing was startled again and said awkwardly, "His Majesty only has one son, the Crown Prince. If all else fails, we can only ask the Empress... no, no, I mean the Empress Dowager, to temporarily take charge of the court... However, since the Empress Dowager only has one son, the Crown Prince, she will surely push him to the throne..."

"That's fine!"

Zhang Chengdao took a deep breath and decided to take over this mess himself.

Although he had no interest in becoming emperor, he couldn't just let the Zhou state descend into chaos.

What's more...

Who stipulated that an emperor is needed to govern a country?

"From now on, the Zhou Kingdom will be ruled by my White Stone Immortal Sect. You should quickly summon all the court officials. I will be waiting for you here in the Daxing Hall... Shuyun and Ping'an, you two will go with Lord Wang!"

Chang Ping'an had never imagined that a sect could "govern" a country, and was immediately stunned: "Huh?"

Ye Shuyun, on the other hand, accepted the matter well, clasped her hands in agreement first, and then dragged Wang Yanqing out of the main hall quickly.

He had only taken a few steps when Wang Yanqing couldn't help but awkwardly say, "Immortal Master, Immortal Master, could you please let me walk by myself, haha..."

His shoes were worn out from being dragged around so much!

Ye Shuyun apologized, then released his hand and waited for Wang Yanqing to straighten his clothes before urging, "Lord Wang, the situation in the palace is still unclear. We should summon the court officials as soon as possible."

"Of course, of course!"

Wang Yanqing readily agreed—he was actually even more anxious than Ye Shuyun.

However, his anxiety was not due to any trouble in the palace or any unrest among the people—though he was somewhat worried about those things, it wasn't the main concern. The main concern was that the Great Zhou Kingdom was about to undergo a major upheaval!

For a nation to be controlled by a single sect is utterly upside down!

But Wang Yanqing didn't think it was impossible. Putting aside the fact that the so-called "evil spirit" who had caused such chaos in the Zhou court was easily killed by the White Stone Immortal, the White Stone Immortal's previous summoning of thunder and drawing of a sword was truly frightening!
His disciple is also quite formidable; he can take a single step covering several meters, and his magical abilities are extraordinary!

If the White Stone Immortal Sect is indeed preparing to take over the entire Zhou Kingdom, or even if the White Stone Immortal is going to ascend the throne as emperor, then I'd better make a good impression.

As the saying goes, "A new emperor brings a new court," and Wang Yanqing, as the Prefect of the Capital, might be able to take advantage of this opportunity to move up to the Six Ministries, and perhaps even receive a promotion before he dies! With this in mind, Wang Yanqing even suppressed his grief over Li Renshun's death and frantically racked his brains for a strategy to show his true colors.

"Immortal, please allow me to explain slowly,"

Wang Yanqing explained unhurriedly, "Actually, when His Majesty insisted on appointing Master Mingjing... ptooey! I mean that wicked monk Mingjing as the National Preceptor, some people in the court already sensed something was amiss."

"Afterwards, the old Grand Preceptor claimed to have gone on a pilgrimage and never showed up again. The Grand General of the Imperial Guard secretly sent messages to many important officials, suspecting that the Emperor was being controlled and that he wanted to find an opportunity to isolate the Mingjing Kingdom... cough, evil monk, please ask the Emperor to punish you again..."

"As a result, the General did not send a message on the agreed day of the uprising, so we dared not take any action."

"When I saw the general again, he was chatting and laughing with that evil monk as if there had never been any discord between them. I dared not reveal that I had received a secret letter, and I have been pretending not to know, which is how I have survived until now."

On the way to the palace with Ye Shuyun, Wang Yanqing had already heard Ye Shuyun say a few words about how the Mingjing National Preceptor was a demon and had turned many palace maids, eunuchs and imperial guards into corpse puppets. At the time, he thought it was absurd and was half-believing and half-doubting. It wasn't until he saw the emperor's corpse that he suddenly realized that such absurd things were actually true!
And that Imperial Guard General who suddenly became so close to the Mirror-like Grand Preceptor has probably already become a corpse puppet!

Thinking of this, Wang Yanqing felt even more terrified—if he had shown even the slightest intention to follow the general in his uprising, he would probably be a corpse puppet now, just like those guards standing stiffly at the palace gate with lifeless eyes!
What kind of world is this?!
Ye Shuyun pondered for a moment and asked, "Do you know those court officials who received the secret letter?"

"These...the secret letters were all sent by the General in private, I really don't know who received them."

Wang Yanqing said awkwardly, but seeing the "Immortal Master" frown, he was startled and quickly added, "However, I know someone whose temperament has changed drastically and who has suddenly become very close to... that evil monk!"

Before Wang Yanqing could finish speaking, Chang Ping'an also came out. Hearing the last sentence, he asked, "What evil monk?"

"Lord Wang seems to know who might have been turned into corpse puppets. Let's go with him to search for them, and at least bring some people to comfort the families of these ministers."

Upon hearing this, Chang Ping'an wholeheartedly agreed: "Exactly, no one could withstand such a blow if they suddenly encountered something like this."

Wang Yanqing shuddered in fright: "This, this, this isn't good, is it? What if that demonic monk isn't completely dead, and the corpse puppet hurts someone again?"

Ye Shuyun ignored Wang Yanqing, and after a moment's thought, said to Chang Ping'an, "How about this, senior brother, we split into two groups. You go and search for those court officials who are suspected of being corpse puppets and comfort their families. I will notify the other ministers to come to the palace immediately to discuss state affairs, how about that?"

Chang Ping'an nodded repeatedly: "Junior Brother is so thoughtful, let's do it your way!"

Ye Shuyun then said to Wang Yanqing, "Lord Wang, please give me a token that can be used to support the officials of all ranks in the Jingzhao Prefecture, so that I can send someone to run errands... In addition, my senior brother's cultivation is profound, and no corpse puppet can act recklessly in front of him. Moreover, Mingjing is dead, so the corpse puppet has become a corpse and is not to be feared. Please rest assured, Lord Wang."

Wang Yanqing wanted to struggle a little longer and refuse to take the risk, but seeing Ye Shuyun's resolute expression, he changed his mind again. Since this kind-looking immortal kept calling the younger immortal "senior brother", it was possible that the younger immortal was really powerful. It might be safer to stay by his side!

So he took off the small seal from his waist, presented it to Ye Shuyun with both hands, and said ingratiatingly, "This is my private seal. Everyone in the government office recognizes it. If there is any need for orders, you may use it to give commands... Respectfully presented to the Immortal Master!"

Ye Shuyun took the small seal, nodded to Wang Yanqing and Chang Ping'an, and then hurriedly left.

(End of this chapter)