Anti-fraud manual for the cultivation world

Chapter 94 The Immortal Emperor Arrives

For three days, Li Gu and Zhang Yi closely monitored the court's official gazettes.

The official gazettes of the imperial court were highly timely; news that occurred on the same day could be copied into a gazette and immediately distributed to the localities.

The content of the morning court session could be seen in the official gazette in Jiangzhou by evening.

This is thanks to the world having a wide variety of communication tools.

The Demonic Sect prefers to use paper cranes, while the Mortal Realm prefers to use "faith swords." They are quite similar; in any case, they are both good things that can fly across the entire land of China in a few hours.

The news I saw in the official gazette was not optimistic.

The day after the Celestial Emperor disappeared, the court was in turmoil. A country cannot be without a ruler for a day, and the question of who would "regent" became the most urgent matter for Ruchen.

Several people of higher seniority and cultivation level started arguing.

Hong Lin's master is ranked second, making him a very competitive candidate. Of course, she has to argue with her senior sister and third junior sister—she can't do anything serious, she has to get things settled first.

The official gazette could not state this matter openly, but could only write it in a very veiled way, so it became like this: "The nine ministers and cabinet ministers gathered to discuss the regency. The chief minister wanted to take sole control of the government affairs. The ministers of various ministries and departments each had their own arguments, and they argued all day without reaching a conclusion. Martial law was imposed everywhere to await the result of the court's deliberation."

The statement "Martial law is in effect everywhere, awaiting the outcome of the court's deliberations" has become a major problem.

Especially when it falls on the Immortal Army guarding the northern border, waiting idly is giving the enemy an opportunity.

The northern demon race launched several offensives, not formal attacks, but rather small harassment raids. These small teams of a dozen or so attacked small villages on the border of Shenzhou, devouring all the humans in the villages before fleeing before the celestial army arrived – a tactic known as raiding for supplies.

This was a way to test the Celestial Court's attitude.

Normally, the Celestial Army takes a tough stance, and if its territory is attacked, it will immediately send troops to counterattack into the northern wilderness and retaliate by massacring the demon tribes. But this time, the Celestial Army is "on martial law and awaiting the outcome of the court's deliberations," and can only guard its own border fortifications, unable to easily launch a counterattack.

The demon race is like a piece of chewing gum; when you're strong, they cower, and when you're weak, they become strong. Seeing that the Celestial Court didn't react much, they immediately intensified their attacks, expanding their offensive from small groups raiding enemy strongholds to large forces harassing border fortresses, frequently unleashing magical artifacts from a distance to bombard the defensive formations.

By the third day, the official gazette was no longer readable.

Li Gu closed the official gazette and looked at Cai Xinzi.

Cai Xinzi was also watching him. She was even more concerned about the official gazettes these past few days than Li Gu. She quietly slipped to Li Gu's side and whispered, "Tonight is the time you mentioned last time, the time when the Demonic Sect will attack me."

Li Gu nodded: "Yes!"

Cai Xinzi was clearly a little flustered: "I'll ask you one more time, do you think that guy is lying?"

Li Gu shook his head: "I think he's telling the truth."

Cai Xinzi frowned, thinking for a moment, and then said, "Okay, I understand."

That evening, when Hua You finished work—

Cai Xinzi walked to the door, let out two strange cries of "Ouch, ouch," and then suddenly turned back, sitting down at her desk again: "I suddenly remembered that there's a batch of case files that need to be processed urgently today. Let's work through the night; I can't go home. Kailong, Niu Xin, Ma Zhi, you guys stay here too, come and help."

His cousin, Cai Xinzi, came over from the kitchen. Seeing his older cousin sitting there, he immediately understood what was going on and obediently stayed inside the Six Doors, finding a corner to huddle in, preparing to spend the night there.

At dusk, the last ship carrying books and paper was docking at Hongyamen Wharf.

This ship came from Jiangnan, passed through the heart of the Central Plains, and changed hands at several cargo terminals, bringing with it a whole ship full of newly printed vernacular novels.

Jiangzhou is a poor and remote place with a fierce and unruly people. Its literary development is far behind that of the Jiangnan region. Therefore, vernacular novels are mainly imported from Jiangnan. Jiangzhou's own scholars are more skilled at wielding knives and fighting than at writing serious articles.

An ordinary laborer entered the cabin, carried a large bundle of vernacular novels on his back, and staggered down the ship. He put the books in the Demon Sect's warehouse, returned to the ship, and picked up another bundle. Just then, he noticed a young woman in yellow sitting among the pile of books, touching a book with both hands and looking very engrossed in reading it.

The laborer was startled and quickly lowered his voice to ask, "Young lady, did you come here illegally?"

The young woman raised her eyebrows, her expression initially aloof, but then, as if she had suddenly thought of something, her expression softened.

She originally intended to fly to Jiangzhou, but fearing that others would see her and recognize her cultivation level, and even attract her disciples and grand-disciples to nag her and affect her life plans, she found a dock in the Central Plains, chose her favorite ship, mixed in with a pile of books, and drifted to Jiangzhou.

She had a very strong will and was determined to do things well. Since she had decided to hide her strength, she had to hide it completely. Even when facing an ordinary boatman, she did not want to reveal any flaws so as not to be discovered. After all, the court's spies were everywhere, and she did not want a large group of disciples and grand-disciples to come to her door begging her to return to the palace.

Should I act in this situation?

Yes, she should play a pitiful woman who gets caught trying to illegally cross the border.

The young woman forced a look of fear onto her face: "Yes, my family is forcing me to marry an old, smelly, nouveau riche. He already has eighteen concubines, and he wants to make me his nineteenth. I had no choice but to run away and secretly boarded a ship in Hankou—Uncle, please don't call for help."

She originally intended to tell a more respectable lie, but for some reason, the lie just naturally came out like this—there's no way around it, people who are immersed in worldly affairs have their minds filled with this kind of thing, and their words tend to lean in that direction.

The laborer sighed, "Poor child, don't worry, I won't call you. Just wait half an hour. After the cargo is unloaded, there won't be anyone around the boat. Then, quietly slip off at the back of the boat."

The young woman secretly praised herself: "I've always heard that Jiangzhou is a poor and remote place, and that it produces unruly people. But the first person I met here is a really nice person. It seems the saying that poor and remote places produce unruly people isn't entirely untrue. Indeed, those living far away in the imperial court are easily swayed by biased opinions; only by entering the area can one see the true nature of the place."

Just as she was thinking this, she saw the laborer carrying books ashore and was immediately whipped by a member of the Demonic Sect: "You lazybones, it takes you this long to carry a bundle of books out of the cabin? Don't you want to live? Hurry up, or we won't finish unloading the cargo before dark, and I'll chop off your head."

The laborers, though beaten, dared not resist; they simply walked a little faster.

Young woman: "————"

Okay, I take back my hasty idea.

It's true that bad people come from poor and remote places. I've only met two people, and one of them is a troublemaker, which makes up half of them.