Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

The next morning.

Outside the east side wall of Yanmen Pass.

"Left Protector, Elder Wu."

Luo Ting cupped his hands in a respectful gesture to Li Dali and Wu Nian.

"Go down the mountain from here, and Guangwu is twenty miles to the north, and Shuozhou is seventy or eighty miles to the west."

After Zhai Peng took office, at least 30,000 Ming troops had already gathered outside Shuozhou City, forming a heavily fortified defense.

It would be best if the two of you did not enter the city, but instead went around it from a distance outside the city.

After passing Shuozhou, continue westward until you reach Pianguan. Then, like at Yanmen Pass, find a secluded pass and climb over the wall.

Once you leave Pianguan, you've reached the area outside the pass, where you'll often encounter Mongols. If you keep going west, you'll reach the Ordos Ten Thousand Households, where the Right Wing Mongol Royal Court of Jinang is located.

If you keep going north, you will reach Anda's Tumed Wanhu.

"I have urgent matters to attend to and need to return to Yingzhou to handle, so I will take my leave here."

"Please make yourself at home, Master Luo."

Li Dali also cupped his hands in greeting to Luo Ting.

Farewell, take care on your journey.

. . .

More than ten minutes later.

Luo Ting and his men had gone further and further away, their figures becoming nothing more than small black dots in the field of vision.

"Left Protector, why did you say those things to Luo Ting yesterday?"

Wu Nian turned to Li Dali and asked,

"It is true that we went to the capital to assassinate Zhu Houyu, and it is also true that the four elders died at the hands of this demon."

However, the leader of the cult did not receive any decree from Maitreya Buddha. Our mission to assassinate Zhu Houyu in the capital was originally to cooperate with Chen Furong's assassination of the emperor.

In order to kill both the emperor and Zhu Houyu at the same time and plunge the court into chaos.

The conclusion that Zhu Houyu was possessed by demons was only reached after our operation failed.

The idea of ​​slaying demons and monsters to restore peace and order to the world is completely fabricated.

"Elder Wu, what do you think of Luo Ting?"

Li Dali glanced at the several attendants packing their luggage not far away, as well as his ten-year-old daughter, Li Man.

To avoid being checked by the Ming army, they left their carriages, horses, and large luggage inside Yanmen Pass.

Led by Luo Ting, they took a shortcut in the middle of the night and found a relatively secluded, low-lying spot on the mountain east of Yanmen Pass, then climbed over the border wall.

"Now that our sect has started an uprising, most of the core members have gone to Blackwood Cliff."

Wu Nian thought for a moment,

"It is truly commendable that Master Luo was able to preside over the Yingzhou branch under such a critical situation and safeguard a piece of our sect's foundation in Daibei."

However, although this person was extremely polite to the Left Protector and me, I always felt that there was a hidden arrogance in him.

"Elder Wu did see it too."

Li Dali sneered.

"Luo Ting is certainly concerned about the affairs of the state branch, because he is not doing it for me to manage the foundation of the Daibei, but for himself!"

I heard my father say that this person's grandfather was already an elder in the sect when the leader of the sect was in office.

After the defeat and martyrdom of the leader Wang during the Hongzhi era, my father gathered the scattered former members of the sect in Luochuan, Shaanxi, rebuilt the sect's headquarters, inherited the mantle of the leader Wang, and succeeded him as the leader.

Around the same time, Elder Luo also raised the banner of our sect in Daibei, gathered followers, and called himself "True Buddha".

If the news of his father's succession as leader hadn't reached Daibei in time, Elder Luo would probably have already planned to declare himself leader.

After learning that this man had built a business empire in Daibei, his father went to Yingzhou to meet him and advised him to prioritize the overall situation.

When the leader of the sect was alive, his father, who was not yet twenty years old, was already a master in the sect, second only to the leader and a few elders.

After rebuilding the main altar in Luochuan and succeeding as the leader, my father was already the undisputed number one expert in the sect.

Although Elder Luo was more senior than his father, after some negotiation, he was willing to give up his plan to establish his own sect and instead accept his father as the new leader.

The father also treated Elder Luo very well, and while taking Elder Luo back to the main altar in Luochuan, he made his son the head of the Yingzhou branch.

During the Zhengde era, our sect rose up again, and Elder Luo and Senior Brother Shao Jinlu died in battle in Luochuan.

Later, Elder Luo's son passed away, and his grandson Luo Ting continued to hold the position of branch leader of Yingzhou.

Yingzhou branch was established by Luo Ting's grandfather and had many loyal confidants who served three generations of the Luo family. In reality, it was a regional military governor who obeyed orders but not orders.

When his father started the uprising in Taiyuan, Luo Ting only symbolically sent some supplies to Black Cliff.

Luo Ting himself and the core members of the Yingzhou branch did not go.

If Blackwood Cliff falls and his father is martyred, Luo Ting will surely establish his own sect, using the Yingzhou branch as a base, and build a new branch of the White Lotus sect.

Actually, our Maitreya sect also separated from the White Lotus sect a hundred years ago.

"So that's how it is."

Wu Nian suddenly realized,

"In that case, this person's alliance with the Dai princes in Datong must have its own agenda."

"That's right. Father has never interfered in the internal affairs of the state branch, as long as the Luo family remains respectful to the main headquarters."

Li Dali nodded.

"The prince Zhu Chongzhuo, whom Luo Ting befriended, was able to extend his influence all the way to the capital. He is probably not a peaceful person either."

Furthermore, Luo Ting also said that this person secretly formed a private party with several members of the Dai princely family and quietly developed underground forces in the Datong area.

This means that Zhu Chongzhuo was very ambitious!

It's likely that he not only coveted his cousin Zhu Chongyao's position as Prince of Dai, but also had his eye on the dragon throne in the Golden Palace of the capital.

The half-true, half-false story I made up was not only for Luo Ting to hear, but also for him to tell Zhu Chongzhuo!

Although Luo Ting downplayed the matter by saying that Zhu Chongzhuo considered him a friend, their relationship was by no means simple.

Otherwise, how could Zhu Chongzhuo possibly tell him about forming cliques, developing underground forces, and having sources of information in the capital?

His Yingzhou branch probably already had deep connections with Zhu Chongzhuo.

Hmph, the Black Cliff headquarters will soon be embroiled in a protracted siege with the Ming army. How can we allow Luo Ting's Yingzhou branch to remain uninvolved, or even take this opportunity to grow stronger?

Until we set off from Blackwood Cliff, no news of Zhu Houyu's injuries came from the capital.

On the contrary, there was the rumor that although Zhu Houyu was assassinated at the Wuding Marquis's residence that night, the assassins did not have a chance to get close and he was actually unharmed.

Clearly, the extent of Zhu Houyu's injuries that night has been completely concealed.

Even with a long sword stuck in his stomach, Zhu Houyu could move freely, and after pulling out the sword, his movements were even more unremarkable.

Even those who saw Zhu Houyu's stomach wrapped in bandages that night would only think it was a minor superficial wound, and that the claim that he was pierced by a long sword was just a misconception.

Unless you see it with your own eyes, who would believe that a living person could be completely unharmed after being stabbed in the abdomen and liver by a long sword?

Those who have seen the true extent of the demon's injuries, apart from its close associates, have likely been silenced long ago.

I fabricated a story that my father heard Maitreya Buddha issue a decree while he was chanting sutras, ordering me to teach how to exorcise demons and protect the righteous path, just to give Zhu Chongzhuo an excuse to rebel.

The emperor was assassinated and fell into a coma. A demon possessed the body of the emperor's younger brother, appointed wicked people, and wreaked havoc on the court!

Isn't this the perfect opportunity for Zhu Chongzhuo to raise the banner of "purging the emperor's corrupt advisors" in Datong and launch a rebellion to quell the rebellion in Fengtian?

As a member of the Ming imperial family, how could I stand idly by and watch demons seize control of the court and wreak havoc on the world?