My Demonic Cult's Holy Maiden

So, is the academic atmosphere so bad these days? Do they only read books to death? Does it reek of pedantry and sourness?

He didn't want to get involved in Confucian matters, so he decided to leave it at that.

"Song Yuntao is already dead. What use would it be to bring him back?" Qi Yu asked.

Zhuang Zhihuan gave a bitter laugh and said, "I have given orders from my superiors, and I will obey them, even though Brother Song is no longer with us!"

“But I need his head to appease my dear friend. Do you think I would hand him over to you?” Qi Yu said indifferently.

As he spoke, Qi Yu released his true energy, and the surrounding temperature dropped rapidly.

Zhuang Zhihuan felt a slight stagnation in his internal energy, his face turned pale, and he was filled with shock and horror.

Only four days had passed, and Qi Yu's true energy was already able to freeze his true energy.

Last time outside Plum Blossom Manor, Qi Yu's true energy couldn't even get close, and was even faintly suppressed by his talent.

Qi Yu narrowed his eyes as he watched Zhuang Zhihuan's face gradually turn pale, then withdrew his true energy and turned to leave.

Although I don't want to help the Confucianists, there's no need to offend them.

Qi Yu had only taken a few steps when a middle-aged man walked out of the city gate.

Qi Yu recognized this middle-aged man as Wei Zhong, a renowned Confucian scholar of the Dayun Dynasty!

After Wei Zhong approached, Qi Yu bowed and greeted him.

"Old Wei!"

"Uncle-Master!" Zhuang Zhihuan also hurriedly bowed.

Qi Yu raised an eyebrow upon hearing this title.

Uncle-Master?

I only knew that Wei Zhong was a famous Confucian scholar, but I didn't know that he was also a member of the Confucian school.

The fact that Wei Zhong calls him "Shishu" (a respectful term for a senior academic master) indicates that Wei Zhong studied at Qingyun Academy.

Wei Zhong nodded, then told the two men to get up before looking at Qi Yu.

"Young brother, please do me a favor and hand over Song Yuntao's body to my Qingyun Academy?" Wei Zhong pleaded.

Qi Yu had a good impression of Wei Zhong. After bowing, he said, "I'm sorry, Elder Wei, but I need his head to appease the spirit of my dear friend in heaven. I cannot comply!"

Wei Zhong sighed and said, "The dead are gone. You're only doing this to find peace of mind."

"If you really want to comfort your dear friend's soul in heaven, what you should do is not to offer someone's head as a sacrifice, but to properly settle and take care of his family and widow."

Qi Yu lowered his head. Wei Zhong was right; he was just trying to put his mind at ease.

Even so, we still have to do it.

Seeing that Qi Yu was being persuaded, Wei Zhong continued, "Song Yuntao is very important to our Qingyun Academy. If you hand Song Yuntao over to us, Qingyun Academy will be indebted to you, young friend."

"And we promise that no matter what happens afterward, Qingyun Academy will return Song Yuntao's body, and then you can do with it as you see fit."

He was also present when Qi Yu spoke of the art of power.

When debating, adhere to the essentials!

Qi Yu is very clever. When discussing with a debater like Qi Yu, you only need to explain the key points and what you can get out of it. Qi Yu will consider the rest on his own.

Qi Yu pondered for a moment, then glanced at Song Yuntao's frozen body next to him.

“Old Wei, taking his body back won’t get you anywhere!” Qi Yu said.

Song Yuntao has no talent; at best, he's just a hypocrite with some petty cleverness.

"It's alright, we'll only know if we try!" Wei Zhong said with a smile.

Qi Yu opened his mouth, but hesitated to speak.

He really wanted to say that Song Yuntao had copied the poem "Song of the Wanderer," but he decided against it.

He said that he might never have a peaceful day again!

Wei Zhong is right. Using Song Yuntao's head to offer sacrifices to Old Wang is just self-comfort. What we should do is take care of Old Wang's family.

Using Song Yuntao's body would also earn him a favor from Qingyun Academy, so why not?

“Alright! We’ll do as Elder Wei says!” Qi Yu said, bowing.

Old Wei stroked his beard, nodded, and then gave Zhuang Zhihuan a wink.

After bowing to Qi Yu, Zhuang Zhihuan took Song Yuntao's body away.

"Master Wei, I'll take my leave now!" Qi Yu said, bowing deeply.

Wei Zhong looked at Qi Yu and smiled, "Young friend, what do you think of the Crown Prince?"

Upon hearing this, Qi Yu raised his head, his eyes narrowing slightly. This person had appeared with Li Ming, so he was very likely one of Li Ming's men.

After thinking for a moment, Qi Yu said, "Utterly hypocritical!"

Wei Zhong paused for a moment, then smiled and shook his head, saying, "What do you think of the Sixth Prince, Li Qing?"

Qi Yu was taken aback, then remembered Li Qing, this inconspicuous puppet prince controlled by powerful families.

"A hidden dragon lies in the abyss!"

Is Li Qing a good-for-nothing? And so good-for-nothing that everyone knows it?

Why did the Chang family choose him as a puppet?

Because it's easy to control!

Li Qing didn't have to do anything; the powerful families cleared the way for him, including all of Li Ming's rivals for the throne!

After Li Ming's defeat, he will become emperor.

If he doesn't want to be manipulated, then he will inevitably settle scores with the aristocratic faction and betray them after they've served their purpose.

So what can help him do this...?

"Marquis Guanyong!" Qi Yu uttered three words.

“Li Qing’s uncle!” Wei Zhong replied.

Qi Yu smiled. It turned out that he wasn't the only one who had noticed this prince who was so useless that everyone knew about him!

"Is our Emperor raising poisonous insects?" Qi Yu looked towards Tiannan Mountain and sighed.

The Li family has two trump cards. One is Li Zhen, a grandmaster, who has sided with Li Ming.

The other one is the Chilin Army, and the commander of the Chilin Army, Qin Shuhuai, is Li Qing's uncle.

There is a hidden force maintaining the balance, preventing the factional strife from affecting ordinary people.

During his previous conversation with Qin Shuhuai, Qi Yu had vaguely realized that they were all just pawns.

“I’ve already made the arrangements!” Qi Yu said.

Three days ago, he sent a letter to Li Qing.

Li Ming should have stabilized the situation by now. After all, if he couldn't handle the guest elders of the aristocratic families with so many crossbows, then Li Ming would be too useless.

I've already set up the stage for Li Ming!

Isn't he just making a fool of himself?

Now it's Li Ming's turn to play the clown and make his grand entrance!

Given Li Ming's ambition, he would never wait for the emperor to abdicate voluntarily.

Because the current emperor is only forty-eight years old!

Li Ming is twenty-eight!

He has been the crown prince for ten years!

Now that the throne is right in front of him, will he continue to wait?

Qi Yu was very curious about his choice!

……

Meanwhile, on the other side, Su Yue went to Tiannan Mountain alone.

If Li Ming is there, then the grandmaster who saved Li Ming back then should also be there.

This grandmaster is Li Ming's hidden trump card!

Whether it's to avenge the sneak attack he suffered or to help Qi Yu fix the flaws in his plan, this person must die!

She's just a grandmaster; it's not like she hasn't killed grandmasters before!

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Chapter 104 Murder

"Your Highness, the western mountains and forests are under control!" A soldier knelt on one knee before Li Ming, bowed respectfully, and reported the battle situation.

Li Ming nodded, then asked, "What about the valley to the south?"

"That's heavily guarded by the Chang family's retainers, and it hasn't been taken down yet!" the soldier said.

Li Ming frowned and asked, "Why is that? What kind of crossbows and ballistae are there? Can't you take them down?"

The soldier's forehead was covered in cold sweat, and he said in a hoarse voice, "Bows and crossbows have a short range and are difficult to control. They can overwhelm martial artists below the fifth rank, but we can't hit anyone above the fifth rank at all!"

Li Ming frowned. He had a limited number of people at his disposal, and he couldn't possibly compete with the accumulated strength of the powerful families over the years.

The reason we have a slight advantage now is because of the crossbow designed by Qi Yu.

Crossbows can be used to continuously kill enemies due to their numerical advantage, giving them a significant advantage in legion warfare.

The aristocratic faction suffered a loss once, and then realized the weakness of crossbows.

That means the accuracy is not high, and it can only be suppressed by firepower.

So they broke up into smaller groups and began guerrilla warfare!

Martial artists of the fifth rank and above are highly mobile and cannot be dealt with by crossbows.

One or two is fine, but if ten or twenty martial artists of the fifth rank or above come at you, how can you concentrate your fire?

Even if two-thirds are killed, the remaining soldiers will break through the defenses. For ordinary soldiers, a fifth-rank officer is a death knell; killing them is as easy as cutting leeks.