Origin Paradise!

The Beihun Camp was stationed at the Moshe Great Wall, under the temporary command of Deputy General Du Chang. Jiang He changed horses and headed to Anbei City, which served as the central hub of the battle line.

As night deepened, the city was brightly lit.

The Prince's direct subordinates numbered 40,000, the troops after General Chen's death numbered over 30,000, and 10,000 halberdiers arrived from the capital by waterway, totaling 80,000 troops stationed here, a strong and well-equipped force.

As soon as Jiang He entered the central command tent, he immediately sensed that something was wrong.

Four golden-armored figures, each wielding a halberd, guarded the four corners. All of them possessed the strength of a high-ranking martial artist. In addition, four red-robed eunuchs sat at their respective tables, exuding the aura of high-ranking Qi cultivators. With the support of the city's 80,000-strong army, these palace eunuchs could unleash terrifying power.

"Your humble servant, Bo Jiang Wuyang, who has quelled the rebellion, has arrived! All ministers, heed my decree!"

Beside the main table, a eunuch wearing a golden crown called out in a hoarse voice.

Jiang He was stunned for a moment before realizing that the so-called "Jiang Wuyang" referred to himself. He then found a chair and sat down.

The two golden-armored figures were somewhat exasperated by the other party's composure and symbolically stood on either side of the seats. In fact, the battle report from the front line had just arrived not long ago, and the Duke of Pingluan was now capable of competing for the top four in the world. A few grandmasters alone could not defeat such a force.

The King of Anbei sat in the main seat, his expression serious.

"By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: The war in the northern frontier is raging, and the Imperial Guards are hereby ordered to march north..."

At the same time, the golden-crowned eunuch announced the imperial edict.

The Prince of Anbei said, "You killed the eldest grandson of Chief Minister Yan."

The seriousness of this matter was beyond imagination; the murderer's audacity terrified all the powerful and influential people in the capital.

Jiang He remained noncommittal. This statement was clearly a conclusion. He was indeed not at the scene of Young Master Yan's death, but that was only on the surface. To assume that the Yan family was unaware of the truth would be to treat the Prime Minister and his son as inhuman.

The Prince of Anbei continued, “There are witnesses and physical evidence. As for whether it is true or false, I don’t need to say more. These are not necessary for the chief minister. You can sit here because of the suppression of bandits in Black Prison Mountain at that time, but the problem is that there are basically no survivors in the North City Commandery and the bandits.”

The Prince of Anbei said sincerely, "The limit of what I can do is to first place you under house arrest in the Earl's mansion, and then release you under the pretext of making amends for your crimes when the war becomes more intense. If it weren't for Yizhou, and if it weren't for the Northern Barbarians invading the south, I would actually be powerless. You just defeated 40,000 elite troops, so you should be able to estimate the deterrent power of a Grandmaster."

Jiang He said calmly, "At least we just won a battle."

The Prince of Anbei remained expressionless. "This is one of the main reasons why I decided to intervene. The other is that the princess pleaded for you."

"There's a bit of a distance between you and your daughter."

"Heh, you can choose two of your personal guards to leave."

Just as the golden-crowned eunuch was about to speak, he was immediately stopped by the Prince of Anbei with a stern look. The house arrest of a meritorious official had already damaged his prestige. The war had only just begun; how could he be discarded after the usefulness of his troops?

Someone stood up and returned the knife, and the two golden-armored figures immediately stepped aside.

Once outside the tent, Jiang He randomly selected two of the prince's personal guards and, under the cover of night, hurried back to Daming Prefecture.

“Patriarch Yan…”

Jiang He pondered to himself. If the Yan family head was still in Daming Prefecture, he would kill him while he was at it. The Jianchi Mountain Sword Tournament was about to begin, and Dao Chi would not stay in the manor forever.

Chapter 157 Madam Chen

The following night, the sky was dark and cold, and fine snowflakes fell.

The Great Wall in ink, the garrison of Beihun Camp.

Deputy General Du Chang paced back and forth in the tent. He had already received news that the Earl had been placed under house arrest, and he was extremely anxious. The two sides were now bound together by fate, sharing both glory and loss.

"Report! A man has come to see you outside the tent. He claims his surname is Zhu and he is an old acquaintance of the general."

Deputy General Du Chang stopped and gestured, saying, "Let him in quickly."

A moment later, Prefect Zhu, who was then the dispatcher of the North City Commandery, hurriedly entered and immediately grabbed the arms of his deputy, Du Chang.

"General Du, something terrible has happened. The Earl has been placed under house arrest and will soon be imprisoned for questioning. He asked me to report this to him."

Prefect Zhu wiped the sweat from his forehead, his face hardening. "General, do you have any complaints? It was clearly the Northern Hun Camp that decisively defeated the barbarian army, yet no one from top to bottom received a single reward. Lord, you have suffered an unjust injustice; it is truly hateful!"

Deputy General Du Chang asked anxiously, "Did you really kill Young Master Yan, Lord?"

“It must be a lie; it’s just a pretext for the court to weaken the Governor-General.” Prefect Zhu said in a low voice, “The Earl has already decided to defect to the Northern Barbarians, and if the General stays here, he will be greatly implicated.”

"But we have only just defeated the barbarian army."

"General, that's precisely why the Northern Barbarian Royal Court offers such high-ranking positions and generous salaries!"

Prefect Zhu took out a cloth from his bosom, and when he opened it, he found the official seal of the Vice Commander of the North City.

"The token is here."

Deputy General Du Chang examined it repeatedly to confirm that it was correct. The gold-patterned knife was made by the Prince's Mansion and could perhaps be temporarily imitated, but the official seals of officials of the fifth rank and above were uniformly manufactured when the Daqian era name was changed, so there would be no mistake.

After a long pause, he clasped his hands tightly and said, "I, Du, have long recognized your worth and am willing to share life and death, wealth and honor with you!"

"There's no time to lose," Prefect Zhu said solemnly.

Deputy General Du Chang left.

Prefect Zhu stood there, his expression natural. In fact, he had been working for the Yan family from the beginning. He was the first to mobilize the county troops and rush to the county princess's caravan, not because he reacted the fastest, but because he was the one in charge of keeping an eye on the matter of the robbery and killing of the caravan.

After much deliberation, Prefect Zhu reflected on his actions. Initially, accompanying the princess's entourage was indeed for the purpose of advancing further, but the most important thing was to protect the princess's safety. After all, the Yan family had no intention of abducting or killing the princess; it was all the three retainers who acted on their own initiative.

Throughout the subsequent surveillance, he believed that he only revealed a few flaws on the eve of the bandit suppression, repeatedly requesting the Duke of Pingluan to provide the government troops with more weapons to enhance the encirclement and killing efforts. Strictly speaking, this was suspicious. However, he later cleared his name by claiming that he was completely unaware of the situation. His forced departure turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as he luckily avoided the massacre.

“My lord, the drumming to appeal for justice and the case of the stolen seal were just a smokescreen by the patriarch. This time, the Golden Knife Plan is the real killer.”

Prefect Zhu shook his head and stepped into the night. To be honest, he still greatly admired that young military hero. It was a pity that Du Chang had defected this time, and it happened during a major battle between the two sides. His trusted general had turned traitor. Even if he jumped into the Jianjiang River, the Earl would not be able to clear his name. At that time, whether he wanted to or not, the Prince of Anbei would be forced to make the worst choice. This was an inevitable outcome determined by the other party's position and attributes.

A few hours later, the news spread throughout the Great Wall of Ink.

Du Chang, the garrison commander of Beihun Camp, led four hundred of his trusted men across the Great Wall and defected to the Northern Barbarians.

At the same time, another message arrived.

King Anbei fainted from anger.

……

As dawn broke, light snow began to fall.

Jiang He returned to the Earl's Mansion in Daming Prefecture.

Zhuang Ya was still fast asleep; practicing the Serpent Sword Technique had taken a toll on her energy.

As soon as Jiang He sat down in the South Study, a notification sound rang out in the player panel's friend list.

Snow-covered Cangshan: Danger! Last night at the hour of Chou (1-3 AM), Du Chang of Beihun rebelled and surrendered to the Northern Barbarians. The matter of the Qilin has now been discovered jointly by the King of Anbei and the Yan family head, the latter of whom escorted the Qilin out of Yizhou territory. The Jianchi Conference has officially commenced, and the Master of Jubaolou has arrived. You killed his only successor, and he has publicly issued a challenge.

The three pieces of news that were nothing short of bad news made Jiang He pause slightly. The Treasure Pavilion Master had some strength, roughly ranking around tenth in the world, but this guy had learned rituals from the Dao Palace. The more treasures and materials he had, the stronger his actual combat power would be.

"Misfortunes never come singly."

Mo Ke: What are your plans?

Cangshan Fuxue: It's nothing. I'm busy with the sword competition. I'll leave as soon as the competition ends. Compared to that, your matter isn't that big. Before dawn, when the garrison commander of the pass rebelled, whether from Daming Prefecture or the Ink Great Wall, it would take half a day to detour to get there by force. In total, it would take at least a whole day. The fall of Yizhou was a foregone conclusion. Moreover, because the 10,000 halberdiers took over part of the defense, all cavalry deployments were under adjustment. There was no chance of a miracle.

Mo Ke: Dragon City?

Snow-covered Cangshan Mountain: There are also 40,000 Buddhist cavalry.

Jiang He lowered his eyelids slightly. The current garrison commander of Dangguan City is the deputy commander of the North City Commandery. He was transferred after he came to Daming Prefecture. If you look closely, the military advisor and centurion who previously served the Yan family are also serving in the North City.

"Not only that, those fifteen centurions and soldiers, as well as another magistrate, Cao Jin, are also members of the Yan family... Are they all undercover agents?"

Longcheng, which had not appeared on the main battlefield, chose to attack the flank of Dangguan City, and the defending general surrendered. This involved the main quest, and the situation suddenly became extremely critical.

"Please take care of yourself, Lord."

Beside him, Butler Wu anxiously handed him a cup of tea.

"The main quest is in crisis as the Anbei Prince's Mansion becomes hostile, the Treasure Pavilion Master challenges them to a duel, and the Yan family head covets the merit of stealing the Qilin."

Jiang He picked up his teacup and looked out the window. It was snowing lightly, and the mangrove forest cultivated by the Prince's Mansion was covered in silver. He had been looking forward to the spectacular sight of "fire in the snow" since he had never seen snowfall before, having lived on the island for many years.

"It's nothing special."

Jiang He took a sip of tea; it contained a deadly poison, but he treated it as a condiment.

"And who are you from?"

Seeing that Pingluanbo had drunk the tea, Steward Wu straightened up the lever.

“I work for Madam Chen. There is a Wan Ku San in the tea. If you are willing to serve me, Madam will not mind rewarding you with the antidote.”

Jiang He stood up and kicked him, turning him into a cloud of blood.

He wasn't surprised by this answer. Steward Wu came from the royal palace's inner court, and according to the princess, the inner court and the spies were previously managed by Madam Chen. The ambergris was sold to the merchant guild under Madam Chen's control through Madam Chen. And when he went to talk to the princess about the unicorn, he did indeed smell the ambergris.

Sensing something amiss, Zhuang Ya groggily woke up.

"Big snake."

"It's nothing serious, go back to sleep."

"Oh."

Jiang He took off her scarlet robe, went to the storeroom, picked out a black single garment to change into, and then went out, turned left, and ascended the Prince's Mansion.

Stepping through the snow and carrying his gun, Jiang He went straight into the backyard.

"Lord, stop!"

"Who is coming!"

The scene of corpses falling was far from a battle.

Jiang He walked towards the crowd and saw the pitiful Madam Chen.

"Lord, what are you doing?"

[Hint: You have been affected by the rare skill, Charm].

[Hint: You are affected by the rare skill "Surging Emotions"]

[Hint: You are affected by the rare skill "Tender Affection"]

[Hint: You are affected by the rare skill "Mercy"]

……

[Note: Your mental resistance and rank have passed the check; you have been immune to all effects.]

Jiang He shattered Madam Chen's head with a single shot, unleashing seven rare-level charm-based skills in succession, while the opponent was not outstanding in other aspects.

He casually took the Scarlet Card.

Suddenly, at a roadside tavern a few miles away, a middle-aged man who was sipping his drink suddenly let out a mournful cry. His true energy surged as he realized that something was abnormally disappearing from his body, which meant the death of his lover.

A faint sound came from somewhere.

Jiang He turned and left quickly. With the city gate in danger, she had no time to fight to the death with the Lord of Misty Rain.

The puzzle box obtained from Fenglei Treasure Manor appeared in Jiang He's hand. He took out a scarlet card. This card came from the Gray Knight. As expected, the Gray Knight, who liked to make arrangements in advance, would not leave any distractions. Moreover, he already had the answer.

Use the Scarlet Card; there's only one thing inside.

Jiang He took out the key he had obtained and opened the mechanism box.

Inside was only an old note with three words.

——Jianchi Mountain

Chapter 158 Jianchi Mountain

The winter snow is getting deeper.

The Jianjiang River, however, continues to flow ceaselessly.

Tracing back upstream, the Jianchi Mountain Range, stretching across the land, acts as a barrier for the northern part of Yizhou.

The once-every-twenty-years Jianchi Mountain Sword Tournament was held, attracting tens of thousands of martial arts practitioners from afar, and gathering heroes from all over the world.

At the foot of Jianchi Mountain's main peak, pavilions and towers stand side by side. Facing the grandest martial arts gathering in the Nine Provinces, all factions are willing to invest some resources to build places of rest.

"Do not disappoint the Dao Master's expectations. You represent the face of the Dao Palace. You are the leader of the younger generation. Go now," the Supreme Elder of the Dao Palace earnestly instructed.

Dao Chi nodded with a faint smile. He had actually reached the mid-grade martial artist level and could not advance any further. He was just waiting to obtain the Southern Persimmon through the martial arts competition so that he could comprehend the Grandmaster inheritance of the Dao Palace and successfully achieve the high-grade level.

Many sect leaders and masters of top-tier martial arts factions have turned their attention to him. Dao Chi is only in his early twenties, yet he is already showing signs of keeping pace with them. In comparison, their own disciples seem to be slightly inferior.

At a certain moment, thunder roared in the sky above Jianchi Mountain, and the snowflakes grew even larger, dispersing the thick fog in the mountains.

The legendary road appeared before the heroes of the world.