diskusbooks Chapter 537: The Opportunity Plundered
Chapter 537: The Opportunity Plundered
When Chen Futu heard that Yan Qing had convened the Chamber of Commerce in Baiyujing, he felt confident. With Di Renjie's cooperation, it would be no problem to sweep through the city in a short time.
"Valley Master, how could so many people have been killed?"
One day, the execution ground outside the capital was packed with people.
Green Ivy and Fatty's personal maid, A-Yuan, witnessed all of this. Even for martial arts experts, such a scene was somewhat terrifying.
Those people were dragged to the execution ground like piglets, covered in blood before they even died, and then the executioner pressed them onto the chopping board and chopped off their heads.
"How terrifying! This Holy Emperor is too cruel!" A-Yuan exclaimed.
Some commoners complained, "What are you saying! The Holy Emperor killed only those bastards who deserved to die. It is said that Lord Di discovered that these beasts secretly sent grain out to sea to the grasslands. This is aiding the enemy!"
"Yes, this is embezzlement by the person in charge."
"And those old powerful nobles of the Great Qian Dynasty, who disagree with His Majesty's distribution of land to us, if they don't die, who will?"
"It's as if the world still belongs to the Great Qian Dynasty. The one sitting on the dragon throne now is His Majesty the Holy Emperor, not that useless emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty."
The people were shouting.
Green Ivy never expected that A-Yuan's words would cause such public outrage. If it were in the Western Regions, she could ignore it, but now that she was in the capital, she dared not. Even as a supreme expert, she lowered her head and apologized.
"Hmph, keep your fat-headed, big-eared maid in check! If she slanders the Holy Emperor again, we will not let her get away with it!"
The crowd shouted insults, and A-Yuan, who was eating, was startled. Her chubby face changed instantly, and she screamed, "Who are you calling fat and big-eared? Who's fat and big-eared!"
"Apologize to me!"
"Or I'll kill you all!"
As if a switch had been flipped, A Yuan immediately bristled, her mountain-like body slamming into the ground, and billowing energy spread out.
The common people had never seen such a scene before. A large number of them were blown down instantly, and the entire execution ground was in chaos.
"Don't stop yet!"
Green Ivy was shocked and hurriedly stopped A-Yuan.
The next second, Qin Liangyu and Lian Nishang, dressed in casual clothes, arrived at the scene.
"What happened?" Qin Liangyu helped an old woman up, and the woman explained the situation in a trembling voice.
"I see." Qin Liangyu frowned and asked Green Ivy, "What does the Valley Master intend to do? Does she intend to wreak havoc in the Great Xia?"
Green Ivy recognized the person in front of her and secretly lamented, "Your Majesty, my maid did not mean it. Please forgive her."
"Offending the Holy Emperor deserves death."
Lian Ni Chang immediately took action, but considering that there were civilians around, she did not unleash much power. Green Luo gritted her teeth and blocked her way, saying, "I can explain now."
When the people heard that the Empress was coming, they all knelt down and told them about A Yuan's crimes.
Qin Liangyu called out to Lian Nishang, calmed the people for a while, and then took the two of them away.
Chen Futu needs Wen Ruyu's secret elixir formula, so it's not worth making a big fuss over it. However, since A Yuan slandered the Holy Emperor first, as the Empress, she won't let it go easily.
Qin Liangyu directly summoned Xiaobai, who was wandering around the palace. Upon hearing the call, Xiaobai instantly appeared, startling Ayuan so much that she didn't dare to breathe, and Green Ivy was also startled.
They had witnessed Xiaobai's combat prowess firsthand; she could kick a martial arts saint half to death with a single kick. If she were to attack Ayuan, she was guaranteed to send Ayuan exploding on the spot with just one powerful kick.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me!"
Green Ivy gritted her teeth and tried to stop Little White, but Little White teleported past her, lifted A Yuan above his head, and disappeared without a trace.
Qin Liangyu said, "Those who insult my husband must be punished. This time, they are only being sent to the imperial prison as a minor punishment. If there is a next time, they will bear the consequences themselves."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Hearing that she only got a scolding, Green Ivy finally felt relieved.
Just as the legend says, the Empress was kind and benevolent, which served as a tether to the Holy Emperor. If there was anyone else in the entire Great Xia Dynasty who could stop the Holy Emperor from doing anything, it was only this Empress.
Next, Qin Liangyu inquired in detail about A Yuan's situation.
Green Ivy sighed, "You don't know this, but A-Yuan's physique is actually the result of testing the elixir."
"Testing the elixir?"
"That's right..."
Hundred Flowers Valley has many pill formulas that they have researched themselves. In order to verify the effects, A Yuan often tested the pills. Later, one of the pills went wrong, and she ended up looking like that. Moreover, she hates it when people say that she is ugly.
Qin Liangyu had never heard of this before. When she mentioned it back in Baiyujing, Chen Futu was also quite surprised. The most outrageous thing was that when she called out "fat head and big ears," A Yuan really flew into a rage.
"System, did you do this? You're pretty good at using memes."
[Host, don't wrong the system. The system will not change the natives' life trajectory unless the host is involved.]
The system refuses to take the blame.
This A Yuan does have some merits. Because of her special physique, she tried elixirs and transformed herself from an ordinary martial arts cultivator into a peak Martial Venerable. That's quite bizarre.
Let's put this matter aside for now and talk to Wen Ruyu about it when we have time.
As the days passed, the grain crisis was finally resolved. This crisis mainly involved the powerful families in the south. They were originally nobles and deeply rooted clans of the Great Qian Dynasty. The establishment of the Great Xia Dynasty broke their network of interests and the soil for their survival. Moreover, they would not be employed, which made them resentful and obstruct the implementation of land policies in every possible way.
They even went so far as to spend a large sum of money to buy access to the Guanzhong granary and transport large quantities of grain to the grasslands.
Such an act would not be excessive, even if it involved the extermination of ten clans. Di Renjie was relatively merciful, only executing their own clan and exiling most of the others.
The operation resulted in the confiscation of assets totaling fifty to sixty million, causing panic. Fortunately, the court had made preparations in advance, issuing proclamations to announce the crimes. In addition, Di Renjie did not implicate the innocent, and the turmoil was finally averted. However, the grain that had been sent out could not be recovered. Therefore, Chen Futu planned to gather a large army next year to carry out a thorough sweep of the entire northern grasslands.
Time flew by and the year was drawing to a close. The generals had absorbed the inherited sacred cultivation method and their cultivation had reached the mid-to-late stage of Martial Venerable. If they wanted to advance further, they could only cultivate diligently in Baiyujing.
The White Night Clan emerged from the ruins. According to intelligence relayed by the Sand Sea Eagles, the main force is heading towards the Central Plains, carrying a vast amount of exotic minerals, which is the White Night Clan's greatest asset.
With these rare stones, the military capabilities of the Great Xia can be significantly improved.
Moreover, one piece of information among the intelligence reports was particularly concerning: the bodies of those killed on the oasis were all shriveled up, including the bodies of saints like Wuxiang, who seemed to have been drained dry, leaving only skin and no marrow. It was extremely terrifying, and even Bai Wuyai could not see anything amiss.
Chen Futu frowned and summoned Xuan Yuanrong to inquire about the inside story.
Xuanyuan Rong asked suspiciously, "Are you saying that there are monsters beneath the sand sea that have devoured the blood and true essence of corpses? How is that possible, Your Majesty? Don't joke around."
Do I look like I'm joking?
Chen Futu had considered that it was Liu Longyue who did it. The corrupted Liu Longyue had even used Qingming's Devouring Blood Demon Technique. However, according to the description in the letter, the corpses that were drained were different from those that Qingming devoured blood and qi. Not only were the blood and qi gone from those corpses, but their flesh and bones were also as if they had been drained, leaving only a human skin.