Chapter 506 - Cao Cao and Te Langpu"s Suspicious Move
While the clan members increased as many talented officers joined, Liu Xie led his Demon Legion and entered Nanpi City. His generals and strategist, Tais.h.i.+ Ci, Liu Ye, Zhang Ji, and Zhang Xiu also accompanied him.
"Arrest all w.a.n.g Yun"s subordinates and his hidden family. Interrogate them if they know about w.a.n.g Yun"s rebellion plan."
Liu Xie did not waste his time on formality. He sent his order to Liu Ye right away.
"Your highness, w.a.n.g Yun might be a rebel in this world, but he"s still your benefactor in the other life. I hope that you can spare his family."
"I know. I"ve never forgotten how he saved me from Dong Zhuo. But he has made a mistake, and we have to punish him to set an example."
Liu Xie never wanted to harm w.a.n.g Yun and his family since the latter saved his life from Dong Zhuo"s tyranny in the other timeline. Unfortunately, fate guided them to this undesirable outcome.
The army took over the city as planned. All local officers gave up their authority to Liu Xie without resistance as he was the first prince.
As Liu Xie was busy handling the interrogation and remnant searching, a new system message rang in his head.
"Election?"
Liu Xie frowned. The promised election was scheduled next year as Liu Xie would become a full-fledge 20-year-old adult. However, he had already abandoned the thought of fighting Tong for the throne.
Still, Liu Xie was curious about the private group. He accepted the invitation as he wanted to check who might be plotting against his father again.
A new group appeared in Liu Xie"s system. He had one more icon appeared next to Tong"s clan.
The new group was named as [Election Team], and the leader of this group was Cao Cao!
Liu Xie scanned through the member list right away.
Te Langpu
Cao Cao
Guo Jia
Three people were in this group other than himself.
Te Langpu: "Welcome, your highness."
Liu Xie: "What"s this all about?"
Te Langpu: "As the group t.i.tle said, election team."
Te Langpu: "A friendly reminder, the next election is coming next year, so we would like to prepare you for the campaign, speech, and trivial matters."
Liu Xie: "I thought we"re preparing for the decisive war with Sun Ce and Lilim. Why are we holding an election in this crucial time? WTF?"
Liu Xie could guess that these people wanted to use him as a puppet, judging from their past and their behavior in the other world, including Te Langpu. Tong had always warned Liu Xie that Te Langpu was smart, but his methods and execution processing could be suspicious and stupid sometimes. Therefore, Liu Xie should not believe in everything coming out of Te Langpu"s mouth.
Cao Cao: "That"s the point. The current emperor is not in a condition to unite the people and the court for this important period. We need a new emperor to replace his majesty Zhang Tong as soon as possible."
Liu Xie scoffed. It seemed that Cao Cao plotted to make him a puppet again.
Liu Xie: "Not interested. My two mothers are doing well. We have 2 6-wing demonesses controlling the court, and all idiots are under their control. There is no need for me to enter the political infighting scene."
Cao Cao: "You"ve misunderstood us. We didn"t want you to fight or rebel against your mothers or your father. Instead, we want you to take the lead and support your parents in their endeavor."
Liu Xie: "???"
Guo Jia: "Would you give me permission to explain, your highness?"
Cao Cao"s current best strategist, Guo Jia, who had been inactive during the conflict between Tong and other forces, finally stopped laying low.
Guo Jia: "Currently, the prime consort should be the strongest immortal in our current force after his majesty and Lu Bu. By his majesty"s order, she should be busy cultivating to reach the 10-wing cultivation as soon as possible."
Liu Xie: "And?"
Guo Jia: "During this period, she will be unavailable for most of the time, and the empress Dong Bai alone will have her hands full controlling rowdy officials."
Liu Xie: "I heard that she also has 6 wings. I don"t think she"ll be in trouble or anyone will have the guts to cause a scene."
Guo Jia: "Imagine that more 6-wing cultivators emerge during this period. Most of our elites already have 4 wings. It won"t be long before they catch up with her majesty"s cultivation."
Guo Jia: "Because of this, her majesty will also be busy trying to get herself the 8th wing, so she could stand on top of all generals. What do you think would happen when the two strongest immortals of our forces were to focus on cultivating without managing the court properly?"
Liu Xie: "What will happen?"
Guo Jia: "Chaos. We can expect various hidden power to make their moves. Remember when his majesty and the prime consort were away? Many officers did whatever they pleased!"
Liu Xie: "Don"t make it sound like this was something that you had never gotten involved. Te Langpu was the cause, wasn"t he!? Why should I work with someone who troubled my father and my mothers!?"
Te Langpu: "This is where you were wrong. It was a necessary move to pacify those greedy officials, and I managed to flush out opportunist idiots like w.a.n.g Yun and Zhen Yi! Without my move back then, everyone would still have been clueless about these two b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!"
Guo Jia: "The prime minister has done nothing wrong, your highness. He did everything to eliminate the hidden threats. Now, by looking at their current land, a.s.sets, and armies, we can tell who is trustworthy and who"s not."
Guo Jia: "For example, the Sima clan is currently under suspicion of employing a private army without his majesty"s authorization. Moreover, Sima Yi is known to be an ambitious person that has been chasing after the first princess."
Guo Jia: "More example, Kong Rong bought all Beihei land for himself, and he allows commoners to rent them for agriculture or farming. However, he declines all merchants that wanted to buy the land off his hands. You see, we tested our governors, and they revealed their true color if they were honest officials or not."
Guo Jia: "Secondly, Liu Biao has not officially surrendered to us. We still can"t control the Jing Province and Yi Province! Unless we have an active emperor who can issue imperial edicts, these forces will expand. Please note that commoners are now able to cultivate wings. We can expect that many forces will employ more immortals. Her majesty and the prime consort won"t be able to deal with everybody!"
Guo Jia: "Please understand that we are trying to help you and your father, your highness. All you have to do is taking the helms and issue royal decrees to control their movements. As for the rest, you can leave it to her majesty, the prime consort, and us."
Reading the chat messages, Liu Xie spat and clicked his tongue. He never trusted these men since their reasoning was one-sided. No matter how Liu Xie a.n.a.lyzed their words, they clearly wanted him as their puppet again.
Liu Xie glanced at Liu Ye and Tais.h.i.+ Ci, "Some b.a.s.t.a.r.ds want me to be the new emperor next year."
"WHAT!?" Both officers were shocked and enraged, "Who is troubling you, your highness. We can report this to her majesty and the prime consort right now!"
"Te Langpu, Guo Jia, and Cao Cao. They are using the new private chat feature to coax me," Liu Xie copied their messages and sent them to Liu Ye and others through the private chat.
"…"
All officers read the log messages in astonishment. None of them could have thought that Te Langpu, Cao Cao, and Guo Jia were plotting to replace Tong with Liu Xie.
"I"m going to report this to my mothers," Liu Xie grumbled as he operated his clan menu to send a private message to Dong Bai and Diaochan.
"Please wait, your highness," Liu Ye grabbed Liu Xie"s hand.
"What?"
"Please listen to me. Say, why don"t you pretend to be their puppet?"
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!?" Tais.h.i.+ Ci, Zhang Xiu, Zhang Ji, and Liu Xie glared at Liu Ye as if they were ready to kill this strategist.
Liu Ye shrunk back in fear, but he mustered his courage and expressed his insight, "I think Cao Cao and Guo Jia are giving you one last chance before they usurp the throne!"
"WHAT!?" Everyone froze.
"You see, we have just learned that Dian Wei has 6 wings, and many of Cao Cao"s men have 4-wing cultivation. Don"t you think that he also has enough manpower to defeat his majesty"s subordinates?"
"… But we have my mothers."
"Please don"t forget about the variable, Lilim."
"!!!"
Liu Xie and everyone"s face turned solemn when they heard of Lilim"s name. All their killing intent toward Liu Ye ceased as they continued to listen to his advice.
Liu Ye continued, "I"m afraid that Lilim can hear and see everything that we do, and she is definitely not a fool. Cao Cao, Guo Jia, and Te Langpu should also be thinking the same, so they are making a decision if they should continue to serve his majesty or switch sides to Lilim!"
"T-This…"
"I think they are probing you if they can use you. If they can"t, they will cooperate with Lilim in secret and backstab his majesty during the critical time."
"But that is just a theory. We can"t a.s.sume that they will use this move without proof."
As Liu Ye was giving Liu Xie his advice, someone sent Liu Xie a private message.
Zhuge Liang: "Your highness. By any chance that Cao Cao or Te Langpu attempt to talk about the next election, let them use you."
Zhuge Liang: "I just had a conversation with Jia Xu, Ju Shou, and Xun Yu. All of them including me received Cao Cao"s invitation to join his private group chat between strategists, and he mentioned the election. I suspect that he"s testing the water to see who he can use."
Zhuge Liang: "I a.s.sume that he"s plotting to use the next year"s election to replace his majesty with you. For now, play along with his scheme if he contacts you. Or else, Cao Cao is likely to switch sides and join forces with Lilim behind our back!"
Zhuge Liang: "This clan level 3 and perks are suspicious! I doubt that Lilim must have already poached many of our officers in advance, and she is allowing them to communicate in private with this feature! Please be careful, your highness!"
Liu Xie had a chill running down his spine when the legendary strategist, Zhuge Liang, gave him the same advice that Liu Ye was telling him.
While Liu Xie was astonished by Zhuge Liang"s warning, Liu Ye continued, "I suspect that Lilim might have upgraded our clan to level 3 on purpose, so moles inside our forces can communicate without being detected. I think some of our men have already been bought to the other side."
"…"
Liu Xie"s face changed from red to white as his anger turned into fear. He wanted to protect Tong"s kingdom, but the pressure was overwhelming his decision.
With trembling hands, he slowly typed and replied to Cao Cao"s group.
Liu Xie: "I understand. Tell me what you"re planning."
Liu Xie accepted Zhuge Liang and Liu Ye"s advice!
.
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=Meanwhile, in another dimension=
If anyone got near the courtyard on the top of this mountain plateau, they would be able to hear the lewd conversation and sultry noise from the sole building around here.
"l.u.s.t Curse!"
"Hahaha! It won"t work. I have stronger cultivation. I"m immune to all of your curses."
"Are you sure? Why is it so wet down here?"
"S-Shut up! Hey! I haven"t told you to insert it yet-A-Ahhhh! It"s too big!? Why is it getting bigger inside!? Ah! Don"t move!"
"Lilim. Trust me. Let the l.u.s.t curse take effect. It will be more fun. If you don"t allow it, it will get dull over time. We have 10 years to work on, remember?"
"Ahhhh! Wait! I haven"t-Ahhh!"
"If you resist, it will hurt. Come on, let the curse run its course. It will only increase your sensitivity and make it enjoyable."
"Ahh! O-Okay-Ahh! Be gentle!"
"Of course. l.u.s.t Curse!"
"Ugh…Hmm? Eh? AHHHH!! AIE! WAIT! THIS ISN"T ONLY A BIT-AHHH!!"
"You resisted some of the curses, so the effect is only 2 to 5 times the usual. Don"t resist, my dear. Let it run wild. If you do, you"ll forget about the 10 years" time. Actually, you might want to extend it, Hehehe. l.u.s.t Curse!"
"Hieeee!! AHHHH!! OH-WOW! AHHH!! MORE!!"
"That"s right. Let it sink in, and-"
"l.u.s.t Curse!"
"Wait! Don"t use it on me-Oh s.h.i.+t!"
"AHAHAHA! GIVE ME MORE!!"
…
The under-the-belly war went on with their sanity on the line.
…
Lu Bu, Guan Yu, and Zuo Ci plugged their ears and meditated at the edge of Lilim"s dimension as Tong and Lilim"s bed activity had started. From the moan and the brief conversation, it wasn"t hard to guess who had the upper hand.