Li Ye was not surprised by w.a.n.g Hanshan"s begging. After all, he was just fighting for survival. Nonetheless, w.a.n.g Hanshan was still a dirty dog. w.a.n.g Hanshan was not worthy of Li Ye"s righteousness. Seeing that Chen Beiw.a.n.g was not willing to let go of his pride, Li Ye added with a smile. "General Chen, what do you think General w.a.n.g should do?"
Not looking at Li Ye, Chen Beiw.a.n.g straightened himself up, stared at the beam and answered, "To the victor go the spoils. I will not blink no matter what you do. But I prefer death to humiliation. If Prince An is expecting me to beg for my life, then I"m afraid you"ll be utterly disappointed!"
Li Ye snorted and smiled as before. "General Chen, You"d rather be brave even in the face of death?"
Chen Beiw.a.n.g pumped up his chest proudly and answered Li Ye, "A true General will never be afraid of death! But Prince An should think about what to say to the tens of thousands of soldiers of the Pinglu army after you kill their General. Don"t forget that history has a bad habit of repeating!"
Li Ye heard his threats, but the smile on his face was more intense. "I remember that a few years ago, a Pinglu commissioner was expelled from the country by his own soldiers?"
Chen Beiw.a.n.g snorted again arrogantly and added, "In the va.s.sal state, whoever did wrong by the soldiers of the Va.s.sal State Army did not end well."
"Is that so?" Li Ye asked without any movement, but a moon-shaped energy light flashed before him. Then, Chen Beiw.a.n.g"s head flew up high and blood sprayed like a spring from his neck. "What will happen if I kill you?"
Chen Beiw.a.n.g"s body was limp as he fell. His head dropped to the ground and rolled towards the door. Arrogance was still showing on his face but his eyes had shown shock and fright. He couldn"t even close his eyes upon death.
w.a.n.g Hanshan fell on the ground shrieking as he was right next to Chen Beiw.a.n.g. Blood had splashed all over w.a.n.g Hanshan"s body. His face turned extremely pale and his body was shaking from fright as he saw Chen"s headless body.
Holding the hilt of sword, Li Ye leaned on his Luke Sword. He looked towards w.a.n.g Hanshan and said, "General w.a.n.g, I"d love to hear your opinion on what will happen now that I have killed Chen Beiw.a.n.g."
Seeing the perpetual smile on Li Ye"s face, w.a.n.g Hanshan was shaking with fear. He knew all too well that he would end up with the same fate as Chen Beiw.a.n.g with just one wrong answer.
w.a.n.g Hanshan quickly got down on his knees and answered while trembling, "Chen Beiw.a.n.g deployed troops at will, which is unforgivable by military law. He also commanded the cavalry soldiers to fight the Military Commander"s guards, which was also punishable by death. So killing Chen Beiw.a.n.g is a brilliant move... one that would be supported by all in the army!"
"Military commander? This t.i.tle is music to my ears." Li Ye smiled and added, "General w.a.n.g"s words are almost soothing to my heart."
w.a.n.g Hanshan added hastily, "Military Commander, you possess both braveness and intelligence; the whole Ping Lu army will be subdued at the foot of the military commander!"
That was supposed to be a compliment, but it had given Li Ye the excuse to put him in a corner. "What about those that do not lend their support? What shall I do to them?"
w.a.n.g Hanshan was shocked. He certainly understood the undertone of Li Ye"s words. So he immediately added, "Anyone who dares to betray the military commander, the rightful leader of the Pinglu army for the imperial court, is considered unfaithful and should be killed. I will now allow such people to exist!"
"Good." Li Ye stood up and put away his Luke Sword. His eyes suddenly became sharp in an imposing manner, revealing a murderous sense. He then added, "Chen Beiw.a.n.g deployed soldiers at will, which goes against the military law. He and his family are all punishable by death! w.a.n.g Hanshan, though you"ve been manipulated by Chen Beiw.a.n.g and offended me. I see that you have repented for your mistakes and earned the chance to redeem yourself. I"ll keep you on watch! w.a.n.g Hanshan, listen up!"
w.a.n.g Hanshan quickly added, "At your command!"
Li Ye added coldly, "You have my permission to deploy 500 soldiers, lay siege to Chen mansion and kill his family!"
"Yes, commander!" answered w.a.n.g Hanshan. Though upon hearing the order, chills went down his spine like he had fallen into an icy hole.
Li Ye stood with his hands clasped behind his back and shouted to the door, "Shangguan Qingcheng, Liu Dazheng!"
Shangguan Qingcheng and Liu Dazheng entered the door one after another, saluted and said, "At your command, military commander!"
Li Ye added, "I command Shangguan Qingcheng, along with the guards of the Prince An mansion, to help w.a.n.g Hanshan with his task. You are to kill anyone who disobeys on the spot without consulting me!"
Shangguan Qingcheng answered loudly, "Yes commander!"
Li Ye looked towards Liu Dazheng and added, "Liu Dazheng, I appoint you the position of Mid Envoy. You shall a.s.sist the two generals and bury Chen Beiw.a.n.g"s case!"
Liu Dazheng"s spirit was suddenly lifted. He added, "At your command!"
After finishing these arrangements, Li Ye waved his sleeves and added, "Go off to start preparing for your mission now."
The three of them nodded together. Shangguan Qingcheng glanced at w.a.n.g Hanshan and said indifferently, "General w.a.n.g, after you."
w.a.n.g Hanshan was as pale as grey ash, plodding forward as if he lost his soul. He was very clear that he no longer had the power to match up against Li Ye. If Li Ye was just powerful himself, w.a.n.g Hanshan could still lead the tens of thousands of soldiers of Pinglu army to fight against him. But now, having heard Li Ye"s arrangements, he witnessed Li Ye"s intellect and power. He was no match for Li Ye now.
After the three of them left, Song Jiao chuckled and said, "You are really good at stirring trouble. I must admit, you played it so well."
Li Ye thought nothing about the complement. He added softly, "The tens of thousands of soldiers are the biggest force of Pinglu. Although there are not many high-level cultivators, they are iron clad when they band together. Their destructive power will only be greater than Penglai. I need to quickly control the Pinglu army by disintegrating their iron-clad power from inside."
"Chen Beiw.a.n.g deployed soldiers at will, which had given men the excuse to execute him. He was the one that disobeyed commands, and I"m only standing by the rules. So the army cannot be on his side. Which means that w.a.n.g Hanshan shall not meet any obstacles in executing him. The leaders of the army and the Chen family will then start fighting among themselves. By which time I will insert Liu Dazheng to take control of the whole army."
Song Jiao gave Li Ye a flirtatious look and said, "And you will have earned the respect of Pinglu. Those that disobey you will have to think twice in the future. w.a.n.g Hanshan"s execution of Chen Beiw.a.n.g will definitely create hatred among the Pinglu soldiers. If he wants to hold his position as General, he will have no choice but to hold on to a big tree like you. And you will be on your way to controlling Pinglu."
Li Ye smiled and added, "In any case, I am a big enough tree am I not?"
Song Jiao again made a pa.s.s at Li Ye. She puckered her luscious lips and added, "How big?"
Li Ye answered seriously, "Whoever sees it will be satisfied."
Song Jiao sneered out loud and blushed, but then got angry, "You little goat, I don"t want to talk to you anymore."
She then walked away while shaking her hips and b.u.t.t.
Li Ye was unceremoniously admiring this beautiful scene.
Song Jiao turned back outside the threshold and shouted, "Stop looking or I will gouge your eyes out!"
Li Ye opened his arms. "Come on, come up from the front."
Song Jiao ran away.
The sharp sound of teeth grinding was coming from behind Ye. He turned around and looked at the Junior Priestess. She was still standing straight up with her chest pumped up. Nothing had changed, not even the quiet and those ethereal eyes.
Li Ye asked seriously, "I am going to bed, do you want to join me?"
The Junior Priestess suddenly froze.
Li Ye turned around and left while laughing.
Li Ye"s footsteps stopped as soon as he walked to the yard, when he turned around, the Junior Priestess was following his back like a ghost. Li Ye was taken aback by the Junior Priestess" determination. Without a word, he shook his head and went on.
He saw many on duty Black Office cultivators. They too were surprised to see Junior Priestess following Li Ye like a ghost. After all, they had seen Li Ye carrying the Junior Priestess on his shoulders. And that she was a high-level master of Penglai Taoist sect.
Since Su Emei entered the gate of the villa, she planned to practice alone instead of following Li Ye. But she couldn"t calm herself. She was disturbed by the Wei Xiaozhuang words, so she decided to go for a walk.
In all fairness, Su Emei had not thought about Li Ye that way... Although he did have extraordinary manners. Aside from being ugly, his other qualities were above standard, but that was not a reason... Even if she did have thoughts about him, it was brought about by Wei Xiaozhuang"s words.
Su Emei firmly believed that until now. The fact that he was carrying the Junior Priestess. Even after he put her down, she still followed Li Ye wherever he went. Su Emei felt as bad as a child who was robbed of his favourite toy.
The toy might not be anything special, and the child might not even like it much. But once someone intended to steal it, the child would not be happy...
The Junior Priestess was gorgeous by any standard. After secretly comparing with herself to the Junior Priestess, she thought they were on par, at least in appearance... but after they had skin contact... Su Emei was upset as she thought of it.
He was surrounded by beauties. That chief of the Black Office who loved flirting with him. Could it be that he was not ugly but very popular? It couldn"t be...
In a remote courtyard, Su Emei heard faint sobbing. After pushing the door, she found a little girl in a green maidservant dress. She was sitting in front of the window and weeping alone, holding something in her hand.
Su Emei kindly approached her. She quickly won that little girl"s heart with her gentle temperament. They soon talked about everything including the reason why the little maidservant was crying.
"Sister, do you know the saying, "Bold amongst the ma.s.ses, the child was as beautiful as jade", what does it mean?" asked the little maidservant very seriously. Lifting her crying face and wiping away her tears, the watery eyes were full of expectations.
Su Emei muttered for a moment and added with a gentle smile, "It basically means that, unlike a raffish, spoiled rich girl, she is as beautiful as jade with fair skin. She is kind and mild tempered like a piece of jade. In short, this is a compliment."
The maidservant in a green skirt was sniveling moments ago, but now her little face was immediately filled with happiness after listening to the explanation. A flush of red coming over her cheeks, she shyly bowed and looked at the jade in her hand, as if her soul was lost. "So that"s what the childe meant..."
Su Emei figured out what she had been through having seen her behavior. She couldn"t help asking, "So a Childe gave you that jade? And which family does the childe come from? He must be extremely handsome if he could win your heart. You are lucky."
She couldn"t help but think of her situation with that... guy.
The maidservant nodded with certainty and held the jade on her chest. "Oh he is so handsome, just like the jade. I"ve never seen such a handsome man..."
Suddenly the little maidservant felt dejected and silently lowered her head. "But I have never seen him since. I dare not ask anyone because I heard that everyone troubled about seeing so many powerful masters in the villa... But I was very satisfied that he drank the tea I cooked by myself and gave me this jade!"
Seeing the little maidservant"s change of emotion, Su Emei seemed to have empathy for her happiness and distress. Su Emei touched her head to show comfort, and softly added, "What kind of childe he is to make you miss him so much. I wish I could have the honor to see him, and I would know what kind of person he is..."
Before she could finish, the little maidservant was stunned and looked at the courtyard behind her. Her watery eyes were full of shock, happiness and flurry showed on her face, "Ch-childe?"