Chapter 182 - The Imperial Court and the Sects (2)

Xu Yuan looked at her beside him, his expression softening a little. He asked quietly, “Ran Qingmo, what do you think of the Myriad Manifestations Sect slaughtering a town?”

Ran Qingmo was silent for several breaths, then said very seriously, “It makes me angry.”

Xu Yuan smiled faintly and nodded. “Yes. Angry. As long as a person is still human, seeing something like that would make them angry. That was four hundred thousand people.”

At this point, Xu Yuan paused for two seconds. Then his tone suddenly shifted, growing somewhat complicated. “Four hundred thousand sounds like a lot, but in truth, it really isn’t much. The year before last, a beast tide broke through Moneyridge, and more than three hundred thousand people died. Did you know about that?”

Ran Qingmo shook her head honestly. “I didn’t.”

Xu Yuan continued asking, “The year before that, a beast tide broke through Prosperjoy County, and more than five hundred thousand people died. The worst one was nine years ago, when Westsink Commandery was breached and nearly two million people died. You didn’t know about those either, did you?”

Ran Qingmo said nothing and only shook her head. She did not read the official gazettes, nor did she read the internal briefs. She only knew how to cultivate. All the information she had came from her master.

Xu Yuan sighed. “Four hundred thousand people is only a drop in the sea to the whole of the Great Flame Empire. Because the things I just mentioned were all rounded numbers. Along the hundred thousand mile border of the Myriad Ascents Mountain Ridge, the people who die or are wounded in scattered incidents every year are almost impossible to count, but at the very least, the number exceeds one Sageridge. Remember, I said every year.”

Ran Qingmo pressed her red lips together.

Xu Yuan did not seem to have any intention of stopping. He raised a hand and pointed toward the northwest and the north, his tone weary. “Ran Qingmo, the Great Flame Empire’s border is not limited to the hundred thousand miles of the Myriad Ascents Mountain Ridge. There is also the great desert in the northwest, and the bitter cold lands to the north. Hah. Ever since the Great Flame Empire officially went to war with the northern barbarians, more than five million people have already died over there. Aside from that, along the nearly two hundred thousand li of coastal defenses in the east, the wokou raiders are still causing trouble. The people who die or are wounded in those places every year make one Sageridge look like nothing.”

Ran Qingmo’s eyes lowered slightly, her voice very soft. “Xu Yuan... do that many people die every year?”

“That is what the internal records of the Chancellor's Manor say.” Xu Yuan sighed again, his voice drifting low and slow. “And the casualties along the borders are only the smaller part. The real bulk of it is inside the Great Flame Empire itself. Apart from those seven or eight wealthy provinces, you should have seen what the rest of the nation looks like. The reason for that is that the many sects have been bleeding the court dry, leaving the imperial treasury in deficit. Local governments no longer have the funds to bear the cost of exterminating demons and beasts in their own regions.

“Of course, from the sects’ standpoint, you could also understand this as the bitter fruit caused by the imperial court being stubborn and blind, clinging to power while occupying its post and doing nothing, yet refusing to give way. But no one wants the Great Flame Empire to grow exhausted and weak. After all, only when the Great Flame Empire is strong can the imperial court, the sects, and the great clans all gain more power and influence.”

Ran Qingmo’s chest rose and fell faintly.

Xu Yuan’s gaze held a trace of helplessness as he said in a low voice, “Ran Qingmo, now you should understand why my father wants to move against the Celeste Sword Sect, right? It is not that he wants to move against the Celeste Sword Sect in particular. He wants to move against all the sects under heaven. Your Celeste Sword Sect is simply first in line because it stands at the head of the sects.”

Outside the cave, all was still.

After a long while, Ran Qingmo finally said softly, “Xu Yuan... aren’t you afraid I’ll tell my master and the others about this?”

Xu Yuan raised his hand and flicked her on the forehead.

Ran Qingmo looked puzzled. It neither hurt nor itched.

Xu Yuan silently withdrew his aching finger, then coughed lightly. “Ahem. Aside from that last point, everything I just said is known to the sects’ upper ranks. As for the last point, no one believed it before, and even fewer people would believe you if you spread it now. After all, the news that you’ve been staying with me all this time has probably already spread through every sect under heaven.”

The black coiling-dragon carriage that represented the direct line of the Chancellor's Manor had been far too conspicuous. As for Ran Qingmo, she always dressed in black and carried an ink black sword. That appearance was unique enough on its own. Ordinary disciples might not know, but the true upper ranks definitely knew this precious disciple of that old man from the Sword Sect.

At this point, it was basically mud down the pants. No matter how you washed, it would never come clean.

Ran Qingmo sat upright beside Xu Yuan without speaking. After a while, she seemed to realize that something did not add up. “Xu Yuan, since your father wants to do something like that, why has your younger sister come out to do the exact opposite?”

“That is simply her nature.” Xu Yuan glanced toward the cave and answered without even thinking. “She is too gentle and too kind. She always wants a solution where no one has to die. But where in this world is there such a good thing? When interests are involved, who would ever give way?”

After that, neither of them spoke again.

ᯓ➤

Time flowed quietly by.

The Sage’s remnant soul suddenly spoke in Xu Yuan’s heart. “Xu boy, your father is a fine schemer.”

“How so?” Xu Yuan asked.

The Sage’s remnant soul sounded somewhat emotional. “To be honest, this old man does not know much about the current state of the world. But your father is an important minister of the imperial court, secretly planning to destroy the sects, while at the same time letting this younger sister of yours go out and travel the world. Isn’t that sending a completely deceptive show of goodwill to the sects? Add in a few other political decrees and methods, and I imagine the sects all think your Chancellor's Manor is preparing to compromise. Tsk, tsk. Then, just when the sects all believe you will not make a move, he strikes like thunder. What a fine method.”

Xu Yuan felt a flicker of surprise when he heard this. With only that little bit of information, Luo Daofan had actually managed to reach such a conclusion. It seemed those ten thousand years had not been lived for nothing.

Still, Xu Yuan only said softly, “Old Luo, you’re wrong. This is the path Xu Xinyao chose for herself. At most, it can be called a happy accident. Besides, what she is doing only adds flowers to brocade when it comes to my father’s plan.”

For more than ten years, the imperial court’s decrees aimed at the sects had basically been all thunder and no rain.

A while ago, there had even been rumors in several provinces around Jiangnan Prefecture of a decree that would allow local people to govern local lands. ℴ

Ten years earlier, such a thing would have been unthinkable.

After all, Xu Yinhe had held power for decades and gone through great hardship before finally uprooting the sects’ influence from local governments across the Great Flame Empire.

By now, the path for sect disciples to enter the court and become officials had essentially been cut off. Yet recent decrees from the court seemed to faintly show signs of opening that door again.

There were too many examples like this to count.

Compared with these deliberately misleading decrees, Xu Xinyao’s goodwill toward the sects truly could only be considered flowers added to brocade.

As the thought ended, Xu Yuan suddenly realized that enough time should have passed. It was about time he went inside to properly straighten out this fourth sister of his, whose thinking had clearly gone crooked.

He slowly stood and said quietly to Ran Qingmo beside him, “Ran Qingmo, stay here. I have something to say to that fourth sister of mine inside.”

Ran Qingmo still seemed to be thinking over what Xu Yuan had just said. She only nodded lightly. “Mhm. All right. I’ll wait for you here.”

Xu Yuan looked at her slightly furrowed brows, reached out, and rubbed her head. “Don’t overthink it. The conflict between the sects and the imperial court is basically impossible to reconcile. The old order has to be broken before something new can stand.”