Chapter 566: Rebellion

"He's back!? He's really back!?"

At the imperial court, the political core of the most powerful dynasty in this world, a group of people holding the highest power of this empire were trembling, including the master of this empire... at least the master in name.

Emperor Zhao Zhaogou was shaking as if he had late-stage Parkinson's disease, but no one laughed at him, and no one spoke of the monarch's demeanor at this time, because except for a very few, almost all the ministers were like this.

"What to do? What to do? He's back, he's back at this time?" Zhao Zhaogou said with a crying tone.

Only Zong Ze, who was in charge of the military and state affairs of the Song court, roared, "Where is the Censor-in-chief of the Palace!?"

The ministers were startled. Their eyes all lit up, and they all looked at Zong Ze. Zhao Zhaogou's eyes even lit up, and he almost ran down from the dragon chair. He immediately said to Zong Ze repeatedly, "Rulin, save me, Rulin, save me!"

Zong Ze, with a livid face, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, do not panic. Immortal Wu never kills innocent people. We have been governing the country with all our hearts, reclaiming land, helping disaster victims, and pacifying the world. Although the old subordinates of the Immortal Island like Yang Zhewan were assassinated in Yangzhou, this was the work of rebel parties. We have a clear conscience. Why has it come to this? Why has it come to this!"

The ministers all lowered their heads, each cursing "idiot" or "brain-dead" in their hearts.

Zong Ze was naturally not afraid. He had been safe and sound during the initial great purge. Who didn't know that he had a thing with Wu Pifu... no, had a friendship with him.

When Wu Pifu got angry, they were all in danger, but Zong Ze could at most change an emperor to assist. Now, saying these wind-cooling words, and what "not killing innocent people," it made it seem as if the Confucian scholars who were crying at the funeral back then all deserved to die...

Just then, a round of applause came from the hall. Everyone's heart was shaken, and they lowered their heads tightly, not daring to look or think anymore. Following the applause, the few people in the field who raised their heads saw a person flying in from far to near, like thunder streaking across the sky, and in the blink of an eye, he arrived at the entrance of the hall.

"Well said."

Wu Pifu clapped lightly and said, "I am a person who is most reasonable and definitely not someone who kills indiscriminately. As long as you have reason, I will stand up for you for any grievances. I have also heard about the specific situation. It seems that there are rebel armies in Yangzhou and several surrounding prefectures, as well as some port cities, such as Quanzhou Port? Is that right?"

Emperor Zhao Zhaogou's face turned pale and blue with fright. After hearing Wu Pifu's words, he finally managed to get some blood color back and immediately shrieked, "Immortal, please listen, that is exactly the case, that is exactly the case! Those prefectures along the southern coast all deserve to die, all of them deserve to die!"

Wu Pifu couldn't be bothered to pay attention to Zhao Zhaogou, just looking at Zong Ze and saying, "Tell me about the specific situation."

Zong Ze's face darkened, but he still bowed immediately and said, "Mr. Wu, this matter is actually because Mr. Yang Zhewan was too radical. He personally presided over the major event of land reform. This should have been done gradually, but he was extremely radical. In the Tokyo Circuit alone, he killed more than a thousand large households, and dismissed and killed thousands of officials. Moreover, he actually cleaned up the national granaries at this time. This is really, really..."

Wu Pifu said "Oh," and asked, "So is there a rebellion in the Tokyo Circuit?"

Zong Ze originally wanted to continue complaining, but was interrupted by Wu Pifu, and he couldn't continue his next words. He could only say sullenly, "That's not the case. After all, the military preparations in the prefectures of the Tokyo Circuit are strict, and the Bianliang Forbidden Army can suppress them at any time. Moreover, Mr. Wu's prestige also makes the petty people dare not be rampant, so naturally, no rebellion has occurred. But what should the officials and large households in other circuits and roads do when they see this situation?"

Wu Pifu said thoughtfully, "That's true. I've said several times that I want to sweep away demons in the world, but it has been delayed because of this and that. Because I killed too few, people in remote prefectures don't believe it, thinking it's just hearsay. Indeed, you are right, it is my problem. I killed too few."

Zong Ze was dumbfounded. He immediately said, "No, sir, that's not what I meant..."

Wu Pifu waved his hand and said, "No, you are very right. I have also inquired about some situations. Coming here is just to confirm. You really didn't make trouble in this matter. Those rebel forces along the coast did indeed collude with foreign extraordinary beings, and local tyrants colluded with officials, which is why they rebelled. This has nothing to do with you. Don't worry, I won't implicate you."

Almost all the ministers breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. Everyone's voice was very small, but when combined, it became a collective sigh. Zhao Zhaogou's face turned rosy at a speed visible to the naked eye. He laughed loudly and said, "The Immortal has clear eyes, the Immortal has clear eyes! Since I heard the Immortal's teachings, I have been wholeheartedly for the people. Any imperial decree that infringes on the interests of the working people, I now send them all to Mr. Yang Zhewan for a final decision. I will definitely not fail the Immortal's teachings!"

From Wu Pifu's super-brain perception, Zhao Zhaogou was actually thinking and doing exactly that, without a single bad intention. He really treated himself as a human-shaped seal named Emperor, and he really read the ancient sages, especially Mencius, every day. This... damn, he's going to become a model of a wise monarch?

As for the ministers present, there were many who engaged in illicit affairs, and there were also those who embezzled the people's fat and ointment, but there was truly not a single one who truly harmed the people. And in terms of the scale of their corruption and embezzlement... at least in this Song Dynasty era, it was only slightly worse than being clean-handed.

In this situation, Wu Pifu really couldn't make a move. He nodded to Zhao Zhaogou and the ministers in the hall, then looked at Zong Ze and said, "Zong Ze, don't worry. I'm going to the coast to kill to my heart's content. I will definitely root out all the rebellious officials, gentry, tyrants, and wealthy merchants, and then kill all their backers, their descendants, and their connections. It will definitely not bring any sequelae to the imperial court."

Zong Ze was dumbfounded. The surrounding ministers, after losing the worry of being killed, were also dumbfounded at this time. They opened their mouths wide, each wanting to ask, killing them all means no sequelae?

Before they could speak, Wu Pifu turned and left the hall, then flew into the sky, and in the blink of an eye, he was thousands of meters away, heading toward his mansion.

"... This, this." Zong Ze was already a bit flustered. He shouted urgently, "Mr. Wu, Immortal Wu, you can't do this. Killing them all, it's really, it's really..."

Unfortunately, Wu Pifu couldn't "hear" it at this time. However, one minister said to an official of the same faction beside him, "The Immortal's move... doesn't seem to be impossible, right?"

The official beside him seemed to have some wisdom, and immediately smiled and whispered, "Not only is it not impossible, if he can really kill them all, it's not just as simple as having no sequelae. It will directly extend our country's life by at least a hundred years!"

"We... can have a fat year."

However, some officials had pale faces and began to tremble again.

Because their ancestral homes were in those coastal circuits, and their followers, descendants, and families had many connections with those rebels, and even... there might be their families among the rebels.

Wu Pifu naturally wouldn't care about these. He returned to the mansion and said a word to Huang Rong. Huang Rong naturally shouted that she wanted to follow, fearing that the world wouldn't be chaotic enough. Although Zhao Fubao also wanted to follow in her heart, firstly, she thought of Wu Pifu going to war, and she had a psychological fear of war. Secondly, she didn't dare to be presumptuous in front of Huang Rong, so she could only smile and lower her head.

Just like that, Wu Pifu took Huang Rong and flew into the sky. Under the witness of everyone in Dongjing Bianliang, he truly performed an immortal crossing the sky... although there was no immortal aura, there was a thunderous explosion in the air, followed by visible air ripples impacting the surroundings. Wu Pifu was already far away, and this momentum was not inferior to the so-called immortal aura.

At the same time, in Jiangdu City, Yangzhou, nearly 50,000 troops outside the city were setting up formations, using catapults and divine arm crossbows to bombard the city walls. There were only 10,000 troops in the city defending the walls. From time to time, defending soldiers were injured and fell, and morale was declining again and again. Some soldiers were already looking at their comrades with flickering eyes.

In the Jiangdu City Governor's Mansion, Qin Gui was pacing anxiously, saying as he walked, "Why hasn't the reinforcement come yet? It's been ten days. Could it be that Mr. Hade has a personal grudge against Mr. Yang?"

It had been nearly ten days since Yang Zhewan was assassinated. Qin Gui immediately knew that something big was wrong and hurriedly sent hundreds of cavalry to Tokyo Bianliang to send an 800-li urgent military report.

At this time in the Song Dynasty, Yang Zhewan presided over the entire Song Dynasty's land reform and tax reform, including measuring fields, checking granaries, warehouses, land, taxes, official corruption, gentry and tyrants, etc., while Hadeyev presided over the Song Dynasty's military reform, including elite troops, training, military system, weapons, logistics, etc.

Relying on this, Yang Zhewan and Hadeyev had both established Tier 3 sanctuaries and had both become extraordinary beings.

But this assassination came suddenly. The assassins gathered people from the Song Dynasty's extraordinary world, as well as extraordinary beings from the Great Food and the more distant Great Qin from the ocean, totaling more than 30 people. So even though Yang Zhewan was an extraordinary being and had the protection of a large army, he was still seriously injured. Although he didn't die, he fell into a coma.

Afterwards, the coastal prefectures directly started a rebellion, forming armies from various circuits, claiming that they wanted to clear the side of the emperor and kill the demon Daoist (Wu Pifu). Jiangdu City was surrounded five days ago, but the expected Hadeyev's new army was still nowhere to be seen.

Qin Gui was a standard scholar of the Song Dynasty and a standard political creature. He naturally had no problems in government affairs. Seeing people and pleasing superiors were his specialties. As for political standing, that was a master-level skill. But... he couldn't fight!

Just as Qin Gui became more and more anxious, the sky in the distance suddenly became dark, and dark red thunder flickered. Even though they were far apart, Qin Gui could vaguely hear wailing and groaning.

"It's over! Another blood sacrifice, the extraordinary beings are going to participate in the war!" Qin Gui was shocked and hurriedly ran outside the mansion to look up at the sky. The more he looked, the uglier his face became.

The 10,000 personal troops that guarded him and Yang Zhewan were all new troops trained by Hadeyev. They fought to the death without retreating, and their morale was surprisingly high. Now, there were less than 4,000 left, mixed with the 10,000 original defenders of Jiangdu, which was how they defended the capital of Yangzhou.

And at that time, the thousands of new troops killed were by the local extraordinary beings of the Great Song, and the extraordinary beings from overseas joined forces to perform a blood sacrifice, which broke the military spirit and killed the army. Seeing that Jiangdu was already crumbling, he didn't expect these extraordinary beings to perform another blood sacrifice...

Could it be that heaven wants to destroy him, Qin Gui!?

Having finally hooked up with the Immortal, could it be that he has no chance to live forever and ascend to the Immortal Realm??

Just when Qin Gui was in despair, an air ripple exploded in the sky, and he saw a figure rushing straight toward the dark thunder area in the distance.

Before he could see it clearly, a huge tiger roar came from the dark thunder area in the distance. The dark clouds and dark thunder that covered half the sky exploded violently, and a white gas like a heavenly pillar rushed into the sky, piercing through the nine heavens.

Qin Gui suddenly smiled.

The Immortal has arrived!!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 567 =====