Chapter 472: The Fated Empress

The Emerald Bamboo Pavilion was constructed entirely from bamboo.

It was supported by four bamboo pillars, each so thick that six grown men joining hands could not encircle them.

The bamboo scaffolding crisscrossed to form a staircase that wound around the exterior of the pavilion like a dancing green dragon, spiraling from the first floor all the way to the top of the third, full of vivid vitality.

Ning Zhuo followed the bamboo staircase, led by a shop waiter, and reached the third floor.

This area had already been reserved by Shuang Jing.

"General Shuang," Ning Zhuo saluted.

He had been invited here by Shuang Jing for morning tea this time.

He wore a yellow-white robe, his ears were pointed and long, covered in golden-tinged down, and a fox tail trailed behind his robe.

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Ning Zhuo remained silent.

"I didn't expect it to be such a young man."

"Ning Zhuo?" The old demon cultivator shook his head. "He is not important. My purpose in coming here today is something else entirely."

"To plan for the nation, one must request Mu Lan to abdicate and yield to the worthy; that is the only proper path."

Ning Zhuo understood; he realized this was caused by the Red Flower Battalion failing to receive their latest batch of provisions.

Ning Zhuo shook his head, stared at Shuang Jing, and slowly stood up.

The old demon cultivator did not leave, watching Liu Er disappear from his sight. He murmured in his heart: "Liu Er, that Mu Lan is the empress fated for you."

Wherever he passed, he seemed invisible; those around him were completely unaware, and even the city gate formation showed no reaction.

Unfortunately, the second attempt at intimidation had the opposite effect.

"Heh, so be it."

Suddenly hearing the old demon cultivator's telepathic message, he was both shocked and delighted. He hurriedly followed the instructions, concealed his tracks, quietly left the camp, and met the old demon cultivator in a mountain forest.

However, after Mu Lan broke into the granary, she discovered it was completely empty.

The old demon cultivator nodded slightly: "You possess a royal mandate; once you leave the mountains, fierce generals will flock to you. It seems now that Generals Generals Guan Hong and Zhang Hei are the right and left arms fated for you."

The granary chief ran out in a hurry: "General Mu, calm your anger, please calm your anger!"

Bang! Mu Lan was furious. Zhao Xi had been prepared, always using procedures and regulations to fob her off. She struck out in anger, sending Zhao Xi flying with a single palm.

"Those with different paths cannot plan together. Please forgive this junior for lacking the fortune to serve as your retainer, my lord. Ning Zhuo takes his leave!"

Shuang Jing showed an expression of righteous indignation: "That old monster Shi Zhong has remarkable methods; his earth-moving arts show no signs of escape techniques, and they are fast and secretive. Fortunately, the losses to the supply convoy this time were not great."

Shuang Jing smiled without a word.

Mu Lan and Zhao Xi began to argue loudly.

"General Mu, please stay..." The guarding cultivator hadn't finished speaking before Mu Lan waved her hand and sent him flying.

Ning Zhuo was slightly stunned, then immediately heard the noisy commotion.

"Old monster Shi Zhong attacked the supply convoy? After the ambush, our side will surely dispatch experts to search everywhere. He is so bold that he hasn't left yet?!" Ning Zhuo asked Shuang Jing.

The soldiers behind Mu Lan, seeing the miserable state of the Army Supervisor, felt great satisfaction and followed Mu Lan inside one after another.

Morning tea and pastries were respectfully served by the waiter.

Shuang Jing sighed at this point: "Our Liangzhu Kingdom is a small nation, so every bit of national strength must be cherished." "The Upper General's Mansion occupies too much national strength yet contributes very little."

Ning Zhuo sneered in his heart.

Bang! She kicked the door open directly.

"Yet you slander me, saying I made things difficult for you!"

It was true that he intended to plot against Mu Lan, but this was not his doing! "In order to scheme for the position of the Upper General's Mansion, these high-ranking officials of Liangzhu Kingdom actually ambushed their own supply convoy."

"So this is what they mean by both soft and hard tactics. Heh."

The old demon cultivator could not tell Liu Er the content of his fortune-telling directly.

"Teacher, why have you come?" Liu Er paid his respects.

Shuang Jing had previously tried to recruit Ning Zhuo at the Little Bird Pavilion, wanting to hire him as a retainer, but Ning Zhuo had declined, saying he needed to consider it.

"Afterward, they blocked the Red Flower Battalion's military supplies once. I had to use precious materials to settle it."

After identifying him for a moment, the old demon cultivator nodded with satisfaction: "The fate is sprouting, reaching this point; the timing has arrived, it has finally arrived."

"Hmm... Ning Zhuo is only sixteen, full of hot blood, which is reasonable. Perhaps the Ning family allowed him to travel precisely to educate this child, to make him understand the ways of the world and the human heart?"

"Shuang Jing invited me to a banquet this time to let me witness Mu Lan's current situation; is he trying to intimidate me with this?"

Although Ning Zhuo had only met Zhao Xi a few times, he had gathered intelligence and understood that although Zhao Xi was stingy and greedy, he had talent and understood the big picture; otherwise, he would not have been repeatedly trusted by the Shuang surname royal family and continuously dispatched.

"The twilight of a hero, that is how it is."

Shuang Jing was not like Liu Er. To him, Ning Zhuo was not a necessity, but the icing on the cake.

Her expression changed slightly, and she felt something was wrong.

Ning Zhuo looked solemn, full of integrity: "You wish to 'abdicate and yield to the worthy'; this is not something I can conspire in. A loyal subject should only be loyal to the monarch and assist in their governance. How can one decide national affairs on one's own?"

The soldiers behind her had not expected this turn of events, and each of their expressions became bewildered.

Liu Er gasped: "Teacher, have you told my fortune? What comes next? Will Military Advisor Ning Zhuo leave me?"

"Like a bird choosing a branch, as long as it recognizes a good tree, it can achieve great things. Small trees like the Three Generals Camp, or sick trees like the Red Flower Battalion—if they delay your achievements, Military Advisor Ning, that would be truly regrettable."

Shuang Jing was interested in Ning Zhuo mainly because of Ning Zhuo's prophetic poem.

Zhao Xi climbed up, blocked the doorway, and shouted: "Mu Lan! You are arrogant and domineering, bold and reckless. Not only did you beat a superior, but you also broke into the granary."

"Hmph, this Army Supervisor is here! General Mu, stop making false accusations." Zhao Xi also appeared.

Liu Er learned that Ning Zhuo had gone to meet Shuang Jing again and was pacing in his tent, feeling restless.

Finally, he arrived outside the Three Generals Camp and used his spiritual sense to call out.

"I, Zhao Xi, have always acted upright and clearly; when have I ever made things difficult for you?" As he spoke, he walked straight into the granary.

He was a member of the Shuang surname and a Nascent Soul-level cultivator. Inviting Ning Zhuo to a banquet twice and displaying such a posture to recruit him was definitely showing respect to the worthy.

"With the help of the Yin-Yang Qi Pot, you will be able to succeed in your marriage proposal, become the son-in-law of the Upper General's Mansion, thereby gaining status, shedding the awkwardness of being a human-demon hybrid, and truly integrating into the upper echelons."

"The hope for the reconstruction of my Blood Slaughter Immortal Kingdom rests on your shoulders; you must be able to shoulder this responsibility!"

Meanwhile.

Shuang Jing said: "No rush to eat or drink. I invited Military Advisor Ning here today because there is a good show to watch."

He descended the mountain and walked toward Canglin Immortal City.

Liu Er introduced his current situation to his teacher.

"Our army's recent provisions were intercepted by old monster Shi Zhong on the road yesterday! The military situation is critical. To avoid fluctuations in morale, I concealed this matter, only saying it was a procedural issue and asking you to delay collecting the provisions."

But Mu Lan still dismounted, walked to the tightly closed door of the granary, and kicked it fiercely.

But fortune-telling is something that even the most skilled cultivators cannot get right every time.

After speaking, Ning Zhuo flicked his sleeves and left, walking down the stairs of the pavilion.

Although Shuang Jing was disappointed and felt it a pity, that was all.

Mu Lan's face turned pale; she turned around abruptly, her gaze like an arrow, staring fixedly at Zhao Xi.

"No, you cannot go in!" Zhao Xi fell to the ground, spitting blood, and shouted to stop her.

"You beat me, you don't put me, this Army Supervisor and envoy of the royal capital, in your eyes. What do you want to do? Do you want to rebel?!"

Shuang Jing asked Ning Zhuo to sit down.

The old demon cultivator stroked his beard and smiled: "Little Six, you are determined to rebuild my Blood Slaughter Immortal Kingdom; have you made any progress?"

"The world today is already the world of the human race."

"This is the Yin-Yang Qi Pot, a precious treasure of the imperial dynasty; I entrust it to you."

Shuang Jing stood frozen in place, watching Ning Zhuo walk onto the street and disappear into the crowd without looking back. Only then did he chuckle.

"I hope that this time, General Mu Lan can be sensible and retire while she is ahead."

Mu Lan snorted coldly: "Where is Zhao Xi? Let him roll out here! Blocking my army's provisions time and again, does he really think my Red Flower Battalion is made of mud?"

"The Upper General's Mansion, Mu Lan—all will be mine!"

"His only descendant, Mu Lan, is indeed ambitious but lacks talent; with mere Golden Core cultivation, how can she support the Upper General's Mansion?"

"Today, my Red Flower Battalion is determined to collect this batch of provisions!"

"What does Military Advisor Ning think?"

"In my view, young talents like Military Advisor Ning are the future, the hope."

A team of cultivators riding horses rushed through the bustling streets and reached the granary opposite the Emerald Bamboo Pavilion.

An old demon cultivator stood on a mountain peak, looking out at Canglin Immortal City.

He saw Mu Lan and the others, who had failed to collect the provisions, leaving the city through the alleys. He calculated for a moment and nodded with satisfaction again: "The fate is decaying, disaster is imminent. Good, good, good!"

He first bowed and then said: "Lord Shuang Jing, this subject is foolishly loyal, knowing the importance of national affairs, and my heart is tied to the monarch. However, how can the monarch's intentions be guessed by others? A so-called loyal subject must speak directly and remonstrate, not scheme in the dark and manipulate from behind. To be loyal to the country, how can one act recklessly and plot against others? If the monarch has not given clear instructions, how dare one act privately? If we guess recklessly, wouldn't we be harming the country and ourselves?"

"It is just that the monarch is benevolent and cannot bear to take action. We subjects, eating the monarch's salary and being loyal to the monarch's affairs, should naturally share the monarch's worries."

Ning Zhuo, like Shuang Jing, used his spiritual sense to investigate the development of the matter.

Ning Zhuo remained silent.

Ning Zhuo was surprised: "What happened here? Why is General Mu Lan so indignant?"

Shuang Jing's intention to invite him again another day was quite obvious.

On the Emerald Bamboo Pavilion, Shuang Jing saw the progress he wanted, couldn't help but smile, picked up his cup, and began to drink tea.

"I thought that coming from a great clan, he would understand the ways of power."

"It's a bit suspicious. The army encountered an ambush and returned to Canglin Immortal City with countless casualties; they need provisions to maintain morale. Under these circumstances, Zhao Xi repeating his old tricks to make things difficult for the Red Flower Battalion is unwise!"

"Mu Lan once flicked her sleeves and left in public, and she really doesn't get along with Zhao Xi."

"Next, you must make good use of this treasure!"

Shuang Jing continued: "The situation changes easily; the turning of strength and weakness is a common occurrence in the human world."

The leader was none other than Mu Lan.

Zhao Xi had an expression of being wronged, but Mu Lan could perceive strong emotions of triumph, malice, and schadenfreude in his eyes.

"Coming again this time?"

Liu Er called out for a while, then shook his head and sighed: "Teacher is still as elusive as ever... Sigh, forget it."

"Teacher, Teacher!" Liu Er was dazed for a moment, and when he came to his senses, there was only the precious pot in his arms; the old demon cultivator had already disappeared without a trace.

"I didn't expect the degree of political infighting within Liangzhu Kingdom to be so intense!"

His true target was still the Red Flower Battalion, still Mu Lan! "I originally thought that only after the grand battle could the Red Flower Battalion be weakened; I didn't expect a single ambush to be enough."

Sure enough, the next moment, Shuang Jing said with deep meaning: "Our nation's old General Mu has been bedridden for many years. He was once the pillar of our nation's military, leading the Red Flower Battalion to sweep across the battlefield, pacifying demon disasters in the north, suppressing enemy chieftains in the west, sweeping away demonic atmosphere in the east, and quelling the various tribes in the south; his military achievements were truly illustrious."

His eyes were like swirling clouds and mist, flickering and dying.

"Zhao dog! You making such excuses is truly not putting me, the Upper General, in your eyes."

He put away the precious pot and quietly returned to the camp.

He had obtained the legacy and inheritance of the Blood Slaughter Imperial Dynasty and was very accomplished in the way of fortune-telling. He could tell fortunes for others, with a success rate of six or seven out of ten.

But this cultivation technique also had a drawback: it could not be spoken of.

Once spoken of in advance, it would not be effective.

Therefore, only after learning that Generals Generals Guan and Zhang had already sworn brotherhood with Liu Er did the old demon cultivator speak the first part of the fortune.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 658 =====