Chapter 622: Jiang Ziya Speaks Frankly

"Xiqi. Alas, I don't know what reaction Sister Zhou Ji will have when the time comes."

Princess Longji sighed.

Having spent these few years with Zhou Ji, she still admired her character and conduct very much; virtuous, tolerant, and generous, she was the perfect image of an Empress.

Yin Qi shook his head: "Zhou Ji has never done anything to apologize to me, so naturally I won't vent my anger on her. With Yanran first, she might accept it better."

Two days later.

Outside the eastern suburbs of the city.

Yin Qi held a grand sacrifice to heaven ceremony to see off the two armies.

When seeing the 4 million elite troops ready to go, and hundreds of warships suspended in the sky, the people were boiling, cheering one after another, cheering for the strength of the Great Shang.

"Look, this is the army of our Great Shang. Too strong, truly too strong, the lowest cultivation is the high stage of the Mortal Realm, and they all have standard mid-grade spiritual artifacts. With such a strong army, why worry that the rebel army won't be pacified."

"This is all the credit of the Great King. If it weren't for the Great King, establishing the Artifact Refining Industrial Zone, it would be impossible to produce so many spiritual artifacts. It's just a pity, I can't reach the requirements even if I want to join the army."

"What is that warship, such a terrifying momentum, it feels like the sky has pressed down."

Youzhou, Qingzhou, and the East rebelled, but after seeing the powerful army of the Great Shang, everyone was relieved, and the spies from all sides had solemn expressions.

After the two armies set off, the Yin Shang country returned to calm.

Those who worked worked, those who farmed farmed.

Huang Feihu and Ding Ce led their troops to the border, but didn't rush to attack, but chose to build a defensive line at the border like Wen Zhong, letting

Seeing that the situation was not looking good and realizing they could not rely on Yin Shang for the time being, these vassals either took their family assets and clansmen and rushed to Zhaoge for refuge through the teleportation array, or simply surrendered.

Most of those who fled to Zhaoge for refuge were members of the royal family.

Those who surrendered were basically vassals of different surnames, or those who were beyond the fifth degree of kinship with the royal family.

Seeing that Yin Shang remained motionless and spent their days building defensive fortifications, Jiang Huanchu and the Fengyun Sect, although somewhat puzzled, tacitly did not attack Yin Shang, but instead accelerated their pace of annexing the surrounding vassals.

The more vassals they annexed, the stronger their strength became; this was something they desired even more.

………

Xiqi.

West Earl's Mansion.

Ji Chang looked around at everyone and asked suspiciously: "This shouldn't be, this shouldn't be. With Yin Shang's strength, logically speaking, they should be able to quickly pacify the three sides. But let alone Huang Feihu and Ding Ce, even Wen Zhong is remaining motionless."

Wen Zhong is the Great Shang's God of War, and also a Mysterious Immortal.

If he were to send out troops, even if Yuan Futong had the support of mysterious forces, I fear he would not be able to hold out for long.

San Yisheng also nodded and said: "I also feel it is very strange; it seems Yin Shang is intentionally letting Yuan Futong and the others develop. But this is not in accordance with common sense, nor is it in Yin Shang's interest. This is fine in the beginning; they can use strengthening defenses as an excuse, but what about later? When the various vassals lose hope, I fear they will all choose to surrender one after another."

Jiang Ziya said in a deep voice: "Later on, it will depend on Yin Shang's actions. If they do not continue to stand by, that is fine; if they continue to stand by, then I fear there is a great conspiracy involved."

Logically speaking, once a rebellion is encountered, the imperial court should sweep it away with the force of a thunderbolt.

Firstly, it can prevent the situation from expanding, and secondly, it can deter all parties.

And with Yin Shang's strength, they are fully capable of doing so.

But as it happens, neither Huang Feihu, Ding Ce, nor Wen Zhong is in a hurry to take action, choosing instead to reinforce defenses; this excuse is truly somewhat far-fetched.

Of course, in the eyes of the other various vassals, this is normal.

After all, they do not understand Yin Shang's strength.

But in the eyes of Jiang Ziya and the others, this excuse is very unreliable.

You are capable of crushing the three rebel armies, so why choose to strengthen defenses? Isn't this letting the enemy develop?

Nangong Kuo said: "Also, the strength of Youzhou, Qingzhou, and Donglu is very abnormal, especially Qingzhou; the immortal-realm experts exposed so far already exceed three hundred. Where did they get such a strong foundation?"

Ji Chang, Jiang Ziya, and the others were all frowning in thought.

Although Earth Immortals are only the lowest level of immortals, they are not common goods either.

In the past, the strongest of the vast majority of vassals were only at the Heaven Realm; immortals were out of the question.

Yin Qi (Jia Ren) said in a deep voice: "There is only one possibility, and that is that they, like us, have supporters behind the scenes."

Ji Chang, Jiang Ziya, and the others were all shaken.

Jiang Ziya said with a solemn expression: "Brother's words are correct; now there is only this explanation. The current situation is becoming more and more complex, far from as simple as we imagined."

Originally, they thought that with the support of the Exposition Sect, Xiqi would surely win.

But now it seems that Yin Shang's rapid development is likely due to the strong support of the Jie Sect.

Youzhou, Qingzhou, and Donglu have all entered the fray, and they must have all received the support of some great power; otherwise, it would be impossible for so many immortal-level experts to appear suddenly.

But who are their supporters behind the scenes?

Ji Chang asked: "Prime Minister, what should we do?"

Jiang Ziya lowered his head in thought, and only after a long while did he say: "They can fight their own battles; we will act according to our plan. There is no rush to raise an army to attack Shang; it just so happens we can use them to consume Yin Shang's national strength while investigating their behind-the-scenes forces. Moreover, I suspect that Di Qi seems to be playing a great game of chess, and we must investigate it clearly."

"A great game of chess!"

Ji Chang and the others were stunned and looked at Jiang Ziya one after another.

Yin Qi raised an eyebrow; this Jiang Ziya is truly worthy of his reputation.

"Not bad, a great game of chess!"

Jiang Ziya nodded affirmatively: "Everyone, whether it is Di Qi or the State Preceptor Yang Daoren, which of them is not a hero among men? But look, things have reached this point, and State Preceptor Yang Daoren has not even shown his face; it seems he does not take the rebellion seriously at all. I even believe they might be waiting for us to take action."

Swish! Swish!

Ji Chang and the others were in an uproar, and some even had looks of terror flash in their eyes.

If it were truly as Jiang Ziya said, wouldn't their conspiracy to rebel have already fallen into the eyes of Yin Shang?

Yet Yin Shang is pretending not to know, letting them develop.

This is too contrary to common sense.

Ji Chang shivered all over and hurriedly asked: "Why does the Prime Minister say this?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ziya did not know how to explain, because he suspected that Wen Zhong, or perhaps the Yang God, had already told Yin Qi about the Investiture of the Gods, and Yin Qi also knew about the Exposition Sect's choice of Xiqi.

In this way, Yin Qi naturally knew that Xiqi was conspiring to rebel.

But was he to tell Ji Chang and the others about the Investiture of the Gods?

If he did not tell them, there would be no way to explain his conjecture.

But telling them seemed somewhat overstepping his bounds.

In the end, Jiang Ziya chose to be frank; in any case, it was the Jie Sect that leaked the secret first.

"This matter must start from the Investiture of the Gods..."

Next, Jiang Ziya explained the origin and process of the Investiture of the Gods.

He also stated that he was the one presiding over the Investiture of the Gods, and only then did he say: "I suspect that Di Qi has long known about the Investiture of the Gods. My Exposition Sect chose you, Xiqi, so naturally, it could not be hidden from him."