Page 762

"Has there been no news from the emperor?"

In Lyuzhou’s great hall, Chen Qing appeared very agitated, but the other people in the hall, especially those from the Shen Family, seemed too indifferent to bother with him.

Everyone knew that this young man was eager to find an excuse to stay here to avoid the miscellaneous affairs of his own underworld office; giving him the position of this region’s underworld authority was truly a waste.

"Has there been no message from Ao Zhen and the others?"

Tian Heng began to ask in earnest.

Wei Gongcheng glanced at him imperceptibly and whispered, "According to my subordinates’ reports, Ao Zhen and his group arrived undercover on a merchant ship.

Based on their journey, they should reach their destination in a day or two at most. It’s normal that we haven’t received any intelligence in such a short time; after all, long-distance transmission of information consumes a significant amount of faith power.

Unless it’s crucial intelligence, they wouldn’t contact us proactively. "

This explanation seemed reasonable, and the others nodded in agreement, while Wei Gongcheng took the opportunity to observe the crowd while sipping his tea.

He had actually received a message, and it was quite shocking.

The Southern Sea is besieged, will fall within seven days, Jiangnan is changing, high-level defections, exercise extreme caution!

These twenty characters were known to Wei Gongzhan, and Ao Zhen didn’t have much faith power left. These twenty words were likely their last long-distance communication!

Even a stable person like Wei Gongcheng couldn’t help but feel his heart race when he received the message. This crisis would probably not be any less severe than the Lyuzhou rebellion, and might even be worse!

The Southern Sea was indeed in trouble; his master had not worried in vain, which indicated that his master faced significant troubles in Yundu.

The next sentence from Ao Zhen was about the changes in Jiangnan.

This piece of intelligence was predictive and expressed with absolute certainty—Jiangnan would definitely undergo tumultuous changes.

Considering the troubles in the Southern Sea and Yundu, Jiangnan was also in jeopardy.

This Heavenly Master Conference was likely targeting all forces!

Who was behind the scenes?

The Heavenly Master Mansion that had invited everyone?

But even if he caught all the leaders of the forces in one sweep, from where would he get the military power to assimilate all these forces?

Was it all going to depend on defections?

Speaking of defections, who in Jiangnan could be swayed?

Honestly, Wei Gongcheng felt that anyone could be a possibility. The Shen Family seemed to hold great power now, but as the office of the underworld was rotational, would a force like the Shen Family, which had tasted sweetness, give up their divine duty so readily?

Being the master of the underworld not only let the Shen Family accumulate resources, but also allowed their cultivation to advance by leaps and bounds. Just look at the few members of the Shen Family; how much had their power increased during the rise in Jiangnan, perhaps tenfold?

With such a desirable divine duty already in hand, who would easily give it up?

And then there were others. Xu Hu might seem honest and straightforward, but now in Jiangnan, his prestige is second to none. If Chen Qing were in trouble, Xu Hu’s call to arms would have the majority of Jiangnan’s noble sons following him.

History is full of examples of such military power players who later plucked the fruit and seized the territories others had fought for.

Not to mention, let’s talk about the current ’Your Majesty’. Didn’t he seem loyal, earnest, and honest? Who could have known that a scion of a family could harbor such ambitions?

Last was Tian Heng. As a military family leader who had joined this location, Tian Heng had been acting by the book in recent years. Unremarkable, but active in his duties, it was clear he had chosen to keep a low profile intentionally, likely fearing being targeted.

After all, unlike Xu Hu who had the merit of starting an enterprise, Tian Heng received no less preferential treatment.

Not only did he acquire a powerful ally like Ao Zhen for his command, but he was also tasked with maintaining the newly conquered Southeast, clearly an attempt to establish the Western Sea Army’s prestige there.

Such favoritism even caused many of Xu Hu’s deputy generals to become discontented.

However, this also meant that Tian Heng possessed the power to rebel.

But the likelihood of him rebelling was not high.

Firstly, his prestige was insufficient, and once he initiated a rebellion, not to mention the lack of external response, it was estimated that a substantial part of the Western Sea Army wouldn’t respond.

The only ones who might respond were probably his direct line within the Tian Family.

But even that wasn’t a certainty, since the direct line of the Tian Family reaped considerable benefits from their position in Jiangnan, and might not heed Tian Heng’s call to arms.

Moreover, the surrounding powers were quite hostile towards the Western Sea Army, and in his view, the chances of a successful rebellion didn’t seem high.

But to say he had no suspicion at all wasn’t quite true either...

In Wei Gongcheng’s opinion, the other party had plenty of motive, being born into a noble family, yet pressed down by someone like Xu Hu, a mere commoner.

Thinking this, Wei Gongcheng looked at Tian Heng and asked, "Have you noticed any abnormalities recently?"

At these words, the few people in the hall looked at Wei Gongcheng in surprise.

"Younger Brother Wei, what do you mean by that?" Second Elder Shen asked softly.

Wei Gongcheng calmly replied, "I don’t know why, but these past couple of days, I’ve felt a certain unease in my heart."

"Unease?" Second Elder Shen frowned, "Now that you mention it, I do feel it a bit, too. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but occasionally these past few days, I’ve felt a fleeting chill of horror."

"Is that so?" Shen Eleven expressed in surprise, "How come I didn’t feel anything?"

"Not everyone is as heartless and carefree as you."

"General Tian?" Wei Gongcheng looked towards him, "Have you sensed anything unusual recently?"

"I haven’t felt anything..." Tian Heng frowned, "Lately, everything has been going smoothly, especially in the Southeast. The Western Sea Army’s reputation there has been rising, and with the announcement at the beginning of the year to recruit soldiers, a large number of able-bodied men eagerly signed up. It’s estimated that recruiting a hundred thousand new soldiers in the spring shouldn’t be a problem. "

He paused before adding, "As for the West Sea, things have been going well there too. The task of relocating to the West Sea has also been going smoothly, with many people from the Southeast willing to believe in the Western Sea Army and undergo relocation, so there shouldn’t be a problem filling up those few key mining islands. "

"It’s just that business hasn’t been too friendly lately; the soldiers stationed in the West Sea responsible for escorting merchant ships have been without work."

Such rambling, homely talk eased the atmosphere in the entire hall considerably.

Second Elder Shen couldn’t help but laugh, "Our esteemed Western Sea God has indeed been very busy lately."

"Not at all, not at all," Tian Heng chuckled, clearly in a good mood, "I just think that since there’s no news come by yet, we shouldn’t scare ourselves. What storm hasn’t Your Majesty weathered? When has he ever let people down?"

"That’s true." Observing the relaxed atmosphere, Shen Lao San (Third Elder Shen) stood up and said, "Since there’s no call for help from Your Majesty, it means the situation in Yundu isn’t that dire.

Everything regarding the Southern Sea will wait upon Ao Zhen’s news.

Gentlemen, it’s best to return to your respective territories and focus on the matters at hand. "

The others nodded in agreement, except for Shen Eleven, who had a bitter look on his face; it seemed he wouldn’t have the chance to slack off here anymore.

But Wei Gongcheng’s eyes carried a trace of something inexplicable at this moment.

Because when Shen Lao San stood up and instructed everyone to return to their stations, two voices entered his mind.

They were Tian Heng’s and Second Elder Shen’s.

And they both said the same thing!

There’s a problem with the Shen Family!

Tian Heng has a problem!

The concurrent voices in his ears caused Wei Gongcheng’s mood to turn ice-cold in a moment. He couldn’t be sure yet who had a problem, but the possibility that someone within the Jiangnan upper echelon had been bought out seemed to be very real!