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"What are you doing?"

Inside the grand hall of Cloud Degree, King Xiang curiously watched the Emperor, who was using the flames of the Golden Crow to draw a rather large map on the floor of the hall. Upon closer inspection, it was almost identical to Capital City.

"I am calculating what the opposition might use to take down Capital City."

"You don’t seem worried at all..." King Xiang said pensively.

Initially, he had followed the Emperor here out of fear that something might happen to him. The two shared a special relationship, their powers only fully functional when together. Yet he hadn’t expected that, with both of them out, someone might steal their home.

"Tomorrow is the final round of the Heavenly Master’s conference. Who do you think will win in the end?"

"You’re still concerned about that?" King Xiang frowned.

"I feel that this outcome may well be linked to the distant future," the Emperor said, smiling as he looked up. "As for Capital City, what had to be done has been done. What use is there in worrying?"

King Xiang fell silent for a moment, gazing at the map of Capital City the Emperor had drawn.

The distribution of forces within was clearly marked: the Imperial Army was stationed outside the city, while the Ghost Temple was guarded by the security forces of the priests from the Duke of Yan’s estate.

Should there be a rebellion from within, under the circumstances of a military campaign to the north, the forces under these two were the most likely candidates.

"The Imperial Army has many soldiers. Though you’ve reduced their numbers, there’s still a force of some ten thousand men. Once controlled, there’s hardly anyone in Capital City who can withstand this might."

"Unlikely..." the Emperor chuckled. "Though numerous, the Imperial Army is made up of mixed allegiances, with many families having wedged in quite a few of their progeny, mainly the eldest sons.

While the northern campaign could lead to military achievements, for many of the elite families, they would favor not having their immediate heirs risk their lives at this juncture.

Those who went out were mostly collateral relatives, whereas the impressive direct descendants were left to hold nominal positions within the Imperial Army. "

King Xiang nodded. This had been part of the plan from the beginning.

The collateral relatives would join in the northern campaign and, if it went well, would earn considerable military honors.

When the time came for rewards based on merit, it would be perfectly justified for the Emperor to promote them, which was likely to create a rift between the principal and collateral branches of the elite families, thereby facilitating a balance of power.

"For this reason, the Imperial Army is not easily controlled in its entirety. If someone could win over most of the elite families right under my nose, then I would not deserve to be part of this game."

"True..." King Xiang nodded and then turned his gaze to the several markers for the Ghost Temple. "So, is it the Duke of Yan?"

The Imperial Army, with its complex alliances and based outside the city, would struggle to suddenly seize Capital City unless they could control a large part. Aside from the Imperial Army, the priests’ Guardian Army of the Ghost Temple would be very suitable.

Being in close proximity to the Ghost Temple, they were best positioned for a surprise attack.

"I had considered this from the start..." the Emperor said thoughtfully, looking at the map. "That’s why I was very cautious in structuring the priests’ Guardian Army. Though the Duke of Yan is the nominal head, the force is also complex, with three strong Marquises from the three major Ghost temples as the priests. They are not closely related to the Duke of Yan’s line, and the spirits dwelling within these priests come from different factions of your Ghost Generals. "

"Winning over the three major priests and the families of the three major Marquises is not an easy feat, either. And among the descendants of these families, there are moles I’ve placed who would make it quite unlikely for anyone to completely bypass my surveillance."

"If it were me... for absolute safety, I would surely cultivate a third force. Hmm... there was an opening at the Ghost Temple earlier this year, with several thousand new slots for soldiers. This is a force utterly unblemished. However, these novices would surely be highly sought after—unless someone influential proposed to draft a separate group of new recruits. That indicates... it’s highly likely that the Duke of Yue is the insider.

.. Hmm? What’s with that expression when you look at me? "

"You just mentioned... you’ve planted spies?" King Xiang eyed the Emperor oddly, "Why don’t I know about this?"

Since their collaboration, he had been almost constantly in the Emperor’s presence. The Emperor could deceive others, but he shouldn’t have been able to keep secrets from him.

"Oh... Well..." The Emperor suddenly smiled, "You will know very soon..."

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"Boss, take a look at that Wei Gongxing, what a piece of work... On the very first day, he’s in such a hurry to boss us around to patrol at night, yet he himself has taken the best spot in Yin Land to cultivate. Truly, a petty person in power!"

On the eve of Chinese New Year’s Eve, the sons of various families who were arranged to patrol the streets were all complaining, especially those from the Wei Family, grumbling to Wei Gongyu along the way.

After all, the Dukes had just agreed yesterday to establish a city defense team, and surprisingly, the next day, that power-hungry fellow started ordering them around.

The security in Capital City was already quite good, the government officials from Jingzhao Prefecture were doing a fine job, and there hadn’t been any known leaks.

Was there such a rush to take over? During the New Year, at least wait until after the festivities, right?

Many had just been blessed with a Martial Spirit and were hoping to use this time to quickly enhance their bodies with the secret techniques bestowed by the Martial Spirit. But before they could even start, they were assigned night patrol duties. How could they not complain?

Wei Gongyu’s face was darkened at this time too.

Wei Gongxing, just like that scoundrel Wei Gongcheng, once they gained some benefits, didn’t consider their clan brethren at all.

Even if he had to arrange for others, he could have at least looked after his own Wei Family members, allowing them more time to cultivate in Yin Land and catch up quickly.

Can’t he understand what it means that ’branches of the same root must support each other’?

Instead, he took the opportunity to occupy Yin Land for his own cultivation, completely leaving the clan behind.

He truly exemplified a petty person basking in brief authority.

The group continued grumbling all the way to the Martial Temple located in the Southeast.

The patrol duty required them to meet and coordinate with the Priest here, but when they reached their destination, Wei Gongxing and the others were taken aback.

Didn’t it seem like there were too many people here?

The five thousand member city defense team was split into fifty squads of a hundred each, and according to the plan, they were to be rotated in three shifts. Each squad was only notified on the day of their shift, mainly responsible for a specific urban defense area.

This system was originally established by Duke Liu Yu of the Song Dynasty.

It decentralized the city defenses, made the purposes of the mission random, and each squad had a different destination to minimize the risk of internal collusion.

This plan had been working well for the Twentieth Great Jin Year; previously, there were hardly any problems with the city defense team.

But now, there was a problem.

The people who arrived at the Martial Spirit Hall in the Southeast District... weren’t there too many?

Wei Gongyu frowned. At a glance, it seemed like there were about a thousand people nearby. According to the three-shift system, wasn’t each shift around a thousand people?

If everyone’s running here, what about the other areas?

"This Wei Gongxing, even this kind of thing he can mess up, what can he actually accomplish? I don’t know how that dog’s luck fell on his head..." muttered a Wei Family youngster beside them. But for some reason, Wei Gongyu suddenly felt an inexplicable unease rise within him.

A sudden chill from his spine made his body go stiff. He had a feeling that something inexplicable had infiltrated their midst.

The Wei Family youngster who was incessantly mocking Wei Gongxing also suddenly shut his mouth. He felt something was off too.

While he was mocking Wei Gongxing, most of the Wei Family youngsters were echoing him.

But for some reason, there was no response now.

When he turned around, puzzled, he was horrified to see more than a dozen of his brothers behind him, their faces numb and stiff, and their blood-red eyes made his skin crawl!