Chapter 652: Who is the Traitor?
It was in a small county town near the prefecture capital of Yongning Prefecture that a family named Chen took in the last survivor of the Jiang Clan. They were descendants of loyal ministers of the Daqi Kingdom, but when the court’s eyes and ears arrived, they wiped out their entire family. This happened thirty-four years ago.
“Li Jin replied.
“Hmph, in the future, this Crown Prince will definitely make the Lin Clan pay a heavy price!”
Jiang Feng took an oath. Although he had known about this for a long time, his anger erupted at this moment.
Qi Huang frowned upon hearing this. She had already killed most of the main members of the Lin Clan, and only a few who deserved to die remained. Moreover, Lin Ran was the emperor she had personally supported, and he had indeed served the country and the people. If Jiang Feng really went to seek revenge, how should she handle it?
“Then let’s start investigating from this family. As long as there are old trees over thirty to forty years old near their home, we should be able to confirm the truth of the matter.”
Mu Ruoyi immediately made a decision.
“Yes, the Chen family once planted a walnut tree in their yard, and it should be sixty to seventy years old now. I checked it again not long ago and found that the old walnut tree is still alive and strong. The new owner is taking good care of it, after all, in this world, food is extremely precious, and such a large walnut tree can bring good economic income.”
Li Jin described the situation of the yard in detail.
“General Li is quite capable, investigating everything clearly.”
Mu Ruoyi was somewhat impressed.
“Saintess, you flatter me. This is my duty.”
General Li said humbly.
“In that case, there is no problem. Let’s go.”
Mu Ruoyi waved her jade hand and beckoned, with the demeanor of a big sister leading the way. Although she had the weakest strength among them, she was the only one who could display non-lingering charm, and naturally, she felt a little proud.
The group then headed towards the small county town. Since their strength was good, it only took them half an hour to reach their destination.
Qi Huang had been accommodating to everyone. If it were just her, she could reach this distance of several hundred li in two or three breaths.
“Your Highness, I’ve always had a question: why did you go to Pingshan Mass Grave at that time?”
Midway, Mu Ruoyi suddenly asked.
“Hehe, it was forced by the situation, we had no choice but to go.”
Jiang Feng smiled helplessly and then began to describe the situation at that time:
“In this world, evil spirits are rampant, and women specifically run to Immortal Sects. For the continuation of their bloodline, Immortal Sects rarely accept ordinary males, which leads to a serious imbalance in the male-female ratio in the mortal world, thus causing many problems, such as safety hazards and a year-on-year decline in the newborn population. This is a problem that rulers of all dynasties must consider, and Daqi Kingdom is no exception.”
“To be honest with you, my Father Emperor formulated three plans to solve this problem. First, to madly provoke neighboring countries and use war to reduce the number of males to achieve a balance between men and women. Second, to find a way to clear out the Immortal Sects in the country, so that women have nowhere to go. Third, to do our best to eliminate the root cause of Yin Energy in the country. As long as the evil spirits are reduced, women will naturally return to the mortal world.”
Jiang Feng’s expression became a little unnatural as he spoke, because he also knew how unspeakable these plans were.
“Hmph, such despicable means again. The so-called royal family is truly birds of a feather.”
Cheng Hong Ling couldn’t help but scold upon hearing this.
“What do you mean?”
Jiang Feng asked with some doubt.
“The reason why Xihui Dynasty was in constant war before was that Lin Tu wanted to eliminate the excess males through war, so he sent people to provoke everywhere, which was exactly the same as your Father Emperor’s idea.”
Qi Huang explained.
“Hmph, then he truly deserved to die.”
Jiang Feng did not defend his Father Emperor, but instead cursed along with him, then continued: “I carefully considered it at the time and found that the first two of the three plans could not be implemented. Although the first one was easy to do, it was inhumane. As for the second one, it was not only difficult but also unjust. Therefore, I advocated the third one, trying my best to eliminate the root cause of Yin Energy in the country.”
“That’s more like a Crown Prince.”
Qi Huang praised him without reservation.
However, it was opposed by most people at the time, because clearing the root cause of Yin Energy in the country was more difficult than clearing out all the Immortal Sects. In their opinion, this was a case of abandoning the fundamental for the superficial.
Jiang Feng laughed at himself.
“But haven’t they thought about it? If there were no Immortal Sects, who would control the evil spirits in Xihui Dynasty? Even if those women returned to the mortal world, they would not have a good end. This is equivalent to murder.”
Mu Ruoyi questioned.
“Indeed, this plan only treats the symptoms but not the root cause, but some rulers only think about how to balance the male-female population in the country. They don’t care about the lives of ordinary people.”
Jiang Feng sneered.
“Moreover, the Immortal Sects have no enmity with the royal family. Why do you go and clear them out?”
Cheng Hong Ling questioned, speaking for the first time in a long time.
“Yes, this is what I said was unjust.
Jiang Feng admitted generously, then continued: “For all these reasons, I firmly advocated the third plan. To boost everyone’s confidence, I personally contacted the Immortal Alliance and also persuaded the Sect Leader of HongHua Sect. The three parties formed a team of several thousand people and then launched an attack on Pingshan Mass Grave.”
“What happened next?”
Mu Ruoyi asked with great interest.
“Later? Later, I personally led the team into Pingshan Mass Grave. It was smooth at first, after all, the evil spirits in the outer layers were weak. But as we went deeper, their strength became stronger and stronger. The attrition of the讨伐 team was very serious, but no one thought of giving up. Everyone advanced with the determination to die.”
Jiang Feng’s face showed a look of relief, but then it became ferocious: “Unexpectedly, an internal traitor appeared in the team at this time. I don’t know who stole the several bottles that stored Cat’s Eye Tears.”
“What?”
All the women showed shock.
“As cultivators, you know the function of Cat’s Eye Tears best. At that time, there were only a handful of cultivators in our team who had reached the Guiyi Realm. Most of them could only rely on Cat’s Eye Tears to see evil spirits. As for warriors, no matter how strong they were, they could not see evil spirits without Cat’s Eye Tears. As a result, the entire army was annihilated.”
Jiang Feng shook his head helplessly.
“Such a campaign is for the country and the people, so how could there be an internal ghost?”
Cheng Hong Ling was bewildered.
“Who isn’t? I still can’t figure it out.”
Jiang Feng frowned.
“Then you didn’t find out who the internal ghost was back then?”
Mu Ruoyi pressed.
“Is it that easy? When my subordinates turned into zombies and regained consciousness, it was already hundreds of years later. How can I investigate after so much time has passed?”
Jiang Feng retorted.
“Then isn’t this a cold case? That internal ghost got off easy.”
Qi Huang said with righteous indignation.
“Yes, if there were no miracles, we would have died in vain.”
Jiang Feng gave a helpless bitter smile.
“In fact, the destruction of Daqi Kingdom is also closely related to this matter. After the Crown Prince died, the several princes fought fiercely for the throne, causing great internal friction, so the Lin Clan had an opportunity to take advantage of it.”
General Li next to him interjected.
“There is such an inside story.”
Qi Huang was very surprised.
“No, how could I have forgotten that incident.”
At this moment, Jiang Feng suddenly became excited and patted his forehead, saying, “That white dog said it knows the internal ghost of that time.”
“White dog? Who is it?”
Everyone asked in confusion.
“It’s Zhen Feiyan’s pet, Bai Yun. It has strong strength and is a local zombie. It’s very likely to know about this matter!”
Jiang Feng explained, then turned to beg Qi Huang: “I remember that Bai Yun wasn’t your ‘wolf-slave’? How about I ask you to help me ask? Please!”
“No need to beg, it’s just a small effort.”
Qi Huang agreed readily. Although this zombie Crown Prince looked lecherous and arrogant, his character was impeccable. She was willing to help.
Qi Huang then took Bai Yun out of her Storage Ring. It wasn’t that she mistreated her pet, but rather that the Yin Energy in Huang Tian Prefecture was getting less and less, and it was uncomfortable for the evil spirits to stay outside.
“What is it? I’m sleeping!”
Bai Yun yawned impatiently. She felt that she was just a “wolf-slave,” not a pet, and there was no need to be servile.
“When this guy was campaigning in Pingshan Mass Grave back then, there was an internal traitor in the team. Didn’t you say you knew who that person was? Can you tell us?”
Qi Huang asked concisely.
“I am a four-eared wolf with sharp hearing, so naturally, I know who the internal traitor is, but the problem is why should I tell you?”
Bai Yun sneered, a very human-like expression of contempt on her wolf face.
