Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan Chapter 1880: 1409: Pending Fix
Previously on Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan...
Nearly two hours had ticked by since Li Zhirui dispatched a band of Rangers to scatter letters and Memory Stones far and wide. It was only then that the Confucian faction jolted awake like dreamers, sending out disciples to snatch up those materials.
Yet just as the Confucian faction started to regain their composure, the Legalist faction, Military Family, and merchants launched their moves with swift urgency.
To avoid a full-blown clash with the Confucian faction and the risk of later vengeance, considering their lingering might.
As a result, they refrained from getting directly involved. Mimicking Li Zhirui's approach, they recruited bands of ordinary folk to broadly circulate the scandalous misdeeds of the Confucian faction across counties near the Capital City.
The Confucian faction hadn't even tackled the chaos in the royal capital and Capital City when waves of grim reports poured in from surrounding counties.
In an instant, the Confucian faction found themselves overwhelmed and scattered, desperate to stamp out blazes in all directions, yet utterly unable to douse them anytime soon.
“It’s terrible! It’s terrible! Something terrible has happened!”
Right then, a Confucian disciple stumbled inside, his hair wild and robes ripped, his expression twisted in terror, as he blurted, “Gentlemen, Green Mountain Academy, White Crane Academy, Sea View Academy, and eight other academies in the city are surrounded by massive crowds of people, chanting… chanting…”
“What are they shouting?” a certain Great Confucian demanded in a grave tone.
The disciple faltered a few times before murmuring, “Burn these harmful places!”
Plop——
A handful of silver-haired elders, at those words, sensed their chests tighten like vices, their frames quaking as they toppled limply rearward.
Thankfully, seats stood directly behind them, and attendants on both sides lunged forward to brace them, sparing them a harsh tumble to the floor.
“Harmful places? Hahahahaha…”
An elder erupted in laughter, though it carried tones of utter bleakness and hopelessness, his respiration fading into frailty.
There is no greater grief than a dead heart!
For these veterans who had poured their very essence into upholding Confucian principles, who could have dreamed of facing such a verdict someday?
This struck as a total rejection of themselves, and of the endless line of Confucian sages that preceded them!
Fortuitously, companions were close by to secure him in time, preventing an actual collapse into death from sheer anguish!
“Whose plot is this, it seeks to rip out our Confucian roots entirely!”
The assembly brimmed with frantic worry, yet beyond seizing those letters and Memory Stones, no other countermeasures sprang to mind.
With so much delay already, they had no idea how far the rumors had reached, as they kept multiplying unchecked, impossible to halt.
“What we need to do now is quickly quell this public anger.”
All at once, a mild voice filled the chamber.
“Saint Meng! Why have you emerged?” The group stood to pay respects.
Daqian's Confucian faction counts seven Saints overall, though five wander distant lands, leaving just two based in Daqian. They seldom venture out, often absorbed in authoring tomes or unraveling ancient scrolls.
Besides Saint Meng Jun now present, the remaining one bore the name Du Ji.
“We sensed a violent fluctuation in the Confucian luck, if not handled well, the Confucian faction might truly decline from this!” A further voice sounded, revealing the arrival of the other saint, Du Ji.
Horror gripped everyone at this revelation; they hadn't grasped the peril's depth, believing the uproar would subside and order restore itself in time.
“Saint Meng, Saint Du, we implore you to quickly take action to save the Confucian faction!”
“We beg you, saints!”
The crowd implored with woeful cries, yearning for the duo's intervention; no matter their private doubts, none desired the faction's downfall.
“Although using force to suppress is highly efficient, it would only backfire, making the populace loathe the Confucian faction more, so we cannot act.”
Meng Jun shook his head, turning down the plea, before adding: “At the start, I told you the solution, which is to quell public anger.”
“Publicly admit mistakes and promise everyone that the disciples who made mistakes previously will be punished by the Confucian faction, and return the land in Guan Province to those deprived citizens.”
“This…”
At this suggestion, a good many in attendance lapsed into doubt.
Themselves, or their kin, had relentlessly drawn profits from Guan Province, and to hand them over now? It pierced like blades slicing into their own flesh, the agony intense.
“Hmm? Do you have any objections?” Du Ji’s icy gaze swept the room, instantly charging the space with a heavy, stifling pressure.
Before the pair of saints, submission was their sole path, for defiance promised grim outcomes!
“Who do you think set this in motion? Could it be that Venerable Emperor?” Once the others departed, Du Ji inquired.
“Unknown, but surely his handiwork is among it, and several doctrines also joined in, aiming to add insult to injury, otherwise how could it cause such a stir?”
“Ha! I never thought our Confucian faction could be so valued, it makes me feel quite honored!”
He must never find out who the mastermind behind this is, or he would definitely not let them off!
…
On the other side.
Li Zhirui lingered in a visitor's quarters, peering down at the avenues beneath, packed with fervent throngs, a grin of contentment blooming on his lips.
The core aim of his Daqian training expedition had at last been fulfilled, imperfect in execution perhaps, but successfully wrapped up regardless.