Chapter 1441: Eighty-Plus Times

The sun was slowly setting in the west, and He Lingchuan and his companion finally left the Eye of Heaven Teahouse.

"How vivid and engaging!" Dong Rui clapped again. This was his third round of applause in half an hour; the previous two times, he had joined the rest of the audience. "If I hadn't been there the whole time, I really would have believed his nonsense!"

The storyteller had spent half an hour recounting tales of Emperor Jiuyou, and apart from achievements like killing Zhao Guangzhi, everything else was completely distorted!

With a glib tongue, stories are entirely fabricated.

When this storyteller spoke of Emperor Jiuyou, the focus was surprisingly entirely on scandalous unofficial histories: for instance, the younger sister-in-law from East City offered herself to him, and the widow from West Village sacrificed herself, pleading for him to avenge her and eliminate evil.

It had both vivid details and unexpected twists.

The tea drinkers below the stage listened with great relish, and people continuously offered tips. This was hardly about swift vengeance; it was clearly the life they yearned for!

Even He Lingchuan himself sat there, listening to four or five of his own romantic escapades before finally getting up and leaving.

He even clapped once.

"It's no wonder the legend of the Black Armored Army has become like this in Yao State; the Yao people have little reverence for Emperor Jiuyou." He Lingchuan had just asked a few old tea drinkers, who said that when storytellers here spoke of Emperor Jiuyou, they rarely maintained a serious tone.

He could clearly sense the country's rejection of him.

It seemed to instinctively sense that the legend of the Black Armored Army was disadvantageous to it, and thus distorted it as much as possible.

"Soon enough, they will," Dong Rui said with a smile. "There's one fundamental fact they can't distort—"

"Emperor Jiuyou killed Xue Zongwu and Qi Yunsheng!"

In a few more days, this matter would spread like wildfire throughout the city, sowing the seeds of true reverence in the hearts of Tianhui City's people.

Ironclad facts are more potent than any flowery words.

They can shatter illusions built on lies.

He Lingchuan smiled, then said, "The Left Patriarch of Luodian is also attending the Yao King's birthday celebration. I wonder if he received an invitation."

"He can come even without an invitation," Dong Rui said dismissively. "If someone brings you a gift for your birthday, could you really have the nerve to kick them out?"

"It wouldn't go that far," He Lingchuan replied, "but the relationship between Luodian and Yao State has always been poor."

Dong Rui bought a serving of sour yogurt from a street vendor, served in a lotus leaf wrapper and topped with sweet syrup and dried fruit. "Luodian State sending their Left Patriarch shows they're truly unafraid," he remarked. "Qu Ruhai must have killed many Yao State people."

"Judging by Qu Ruhai's attitude," He Lingchuan said, "the Luodian people don't show much respect for Yao State. After all, there's generations of animosity between them."

In the Glittering Gold Plains, Luodian State's history has also seen its ups and downs. Over 160 years ago, when the nine major powers of the plains besieged Yao State, two forces defected mid-battle, leading to the hasty end of the great war. One was the Ying Clan, to which Axun belonged; the other was Luodian State.

Due to this betrayal, the Ying Clan was no longer tolerated in the central Glittering Gold Plains; later, with the emergence of the Luosheng Armor, the Ying Clan had to migrate far away to another land. Luodian State, on the other hand, encountered five consecutive years of natural disasters, forcing them to plunder everywhere, which provoked their neighbors to unite in anger.

At this time, Luodian State was experiencing internal division, with internal strife and external threats simultaneously erupting. It collapsed in less than two years.

According to the information provided by Mount Ling, Yao State had a hand in Luodian State's demise back then.

Luodian State, over 160 years ago, was domineering but short-sighted and easily fell victim to Yao State's schemes.

The current Luodian State was re-established forty years ago by descendants of Luodian. It does not continue the reign of the former dynasty, so it's perfectly fine to call it "Later Luodian."

Other small states on the Glittering Gold Plains have risen and fallen within a century or two, so how could they speak of restoration? The descendants of Luodian numbered merely sixty thousand, yet they were able to re-establish their state a century after its fall. How could the reasons behind this be summarized simply as "luck"?

Mount Ling made it very clear that one of the most important reasons was Beijia.

Luodian's restoration has always received covert support from Beijia.

Otherwise, how could Yao State tolerate a threat developing right under its nose?

After Luodian State gradually matured, it finally began to show its true colors again, occasionally clashing and competing with Yao State.

These two countries thus began another period of entanglement, as if history were repeating itself, renewing the old grievances from over 160 years ago.

As for why Yao State, as the overlord of the Glittering Gold Plains, didn't nip this hidden danger in the bud and couldn't keep Luodian State submissive, these are enduring topics that political commentators both inside and outside the Glittering Gold Plains love to discuss.

This time, the Luodian ruler sent the Left Patriarch to congratulate the Yao King on his birthday precisely because they were certain the Yao King wouldn't lay a hand on Qu Ruhai.

Therefore, Qu Ruhai's words were somewhat unbridled.

The two chatted as they walked and soon returned to the inn.

Wanqiu Feng was already waiting there. As soon as He Lingchuan saw his demeanor, he knew there was intelligence to report.

He personally moved a chair over.

"Sit," he said.

Wanqiu Feng sat down as instructed. Dong Rui casually handed him a cup of pepper wine, which he had brought back in a gourd from the tavern.

Wanqiu Feng was unprepared; he choked after half a sip, coughing incessantly and nearly bringing tears to his eyes.

The taste was truly potent.

"No rush, take your time," He Lingchuan said.

Wanqiu Feng recovered, then said, "I've received news that the Black Armored Army's operations rumored in the central Glittering Gold Plains have increased to over eighty instances."

Dong Rui poured himself a cup of tea to rinse his mouth. "That's too fast, isn't it?" he exclaimed. "When we left Jucheng, it was clearly only a little over thirty times."

More accurately, including the killing of Xue Zongwu, the total was thirty-three times.

He Lingchuan said meaningfully, "Rumors, you know, always grow with retelling."

The Black Armored Army has launched thirty-six operations to date, but the more frequent their actions, the harder it is for outsiders to accurately tally them. Therefore, when the storytellers and opera troupes of the Yangshan Chamber of Commerce promoted and dramatized the events, they slightly exaggerated the number of instances and their achievements.

It was... exaggerated by about half.

The rest was left to the rumors to spread on their own; the wider they spread, the more inflated the numbers became.

Anyway, no one could truly verify the facts and list every single instance.

Wanqiu Feng whispered, "The two most recent instances, I hear, were in Qingye and Xiaojiao."

Dong Rui looked at He Lingchuan, who shook his head slightly.

Every Black Armored Army operation had its targets and locations personally selected by him. However, there were no targets he had designated in Qingye and Xiaojiao!

Which meant—

"Impostors?"

If the Weng brothers could falsely use Emperor Jiuyou's name and the Mubang Clan could claim to be the Black Armored Army, then it seemed not at all strange for more people to act on their own, using the banners of the Black Armored Army and Emperor Jiuyou.

"Were the ones killed all evil people?"

"In four or five instances," Wanqiu Feng confirmed, "the deceased truly brought harm to their local communities, either by oppressing men and women or by colluding with officials. Perhaps they weren't extremely wicked, but their reputations were all poor."

Dong Rui chuckled, "It seems someone is taking revenge in the name of the Black Armored Army."

"It was bound to happen sooner or later," He Lingchuan said, not displeased by this development.

Emperor Jiuyou and the Black Armored Army, through their repeated actions, continuously warned everyone that evil people were neither invulnerable nor unconquerable.