"Pay homage to the lord! Pay homage to the nobleman!"
Ji Chang led many of his sons and civil and military ministers to greet the distant arrivals of Yin Hong, the fox spirit, and Hong Jin, thirty miles outside the city.
Yin Hong's status is not a problem. Many people know him. Other than Wang Shu, the king uncle who was killed, he is indeed the sole heir of the Yin Dynasty at present.
Before, when Wen Zong was worried about the fox spirit's demonic energy overflowing and causing ridicule from her fellow students, he did not consult the fox spirit and simply brutally inserted an upper Qing amulet to suppress the demonic energy within her. Now, unless someone's Dao is higher than that of Wen Zong and breaks this upper Qing amulet, Baixiu Fox Spirit will be nothing more than an ordinary woman from the inside out.
That means the ones who have arrived in Xigui are the crown prince of Yin and the Hu family with the title of noble.
Although Yin Hong and Hong Jin are both practitioners of the same field, Xigui places great importance on etiquette. In order to protect his own territory, Yin Hong gave the nine-tailed fox spirit to Hong Jin, allowing them to still play together in private, but in public settings, Hong Jin and Hu are considered a couple.
The two also composed a story of a young boy and girl who grew up together, then the young boy went to seek immortality, and the young girl was sent into the palace. They have only recently met again.
Ji Chang, at ninety years old, immediately saw that there was a problem between them, but said nothing.
The old man gave up his Xibeihou mansion for them to rest, and then gathered his sons and civil and military officials for consultation.
Ji Fa was dissatisfied; with the situation in Xigui looking very favorable, the sudden arrival of the crown prince of Yin has, in an invisible way, placed a yoke on their heads.
He said, "It would be better to send them back to the capital city of Yin."
Boyi Ke shook his head: "It's not right. The Second Prince traveled a thousand miles to invest in Xigui, trusting the virtue of my father. We can proclaim the Second Prince and command all lords and princes of the world to go to Zhaoge, eliminate the traitor Fu Zhen and Youhun, uphold the social fabric of Yin Dynasty."
Ji Fa furrowed his brow. He did not want to uphold anything called the Yin Dynasty's social order, but he couldn't say that.
At present, Xigui has been fighting with Yin Dynasty for more than three years, but it has not officially declared rebellion.
In the true history, Ji Chang, even with two-thirds of the land of the Shang Kingdom, was still a vassal of Yin Dynasty. It was only after Ji Chang's death and Ji Fa's succession that the Zhou Dynasty was established.
The current situation is almost the same. Ji Chang has been hesitant to take that final step.
Does he want to take that step? In fact, Ji Chang himself did not have this idea. He is already ninety years old, how many more days can he live?
Leaving behind a good reputation is what matters most.
But during these three years, with the continuous infusion from Deng Chanyu's side and the West Qixi's internal efforts to tap into potential, their external situation has improved from being as fragile as a pile of eggs to being as stable as Mount Qi now. The hearts and spirits of the civil and military officials and many of their sons are all different from what they were at the beginning. Everyone hopes that Ji Chang will take a further step forward.
Just as he was about to lose control of the general will, Yin Hong arrived.
Boyi Ke, who valued filial piety, recognized his father's predicament and thus came up with the "conquer the country to govern the world" slogan.
Let the old man continue to be a loyal subject, and he will deal with it later. He considers himself not greedy for power.
Ji Chang sought the opinions of the civil and military officials, and finally officially announced that Yin Hong, the sole heir of the Shang Dynasty, was in Xigui. Xigui was not a rebellious minister; on the contrary, it was a great loyal subject. They were to remove the traitors from the throne! This statement was also provided to them by Nanjun.
Yin Hong directly appeared in the city of Xigui, publicly announced that his father Yin Shou was controlled by the traitors Fu Zhen and Youhun, and now the will could not leave the Palace of Longevity. This time he came to Xigui was to issue a command for the West Qixi to raise an army and support the king.
Under the banner of King Zhou, he appointed Ji Chang as the Prime Minister, Grand Master of the Ancestral Shrine, and Marquis of Zhou, making him the head of all officials with the right to command the eight hundred lords of the realm.
Then the appointments began.
Boyi Ke is the Prince of Zhou, the heir to the Prince of Zhou, and General-in-Chief.
Hong Jin is the General of the Eastern Campaign, the Marquis of Song, Ji Fa is the General of the Western Campaign, the Marquis of Qin, and Ji Dan is the General of the Northern Campaign, the Marquis of Jin. The remaining civil and military officials were promoted one or two levels.
Once again, the black-bottomed white-striped Tianming Yini Flag was raised on the city head of Xigui.
After taking the position of Grand Chancellor of Great Shang, Ji Chang immediately wrote a letter to Nanjin, expressing his sincerity and reasonableness. We are also vassals of Yin Dynasty now. Will you please raise an army to help us?
Then the news they received was similar to what Fei Zhong had told King Zhou before.
Deng Jiugong and Deng Xiu were in the capital city of Zhaogong, Deng Chanyu had gone to cultivate her skills outside, she was not at home!
After repeated inquiries, no one knew where Deng Chanyu had gone, and indeed she was not in Nanjin.
Ji Chang was left only with astonishment.
What is the ruling system in Nanjun now? True, wuwei (lit. "action without action")?
There is no ruler above, and the subjects and common people below manage themselves?
This has become so idealistic as to be absurd!
When Zhou heard that Yin Hong had arrived in Xigui, not only did he issue orders to give Yin Hong titles, but he also planned to launch an army to recapture Zhaogong. That was an outrageous anger. Fei Zhong and Youhun also felt that they were wronged. What have we done, we should be killed?
The monarch and the minister calculated that, in fact, there was no need for calculation. The father-son relationship had reached this point, and the conflict was already beyond reconciliation.
Deng Chanyu is still not at home. The military forces in Nanjun cannot be mobilized because you don't know who to look for.
It is impossible to send Deng Jiugong and Deng Xiu back.
Shou Wang didn't beat around the bush this time. Since the irregular troops were useless, he decided to deploy the regular troops.
He sent Zhang Guifang, the general of Qinglong Pass, to lead an army of a hundred thousand to subdue Xigui.
Zhang Guifang's "Huming Luomai" was incredibly strange. It instantly caused three generals of Xigui to fall off their horses, including one of Ji Chang's sons who had just been appointed General of the Eastern Campaign, Hong Jin. He was caught off guard and fell off his horse, receiving a shot on his arm that could have endangered his neck. Fortunately, he managed to run back to his own camp.
Zhang Guifang's Dao Arts, military strategies, and martial arts were all very strong. His troops were the genuine and well-trained elite troops of Yin Dynasty. Xigui found it quite challenging to cope with this. Another round of bloody battles unfolded at the foot of Mount Qi.
Deng Chanyu and Long Ji worked in the Douratu Palace for seventy-seven days, together refining the Demon Zhu Rong. The process was extremely smooth, and with this refinement, the body of the Ancestor Witch Zhu Rong was completely vanquished.
A seven-day fire rain fell within the Three Realms to bid farewell to this ancestral fire deity.
Afterward, the earth's veins and essences of Qihuang rose by one degree, and the fire element of heaven and earth also became richer by one degree.
Unfortunately, there was no merit bestowed this time. After the refining was completed, not even ashes remained; the energy within the Ancestor Witch's essence had returned to heaven and earth.
According to Deng Chanyu's estimate, if she had been in charge of the whole thing and made the "plan" more attractive, she should have been able to obtain merits. However, the person in charge was the Supreme Old Man, and one cannot ignore his wuwei (lit. "action without action") because he is more talkative than the Supreme Saint. This merit had to be set aside.
After finishing the work, the Supreme Old Man continued to meditate with his eyes closed. They bowed and said goodbye.
They were brought in directly by the Supreme Old Man when they came, so it was impossible to expect the Supreme Old Man to send them off as well. They didn't have that kind of face, so the two of them had to walk out themselves.
