E Mei vaguely understood the meaning behind her words. She hesitated for a moment before saying, "Old Master said that even if Niu Youde didn't die in hell and returned safely, it would still be troublesome. Old Milord said that Niu Youde smashed the Drum of Shaking Heaven in public, which could be said to have destroyed the dignity of the Heavenly Court in public. Emissary Gao is already being merciful by not enforcing the law on the spot. If Niu Youde is placed in an important position later and affects someone's interests, someone will definitely bring up the matter of destroying the Drum of Shaking Heaven. This kind of matter can be big or small. It's not a big matter if no one investigates it, but once someone holds onto it, it will be a big matter related to the dignity of the Heavenly Court. I'm afraid that even His Majesty can't be biased.
Xiahou Chengyu was speechless. Of course, she understood that no matter how outstanding Miao Yi was, it was nothing compared to the Celestial Court's reputation. The Celestial Court's reputation was related to the foundation of the Celestial Court's rule over the world. The Celestial Monarch would not destroy his own foundation. After a long time, she sighed regretfully, "This is the first time I have authority over the imperial harem. I finally have a valiant general under me … What a pity!"
E Mei said softly, "Although there are aspects that add to the glory of this examination, there are also aspects that embarrass the Celestial Court. If it weren't for the fact that there were too many people in the know to hide it, His Majesty would not have let the matter of Niu Youde killing his way in and out of the million-strong army be leaked …"
What was the Celestial Court? The court that controlled the world!
"All of you, scram!"
A dignified and angry voice came from the lofty palace gate. The guards outside the palace immediately stood straight and solemn, and the palace maids who were coming and going were so frightened that they trembled. The coiling dragons and the perching phoenixes all turned around and stared at the voice. In an instant, the entire Heavenly Palace fell silent.
Before long, hundreds of ministers walked out of the hall one after another with solemn expressions on their faces. When they walked down the steps of the main hall, their expressions became calm again. They had long been accustomed to the Celestial Thearch's emotions, and they knew when to be afraid. In the current situation, the law could not punish the masses, so there was nothing to be afraid of.
The idle officials left one after another, and the ones who occupied the main positions were groups of people.
A group of people walked out of the palace doors. The leader of the group, Ying Jiuguang, walked forward with his hands on his abdomen. Suddenly, Heavenly King Ying called out, "Heavenly Origin."
Marquis Tianyuan, who was walking at the back of the crowd, hurried forward and cupped his hands. "Your Highness!"
Ying Jiuguang looked straight ahead and asked, "What's up with that Niu Youde?"
Hearing that, Marquis Tianyuan's heart tightened. There was a saying in the secular world that a county official was not as good as a ruler on the spot. He wouldn't even be this nervous in front of the Sky Emperor, but he was a bit nervous in front of King Ying, because he was a member of this faction. If he left this faction, it would be hard for him to establish himself in the Heaven Court. This faction was led by King Ying, so King Ying only needed to say one word, and a bunch of people in the court would attack him. He could easily lose his position. The Sky Emperor wouldn't do that for no reason.
Lord Tianyuan subconsciously thought that Heavenly King Ying was referring to Niu Youde injuring Heavenly King Ying's granddaughter, Zhan Ruyi, which made Heavenly King Ying lose face. Lord Tianyuan groaned inwardly. He really didn't expect Niu Youde to make such a big move and defeat Zhan Ruyi with just one move.
Marquis Tianyuan, who was following behind Ying Jiuguang, was slightly frightened. He said, "It's all because of my incompetence that Miss Zhan was humiliated. Please calm down, Your Highness."
Ying Jiuguang stopped in his tracks, and the crowd behind him stopped as well. Ying Jiuguang slowly turned to look at Marquis Tianyuan and asked, "Could it be that in your eyes, I'm a narrow-minded person with no tolerance for others?"
Marquis Tianyuan hurriedly said, "No, no! Please calm down, Your Highness!"
Ying Jiuguang knew that he had misunderstood, so he didn't continue to make things difficult for him. Instead, he continued to walk forward. "I'm asking you. Back then, you tried so hard to protect that Niu Youde. Even when I came to ask you for him, you refused. Since you saw that he was a promising talent, why did you let him enter the Hell Trial? To be able to lead an army of a million with a cultivation of Golden Lotus isn't something that can be achieved through martial prowess. He must be someone with both intelligence and courage. Such a promising talent will surely become a capable general in the future! It's easy to raise an army of a thousand, but it's hard to find a good general. Surely you understand this logic. Isn't it a pity to give up so easily? "
So that's why! Marquis Tianyuan was instantly speechless. He thought to himself, 'If that Niu Youde didn't participate in the Hell Trial and didn't encounter such an incident, who would know that he would be able to lead an army of a million? If I knew earlier, would I still need you to tell me? Besides, if Niu Youde didn't show his ability, he would have offended so many people. Under those circumstances, no one would be able to protect him! '
However, some logic couldn't be used to shirk responsibility and argue with one's superior. It wasn't that the superior didn't understand some things, but that the superior didn't want to be laughed at for not recognizing talent. The reason he pointed it out in front of everyone was to make him a scapegoat. Marquis Tianyuan had a hard time explaining himself …
In the rear hall of the Imperial Court, Lord Qing had just returned from the Imperial Court when he saw the Supervisory Left Envoy Sima Wentian and the Supervisory Right Envoy Gao Guan quietly waiting in the rear hall.
The two of them cupped their fists in greeting. When Lord Qing walked past them, he casually asked, "You're back?"
The two of them immediately followed behind him. Gao Guan replied, "Yes!"
After exiting the rear hall and walking up the stairs to the rear palace, Lord Qing asked, "Did you hear what happened in the Imperial Court?"
The Left and Right Envoy Gao Guan replied together, "Yes."
Lord Qing said, "Gao Guan, you were there. Could it be that my Celestial Court's army is so rotten that they can't even stop Niu Youde with 1.8 million soldiers?"
Gao Guan replied, "Your Majesty, it's not that bad. This isn't the fault of the battle! The Xian Zi Road, the Yu Road, the Xu Road, and the Hai Road didn't participate in the battle. They just watched from the sidelines. About 600,000 soldiers were gone. Another thing was that the million soldiers who were confronting Niu Youde weren't his enemies. Most of them were just trying to show off to their masters. There were very few who had the determination to fight Niu Youde to the death. Moreover, most of them were just being coerced by the various forces. No one would really fight with their lives on the line. They were just joining in the fun. Niu Youde, on the other hand, was forced by the situation and had the determination to fight to the death. His momentum was indomitable and unstoppable. The vanguard of the army had never lost a single battle. His advantage was obvious and brought great deterrence to his opponents. With his good equipment and bravery, the morale of the million soldiers who were confronting Niu Youde was already low. Niu Youde charged forward several times and almost no one could stop him. They all retreated. That was how Niu Youde was able to kill his way in and out of the million soldiers! Most importantly, the million soldiers are just a motley crew. They aren't of one mind and have their own plans. Their main purpose is to pass the assessment. If they were to really fight against the official Celestial Court's army, they would be able to take down Niu Youde with just 10,000 soldiers! "
"Mm!" Hearing his words, Qing Zhu slowly nodded. His expression softened a little, then he asked, "You said we need 10,000 soldiers to take him down. What kind of soldiers are these 10,000 soldiers?"
Gao Guan replied, "The assessment standard is 10,000 Golden Lotus cultivators."
Qing Zhu stopped in his tracks. He turned around and asked, "Niu Youde is also a Golden Lotus cultivator, isn't he? Can't a regular army of 1,000 soldiers take him down?"
Gao Guan replied, "In this humble subject's opinion, if we don't use any transcendent artifacts and fight him head-on, not to mention 1,000 soldiers, even 5,000 soldiers wouldn't be able to stop him. This Niu Youde is indeed brave and skilled in battle. With a spear in his hand, he has the courage of 10,000 men. It will be difficult to take him down unless it's an army of 10,000 soldiers surrounding him. He can easily break out of the encirclement!"
Beside him, Sima Wentian exclaimed, "He's actually that brave?"
Gao Guan nodded. "Yes! He is indeed brave. If he wasn't so brave, how would he dare to kill his way through an army of a million soldiers? "
Qing Zhu stroked his beard and nodded. "If that's the case, he is indeed a valiant general. He has some of the demeanor of the Fire Asura back in the day. He does live up to his reputation of being able to kill his way through an army of a million soldiers. Given time, when his cultivation base improves, I will have another valiant general under my command. Once I release him to quell the rebellion, he will be another sharp sword that can cut off the enemy's head … Gao Guan, isn't it a pity to put him in the hell assessment?"
"Indeed. Unfortunately, I didn't know he was this brave in the beginning. It is indeed a pity to put such a valiant general in Hell as a spy and not be able to grow." After Gao Guan agreed, he immediately cupped his fists and said, "Changing your orders every now and then will damage Your Imperial Majesty's prestige. If Your Imperial Majesty easily transfers Niu Youde back, I'm afraid that the other nobles will have a reason to follow suit. It will easily cause the reorganization plan to fall short of success. Why don't this humble subject step forward and say that Niu Youde is a spy sent to Hell by the Right Division? Your Imperial Majesty, this humble subject requests that Niu Youde be transferred to this humble subject's Right Division! "
Sima Wentian, who was at the side, immediately looked up at the sky and rolled his eyes. He slowly said, "Why does he have to be transferred to your Right Division? Can't he be transferred to my Left Division?"
"..." Qing Zhu was speechless. As long as one wasn't an idiot, one could see that Gao Guan was taking the opportunity to get a capable subordinate under him.
But to Qing Zhu, a mere Niu Youde was not even worth mentioning compared to his reorganization plan of the Heavenly Court. He pointed at Gao Guan and laughed, "Gao Guan, oh Gao Guan, Wentian, it seems that this Niu Youde is indeed outstanding. Even our Emissary of the Right is interested in him. If you really want him, then wait until the examination is over. If he can survive, you can talk to the Heaven Empress yourself. Niu Youde is now a subordinate of the Heaven Empress. As long as the Heaven Empress agrees, I have no objections. "
This was equivalent to a tactful rejection.
Who knew that Sima Wentian would speak again, "Emissary Gao, I heard that Niu Youde smashed the Sky Shaking Drum and humiliated the dignity of the Heavenly Court. I wonder why Emissary Gao acted as if he didn't see it? Could it be that Emissary Gao disregarded the dignity of the Heavenly Court because of his selfishness? "
As soon as he said this, Qing Zhu also looked at Gao Guan from the corner of his eyes.
Emperors liked to play with this kind of balance. If the entire intelligence system of the Heavenly Court was controlled by one person, it would be a little scary. Hence, they created two people who were not easy to deal with to control the Left and Right Division to maintain a balance. Otherwise, if the Left and Right Messengers worked together to deceive the Heavenly Emperor, no matter how high his cultivation was, it would be easy for him to be deceived.
Gao Guan calmly said, "In the situation at that time, no one would think that Niu Youde could survive. Since he was already a dead man, there was no need for me to make such a big fuss. However, what happened after was truly unexpected. If I didn't stop Niu Youde at that time, do you think it's appropriate to execute Niu Youde after that?"
Sima Wentian: "Whether it's appropriate or not is not my concern. I only ask you, why didn't you execute Niu Youde?"
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