Generous gift? Black Peony didn't know and was a little puzzled.
Shang Chaozong and the others were more or less startled. They recalled that Daoye did mention this before he went into seclusion. Now that they thought about it, they were all shocked.
Lan Ruoting was bewildered. "Daoye, could it be that the arrival of the Sect Masters was the generous gift that Daoye was referring to?"
Niu Youdao smiled and asked, "Could it be that the Sect Masters came to assist the Prince in seizing the South Prefecture … and Mister Lan thinks that the gift is not good enough?"
"No, no, no! Generous gift, it's definitely a generous gift! " Lan Ruoting quickly waved his hand and didn't know how to describe it for a moment. He explained, "I just think … could it be that Daoye had planned this step from the beginning?"
Niu Youdao shook his head. "The situation has changed. The gift that I was referring to wasn't this. I just took advantage of the situation. In short, it won't be any worse than before."
Lan Ruoting let out a breath of relief. He thought that Lan Ruoting had predicted this day from the beginning. If it was true, then this person's stratagem was too terrifying.
The Shang siblings also let out a breath of relief. They were also frightened just now.
Even though they were relieved, the emotions in their hearts were still indescribable.
Swindling Feng Ruonan into marriage, borrowing troops from Guangyi County, establishing a foothold in Canglu County, persuading Hai Ruyue to invade and occupy Qingshan County, and now, attracting the help of the Sects to seize the South Prefecture. This series of steps was truly breathtaking.
They had no choice but to admit that Niu Youdao had completely changed their fates. Back then, the two siblings were preparing to flee overseas through a secret passageway. Back then, when they fled the capital city like stray dogs, who would have thought that such a day would come?
Back then, they borrowed troops from Feng Lingbo. Now, they were going to seize Feng Lingbo's painstaking efforts without shedding a drop of blood. How could they not be emotional?
They reckoned that the Heavenly Jade Clan was not in a hurry to inform Feng Lingbo of this matter. If Feng Lingbo were to find out about this, how would he feel?
Shang Shuqing couldn't help but take a few more glances at Yuan Gang, who was behind Niu Youdao. She still remembered what Yuan Gang had said to her at Nanshan Temple. Every word was still ringing in her ears: I know what you and your sister are thinking. You think that Daoye's cultivation isn't high, but that's because you have eyes but can't see the golden inlaid jade. In your situation, Daoye is more important than his cultivation. You've asked the wrong person to stay!
Now that he recalled these words, he truly understood how precious each and every one of the taciturn Yuan Gang's words were!
Now, everything had verified what Yuan Gang had said. It could be seen that the person who truly understood Daoye was still Yuan Gang, and it could be seen that Yuan Gang had indeed sincerely pointed out a bright path for them!
Now that he thought about it, Shang Shuqing felt a lingering fear and rejoiced. If he had missed it back then, how could the siblings be where they are today? At least, no matter what, they couldn't have risen so quickly. It had only been half a year since they left the capital!
After putting aside the generous gifts, Shang Chaozong asked for his opinion, "Daoye, Hai Ruyue has already urged us a few times."
Niu Youdao asked, "Why is she urging us?"
Shang Chaozong said, "She's anxious to see the results of Ying Yang and Wu Lie Graud. I can understand her feelings. She's worried that if something happens to her son, the Xiao Family will no longer owe her a favor, and the Ten Thousand Heavenly Caves Mansion will do something unpredictable to her at any time. Thus, she's anxious to see the strength that can support her. This king can understand her feelings, but this matter can't be rushed. Training troops isn't something that can be done in a day, and there are many restrictions. Since it's cavalry, a large number of warhorses is indispensable. Just this condition alone is difficult to achieve in a short period of time. "
Niu Youdao pondered for a moment, "Our current conditions are limited. Prince doesn't need to pay attention to her. Just proceed at a pace that you can control."
Lan Ruoting interrupted, "Does Daoye mean to give up on Hai Ruyue's side?"
Niu Youdao shook his head slightly, "From the looks of it, no one in charge of Jinzhou is as beneficial to Prince as Hai Ruyue. In short, Prince doesn't need to worry about this matter. Prince just needs to concentrate on his own matters. I'll deal with Hai Ruyue. I have my own ways to appease her."
Hearing his words, the few of them felt that this trouble was no longer a problem.
After a long discussion, they mainly discussed the next step. Niu Youdao gave many instructions to Shang Chaozong, and Shang Chaozong nodded from time to time, noting down Niu Youdao's instructions.
Knowing that Niu Youdao was tired from the long journey, the few of them didn't disturb him for too long. After a short discussion, they took their leave!
Niu Youdao personally went out to send them off. Even though Shang Chaozong and the others repeatedly said that they didn't need to send them off, Niu Youdao still abided by some rules and sent Shang Chaozong and the others out of the main door. He didn't want Shang Chaozong to think that he was arrogant because he took credit for it.
He spent so much effort and took such a big risk to support Shang Chaozong. He didn't want to see him turn against him. It wouldn't cost him much to walk a few more steps politely.
After watching them leave, Niu Youdao turned around and whispered, "Keep the matter of Snowy Mountain to yourself. Don't tell anyone about it."
Black Peony nodded, "Yes!"
Yuan Fang was puzzled. What was the matter of Snowy Mountain?
Yuan Gang was silent. He understood that it seemed that Daoye didn't want the Shang siblings to know about it. Although he supported them, Daoye still had a trick up his sleeves!
Black Peony tried asking again, "Daoye, if there's nothing else, wash up and rest."
Niu Youdao nodded. After Black Peony left to prepare, Niu Youdao asked Yuan Fang, "Old Xiong, how's that Lu Shengzhong doing?"
Yuan Fang snickered, "He's alive and well. He's been locked up all this time."
Seeing that Yuan Fang was smiling strangely, Niu Youdao said, "Bring me to him."
Yuan Fang led him straight to the courtyard where the monks of Nanshan Temple lived.
As they walked under the eaves, they passed by a few rooms with open windows. Every time they passed by a room, Niu Youdao would look inside and see that the monks were still bald and focused on copying scriptures.
This scene made Niu Youdao secretly shake his head. Needless to say, the fact that so many monks weren't tempted by the outside world definitely had something to do with Yuan Fang's teaching skills.
Obviously, Yuan Fang was still thinking about revitalizing Nanshan Temple. No matter how many things they had experienced, no matter how much they had seen and how much prosperity they had, Yuan Fang's original intentions were still the same!
Regarding this, Niu Youdao didn't know whether he should admire him or give him a kick or two. You're following me, but your heart is with Buddha. What's the meaning of this?
Yet you can't say anything about this. Can you say that Yuan Fang is disloyal? It's useless even if you have an opinion about the illusory Buddha. If you say it out loud, you'll be the one being unreasonable!
Niu Youdao also knew that this was Yuan Fang's belief. Many years ago, Nanshan Temple had adopted him when he was young and didn't let him starve to death in the mountains or be harmed by wild beasts. Yuan Fang was using his entire life to repay this debt. What else could he say? Should he tell Yuan Fang not to repay this debt?
He couldn't tolerate ungrateful people around him, so there was no other way. He reckoned that there would be a group of monks around him for a long time. He could just treat it as a group of people chanting sutras and praying for him.
However, he felt a little weird with a group of monks around him. He never thought that this day would come even in his two lifetimes.
Yuan Fang led him to a cellar and waved his hand to signal the guarding monk to open the cellar.
As soon as the cellar's floor was opened, a foul stench assailed his nostrils. Niu Youdao frowned.
The two monks walked down the stairs of the cellar. Soon, the clanking sound of iron chains could be heard from the cellar.
Lu Shengzhong, with his limbs chained, stood in front of Niu Youdao. Niu Youdao couldn't recognize him at all. His hair was disheveled and his face was dirty. His face was so dirty that it was unrecognizable. It was as if there was a layer of something on his face. His clothes were so dirty that it was unsightly.
Lu Shengzhong couldn't help but raise his hand to scratch his head. Niu Youdao's eyes flickered. He could clearly see some bugs crawling out from Lu Shengzhong's hair. His expression instantly twitched.
In addition to the foul stench on his body, Niu Youdao rubbed his nose and frowned. "Let him wash up and change into a clean set of clothes. Bring him to see me tomorrow."
He wanted to talk to Lu Shengzhong, but he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to avoid Lu Shengzhong in this situation. Most importantly, he couldn't talk to Lu Shengzhong when he smelled so bad. Choking!
Yuan Fang immediately waved his hand to signal the monks to do as he was told.
Niu Youdao noticed that Lu Shengzhong was crying when he heard this. Tears flowed down his cheeks.
On the way back, Niu Youdao asked Yuan Fang, "What happened to him?"
Yuan Fang's reasoning was very simple. Daoye had instructed him not to let Lu Shengzhong escape. He was also afraid that there would be an accident along the way, so he instructed the monks of Nanshan Temple to prevent any accidents from happening.
To put it bluntly, the iron chains on Lu Shengzhong's body were never removed. Ever since Lu Shengzhong was captured, he never washed up. He ate, drank, and defecated wherever he was locked up. He didn't even change his clothes. It would be a wonder if he didn't stink …
"Sigh!"
Lan Ruoting, who had returned to the main hall of the Prefectural Governor's Residence, suddenly let out a long sigh.
Shang Chaozong, who had taken his seat, asked, "Why is Mister sighing?"
Lan Ruoting shook his head and smiled bitterly. "If it wasn't for the fear of offending Daoye, I would really like to go to Little Temple Village to take a look. It's already rare for a mountain village to produce someone like Yuan Gang. To think that they could produce a monster like Daoye at such a young age. I'm deeply ashamed of Teacher's many years of teaching. I'm afraid Teacher would also lament if he were still alive … "
He shook his head and stopped himself from saying anything disrespectful to Teacher. He sighed again. "He's too young. How could it be possible, regardless of life experience or knowledge? I can't imagine it … There are indeed talented people in every generation. I can't help but be impressed. Perhaps this is the legendary genius! "
Shang Shuqing comforted him. "Mister is too modest. Everyone has their own strengths. Mister is good at military strategy and government affairs. Daoye has never touched them. It's obvious that this is not what Daoye is good at. In this aspect, Daoye is definitely not as good as Mister."
"Sigh!" Lan Ruoting waved his hand, looking as if he didn't want to talk about it. He calmed his emotions and said in a low voice, "Prince, I'm thinking about something. Daoye has always been helping us, but we've never given him anything. This is not a long-term solution. The cultivation resources that we promised him …"
He didn't finish his words, but the Shang siblings understood what he meant. The resources that they promised were basically taken by the Heavenly Jade School. To a certain extent, they had reneged on their promise.
Shang Chaozong gritted his teeth. "It's not right if we don't do something. No matter how difficult it is, we have to squeeze some money out. He has people by his side. We can't not even have basic expenses. Let's think of a way to squeeze out ten thousand gold coins!"
It wasn't that he was stingy. Instead, the people of Qingshan County were already destitute. In addition, when the original army of Qingshan County retreated, they had swept away all the major sects that could be swept away. There were too many things that needed to be spent here. Time was still short, and their vitality could not recover in a short period of time. It was already difficult for the Heavenly Jade School to help them conquer Qingshan County. It was impossible for them to provide financial resources now.
Lan Ruoting said awkwardly, "It's a little hard to offer. Qingshan County is as big as Qingshan County. Would he believe that we can only offer him ten thousand gold coins?"
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