The Emperor Reigns Them All

Chapter 295 A Woman in White with Yellow Millet Wine and a Scroll

Li Ye stayed in Luzhou for only a few days, before he decided to clear the way for his troops in Hedong. But he had to leave the masters in the Spiritual Master Realm to attend to garrison duty in Luzhou. Thus, Li Ye ordered Su Emei and the nine-tail Demon Fox to close the rear along with the army. Together, with Nangong Diyi and the Son of God, Li Ye went to Qinzhou.

“Heading for the north, we will pass three cities before we arrive at the Manor of Taiyuan. Among the three cities, Qinzhou is in the southmost; Yizhou is in the northeast; Fenzhou is in the northwest, plus the Manor of Taiyuan happens to be at our north. Therefore, the three cities and the manor are in the shape of a diamond. Our enemies probably will draw two lines of defense that can divide the diamond into two even parts: one line from Fenzhou to Yizhou; the other from Qinzhou to the Manor in Taiyuan.”

While walking, Li Ye said, “Qinzhou is the gateway to Hedong. And if our army is going to attack Qinzhou, we must send troops to Yizhou and Fenzhou at the same time. By laying ambushes midway to the two cities, we can besiege the enemies to prevent them from providing reinforcements to Qinzhou. Or we can directly attack the three cities in the meantime. This is the military decision: let the Zhaoyi Army attack the main target Qinzhou, the Tianping Army ambush Qinzhou’s northeast to intercept the relief troops, and the Henghai Army to block the reinforcement in Qinzhou’s northwest. Once these ambush tricks work, the Tianping Army and the Henghai Army can choose when to send military forces to Yizhou and Fenzhou, respectively.”

All the strategies made Nangong Diyi’s poor head spin, so he said hurriedly, “Don’t tell me these things. I’m out of my depth when it comes to military affairs. You just need to tell me who I should fight with next.”

Upon hearing his words, the Son of God curled his lips and snorted. He said scornfully, “Being utterly ignorant of military affairs, you are nothing, but a boor, no matter how strong you are!”

The face of the Nangong Diyi changed instantly. His hand pressed against his sword’s handle, as he glared at the Son of God. “If you dare talk more nonsense, believe it or not, I will make several big holes on your body with my sword!”

In the battle of Qi Mountain, Yuan Tiangang gave him a Taoist’s Opportunity. Relying on it, Nangong Diyi was enlightened and had advanced at a tremendous pace since then. Now he was already a Yin Spiritual Master. Although he was inferior to the Son of God, Nangong Diyi had never feared him.

Holding his fists, the Son of God smiled viciously. He squinted at Nangong Diyi and challenged him, “Welcome! Watch how I will turn you into a meat pie!”

Li Ye was used to seeing them quarreling whenever they met. Right away, he chose to ignore them and directly accelerated to move forward. When Nangong Diyi and the Son of God noticed that Li Ye had already left, they stopped wrangling and sped up to catch up with Li Ye, after throwing furious glances at each other.

The Longxi Prince Manor, Taiyuan.

After the Huang Chao Uprising, Li Yan gave bounteous awards to his men who had a fine record service. With the help of Tian Lingzi, Li Keyong was awarded the noble title of Prince of Longxi. At last, he got this great achievement that raised him to such a high position. Once he arrived in Hedong, Li Keyong spared no efforts to hire men and buy horses to guard this place. He did all of this, not merely because the world’s trend had changed significantly nowadays, but because his two opponents, Li Ye and Zhu Wen, were coming.

This day, the sky was clear and bright, and a gentle breeze was blowing. With a group of generals and advisors surrounding him, Li Keyong mounted the city gate tower, looking into the distance. The place around the city wall had become a construction site. Generals, soldiers, and laborers came and went in a hurry. Some of them were strengthening and raising the piers of the city wall. Some were building watchtowers. And some others were putting defense equipment in order.

“The original Taiyuan City was easy to defend, but hard to attack. After a few years of constant repairs, now the city with its thick high walls looked virtually impregnable. If Li Ye does not turn up, so be it. But if he dares to attack us, he will have little chance of returning!” The person who spoke was a trusted subordinate general of Li Keyong.

After Li Keyong was granted the noble title of Prince of Longxi, his original “Eight God Sons” had increased to 13 people, which was then called “Thirteen Grand Guardians.” Li Cunxiao’s former name was An Cunxiao. He was Li Keyong’s most trusted subordinate, and was now given the name of Li.

However, Li Cunxiao’s words did not manage to smooth Li Keyong’s wrinkled eyebrows.

Now the situation was tough. Li Keyong did not tell the others too much, because he was afraid that the news would affect the morale of his troops. He had paid close attention to the battle of Weibo. Thus, he certainly knew that Shangguan Qingcheng had been promoted to a military general. At present, there were three masters in the Spiritual Master Realm, under Li Ye.

But in Hedong, only Li Keyong was in the Spiritual Master Realm. After the battle against Huang Chao rebels, he had several warriors of Militarism, but no generals. There were 300,000 troops under his command. However, now Li Ye had mustered the armies from Zhaoyi, Tianping, and Henghai, and had a total of 400,000 more troops, which were superior to his army in numbers. Now a large number of his enemies was coming at them in full fury.

It was not easy for Li Keyong to hold on to Hedong.

Li Keyong was very clear what the four masters in the Spiritual Master Realm, who he could not resist, were capable of doing in frontal battlefields. To them, the walls were non-existent. As long as one of them launched the attack, the Pinglu Army could take any city. No matter how solid the Taiyuan City was, it could not withstand the fierceness of attack of the four masters in the Spiritual Master Realm.

As a matter of fact, Li Keyong’s heart was now wrought with anxiety.

After Li Ye defeated the sect of Buddhism in the Qi Mountain and slaughtered all its masters in the Spiritual Master Realm, the force of cultivators that Li Keyong depended on, had gone up in smoke. At this time, Li Keyong did not have any master that could fight for him. Even worse, he could not curb the activities that the Black Office carried out in Hedong. “I suppose that Li Ye must have known the actual military situation of Hedong. He has shown his great talents when he broke through Tongguan and recovered Chang’an. To be able to defeat such a capable Li Ye, who knows himself and his opponents, how big is the probability?” Li Keyong said to himself.

His heart was burning with anxiety.

Li Keyong walked down the city gate and got off the walls. Then he let the soldiers and advisors return. He only brought a hundred or so personal guards with him. Whipping their horses on, they went out of the city and headed east to the Wutai Mountain.

Wutai Mountain had always been an essential Buddhism place. Its status in the Tang Empire’s Buddhism was even higher than the Juexiao Temple in Yin Mountain. But master cultivators were not its advantages. Huiming used to tell him that if they lost the battle in Qi Mountain, he could go to Wutai Mountain to seek a favorable turn.

When Li Keyong arrived at Wutai Mountain, it was already sunset. With his personal guards, he went up the stairs and climbed up the mountain, along the tortuous mountain route. Frowning all the way, Li Keyong was in no mood to enjoy the view of the beautiful mountains and immense forests in the setting sun.

Li Keyong had been here many times, but gained nothing. In Wutai Mountain, there was not a single cultivator who had achieved the Spiritual Master Realm. Even if it was nothing serious, this place had a few high-level Qi-refining cultivators. What was the good in going to such a temple of Buddhism?

But Li Keyong had to come.

He knew that Li Ye was very likely to defeat him, so he must seek a new turn. Wutai Mountain was his only chance now.

“Greetings, Prince of Longxi.”

When they came to the gate, monks of Buddhism who knew that he was coming, had gathered to welcome him. The leader was the Wutai Mountain’s abbot. It was a solemn assembly. Not only the abbot, but all the important figures from the temple were here. It was said that monks always stood aloof from worldly affairs. But in fact, they were rigidly stratified. It was very difficult for ordinary people to see the abbot and elders. But these people had to come out to greet the influential officials.

Li Keyong nodded, but remained silent. Passing by these monks, he walked up the green-stone steps. It was a familiar road to him, because he had come to Wutai Mountain many times.

He went straight to the Great Buddha’s Hall, and looked at the solemn statue of Buddha silently, with his hands clasped behind him. Anxiously, he examined the statue. In his eyes, there was anxiety, hope, but no awe.

The monks gathered in the courtyard, watching Li Keyong stand inside the door. Facing each other in silence, they sensibly decided to wait, while bowing in respect. No one dared to utter a word. As Li Keyong was standing still, they have to keep him company.

All of them stood there for almost four hours, and it was almost midnight. After heaving a sigh, Li Keyong shook his head and left the hall. He walked past the monks, who were still waiting for him. Going continuously along the winding path, he arrived at the open back of the mountain.

There was a large grove of peach trees. To be exact, the peach trees were not a grove, but grew all over the back of the mountain.

The so-called Wutai Mountain had five mountain peaks, which were covered with peach trees, but there were no blossoms at this time. In addition, there were no other views at the back mountain, except for a small pavilion built in the place, where it was convenient for viewing.

In the past, every time Li Keyong came back to Wutai Mountain, he would sit there without doing anything in the small pavilion, until the middle of the night.

But when the pavilion appeared in his sight now, Li Keyong stopped.

On the mountainside, the small pavilion stood, lonely and quietly. Above it lay the Milky Way. Under the brilliant sea of stars, a woman sat in the small pavilion, leaning against the pillar. When the mountain breeze blew over, her black hair started to dance along.

It was a woman dressed in white. Her waist-length hair hung down loosely. She held a white pot filled with wine in one hand, and the scroll of Diamond Sutra in another. Facing upward, she poured a long drink of wine into her mouth. Then, she would have a quiet read. Then again, she would drink a mouthful of wine, after reading for a while.

All her actions were free and unrestrained.

Only after one glance, Li Keyong felt deeply attracted to her, and could no longer move his eyes away from her.

The whole time he was standing there, he was lost in thought.

There was a strange charm in the woman, so that whenever people saw her, their minds would be attracted to her. Besides, the scene in front of him was astoundingly beautiful.

It took Li Keyong a lot of effort to come to his senses. Then he looked back, but only found the guards and monks standing on the spot, with their heads bowed. They seemed not to have seen the woman in the small pavilion.

After a moment of silence, Li Keyong walked to the pavilion on the stone steps. Treading very cautiously, he approached slowly, as if he was afraid of disturbing something.

When he saw the woman’s face, he was stunned again.

It seemed that beautiful was not an appropriate word to describe the woman here. He could see that the woman had a perfect face, which looked exceedingly holy and pure. It seemed that her face had the power to purify one’s hearts. But she had glamorous eyes and brows. Especially her pair of lips, they were not plump, but were extremely, which made her look like a spooky ghost. She sat there with her clothes flying in the wind, like butterflies. The scene was as insubstantial as a dream.

Li Keyong had never seen such a woman.

Such a woman did not belong to the human world at all.

The moment he spotted her, Li Keyong understood what a dream was. In a dream, one could not quit nor fit in. So, the woman before made him feel like he was dreaming.

Sometimes, she was quiet. But sometimes, she behaved in an unrestrained way. She was truly gentle, but still very sharp. And often, a holy woman like her could appear to be as evil as a ghost.

“Who are you?” Li Keyong asked.

But the woman did not look back. Nothing else changed. She still sat with her back leaning on the pillar. The clear and bright light splashed on her dress, adding a touch of mysticism to her. She finally spoke, when she was pouring herself the wine. “The Prince of Longxi, Li Keyong, you are a really outstanding talent. Such a graceful figure of great radiance is rare in this world.”

Li Keyong was slightly startled, because she talked as if she were someone from heaven.

He had already asked her who she was, but the woman did not answer. Li Keyong knew that it was useless to repeat the question. So he changed the question. “What is your intention?”

But the woman still did not answer him. Her eyes fell on her wine pot, and she asked him in reply, “Do you know what the name of this wine is?”

“I don’t know.” Li Keyong answered honestly.

“It has no name. But from now on, it will be called Daughter in Red. You should remember it.” The woman stood up. She came to the edge of the pavilion, enjoying the mountain scenery.

Now her dress and hair were flapping more wildly in the mountain wind. “I am here to tell you that with the help from the Buddha realm, you won’t fail. As for Li Ye... I will kill him for you.”

Her voice sounded airy. It was neither throbbing nor calm, just like this night.

“Are you going to kill Li Ye?” Li Keyong had already known the woman was not any ordinary person, but he was still shocked upon hearing the answer.

Li Ye, who had a particularly high cultivation level, was also surrounded by many masters. Li Keyong thought that only someone reached at least the level of Yang Spiritual Master could have a chance to try. But he couldn’t see through the looming woman in white, before him who was neither friendly nor aloof. It was true that he did not know which realm she had achieved, but neither could he believe that she had reached the level of Yang Spiritual Master or higher.

Therefore, Li Keyong advised her, “Please think twice.”

“Is it so hard to kill Li Ye?”

It seemed that the woman chuckled.

Bending her arm, she lifted the wine pot into the air. The fine gauze slid from her wrist, and then showed her arm, which was as white and flawless as a piece of mutton-fat jade. As she raised her head, the Yellow Millet Wine poured forth from the pot to her mouth, like a pure spring.

Even men rarely tried to drink the wine in such a wild way.

Li Keyong suddenly widened his eyes.

It was not because the woman drank so unbridledly.

And it was not because the woman’s arm was even whiter and smoother than satin.

Nor was it because of her perfect profile.

But it was because when she started drinking under the starry night, all the peach trees over the mountains outside the pavilion, began to bloom, one after another.

On the five mountain peaks of Wutai Mountain, countless peach flowers were blooming.

Bright red and pink blossoms spread color waves to the world, making it look like a scroll painting.

On the spot, Li Keyong was stunned. Unconsciously, he clenched his fists, but still, they kept trembling.

This picture emerging before him was incredibly beautiful. It was literally breath-taking.

But what made Li Keyong breathless was not the beautiful scenery, but the cultivation level of the woman.

If this woman could create such a scene, how high was her cultivation level?

It seemed that her white pot had a never ending supply of wine.

Casually, the woman wiped her mouth and then threw the scroll away. Then, the scroll fell into Li Keyong’s hands. It was the scroll of Diamond Sutra that she was looking at before.

As Li Keyong took the Diamond Sutra, the woman had already flown into the mid-air from the small pavilion. She moved as lightly as a swallow. Flying in the air, she seemed like a piece of cloud or a breeze. Above the huge sheet of blossoms all over the mountains, she flew farther and farther away fast, though her image was still visible. There came her voice, “Take the scroll of Diamond Sutra. Try your best to comprehend it. From today, you should make offerings to Wutai Mountain. In due course, all Buddhas will naturally come to the world.”

The woman left.

But after that, Li Keyong’s spirit stayed outside of his body for a long time, before it finally returned to his body.

There was only the pot of Daughter in Red and the scroll of Diamond Sutra left. The 50 kilometers of peach blossoms now faded. Now there was only a bright moon with cool spring breezes.