The Great Wei Music Bureau

Chapter 393 Vanguard

Last time, we talked about how Li Yi asked Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva for help and released Han Xi from hell temporarily. Han Xi acted out a play with him and won the recognition of Su Bu. So how will the next story develop? Let's read on.

The next day, after Li Yi discussed the strategy of the debate with the great scholars summoned by the Jing and Qu families, he went to find Xiong Zhui himself and entered the palace together. When they arrived at Chuxing Hall, Xiong Zhu listened to them talking about Han Xi and nodded and said, "Now that the evil spirit has been eliminated, Wei Le, can we start arranging the matters of praying for blessings with the Seven Star Lantern?"

Li Yi said, "Your Majesty, since the truth about Tu Xiu's death has been uncovered, can you let the guards of the Washing Women's Division go home and reunite with their families?"

Xiong Zhu looked at Xiong Zhui, meaning that you shouldn't come forward to help me explain now? But Xiong Zhui pretended not to see it and didn't respond at all. Xiong Zhu said unhappily: "Wei Le, those guards were negligent in their duties first. I am showing mercy by letting them be buried alive. Besides, didn't we agree to wait until the debate is over before deciding their life or death?"

"Even if they really want to be buried alive with Tu Xiu in the future, wouldn't it be more magnanimous if Your Majesty could let them go home first?"

"What does Lord Wangbei think about this?"

Xiong Zhui glanced at Li Yi and bowed, saying, "I think what Wei Le said is reasonable. If the king lets them go home, they will definitely be grateful."

Xiong Zhu exhaled a breath of foul air, waved his hand and said: "Forget it, let them go home, and wait until the debate is concluded, then we will deal with them."

"Great King Shengming!"

"Wei Le, do you have anything else to do?"

"No, that's why I came here."

"Okay, let's go then."

Li Yi and Xiong Zhui accompanied the King of Chu to the Jingtian Hall. The hall had already been cleared and was waiting for Li Yi to set up the lantern array. Outside the hall, in addition to officials from the Ministry of Rites, Jiuli witch priests, and palace guards, there were also maids holding lamps, wicks, and lamp oil, waiting in line outside the hall.

Li Yi stood in the middle, raised his hand and released his talent, using special effects to create a sky full of stars on the temple. As Li Yi turned the star map, the Big Dipper was finally reflected under his feet. He pointed his hand, and thirty-six small lights flew into the temple, spinning around Li Yi in a ring, and then landed.

Li Yi made a seal with his hands, chanted a spell with each step, and then put down a large lamp. After seven steps, the seven-star lamp was placed. Li Yi waved his hand to signal the maid to enter the hall to pour lamp oil and put in the wick. Now all he needed to do was light up the lamp array.

Li Yi looked at Xiong Zhu and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, please come into the palace and swear an oath of blood to light the lamp."

The official from the Ministry of Rites was still hesitating, but the King of Chu had already stepped into the hall, took the dagger from Li Yi, cut his finger, and under Li Yi's guidance, dripped his blood on the wick of the headlight. The moment he dyed the wick red, the lamp was lit.

Seven large lamps were lit, Li Yi clapped his hands and shouted, and thirty-six small lamps around him lit up at the same time. All the green smoke floated towards the King of Chu, who was surprised to feel the openness and inner joy here.

In fact, this was caused by Li Yi forcibly injecting his talent and a little spiritual power into the King of Chu. This was like those Taoists adding aphrodisiacs to the elixir they were refining for the emperor, making the emperor think he had returned to his prime.

Xiong Zhen looked at Li Yi with a look of satisfaction, and Li Yi bowed and said, "Your Majesty, for the next 49 days, please send someone to guard this place."

Xiong Zhen nodded and said, "Liao Fan, thank you for your hard work during this period."

"The last general takes command!"

On the day of the Mingtang debate, the great Confucian scholars called by Qu Jing and Xu Xin launched a fierce debate on the ritual of burial with the dead. Both sides cited classics, each holding their own views, and argued fiercely.

Finally, the Jing family proposed to centralize the management of the people who built the mausoleum, which would help the craftsmen accumulate experience, prevent tomb robbery, and show the benevolence of the King of Chu. Then the Chu State abolished the ritual of burying people alive and replaced it with pottery figurines, following the example of the previous dynasty.

Even though the guards of the Washing Women's Bureau had stopped serving for a year and had to guard the mausoleum, they did not have to die after all, so they went to Li Yi's house together to express their gratitude, and a large group of people ate and drank together until very late.

Due to Xiong Zhui's "recommendation", the Washing Women's Bureau was handed over to Li Yi, who began to reform the Bureau, cleaning up a group of eunuchs and maids who did not treat human beings as human beings, abolishing all things related to Gu in the Washing Women's Bureau, adding courses on rituals, music, singing and dancing, and slightly improving the lives of the female slaves.

As the head of the Laundress Department, Li Yi had to deal with the nobles and clans of the Chu State, but they basically did not get any good from Li Yi. Li Yi made a two-way choice, and he would not let the slaves go if they were unwilling, thus offending many powerful people.

Twenty days passed in a blink of an eye. On this day, a letter for help was delivered to the desk of King Xiong Zhen of Chu. He opened it and found that it was written by Xiang Ying. After reading the letter, the King of Chu was shocked and immediately summoned everyone in Tianshuyuan to discuss the matter.

In this way, Li Yi specially rushed from the Washing Women's Department to Tianshu Courtyard. His journey was the longest, so he was the last to arrive. Everyone else in the meeting hall had a solemn expression.

"Wei Le, take a look at this first."

Li Yi opened the letter and saw the following:

My grandfather Xiang Xiong and I traveled to Dianzhou to hone our martial arts skills, but we were shocked when we entered Dianzhou. We found that Dianzhou was plagued by poisonous insects, demons appeared frequently, fields were abandoned, and people were living in misery.

Although the Witchcraft Cult has been wiped out as much as possible, it is still a drop in the bucket. As of the time when I report this, more than ten demons have fled from Dianzhou and are causing trouble in the surrounding areas.

Among the monsters, there are two great monsters with extraordinary realms. Your Excellency and I have tried our best to hunt them down. Now, the snake monster has been killed in Jiangyang County, and the body has been collected by the government and is being transported to Xijing.

I hereby petition the king to send troops to eliminate the monster as soon as possible to ensure stability in the southwest.

Xiong Zhen lamented, "The Shenxi army has not yet returned to the court, and the demon tribe has already appeared. What should Wei Le do?"

"My king, how long will it take for the Shenxi army to return?"

Cheng Zhiyuan, the advisor of the Crown Prince's Mansion, shook his head and said, "The army has entered the Tuyuhun trade route, but the mountain road is steep, and there have been several heavy snowfalls over there. The Shenxi army has to start the battle while marching, and I'm afraid they won't be able to return before the New Year."

Xu Xin looked at Li Yi and asked, "According to the news sent back by Zhu Tie, a large number of demons have not yet been found in Miaojiang. With only these dozen demons, it shouldn't be a problem if the Great Pillar State and the Doctor Wei work together to wipe them out, right?"

Li Yi waved his hand and said, "They are just the vanguard troops of the demon tribe, used to scout the terrain and find out the truth."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone frowned.

Xiong asked, "There are two great monsters in the vanguard, so how many great monsters are there in this monster army?"

“There’s no need to panic. When the human race and the demon race had a decisive battle, the vanguard of the demon army was ten golden crows, all of which were powerful demons of the second rank.

In comparison, there are only two this time, so it seems that the number of demon troops will not be too large. I estimate that the demon army this time is about 20,000, with about 20 third-grade demons and two to three second-grade demons. "

The meeting hall fell into deathly silence. Just hearing the number of big monsters was enough to scare them out of their wits. How could they even think of a countermeasure?

Li Yi said solemnly, "What are you afraid of? Isn't our Chu the country with the most Transcendent Realms? As long as we mobilize these Transcendent Realms and ask them to help kill those twenty or so Third Rank Great Demons, we will have a chance to win this battle!"

Xiong Zhen asked: "Wei Le, even if that's the case, how are we going to deal with those two or three second-grade monsters?"

"We still have the Wu Gu Cult's High Priest You Tu! If I join forces with him, it shouldn't be a problem to deal with the three big demons."

"You Tu does have the strength of a second-grade warrior, but didn't we have to deal with the Wu Gu Cult before? Will they help us now? And how can you two deal with three second-grade monsters?"

"I don't need to hide it now. I also have the combat power of the second rank. If necessary, I can go one step further and be promoted to the second rank of martial arts. I have also summoned other helpers, so we have a chance to fight this battle!"

As he spoke, Li Yi mobilized the Qi in his body and it exploded in his palm. The golden red Qi slowly turned into reddish brown, and then turned into purple as the spiritual power was injected.

Li Yi said: "This is the method of the second level of martial arts integration! If I want, I can break through this bottleneck at any time!"

Xiong Zhui was surprised and asked, "Didn't you just reach the third level of martial arts not long ago? How come you can break through again so quickly? What kind of monster are you?"

"I came to Xi Chu with a destiny, and this battle is not only my destiny, but also yours. Although the human race was weak back then, we were able to unite and defeat the demon race. Now we are even stronger, and the winner of this battle will naturally be us!"

However, Li Yi's words did not inspire these people's fighting spirit. He said helplessly: "Now we have no way out. This battle is inevitable. If we don't fight, are we going to watch the demons return to Jiuzhou and waste our ancestors' efforts?"

"Wei Le, even if we win this battle, I'm afraid it will only be a narrow victory. If Liang and Wei take the opportunity to attack, won't I become the king of a fallen country? How can I face my ancestors?"

"So that's what the king is worried about. That's totally unnecessary! We just finished fighting with the Northern Wei. They not only need to rest, but also stabilize the Western Regions, so they have no time to send troops.

As for Nanliang, my strategy is to drive the demon army to the border between Miaojiang and Nanliang, and I have also contacted Master Zhu of Nanliang and asked the Emperor of Liang to send troops. In this way, the king's worries will be solved!"

When the King of Chu heard this, some light returned to his eyes.

Xu Xin asked, "Doctor Wei, I heard that Emperor Liang had some complaints about Zhu Xi's school of thought. How can you be sure that Master Zhu can persuade Emperor Liang to send troops?"

Subu said, "Nanliang has always regarded itself as the orthodox. Now that the demons are causing chaos, how can they be considered the orthodox if they don't show up? Your Majesty, I am willing to bring the letter of credence to Nanliang in person and persuade the Emperor of Liang to send troops to eliminate the demons!"

Master Cheng said, "If the Prime Minister goes there in person, it will definitely be successful, but the deployment of troops, horses, and food is also of utmost importance. Who else can take on this important task except the Prime Minister?"

Subu looked at Li Yi, who immediately waved his hand and said, "Prime Minister Su, you are praising me. The point is not that I am unwilling to take on this important responsibility, but if a war breaks out, I need to go to the front line in person to stop the big monster, otherwise we have no chance of winning."

Xiong Zhen nodded and said, "That's true. If the Prime Minister leaves, there is really no one to replace him right now."

Just as everyone was lost in thought, Xiong Zhui said, "Everyone, how about this? Right now, the Shenxi army is not back yet. If we take the water route to Jiankang, we will arrive in half a month. Why not let Prime Minister Su go to Southern Liang first to persuade the Emperor of Liang?"

During this period, Doctor Wei will allocate military equipment and food on his behalf. When Prime Minister Su returns, it will be just over a month. By then, the Shenxi Army will not only return to the court, but also have time to rest and recuperate. Then, wouldn’t it be just right to send troops to Miaojiang? "

Li Yi touched his chin and said, "Trade space for time? This method is indeed feasible, but once the demon army enters Miao territory, I'm afraid it will be hard for the civilians."

"The Miao border is experiencing an outbreak of poisonous insects right now, which is also a problem for the demon tribe. Perhaps we can delay it for a while!"

Everyone looked at the King of Chu, who decided: "This is the best solution at the moment! Xu Xin drafted a letter to the country and a demon-slaying edict. Prime Minister Su hurriedly handed over food and military equipment to Wei Le, and then went on a diplomatic mission to Southern Liang.

Cheng Yuanzhi visits all the hidden masters and persuades them to rush to Miaojiang to help. Wang Beigong mobilizes garrisons from all over the country to garrison Miaojiang. Before Shen Xijun returns to the court, no monster can be allowed to enter Shu!

Without further ado, everyone should go about their business!"

Everyone followed the order and left. Li Yi was about to leave when he was stopped by Xiong Zhen. After everyone left, Xiong Zhen asked, "Wei Le, we have never fought against the demon tribe. Can we really win this battle?"

Li Yi saluted and said, "I am not bragging, but there is no one in this world who knows the demon race better than me. We will definitely win this battle!"

"Okay! As long as we are united as one, I believe we will win this battle! Then you can get busy."