Silver Moon City:
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
The first rays of sunlight shone down in the morning. A group of guards changed shifts at the south of the city. The night guards stretched themselves after working hard the whole night. They were about to hand over the watch and leave when they suddenly rubbed their eyes. Then, they rubbed their eyes again as though rubbing once had not been enough.
Those city guards instantly turned alert, suddenly quivering.
“Men! Where did those words come from?” the guard captain shouted with a glare.
“Milord, what’s wrong?” Some other guards in the surroundings looked at where the guard captain pointed to.
Everyone saw colossal words carved into the cliffside in the distance, looking like exquisite calligraphy.
“Ying may be weakened, but Ying will destroy Qian!” some passing cultivators read aloud.
[TL Note: The original phrase in Chinese history is “Chu may be weakened (left with three clans), but Chu will destroy Qin.” This is a famous saying in Chinese history from when the Chu Nation, led by Xiang Yu, was severely weakened to the point of being left with three major clans. However, they still could overcome and defeat the Qin Nation by standing united.]
Gasp!
The people at the city gate inhaled sharply.
“What’s going on? Who wrote that? How bold!” the guards exclaimed.
“Ying? Could it be referring to the previous Ying Imperial Dynasty? Ying will destroy Qian? These are greatly seditious words!” The bystanders immediately discussed this.
“Hurry, someone destroy those words? No, we mustn’t destroy them. Hurry! Quickly report it! Hurry!” the guard captain shouted.
“Yes!” All the guards turned flustered.
A similar scene appeared at the east of Silver Moon City, just with different words.
The city guards and citizens that passed by goggled.
“Qian is dead, Ying rules now! The time has come, great fortune to the world!” some dumbfounded citizens read out loud.
[TL Note: This is another historical saying adapted to the novel, or Gu Hai copied them from Earth. The original saying is “Heaven is dead, the yellow turban rules now! The time has come, great fortune to the world!” This was a rallying slogan chanted by the yellow turban rebels during the Han Dynasty. Heaven referred to the ruler, as the emperors were said to be mandated by heaven. Here is a Wikipedia entry on these rebels: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Turban_Rebellion.]
“Qian is dead, Ying rules now? The time has come, great fortune to the world? This is a rebellion. No, this is…,” the citizens exclaimed.
The city guards broke out in cold sweat.
“Hurry! Report it! Report it! The rest of you, come with me. Investigate who wrote these words!” the guard captain shouted in rage.
The news soon reached the city lord’s official residence.
Sima Changkong was chatting with Prince Shenwu when their subordinates suddenly made the report, causing their expressions to change.
“Let’s go and take a look,” Prince Shenwu said.
Whoosh!
Prince Shenwu, Sima Changkong, some officials, and soldiers boarded a large flying ship and immediately flew out of the city.
No one dared to stop Prince Shenwu’s flying ship, allowing it to fly out smoothly, without obstructions.
Soon, the flying ship arrived at the cliffside to the east of the city.
“Qian is dead, Ying rules now? The time has come, great fortune to the world?” Prince Shenwu read with a sullen expression.
Then, the flying ship quickly flew to the south.
“Ying may be weakened, but Ying will destroy Qian!” Sima Changkong’s expression also turned sullen.
An official ran over in a fluster. “Your Highness, Milord, there are carvings in the west as well!”
“Go over and take a look!” Prince Shenwu ordered.
Whoosh!
The flying ship quickly reached the west of the city. Everyone saw words carved into the distant cliffside.
“The Great Ying rises, Emperor Lu Yang!”
“The Great Ying rises, Emperor Lu Yang? Does Duke Lu Yang want to declare himself emperor? The Ying Imperial Dynasty?” Prince Shenwu raised his eyebrows.
Another official ran over. “Your Highness, Milord, similar words, saying ‘Overthrow Qian and restore Ying,’ appeared in the north. Many people went to take a look, gathering there and discussing it!”
[TL Note: Like before, this is from another historical saying in China’s history. The original is “Overthrow Qing and restore Ming.” This was a rallying slogan of the anti-Qing activists. Here is a Wikipedia page on this topic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Qing_sentiment.]
Prince Shenwu, Sima Changkong, and the others all showed sullen expressions.
“Duke Lu Yang cannot wait anymore?” Prince Shenwu said after a deep breath.
Sima Changkong shook his head and said, “That should not be the case. Duke Lu Yang cannot possibly start a rebellion at this moment. However, how did these seditious words get so boldly displayed?”
“That’s right. It is not wise for Duke Lu Yang to start a rebellion now. Furthermore, that Mo Yike would not let Duke Lu Yang start a rebellion now, right? However, if it is not Duke Lu Yang, who could it be?” Prince Shenwu frowned.
However, Sima Changkong suddenly raised his eyebrows. “Your Highness, this style seems somewhat… Maybe I’m overthinking it.”
“Why are you hesitating? Just say what’s on your mind.” Prince Shenwu frowned.
“That’s not it. Your Highness, I feel that this seems somewhat like Gu Hai’s style. Perhaps I am overthinking. I have no basis for this.” Sima Changkong smiled bitterly.
“Gu Hai?” Prince Shenwu said, feeling puzzled.
“Yes. It feels similar. These four sets of seditious words seem simple, but they are not easy to come up with,” Sima Changkong said with slightly narrowed eyes.
“Oh?”
“There are countless seditious rallying slogans. However, not many would be this memorable and flow this well. These four rallying slogans may not have any erudite meaning behind them, but they instantly grab a person’s subconscious,” Sima Changkong said.
[TL Note: The historical rallying slogans are said in sets of four words, giving the chant a certain rhythm and flow. As for “The Great Ying rises, Emperor Lu Yang,” the Chinese words have it in two sets of three characters, which also lend it a catchy cadence.]
Prince Shenwu frowned slightly as he nodded.
“Your Highness, what should we do about these words?” an official asked.
“Destroy them all. Then, investigate who carved these words with everything you have at your disposal,” Prince Shenwu said.
“Yes!” the officials answered.
“If it really is Gu Hai, then this might just be the start!” Sima Changkong frowned.
——
This scene happened not just in Silver Moon City but in all the one hundred cities of Ying Province nearly simultaneously.
Seditious rallying slogans appeared around the cities.
“Ying may be weakened, but Ying will destroy Qian!”
“Qian is dead, Ying rules now! The time has come, great fortune to the world!”
“The Great Ying rises, Emperor Lu Yang!”
“Overthrow Qian and restore Ying!”
Such words appeared everywhere in Ying Province, flustering all the city lords of the various cities. These city lords quickly erased these words and searched for the culprits with all their might.
However, these seditious words eventually made it into the various cities. Although most people turned their noses up at these words, a small portion of them still discussed them.
At the same time, in Foundation Destroying City, the city built just to deal with Divine Foundation City, these four rallying slogans attracted the attention of countless soldiers outside the city.
“Qian is dead, Ying rules now? The time has come, great fortune to the world?” Mo Yike read out these words.
A group of advisers stood beside Duke Lu Yang.
“Who wrote this?” Duke Lu Yang glared at his subordinates.
Duke Lu Yang had assembled his personal army, preparing to rebel. Some of his trusted aides knew about this. While not all his trusted aides had great ambitions, they all knew that once Duke Lu Yang established the Ying Imperial Dynasty, they would immediately be given great authority and positions.
Hence, many of them had declared their support for Duke Lu Yang’s bid to become an emperor. However, Duke Lu Yang and Mo Yike always suppressed word of this.
Could one trusted aide have jumped the gun on this?
“Destroy those cliffs and investigate this thoroughly. Give the death penalty to all who dares spoil the duke’s plan!” Mo Yike said coldly to a group of officials.
“Yes!” these subordinates answered.
“Duke, many of the officers in the army are already discussing this matter,” Army Breaker said.
“Oh?” Duke Lu Yang frowned slightly.
“Duke, this is heaven’s will. Heaven is telling you that the time has come!” an official said recklessly with excitement.
Duke Lu Yang turned his hand and glared. “Flog him to death for spouting nonsense!”
“Ah? Duke! Duke! I’m innocent!” the official exclaimed.
The officials who wanted to defend this official immediately shut their mouths.
“Execute the entire clan of whoever dares to mention rebellion again!” Duke Lu Yang stared at everyone coldly.
“Yes!” everyone answered.
Then, Duke Lu Yang dismissed them, retaining only Army Breaker and Mo Yike.
“Duke, only a small portion of the soldiers are discussing this. Most of them just snorted disdainfully at this, not paying it any mind,” Army Breaker said with a smile.
Duke Lu Yang nodded.
However, Mo Yike frowned slightly and said, “Perhaps we were wrong.”
“Oh?”
“None of the earlier group of people would dare to mess around. Perhaps it is not our people who carved those words,” Mo Yike said with a frown.
“Not our people?” Duke Lu Yang suddenly narrowed his eyes.
“Indeed. Perhaps it is from our enemies!” Mo Yike frowned.
“The Divine Foundation Royal Dynasty?” Duke Lu Yang said, feeling puzzled.
Mo Yike shook his head and said, “If it were just the Divine Foundation Royal Dynasty creating rumors, it would not be a big deal. I am afraid His Holy Eminence might have purposely sent people to write them.”
Duke Lu Yang’s pupils suddenly constricted.
“His Holy Eminence did it? That’s impossible, right?” Duke Lu Yang frowned.
“I don’t know. However, the possibility is not high. Furthermore, the citizens will discuss this for only a while, not for long. Right now, the nation is peaceful. These seditious rallying slogans will not have much of an effect. If we were in troubled times, these four rallying slogans would be very dangerous,” Mo Yike said seriously.
“That’s right. These seditious rallying slogans are made simple on purpose, carving it into everyone’s mind. The person who made these four rallying slogans is no simple person,” Duke Lu Yang said while nodding.
“Duke, immediately send people to the various cities to investigate this and see if such words are being spread in the other cities. If they are, pursue this with our full force. We must investigate this thoroughly. We cannot let anything go wrong at this moment,” Mo Yike said.
“Right!” Duke Lu Yang nodded.
Indeed, news soon came pouring in.
The various cities sent word, saying that seditious rallying slogans appeared in their vicinity.
——
Ten days later, Duke Lu Yang’s official residence:
Duke Lu Yang showed a sullen expression. “Bunch of trash! You still cannot catch the person carving the words? Every day, the seditious rallying slogans appear on a cliff. Now, word of this has already spread everywhere.”
“Duke, we have done our best. We nearly caught the culprit once. Unexpectedly, he fled into the ground,” one of the officers said bitterly.
“It’s the foundation rock golems. Duke, I heard them. It’s the foundation rock golems,” Army Breaker said with certainty.
“It’s good that it’s the foundation rock golems. At least is not the Qian Heavenly Emperor.” Duke Lu Yang nodded.
However, Mo Yike revealed a bitter smile as he said, “Duke, perhaps my greatest worry came true.”
“Huh?”
“It’s Gu Hai. Huangfu Chaoge would never think of such a scheme. It must be Gu Hai. They must be working together,” Mo Yike said with a bitter smile.
“Mister Mo, although there is news from the various cities that the carvings continue to appear, isn’t that as you expected? Right now, the nation is peaceful and not troubled. Won’t the seditious rallying calls have a limited effect? It would just be the idle discussion of some people. Most people turn their noses up at this, just treating it as a joke. Most people don’t even know about this minor matter?” Duke Lu Yang said while shaking his head.
“No. If it is Gu Hai, then it is dangerous. Duke, have you forgotten about Gu Hai’s capability? If it really is Gu Hai plotting this, this is just the start,” Mo Yike said bitterly.
“However, what is the point of the seditious rallying slogans if the citizens do not believe them? Who is he writing them for?” Army Breaker asked, feeling puzzled.
Mo Yike entered deep thought.
——
In the valley outside Foundation Deity City:
Huangfu Chaoge looked at Gu Hai and asked, “Can just these four seditious rallying slogans really cause trouble for Duke Lu Yang? It does not seem sufficient, right?”
Gu Hai shook his head as a cold glint flashed in his eyes. “If he has no intention of rebelling, I naturally will fail to vilify him. However, if he does, this will be sufficient.”
“Oh?”
“Let the rumors spread for a while first.” Gu Hai shook his head and did not explain further.
