bookbashuk Chapter 131 Sowing Discord
Chapter 131 Sowing Discord
Chapter 131 Sowing Discord
Heavenly Soul Empire, Heavenly Dou City, Imperial Palace.
Xue Heng put down her teacup and said softly to Du Busi sitting next to her, "Uncle Du, I'm sorry to have troubled you."
"It doesn't matter if he's poisoned or not," he waved his hand dismissively. "As long as Xu Jiawei becomes suspicious of Dai Hao, it's all worth it."
"Both messages have already spread in Star Luo City. If nothing unexpected happens, the matter of Xuanji Douluo will definitely be cut off."
"Dai Hao should be on his way to the Star Emperor Hotel now. We'll see what those kids do then."
Xue Heng nodded, then looked out of the palace, his gaze reflecting the myriad lights of the city.
The plan to sow discord between Xu Jiawei and Dai Hao had been brewing in the Tianhun Empire since the day Long Aotian reported that He Caitou's identity was unusual.
Xue Heng knew in his heart that trying to undermine Xu Jiawei's trust in Dai Hao based on the existing situation was as difficult as climbing to the sky.
The Star Luo Empire consists of two army groups: the Western Army and the Northern Army.
The Western Army Group has a total strength of 500,000, making it the most elite force in the Star Luo Empire. It is stationed in the Mingdou Mountains on the border between the Star Luo Empire and the Sun Moon Empire, and has long been engaged in small-scale hot wars with the Sun Moon Empire.
According to past practice, the Northern Army Group would allocate 80% of its forces to defend against the Heavenly Soul Empire, while the remaining 20% would be deployed to fight against the Spirits.
Being vigilant against the Douling Empire is a cushy job, so the Northern Army Group takes turns stationing troops on the Douling border, treating it as a rest and vacation.
As a descendant of the White Tiger, Dai Hao was able to command the Western Army Group as an Imperial Marshal, which shows the extent of the Xu family's trust in him.
But would he really trust Dai Hao so much?
"Xu Jiawei is a seasoned emperor."
Xue Heng spoke as if he were having a casual chat with Du Busi: "Since he ascended the throne, the Star Luo Empire has implemented many major reforms."
"Especially in the military, he went against the majority opinion and developed a new army."
"But at the same time, he is also a very lazy person. Judging from the results of his series of reforms, the Star Luo Empire has become stronger, but this strength is in terms of internal rule rather than territorial expansion."
"If Xu Jiawei were in peacetime, he would definitely have created a glorious era."
"But in turbulent times, he lacked sufficient courage and decisiveness. He now only wanted to muddy the waters, hoping the Star Luo Empire could find a sliver of hope in the cracks."
This is the biggest difference between Xu Jiawei and Xue Heng.
Xu Jiawei prefers to seek progress while maintaining stability.
Xue Heng, on the other hand, was extremely daring and adventurous.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have risked dragging the Heavenly Soul and even the entire continent into the quagmire of war by launching the campaign to exterminate the Evil Soul Masters.
Huo Yuhao's rapid promotion in rank, the establishment of the Soul Forging Research Institute, cooperation with the Far North through the Body Sect, Tianmeng's promotion on the front lines, and the high-pressure pressure on Shrek City—
What Xue Heng wanted was to transform the Heavenly Soul Empire into a force capable of rivaling the Sun Moon Empire in the shortest possible time.
Judging from the series of measures Xue Heng has formulated targeting Sun Moon, Star Luo, Dou Ling, and Shrek,
His goal was actually the same as Xu Jiawei's: to muddy the waters and buy time for their respective countries.
But what Xue Heng did was to use the prevailing trend, and either legitimate or shady means, to actively create one chaotic situation after another.
Xue Heng is the biggest driving force behind the current turbulent situation on the mainland.
From the moment the war to eradicate the evil spirit masters came to an end, Xue Heng had already stirred up the biggest and most chaotic vortex in the world.
He's using this huge vortex to put immense pressure on others!
But Xueheng still felt that this was not enough.
He wants to expand this vortex to the point where a single hair can affect the whole situation!
Xu Jiawei's series of erratic actions were merely creating smaller eddies within the vortex stirred up by Xue Heng.
The goal of the Heavenly Soul Empire is to transform the turbulent waters into resources to nourish its seeds.
The Star Luo Empire's goal, however, was to find a chance to survive in the turbulent waters.
From the moment Xu Jiawei chose to muddy the waters instead of using the whirlpool to perform a water-absorbing maneuver, the Star Luo Empire was already in a passive position.
One is passively seeking survival, the other is actively seeking change.
The more Xu Jiawei struggles to survive, the more opportunities he creates for Xue Heng.
The small whirlpools he stirred up only made Xue Heng's large whirlpool unleash increasingly terrifying suction.
"Xu Jiawei thought that as long as he could muddy the waters, he could make the various forces check and balance each other, giving Xingluo a chance to breathe."
"But he was wrong; his actions were merely a case of drinking poison to quench his thirst."
"The only way to survive is to take advantage of the situation and break through the impasse."
Du Busi continued, following Xue Heng's words: "The setup on the border is complete; we're just waiting for Dai Hao's White Tiger Guards to jump right in."
"Our underhanded tactics aren't in the Soul Master Tournament, they're on the border."
As the Star Luo Empire secretly initiated a state of war preparedness and tacitly began black market transactions with the Sun Moon Empire, Xu Jiawei shifted his attention to the Northern Army Group.
Instead of mobilizing the entire Western Army Group, he sent Dai Hao with his five hundred White Tiger Guards to the border between Xingluo and Tianhun to give special training to the Northern Army Group.
The White Tiger Guards are different from the Azure Dragon Guards; one is a military force, and the other is a knightly order's guard, which are fundamentally different.
As Dai Hao's private armed force, the White Tiger Guards are involved in all matters of war.
The Azure Dragon Guard belongs to the Heavenly Ring Knights and is the protective force of Heaven Dou City.
One is private and the other is public.
The dual-track privilege that Xu Jiawei granted to Dai Hao is very similar to the tax exemption policy that the Heavenly Soul Empire granted to Shrek City.
Since the Heavenly Soul Empire could use tax revenue to attack Shrek Academy, it could also use the White Tiger Guards to let the seeds of suspicion take root and sprout.
Moreover, this is only one of many seeds.
The White Tiger Guards' combat strength has long exceeded the upper limit of the private army's combat strength as tacitly accepted by the major empires.
However, it was Dai Hao's military talent that allowed Xu Jiawei to turn a blind eye to his actions.
"Xuanji's news was suppressed within a few days, it must have been Xu Jiawei behind it."
"Although the commander of the Star Luo First Soul Master Legion is nominally Dai Hao's godfather, no one in the Star Luo military or government has ever dared to openly acknowledge this claim."
"After all, you're a marshal who commands a private army with superhuman strength. What's the meaning of recognizing a defensive-type Soul Master legion commander as your godfather?"
Poison Immortal laughed, "But the news we spread in Star Luo City directly established that Xuanji was Dai Hao's godfather."
"Because of the simultaneous spread of rumors about the love triangle between Mu En and Dai Hao, Xu Jiawei, after hastily suppressing the rumors, shifted his attention to Shrek Academy. He didn't clarify that Xuanji was Dai Hao's adoptive father; since the man was dead, let the rumors spread. It was also a good opportunity to give Dai Hao, who had always been cared for by Xuanji, a reason to mourn."
"So no matter how far the message spread before it was extinguished, it was still transmitted."
"Given the gossip surrounding Shrek Academy, there will definitely be some gossipy people who will bring this up again."
There are so many people coming to Xingluo City to watch the game, who can guarantee that there isn't a single gossipy Xingluo City friend among them?
The news spreads like wildfire, and sooner or later, people from all over the world watching the game will find out about it.
Nobody takes this seriously.
But everyone will subconsciously remember the claim that Xuanji Douluo is Dai Hao's adoptive father.
Compared to the major news of Xuanji Douluo's treason, the identity of a godfather is insignificant and will be subconsciously overlooked.
Once He Caitou's identity is revealed, his teammates Dai Yueheng and Dai Huabin will become the focus of public opinion.
Even if Xu Jiawei knew they were innocent, it wouldn't work; there would definitely be voices of doubt among the public.
"The two young masters of the White Tiger Duke's mansion are actually on friendly terms with the former crown prince of the Sun Moon Empire?"
"Xuanji Douluo is the adoptive father of Duke Baihu. It was previously said that he had ties with the Sun Moon Empire. Could this be true? Otherwise, why didn't he come to the Soul Master Competition to watch his two adopted grandsons compete? Could he be making a deal with the Sun Moon Empire now?"
Even if Xuanji Douluo were still alive, there would be no need for him to come.
However, once He Caitou's identity is defined, there will definitely be voices of doubt among the public.
There are all kinds of people.
There is no logical connection between these two things, but under the intense impact of He Caitou's identity, no one would think about it.
If this statement is made amidst public outrage, it will definitely be accepted by a portion of the Xingluo people.
To explain this clearly, Xuanji Douluo himself would have to appear and speak for himself.
With such a major public opinion event occurring, even if the Soul Master Competition is suspended, Xuanji Douluo must appear to explain.
And he also has to give a very reasonable explanation.
But will Xuanji Douluo appear?
No.
He had his neck snapped by Huo Yuhao long ago and died in the far north.
So how should the Star Luo Empire explain the whereabouts of Xuanji Douluo?
The explanation is unclear.
Because Xuanji Douluo truly represented the Star Luo Empire in making a deal with the "Sun and Moon Empire," and was subsequently killed by the Heavenly Soul Empire.
Xue Heng letting Xing Luo know that Tian Hun killed Xuan Ji was telling Xu Jiawei that Tian Hun had evidence of Xuan Ji's deal with Ri Yue.
If you, Xu Jiawei, dare to say that it was I, Tianhun, who killed Xuanji, then I will immediately produce evidence to completely confirm the public opinion that Xuanji colluded with the enemy.
As for the claim that the Heavenly Soul Empire framed them, the Star Luo Empire could not possibly have a coherent logical chain of reasoning.
Xuanji Douluo is in the Star Luo Empire. Why would the Heavenly Soul Empire, for no reason, bear the bad reputation of betraying its alliance and go to all the trouble of coming all the way here to kill him?
The prevailing narrative in Douluo Continent right now is that Tianhun, Xingluo, and Douling are fighting against the Sun and Moon forces together.
The public only knew that Tianhun and Shrek had fallen out, unaware that beneath the seemingly calm surface, turbulent waves were already surging.
Even if some intelligent people can see this step, in the end, the vast majority are still a mob.
Now, whenever the situation in Douluo Continent is revealed, the first to be thrown into chaos are the people of Xingluo and Douling.
Even if the Star Luo Empire says that Xuanji sacrificed herself while on a top-secret mission, it won't work.
Because Xu Jiawei will definitely suspect that the Heavenly Soul Empire will release the evidence they hold in their hands as soon as the Star Luo Empire gives its explanation.
"Once Xu Jiawei has come up with an explanation, the other segments we've prepared for him will appear."
"Thus, after this period of preparation, Dai Hao's reputation among the people of Xingluo is not entirely ruined, but it is definitely not as good as before."
"But Xu Jiawei couldn't do without him, so he could only try to protect Dai Hao."
"The immense pressure from Tianhun and Riyue, and the chaos at Shrek Academy after He Caitou's identity was exposed."
"At that time, Xu Jiawei's emotions are very likely to break down."
Xue Heng turned around and looked at Xue Yu, who had been summoned back from the border: "When the time comes, you'll have to put a bad word to Xu Jiawei's mouth with the White Tiger Guards."
"Remember not to overdo it. What we want is for Xu Jiawei to become suspicious of Dai Hao, not for Xingluo to fall into complete chaos."
"Otherwise, with the sun and moon advancing eastward, the Heavenly Soul will be forced to launch a war prematurely, and we currently lack the certainty of victory. The Heavenly Soul nominally possesses three limits, but we cannot command the Snow Empress and the Ancient Heaven."
"The Gu family is a family that has survived turmoil to this day, and we must be prepared for the possibility that they will not want to get involved in such messy situations."
"But Xue Di values Yu Hao, so we must also be prepared for the possibility that she will only care about Yu Hao's survival after seeing that Tian Hun's victory is hopeless."
"If it's just Poison Uncle by then, who can guarantee that old man Kong Deming and Mingde Hall won't pull out swarms of fixed-position soul-guided cannons, or even more advanced soul-guided devices."
"Therefore, you must control the degree of this and make sure the situation doesn't get out of control prematurely."
There are essentially a few ways to make an emperor lose trust in his subjects:
Treason, collusion with the enemy, corruption, negligence, deceiving the emperor, usurpation, forming factions, excessive merit, political stance, and interference in the succession of the empire.
But in summary, its core essence boils down to two words: loss of control and replacement.
Tianhun was already preparing to use Xingluo civilians to pin the accusations of colluding with the enemy and forming cliques on Dai Hao, so that the people would question Dai Hao.
As for the blame for mistakes and loss of control, Tianhun planned to have Xu Jiawei personally place it on Dai Hao's head through the White Tiger Guards.
The dual questioning from both the public and the royal family will undoubtedly make it extremely difficult for Dai Hao, who has no choice but to continue serving as marshal, to move forward.
Xueyu sat down at Xueheng's prompting: "Brother, I have already made arrangements for the Heavenly Soul Southern Army's Fuyou Camp."
Poison Immortal added, "The same goes for the Body Sect. Two months ago, a disciple skilled in concealment and eloquence, with the help of Hongyue and Tianmeng, disguised himself as a new recruit in the Northern Army Group and infiltrated the sect."
"Based on the information given by Xueyu, he has already made military achievements in the planned friction and is now sitting in the position of captain. "Now he has begun to add fuel to the fire and make the rank-and-file soldiers of the Northern Army Group feel hostile towards the parachuted White Tiger Guards."
In the past few months, Tianmeng did not follow Hongyue to the eastern front, but instead came to the southern front.
His mission was to ensure that the disciples of the Body Sect, disguised as the Northern Army Group, would achieve successive victories.
In order to dispel the suspicions of the Northern Army Group, Tianmeng and his disciple even resorted to a self-inflicted injury ruse.
The Northern Army Group had no objection to Dai Hao's training.
However, Dai Hao has now returned to Xingluo City, leaving his retainer Du Lei to train him.
"This disciple will create conflict between himself and Du Lei, causing the White Tiger Guards to target him."
Du Bu Si took a sip of tea: "Then he used a completely different strategy from Du Lei to defeat a small team under the Fuyao Camp."
Xueyu followed up, "The members of this squad are the Tie family father and son who committed the crime, as well as the city guards who were bribed. They were deliberately made to perform military merits to atone for their crimes. Now, letting them die on the battlefield can be considered as serving the empire."
Xue Heng asked, "Are only the Fuyou Battalion and the Northern Army Group aware of their fabricated military achievements? Won't their deaths stir up resentment within the Southern Army?"
"No," Xuexin replied quickly. "This was a strategy agreed upon with the Fuyou Battalion long ago. Aside from this small team and the Northern Army Group believing their achievements were genuine, everyone in the Fuyou Battalion knows they've faked them. Once all the members of this small team are killed, I will arrange for the Fuyou Battalion to investigate this conflict under the pretext of escalating border tensions."
"No matter how much Du Lei disagrees with this disciple, he will definitely choose to protect him at all costs. After all, this is the one who killed the captain of the Heavenly Soul Military Merit Squad."
"But as long as Du Lei defends him to the death, he is implicitly admitting that the White Tiger Guard is not as good as a captain of the Northern Army Group."
"The soldiers under this disciple were all extremely arrogant people whom he had deliberately recruited. They were fond of drinking and had been punished many times."
"After their team's great victory, that disciple will pretend to be busy and leave. They will definitely drink heavily then."
"Once they're drunk, the disciples of the Body Sect will secretly guide them to boast to other teams, saying that Du Lei is just showing off because of the White Tiger Guard's name, and that he's actually no match for these veterans who know the Heavenly Soul Empire. At this point, the disciple will appear and reprimand them for insulting the White Tiger Duke's reputation."
The Northern Army Group has always been inferior to the Western Army Group, so the emergence of such a captain naturally brings them great joy.
Some might see this disciple's action as showing great understanding, while others might see it as him yielding to Durei.
It's one thing to yield to Duke Dai Hao of the White Tiger, but it's utterly shameful to yield to Du Lei, who made a strategic mistake.
However, this matter is destined not to escalate too much, after all, military discipline is there to keep things in check.
But what if this disciple "dies" in just a few days?
No one else can say for sure, but his squad is definitely going to cause trouble.
As long as things escalate, they will inevitably be suppressed and investigated.
Since the matter concerns the White Tiger Guards, the results of the investigation will inevitably end up in Xu Jiawei's hands.
Xue Heng said, "The most difficult part of this plan is faking death. We must ensure that the Northern Army Group sees the body and confirms the death."
Poison Undying grinned: "This is the time for my Life-and-Death Tribulation Poison to take effect."
Then he shook his head and sighed: "It's just that this child has to suffer, to sit on the brink of death for a while, and chat with the spirits of the dead."
Xueyu said, "At that time, the intelligence that Du Lei might kill the military merit captain will appear in Xu Jiawei's case."
"He can choose not to believe it, but some members of the Northern Army Group will definitely have a rift with the White Tiger Guard because of this."
"If a rift develops within the Northern Army Group and the White Tiger Guard, Xu Jiawei will have to re-evaluate Dai Hao's leadership abilities."
"In addition, with the fermentation of public opinion in Xingluo, even if Xu Jiawei trusted Dai Hao, he would inevitably have doubts after his emotional breakdown."
"Moreover, whether his attitude towards this descendant of the White Tiger royal family is truly as harmonious as it appears to outsiders, or whether he has other plans, remains to be seen."