Astral Apostle

532 Plea and Injustice (1)

In the Divine Firmament Spirit Rushing Temple.

“Perfected One, this place is very quiet. It’s really a good place to cultivate.”

Qin Song blew on the tea foam and chatted with a smile.

“Minister Qin, if you’re interested, you can come more often in the future.”

Zhou Jing replied casually.

He did not have a deep relationship with Qin Song, but today, Qin Song came to visit politely. His words were filled with flattery, and he planned to get closer to him.

Ever since he returned to the capital to meet the Emperor, he had received a lot of rewards, both real and fake. A new title had appeared on his head, and the Emperor had changed his title for him.

Most importantly, he had the qualifications to attend court every day, while Ning Zhongjun would lose this privilege.

The officials in the court were all quick-witted and well-informed. They naturally knew the meaning of this change.

At the same time, the ability that Perfected Master Windwalker had displayed this time was like a celestial being descending to the mortal world. The ministers were all in awe.

Moreover, with Chen Feng as a threat outside, he would most likely become an indispensable and important consecrator of the Imperial Court in the future. The nobles in the capital would no longer dare to treat him as an ordinary Daoist who had obtained the Emperor’s favor.

Therefore, there was an endless stream of officials who came to curry favor with him. They knew that Perfected Master Windwalker had contributed greatly this time and received the favor of the Emperor. His future was naturally limitless.

The threshold of the Daoist temple was about to be broken by the number of people stepping on it, but Zhou Jing did not use the momentum of his contribution to expand his connections everywhere. Instead, he used the excuse of recuperating to thank most people for visiting. He only met some important ministers occasionally.

Qin Song was one of them… Although he was the Right Prime Minister, he could not sit still and came to build a good relationship with him as well.

For the rest of the time, Zhou Jing stayed in the Daoist temple and did not go out. He practiced spells and taught his disciples, pretending not to have gotten proud and arrogant even after receiving the Emperor’s favor.

Now that he was an influential figure in the capital, his every move would be monitored by others. He had also obtained further favor, so it was better to avoid the limelight.

Regarding the evidence of the crimes of the Jade Cauldron Sect, Zhou Jing did not continue to interfere. After complaining to the Emperor and handing over the assassin to the Court of Judicial Review, he did not care about this matter anymore.

After all, in the Emperor’s heart, the Jade Cauldron Sect still had a status. It was unlikely for him to kill them with a single blow, but in order to appease his dissatisfaction, he would most likely make Ning Zhongjun and the others suffer and show his attitude.

Just as the two of them were chatting casually, a disciple knocked on the door and entered, speaking into Zhou Jing’s ear.

When Zhou Jing heard this, he raised his eyebrows and suddenly smiled,

“Commander Lu, you have luck on your side. I’m very relieved.”

“Lu Longchuan was defeated and returned to the capital. I didn’t expect to come looking for me directly. I remember that he received Minister Qin’s help before he was recruited by the Imperial Court. Since we’re all acquaintances, why don’t we invite him in for a chat? What do you think, Minister Qin?”

Zhou Jing nodded and said to his disciple, “Invite Commander Lu and the others in.”

The disciple received the order and left.

Not long after, the travel-worn Lu Longchuan and the others walked into the room.

When everyone saw the scene clearly, they were stunned. They did not expect Qin Song to be here.

Sun Rong tugged at Lu Longchuan and quickly went forward to greet him.

“Greetings, Perfected One. Greetings, Prime Minister Qin.”

The others hurriedly followed suit.

Zhou Jing accepted it calmly and smiled,

“After we parted in Huyang, I thought that Commander Lu and Military Advisor Sun had fallen into the hands of the thieves. Now, it seems that the heavens will bless the good.”

Hearing this, Lu Longchuan’s expression darkened.

Sun Rong hurriedly took over and revealed an ashamed expression,

“It’s good that Immortal and Minister Qin know that after the huge defeat that day, we fled with the defeated troops, but we were still captured by the thieves and almost died. However, the bandit leader, Chen Feng, remembered that he owed my big brother a favor in the past and let us go down the mountain. He said that he would only spare us this time, but the thieves took many of our brothers as hostages. We had no choice but to return to the capital to report.”

He did not hide the fact that he had been captured and let go by Chen Feng. Although this matter would become a stain, it could not be hidden.

In the future, those old brothers who had sided with Chen Feng would go against the Imperial Court on the battlefield and implicate them. Therefore, even if this embarrassing encounter would be criticized, they had to draw their lines clear in advance.

Of course, considering the long term, the prerequisite was that he could save his life when he returned to the capital this time. Otherwise, it would all be useless.

“I see… Sigh, it’s not easy for you to have escaped from Chen Feng.”

A 70% sympathy and 30% pity appeared on Zhou Jing’s face. His acting skills were natural, as if he was not responsible for this at all.

Qin Song blew on the tea foam and said casually, “You’ve been defeated and returned to the capital. Why didn’t you report to the Privy Council, but instead came here?”

When Sun Rong heard this, he was so frightened that cold sweat broke out on his back.

Their backer was Qin Song to begin with. This time, they were here to cozy up to Perfected Master Windwalker. Naturally, he harbored a suspicion that they had changed factions. This was not a glorious thing.

Of course, he had to avoid the original owner of this body to do this. However, he did not know that Qin Song was here previously, and his heart immediately turned cold.

However, Zhou Jing spoke at the right time and smiled, “Hehe, Commander Lu must have missed me, this comrade, and came to talk to me first to tell me the good news that they’re still alive.”

Qin Song nodded with a smile on his face. No one knew what he was thinking.

He put down the tea bowl and slowly stood up. He addressed Zhou Jing,

“I still have official matters to attend to. I’ll visit you again next time.”

“Minister Qin, take care.”

Zhou Jing also gave him respect and stood up to send him off. Sun Rong and the others hurriedly accompanied him.

After sending Qin Song off, Zhou Jing returned to the house with this group of people.

With no outsiders around, he directly opened the skylight and spoke frankly. He restrained his smile and asked indifferently,

“Commander Lu, you’ve led the army and suffered a huge defeat. You can’t escape this punishment and will definitely be held accountable by the Emperor. If not for the fact that you didn’t manage the army strictly and that the soldiers were bribed, I wouldn’t have been poisoned, and the battle would not have been impossible to win… After you returned to the capital, you didn’t report your duties, but came to me. Do you have a favor to ask of me?”

Sun Rong hurriedly pulled Lu Longchuan and bowed. His tone was excited and sincere, and he could not be bothered to worry about Qin Song’s thoughts anymore.

“We don’t dare to hide it from you. Only you can save our lives now. I hope you can save our lives on account of our friendship.”

They did not report their work immediately, naturally because they wanted to secretly use their connections to use Perfected Master Windwalker as a connection to pass the Privy Court and go straight to the Emperor. Only by persuading the Emperor could they obtain a lighter punishment.

Otherwise, with their status as recruited subjects, they would most likely be directly taken to prison and would not have any room to operate. They would definitely die. Therefore, after returning to the capital, they could not care less about anything else and directly took the risk to look for Ling Fengzi.

Zhou Jing frowned and deliberately said, “I’m only based in the Imperial Astronomer Bureau. I don’t have the right to interfere in military and political matters. How can I save you?”

“Your abilities are extraordinary, and your status is revered. You’re deeply trusted by His Majesty. We can’t escape the responsibility of losing this battle. We don’t dare to trouble you too much. We only want a chance of survival. We want to personally meet His Majesty to explain this battle. Please put in a good word for us…”

Sun Rong bowed repeatedly with a pleading expression.

Zhou Jing’s expression did not change as he slowly said, “Commander Lu, Military Advisor Sun, although we’re fellow soldiers, I’m not a martial artist. I’ve already done my best in this battle. The defeat is not my fault, but because you didn’t lead your troops well. Why should I absolve you?”

Sun Rong gritted his teeth and knelt down to express his stance.

“As long as you save our lives, we’re willing to submit to you. No matter what instructions you have, we won’t refuse!”

In a daze, Lu Longchuan also knelt down. The others hurriedly followed suit.

They could even kneel to the Emperor whom they deemed in the past as a dog. Now, faced with an expert who could save their lives and was extremely capable, they naturally did not hesitate or hold a grudge to kneel.

Zhou Jing’s eyes flashed. He deliberately pondered for a while before slowly speaking,

“Since you’re so sincere, forget it. I’ll help you. However, your merits will still be decided by His Majesty. If His Majesty wants to sentence you to death, I can’t help you even if I want to.”

“Thank you for saving our lives!”

Sun Rong and the others were overjoyed and hurriedly kowtowed.

Although his fate was still in the hands of the Emperor, there was at least a chance of turning the tables.

Zhou Jing looked at the group of people bowing with a subtle expression.

Unexpectedly, these guys still sought refuge with him in the end.

Looking at their grateful expressions, it seemed as though they were still in the dark.

Accepting these people was useless for the time being, but Zhou Jing was not sure if it could prove to be useful in the future. In any case, it was just a small matter, so he would just put in this filler step into his chessboard.

…

With Zhou Jing’s appearance, Lu Longchuan and the others could enter the palace to meet the Emperor.

The Emperor was furious and scolded Lu Longchuan for being incompetent. Lu Longchuan and the others did not dare to refute and apologized repeatedly. They reflected deeply and told him the entire story of the battle.

Lu Longchuan blamed the traitor for his defeat. Among them, he hated Xiang Tianjie the most. He said that this person had secretly colluded with the enemy and tried to drive a wedge between them. It was difficult for them to turn the tide, which resulted in a huge defeat.

There were already signs of mole activity in this battle. Now that Lu Longchuan had pushed the blame to Xiang Tianjie, no one would suspect that it was someone else.

Because of Zhou Jing’s kind words, the Emperor finally decided to let Lu Longchuan and the others off to atone for their crimes.

Of course, while he could escape death, he could not escape punishment. He would definitely be demoted to an official. In the past, when he was recruited, he had been promised to be a governor or even a Defense of Guardian Envoy, but those were pipe dreams now.

Lu Longchuan and the others did not dare to ask for more and thanked the Emperor for his grace. 𝚋𝚎ｄｎｏｖ𝚎𝚕．𝚌ｏｍ

Although they were risking their lives for the Imperial Court, as long as they could keep their lives, they felt lucky. They did not dare to hate the Imperial Court anymore.

The next day, when the court was held, the Emperor summoned Lu Longchuan and the others to enter the hall. After scolding them angrily, he announced the outcome of the punishment and did not execute Lu Longchuan and the others.

The civil and military officials were well-informed. They all knew that Lu Longchuan had gone to look for Perfected Master Windwalker yesterday. They knew in their hearts that Daoist Yufeng must have worked hard to pardon Lu Longchuan and the others from death.

The ministers could not help but raise Perfected Master Windwalker status in the emperor’s heart again. They became even more respectful of him.

Now, the Jade Cauldron Sect was clearly losing power. As their peer, Perfected Master Windwalker would definitely be able to take another step forward.

Qin Song did not interfere. Although he was very dissatisfied that this group of people had taken the initiative to change factions, he did not want to have a feud with Ling Fengzi because of this, so he sat back and did not care.

In any case, to him, Lu Longchuan had lost more than 100,000 troops and was no longer useful. He had become a useless pawn… If he could use them as a medium to deepen his relationship with Perfected Master Windwalker instead, it would not be bad.

In the following days, Zhou Jing did not care about the changes in the court. Every day, he would go into a daze and go home to “seclude himself to recuperate”. His life was quite regular.

The problem of the Jade Cauldron Sect was still brewing naturally. He had yet to transmigrate to Chen Feng, so it was not time for him to seek revenge. As for Lu Longchuan and the others, they had saved their lives, and there were still many follow-up reports about this battle. For the time being, he did not need to do anything.

The Imperial Court was not idle. They were mobilizing their troops wantonly, preparing to officially send troops to attack Chen Feng in Huyang.

Just like this, a period of time passed.

On this day, Zhou Jing was testing his disciples’ martial arts in the temple when a retainer suddenly rushed over.

“There are three people outside. They call themselves Ma Zhen, Huang Ping, and Yuwen Yan. They want to see Master.”

Zhou Jing raised his eyebrows.

These three people seemed to be the appointed generals of the Imperial Court.

He’s most likely here to ask me for help like Lu Longchuan last time, right?

“Then let’s meet with them.”

The corners of Zhou Jing’s mouth curled up as he laughed in his heart.

The next scene of injustice had appeared!