Chapter 397: Not Absolute Purity
Translator: Panda_Penn Editor: Chrissy
Lu Li didn't quite catch the drift in Zi Lian's baffling words. He felt relieved so he didn't overthink.
He had been wrestling about the matter of the Zi Family for days. It had been dealt with perfectly now. The Heaven Martial Kingdom was going to surrender, so the only one left was the Heaven Cold Kingdom.
The current king of the Heaven Cold Kingdom was Ye Li, who had fought against Ye Cha at the Bai Emperor Mountain. Lu Li had no warm feeling towards Ye Li at all, so he decided to pocket all the resources of the Heaven Cold Kingdom.
Lu Li had already given up on the resources of the Heaven Martial Kingdom so he couldn't let those of the other two kingdoms go. Otherwise, what was the point of him coming back to the Northern Desert? What good could being an emperor do if he had no resources?
…
Zi Huanqiao was overjoyed when Zi Lian told him about Lu Li's promise after she was back at the Heaven Martial Kingdom. Zi Family could not stop Lu Li on its own and the only result of going against Lu Li's will was destruction.
The Zi Family convened a meeting at once and a resolution was reached. The next day, the Zi Family issued a notice to declare that it had surrendered. The Heaven Martial Kingdom was erased from history, and all the families would listen to the orders of Lu Li. Anyone that dared to disobey Lu Li would be punished by the Zi Family.
When the master of the Heaven Martial Kingdom surrendered, nobody else had a second view. They all stated that they were willing to serve Lu Li with Zi Family.
Once everything was settled, Zi Huanqiao teleported to the Heaven Frigid City with the Family Patriarchs of fourth-rank and above families of the Heaven Martial Kingdom. They were here to officially surrender.
There were three kingdoms and a Thousand-island Lake in the Northern Desert, and now there was only the Heaven Cold Kingdom left. The Heaven Cold Kingdom was in a panic. However, no good could come out from them surrendering. Ye Li knew clearly that he had incurred hatred in Lu Li since the fight at the Bai Emperor Mountain.
Ye Li sent a messenger to Heaven Frigid Kingdom to negotiate with Lu Li while he secretly arranged disciples to flee.
The Ye Family was rendered speechless by what they got as a response!
Lu Li didn't meet their messenger. Madam Yan was sent on his behalf. Her only words were that Ye Family had only one way to go, surrendering with no strings attached. It was the only way that could save the Ye Family from being wiped out.
Madam Yan harbored some anger at the Ye Family. The Old Man of Heaven Prison and Bai Xi died in the hands of Du Heng and Ye Li. Zi Huanqiao and Lu Li had an amicable relationship, and she couldn't afford to offend Du Zheng. Du Heng had already been killed, so Ye Li became her punching bag.
Ye Family had to fight now!
After 15 days, the Heaven Frigid Kingdom was stabilized. Lu Li ordered Yu Huashen to send out troops. At the same time, he asked Zi Huanqiao to attack the Heaven Cold Kingdom from another side with powerful warriors from the Heaven Martial Kingdom.
Lu Li had offered such a gracious deal to the Zi Family. Madam Yan, Yu Huashen, and the others said nothing, but they must be feeling discontented. Therefore, Lu Li asked the Zi Family to do some hard work so others could be convinced.
Zi Huanqiao knew this very well. He called upon warriors of the Heaven Martial Kingdom and organized a troop of 10,000 to attack the Heaven Cold Kingdom.
Lu Li didn't go with them. This kind of killing was boring. With so many powerful warriors with them, Yu Huashen and Zi Huanqiao should drop dead if they couldn't conquer the Heaven Cold Kingdom.
Madam Yan didn't let Lu Li down. Before the troops arrived at the Heaven Cold Kingdom, she had mastered information of that place. In the old days, Ye Cha would have to do this kind work, but Madam Yan now could do this alone.
Lu Li couldn't focus on cultivation now so he spent his days with Lu Feixue. Bai Xiashuang refused to go as well and she accompanied Lu Li and Lu Feixue day in and day out. Madam Yan had turned a blind eye to this on purpose. Currently, Bai Xiashuang and Lu Li were friends. Madam Yan wanted them to be something more.
Lu Feixue didn't cultivate as well. She would chat with Bai Xiashuang, asking for information about the Northern Desert and the relationship between different forces.
Lu Li had no time to manage this kind of stuff. Lu Li had said that he wanted Lu Feixue to help him. Later, he would be busy with cultivation so Lu Feixue must be prepared to take over everything.
Granted, she didn't have to manage every specific work, but she would need to have control over major issues. Since she was about to manage the entire Northern Desert, she must have a clear idea of the situation.
Bai Xiahshuang was a girl with a simple mind. She would tell Lu Feixue everything. After a few days, Lu Feixue had a general understanding of the Northern Desert.
Lu Feixue was born in a distinguished household. She hadn't managed anything before, but she had seen others do it. The Lu Family was wealthy and boasted more mines, farms and resources than one could count. There were many patriarchs and deacons and departments. The Northern Desert couldn't even compare with a region of the Lu Family. To manage Northern Desert was nothing difficult.
Lu Li had set the general tone. Madam Yan would deal with internal affairs, while Yu Huashen handled external issues. There was not much left to do. What followed would be organizing resources, controlling forces, offering compensation, settling civilians down, and establishing Lu Li's authority.
At the end of the day, managing was dealing with domestic strife and foreign aggression.
Lu Li didn't have to worry about foreign aggression for the time being as Jiang Qiling was on that. Domestically, Lu Li had to stabilize the empire, making everyone behave and settling the families down. Bottom line, it was about distribution of interests.
No doubt, Lu Li had to take most of the interest. Doing otherwise would render his return meaningless. Then the distribution of other resources couldn't be even. Two methods could be employed in this case. One was to cozy up to others, and the other was to suppress them. In short, he had to offer something to other families so that they would willing to follow him.
…
Time went on. The two troops had commenced their on the Heaven Cold Kingdom. Both sides smashed into enemy territory. Every place the two troops set foot in were conquered. Many powerful warriors were killed. Many families had the idea of surrendering and they did so as soon as the troops arrived...
That being said!
Yu Huashen and Zi Huanqiao gave out orders to kill, regardless of surrendering or not. All the families of the Heaven Cold Kingdom shared a common hatred. Nobody wanted to surrender anymore. They all chose to fight with their lives.
Therefore, the speed of advancing slowed down. At first, Yu Huashen and Zi Huanqiao could take down dozens of cities in one day, but now, they could only occupy more than 10 a day and they had casualties as well.
When the news was sent back to the Heaven Frigid Kingdom, Lu Li was enraged!
"Send a word to Yu Huashen and Zi Huanqiao. Tell them if they cannot fight, then get their asses back. I will go!"
Lu Li shouted to Madam Yan coldly. Instead of carrying out her orders, she said with a smile, "Young Master, you cannot do so."
"Eh?"
A glint of coldness flashed through Lu Li's eyes. He glared at Madam Yan and said, "What? You won't listen? You want to disobey me?"
When Lu Li got angry, he was like a lion king with manes standing on roots. Madam Yan was not afraid. She answered with a smile, "It's not like that. If you want me to die, I will willingly do so. Can you calm down for a second and listen to me?"
Lu Li sat down, fuming with anger. He coldly said, "Go ahead. If you cannot give me a satisfactory answer, I will hang you at the gate of the imperial palace."
Madam Yan giggled and said, "Young Master, have you heard of this saying? When the water is too clear, there are no fish—one should not demand absolute purity. Why have Yu Huashen and Zi Huanqiao chosen to kill their way over? They are trying to take the wealth of those families. Also, they must hand in most of their loots. If those families were not killed and you accepted their surrender, they would still have their territory. Can you force them to hand over their mines and farms?
"It is easy to begin a fight. But where can you get the rewards? Without occupied territories, what are you going to give to those that has rendered outstanding service? We have lost quite a number of warriors, and Yu Huashen and Zi Huanqiao are trying to help you out. The ones died… are all disciples of families that have surrendered. There are many territories emptied and the resources liberated will all be yours…"
"Well?"
Lu Li was stunned. He touched his nose in embarrassment. He didn't know that it could get so intricate. He wouldn't have the faintest idea if Madam Yan didn't tell him so.
When there was brightness, there was darkness. The world was dirtier than Lu Li had thought…
…