Can a Scholar Be Called a Villain

Chapter 52: Ning Wei Wu’s return

The skies of the capital were covered in dark clouds recently, as if a world-ending storm was about to wash over the entire city.

Three of the princes had lost their lives in the valley, then followed by the passing of the previous emperor, Murong Dao. Chaos wrecked through the entire imperial court’s hierarchy, with even the influential officials fearing that one wrong move would anger the already furious Murong Tong into killing them.

Then, the great influential forces gradually gathered in the capital, seemingly filled with anger, but it didn’t seem like they had gathered because of the deaths of the hundred thousand people in the valley or the Blood Spirits.

Following that, the second-generation youths of the capital started running amock, bringing their subordinates to cruise around the hundred and eight districts of the capital, disrupting the peace. However, no one dared to get angry.

Every single person could sense that something disastrous was about to happen.

As such, quite a number of people began to leave the city.

But they quickly realised that nowhere was safe.

Because the South Village King had started a rebellion.

That was right.

The South Village King began his rebellion the moment he left his seclusion.

He brought two hundred thousand soldiers from the South Village Army, forty thousand members of the Black River Cult and forced along three hundred thousand soldiers of the local army. With an army of about six hundred thousand troops, they marched towards the north.¹

At the same time, the counties of Yan fell into further chaos.

From the south, the Yan Han county.

It was a wintry city where the city’s governor was the absolute overlord. Today, he was standing at the city gates with ten thousand soldiers behind him.

The floor master Qing Shuang Lou was disguised as the governor, standing in the front as he rode a gallant snow horse, shouting as his mount raised its hoofs, “Brothers! It is time to protect our country! Our army will go around the Eastern seas to aid the line of defence in the south against the rebellion of the South Village King! We will succeed and triumph over the rebels!”

“Kill them! Glory and wealth await us!”

“Remember! Anyone that blocks our path is our enemy!”

“Kill! Kill! Kill!”

In the eastern sea, the Yan Lang county.

A group of pirates were commandeering 8 fleets of enormous pirate ships, firing their cannons at an island. In an instant, the port on the island exploded, killing and injuring hundreds.

As the captain of the pirate, the floor master Qing Dao Lou, waved his sword as he roared, “Brothers! Kill them all! Kill every single last soldier here! There are tributes bound for the capital here, we will be rich!”

“Occupy this island! We will gather every last pirate under the skies and create an island paradise for us pirates! We will be the owners of our own island!”

“Kill! Do not be afraid, charge!”

The western frontier, the Yan Yan county.

On top of a snowy mountain peak, the floor master Qing Sui Lou was disguised as the muscled stronghold governor, wielding his gigantic axe as he spoke, “Brothers! We can also profit from the rebellion of the South Village King! We shall descend the mountains and plunder everything!”

“The Flame Dragon Stronghold will establish itself as the Flame Dragon army today! I am the general! We will plunder everything under the mountains! We are all the men of Yan!”

“Kill! Kill! Kill!” Yan Suo County, Yan Dian County, Yan Ji County, Yan Xiao County……

A ranger executed the tyrant of the land, gathering the common folk to start a rebellion……

A scholar gave up the way of the arts, leading his soldiers to siege a corrupted official……

A young woman waved her hand, leading a troop of a thousand female soldiers against a cult……

All in all, the thirty-two counties of Yan were in turmoil.

And what worsened the situation was Ning Wei Wu, who had just left his seclusion.

The cultivation method that he had obtained from the remnant was somewhat flawed in his hands, due to the fact that the cultivation method didn’t suit his fire attribute.

As such, Ning Wei Wu could only slightly improve his own cultivation method by using certain components of it.

As for the spiritual artifact, he spent a significant portion of his time tempering and taming its will.

He had finally finished tempering this spiritual artifact after exhausting his energy, and today, he was finally capable of using a small amount of its might in battle.

After all, the Snow Fly-whisk was a lower Barren grade artifact, an item that couldn’t be found in the entire country of Yan.

No.

Even the entire Ridge Fir Alliance might not have one item that rivalled this artifact.

This had given Ning Wei Wu the courage he needed.

He had instructed the twenty-eight experts under his command to guard South Village before he entered his seclusion, for fear of an ambush during the time that he was away.

But what he didn’t expect was the entire country of Yan to fall into chaos by the time he returned.

His divine senses could tell that the entire South Village manor was in disarray the moment he had left his seclusion, with discussions breaking out at every second.

With a solemn expression, he watched as his right hand, Wei Xuan, ran over and asked, “What’s going on? Where is Song Ming? Didn’t I arrange for the two of you to guard South Village? Why is it so chaotic?”

Wei Xuan’s expression was bitter as he hastily explained, “Wang Ye², a disaster has happened. Song Ming is dead, our relationship with the Black River cult has been exposed, and even our actions of secretly gathering soldiers and buying horses have been exposed to everyone in Yan. The imperial court has taken action, sending its armies to cut all communication with the south and surrounding us, we are on the verge of being sieged!”

Wei Xuan was anxious, speaking extremely quickly.

Hearing his explanation, Ning Wei Wu’s expression changed from shock to anger, “Speak slowly, what happened?”

As such, Wei Xuan narrated the series of events that had unfolded after the South Village King had entered his seclusion. From the news of the Dragon God Crystals spreading, to the gathering of a hundred thousand people in the valley, then to the exposure of their relationship with the Black River cult caused by Hei Lao San, to the annihilation of a hundred thousand people and the complete exposé of the South Village King’s actions.

“Wang Ye! Please think of a solution, the two bastards, Hei Lao San and the man surnamed Li are nowhere to be found. A number of our cities in the south are in complete chaos, and the South Village army dare not move without your command. The roads to the other three directions were completely cut off by the army, and even with our plentiful resources, we cannot survive their impediment!” Wei Xuan was in complete distress.

Ning Wei Wu’s expression was dark as he cursed Hei Lao San and Li Jiang Jun in his mind thousands of times. If the two of them had appeared before him today, he would’ve unhesitatingly dismembered them already.

But he had never expected that the two of them were replaced by the people of the Qing Yi Tower long before all of this.

And that his current predicament was a scheme they had hatched.

“Wei Xuan, gather everyone here, our plans will be brought forward.” Ning Wei Wu quickly rushed towards his study as Wei Xuan carried out his commands in joy.

It didn’t take long for dozens of human silhouettes to appear at the meeting table in Ning Wei Wu’s study. Aside from the five that had died in the valley, there were still ten other generals that occupied the different cities of the south. As of right now, the remaining subordinates under Ning Wei Wu’s command were all gathered here.

One of his right-hand men was Wei Wu, and the other was the deceased Song Ming.

There was Hei Lao Da, the Hei Lao Er, and the Hei Lao Si of the Black River cult.

And there were five retainers and three generals here.

They looked at Ning Wei Wu with anticipation and trepidation.

Hei Lao Da had an expression of excitement, “Wang Ye, did you break through again?”

Ning Wei Wu cursed instantly, “Damn you! If it weren’t for Hei Lao San, would I need to be so anxious?”

Even despite his face turning red from Ning Wei Wu’s rebuke, Hei Lao Da didn’t dare to refute his scoldings.

This was indeed his mistake.

Ning Wei Wu turned back to look at his remaining subordinates, “There isn’t any room for consideration anymore, let’s begin our rebellion! The actions of the imperial court have made it obvious that they aren’t going to overlook this, so we have nothing further to say.”

It was clear that Murong Tong didn’t plan on having any negotiations with the South Village King, he was aiming for a swift resolution to nip Ning Wei Wu’s rebellion in the bud.

He was also setting an example for the four great clans and the three great sects.

As such, he used the majority of Yan’s forces to surround the south with the commander being the ‘Veteran General’ Wen Tian Luo of the three great generals of the imperial court, and the ‘Calculative General’ Qian Biao as his support.

His subordinates had not dared to take action against the imperial authority before Ning Wei Wu came out of his seclusion, and they had been avoiding a head-on collision with the approaching army.

Now that Ning Wei Wu had returned, their courage grew. Ning Wei Wu commanded with a vicious expression, “Wei Xuan, spread my orders! The generals shall each commandeer twenty thousand soldiers from the South Village army to ambush Wen Tian Luo’s main forces with anti-siege offence tactics.

Aside from that, the cities under our jurisdiction, as well as the cities under our occupation will be drafted into war and have their resources collected. I will leave these matters to the retainers.

Lastly, send some men to observe the three great sects and the four great clans. They should be incapable of sending out any significant forces to fight against us, considering that we have aided them in taking care of the disobedient smaller influential forces secretly in the past few years.”

After thinking for a moment, Ning Wei Wu added, “Send someone to the Han Yan island in the eastern sea to invite the Willow Sword Saint.”

1. I don’t know why the math isn’t math-ing either.

2. It is a title normally given to the brothers of the emperor, however, this title has also been given to people who had accomplished extraordinary deeds for the country.

Translator’s note

For extra chapters, subscribe to my Ko-fi at /puttty.

I upload at least once a day on Ko-fi, and I post about 6 edited chapters a week on my website.