294 Calculations (1/2)

Greetings, Master Xu!”

Fang Yuan waved his hand and sat down unceremoniously before sizing Xu Ren up.

They had not met for 15 years. The upright angry youth who was worried about the country and his people then had turned into an expressionless two-faced middle aged man. Not a hint of anger could be found upon his face even though Fang Yuan was so disrespectful. It was clear that Xu Ren was shrewd which caused Fang Yuan to feel that the flow of time had been cruel.

”It seems like my lord is here!”

Xu Ren looked at Fang Yuan's youthful features and felt a sense of regret. He gave another solemn bow, ”I would like to thank you once again for your great help in the past! What other teachings do you have for me this time? If you have any use for me, I would not hesitate to go through great lengths to help!”

Fang Yuan remained expressionless after hearing this. However, he laughed coldly in his heart.

Using his spiritual sense, Fang Yuan could already sense the hidden room that was concealed in the study room.

Within this antique study room, 8 skilled martial artists were hiding. There were also another two magic masters outside!

Furthermore, the 8 martial artists were full of killing intent. It was obvious that they had killed many others before. They had trained their essence and magic to the point where even demons and ghosts were afraid of them.

With an order, the study room could turn into a battlefield. Even though Fang Yuan was capable of the 5th or 6th transformation at that time, it would be troublesome for him to kill Xu Ren when he was surrounded.

Needless to say, after the Xu Family relocated here, they had amass their power and had many links with other martial artists. It would not be difficult for him to call up hundreds of loyal soldiers.

This was Heaven's will.

'It seems like Xu Ren has truly grown up!'

Fang Yuan thought solemnly but said, ”I would not dare...You have the protection of Fate. I am here this time to ask you if you will act now that the time is ripe.”

”Fate?”

Xu Ren was shocked. He waved his hand in the direction of Northwest. ”I, Xu Ren, am an official of the court. I must naturally be loyal to the king...”

He stopped in the middle of the sentence as he saw Fang Yuan's smile and could not continue.

He now remembered that the opponent was a demon! He would not fall for this type of trick. Xu Ren fell silent and nodded his head.

He finally spoke after a long time had passed. ”The previous king did me a huge favour. I was not willing to scheme against his country at first. However, this concerns my race and as such, even if I am unwilling, I must try my best in order for my people to be happy!”

It seemed that after one had been in the court for long, he would learn to use the glorious banner of People Dao as an excuse and a cause to conceal his disloyalty and plans for a revolt.

Fang Yuan nodded although he knew that it was a lie.

Whether there was such a cause, was another situation altogether. Fang Yuan could tell that Xu Ren was intelligent.

Fang Yuan was clear about it ever since Xu Ren moved his entire race here and spread the word to raise sacrificial knights.

”How do you intend to do it?”

Fang Yuan asked again.

The current magistrate, Kou Wei, is very old and sick. He is retiring soon and I have made preparations to take over his post and strengthen my base...”

Xu Ren's face twitched, but he still told Fang Yuan his plan.

Afterall, there were no outsiders in the house. His bodyguards were all sacrificial knights who were all extremely loyal.

”If that is the case, we will lose time!”

Fang Yuan scoffed upon hearing what Xu Ren said.

The tribulations were only taking place these few years and yet, Xu Ren wanted to idly wait for the magistrate to retire? After all, he was not the hidden dragon [1] but merely his father. He had lost his fearless spirit and the courage to usurp everything and start again.

”Then, according to your intention, I should act now?”

Xu Ren laughed. He had made up his mind to kill the demon in front of him on the spot if it were to suggest that to him!

Afterall, Da Chu was weakened. Even if they mustered troops to revolt, they would only perish.

”Not necessarily!”

Fang Yuan smiled. ”Do you still remember your wishes in the past?”

Xu Ren absentmindedly remembered the past when he was still a hot-blooded youth. He had the ambition to rule the country and make it peaceful for the people. ”The Golden Lake Prefecture has 2 evils, which are the evil gods and the pirates!”

After a few years of purging the evil gods, there were not much of them left.

Only the pirates, who advanced and retreated like the wind, were left. They usually hid within the Golden Court Lake like water droplets in the sea [2] and were extremely skilled in battles on water.

Furthermore, the natural and man-made disasters in the other prefectures had resulted in the victims seeking refuge at the Golden Court Lake, which gave the pirates an endless stream of backups.

Although Xu Ren had sent his troops to stomp out the pirates and have even achieved a decisive victory, the pirates came back not long after like how the spring wind brought along life during springtime.

According to his calculations, there was only hope in removing the pirates if he occupy the surround prefectures around the Golden Lake Prefecture and govern them together.

”Unless, you make this trip today because you have a plan to exterminate the pirates?”

Xu Ren asked joyfully.

”How did the officials handle the situation after capturing the pirates the past few times?”

Fang Yuan played around with the teacup and spoke frankly with the official. With this kind of temperament, Xu Ren could not help but felt that even his talented son could not match Fang Yuan.

After pondering, he replied, ”The leader of the pirates are executed while the rest are relocated. However, I do not have much land in the Golden Lake Prefecture and am unable to relocate all of them.As such, there were many repeat offenders!””

”Previously, you were working within the constraints of being in the local authority and could only do so much. But now, by thinking out of the box, wouldn't you have everything? The Golden Lake Prefecture has always been focused on the development of the military. Wouldn't this make an excellent source for soldiers?

Fang Yuan smiled as he presented his idea.

Truth be told, all these were made by Heaven's will for Xu Ting.