Chongxuan Sheng truly revealed nothing. Military matters were not something to joke about.
But he had already disclosed the information he could. Those who understood would naturally understand.
The State of Qi would soon launch a major military operation. The only question was: who would be the target?
It seemed the assassination of Qu's border general had stirred certain nerves. As the overlord of the Eastern Domain states, any move by the State of Qi would inevitably draw the world's attention.
As for the Treasure Gathering Commerce Association Chongxuan Sheng had mentioned, it had always been mentioned alongside the Four Seas Commerce Alliance. In the entire world, it was one of the most prestigious commercial organizations.
The Treasure Gathering Commerce Association had a vulgar name and straightforward dealings. It always adhered to "business is business" as its guiding principle, rejecting personal favors and insisting on rules. Money for goods, fair and square.
Because it reeked too strongly of "copper coins," many upper-class people looked down on it.
Among them, the famous scholar Xu Fang was the most typical. After drinking one evening, he had publicly denounced in front of numerous nobles: "Of all who stink of that foul substance, none surpass the Treasure Gathering Commerce Association!"
He would deliberately hold his nose whenever he saw anyone from the association, to show how foul the smell was.
For a long time, the term "copper stench" became inseparable from the Treasure Gathering Commerce Association.
To this, the association's chairman had only said: "Bustling and bustling, people come for money and go for money!"
He made no other response.
In mainstream public opinion, the Treasure Gathering Commerce Association naturally could not compare to the Four Seas Commerce Alliance, which had noble bloodlines. (The Four Seas Commerce Alliance had nine honorary directors, all imperial relatives with noble titles.)
But those who truly held power understood that in terms of actual strength, the Treasure Gathering Commerce Association was already the leading commerce association in the State of Qi, having long since left the Four Seas Commerce Alliance behind.
For Jiang Chen, these matters could be set aside for now.
With the plague now preliminarily controlled, what he most wanted to do was hunt down the true culprit behind this plague—the Bone Path!
True, the Pig-Bone Mask who had spread the plague was dead, but Jiang Chen had reason to believe that the Bone Path surely had follow-up measures.
Otherwise, what was the point of spreading this plague? Was it merely to kill people?
Or perhaps the Bone Path, as a heretical cult, truly had tendencies toward destroying the world.
But this plague alone clearly could not achieve that.
In truth, if Jia City had chosen to martial law the entire region immediately upon learning of the plague's outbreak and surrendered some authority to the Yang Court, the plague would never have reached its current scale.
Moreover, Jiang Chen considered himself to have a certain understanding of the Bone Path and knew the horror of this cult. Whether in the scale of its ambitions or the cruelty of its methods, it was unparalleled.
When Little Grove Town had been destroyed, Wei Lin had used the Three-City Trial to set up an ambush and slaughter the Bone Path's followers. He had thought the matter was over. But then came the annihilation of the entire Maple City domain.
One must never underestimate the Bone Path! This was what Jiang Chen constantly warned himself.
Against his enemies, Jiang Chen was willing to exercise the utmost vigilance and caution, giving them the highest level of importance, only then would there be an opportunity to exact the most thorough revenge.
Killing the Pig-Bone Mask was only the first step, a negligible beginning.
From top to bottom, there were many people in the Bone Path who could be killed, many people awaiting the greetings of Longxiangsi.
So now the most pressing question before Jiang Chen was:
When the Bone Path had annihilated the Maple City domain to refine the True Bone Pill, what was their purpose in spreading the plague in the State of Yang now?
Finding the root cause might allow him to thwart the Bone Path's conspiracy.
Or perhaps he still did not have the strength to confront the Bone Path directly, but this was the Eastern Domain, thousands of miles away. This was the State of Yang. The Bone Path surely did not have deep roots here. And they had just caused the plague, making them the natural enemy of the Yang Court.
If he could leverage the situation properly, there was no reason he couldn't sever the Bone Path's claws here.
Information involving the Bone Path's deepest secrets was hard to come by. So settling for the next best thing, after the Pig-Bone Mask, who would the Bone Path send to the State of Yang to continue their plans?
Based on the intelligence revealed during his previous battle with the Pig-Bone Mask, at least four of the Twelve Bone Masks had already died at Zhu Weiwo's hands. Add to that the inevitable casualties during the battle of Maple City, and the recently deceased Pig-Bone Mask. There probably weren't many of the Twelve Bone Masks left alive.
Would this next person come from the Twelve Bone Masks? Or perhaps...
Jiang Chen gripped his sword tighter. Whoever it was!
After arranging matters in Green Goat Town, he went alone with his sword, bypassing Jia City and heading straight for the Rizhao Commandery Governor's residence.
After explaining his identity and purpose, he received a rather warm reception.
The doorkeeper and maids were all polite.
Upon entering the reception hall, the Rizhao Governor even stood to greet him—this was already an extremely high courtesy.
But upon first contact, Jiang Chen felt greatly disappointed.
Because this white-haired, elderly Rizhao Governor's first words after the pleasantries were: "I wonder how much aid the Chongxuan family intends to provide our commandery?"
It turned out this warmth was because he was seen as the Chongxuan family's representative, expecting some large donation from them to Rizhao Commandery. There was certainly precedent for this. As the suzerain state, the State of Qi had already sent ritual officials to perform ceremonial rites, praying for blessings for the State of Yang. The Qi court had also dispatched a team of medical cultivators to assist.
Spontaneous donations from across the State of Yang were also pouring in.
In fact, many of the supplies purchased by the Four Seas Commerce Alliance were sold at half price or given freely upon learning they were for disaster relief in the State of Yang.
This benefited from the longstanding good relations between the two countries and the State of Yang's "unwavering loyalty."
"When the State of Qi goes to war, the State of Yang never disobeys. When the State of Qi has matters, the State of Yang never fails to assist." This line from diplomatic correspondence was deeply etched in many people's memories.
Many Qi people considered the people of Yang as their own.
Logically, the Rizhao Governor caring about donations received by his commandery's people was reasonable.
But the issue was, even if the Chongxuan family intended to donate supplies to Rizhao Commandery, they would not go through the Governor's hands. Delivering directly to the Four Seas Commerce Alliance was undoubtedly the more reassuring choice for Qi people. (Of course, after his experience in Green Goat Town, Jiang Chen now knew the Four Seas Commerce Alliance wasn't particularly trustworthy either.)
From the depths of the Rizhao Governor's aged, clouded eyes, Jiang Chen saw only bottomless greed!
Suppressing his displeasure, he said: "Actually, I have come for another purpose."
"Oh?" The Rizhao Governor leaned back in his chair, his eyes growing more clouded, the wrinkles on his face deepening, saying indifferently: "I wonder what important matter? Could it be more important than disaster relief?"
"I have come to prevent the destruction of Rizhao Commandery!" Jiang Chen made the stunning claim. "I wonder if that qualifies as important?"
The Rizhao Governor smiled enigmatically, probably having seen many alarmists. "What destruction are you referring to?"
"Governor, do you know the source of this plague outbreak?"
"It was nothing more than the Jia City and Yue City governors deceiving their superiors. Our commandery has already issued official reprimands. Governor Jia was killed by a righteous hero." At this point, the Rizhao Governor glanced at Jiang Chen before continuing: "As for Governor Yue's future, we shall observe his words and investigate his deeds."
Jiang Chen could hardly believe that the Yue City governor was still in office! That he had only received a written reprimand from the commandery! What was the difference from drinking three penalty cups of wine?
By killing Xi Munan and exposing the plague situation in Jia City, hadn't he committed the greatest offense of meddling and overstepping his bounds?
At least the Rizhao Governor's words now made his distant attitude quite clear.
The gist was essentially: "Since you're not here to discuss donations, then get lost quickly and don't trouble this old man."
But at this moment, Jiang Chen could only pretend not to understand.
"Governor!" he said. "This plague was orchestrated and spread by the Bone Path. It was indeed no natural disaster, but a man-made calamity. Governor Jia and Governor Yue are internal threats, but the Bone Path is the root cause! Does the Governor know this?"
Hearing this, the Rizhao Governor had completely lost interest.
He immediately picked up his teacup, signaling for the guest to be shown out: "Our commandery has its own systems. This matter does not fall under our jurisdiction."
Le Wen