Unsheathed

Strangely enough, even in the wake of Mao Xiaodong's departure, the main hall of the Confucian temple still wasn't reopened to the public. Instead, it seemed like the restrictions had only become tighter.

In the rear hall, Yuan Gaofeng and the Confucian temple deities had been joined by some very esteemed guests, one of whom was the emperor of the Great Sui Nation, who had come to the temple in layman's clothing, and he was standing beside him was an elderly eunuch in a red python robe.

There were also two other men, one of whom appeared quite advanced in age, and there was a very overbearing aura about him, even though he was in the presence of the emperor and all of the Confucian temple deities. The other man was a bit younger, but he had gone to the anterior hall to look at the statues of the seventy-two saints, presumably because he felt like he didn't have the right to take part in a meeting between such prestigious figures.

The old man proclaimed his own name to be Lin Shuangjiang, and he wasn't from the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, but he spoke in a very authentic Eastern Treasured Vial Continent and Great Sui Nation official dialect.

Lin Shuanjiang was most likely a pseudonym, but that wasn't important. What was important was that the old man possessed unfathomable power. Following his arrival in the capital of the Great Sui Nation, the eunuch standing behind the emperor and a guest elder of the imperial palace had joined forces to attack him with all their might, but they were able to leave even a single mark on him.

There was a displeased look on Lin Shuangjiang's face as he took a glance at Yuan Gaofeng and the other two Confucian temple deities who had met with Mao Xiaodong earlier.

The rest of the deities present had either been Confucian generals that had been founding fathers of the nation while they were alive, or prominent scholarly officials in the history of the Great Sui Nation. All of those deities were currently banded together, and a subtle divide existed between them and Yuan Gaofeng's group.

In the end, Lin Shuangjiang's gaze fell upon the emperor of the Great Sui Nation as he said, "Your Majesty, The people and soldiers of the Great Sui Nation are all willing to fight for you, are you going to continue adopting this policy of appeasement?

“During the forging of the alliance between the two nations, the Great Sui Nation was indeed no match for the army of the Great Li Empire, but the circumstances have changed drastically since then, so are you still going to cower and bow to the Great Li Empire?

“I am but an outsider, but I would be more than happy to tell you about how many officials of the Great Sui Nation have retired from their posts and how many scholars have fled into the mountains in dismay at the state of their nation over the past few years. On top of that, do I need to tell you about how heavy a decline there's been in the fortune of all of the martial sage temples across the nation?

“I understand that your intention is to take all of the blame upon yourself in exchange for a century of peace for the Great Sui Nation, but will things really work out that way? Even if those northern savages abide by the hundred-year agreement and do not attack the Great Sui Nation over the next century, how can you be sure that the Great Sui Nation will actually heave peace for a hundred years? And what happens after that?