The Empress’ Livestream

“It’s been three days, but the leader’s tent is still filled with singing voices. The generals of each faction are still living in a daydream of drinks and beauties…”

Cheng Jing and Feng Jue sat in front of each other, each holding a black and white chess piece as they continued to battle each other on the board in a very close game.

Feng Jue’s expression remained calm, his dark pearl eyes glancing down occasionally.

“Isn’t this to be expected? Everyone in the alliance had their own agenda. Among the two factions that have the most influence, the Liu family and Xu brothers, the former quit on the spot and the latter only knows how to fight for their own benefit. The elites of the alliances are like a crowd of dragons without a head; even though they became the troops of the alliance and elected a leader, in the end, they still fell short. They are together on the outside, but each man is out for himself behind closed doors. Isn’t this the same as the grains in a bucket of sand?”

Feng Jue lowered his voice as he considered his next move. It was his turn.

The next move needed to be carefully planned out. Otherwise, the game before him would become a one-sided attack from Cheng Jing.

Feng Jue’s style of playing was to carefully plan out his every move no matter if he was on defense or offense. He strived for perfection and was an ideal strategist for long-term wars.

The longer it dragged on, the more the battle would turn to his advantage.

Cheng Jing’s style was quite similar to Feng Jue’s.

The only difference was that once Cheng Jing found a loophole, his calm and stable formation would immediately turn into a gust of wind that would attack aggressively.

Feng Jue strove for stability, but Cheng Jing took risks within the stable formation.

Cheng Jing said, “What a shame, I thought Liu Xi would enter this battle for the throne. If he’d become the leader of the alliance, perhaps the situation right now would be different.”

Feng Jue gave a shocking response by asking, “Does my friend here hold a high opinion on Liu Lanting?”

Did Liu Xi have the power to turn the tables against all these powerful men?

“Liu Xi was a student under my master for three years, and the master was quite fond of him. This Liu Xi, he studied for three years and caused trouble for all of them, always making enemies wherever he went. If he didn’t have strong support behind him and a good father, he probably wouldn’t be here right now. But this man not only caused trouble, but he also wasn’t afraid of it either. He may look collected and reserved on the outside, he’s a very vengeful and envious character inside. If he were to become the leader, I’m afraid he wouldn’t even save room for these daydreaming drunks in the camp. As for Xu Pei? Hah! A smooth talker, good at management, he cares for reputation but not for the administrative details. To have someone like him as the leader will only put a peaceful façade on the alliance.”

Despite having the title of alliance leader and no real authority, the titleholder still had a substantial influence over the alliance troops. A leader with Xu Pei’s personality was destined to not accomplish anything.

Cheng Jing understood this fact and therefore did not expect anything good to come out of this assembly.

He wasn’t the only one to notice. Many individuals in the alliance had noticed as well, they just hadn’t explicitly mentioned it.

Feng Jue lowered his gaze. “That’s a shame. Liu Xi clearly wants to stay out of this matter… he will not mingle with it.”

Just as the two were talking, the tent flap lifted, letting a gust of cold wind blow inside.

Huang Song walked in swiftly with a hint of anger remaining on his face.

Cheng Jing and Feng Jue looked at each other before turning towards Huang Song.

“Are there no more festivities in the alliance camp?”

“The banquet was interrupted by Yang Jian. He took his blade and attacked the tent…”

What!?

“Why would Yang Jian…”

Feng Jue’s heart almost stopped when he heard this information. Why would Yang Jian suddenly bring his men to attack the alliance’s camp?”

Huang Song took a deep breath, saw Feng Jue’s reaction, and realized that he misunderstood.

He quickly explained, “…Let me finish first… Yang Jian only took a few men to the camp, but he didn’t hurt anyone. He only cut down the tables and messed up the whole banquet. He called everyone out and pointed at Xu Pei to yell at him. That whole scene earlier was amazing, and everyone’s faces looked as if they’d been splashed with ink… What a great feeling!”

Feng Jue and Cheng Jing both internally cried in agony as they listened to the story. Did Yang Jian want to die?

Yang Jian had already been isolated by the camp, and now he’d even barged into the banquet and threatened the alliance leader! It wasn’t hard to imagine what kind of oppression Yang Jian’s faction would now face.

Cheng Jing thought about it for a moment, then slowly picked up on something that didn’t sound right.

He said, “My lord, did Yang Jian resign from the alliance?”

Huang Song answered, “My friend, how did you know?”

Neither Cheng Jing nor Feng Jue was fond of the atmosphere in the base camp. It was an endless banquet that they refused to visit. They would much rather stay inside their own camp and play board games.

Cheng Jing wasn’t surprised.

“Yang Jian is protecting himself. If he doesn’t find a chance to leave the alliance right now, he may end up becoming a victim or a scapegoat. While I don’t know who suggested that he should do that, it was certainly a smart move. Never break, never stand. If he doesn’t make a scene, he might not be able to take initiative later.” Cheng Jing lowered his brows as if he was thinking about something. “By the way, my lord, why were you upset when you walked in earlier?”

Huang Song had almost forgotten about it until Cheng Jing reminded him.

The moment he brought it up again, the flames of anger he’d thought he had put out reignited.

“That useless bunch in the alliance troop, they’re less than dirt,” Huang Song grumbled.

At the same time, Jiang Pengji returned to her own camp with the smell of alcohol lingering around her. A faint smile hung from her lips as if she was in a wonderful mood.

She’d shown up in the alliance camp to find that Xu Pei had already found 15 clients for her.

In addition to Xu Pei, she had already sold 16 green bricks in total, which meant a considerable amount of income. Why wouldn’t Jiang Pengji be happy?

As for what happened with the alliance, it was none of her business.

Li Yun carefully followed behind her and stood beside Dian Yan to protect her from both sides.

“My lord, will Chief Yang be okay?”

Jiang Pengji laughed and answered, “Yang Jian wouldn’t be okay if he’d done nothing today.”

Today, she’d taken Li Yun and Dian Yan to the alliance camp to feast. In the middle of eating, Yang Jiang and about a dozen of his personal soldiers dressed in armor had broken into the camp and slashed up a few tables without saying anything. The crowd panicked.

Yang Jian then called out people’s names for a scolding. Among them, Xu Pei was the one who suffered the most insults… To be honest, regarding those insults, Jiang Pengji believed that someone else was behind those lines. If not, how could anyone explain how it had come out so smoothly and ruthlessly?

The scolding was one thing, but Yang Jian’s words were logical and had grabbed the guilty consciences of the crowd as they boiled in anger.

After the bloodbath of insults, Yang Jian announced that he would be resigning from his position and leaving the alliance.

He would leave the alliance but not back out on the crusade. He was willing to help the crusade against the traitor but refused to associate himself with this group of hooligans in the alliance.

After this proclamation, Yang Jian walked away with his men and left behind a camp full of dumbfounded people.

Jiang Pengji couldn’t hold in her laughter as she recalled the scene, it was just too funny.

Why so?

Because before Yang Jian had come in to mess with the banquet, someone had suggested putting Yang Jian’s troops on the frontlines, clearly wanting them to be the sacrificial lambs.

Many people raised their hands in agreement the moment this suggestion came out, not even bothering to ask Yang Jian’s opinion on the matter.

Shortly after, Yang Jian took his men in to mess up the party, only to walk away handsomely.

The slap in the face had been like a typhoon blowing by.

On the other side, Yang Jian found out the truth and shook in anger as well as fear.

“Shao Yang, if I hadn’t listened to your words, we would’ve become puppets for those vile people.”