Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 825: Chapter 616: Raising an Army and Expanding

Chen Hengchang was startled and immediately looked towards the door, but no one was there.

Just as he couldn’t hold back his urge to ask more questions, footsteps approached from outside.

Two people arrived, one was someone he recognized, Ji Feiyu, and the other was a figure cloaked under a mantle.

They entered the tea room, and Ji Feiyu bowed and said, ”Minister Ji Feiyu pays respects to Your Highness! Respects to the Sect Hierarch!”

Chen Hengchang quickly stood up to support him, saying in surprise and delight, ”Uncle, when did you return?”

After Prince Qing’s death, he entrusted Chen Hengchang to Ji Feiyu, who had assisted Chen Hengchang with diligence for over twenty years.

”I returned just yesterday!” Ji Feiyu smiled stiffly, yet there was a touch of warmth in his sinister eyes.

Chen Hengchang happily took Ji Feiyu’s arm, intending to sit down.

”Have you been well these past two years, Uncle?”

”Quite well, Your Highness. Let me introduce someone to you!”

Only then did Chen Hengchang pay attention to the figure standing next to Ji Feiyu.

Under the mantle emerged an ugly face and eyes as still as an ancient well.

The reason for calling it ugly was the fierce scars that covered the face.

Chen Hengchang felt that this person had an inner quality that completely contradicted his appearance.

The scars on the face were extremely unsightly, yet the eyes were deep and tranquil, and the person exuded an air of nobility despite being cloaked.

”Who is he?”

”Lv Hua, former commander of Secret Martial Guard North Station,” Ji Feiyu replied.

Indeed, the person before him was Lv Hua.

As for why he was with Ji Feiyu.

The story was a lengthy one.

Back when Chen Zhongshu cleaned out the Divine Sun Sect’s infiltrators in the Capital City, many of the Secret Martial Guard’s secrets had already been controlled by the Divine Sun Sect, and even many spies had been bought off.

Later, Wang Zhongzhi attempted to reorganize the Secret Martial Guards, but he did not fully eliminate the Sect members hiding within.

So much so that over time, the Divine Sun Sect’s influence within the Guards grew stronger.

The reason the Guards couldn’t find traces of the Sect wasn’t due to a lack of strength; it was because the Sect had already eroded the Guards from within.

Eventually, after Wang Zhongzhi passed away, the Guards fell completely out of control, essentially dominated by the Sect.

Lv Hua noticed this and intended to investigate the Guards thoroughly, aiming to capture all of the Sect members, but before he could act, the Guards took him down first.

He became a prisoner of the Sect, yet the Sect did not turn him into a blood sacrifice; Ji Feiyu intended to win him over.

He was kept under Ji Feiyu’s confinement for five years on Black Mountain Island, deciding to submit only three months ago.

”Minister Lv Hua, pays respects to Your Highness!” Lv Hua bowed, but only towards Chen Hengchang, not to Lin Fuan.

”So it is you!” Chen Hengchang looked at him in surprise.

Then turned to Lin Fuan beside him, asking, ”Is Master referring to Lv Hua?”

”Indeed, it is him!” Lin Fuan looked deeply at Lv Hua, stating.

Chen Hengchang was somewhat perplexed, being aware that Lv Hua had been imprisoned on Black Mountain Island, which was under his control, but did not understand why Lin Fuan waited for Lv Hua’s arrival.

Could a single Lv Hua truly impact the greater scheme?

Lin Fuan spoke, ”We need him to organize the Blood Clothes Guard!”

”Blood Clothes Guard?” Chen Hengchang looked at Ji Feiyu.

Ji Feiyu explained, ”The Blood Clothes Guard is a spy organization established on the foundation of the Secret Martial Guards. Although we control most of the Guards, many secrets remain unknown, and we need someone familiar to manage the operations, thus we thought of Lv Hua.”

They preserved Lv Hua due to his capabilities; rebuilding the Guards proved far more challenging than destroying them. The current Guards had largely been dismantled, losing many hidden lines and spies, making complete control elusive.

They needed a genuine high-ranking member of the Guards for reconstruction, with the future name changed to Blood Clothes Guard.

”Would you be willing to assist me?” Chen Hengchang asked.

”Minister is willing to serve Your Highness diligently!” Having arrived, Lv Hua wouldn’t refuse.

”Hahaha, very well, having Mr. Lv’s help is like adding wings to a tiger, splendid!”

Chen Hengchang laughed heartily, pulling Mr. Lv to sit as a gesture of intimacy.

His self-reference as ’king’ stems from inheriting his father’s title, Prince Qing.

Lv Hua sat beside him calmly, not speaking much.

After laughter, Chen Hengchang’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Lin Fuan, ”Should we proceed now?”

Lin Fuan said, ”If Your Highness is prepared, then proceed!”

Chen Hengchang’s eyes flashed, ”Is Master not intending to aid me?”

Their relationship was both master-disciple and more than that.

Becoming a disciple was merely to foster closeness, both understanding their cooperation.

Lin Fuan lightly shook his head, ”The Divine Sun Sect is only Your Highness’s backing, not meant for overt actions!”

”The Sect’s reputation is too notorious; to rise in arms in its name would provoke public rejection.”

”Therefore, Your Highness should rally under your own name, with the Sect assisting covertly!”

These insights derived from past Sect uprisings, although it happened over 150 years ago, yet the memory of the Sect remains as a stereotype firmly ingrained.