Zero looked at Guanliang and asked with a smile, "What, is He unhappy? And He even sent you over as a lobbyist?"
Afraid that the Marshal might notice something off, Guanliang quickly lowered his eyes and avoided his superior's gaze.
While organizing the documents in his hands, he spoke in an especially relaxed tone, "He's an Aeon, after all. You summoned Him, could it really be just to teach Hua? That would be a bit of a waste, wouldn't it?"
Zero subconsciously widened his eyes.
He never would have imagined hearing something like this come out of Guanliang's mouth.
Guanliang continued, "Hua has classes during the day and can only do tutoring at night. Since the 'Reignbow Arbiter' is idle anyway, why not let Him step in and directly wipe out all unstable factors? What do you think?"
Zero remained unmoved.
Come on, that was a rare planet that wanted to oppose the Xianzhou Alliance.
How could he just destroy it on a whim? He was still waiting to enjoy the show and mess with the assassins' mental states.
Seeing this, how could Guanliang not understand?
The Marshal didn't care whether he himself got hurt. If he wanted the Marshal to relent… he could only change his approach.
Guanliang said, "What if Hua gets hurt?"
The moment Zero heard that, he immediately changed his mind.
One was a cloud-raised pet that wanted to bark madly at its owner.
The other was the heir he had longed for with all his heart for who knows how many thousands of years.
He would obviously side with his own heir.
Zero decisively gave in and called over the Aeon who was currently teaching Hua on the spot.
He said, "You're idle anyway. Do a bit more work."
Lan, "..."
Seeing that Lan was still wearing that poker face, Zero proactively brought up the contract the two of them had signed.
"You said that as long as the Xianzhou needed you, you would do it. Now there's something that seriously threatens the heir's personal safety."
Lan didn't hesitate and nodded in agreement. "Alright."
Seeing this, Zero smiled and said, "Looks like you two get along pretty well."
Lan didn't even know yet what He was supposed to do, and the moment the heir was mentioned, He agreed.
Zero instantly felt reassured.
Lan thought to Himself that as long as the other party was a normal person, He could get along with them.
Zero turned to look at Guanliang. "I'll leave this matter to you."
Guanliang gave a slight nod.
As a superior, the Marshal naturally wouldn't waste precious time making any detailed plans.
Those things were all left to his subordinates.
And Guanliang was responsible for conveying the Marshal's orders to everyone else.
Before he and Lan left, he asked casually, as if by chance, "Do we need to prepare cinnabar and yellow talisman paper in advance?"
Just as he expected, the Marshal agreed without hesitation and even told him to prepare more.
Guanliang nodded and left the study together with Lan.
Lan headed toward Hua's courtyard, with Guanliang following closely behind. After walking for a while, Lan noticed that Guanliang, who should have split off by now, was still following Him.
The Aeon paused thoughtfully, stopped, turned His head to look at Guanliang, and asked, "Is there something else?"
Guanliang sighed. "Worthy of the 'Reignbow Arbiter', as sharp as ever."
He only offered that symbolic compliment, then went straight to the point.
"I have a favor to ask."
Lan nodded. "Is it the matter the Marshal mentioned earlier?"
Guanliang said, "Yes, and no. Does the 'Reignbow Arbiter' still remember the 'Marks of Longevity Plague' on the various Xianzhou?"
Being in the Marshal's residence, Guanliang couldn't speak too directly.
Carefully choosing his words, he continued, "Before the Vidyadhara High Elder joined the Xianzhou, it was always the Marshal himself who drew talismans by hand, using them to seal the 'Marks of Longevity Plague.' Drawing talismans may look simple to outsiders, but in reality, it consumes an enormous amount of mental energy."
Guanliang frowned at just the right moment, his tone full of helplessness.
"For thousands of years, the Marshal has exhausted himself for the sake of the Xianzhou. He's not in the same condition as before. As subordinates, there's really nothing we can do."
Guanliang knew his plan wasn't particularly clever.
Drawing talismans was an extremely taxing task.
This was something the Marshal himself had told him.
Even during the period when the Marshal was at his best, he still had to put documents aside and relax a bit while drawing talismans.
According to the Marshal's own words, drawing talismans drained his mana bar, and resting and relaxing counted as regenerating mana.
Now, the recovery speed of the Marshal's wounds was far worse than before.
Guanliang guessed that his condition would only deteriorate further.
Given the Marshal's personality, he wouldn't care about his own body at all. He would stubbornly keep drawing talismans like a madman. And that way… things would actually become much easier.
When the time came, they could directly have Commission Head drug him, knock him out, then ask the 'Reignbow Arbiter' for help…
By removing the Marshal as an unstable factor, Guanliang could smoothly deal with all potential dangers.
Guanliang raised his eyes and met the Aeon's gaze.
"There are many things we can do, but when it comes to persuading the Marshal… we can't do it. 'Reignbow Arbiter,' you're different from us. You're not the same."
Lan hesitated.
Was the Marshal the kind of person who would back down just because He was an Aeon? Obviously not!
Thinking this over, He suspected that the Strategist-in-Chief had other intentions, so He patiently listened on.
Guanliang smiled.
"What I ask is that you persuade the Marshal to rest properly."
He added pointedly, "Just like what you did before."
Lan's eyes shifted slightly.
What He did before… did that mean the time He knocked the Marshal out?
Guanliang enunciated each word clearly, "When necessary, let the Marshal have a good sleep."
Lan understood the implication behind Guanliang's words.
He didn't need to act together with the Xianzhou people or handle hostile forces.
He just needed to stay by the Marshal's side and, at the so-called "necessary time," knock him out.
Lan didn't doubt the Strategist-in-Chief's intentions in the slightest. Without thinking, He said, "Alright. I agree."
The Aeon and the man exchanged a look, then tacitly looked away.
Guanliang was in an extremely good mood. He turned around and headed back to his workstation.
'Let me ask, who could resist the chance to beat up the Marshal and very likely not get caught?'
At least, Guanliang couldn't.
After all, even the 'Reignbow Arbiter,' an Aeon, had agreed.
Guanliang felt quite regretful.
If only his combat strength were a bit higher.
If Guanliang himself could beat the Marshal, why would he ever be willing to hand over such a great opportunity to the 'Reignbow Arbiter'?
First, Guanliang removed the Marshal from the plan. After that…
What needed to be dealt with next was the medical waste that had been left outside and not yet destroyed.
Commission Head had previously rattled off a whole list of things he wanted.
To Guanliang, this was nothing at all.
Wasn't it just items the Marshal had used and clothes he had worn? That was ridiculously easy.
He sent Commission Head a message, finalized the location, then put away his jade communicator.
Guanliang took a deep breath and pulled out a suitcase.
As for why there was a suitcase at his workstation…
One could only say the benefits were too good.
From rare delicacies hard to find across the star sea to national gifts given during diplomatic missions, as long as the Marshal had them, he would always bring a share for his subordinates.
So much so that Guanliang had no choice but to keep a suitcase at his workstation.
Dragging the suitcase with him, he expertly bypassed the guards and arrived at one of the cloakrooms.
This room was the cloakroom farthest from the Marshal's study, so the Marshal rarely came here.
Inside were all kinds of clothes that had never been worn.
Guanliang clearly remembered that the Marshal stored the clothes given by subordinates in his private vault. The ones in the cloakroom were all custom-made by professionals.
The room was filled with the incense the Marshal habitually used, and the scent had rubbed off onto the clothes as well.
That way, there wouldn't be any flaws.
As for whether the Marshal had worn them or not…
There were very few people in the entire star sea who were qualified to see the Marshal, let alone see him every day.
If Guanliang said the Marshal had worn these clothes, who would dare argue?
Moving swiftly, Guanliang stuffed all the outer garments into the suitcase.
He carried the suitcase to the agreed meeting point with Commission Head and immediately spotted Commission Head standing there, with the heads of the other Five Commissions beside him.
Guanliang focused his eyes and saw that the Yaoqing General was also among them.
Guanliang, "..."
His expression gradually went blank.
'Wait, Commission Head hadn't mentioned these people at all before?!'
The Yaoqing General said in disbelief, "So you too..."
The Sky-Faring Commission's helmsman took over, his tone fervent, "I never would've guessed. So you're just like us, admiring the Marshal..."
Guanliang, "..."
He screamed internally.
'I'm not! I didn't! Stop talking nonsense!'