Chapter 1545: Feng Shan Ceremony
The court wasn’t a place to discuss right or wrong. After all, there weren’t many things in the world that were absolutely right or wrong to begin with. King Qi knew it would simply be wishful thinking if Zu An wanted to get away scot-free with just that explanation.
Sure enough, Yi Chun immediately protested, “Nonsense! I understand my son’s character better than anyone! How could he possibly do something like that?!”
You have successfully trolled Yi Chun for +258 +258 +258…
The low amount of Rage points, however, showed that he was lacking a bit of confidence.
Zu An sneered and said, “You’re his father, so of course you feel that your son is good in every way. However, as for what kind of character Yi Zhibing had, that’s something the officials and common people of the capital couldn"t be more aware of. Sir Sang was acting as the Imperial Envoy and his crimes haven’t yet been confirmed, but Yi Zhibing already went knocking on their door to frame them, forging evidence to frame a court official. That isn’t all; he was even more brazen and wanted to do disgraceful things to the Sang clan’s daughter and daughter-in-law. His majesty, I wish to invite the Sang clan’s staff in. We can immediately uncover Yi Zhibing’s crimes with just some simple questions.”
Yi Chun spat furiously, “What you are saying is simply venomous slander! My son is dead, so of course you can misrepresent the truth however you want. The dead can’t testify, after all!”
You have successfully trolled Yi Chun for +400 +400 +400…
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“What do you mean, the dead can’t testify?” Zu An replied calmly. “There were so many bailiffs there too. Just bring them over and question them.”
“Fine, then let’s ask them to see what happened,” Yi Chun said with a sneer. Those were all his subordinates, whom he had carefully trained and selected. How could they possibly say things that were unfavorable to him?
Zu An wasn’t stupid. He replied, “I propose that we have the libationer or the Royal Academy’s people interrogate them to make sure that they’re telling the truth.”
“What kind of status does the libationer have? Why would we disturb him for something like this?” Yi Chun quickly refused, adding, “What, don’t tell me you suspect that even the bailiffs who carry out the laws of the court would lie?”
Many of the officials of the court had their own thoughts. There had been rumors that Zu An’s relationship with the Royal Academy was good. Now, it seemed that was indeed the case.
“Even your son died, and yet you’re treating it like a trifling matter. In that case, I have nothing else to say,” Zu An said with a shrug, as if to imply ‘It’s not as if he’s my son.’ Yi Chun was so angry he almost vomited blood on the spot.
Waterfront Duke’s Chief Attendant Pei Zheng spoke up, saying, “Let’s not talk about other things for now. The court has laws; how can we allow someone to act willfully on their own? Whether or not Yi Zhibing did anything to the Sang clan’s women can be slowly investigated later. Right now, there’s no way around the fact that Zu An has killed a court official.”
King Qi nodded inwardly. The death of his son had made Yi Chun’s anger rush to his head. He had almost been misled by Zu An. Meanwhile, King Qi couldn’t personally step forward and speak, but what Pei Zheng had just said was precisely the argument he would have made: No matter how well Zu An defended himself, everyone else could just ignore all of it. All they had to do was to focus on the single issue of him killing court officials.
Sure enough, when they heard the argument, many people who had been on Zu An’s side changed their expressions. They knew that even if what Zu An said was true, it still wasn’t enough justification for killing court officials.
Compared to the injustice suffered by one or two people, what the emperor cared more about was the law of the entire country. If he tacitly allowed such a thing to happen, wouldn’t that encourage the common people to challenge the authorities?
Sure enough, the emperor’s expression darkened as he said, “Zu An, do you have anything else to say for yourself?”
“I do,” Zu An replied with a calm expression.
However, his att.i.tude made King Qi and the others sneer inwardly. The way things are, it’s already meaningless no matter what you say.
Bi Linglong worriedly tried to think of a way to save Zu An.
“Speak!” the emperor continued, now feeling a bit upset as well. Why is this kid so calm? Could it be that this emperor’s presence isn’t intimidating enough?
Zu An swept his gaze across the entire place, making sure to not leave out anything. Then, he slowly said, “The Fiend Emperor has died.”
The fiend side and human side were too far apart for information to travel back and forth quickly. Zu An had rushed straight back on the Wind Fire Wheels, which far exceeded the speed at which human spies could move between the two places.
“What?!”
Now, the entire King Court really became chaotic. The noise far exceeded the previous few times.
After all, even though Yi Chun’s son had died, that was that. In the end, he was still just a n.o.body who wouldn’t really change much of anything. However, the Fiend Emperor’s death could affect the entire world.
“Is what you say really true?” the emperor asked, leaning forward. The Fiend Emperor was the only one comparable to him in the entire world. The two of them had been rivals for so long, and yet now, the other had suddenly died? Even someone as shrewd as him was incredibly shocked.
“I saw it personally…” Zu An began, then explained the entire story of the Fiend Emperor being killed in the secret dungeon. Of course, he hid the fact that he had been the one responsible. After all, he had made use of a favorable situation; his real cultivation was still far from the Fiend Emperor’s. It would only be more troublesome for him in the future if others became more guarded against him.
Even so, the entire court’s officials clicked their tongues in wonder when they listened to the story. They hadn’t expected the legendary Unknown Regions to actually exist.
Only Bi Linglong’s eyes shone brilliantly. She had fought together with Zu An in a secret dungeon before… even though she had spent most of that time with her legs behind his back. She was likely the only one in the entire court who suspected that Zu An wasn’t telling the truth. After all, she had personally witnessed just what kind of power he had revealed in the other secret dungeon.
“I never expected the Fiend Emperor to actually die like this…” the emperor muttered to himself in a daze.
Suddenly, Zu An spoke up again. “I wish to report to your majesty that I even have information on the new Fiend Emperor. The Fiend races wish for a ceasefire with us. Furthermore, the new Fiend Emperor is willing to call himself your majesty’s nephew, and at the same time, to present a monetary tribute to the emperor every year.”
That wasn’t his own idea, but something that the entire upper echelon of the Fiend races had agreed to. The late Fiend Emperor was now dead, so the Fiend races no longer had the power to resist Zhao Han. If they didn’t hold negotiations and Zhao Han went personally, they could all end up being doomed.
Even though the Fiend races were more aggressive than humans, they weren’t stupid. They were at a disadvantage right now. Lowering their heads and paying some tribute for a few years was still something they could accept. Once the new Fiend Emperor grew up and the Fiend races gathered enough strength again, they could think about changing things.
“How is that possible?!” King Qi exclaimed. Even though he had sat still indifferently the entire time, even he couldn"t hold himself back from shouting.
The humans and fiends had fought for so many years. Even though the humans had forced the fiends all the way north into horrible conditions, the fiends had never yielded in the slightest. If this were real, the consequences would be too hard for even King Qi to endure.
Forget about him, not even the emperor believed it. Fortunately, there was no need for him to speak, as countless subjects began to criticize Zu An for uttering nonsense without thinking.
In response, Zu An calmly took out an elaborately packaged book, saying, “These are the credentials of the new Fiend Emperor. I invite your majesty to look it over.”
Those present were stupefied. Many of them even began to grit their teeth. Why didn’t you take that out sooner? Do you really need us to jump up and down like that before you took it out to slap us in the faces?
The emperor couldn"t even wait for the eunuchs to take it. He reached out his hand and pulled it through the air to him, then quickly flipped through the contents. There was no way to falsify such a thing, especially when the seal of the state and the Fiend Emperor’s personal seal were both there. As he quickly skimmed the contents, he couldn"t help but roar with laughter. His laugh reverberated through the capital city’s skies, leaving countless common people confused.
How could his subjects still not know what was going on? They all bowed toward him and cheered, “Long live the emperor! Long live!”
Bi Qi, who had been so quiet the entire time he had practically seemed asleep, said to the emperor, “Your majesty has conquered the lands, and now, you have fully subdued the Fiend races. This glorious achievement is something completely unprecedented; it is heaven’s mandate that your highness became our ruler. You have brought order to the ma.s.ses, and peace to all under the sky. This is simply a divine achievement!”
The other ministers smacked their thighs, all thinking, Why didn’t I think of these words and say them sooner? They then pet.i.tioned the emperor to hold a Feng Shan ceremony.
That ceremony had always been extremely sacred, from the dawn of human civilization. Since ancient times, there had been countless emperors, but only a small fraction had dared to hold the Feng Shan ceremony, with every single one achieving shocking contributions. The emperors of later generations had known they couldn"t compare, so they hadn’t dared to defy worldly opinion and recklessly carry out such a ceremony.
Even Zhao Han, who had already become undefeated in the world, still hadn’t dared to do such a thing. Now, however, it seemed to have become a possibility.
Inwardly Zhao Han was ecstatic, but he pretended to refuse on the surface. His ministers were all sharp-witted, and began to advise him to hold the ceremony. Even though the emperor hadn’t agreed, they all knew he was already tempted.
When he saw the entire court’s excitement, Yi Chun was completely stupefied. Everyone is so happy; who will still remember my dead son?