Chapter 78: Irritate To Death
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Kong Renyi felt his head go blank. He was already ill because of anger, and now he was even more furious. Pointing a trembling finger at Yunxiao, he murmured, “You… you…”
After shivering for a while, his movements suddenly stopped and his pupils began to dilate.
Puke!
All of a sudden, he threw his head back and spat out a mouthful of blood, which was the result of all the depression and anger accumulated in his chest. After finishing the last move, he fell back heavily on the floor with a loud bang, completely showing no sign of life.
Kong Renyi, the great scholar of the generation, was irritated to death!
The whole hall was in shock!
Yunxiao could not help but chuckle. “Teacher Kong is truly the descendant of the saint and the great scholar of the generation. He chose death to atone for his fault, which makes him a man who knows about righteousness and shame. Even though he had committed a crime, we should just forgive him since he is dead. I hope Your Majesty can make a wise verdict.”
Everyone in the hall looked at each other, all thinking that Yunxiao was too vicious. Kong Renyi was already irritated to death, but he still refused to let him go, and insisted on setting him up with a crime. ‘This boy will seek revenge for even the smallest grievance… I must not provoke him!’
Qin Zheng coughed violently for a while before he managed to calm himself down and said, “Yunxiao is right. Now that Teacher Kong is dead, we shall forget whatever that happened. Also, as Teacher Kong is a great scholar of the generation, we need to hold a state funeral for him and let the people mourn.”
After all, Qin Zheng had been on the throne for a long time, so he knew he did not need to offend the Li Family for a dead and worthless person. Therefore, he agreed to Yunxiao but at the same time, spoke so vaguely that he did not convict Kong Renyi or clear his name.
If Kong Renyi could hear that, he would probably have come back to life due to anger.
Soon, some eunuchs and maids carried Kong Renyi’s body out and cleaned up the great hall. Meanwhile, those imperial preceptors were crying outside, but many of them began to ponder and look at the incident calmly as well after they had listened to Yunxiao just now.
Feeling a little tired from sitting too long, Qin Zheng reclined in his dragon throne and asked, “Duke Jingguo, Li Yunxiao, what is the urgent military intelligence that made you kill the guards and rush in here?”
The grandfather stepped aside to show that he was letting his grandson take charge today. As a result, all the people in the hall immediately fixed their eyes on Yunxiao. All kinds of complicated thoughts flashed through their minds while Qin Yang’s face grew extremely dark.
Yunxiao said in a loud voice, “Whitehead Town has fallen and millions of troops from Baizhan are besieging Kunjin! Your Majesty, please send troops to the rescue immediately!”
Qin Zheng listened quietly, but when he found that there was nothing to follow that statement, he was slightly struck dumb. “And?”
Yunxiao stared at him with wide eyes and said, “And? That’s it, and now we wait for Your Majesty’s military deployment order.”
“Ah?” Qin Zheng’s jaw dropped. “This…isn’t this the intelligence we received a few days ago? So, this is the urgent military intelligence you mentioned?” A trace of anger appeared on his face. “I knew this long ago!”
Qin Yang said angrily as well, “Li Yunxiao, how could you kill two palace guards and several imperial preceptors for a piece of outdated military intelligence? You will be beheaded for your crime!”
Yunxiao gave him a contemptuous look and said disdainfully, “Don’t keep talking about beheading people here. If you are so great, go to the front line and behead the troops of Baizhan! All you know is how to behead your own people! Do you think that will make you someone great? Hah!”
“You…” Qin Yang was so angry that he did not know what to say, causing his neck to turn red. But, he immediately recalled that Yunxiao had a shrewd tongue. ‘I better not argue with him. Even Kong Renyi was irritated to death by him… if I argue with him, I might be the next one.’
After figuring this out, he just gave Yunxiao a sharp look, then closed his mouth and stopped talking.
“Ah!” Yunxiao looked as if he had suddenly caught the light. “I forgot that the Golden Lion Army in Whitehead Town was under Your Highness’s command, and they had all been beheaded by Baizhan’s troops. No wonder Your Highness can only behead your own people in the capital.”
His remark completely disregarded Qin Yang’s feelings, and it was not only a satire on the prince, but a question on his responsibility that pointed to the crux of the problem—it was the failure of his troops that had led to the current situation.
Qin Zheng narrowed his eyes and casually glanced at Qin Yang, seeing which, the prince sucked in a cold breath in his heart. The Golden Lion Army had a history of hundreds of years guarding Whitehead Town, and ahead of them was the Great Python Mountain where demon beasts roamed, a natural barrier that no army of Baizhan had ever crossed before. Therefore, what happened this time was somewhat mysterious, and the courtiers had been guessing the truth. As someone who had been an emperor for years, it was impossible for Qin Zheng to not be aware that there was something fishy going on.
‘If Father knows that I had deliberately let the enemy troops into our territory in order to fight for the throne, I am likely to be deprived of my status as a prince, and even lose all my right to ascend the throne!’ He broke out in a cold sweat, but then he thought to himself again, ‘Well, as long as I don’t admit it, no one can find the evidence to accuse me!’
“Kunjin is guarded by General Feilong’s Flying Dragon Army of 400,000 men,” said Qin Zheng in a slow voice. “Even if the enemy has a million troops, the city is difficult to break through. That’s why everyone here and I think that this call for reinforcement is fake. The real purpose of the enemy is to divert our Central Army and then march directly south to invade our capital.”
“I see! But, if this intelligence is real…” Yunxiao said solemnly, “When Baizhan breaks Kunjin, it can then send its troops south and take all the thirteen main cities of Tianshui. At that time, can Your Majesty’s Central Army hold off a million enemy troops?”
What he said was exactly what everyone was worried about. For a moment, all were silent.
With a cold face, Qin Yang winked at a courtier. The man shuddered and wiped the cold sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand, then stepped out of the rank and said loudly, “Li Yunxiao, it is your father who is trapped, so you have deliberately described the situation to be so urgent out of your worry for him. We all can understand that. However, military affairs are a state affair, and we can’t make any decision at will. We must take our time to consider our options.”
The courtier was helpless and very nervous. After witnessing Yunxiao’s aggressiveness, his heart was already filled with fear. But, he could not disobey Qin Yang’s order, so he had no other choice but to stand out.
Clang!
The cold sword of Taiyin jumped out of its sheath, piercing through the air in a beam of cold light and pointing at the courtier’s throat. The hall immediately broke out in a commotion as many guards hurriedly clustered around Qin Zheng while shouts of ‘Protect His Majesty!’ rang out from here and there.
With a sneer, Yunxiao said, “You treacherous traitor! How could you put the safety of our state at risk? Before the army marches, I’ll kill you and offer your blood to the banner!”
Qin Zheng’s face was ablaze with anger as he coughed violently. “Li Yunxiao, how dare you draw your sword in the throne room! What are you trying to do!”
“Your Majesty, I came with an urgent military intelligence. As it was too urgent, I’ve not disarmed myself, so I beg your pardon! Fortunately, I’ve found a traitor today, and I can use my sword to remove this worm from among Your Majesty’s subjects!”
As he said that, he slightly pushed the sword forward. Although the tip of the sword had not touched the skin, a stream of cold air penetrated the man’s flesh, causing blood to ooze out which quickly froze and turned dark purple. The courtier’s legs were shaking from fear, and in the next moment, he dropped to his knees with a foul stench wafting out of his pants. While shivering, he screamed, “Please save me, Your Majesty! Your Highness! Your Highness!”
Qin Yang could no longer hold himself back. Stepping out of the rank, he said, “Father, this Li Yunxiao is toying with the life of an important courtier! He is disturbing the court! Please Father, I beg you to put him to death!”
Meanwhile, Li Chunyang’s face grew dark and a powerful aura exploded out of him, forming into a mighty pressure and smashing down onto Qin Yang. Weak as he was, the prince could not resist the pressure of a Martial King. In the blink of an eye, he was knocked flying away, slamming into the wall with his ribs broken and a mouthful of blood spewing out of his mouth.
While fuming, the grandfather said in a cold voice, “Who wants to put my grandson to death? Stand out right now!”
The sudden attack startled everyone in the hall. No one could believe that Li Chunyang had just beaten the prince in the throne room!
The shivering courtier was completely frozen when he saw that his backer was beaten like nobody. ‘I’m doomed! I’ve chosen the wrong side!’ He rolled his eyes, then passed out and fell to the ground.
Qin Zheng’s pupils constricted, and his eyes flashed with a trace of anger and fear. He could feel that Li Chunyang’s aura was stronger than before, which only meant that he had made quite a significant breakthrough in the recent years. Realizing that, the emperor’s heart sank.
“Your Majesty! Which is more important, the safety of the state or the life of this useless old fool? Do you still have to hesitate?” Yunxiao’s face turned cold as he stared at Qin Zheng and said, “If Your Majesty thinks that I’m messing around, then pretend that I’ve not told you about the urgent military intelligence, and we from the Li Family are more than happy to go back to our home and stay out of all this!” He glanced at all the courtiers around and gave a sneer. “If the throne is taken by someone else, all of these good-for-nothings can still be the new emperor’s subjects, enjoying the same titles and wages. But, Your Majesty… Hehe, what a bunch of loyal subjects!”
One with a shrewd tongue, one with mighty strength, the pair of grandfather and grandson rendered all the people in the court speechless, and no one had the courage to stand up against them.
Qin Yang struggled out of the crack in the wall. He was covered in blood, and his eyes were filled with venomous hatred. But, he had learned his lesson, so he did not utter a single word but walked straight back into the rank.
Qin Yue, on the other hand, was laughing in his heart. From what he could see, if Qin Zheng refused to send the troops, it was highly possible that the grandfather and the grandson would overthrow the emperor right here in the throne room!
Qin Zheng’s serious face gradually relaxed, and he said in a voice thick of tiredness, “Yunxiao is right. In that case, I hereby decree that Duke Jingguo will be the commander of the rescue mission. He will assemble an army from the Central Army and set out today!”
Li Chunyang arched his eyebrows and said loudly, “Your Majesty, this subject has grown weaker in the recent years and is no longer capable of the important task. In any case, this subject will find a suitable person to be the commander. Please rest assured, Your Majesty.”
‘Fu*k! Judging from his aura, he is likely a Martial King already! Is this called being weak?’ All the courtiers were cursing in their minds.
Qin Zheng’s face was dark as he snorted coldly and said, “Whatever!”
Meanwhile, Qin Yang glanced at the rank of generals. A few of them, who were loyal to him and the chiefs in charge of the Central Army, nodded at him. Meanwhile, the prince sneered in his heart. ‘Even if you, Li Chunyang, were there personally to assemble the troops, I still can give you an empty shell, let alone now that you are going to assign the task to someone else! Hah! Let’s see what you can do now!’