Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2644 Still Vigorous in Old Age 28.0
Chu Han wrote down every single word of their impressions of Master Falian on the board, but he himself did not make any comments on them, neither saying that their feelings were right nor wrong.

"We..." Xia Chen looked at him and asked tentatively, "Did I say something wrong?"

"There's no right or wrong in this; it's just that everyone's feelings are different," Chu Han smiled. "Have you all finished speaking?"

"That's all."

"Nothing else you'd like to add?" He looked at the group, and seeing them nod, he raised an eyebrow and said, "Alright, then it's my turn."

He looked at the comments on the board, circled only the ones that disregarded human life, and erased the rest.

"You mean that's the impression he gives you?" Shen Cha looked at Chu Han. "Nothing else?"

“It’s not that there are no other qualities, but this one thing encompasses everything you’ve mentioned.” Chu Han sighed softly and said, “Those qualities like caution, prudence, and meticulousness are things you can see, but this one thing is his true inner nature, and it’s also the main reason for the current situation.”

“That’s not wrong.” Shen Cha hesitated for a moment. “Actually, I have a feeling that the things he does seem to be instinctive. Whether it’s his scheming or something else, it seems like he was born with it.”

"Your intuition is absolutely right, that's exactly what I mean." Chu Han nodded. "Why do you think he was born with that skill?"

"Because he doesn't think what he's scheming is wrong?" Shen Cha saw Chu Han's encouraging look and continued, "It doesn't matter whether the people he schemes for are alive or dead, as long as they can be used by him?"

“That’s right!” Chu Han looked at Song Yaojia, then at Xia Chen, and said, “Do you guys feel the same way?”

"Feeling?" The two people who were named exchanged glances. "What feeling? Treating human lives like dirt?" Seeing Chu Han nod, Song Yaojia looked disgusted. "Isn't this crazy? If we dared to do that, our families would break our legs." He looked at Shen Haolin, Shen Cha, and Xue Ruitian. "Not just us, they're the same."

“That’s right.” Shen Haolin chuckled. “I know what Uncle means. This is the so-called arrogance of the powerful.” Seeing Chu Han nod, he exchanged a glance with Shen Cha and said, “Senior Tantai and my master also said something similar. The reason the previous dynasty collapsed was that the aristocratic families had controlled the country for too long, and the royal family lived too far away. They felt that the lives of ordinary people were the same as the lives of those in the palace. They could kill or beat people as they pleased, and no one could stop them.” “Right!” Shen Cha thought for a moment. “During the New Year, we talked to Senior Tantai and my uncle about this issue. We mainly discussed the personality issues of Master Falian and the previous dynasty’s royal family. They both felt that the reason Master Falian behaved this way was fundamentally due to the previous dynasty’s long rule. The royal family’s personality was to bow down to the powerful and strike hard against the weak.”

“That’s right.” Chu Han nodded. “They have all lived a long time and seen a lot, especially” he looked at Shen Cha, “Senior Tantai has seen even more than us, so he naturally knows why they are doing this.”

"Yes, he said," "If you look back at those shocking events of the previous dynasty, it was always the innocent common people who suffered the most. The grievances the royal family suffered at the hands of the aristocratic families were ultimately vented on the common people, because in their eyes, the common people were no different from cattle, horses, or sheep, or even worse. They couldn't touch the aristocratic families, but the common people were powerless, unarmed, and easy targets."

“That’s right!” Chu Han snapped his fingers lightly, nodded to Shen Cha, and said, “Our little mudfish prince has perfectly inherited this trait. Although he was sent to a temple when he was very young and didn’t live in the palace for long, he was surrounded by many people from the palace. He was influenced by them from a young age, and being a prince himself, he was naturally arrogant and picked up all the bad habits of the royal family. In addition, the people of Daxiangguo Temple have similar personalities and ideas to the royal family. After all, it is a royal temple, and it usually receives members of the royal family and those powerful and noble people. Not to mention ordinary people, even wealthy merchants are not qualified to enter. Of course, royal merchants are an exception. So, the people of Daxiangguo Temple are the same. Ordinary people are not considered human, and they don’t care about life and death.”

"It's unbelievable that they can maintain this for hundreds of years." Xia Chen looked at Song Yaojia. "What do you think?"

“If it weren’t for the chaos that followed, things might have continued as they were.” Chu Han raised an eyebrow slightly. “For someone like the Mudfish Prince, this isn’t a character flaw, because he doesn’t see it as a problem that needs to be corrected; he thinks it’s perfectly natural. That’s why he doesn’t have many concerns about selling the Forget-Me-Not Powder. Those people who died are dead, nothing to worry about. As for the government causing trouble, just push the people selling the Forget-Me-Not Powder out there. Anyway, one more or one less won’t make a difference.”

"Anyway, he's only responsible for taking the money; he doesn't do any of the work. If there are any problems, don't bother him, right?"

“That’s right!” Chu Han’s legs were a little sore from wandering around for so long, so he returned to his seat and said, “You should know that the Green Lotus Sect didn’t start out under his leadership, right?”

“I know.” Shen Cha nodded. “It’s just that the original founders all withdrew. Before the establishment of the Great Xia Dynasty, the Qinglian Sect had actually disappeared.”

"That's right. Do you know why it was taken over by the Mudfish Prince and turned into what it is now?" Seeing everyone shake their heads, Chu Han sneered, "Because of money. The current Qinglian Sect appeared after the establishment of the Great Xia Dynasty. In fact, at that time, everyone knew that this Qinglian Sect was no longer the Qinglian Sect of the past. However, before that, the so-called Master Falian's name was very well-known, so the Qinglian Sect was able to quickly gather a group of loyal followers, which was also because of this."

"I heard from Senior Tantai that the Qinglian Sect wasn't like this in the beginning, right?"

“Yes!” Chu Han nodded. “How should I put it? They started out relatively normal, but then they gradually went astray. Perhaps this was their goal from the very beginning, but they hid it very well.”