Jiuxi

Chapter 772 [A Qi Man's Revenge]

"Who are you?"

Emperor Jing's voice was like a cold north wind on a snowy field, carrying with it an endless chill that was enough to freeze one's heart.

Civil and military officials and nobles of Jinglian looked at the middle-aged scholar. Although they were quite confused, from some previous details, they knew that this man was the counselor standing behind the Fourth Prince. Many things that happened in the past year were closely related to him.

The middle-aged scholar looked frail and unarmed, and the spies from the Ministry of Rites confirmed through investigations of the people around the Fourth Prince that the scholar did not know martial arts. However, the two Hezha warriors had received advance instructions from Tian Jue, so they did not dare to be careless even at this moment. They placed two steel knives on his neck, one on the left and one on the right.

If the scholar made the slightest movement, the two steel knives would cut his neck.

Even though the sharp blade was pointing at him, there was no fear on the middle-aged scholar's face. Instead, there was a hint of relief and calmness.

He glanced at Tian Jue, the chief musician who had appeared near the emperor's canopy at some point, and said slowly, "Your Majesty, why do you ask this? Didn't Tian Jue check my background thoroughly?"

Tian Jue took a few steps forward, looked directly into the scholar's eyes, and said expressionlessly: "Your name is Du Weizheng, you are 41 years old this year, and you have been alone since your parents died when you were young. You first appeared in Dadu 32 years ago, and then you were adopted and raised. Because you were talented and hardworking, you gradually gained the favor of the owner of the Richang Store in Dongcheng. Later you married his daughter and inherited the Richang business. But you have no children, and your wife died of illness 12 years ago."

"Eleven years ago, you met Mo Gu, the steward of the Fourth Prince's residence. Eight years ago, you met the Fourth Prince through Mo Gu's introduction. In the following years, you gradually became a counselor that the Fourth Prince valued, helping him to make plans and connect with the civil and military officials in the court, and you gained more and more trust from the Fourth Prince. However, you have always known how to be patient and hide. Even the other people around the Fourth Prince don't know your background, and many people don't even know you exist."

"You are like the shadow of the Fourth Prince, constantly stirring up his ambitions and making him think that he is the best among men and the best candidate for the crown prince."

Tian Jue was obviously instructed by Emperor Jing to remove the mist of a middle-aged scholar in public.

The Fourth Prince, who was several feet away, was forced to kneel on the ground, and was closely guarded by several highly skilled Hezha warriors. However, he was obviously no longer as crazy as before. He looked up at the back of the middle-aged scholar with an extremely complicated expression.

The other court officials and nobles were all shocked. Judging from what Tian Jue said, this unremarkable middle-aged scholar was actually the real mastermind behind the scenes?

The middle-aged scholar Du Weizheng looked up at Emperor Jing on the throne and said calmly, "Tian Jue is indeed your Majesty's most capable henchman. Even though he has only known me for a short time, he can still find out everything about me. There is almost no secret left."

"almost……"

Of course, Emperor Jing understood the other party's implication. At the same time, he also knew that this middle-aged scholar had long wanted to die. It was difficult to force him to say what he wanted to hear, so he changed the subject and said, "The fourth son is a waste that you have played around with. He hasn't even realized that his subordinates only listen to your orders. I don't understand why you want them to lay down their weapons? From what I know about you, you have done so many things for great purposes. Why would you give up at the last minute? You should order them to kill my sons."

"Because I'm afraid."

Du Weizheng's answer was unexpected. His expression was calm, and he said slowly, "If I let them do it, His Majesty will appear to be indifferent, but in fact he will be furious, and those Hezha warriors will definitely cut me into pieces."

Emperor Jing narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, "You are actually afraid of death?"

Du Weizhen thought for a moment and said frankly, "It's not that I'm afraid of death, but if I do that, I won't have the opportunity to talk to His Majesty. Besides, both the Sixth Prince Wu Lie and the Eighth Prince A Hu Dai are just average people, not to mention the other princes. They don't have the ability to inherit His Majesty's foundation, and it's difficult for them to even defend Chengdu, so their life and death are not important."

A dangerous light gradually appeared in Emperor Jing's eyes.

Du Weizhen continued, "Among all the princes of the royal family, there are only two who have enough talent to inherit your majesty's foundation, namely Crown Prince Nalan and Fourth Prince Hai. I know that your majesty spent a lot of energy to make up his mind and finally chose to make Nalan the crown prince. It was from that time that I knew I should appear beside Fourth Prince, because he was unwilling to give in and wanted to win your majesty's recognition. It's a pity that your majesty never gave him this opportunity."

When the Fourth Prince heard these words in the distance, a confused look appeared on his face.

Emperor Jing said in a deep voice: "So you are deliberately trying to lead the fourth brother astray?"

"Yes."

Du Weizheng admitted without hesitation, and then said: "In fact, the Fourth Prince has done a good job over the years, although His Majesty still does not approve of him and thinks he is only clever but not wise. But His Majesty may have forgotten that a prince like him can neither participate in government affairs nor lead the army alone. Without much real power, how can he get enough experience? Competing for the throne is his only way to show his talents to His Majesty. However, His Majesty refused to give him even this opportunity, so it's no wonder that he chose this path."

Emperor Jing was silent for a moment, and finally rebuked: "You are so sharp-tongued, it is obvious that you have racked your brains to deceive him."

Du Weizheng said rather bluntly: "That's not wrong. I bewitched the Fourth Prince to turn against His Majesty, and used him to poison the Crown Prince Nalan. All of this was my conspiracy."

The ministers were stunned.

Shangshu Ling Zhao Siwen said coldly: "What a sinister and vicious person you are! You still call yourself a scholar!"

Du Weizhen suddenly smiled softly.

He turned to look at the head of the Dajing civil officials and said leisurely, "I wonder where Lord Zhao's ancestors are buried? Have you ever fulfilled your filial duties in the past twenty years?"

Zhao Siwen's face turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye.

His ancestors lived in the south of Hengjiang River and were authentic citizens of Qi. Although his grandfather's generation had settled in Dajing, he still had the blood of Qi people in his bones.

The middle-aged scholar's words seemed peaceful, but in fact they were saying that he had forgotten his roots and betrayed his ancestors.

Du Weizhen was not very interested in arguing with these civil officials. Even though he knew that these people all had Qi blood, he still disdained to waste his words on them.

"You are quite frank."

Hearing the frank words of this middle-aged scholar, Emperor Jing was not angry at all, and continued: "The name is fake, the age is fake, and the identity is naturally fake. You have gone to great lengths to do these things, which is enough to prove that you are a spy sent by Southern Qi. After all, I still underestimated those people in the south. Tell me, are you a hidden man planted by the previous emperor of Qi? Or are you Li Tianrun or Xiao Wangzhi?"

In the distance, the Fourth Prince stared blankly at the back of the middle-aged scholar, his snow-white face devoid of any color.

That familiar and friendly back seemed to be mocking him silently.

Du Weizheng had no eyes, and at the moment he had no intention of paying attention to the young prince's emotions. Facing Emperor Jing's questioning, he was silent for a while, then raised his head and replied: "Yes, I am from Qi, but my name, age, and identity are all real."

There was a commotion all around.

Sagai, Abuhan, Wengusun and other Jinglian nobles cursed loudly, while the civil officials on the left had mixed feelings, but there were also shameless people who denounced the Qi people for their insidiousness and meanness.

With Du Weizhen admitting his identity, there is an explanation for the poisoning of Crown Prince Nalan and the rebellion of Fourth Prince Hai Ge. These were all conspiracies instigated by spies of Southern Qi.

Du Wei stood tall amidst the storm of insults. When the surroundings finally calmed down, he looked at Emperor Jing and said, "I really admire you."

Until this moment, he finally changed the way he addressed Emperor Jing.

Emperor Jing naturally noticed this detail, but he did not dwell on it. He said indifferently: "Do you admire me?" "You knew that the Fourth Prince had ill intentions, but you still gave him a chance, and even hinted at the beginning of the banquet, hoping that the Fourth Prince would stop. It's a pity that you ignored the depression and disappointment that he had accumulated in his heart for so many years. Of course, from another point of view, you used the Fourth Prince's rebelliousness to set up this trap, hoping that more people would jump out so that you could solve the problem at one time. Jia Guyong was the unlucky guy who was fooled."

Du Weizhen sighed and said, "What makes me admire you even more is that even though you already knew I was the one behind the scenes, you were still able to control your anger and not have me torn into pieces immediately, giving me a chance to speak in public. You did this just to let everyone know my identity, so that the ugly deeds of the princes killing each other and even treason can be covered up and pushed onto the Qi people, so that the Jinglian people can breathe a sigh of relief."

"After all... killing each other is too ugly. If you say that this is all a conspiracy by the Qi people, at least everyone can save face, and your dignity and that of the royal family will not be damaged too much."

These words caused everyone around to fall into silence.

Emperor Jing looked at the middle-aged scholar who was still talking freely in front of him despite being stabbed with a sharp blade. He suppressed his curiosity and did not ask why he was willing to admit his identity when he knew the intention of this move. Instead, he said calmly, "Li Duan of Southern Qi is indeed a very powerful figure. He was able to find a chess piece like you."

Du Weizheng shook his head and said slowly: "Although I am here, I have heard about the deeds of the previous emperor of our dynasty. I only regret that I can't see the emperor's face with my own eyes. You don't have to keep guessing. I am from Qi, but I am just an ordinary Qi person. I don't have a great identity, but I have endless hatred. My parents and relatives died under the butcher knife of the Jing army. I was lucky to survive and came all the way to this capital. I only wanted to avenge them. It has been 32 years now."

"I see."

Emperor Jing didn't care. As long as he confirmed the other party's identity as a Qi person and made it public, his goal would be achieved.

Just when Emperor Jing was about to have the Hezha warriors behead this man, Du Weizheng suddenly sighed and said, "What a pity."

Emperor Jing frowned and asked, "What a pity?"

Du Weizheng looked at him and said, "It's a pity that you are too powerful. Even Qing Yugong dare not go beyond the line."

Emperor Jing said coldly: "At this time, you still want to sow discord in front of me?"

"I'm not trying to sow discord, but speaking from the bottom of my heart."

Du Weizheng looked calm and said sincerely: "I have lived here for thirty-two years, watching the world with a cold eye, and no one is more powerful than you. You transferred the main force of the Xiashan Army to the northwest border, which made the forces around Qing Yugong very weak. Therefore, he dared not act rashly and could only be a loyal minister. And I also know that although Qing Yugong is known as the best master in Dajing, your martial arts are not even inferior to him."

"You are the Son of Heaven, with countless talented people under your command and hundreds of thousands of brave soldiers. Your vision, strategy, and martial arts are all top-notch and almost impeccable. In fact, my target of revenge was you at first, but later I found it was too difficult and I had no idea where to start, so I had to settle for the next best thing and set my sights on your sons."

“Even though I succeeded, I still feel regretful.”

"But human power is always limited, so even though I want you to die, I have to say I admire you."

As he spoke, he bowed to Emperor Jing.

This scene made the civil and military officials and the nobles feel mixed emotions.

It is indeed incredible that a mere scholar, who had suffered in a foreign country for more than 30 years, could stir up the situation as a strategist, kill the crown prince and lead the fourth prince to rebel.

But he happened to meet Emperor Jing, who had almost no weaknesses and even Qing Yugong had to bow to him.

However, when the middle-aged scholar leaned forward to salute, Emperor Jing suddenly felt a strong sense of crisis in his heart.

Because the conversation between the scholar and Emperor Jing was very lengthy, and his salute was very natural, the two Hezha warriors next to him relaxed their vigilance a little.

The next moment, the middle-aged scholar twisted his toes and rushed towards Emperor Jing three meters away like an arrow!
So fast that it leaves a shadow!
The scene suddenly became chaotic, and more than a dozen warriors tried to stop the middle-aged scholar. However, Du Weizhen was as fast as a ghost. He rushed through the obstruction before they could surround him and appeared in front of Emperor Jing in an instant.

"Father!"

"His Majesty!"

There were cheers all around.

Faced with a sudden change, Emperor Jing remained calm. Looking at the middle-aged scholar who rushed to him in the blink of an eye, he threw a punch that seemed slow but was actually like thunder.

The fist came later but arrived first, hitting the scholar's chest.

Du Weizhen immediately spat out a mouthful of blood and his face turned pale at a speed visible to the naked eye, but at this moment he was actually smiling.

"I've waited thirty-two years just for a chance to be close enough to you!"

He roared out these words in a shrill voice.

The middle-aged scholar was not wrong in his guess. Emperor Jing's martial arts were indeed extremely powerful and simply invincible. The opponent's punch directly destroyed his life.

Emperor Jing said coldly: "Even if you have a lightning-fast body movement, and--"

The words stopped abruptly because Emperor Jing suddenly saw green smoke coming out from under the middle-aged scholar's clothes.

He immediately wanted to fly backwards, but the middle-aged scholar used his last bit of strength to tightly grab his fist.

"boom!"

A ball of extremely brilliant fireworks exploded on the middle-aged scholar, instantly engulfing him and Emperor Jing.

Everyone stared in amazement as the princes, civil and military officials, nobles, and Hezha warriors rushed over like crazy.

At the moment the gunpowder exploded, a large number of extremely sharp broken iron nails shot out from the scholar's body, and at least a small half of them shot towards Emperor Jing who was nearby.

The impact force of gunpowder and the lethality of various sharp weapons instantly seriously injured the seemingly invulnerable Emperor Jing.

At this moment, the scholar had already died.

But on his bloody face, there was a smile that was forever frozen.

Many years ago, somewhere on the north bank of the Jing River in the State of Qi, a young child followed his parents, wandering in the peaceful years with an innocent smile on his face.

Just like today.

(End of this chapter)