Unparalleled Evildoer

Chapter 165: Restlessness at the Foot of Mount Li

The rising sun was as blazing as fire, and the sky was golden for thousands of miles. On the straight road leading to Mount Li, there was a clamor of carriages and horses, colorful flags fluttering, and streamers like rainbows. The imperial guards were divided into two rows on the left and right, escorting nearly a thousand carriages. In front, three thousand guards led by Weiwei Yang Ruihe led the way, and behind them were three thousand cavalrymen led by Wang Ben. The long queue of more than ten miles long looked like a long river extending to the sky.

Mount Li is backed by the Qinling Mountains in the south and faces the Wei River in the north. It has beautiful scenery and abundant spiritual energy. According to legend, the goddess Nuwa refined stones to repair the sky here, and the ancestors of the Qin Dynasty were also buried at the foot of Mount Li. Surrounded by lush peaks, mist drifting slowly, and kingfishers singing through the forest, it is truly a Feng Shui treasure land.

In front of the tombs arranged from east to west, an altar was built with rammed earth. A total of nine bronze tripods were placed side by side in front of the spirit tablets, each containing sacrificial offerings such as cattle, sheep, pigs, jade and silk. Official musicians were neatly arranged on both sides, burning incense and praying for blessings.

The Royal Guards were a hundred feet away from the altar, surrounding it and keeping alert. The accompanying guards and cavalry were ten feet away from the Royal Guards, lined up in neat rows and looked solemn and dignified.

Civil and military officials, royal relatives and princes knelt in four rows according to their official rank on the steps and stairs of the altar. Ying Zheng, wearing a black crown, walked up to the altar step by step with the support of Zhao Gao. Hei Lin, Qing Yu, Chi Tong and Ji Feng guarded him on both sides.

Wuzhan lowered his head and knelt behind Feng Jie. He looked around but did not see the group of people. He wondered where they were hiding now. He glanced at Yang Ruihe in the same row and saw him kneeling on the ground respectfully, perhaps he had already made up his mind.

Ying Zheng walked to Wuzhan's side and stopped. Seeing the empty seat behind Ying Teng, his face darkened and he angrily scolded, "It would have been fine if this rebellious son didn't come to see me, but now he dares not to come to worship the ancestors. I think he doesn't want his ancestors anymore. Where is he now?"

Meng Yi replied, "Your Majesty, I have not seen the eldest prince for a few days. Please calm down. Given the eldest prince's virtue, why would he be absent? There must be a reason. I will ask him about it after returning to Xianyang."

The young master replied in a low voice: "I heard that he often went out of the palace to Qingya Pavilion to listen to the zither some time ago. I wonder if he went there again."

Upon hearing this, Ying Zheng said to Gongzi Gao in a cold voice: "You are very clear about his whereabouts. Have you been holding back on this for a long time?"

Gongzi Gao said hurriedly, "I just heard it accidentally. I remembered it when I saw that your Majesty was worried. Please look into it!"

Ying Zheng snorted coldly, stepped onto the altar, knelt on the ground facing the ancestral tablet, and heard the attendant Hu Wujing shouting loudly: "Read the First Emperor's sacrificial document: The heroic spirits of our ancestors are above. Since the First Emperor ascended the throne, we have inherited our ancestors' hegemony, established wise laws, and bestowed culture and grace. We have cleaned up the borders, punished the violent and strong abroad, shaken the four poles, swept across the world, unified the world, and brought an end to wars. The people are at peace, and his achievements surpass those of the Five Emperors. We have divided counties into prefectures, unified weights and measures, standardized the gauge for carriages, and the writing system, developed water conservancy, and brought blessings to the four seas. We have built the Great Wall to consolidate peace, toured the mountains and rivers, understood the customs of the people, and educated the barbarians..." The weather was hot, and Hu Wujing was sweating all over after reading the long document.

Wuzhan was touched as he listened to the eulogies. There were only a few emperors with such great achievements in ancient and modern times. How could they be compared with the princes of the six kingdoms? His own parents died in a corrupt country, under treacherous schemes, and at the hands of traitors. The hatred was too heavy. When his father left in anger, he had no choice but to take this path as long as he was alive.

Hu Wujing shouted in a long tone: "Burn incense! Play music!"

Drums and music sounded, Ying Zheng stood up, took the three tall incense sticks that had been lit by the official beside him, walked steadily to the incense burner, bowed three times, inserted the tall incense into the incense burner, then kowtowed three times, and stood up to listen to the music.

"First offer wine, play music!"

Ying Zheng took the wine jar from the offering official on the right, and placed it in front of the spirit tablet to the sound of drums and music. He still bowed three times, poured wine on the ground, knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times. After his body leveled, there were many tedious processes such as the second offering and the final offering. Ying Zheng's crown was soaked with sweat. Every time he kowtowed, the civil and military officials who had been kneeling on the ground for a long time would follow suit and kowtow together. They were already sore in the waist and legs, and their faces were covered with sweat.

After seeing off the ancestors, Daoxuan stood up, walked slowly up to the altar, came to Ying Zheng, bowed and said: "Your Majesty, please move, follow me to the Nuwa Temple to offer sacrifices to the heavens and pray for blessings."

As Zhao Gao wiped his sweat, Ying Zheng asked, "Why doesn't the Imperial Master come?"

Daoxuan replied, "Something went wrong. The Imperial Master is dealing with it. He ordered me to come and receive you and preside over the sacrifice to the heaven and pray for blessings."

"Oh? Will it go on as planned?"

"I can't say for sure. The Imperial Master will make his own arrangements and will report to His Majesty when the time comes!"

After hearing this, Yao Jia exchanged a glance with Feng Jie beside him, flashing a sly smile, and then Zhao Gao shouted, "Get going!"

Ying Zheng stepped down from the altar and boarded the chariot, accompanied by civil and military officials. They turned to the nearby Nuwa Temple, presided over by Daoxuan. Three hundred disciples of the Xiandao Academy knelt in front of the bronze statue of Nuwa, chanting incantations and praying for blessings. Ying Zheng led the officials to burn incense and offer wine, kowtow three times and bow nine times, praying for good weather, peace and prosperity for the country and the people.

After the sacrifice to heaven, it was already past noon and the temperature was extremely hot. Going further into the valley entrance, there was an open basin. The Lishan Palace built by Xu Shi and Zhang Han was located here. Ying Zheng sat under a temporary shed and drank three cups of tea, but still felt unbearable the heat. Civil and military officials, entourage, guards and other teams constantly suffered from heatstroke and were carried to the shade for treatment.

All the officials were thirsty and sweating, not knowing what the Majesty wanted to do. They stood under the scorching sun, muttering in their hearts but not daring to ask. For a full half hour, all they could hear was the buzzing of cicadas.

Ying Zheng was a little impatient and asked Daoxuan again: "Is the Imperial Master not ready yet?"

Daoxuan replied, "If everything is OK, the Imperial Master will come out to welcome you personally. Please be patient, Your Majesty." Upon hearing this, Wang Ben said to Daoxuan coldly, "It's such a hot day, and you're letting Your Majesty and the ministers sit under the sun. The Imperial Master is really putting on so much airs. What exactly went wrong? You might as well tell us so we can have an idea." Wang Ben had a very high prestige in the court, and he was a man of few words, so his words naturally carried a lot of weight. The ministers wiped their sweat and nodded in agreement.

Daoxuan glanced at the silent Ying Zheng, hesitated for a moment, and replied: "Reporting to the commander, this is a surprise that your majesty wants to give to the ministers. If you tell others, the surprise will be greatly reduced. When you see it, you will naturally understand."

"I'm afraid he can't deceive you any longer and is hiding himself, afraid to see Your Majesty!" Yao Jia said coldly as he stepped out of the crowd. Then he bowed to Ying Zheng and said, "Your Majesty, I suspect Xu Shi has deceived Your Majesty, embezzled national wealth, brought harm to the country and the people, and is plotting something evil!" When the ministers heard this, they were shocked and looked at each other. The disciples of the Xiandao Academy all glared at Yao Jia.

Wuzhan thought: "It's finally started!"

Daoxuan looked at Yao Jia coldly and said, "Yao Jia, as a court judge, please do not gossip and slander others. How can you slander the Imperial Master?"

After hearing this, Ying Zheng looked at Yao Jia with a serious expression and asked in a deep voice: "Since the court officer is suspicious, where is the evidence?"

Yao Jia said loudly: "I beg Your Majesty to capture the people from the Xiandao Academy first and take us inside to investigate. If it is too late, I am afraid that the evidence will be completely destroyed by them."

Daoxuan said angrily: "Yao Jia, don't go too far and push your luck. You framed the old camel, and we haven't come to you to settle the score yet!"

Yao Jia's face changed, and he said in a stern voice, "Since the Immortal mentioned this matter in front of Your Majesty, then I will also make it public. I ask you, did you find the looted tribute in Lao Tuo's mansion the day before yesterday? Did Lao Tuo bow his head and plead guilty in the Court of the Supreme Court? Did He Biliu kill people in public and flee for fear of punishment?"

"This is a plot you had planned long ago. You lured the old camel away, disguised the two of them, hid the stolen goods in his home, and secretly poisoned the old camel to confess his crime. You fabricated the facts and then put the blame on He Biliu!"

“In the Supreme Court at that time, apart from the two personal guards of the Lord Censor, only the Immortal and his disciples were cultivators. Moreover, the Immortal’s cultivation had reached the level of a wandering immortal. The ‘Dangkong Jue’ had long been famous throughout the world. We have no cultivation at all, so how could we do something that has never been heard of before the Immortal’s eyes? Moreover, the old camel’s cultivation is well known, so how could he be poisoned? The Immortal cast a spell to confuse the people, just to cover up the facts and escape the blame.” After hearing this, the ministers whispered and believed most of what Yao Jia said.

Daoxuan ignored the ministers' comments and angrily said, "The poisonous insect enters the brain and controls people's behavior. Who among the Taoists doesn't know this? How could it be that I cast a spell to confuse the people? You secretly hide evil ways, kill people with a hidden sword, and now you bite back. What is your intention?"

"The two imperial censors were there at the time, the evidence is solid, and the person was caught red-handed. How could he still want to deny it?" Most of the ministers had heard about this and turned their eyes to Feng Jie and Wuzhan. Seeing that the two were silent, they were basically convinced.

Ying Zheng asked in a deep voice: "Old Censor, is what the court official said true?"

Feng Jie bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, what the court official said was all what we saw with our own eyes, and the situation is true!"

Ying Zheng said angrily: "These two rebels dared to rob tribute, they deserve to be put to death!"

Daoxuan's eyes were like lightning, and he was filled with rage. He wished he could eat these people alive. His Taoist robe fluttered, and a murderous aura emanated from his body. "They are colluding with the evil daoists to frame the Immortal Dao Academy. Your Majesty must not listen to their slander!"

Ying Zheng was silent for a moment, then asked, "Since we have found out that they were responsible, we should just behead them and let the public know. Xiandao Academy was at fault for not disciplining them properly, so they should be punished. But how has this been related to the Imperial Master?"

"With the strength of two of them, how could they rob a team in an instant? It's easy to guess who is behind this. Besides, we have only recovered part of the tribute, and the rest are still to be traced. This is the confession of the survivors, Your Majesty, please review it." He took out a piece of silk from his arms and handed it to Zhao Gao. It was obvious that it had been prepared long ago, so he couldn't help but add fuel to the fire.

Zhao Gao took the silk and spread it out in front of Ying Zheng. Although Ying Zheng knew the general idea, he was still angry after reading it. He ordered Zhao Gao to pass it to Daoxuan and said in a cold voice: "Master, how do you explain this!"

Daoxuan became more and more angry as he looked at him. He said coldly, "This man is the demon Fenyuan who disappeared fifty years ago. He is good at witchcraft and is known as the 'White-faced Impermanence'. He controlled this water ghost with his golden flute. He ambushed Jiang Yuan and others by the river the night before last with several demons, and summoned hundreds of corpse ghosts during the process." Pointing at Yao Jia, he said, "He colluded with the demon to frame Xiandaoyuan!"

Yao Jia snorted coldly and said, "Do you have any evidence to prove what the Master said?"

Daoxuan looked at Wuzhan and said, "The censor can prove this. If he hadn't passed by and used the sound of the zither to decipher it, Xiandaoyuan must have been ambushed."

Ying Zheng asked: "Wuzhan, is this true?" Everyone's eyes were focused on Wuzhan's face.

……

(End of this chapter)