Unparalleled Evildoer

Chapter 166: The Amazing Terracotta Warriors

Wuzhan did not answer Ying Zheng's question immediately after hearing it. He hesitated for a moment, glanced at Yang Ruihe, and then slowly stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I was boating and playing the piano on the Wei River the night before, and I did hear a fierce fight on the shore!" Seeing Yao Jia looking at him with a slightly gloomy face, he continued, "But it was dark, and we were far away. I didn't have enough people around me, so I didn't dare to approach rashly. I couldn't see clearly who was fighting."

Yao Jia smiled and said, "I wonder what the Master wants the Censor to prove. What does this have to do with me?"

Daoxuan asked Wuzhan in surprise, "Didn't you see those corpse ghosts besieging Xiandaoyuan? I wonder who ordered them?"

Wuzhan said calmly, "I have already said that it is dark at night and I cannot see clearly. I also want to know who ordered that group of people so that I can bring them to justice."

Daoxuan knew what was going on, and said coldly, "Well, since you have colluded to frame Xiandaoyuan, I have nothing to say." He turned to Ying Zheng and bowed, "Your Majesty, please give us a few days. Xiandaoyuan will definitely investigate this matter."

Yao Jia said, "The truth has been revealed. What else needs to be found out? Are you trying to fabricate false evidence?" He turned to Ying Zheng and said, "Your Majesty, please arrest the people from Xiandaoyuan first and then interrogate them. I am afraid that the situation may change and endanger Your Majesty!"

Ying Zheng was silent for a long time, then he said, "Tingwei, the Imperial Master is aloof from the world, I believe he would never do such a thing, just punish the criminals involved in this case according to the law, why do you need to mobilize the army, if you have any doubts, we can discuss it after we return to the court."

Yao Jia advised bitterly: "Your Majesty! A traitor may appear loyal, and a thief may leave no trace. If he is aloof from the world, how could he serve Your Majesty? And the people he recruited are actually a group of arrogant and murderous evildoers. They are even more arrogant when they see important officials in the court. The people of Xianyang avoid them. When the Prime Minister was in office, there were hundreds of complaints against them. Prime Minister, is what I said true?"

Li Si sighed, obviously agreeing with what Yao Jia said, and the ministers also sighed.

Ying Zheng frowned and said unhappily, "Tingwei, these evidences alone are not enough to investigate Xiandaoyuan. Aren't you causing trouble for me at this time?"

Yao Jia knelt down and said, "It's not that I want to cause trouble for Your Majesty, but this Xiandao Academy is a disaster for the country and the people. Your Majesty is favoring them, but you are nurturing a tiger to harm yourself!"

Ying Zheng said angrily: "What do you know? Why did I raise a tiger to cause trouble? Is it because the world has been peaceful in the past two years that you old ministers have nothing to do and start blaming me for my mistakes?"

All the ministers knew very well that Your Majesty listened to Xu Shi and indulged Xiandaoyuan, and would never listen to the advice of loyal ministers. Yao Jia's move would definitely vent His Majesty's anger.

Feng Jie stepped forward and said, "The court judge is sincere and concerned about the country and the people. I have no intention of offending Your Majesty. Please calm down, Your Majesty. I also have something to report!"

Ying Zheng was still furious and asked in a deep voice, "Old Imperial Censor, what's the matter?"

Feng Jie said, "This old minister wants Your Majesty to see a piece of evidence!" He then waved to the entourage of the ministers in the distance. Not long after, two people came behind Feng Jie carrying two wooden boxes. Feng Jie turned around and opened the wooden boxes, and inside were actually several pieces of porcelain.

Ying Zheng looked at it and asked, "What is this?"

Feng Jie said: "These are the porcelain pieces found in Lantian and Fenglingdu. After investigation, this old minister found that the workmanship of these porcelain pieces is special. They are neither the craftsmanship of the official kiln nor the craftsmanship of the folk kiln. They are the utensils made by Taoist practitioners. This old minister dares to ask Your Majesty, is the national teacher making a 'magic weapon' for Your Majesty?"

Daoxuan looked at the porcelain piece and his expression suddenly changed. He had guessed what Feng Jie wanted to say and was filled with indignation that he could not express in words.

Ying Zheng narrowed his eyes slightly and said in a deep voice: "Originally, I wanted to give you all a surprise after entering, but I didn't expect that you already knew about it. That's right, what do you want to say, old censor?"

Feng Jie said: "I suspect that this porcelain piece fell off from the 'divine weapon'. I beg Your Majesty to order me to go in and check in advance. If it is indeed as I expected, it proves that the culprit behind the destruction of mercury in Lantian and the robbery in Fenglingdu must be Xiandaoyuan."

Wuzhan thought to himself: “So that’s how it is!” This scheme was cleverly and meticulously laid out. If it could be confirmed, Xiandaoyuan would be in dire straits. And that’s not all. There must be a more elaborate plan behind this.

Daoxuan said angrily, "Feng Jie, you want to frame Xiandaoyuan with just this porcelain fragment you got from who knows where. Do you think we are good-for-nothings?"

"How dare I? True gold is not afraid of fire. Can you take us to check it out, Master?"

Daoxuan said: "Without the order of the Imperial Master, anyone who trespasses will be killed!"

Feng Jie laughed sternly, "Do you think the world belongs to Xu Shi of Xiandao Academy? Do you think your Xiandao Academy has the power of life and death? I have been an official for thirty years, and I am not afraid of this word!" He turned to Ying Zheng and said, "Your Majesty, they ordered Daoxuan to deal with us here and block us from entering. They are unwilling to explain the reason. There must be something shameful here. I beg Your Majesty to allow me to take people to investigate thoroughly!"

Ying Zheng was slightly moved, and he glanced at Daoxuan and asked, "Since it has come to this, there is no need for you to hide anything. What went wrong?"

Daoxuan hesitated for a while, then sighed and said, "Last night, a vital divine object was stolen, and the Imperial Master is leading people to recover it!"

"What kind of divine object is this?"

Daoxuan glanced at Wuzhan and said in a deep voice: "It is the five-colored stone that controls the divine weapon!"

"What?" Ying Zheng said in a lost voice. Wuzhan's head banged as if he had been struck by thunder. Even though he knew he needed to stay calm, he couldn't hide his surprised expression. "If the five-colored stone is stolen, it will be difficult to find it back in this lifetime!"

Yao Jia said anxiously: "Your Majesty, don't listen to him. I think Xu Shi has already fled with the rare treasures!"

Daoxuan gritted his teeth and said fiercely: "Yao Jia, if you spit blood at me again, I will beat you into mud with one palm!"

Yao Jia laughed and said, "I am just a pile of rotten bones, and I can't wait to be hit to death by your palm!" He was not afraid of Daoxuan's threat.

At this time, Wang Ben said, "Your Majesty, whether it is true or not, you will know it when you go inside!"

Ying Zheng was hesitant, as if he couldn't believe that Xu Shi would escape, but he couldn't help but feel a little worried, so he had to order, "Then go in and check!"

Yang Ruihe shouted: "No one is allowed to enter without permission. Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed without mercy!" As soon as the order was given, three thousand guards surrounded the disciples of Xiandao Academy with weapons and bows and arrows. Although the disciples of Xiandao Academy had practiced martial arts and could fight ten people at a time, they had no weapons and were intimidated by the guards' momentum, so they couldn't help but feel timid.

Daoxuan shouted, "Yang Ruihe, what do you want to do?"

Yang Ruihe smiled and said, "Master, don't be nervous. Leave them here just in case!"

……

Wang Ben led his troops to clear the way in front, and Meng Yi led the imperial guards to escort Ying Zheng and his ministers slowly into the valley.

As soon as you enter the valley, you will see a cliff-like city wall connected to the surrounding mountains, enclosing a basin with a diameter of more than ten miles. The city gate is tightly closed, ten feet wide, made of black iron, weighs thousands of pounds, and is equipped with mechanisms. Even if thousands of troops come here, they will definitely not be able to break through.

Daoxuan arrived at the gate and shouted to the guards on the tower: "Open the gate and welcome His Majesty!"

The mechanism engaged, making a piercing sound, and the Wanjun City Gate rumbled upward. After a moment, a wide square came into view. A bluestone road as wide as the city gate led directly to the towering palace gate at the foot of the mountain. The Lishan Palace was in the mountain. Except for the guards lined up on both sides, there was not a single corvée in the huge square. The ministers looked around and thought to themselves, "Where did these 700,000 corvées go? Did they die of exhaustion in the mountains?"

A general in armor came up to him. He was muscular and had a stern face. He came ten feet in front of Ying Zheng, knelt on one knee and bowed, saying, "I am here to greet you!"

Ying Zheng got off the chariot and asked, "General Zhang, please stand up. I want to ask you, where did the imperial teacher go?"

Zhang Han stood up and replied, "According to the Imperial Master, a thief sneaked into the palace last night, pretending to be Jiang Yuan, and stole the five-colored stone. After the Imperial Master told me, he left the palace with the masters of cultivation and went to hunt down the thief."

Feng Jie asked: "General Zhang, where is the 'magic weapon'?"

Zhang Han looked at His Majesty and said hesitantly: "This still requires..."

Ying Zheng said: "Open the underground palace and let them go down and investigate thoroughly."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Han ordered his subordinates to wave flags to convey the signal to the guards in the distance. After receiving the order, the guards quickly ran into the hall. After a moment, the ground suddenly roared, as if there was an earthquake. On the right side of the square, a piece of flat ground with an area of ​​one hundred feet square rose up with a three-foot thick stone slab, and then spread out to both sides, revealing a ten-foot-deep underground palace. The ground of the underground palace slowly rose upwards, and not long after, a team of a thousand people emerged from the ground. When everyone saw it, they exclaimed in surprise, and no one believed their eyes.

The team of a thousand men was neatly arranged like a forest. All of them were tall and strong, wearing armor, holding weapons, with different faces and looking very majestic. If they were not motionless, one would really think they were demon soldiers or heavenly soldiers. Even so, their vivid expressions were frightening, as if they were about to charge over in the next moment. If these terracotta soldiers could fight, they would be invincible.

Daoxuan glanced at Feng Jie who was staring at him, and said coldly: "Master Censor, don't you want to investigate?"

Feng Jie snorted coldly, and walked into the forest of terracotta warriors with a dozen inspectors to examine their composition. He could see the terracotta warriors from a distance without any obstruction and saw that their color was exactly the same as that of the porcelain piece. He thought to himself, "The guards here are strict. How could this porcelain piece be taken down and taken out? And how could the five-colored stone be stolen so easily?" He turned his gaze to Zhang Han who was not far away.

Li Si said to Ying Zheng: "Your Majesty, I have a question. Although these terracotta warriors are strong, if they cannot fight flexibly, they will become just decorations. On the battlefield, they can only deter the enemy, but cannot defeat the enemy."

Ying Zheng said: "How could I not know this truth? When the Imperial Master returns, he will definitely give the Qin Empire a satisfactory result."

At this time, Feng Jie quickly came to Ying Zheng and said urgently: "After verification, the porcelain fragments and the gaps on the terracotta warriors are completely consistent, which is enough to prove that the two cases must have been committed by the terracotta warriors of Xiandaoyuan. I implore you to immediately order the pursuit of the fugitives and arrest and interrogate the people of Xiandaoyuan!"

Daoxuan's eyes widened in anger, his long robe fluttering in the wind, he angrily said: "You old ministers colluded to frame Xiandaoyuan, I really can't stand it today, I can't calm down the anger in my heart unless I kill you!"

(End of this chapter)