Unparalleled Evildoer

Chapter 167: The One Who Never Wants to Suspect

Feng Jie looked at Dao Xuan coldly and said sternly, "After all, I am a veteran official of four dynasties and the Imperial Censor of the Great Qin Dynasty. Today, I will see how you, a demon, can kill me in front of His Majesty!"

Ying Zheng shouted sternly, "Shut up!" He turned to Feng Jie and said, "If someone in the Xiandao Academy is greedy for money, it is possible that they robbed the tribute, but destroying the mercury is unreasonable!"

Yao Jia said, "Your Majesty, do you know how much money it takes to buy that mercury? The value of this bucket of mercury is almost equal to the same weight of gold, which is more than ten times the total value of the tribute looted this time. My Lord, am I right?"

Zheng Guo's face was full of vicissitudes. He nodded sadly and said, "The money spent on purchasing mercury alone accounts for more than 30% of the total annual income of the national treasury. In addition, the financial, material and human resources spent on building the Immortal Palace have exceeded half of it!"

Although Ying Zheng knew that building the Lishan Palace would cost a huge amount of money, his heart sank when he heard Zheng Guo's words, and he asked, "You don't need to tell me this, I know it too. Whatever the old censor wants to say, just say it!"

"Your Majesty, think about it, if the mercury is destroyed, what should we do next?"

"Is there any need to ask? Of course, we should continue to purchase!"

Yao Jia said: "If we continue to purchase, the treasury will have to spend a lot of money. Not to mention the deficit this year, where did the money go? Who will benefit in the end? What if the amount of mercury destroyed this time is not enough?"

Upon hearing this, Ying Zheng's face changed in shock, and he said solemnly: "This is impossible!"

Yao Jia knelt down and begged bitterly, "Your Majesty, at this point, do you still trust these evil Taoists? Look at the 'magic weapons' they made for Your Majesty, they are nothing but corpse ghosts controlled by evil ways, they can only cause trouble at night, how can they move an inch under this scorching sun? Mayor Xu must have seen that it was impossible to conceal it today, so he fled with the huge fortune!"

What Yao Jia said was reasonable, and even Daoxuan was shocked, as if he had been fooled. He stroked his silver beard, frowned, and carefully recalled what Xu Shi had done. He did not refute for a while.

Feng Jie shouted, "Your Majesty, please make a decision quickly!" Then he knelt on the ground. Later, Yang Ruihe and more than a dozen people knelt on the ground one after another, "We dare to ask Your Majesty to make a decision!" While the other ministers were hesitating, several old ministers knelt on the ground, including Wuzhan.

Ying Zheng never believed that Xu Shi would deceive him. What was more important was that he found it hard to accept the destruction of his great cause. However, the evidence was irrefutable, and how could such a loyal minister deceive him? He clenched his fists, feeling unwilling, and remained silent for a while.

Daoxuan shouted, "Your Majesty, please do not listen to the slander of these traitors. How can the Imperial Master be so greedy for those material possessions?"

Feng Jie said angrily, "Rebellious minister? Slander? How much effort have you made to unify the Qin Dynasty? Which minister here has not made outstanding military achievements and outstanding contributions? How could you, a demon, slander them with evil words!"

Yang Ruihe shouted, "Come here, arrest all the people from Xiandaoyuan and interrogate them!"

"Who of you dares!" Daoxuan shouted angrily, his inner energy surging out, his Taoist robe fluttering in the wind. The guards who wanted to move forward were frightened by the strong wind and could not help but take several steps back.

"Protect the emperor!" At Meng Yi's command, the imperial guards drew their weapons and formed a military formation, protecting Ying Zheng and others tightly in the formation. Swords, spears, halberds were shining, and crossbows and arrows were ready to be fired.

Yao Jia and other ministers quickly stood up and stood on the right side of Ying Zheng, protected by many guards in front of them, confronting Daoxuan. Only a few ministers such as Wang Ben and Li Si remained where they were, dignified and motionless. The whole situation suddenly became tense.

The air was hot and humid, and everyone was sweating profusely, but no one bothered to wipe it off. No one knew what would happen next and what Daoxuan would choose.

Miaoxin was staring at Wuzhan from a distance, ready to fly to Wuzhan at any time to protect his safety.

Li Si was about to persuade them when he heard a scream of "whoosh..." and everyone saw a blasting arrow flying straight into the sky.

Zhang Han shouted, "Who shot the arrow?" He saw a guard holding an empty crossbow, trembling all over, his feet were getting wet, his face was pale, and he stabbed, "Yes..., I..., accidentally..." Before he finished speaking, Yang Ruihe drew out his long sword and stabbed him. Yang Ruihe cursed, "Who gave you the order!"

Everyone knew that this arrow was a signal to the guards outside the valley. Once they heard the signal, the three thousand guards would besiege the disciples of the Xiandao Academy. Daoxuan cursed angrily, "You despicable villain, I will kill you!" He waved his hand, and the air exploded one after another, shaking away the dozen guards surrounding him. At the same time, he jumped up, stretched out one palm, and rushed towards Yang Ruihe in the air with the fluttering true energy.

The guards raised their shields and spears, forming a spear array to block in front of Yang Ruihe. With a "bang", the true energy hit the shield, and several guards' arms were broken. They fell to the ground and screamed in pain.

"How dare you, you daring demon, assassinate the general of the Qin Dynasty!" Yang Ruihe shouted angrily, and dozens of guards quickly surrounded Daoxuan. Daoxuan had never suffered such a great injustice in his life, and his anger rolled in his mind like waves. His palms flew, and his empty moves were like thunder, bursting around him, shaking the surrounding guards, screaming and spurting blood.

Ying Zheng was still in a trance at this time. Even in the past, when he faced national crises and life-and-death decisions, he did not hesitate like today. He wanted to become the greatest emperor in the history of China. How could unifying the six kingdoms satisfy him? For him, eternal life was what he wanted most. Without life, everything would be in vain. He knew that this would cost the people money and labor, and cause endless complaints, but if he could live forever, what would these matter? What's more, Xu Shi once told him that there are four continents in the world, and China is just a big country in the southern continent. Among the four continents, There is also a larger sacred land hidden in the sky. People who live there can live for thousands of years without practicing. They are the gods in the sky, born with magical powers. Under that land, all creatures are like ants. Xu Shi collected rare treasures from all over the world in order to build such a land, travel in the sky, live forever, and become a god who dominates the world. This is exactly in line with his dream. Therefore, no matter what request Xu Shi puts forward, he will do it and support it with all his strength. He has never doubted it like he does today, or it can be said that he is unwilling to doubt it.

Daoxuan was blood-thirsty. He fought off the guards step by step and approached Yang Ruihe and others. The ministers kept cursing at him. There were shouts of killing outside the valley. It must have started over there and the scene must have been tragic.

Wuzhan was among the panicked ministers. He knew that Daoxuan's anger was exactly what the other party wanted. However, he did not expect that Xiandaoyuan would only leave Daoxuan so carelessly. Could it be that Xu Shi and other masters were implicated by that group of people? While he was thinking, several people came running from the direction of the gate. The leader was Prince Fusu. Seeing that Jin Xingzi was not beside him, Wuzhan had a sudden thought and had guessed the general situation.

Fusu came running over in a hurry, shouting: "Father, I have something important to report!"

When Ying Zheng heard Fusu's cry, he came to his senses and shouted, "You are planning to rebel, stop it!"

When Daoxuan heard Ying Zheng's order, he gritted his teeth and stopped. His robe was covered in blood. More than a hundred guards around him were killed or wounded, and the rest were too timid to move forward.

Ying Zheng made way for him, Fusu jumped off his horse, knelt down in front of him, and shouted, "Father, something terrible has happened. The Immortal Dao Academy has escaped with the rare treasures on a boat!"

"Ah! How is this possible? How could he deceive me!" Ying Zheng widened his eyes, distraught.

Fusu said: "The reason why I was unable to make it in time to offer sacrifices to my ancestors was that I was imprisoned in the ship. Now they have fled along the Wei River!"

Meng Yi heard this and glanced at Wuzhan. Seeing Wuzhan slightly shaking his head, he understood what he meant and focused his attention on being on guard against "Fusu".

"Why were you imprisoned by them and how did you escape?" Ying Zheng asked.

Fusu briefly narrated: "Seven days ago, I was touring the Wei River at night and accidentally discovered a huge ship. I approached to observe and saw the disciples of the Xiandao Academy carrying heavy boxes onto the ship. When I was puzzled, they discovered me and captured me. After they recognized my identity, they were afraid that my crime would be exposed, so they killed the guards and imprisoned me in a cell in the lower cabin. Until last night, two chivalrous men from the Xiandao Academy on the ship saw that I was trapped, rescued me out of righteousness, and secretly let me go. After I got ashore, I had already arrived in Sanchuan. I found the post station and rushed here non-stop to report the news to my father. Father, quickly give the order to chase them, and don't let them escape!"

"This is impossible! Did the eldest prince see it wrong? If they escaped, why didn't they tell me?" Daoxuan said in panic. His mind was in a mess and he couldn't tell the truth from the false.

"Daoxuan, why are you still pretending to be confused? If you don't surrender, you will be executed on the spot!" Wang Ben said angrily. The ministers had no doubt about it and quickly retreated away from Daoxuan, cursing him. Thousands of arrows and crossbows were aimed at Daoxuan. As long as the order was given, Daoxuan would have nowhere to hide.

Daoxuan stood aside and turned to look at Zhang Han, and asked in a deep voice: "General Zhang, you should know what is going on here. Did he really escape?"

Zhang Han said coldly: "I am only responsible for supervising here. How can I know what you are plotting?"

At this moment, Jiang Yuan, Qingyang and others rushed in with the blood-covered Xiandao Academy disciples. Daoxuan looked at them and felt relieved. He laughed loudly: "Don't even think about succeeding with your evil plan!"

Seeing that the situation was not good, Yang Ruihe shouted, "Protect His Majesty, and don't let these evil Taoists get close to you!" No one knew who gave the order, but arrows suddenly gathered at Daoxuan like a heavy rain.

Daoxuan's joy turned into anger, and the true energy in his body burst out. His palms danced, and the Dangkong Jue exploded in front of him, and the broken arrows scattered. However, since there were too many arrows and the distance was too close, and they were all shot from the most powerful crossbows, although most of them were shattered, there were still arrows that broke through the air, forcing him to dodge backwards. In a blink of an eye, he was surrounded by thousands of people.

Thousands of guards and cavalrymen formed a battle formation and stood in front of Jiang Yuan. Seeing Jiang Yuan rushing towards them with nearly a hundred people, they urged their horses to charge out without waiting for a word, waving their weapons and rushing towards the people of Xiandaoyuan like a tide.

The cavalry rushed to his front in a moment. Jiang Yuan did not have time to think. He waved his hands, and the ice sword bloomed like a chrysanthemum, shooting down the cavalry rushing in front of him, and shouted: "I want to see Your Majesty, anyone who blocks me will die!" But the distance was too far, and the shouting and killing were drowned out by the sound, so it could not reach Ying Zheng's ears at all.

Seeing that His Majesty was heavily protected by the Imperial Guards and could not be seen, Daoxuan had already realized that this group of old foxes wanted to deceive His Majesty and prevent them from speaking, and take the opportunity to force a rebellion. By the time His Majesty realized what was happening, the matter would be done. The most urgent thing was to get close to His Majesty and beg him to order them to stop, and then expose their evil plot. Thinking of this, he shouted loudly, grabbed a spear, and spun it around, like a whirlwind of silver light and dancing. Wherever it went, blood gushed out, limbs flew everywhere, and there were screams.

Wang Ben saw Daoxuan coming towards him angrily and invincible, and shouted, "How dare Daoxuan take this opportunity to assassinate me? Come, protect His Majesty!" As he spoke, nearly a thousand people surrounded Daoxuan.

(End of this chapter)