Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 478: Killing. Blood.

"Peace!" Li Zhao's heart tightened, and he instinctively wanted to protect her behind him.

Xue Sui shook his head slightly at him, indicating that he was fine.

She looked at Jing Shan with a complex and painful gaze, but she did not back down.

“I will never forget my master’s kindness in raising me. I will also remember the blood feud of the Old Mausoleum Swamp day and night. But the way to take revenge should not be to start another war and make more innocent people displaced. Master, you taught me martial arts, you taught me to read, you taught me to distinguish right from wrong, not to turn me into a monster who only knows how to kill and point the blade at innocent people.”

"I never taught you to be glib and flattering—"

Jing Shan let out a desolate low laugh.

"No one in the Li family is innocent. They owe a blood debt, and I will make them pay with their own blood. What's wrong with that?"

Xue Sui gently shook his head, his voice calm, "Master, you hate Li Huo and his son, and the likes of Xiao Song. Back then, they murdered soldiers for power and position, which was a terrible sin. Today, you overthrow the country for revenge, causing countless innocent people to lose their lives. How are you any different from them back then?"

Jing Shan was extremely angry and slammed his wooden staff heavily on the ground.

"You are presumptuous!"

Xue Sui slowly knelt down, his back ramrod straight.

“Master, it’s not that I don’t understand your pain. But you’ve been hating for thirty years, it’s time for you to take a break. In the three days since the Zhaoxue Division opened, it has received more than five hundred lawsuits. Prime Minister Lu is personally in charge. Some have died, some have been arrested, and those who need to be settled are being settled. But the grievances have their perpetrators, and the debts have their debtors. The grudges of the previous dynasty should not be borne by Li Zhao.”

She paused, her voice becoming even calmer and more powerful.

"This world does not belong to one person or one family, but to the people and all the people. The position of crown prince has nothing to do with surname, but with virtue. Whoever can stop the fighting, bring peace to the people, and protect the common people deserves to sit on that dragon throne. In my heart, that person is Li Zhao."

Her words were firm and irrefutable.

The hall was eerily quiet.

Jing Shan's hand holding the wooden staff trembled slightly, as if she was angered by these words. Suddenly, she let out a cold laugh and pointed the wooden staff at Tian Shu, who had been silent all along.

"You only have Li Zhao in your heart, but what about him?"

All eyes in the hall fell on Tian Shu.

Their breath seemed to freeze.

Jing Shan said, "Your eldest brother is Xiao Heng, the grandson of the unjustly killed General Xiao Chong. Back then, General Xiao and his wife died in the imperial mausoleum. His wet nurse carried him in her arms, begging and hiding from pursuers all the way, barely managing to survive. He endured humiliation and hardship, studied medicine to save people, how much suffering did he endure? Doesn't he deserve to make the Li family pay for their blood debt?"

Xue Sui looked at Tian Shu.

He remained silent, his hand gripping the knife as steady as a rock, but his Adam's apple bobbed violently, and his eyes were unfathomable.

It was a silence that followed being crushed by fate.

Before Jing Shan could respond, she pointed her cane at the dumbfounded Yao Guang.

"And him! The only bloodline left by the former Crown Prince Ai, my own grand-nephew—Xiao Yu. If the country had not been shattered and the dynasty overthrown, he would be the rightful heir to this world—the Thirteenth. Your Yao Guang senior brother, from birth, could only hide in the shadows, hiding here and there, not daring to acknowledge his ancestors, not daring to worship in his own ancestral hall. Doesn't he deserve to take back the country that belongs to him?"

Yao Guang's lips moved.

He looked at Xue Sui, then at Jing Shan, wanting to say something, but found his throat tight and unable to utter a single word.

"And Yuheng!"

Finally, Jing Shan pointed at Yu Heng, whose face was deathly pale, her hatred almost overflowing.

"Your senior sister is Liu Hanzhang, the granddaughter of Liu Yan, the former Imperial Censor. Do you know why her entire family was massacred? It was because Liu Yan refused to countersign the Li family's coronation edict, refusing to recognize the usurped Li dynasty..."

Jing Shan's voice was like a poisoned ice pick, each word piercing the heart.

"The Li family owes so much blood debt, why can they still sit high in the halls of power and enjoy wealth and glory? While we are like rats in the gutter, having to sneak around even to worship our relatives?"

She faced Xue Sui, her tone chilling.

"Tell me, did they deserve to die? Should the Li family's empire have changed hands today?"

Xue Sui knelt on the ground, her knees numb from the cold of the gold bricks, but her heart was even more numb. She knew that what her master said was true, and she knew the suffering of her senior brothers and sisters, but she also knew that starting a war and committing further killings would only cause more people to repeat their tragedy.

“Master, the world has changed. Why make the living die again because of the hatred of the dead…?”

Xue Sui's voice choked with emotion, but he persisted.

"Moreover, can rivers of blood and roads paved with bones truly bring peace?"

"I think you've been blinded by love and affection," Jing Shan said sternly. "As long as the Li father and son are dead, with their legitimate status and the Imperial Seal, the loyalty of their old subordinates, and the support of the people, they can restore the Great Yong Dynasty. Why should the world be unstable?"

Li Zhao stepped forward, blocking Xue Sui and Jing Shan.

"If the old man wants revenge, he should come at me. In the end, the blood debt of the Old Mausoleum has nothing to do with Ping An..."

Jing Shan sneered, "You certainly know how to play the hero."

Li Zhao's expression remained unchanged: "She is my wife, of course I will protect her."

Jing Shan stopped looking at him and pointed her wooden staff at Emperor Chongzhao.

"Very well. As long as Li Qi abdicates, issues an edict to the world, and returns power to the Xiao family, I can spare Li Zhao and give you some dignity."

Li Zhao's expression was stern: "The fate of the nation is not a game; how can it be handed over privately?"

Jing Shan asked coldly, "Li Qi, what do you have to say?"

Emperor Chongzhao coughed violently, then gave a bitter smile: "I... Qihuang, a dying man, am incapable of managing state affairs, nor of running this household..."

"If you refuse, then don't blame me for being ruthless." Jing Shan suddenly raised her voice and shrieked towards the outside of the hall. "Tian Shu, Yao Guang, make your move..."

Immediately, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the hall, as if countless people were approaching.

But after waiting for a while, only a gentle breeze blew in through the crack in the door, and there was no one in sight.

Jing Shan's expression changed slightly.

She listened intently, and then it emitted an even sharper and more piercing whistling sound than before.

According to the original plan, once the whistle was sounded, they would take control of the emperor, and the people they had hidden inside and outside the palace would launch an attack simultaneously, working with them from within to overthrow the usurper Li dynasty.

But after the whistle blew three times, there was still no movement outside the hall.

Their people did not come.

The one who arrived was a palace guard.

He strode inside and knelt on one knee.

"Your Highness, the entire rebel army of Prince Duan in the palace has been captured, totaling 637 people. They have all been disarmed and taken to the imperial prison. All major roads in the palace have been sealed off and are being searched one by one. So far, no suspicious persons have been found..."

Jing Shan's expression changed.

Yao Guang cried out, "Master, where...where have our people gone?"

Jing Shan's empty eyes suddenly turned towards Xue Sui.

"It's you?"

Xue Sui slowly stood up, patted the wrinkles on his knees from kneeling, and replied clearly, "Yes. I removed all the defenses that Master had placed in the palace, replaced the ambush troops you arranged, and dismissed the old Lingzhao tribesmen waiting outside the palace."

Jing Shan swayed, her lips trembling with anger.

"Xue Ping'an, how dare you..."

Xue Sui's gaze was filled with sorrow, and his voice was low but firm.

"I am an imperial envoy personally trained by my master's father. I spent ten years in the Old Mausoleum Swamp, where I was in charge of dispatching imperial envoys and am familiar with all the secret agents and passwords of the Seven Gates of the Big Dipper..."

Jing Shan's chest heaved violently; she was too excited to speak.

Xue Sui continued, “Master, I am also trying to save their lives. After years of wandering, they are tired of fighting and killing. They now have children, families, and ordinary days they want to protect. Treason is a crime that leads to the extermination of an entire clan. Once it is committed, there will be no turning back... Master, please turn back.”

Jing Shan chuckled silently, her wrinkled face filled with desolation and despair.

"Fine, fine, the fledgling eagle I raised with my own hands has pecked out my eyes."

She suddenly raised her ebony staff and shouted sharply.

"Tian Shu, Yao Guang! There's no need to wait any longer—the day is the day to kill the Li family!"

Tian Shu slightly moved his wrist, pressing the dagger's blade even deeper.

Yao Guang pointed his sword at Li Zhao, his murderous aura palpable.

"The Big Dipper Formation—"

"No!" Xue Sui cried out in alarm. Almost at the same moment, she sprang up and lunged at Jing Shan...

No one expected her to suddenly turn against her mentor.

Jing Shan was blind, but her hearing was sharp. Sensing the sound of the wind, she instinctively swept her ebony staff to block. Xue Sui, however, had already anticipated this. He ducked and his sword flashed silently.

Instead of aiming for Jing Shan's vital points, she precisely struck an acupoint on her wrist, knocking the wooden cane from her hand...

He then grabbed Jing Shan with a backhand and subdued her.

"Stop!" Xue Sui shouted sternly.

"Thirteen!"

"Junior sister..."

Tian Shu, Yao Guang, Yu Heng, and the others were both shocked and furious, and all looked at Xue Sui.

"Thirteen, how dare you lay a hand on Master..."

Xue Sui held Jing Shan in front of him, facing Tian Shu and Yao Guang.

"When will this cycle of revenge end? No amount of bloodshed can bring back the dead."

Xue Sui's voice was filled with regret, "The Great Yong Dynasty has been gone for more than thirty years. Master, senior brother, senior sister, please stop being so stubborn."

More than thirty years have passed...

The Great Yong Dynasty has fallen.

Jing Shan suddenly trembled all over, filled with boundless hatred.

"You guys do it, don't worry about me!"

She screamed hoarsely, "Today I'll see if this wicked disciple dares to kill his master..."

(End of this chapter)