Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 121 We scholars would rather die speaking out than live in silence!

Nancheng, Fuzhou Guild Hall.

Night was already a piece of black satin soaked in ink.

However, beneath this black satin, the lobby of the Fuzhou Guild Hall resembled a dough with too much yeast, fermenting and expanding uncontrollably.

Dozens of young people, who should have been studying diligently under the lamp, were now crowded into this not-so-spacious space.

Anger, like cheap liquor, ferments among people and creates an addictive resonance. Any remaining rationality and worry from a moment ago are quickly crushed by this contagious vortex of emotion.

In this sea of ​​clamor and indignation, one person stood out from the crowd.

His name is Li Feiyu.

Unlike those Jiangnan scholars with flushed faces and spittle flying everywhere, his face carried a kind of fortitude sculpted by the wind and sand of the Loess Plateau.

His eyes always held a deeper worry and anger than others, as if he carried a heavier burden of blood feuds on his shoulders.

He came from Shanxi. In the circles of scholars in the capital, he claimed that his family's hundred acres of fertile land had been seized by corrupt officials who colluded with powerful Shanxi merchants using a forged contract. His father died of anger because of this, and he carried the burden of family feuds and studied hard all the way, hoping that one day he could pass the imperial examination and personally bring those unscrupulous merchants and corrupt officials to justice.

This story seems so real at a time when "purging Shanxi merchants" has become a hot topic in the capital. Coupled with his generous personality, his hearty drinking, and his highly persuasive words, he quickly became one of the key figures among this group of students from other places, a figure who could rival the literary upstarts from Jiangnan.

No one knows his true identity.

No one knew that his flawless backstory, along with his identity, was personally selected by Tian Ergeng, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, from the vast and top-secret files of the Northern Garrison.

When the dossier was finally presented to the emperor, the young emperor merely glanced at the few aliases Tian Ergeng had proposed, and then picked up his brush and wrote the three characters "Li Feiyu" in the blank space.

He was the most secretive mole, personally named and planted by the emperor.

His task was not to gather superficial intelligence, but to be like a flint, penetrating deep into the enemy camp already piled high with tinder, and precisely igniting it at the moment designated by the emperor.

Right now, sitting next to this hidden pawn is the most important 'piece' in this game.

Li Feiyu's "closest friend," Shui Tailang.

Shui Tailang was a student of Qian Qianyi.

Everything about him perfectly matched people's imagination of the term "Jiangnan scholar": he came from a wealthy family, wore a moon-white silk robe, spotless; he was exceptionally talented, able to compose poems and songs with ease; he had a handsome face and bright eyes, and was the dream man of countless courtesans on the banks of the Qinhuai River.

However, he also has the most fatal weakness of this group. He is straightforward and inexperienced, and his heart is filled with an unrealistic sense of justice that sees things in black and white. Therefore, he is the most easily ignited and the most easily driven to passion.

These days, Li Feiyu and Shui Tailang followed the example of the ancients and swore brotherhood after drinking.

He didn't directly instill anything in Shui Tailang, but rather used his tragic family history and his deep hatred for unscrupulous merchants and cruel officials to subtly influence him day after day.

“Brother Shui,” he patted Shui Tailang’s shoulder more than once, his eyes burning with sincere fervor, “you are of noble birth and have the world in your heart, which is what I, Li Feiyu, admire most about you. But you don’t know the darkness of this world, which far exceeds what you can imagine in books! Those hypocritical people, they devour people without even spitting out the bones!”

“Brother Shui, your heart is too pure. But in this murky world, purity is sometimes a sin! It can prevent you from seeing your true enemies!”

These words are both deadly poison and the most alluring nectar to an idealist who has never experienced human suffering.

Shui Tailang regarded Li Feiyu as his greatest confidant, feeling that although this Brother Li came from humble origins, he had a heart as sincere and concerned about the country and its people as his own.

The anger of everyone in the lobby, fueled by alcohol and incited by each other, had reached a breaking point.

They argued about Mao Wenlong's arrogance, condemned the court's cruelty towards grain merchants, and cursed the damned, indefinitely postponed imperial examination.

All the emotions are in place, and all the fuel is ready.

But, it's not enough.

This anger is too scattered; it's like flames that spread everywhere, seemingly powerful but unable to form a force strong enough to incinerate everything.

The final ingredient is still missing.

One thing that can instantly solidify all these scattered angers into a single, undeniable fear that is enough to make them abandon all reason and fear—ultimate fear.

Li Feiyu knew that the time had come.

He picked up the rough porcelain wine bowl on the table, raised it high into the air, and then slammed it down hard!
"Snapped!"

A crisp, piercing cracking sound, like a thunderclap suddenly breaking through a bustling market.

The entire lobby fell silent instantly.

Hundreds of eyes turned to him simultaneously.

Li Feifei stood amidst the shattered porcelain shards, his eyes bloodshot, looking as if he were insane. His chest heaved violently, as if he were enduring some indescribable pain and despair.

He shouted loudly in a hoarse, cracking voice, almost choked with sobs:
"Gentlemen! Fellow scholars! Stop arguing! Stop debating about Mao Wenlong! Stop pitying those heartless grain merchants! Those...those things are no longer important!"

Everyone was stunned by his appearance.

Shui Tailang was the first to stand up and helped him up with concern: "Brother Li, what's wrong?"

Li Feiyu shoved his hand away, his gaze sweeping over the faces of everyone present. His eyes were like those of a lone wolf driven to the brink of despair.

He paused, as if using all his strength, before squeezing out the shocking lie that the emperor had prepared for him long ago!

"I...I just heard some...some shocking news from a distant cousin who works in the palace!"

Li Feiyu deliberately lowered his voice, but this suppressed voice was more captivating than any shout.

The entire lobby was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"His Majesty……"

Li Feiyu's lips were trembling.

"His Majesty... dislikes us scholars for only engaging in empty talk that harms the country, and for forming cliques and pursuing personal gain all day long... He's got... he's got a plan to completely—"

He took a deep breath, then roared out those words with all his might:
"—The idea of ​​abolishing the imperial examination system!!"

……

Dead silence.

Absolute silence!
If all the previous news was just a thunderclap rolling across the sky, then the four words "abolish the imperial examination" were the sky that supported all the scholars in the world, which collapsed in an instant!

This is ridiculous.

It's absurd to the point of being comical. The imperial examination system was the foundation of the nation.

It has been the cornerstone that has sustained the operation of the entire Chinese dynasties since the Sui and Tang dynasties.

It was the fundamental system for selecting talent for the country, established by the Ming Dynasty's founding emperor, Taizu.

Abolish the imperial examination system?

This is even more outrageous than saying that the emperor wanted to abdicate in favor of Wei Zhongxian.

Anyone with even a shred of reason should scoff at this and treat Li Feiyu, who uttered these words, as a madman, beating him to a pulp.

but!

but!

When this absurd news was linked to the fact that the imperial examination had been postponed indefinitely without any reason...

When it's linked to that humiliating rumor, "Those who wish to stay, wait patiently; those who cannot, crawl back to their hometowns!"...

When it is connected with the overwhelming resentment burning in everyone's hearts right now, a resentment with nowhere to go, fueled to its extreme by alcohol and companionship...

This originally absurd thing suddenly became, in a tiny, tiny bit chillingly believable!

It doesn't make sense.

But it perfectly matched their emotions at that moment!

This pent-up resentment, this unquenchable fear and humiliation, has finally found the perfect outlet that resonates with everyone!
Compared to the catastrophe of "abolishing the imperial examination system," which was enough to shake their entire social class and their entire lives, Mao Wenlong, grain merchants, and the postponement of the palace examination by several months all became insignificant and not worth mentioning!

"No...impossible..."

A student from Jiangxi was deathly pale, his lips trembling as he muttered to himself.

"This...this is going to cut off the path for us scholars!"

"He's gone mad! The emperor has gone mad!"

"I've studied hard for twenty years... twenty years! And he thinks he can make all my hard work go down the drain with just one sentence?!"

Shock, anger, and then, a deep-seated fear.

Fear is a more powerful catalyst than anger!

It can completely evaporate reason and turn cowards into desperados.

Li Feiyu watched all of this with a cold eye. He saw those faces that had been filled with righteous indignation just moments before now filled with fear and despair. He knew that the moment had been reached.

The fish have taken the bait completely—no, not only taken the bait, but they've even cooked themselves and are ready to jump into the plate.

He grabbed Shui Tailang's arm, who was already dumbfounded and trembling, even dropping his folding fan to the ground. His hand was like an iron clamp, squeezing Shui Tailang painfully.

Two streams of hot tears welled up in Li Feiyu's eyes at just the right moment.

His voice was hoarse and tragic, full of infectious emotion.

"Brother Shui! My good brother!"

"Did you hear that? Did you see that?!"

"We can't wait any longer! We can't just sit here and talk nonsense!"

"If we wait any longer, we disciples of the sage will never have a chance to rise! Our ten years of hard study will all be in vain! The ancestral laws will perish! The way of the sage will be extinguished!"

Li Feiyu shook Shui Tailang's body violently, as if trying to inject all his despair and resolve into the other's soul.

"We...we must take action!"

"We must go! To the palace gates! To the Meridian Gate! With our flesh and blood, with our unyielding spirit, we will show His Majesty our stance!"

"Please ask him to retract his order!!"

"Please! Reopen the palace examination!!"

"Please ask him! Respect Confucianism and Taoism!!!"

Shui Tailang was shaken so badly that he was completely disoriented, and his mind was buzzing.

Looking at Li Feiyu's grief-stricken face and listening to his resounding shouts, the long-suppressed passion in his chest finally broke through the dam of reason.

Yes! Even the imperial examination system is going to be abolished! This is outrageous!

Shui Tailang suddenly broke free from Li Feiyu's hand, grabbed it back, and his eyes burned with the same blazing fire. His voice trembled with excitement.

"Brother Li is right!"

He turned to the crowd and raised his arms in a shout.

"We scholars would rather die speaking out than live in silence!"

"We will go to the Meridian Gate together, kneel before the imperial palace, and submit a petition! We will prove our loyalty even in death!!"

"I submit this petition to the emperor! I will die to prove my innocence!!"

"I submit this petition to the emperor! I will die to prove my innocence!!!"

The roar, as powerful as a mountain collapsing and a tsunami crashing down, completely ripped the roof off the clubhouse.

In that fervent shadow, Li Feiyu looked at the towering wave he had personally stirred up, his eyes devoid of any fervor, only the serenity of accomplishment.

At the very center of the wave, surrounded by the crowd, Shui Tailang was raising his arms and shouting, his face flushed, as if he were going mad.

His gaze, however, swept over Li Feiyu in the corner between shouts, and he sneered inwardly.

Shui Tailang was extremely satisfied with his dedicated guidance over the past few days.

Look, there's this hot-blooded young man who became the perfect vanguard, taking the most dangerous step for everyone, the one he needed most.

In his gaze toward Li Feiyu, Shui Tailang even showed a hint of barely perceptible pity.

(End of this chapter)