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

Chapter 209 That was the emperor, an emperor unlike any we'd ever seen before!
The moment I returned to the Confucius Mansion, all the noise and chaos died.

Those clansmen and servants who had been crying and carrying boxes, trying to escape through the south gate, now stood blankly in the courtyard like puppets whose souls had been taken away.

The southward-moving iron cavalry, the eastward-bound Prince Lu's troops, and the emperor's army approaching from the north—they were surrounded on three sides, leaving no way to escape.

Kong Yinzhi walked through the crowd without glancing at anyone.

His steps were steady, even more so than on the day he issued the "Proclamation Against the Traitor Zhu".

He walked straight into the back room and began to change his clothes under the horrified gazes of the maids.

He took off his sleek clothes that made it easy to run away and changed into the most solemn and elaborate court robes of the Duke of Yansheng.

The deep blue yu zhi is embroidered with clouds, pheasants, and flowers in colorful silk threads, and every stitch carries the dignity and prestige of hundreds of years.

Kong Yinzhi personally straightened the ceremonial crown, and the golden beam on the crown reflected a faint light in the dim room.

When he came out again, everyone in the courtyard instinctively took a step back.

At this moment, the Duke Yansheng's face no longer showed any of the previous madness and hysteria, nor the fear and despair that everyone had expected.

His face was as calm as a stagnant pool, and his eyes, which had once held either pride or fear, were now filled with a calmness like ashes that had been burned out.

Kong Yinzhi stood on the high steps, his gaze sweeping over the bewildered faces below, from the white-haired elders to the trembling servants and maids who were on the verge of tears.

His voice was soft, yet it reached everyone's ears clearly.

"My family, the Kong family, are descendants of a sage."

One sentence was all it took to calm down all the noise.

"The emperor... won't do anything to us." He paused, as if trying to convince himself, or as if stating an inevitable fact, "but we must give the emperor the utmost respect."

His gaze fell on the disheveled and dusty tribesmen, and he said slowly, "Go back and change into your best clothes."

"At that time, come with me... to greet the emperor."

……

Two days later, the wind carried the distinctive scent of loess from the Shandong wilderness, blowing along the official road outside Qufu.

A very strange group appeared on this road leading north.

This team had no flags, no ceremonial guards, and no fanfare.

The group consisted of several hundred people, both men and women, all dressed in the most glamorous and respectable attire of their lives.

The dark silk and bright brocade stood out starkly against the gray-yellow background, appearing particularly jarring and out of place.

At the very front of the procession was Duke Yansheng, Kong Yinzhi, dressed in elaborate court attire.

Behind him were the dozen or so most important clan elders and direct descendants of the Kong family.

Further down the line are the members of the Kong clan, arranged meticulously according to seniority and age.

They marched in neat rows, without uttering a word, step by step, northward, towards the direction the emperor's army was said to be heading.

The hem of the silk dress fluttered silently in the cold wind, and the expensive boots kicked up fine dust as they trod on the hard yellow earth road.

No one cried, no one dared to speak; they simply walked, as if heading towards a predetermined fate.

……

An open area about ten miles from the Qufu city wall.

The official road rises slightly here, forming a gentle slope with excellent views.

To the south, one can see the outline of Qufu's gray-black city walls in the distance; to the north, there is an endless expanse of loess wilderness stretching to the horizon.

Kong Yinzhi stopped here.

He didn't turn around, but simply straightened his clothes, and then slowly and solemnly knelt down facing north.

"kneel."

He uttered a single word softly.

Behind him, the hundreds of members of the Kong clan seemed to be controlled by an invisible command, and they all knelt down in unison.

A large, dark mass of people knelt neatly side by side on this dirt road that had carried countless travelers and carriages, arranged according to seniority, age, and kinship.

Kong Yinzhi knelt at the very front of everyone.

He took off the large seal from his waist, which symbolized the power and glory of the "Duke Yansheng," and placed it respectfully on the yellow earth in front of him with both hands.

Then, he bent down deeply, his forehead touching the cold ground, remaining motionless in that position. The wind did not stop, still stirring up gusts of dust, ruffling people's carefully combed hair, and dusting the rich colors of their magnificent robes, obscuring their vibrant hues.

No one spoke, no one looked up, no one cried.

Only a deathly silence enveloped the kneeling crowd.

This ritualistic collective silence, composed of hundreds of people, possesses a more chilling power than any desperate cry or plea.

After an unknown amount of time, some black dots finally appeared on the northern horizon.

They were cavalry.

A dozen or so agile cavalrymen sped towards them like arrows released from a bow.

Hundreds of paces away from the kneeling crowd, all the scouts instinctively reined in their horses, which neighed uneasily and pawed at the ground.

The scouts stared in slight shock at the bizarre and spectacular scene before them.

Hundreds of people dressed in fine clothes stood silently like a black reef in the middle of the official road.

They had no weapons, no hostility, they were just kneeling there.

A hint of surprise flashed in the eyes of the leading scout. He did not approach rashly, but took a deep look at Kong Yinzhi, who was kneeling at the front in court attire, and the large seal in front of him.

He waved his hand, leaving a few men to continue monitoring, while he himself turned his horse around without hesitation and galloped back the way he came, reporting this incomprehensible sight to the advancing army behind him.

……

The ground began to tremble slightly.

At first, it was just a very subtle tingling sensation that could only be felt through the knee.

But soon, the vibration became clearer and stronger.

"Tap...tap...tap..."

A black line appeared on the horizon.

The line rapidly thickened and widened in the field of vision, eventually transforming into an endless human-shaped tide composed of countless moving black dots.

A formation of infantrymen from the new Beijing garrison, clad in black mandarin duck armor, appeared on the official road.

They marched with seemingly unchanging steps, like a slowly moving black mountain range pressing forward relentlessly.

Facing the kneeling crowd in the middle of the official road, the army's steps did not falter or hesitate in the slightest.

They didn't even glance at the kneeling people.

As the leading formation approached, the officer's command rang out clearly.

The infantrymen silently parted to both sides of the road, skillfully deploying defensive lines and setting up barricades within a hundred zhang radius on either side of the official road, ruthlessly surrounding this area centered on the Kong clan.

They formed an encirclement of people and iron, a cage with only the north as the sole exit.

Following the infantry squares were more cavalry and the central army.

Surrounded by a group of heavily armed guards, a young figure riding a magnificent black warhorse slowly approached the front of the formation.

Behind him, on his left, was Lu Xiang-sheng, also dressed in military uniform with a cold and stern face; on his right was Tian Er-geng, dressed in the flying fish uniform of the Imperial Guard, with eyes as sinister as an eagle.

Zhu Youjian gently reined in the horse about a hundred paces away from Kong Yinzhi.

The snow-covered black horse snorted uneasily and scratched its hooves, but quickly quieted down under its master's control.

The emperor did not dismount.

He sat quietly on the high horse, looking down at the dark mass of people kneeling in the pipes with indifference.

Kneeling at the front, Kong Yinzhi seemed to feel that incredibly heavy gaze. His body trembled slightly, and then he slowly raised his head, which had been buried deep in the dust.

His face was covered in dust, and his once magnificent court robes were now dusty. He raised his head and, from a distance of a hundred paces, met the gaze of the young emperor on horseback.

One is a figure who, with a history spanning two thousand years and known for his civilizing and educational methods, once looked down upon countless emperors and generals, symbolizing the pinnacle of an old order.

At this moment, dressed in traditional court attire, he prostrated himself on the ground, placing the seal of authority in the dust.

One was an emperor, an emperor unlike any other ever seen before!
At that moment, time seemed to stand still.

The sounds of wind, breathing, and the snorting of warhorses all seemed to have disappeared.

Between heaven and earth, only this silent confrontation remains.

(End of this chapter)