Chapter 909: Establishing Might and Prestige for His Granddisciple
Cen Ranzhi of the Jiangdong Circuit stood at the lead. He did not seem taken aback by Li Yunzheng’s words. He calmly said, feigning innocence, “Please forgive me, Your Majesty. After receiving the imperial edict in Jiangdong Circuit, I traveled a day and a night back to the capital. How could I disobey if Your Majesty wants to see me?”
Following that, the Jiangbei Circuit’s Great General Wu said, “Your Majesty, it takes at least 10 hours to travel from Jiangbei Circuit to the capital. If I plan to disobey the edict, how could I dare to appear in the capital at this time? Your Majesty, please try to understand!”
Then, the other Great Generals chimed in, “Please try to understand, Your Majesty.”
In front of all the civil and military officials, Li Yunzheng naturally wanted to use facts and reasons. He knew nothing about cultivation so it was impossible for him to use force. However, these Great Generals did come to the capital after receiving the imperial edict; he could not refute that. What should he do now?
At this moment, Si Wuya said, “Two hours seemed like ten hours for the distance from each circuit to the capital. Moreover, it seemed like all the distances of the circuits from the capital are the same...”
The Great Generals raised their heads to look at Si Wuya who was sitting on the left side of the hall. He looked young and was dressed in a long robe. At first glance, he looked like a weak Confucian scholar just like Li Yunzheng.
Meanwhile, Li Yunzheng looked at his teacher, filled with admiration for his teacher’s wit.
Cen Ranzhi said, “The generals who arrived first waited outside the palace. It’s normal that we encountered each other. At that time, the experts were fighting at the east side of the palace wall, blocking our entrance. We were worried about Your Majesty’s safety so we took a detour to the north gates to enter the palace. Your Majesty, please bear this in mind.”
Si Wuya continued to say, “That’s even stranger then. Ten hours ago, Lord Zhang led thousands of commoners into the royal palace. He tried to prove his determination and sincerity with his death and insisted the eight Great Generals wouldn’t easily return to the capital. Which one of you is lying then?”
Lying about this matter carried the crime of deceiving the emperor.
Cen Ranzhi looked at Si Wuya again. All of a sudden, he felt that the weak Confucian scholar in front of him was unusually difficult to deal with. However, any of the eight Great Generals present were even more tactful than the little emperor. After a beat, he said, “This...”
Grand Duke Wang Yun interjected, “This is His Majesty’s teacher.”
“Teacher? His Majesty personally conferred the title? Does the Ministry of Rites have the document for this?” Cen Ranzhi asked curiously.
The civil and military officials began to discuss among themselves in hushed voices. Under normal circumstances, no one would ask such a question. After all, this question was clearly disrespectful.
Li Yunzheng was about to speak when Si Wuya raised his hand. Then, he said in a deep voice, “I might be His Majesty’s teacher, but I’m his teacher in private. There’s no need for me to be conferred a title nor do I need any documents to prove my identity. Moreover, I’m just a commoner. However, the commoners are like the heavens. The monarch and the officials might change, but the commoners will never change. General Cen, are commoners not allowed to speak in the Political Announcement Hall?”
Upon hearing Si Wuya’s words, the commoners who had yet to leave could not help but agree in their hearts.
“Unfortunately...” Cen Ranzhi began to say.
Si Wuya interjected, “You only need to answer this question; can commoners speak in the Political Announcement Hall?”
“Yes,” Cen Ranzhi replied with a frown on his face, clearly reluctant.
Si Wuya said, “Now that we’ve dealt with the matter, let’s return to the question earlier. Between you and Lord Zhang, who’s lying?”
“...”
Cen Ranzhi studied the young man in front of him. The young man was calm, completely unaffected by his words at all. He recalled the information he had received previously. Did Li Yunzheng not gain the support of a cultivation expert? How did it turn out to be a scholar? He had even come up with a countermeasure to deal with the cultivation expert. He would die before he gave up his military power. After all, if he gave up his power, he would be no different from a tiger that had been defanged and declawed. His enemies would rush out and step on him at that time. The entire Cen family would also be trampled to death by countless people. In the end, he said, “I didn’t expect Lord Zhang to be such a person! He actually slandered me like this!”
Si Wuya nodded and said, “In that case, His Majesty’s treatment of Lord Zhang was completely right.”
“...”
“Do any of you have any objections?” Si Wuya asked as he looked at the eight Great Generals looking at each other in dismay.
“No, we don’t have any objections.”
Li Yunzheng’s admiration for Si Wuya grew. They did not need to expend any effort at all to make these tigers nod their heads obediently; all his teacher did was move his lips.
Si Wuya continued to say, “One last question: I stopped His Majesty’s imperial edict from being sent out... Whose imperial edict did you receive?”
“...”
The Political Announcement Hall was as silent as a graveyard at this moment.
Whether it was the civil and military officials, Sikong Beichen, or Nie Qingyun, all of them looked at Si Wuya as though he was a monster.
Perhaps, the Great Generals were used to being dismissive of Li Yunzheng. For many years, Li Yunzheng’s imperial edicts held no weight, after all. They would not even give his imperial edict a second look. It was better to speak to the spies in the palace to find out what was happening.
Indeed, the Great Generals did not wait for the imperial edict to arrive before they had set off for the capital.
As the saying went, ‘The mantis stalks the cicada while the oriole follows behind’.
The Great Generals did not expect Si Wuya to have predicted their reactions.
The atmosphere in the Political Announcement Hall grew heavy.
Cen Ranzhi felt as though his brain had stopped working. After a while, he finally realized a problem. He said loudly, “How dare you stop His Majesty’s imperial edict!”
Li Yunzheng said, “This is... This is my intention.”
“...”
Cen Ranzhi stumbled a few steps backward.
At this moment, three of the Great Generals fell to their knees and said, “I admit to my mistake!”
Upon seeing this, Cen Ranzhi cursed inwardly. The thing he was trying to avoid had finally happened.
Soon after, another Great General fell to his knees as well. “I admit to my mistake!”
At this moment, a person suddenly walked into the Political Announcement Hall. Although the hall was part of the great inner palace, no one dared to stop him.
Li Yunzheng was the first to stand up.
Following that, Si Wuya rose to his feet and called out, “Master.”
Sikong Beichen, Nie Qingyun, and people from the Thousand Willow Monastery rose to their feet. “Senior Lu.”
Lu Zhou rested his hands on his back as he slowly walked into the hall. His gaze casually swept past the Great Generals. Despite his aura being hidden by the Purple Glazed Ceramic, the pressure he brought was even greater.
The four Grand Dukes, the Grand Tutor, and the civil and military officials looked at him with varying degrees of admiration.
The crowd parted and bowed.
Li Yunzheng even felt like giving up his throne at this moment.
Lu Zhou raised his hand, indicating Li Yunzheng should sit down.
Si Wuya sensibly gave up his seat and stood respectfully at the side.
After he was seated, Lu Zhou asked indifferently, “What’s the situation now?”
Si Wuya clearly recounted everything as Lu Zhou nodded. He was very impressed with his seventh disciple’s method of stopping the imperial edict. It completely tore the masks off these people’s faces.
Lu Zhou looked at the old man in armor standing at the lead. He said in slight surprise, “You’re Cen Ranzhi?”
“Yes, I am,” Cen Ranzhi said. “Who are you, Old Sir?”
Lu Zhou shook his head. “It seems like the reminder I gave at the eastern palace wall isn’t enough.”
As soon as Lu Zhou finished speaking, he raised his hand.
The Great Seal of Fearlessness shot out toward Cen Ranzhi, lighting up the entire hall.
Cen Ranzhi was shocked. He did not expect the other party to kill him in such a direct manner! He raised his hands to block the palm seal.
Bang!
As expected, Cen Ranzhi was sent flying out of the hall, disappearing from everyone’s sight. Not even his shadow could be seen.
The Great Generals trembled in fear. Those who had yet to kneel down fell to their knees immediately.
There was no doubt Lu Zhou’s method was direct and simple.
“Ding! Killed a target. Reward: 4,000 merit points.. Domain bonus: 1,000 merit points.”