Injustice

At this time, there was already scattered white cotton fluff floating in the air. Even if it fell into people's eyes below, no one dared to brush it away, and all stood solemnly upright.

The emperor, dressed in ceremonial robes, was led by the people beside him, step by step up the polished smooth stone steps, to ascend the altar and kneel down to pay respects.

The music started again, and there were scholars with wide sleeves fluttering in the wind, holding white jade tablets, their voices clear and righteous.

Listening to "From the beginning of the ancient times, the people were born from the vast sky."

And "From the time when the sky covers us, the clouds are thick. The sweet dew falls like rain, and the land is pleasant to roam."

-- It was indeed a magnificent scene, making people praise the breadth of mind of the person holding the pen.

Chen Weichen suddenly felt Ye Jiuya look towards the green mountains on the other side.

A moment later, he also heard an unusual sound.

Under the solemn music, a wisp of flute music came floating, completely different from the music used in the grand ceremony.

He also looked towards the source of the flute sound, and saw a figure in green robes floating and hidden in the misty forest.

Green robes, flute sound, imperial dynasty—when he thought of the phrase "The green-robed man brushed his sleeves and left the imperial capital, the books of sages and worthies sank in the water," it was very easy to match the name—it was Marquis Chenshu, whom he had a brief encounter with outside Jinxiu City that day.

He was once a scholar who aspired to cultivate himself and save the world to become a sage, but in the end he became disillusioned, threw his books into the river, and avoided the world to cultivate immortality.

Chen Weichen was deep in thought.

Wen Hui had mentioned that flute sounds had come from Zhuang Baihan's residence, perhaps it was Marquis Chenshu.

He didn't take this flute sound seriously. Ye Jiuya had been accompanying him all the time these past few days and hadn't gone out, so even if his strength was powerful, he couldn't sense that another fellow cultivator had come to the capital.

The appearance of Marquis Chenshu here, and his connection with Zhuang Baihan, should be following the fortunes -- in the immortal path, no one cared about the fortunes of the mortal world, either this scholar-turned-immortal cultivator had never truly let go of the world's affairs, or someone had deliberately led him here.

After Chen Weichen finished thinking about this, he said in a low voice, "Interesting." and continued to watch the grand ceremony.

In any case, as Chi Juntian said, the mandate of heaven converged here, and one only needed to quietly observe the changes.

After reciting the part of informing heaven and earth, it was time to recount the emperor's merits to heaven and earth.

The flute music suddenly became intense. The qi it contained caused the music of the grand ceremony to pause for a moment. After a while, it started again, but it was disturbed by the other sound and suddenly became sparse.

Suddenly, a thick cloud covered the sun, and the area was instantly plunged into darkness.

Zhuang Baihan suddenly stepped down from the stone steps, step by step, unusually slow and steady.

He was still holding the white jade tablet, and said, "Now observe its coming, the emperor goes to the suburban sacrifice."

From the momentary surprise on the emperor's chubby face, it was clear that his stepping down from the stage was not what the emperor had expected.

Going down further, he said, "In the past, there was a saying 'The yellow dragon is graceful, rising with virtue and life', and another saying 'Now the emperor has many sins, and the mandate of heaven will destroy him'."

At these words, the civil officials below couldn't care about taboos and looked at each other.

"Did the text make a mistake? How could there be such disrespectful words?"

An old minister snorted coldly, "I said that young people can't be relied on. I listened to his previous prayer text and thought he had real talent and learning, but it turns out I was wrong!"

"How can this be concluded?"

Another old minister said, "I just hope that he won't make any more mistakes next. If you gentlemen pretend that nothing happened, that's fine. Apart from us, those who are illiterate won't be able to understand anyway."

The people around nodded, "Anyway, it's just to make the emperor happy for once."

Who would have thought that in the next moment, Zhuang Baihan held the jade tablet in his hand, and just then a strong wind blew, his wide sleeves fluttering.

He got closer and closer to the emperor, every word resounding.

"Now our emperor only listens to the words of eunuchs, abandoning the sacrifices of his ancestors without response, abandoning his family and country, abandoning his royal parents and siblings without use, and maintaining the many sins of the four directions."

Those below were greatly shocked.

How was this recounting the emperor's merits? It was clearly condemning the emperor's faults!

The wording was so severe that it was comparable to a text of impeachment.

Chen Weichen and the others saw that the fortunes on his body were growing stronger with each step.

"Whether trusted or sent, causing tyranny and cruelty to the people." Zhuang Baihan moved closer and closer to the emperor. The silver threads connecting the thin and long white jade pieces in the white jade tablet snapped, and the white jade pieces fell to the ground, down the steps, the sound lingering.

Finally, someone came to their senses from the shock and doubt, realizing the danger of the atmosphere, and shouted, "Protect the emperor!"

The armored soldiers beside him crowded up with spears and shields, forming an impenetrable human wall. The emperor also saw the cold intent in Zhuang Baihan's eyes and realized that the situation was not simple. Large beads of sweat oozed from his forehead.

A mere mortal alone could not penetrate such a wall of copper and iron.

However -- Chen Weichen looked towards the mountain peak on that side.

Beside Zhuang Baihan, there was also a Marquis Chenshu.

Sure enough, he heard the music stop due to this sudden change, and the flute sound soared into the sky, the qi almost condensing into a tangible state, sweeping forward like a fan.

"He had been staying in the court for so many days, not pondering how to rectify the mountains and rivers, but to kill the emperor -- the emperor's death at the Feng Shan altar is the will of heaven. Marquis Chenshu had come to you some days ago to exchange insights, and it seems he had indeed realized something, able to release killing intent with the flute sound. First, the emperor used the will of heaven as a pretext to perform the Feng Shan ceremony to settle the restless people's hearts, and then the two scholars-turned-resentful men Zhuang Baihan and Marquis Chenshu joined forces, using the will of heaven as a pretext to kill the emperor, it's really--" Before Young Master Chen could finish, he saw that the force that should have passed Zhuang Baihan and swept away the soldiers, as soon as it reached Zhuang Baihan's side, was blocked by something invisible and couldn't advance an inch.

Marquis Chenshu on the other side put down his flute and seemed to have spat out a mouthful of blood.

"What is this?" Xie Lang was puzzled.

But he saw Zhuang Baihan throw his head back and laugh, seemingly fearless as he descended the last three stone steps.

One step, two steps, three steps. The momentum around his body rose higher and higher.

The leader gave the order, and the soldiers in silver armor and golden spears, looking very impressive, stepped forward with a clang, wanting to subdue this scholar who had no strength to truss a chicken.

But Zhuang Baihan still advanced fearlessly.

He finally stopped reciting the ancient legal texts that others couldn't understand, and said loudly, "I came here from the Central Plains, and along the way, I saw miserable refugees everywhere, corpses piled like mountains. Arriving at the capital, I saw some people extremely wealthy and noble, while others died of illness and hunger. Dressed in fine silks and satins, all made from the fat of the people, while the blood of righteous men spilled, becoming a laughing matter."

He stepped forward step by step, and an unmatched momentum emanated from him. Before the soldiers could get close to him, they were blasted away by the vast qi, falling in a mess on the ground.

Zhuang Baihan did not look at how the soldiers were doing, but stared straight at the emperor: "The ancients said that all things in the world will cry out if they are not treated fairly. How can Your Majesty block your ears and not hear the cries of suffering from the human world?"

He walked closer step by step. The emperor was already frightened and trembling, his legs weak as he tried to escape, but he was locked in place by that imposing aura and could not move.

"If things are unfair, they will cry out. The scholar Zhuang Baihan will cry out on behalf of the common people of the world today." Zhuang Baihan's brows were clear and bright, but the words he spoke made everyone's hearts tremble with fear.

"Today, Zhuang Baihan requests on behalf of the people that Your Majesty go to your death."

The emperor's face turned deathly pale, and he almost collapsed to the ground. "You, you..."

But he saw the scholar raise his hand, holding only a piece of white jade, and slowly, ever so slowly, stab it into the chest of the immobilized emperor.

This piece of white jade, no matter how thin, could not be stabbed into a human body.

However, looking at Zhuang Baihan's appearance just now, it was clear that he could no longer be regarded as an ordinary person.

Chen Weichen looked at him and said, "That is the righteous qi. He is about to become a sage."

The righteous qi, as qi, is extremely great and unyielding.

-- Buddhists can become Buddhas, Daoists can become immortals, and Confucians can become sages.

Today, Zhuang Baihan became a sage in three steps.

A figure in green landed in front of them, and Marquis Chenshu bowed: "I did not recognize Sect Leader Ye just now."

Ye Jiuya asked him, "What do you want to do?"

Marquis Chenshu smiled gently: "In the end, I have lingering attachments and cannot walk the orthodox path of immortality. The more the imperial court remains corrupt and rotten, the more the common people will suffer day by day. Seeing Brother Zhuang's auspicious qi, I knew that the Heavenly Dao could not tolerate such decay in the human world to continue, and that Brother Zhuang was the person destined by Heaven. So I had the idea of changing the world. I originally just wanted to use immortal techniques to kill the emperor and put on a show. I never imagined that Brother Zhuang would walk down the stone steps step by step, face the emperor to whom he once had to kowtow, think of the suffering people of the Central Continent, and with each step his determination grew firmer, truly comprehending our Confucian principle of putting the people first and the emperor last, with the righteous qi of Heaven and Earth by his side. With the world in his heart, I am ashamed to be inferior to him."

Chen Weichen raised his eyes slightly: "Since you want to change the world, I'm sure it won't be as simple as just killing an emperor."

Marquis Chenshu's demeanor was calm: "This young master, just wait and see what happens."

The white jade piece was pulled out from the emperor's chest, dripping with blood. The emperor's eyes bulged out as he looked in disbelief at his profusely bleeding chest. He exhaled his last breath and collapsed to the ground.

The wind grew stronger and stronger.

The sun that had been obscured by thick clouds gradually emerged as the clouds drifted away, and the world was bright once more.

The crowd was in an uproar, pushing and shoving, in utter chaos.

Some old official shouted: "Arrest the traitor!"

The army outside finally arrived at this time, a vast black mass surging up the mountain.

Zhuang Baihan did not move.

Amidst the chaos, Xing Qiu walked over, laughing loudly: "That was quite a good show of killing the emperor that I got to see."

Then the old official could be heard jumping up and down, shouting, "This traitor used some evil magic, intending to usurp the throne! Quickly find the State Preceptor! He must have accomplices! Quickly transfer troops from outside to protect the capital and keep the princes and imperial sons safe! Quickly support the crown prince in ascending the throne to reassure the people!"

A man who looked like a general said with difficulty: "Sir, you also know that we have no more troops to transfer, right?"

"Tianyu Pass! Tianyu Pass!"

"This..." The general said, "This is absolutely not possible!"

"Those barbarians and rebels outside have their hands full just taking care of themselves, how could they pay attention to us! Isn't Tianyu Pass said to be easy to defend and hard to attack? Leaving half the troops should be more than enough!"

The general himself was at a loss, but upon hearing this, he could only say: "What you say is extremely right, sir."