“You bunch of good-for-nothing scoundrels!”
“Are you trying to claim that my own son wants to curse my Great Qin?”
“He is my flesh and blood; how could he possibly wish harm upon Great Qin?”
“Are your heads stuffed with pig swill?!”
Ying Zheng glared at them with blazing fury.
Meanwhile, standing off to the side, Ying Qingye felt as though he had just stumbled upon the ultimate cheat code to get back home.
These people were casually throwing around executions by chariot-splitting over a minor disagreement—weren’t they just the most ideal, cooperative teammates a suicidal person could ask for?
A bright smile spread across Ying Qingye’s face!
“Father, they are attempting to drive a wedge between our father-son relationship with the most malicious of intentions! This son earnestly implores Your Majesty to execute them by splitting them with chariots.”
“And wipe out their entire clans to the ninth degree!”
Ying Qingye stared them down, mentally screaming at the top of his lungs: Come on, retaliate! Strike back hard! Get me killed already!
As soon as those words left his mouth, the entire hall of ministers fell into a stunned silence.
Good grief!
You’re even more ruthless than they are!
Not only did he want them torn apart by chariots, but he wanted their entire bloodlines wiped out to the ninth degree?
What an absolute madman!
“Your Majesty, we harbor no such intentions whatsoever!”
Chunyu Yue panicked completely. He never could have imagined that this supposedly unscholarly Fifth Young Master possessed such a vicious streak!
“Your Majesty, we truly had no such thoughts!”
“We beg Your Majesty for mercy!”
“We beg Your Majesty to spare us!”
“…”
Now the shoe was on the other foot, and it was their turn to panic!
“Fifth Brother, cease this reckless talk!”
“They were only trying to act in the best interests of Great Qin!”
“Father, their crimes do not warrant death. Considering that their original intent was for the good of the realm, please spare them.”
Fusu hurriedly stepped forward to intercede.
There were well over a dozen senior officials kneeling out there! How could the tender-hearted Fusu ever bear to watch them be slaughtered?
“Considering that your initial motivations were meant for Great Qin, we will spare your lives for now.”
“Thirty strikes of the rod for each of you! Drag them outside!”
With a grand wave of Ying Zheng’s sleeve, imperial guards marched into the hall and hauled the struggling officials out by their arms.
Watching them get dragged away, Ying Qingye couldn’t help a grin of satisfaction.
He knew full well that this minor punishment wouldn’t actually kill them, nor could they mount any immediate counter-offensive against him. But by thoroughly humiliating and alienating them, he was guaranteeing their deep-seated hatred. From now on, they would pull out all the stops and try every dirty trick in the book to send him straight to an early grave.
And once they succeeded, wouldn’t he finally get to go home?
Oh, I am such a little genius!
Moments later, miserable, echoing screams began to drift in from the courtyard outside the hall. Hearing them, Ying Qingye’s mood soared to new heights!
“From this day forward, let no one ever dare speak of restoring the feudal system again! Anyone who defies this command shall be executed without mercy!”
“Understood!” The ministers chorused, raising their hands in swift, uniform compliance.
“Court is dismissed!”
“Respectfully sending off His Majesty!”
Ying Qingye darted out of the hall as fast as his legs could carry him. Chunyu Yue and his cronies were still in the middle of their floggings out in the courtyard.
Deciding to fan the flames just a little bit more, Ying Qingye strolled right over.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk!”
“Well, well, well! Look who we have here!”
“Isn’t this the great and illustrious Erudite scholar, Master Chunyu Yue?”
“How did you end up looking so utterly pathetic?”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk!”
Ying Qingye strolled up to Chunyu Yue, looking down at the older man’s pale, bloodless face. Gone was even a shred of his former scholarly arrogance and prestige!
Chunyu Yue glared up at Ying Qingye, his blood boiling with unmitigated fury at the sight of that infuriating, punch-me face.
The psychological damage of this stunt was minimal, but the emotional insult was astronomical. Seeing that smug, villainous little grin, Chunyu Yue wanted nothing more than to leap up and rip Ying Qingye apart with his bare hands.
He tried to push himself up off the execution bench, only to be pinned right back down by the guards.
“Yo, yo, yo!”
“Still trying to get up, are you?”
“Come on, come on! Up you get!”
“Weren’t you acting all high and mighty back in the court just now?”
“Weren’t you demanding that I be torn apart by chariots?”
“Come on then!”
“Get up and hit me!”
As he spoke, he actually leaned his face forward, offering it up on a silver platter.
The other ministers streaming out of the grand assembly caught sight of this spectacle, and their facial muscles twitched involuntarily.
This Fifth Young Master… is remarkably good at asking for a punch!
Blerch—!
A fresh mouthful of dark, arterial blood burst violently from Chunyu Yue’s lips, and his eyes rolled back as he collapsed completely unconscious.
Oh, holy cow?
Ying Qingye froze on the spot!
Why on earth had the man suddenly started coughing up blood out of nowhere?
“Why is he spitting blood?” Ying Qingye asked the nearby guard with a look of absolute confusion.
The guard’s mouth twitched uncontrollably. Are you seriously asking us?
You have no idea what you just did?
The man was a dignified Erudite scholar, for crying out loud! You humiliated him to that degree—how could anyone possibly stomach it?
Especially someone like Chunyu Yue, who held his own reputation and pride above all else. To be mocked and degraded like that by a mere wet-nosed brat, how could a scholar who always prided himself on his superior moral integrity ever survive such an insult?
Speechless as they were, none of the guards dared to voice their true thoughts out loud.
“Fifth Brother, what on earth did you do?”
At that moment, Fusu jogged over. Seeing Chunyu Yue lying unconscious with blood pooling around his lips, he spun around to glare at Ying Qingye.
“Eldest Brother, I didn’t do anything!”
“I just chatted with him for a bit and gave him a few compliments. Who knew he was so physically frail and couldn’t handle a little praise?”
“And then he just…”
Fusu: (￣O￣;)
Compliment him?
And he couldn’t handle the praise?!
How can you say something like that with a straight face?
Do you take me for an idiot?
With a helpless sigh, Fusu hurriedly ordered his men to carry the unconscious scholar off to the imperial physicians.
“Oh, Fifth Brother, really!”
“Can’t you ever give your brother a break and stay out of trouble?”
Fusu looked at him in total exasperation, feeling a mix of deep affection and utter helplessness toward this unpredictable younger sibling.
“I genuinely didn’t know he was such a delicate snowflake!”
“You’re still talking?!” Fusu shot him a sharp glare, causing Ying Qingye to wisely zip his mouth shut.
Right at that moment, Dun Ruo happened to be walking past. Spotting the spymaster, Ying Qingye immediately called out.
“Eldest Brother, I’m heading off with Lord Dun Ruo. Catch you later, bye-bye!”
“Hey, Fifth Brother—!”
Fusu wanted to say more, but Ying Qingye had already grabbed Dun Ruo by the sleeve and hurried away.
“Bye-bye?”
“What on earth is that supposed to mean?” Fusu muttered to himself, watching his brother retreating back in confusion.
“Lord Dun Ruo, how have you been keeping up lately?”
“Hahaha, thanks to the Young Master’s blessing, this old man is doing quite well,” Dun Ruo replied with a polite, measured smile.
“Lord Dun Ruo, as the head of the Black Ice Bureau, you really ought to take better care of your health!”
“By the way, has the Black Ice Bureau been exceptionally busy lately?”
Dun Ruo glanced sideways at Ying Qingye, a lingering suspicion gnawing at him that every word the prince uttered had a deeper, hidden meaning.
“Young Master, the Black Ice Bureau answers solely to His Majesty!”
The subtext was loud and clear: Don’t ask questions you have no business asking; the Black Ice Bureau isn’t something an ordinary prince can stick his nose into.
Yet Ying Qingye’s expression didn’t even flicker. He maintained his breezy, unruffled composure.
“Even if you don’t say it, Lord Dun Ruo, I already know!”
“The Black Ice Bureau is responsible for gathering intelligence from every corner of the empire. No matter who it is, if the Black Ice Bureau wants to investigate them, there is nothing they cannot find out.”
“Including a humble prince like myself… am I right, Lord Dun Ruo?”
Hearing this, Dun Ruo abruptly ground to a halt, turning his head to stare at Ying Qingye.
His eyes were flooded with undisguised disbelief.
“Hm? Why’d you stop walking?”
“Ah, my bad, I forgot!”
“Since Lord Dun Ruo is in charge of the Black Ice Bureau, you must be a very busy man. I won’t take up any more of your time.”
“Farewell!”
With a faint, knowing smirk playing at the corners of his lips, Ying Qingye cast one last amused look at the bewildered spymaster and sauntered off.
Left standing in the corridor, Dun Ruo stared after Ying Qingye for a long, silent moment before suddenly turning on his heel and marching briskly in the opposite direction.
Inside Ying Zheng’s imperial study!
“Dun Ruo pays respects to Your Majesty!”
“Rise!”
“What is the meaning of this visit?”
Ying Zheng was busy reviewing memorials, not even lifting his head from his desk.
“Your Majesty, the Fifth Young Master… he may already know that we’ve been investigating him!”
Ying Zheng instantly snapped his head up, his gaze locking onto Dun Ruo.
“How could he possibly know?”
“Did the operatives you sent get exposed?” Ying Zheng’s brows furrowed tightly.
“Your Majesty, the scout we dispatched last night… returned with minor injuries.”
“What?”
The light in Ying Zheng’s eyes turned razor-sharp.
“According to the returning scout, the moment he stepped foot inside the estate, he was instantly intercepted and discovered by the Fifth Young Master.”
“He was captured on the spot. But strangely enough, instead of interrogating him, the Fifth Young Master simply let him go and sent him right back.”