Сhаpter 249: Наlf-Fасеd Ghost 7
With the seаmlеss coоperаtiоn оf thе grоuр, the situatiоn finally began to turn arоund. Shеn Du sucсessfullу rеасhed Мо Qiаnzhi’s sidе, рointing his swоrd at the man’s nесk as hе coldly thrеatenеd, “Mo Qiаnzhi, оrdеr thеm tо stор shooting, оr dоn’t blamе mе fоr being ruthlеss.”
Thе аrchers аrоund them, sеeing Shen Du threаtening Mo Qiаnzhi, hаd аlreаdy lowerеd thеir bоws and wеrе griррing thеir swоrds, reаdу for аctiоn.
But Mо Qianzhi wаvеd his hаnd to stор thеm, signаling them to steр back and continuе shooting. Hе then loоked аt Shеn Du and еarnestly advised:
“Shen Du, don’t be ungrateful. My actions are all for your sake. Zhu Yan is clearly a spy planted by Prime Minister Zhang at your side. You must not fall for her beauty. A beautiful woman is a calamity, always the kind to bring ruin to the nation and its people. You should know that those who indulge in lust never come to a good end. Moreover, even without mentioning the Prime Minister, the mere fact that she works for Lai Luozhi makes her deserving of death a thousand times over.”
Mentioning these two individuals, Mo Qianzhi grew inexplicably agitated, speaking with such fervor that spittle flew from his mouth.
But Shen Du refused to listen to his deceitful words, shouting, “Shut up! Stop spouting nonsense. Don’t think I don’t know your intentions.”
“Intentions? What intentions? Shen Du, have you forgotten how your father, Shen Shijie, died so tragically? Can you even forget such a deep-seated blood feud? What about the Shen family? Do you want to end up with your family destroyed and your home in ruins? And…”
Mo Qianzhi wanted to say more, but Shen Du coldly interrupted him, “If you don’t give the order, do you believe I’ll kill you?”
Shen Du’s patience had reached its limit. His hand tightened around the hilt of his sword, bringing the blade even closer to Mo Qianzhi’s neck, as if it might slice through his throat at any moment.
Mo Qianzhi could clearly see the fury burning in Shen Du’s eyes, but even with a blade at his throat, he showed no fear.
Instead, he took a step closer to Shen Du, his eyes blazing with madness as he stared at him and said, “A mere mortal daring to challenge fate is nothing but overconfidence! Shen Du, even if you attack me, you cannot kill me.”
“I will always be here, personally overthrowing this corrupt dynasty and establishing a pure, untainted world, so that great ambitions may be fulfilled!”
These words were not only arrogant but also treasonous.
Though Shen Du was momentarily shocked by his words, he had no time to dwell on them. Seeing that Mo Qianzhi remained stubbornly unyielding, he had no choice but to take him hostage and turn to threaten the archers: “Your governor is in my hands. If you don’t want him to lose his head, stop shooting immediately, or I’ll make sure he bleeds right here.”
As he spoke, Shen Du even made a small cut on Mo Qianzhi’s neck to show he meant business.
The archers paused, glancing at Mo Qianzhi and then at Shen Du, their expressions hesitant.
Seeing this, Mo Qianzhi grew furious. “If it means achieving great deeds, my death is of little consequence!”
“Ignorant commoners, utterly foolish! You’re being manipulated by a woman without even realizing it, yet you still adore her. How laughable!”
“Do you think she truly values virtuous officials and cares for the people’s livelihood? It’s all just for the sake of a good reputation! A demon in human skin is still nothing but a monster!”
“Since she ascended the throne, how many innocents has she slaughtered? How many new souls have been added to the underworld? Do you know? A ruler like this does not deserve our support. Since these people adore her so much, it means they, too, are demons in human skin.”"Kill! Shoot them dead with arrows! Use their hot blood to console the wronged souls, to cleanse their sins, so they may be reborn, bestowed with new thoughts by the gods, and join us in building a brand new world."
Mo Qianzhi almost roared these words, and nearly everyone within earshot heard them.
Sun Tan viciously stabbed the masked man with his sword, then spat in Mo Qianzhi's direction, muttering nonsense under his breath.
Once this matter was settled, he would personally escort Mo Qianzhi to the capital and hand him over to Boss Xu, letting this so-called 'scholar' learn a lesson and understand the principle that 'words cannot be spoken carelessly.'
Shen Du was so shocked his mouth hung open, his hand trembling as he said fiercely, "Mo Qianzhi, do you know what you're saying? Have you truly lost your mind?"
To openly insult the sovereign in broad daylight was clearly courting death.
On the city wall, Pan Chi and Zhu Yan naturally heard his seditious words, both taken aback. The latter was so startled she nearly dropped her medicine bottle.
"Is this fellow insane?"
Pan Chi didn't speak but nodded in agreement. Under heaven, all land belongs to the ruler; along the shores, all people are his subjects.
He enjoyed the ruler's favor yet did not share the ruler's burdens. Instead, he stirred up trouble and incited public anger. Such a man could be executed on the spot without even reporting to the Empress.
"Impossible, Lord Mo clearly isn't..." Zhu Yan couldn't quite pinpoint what was wrong, but she felt something eerie and unsettling about the whole situation.
Pan Chi laughed at her. "How do you know what kind of person Lord Mo is? In this world of countless people, how many hearts can you truly discern just by walking down the street?"
That was true enough. Hadn't Shen Du initially suspected her of being Chancellor Zhang's spy? How many faces did Mo Qianzhi truly have, and who could know?
Everyone's attention was drawn to Mo Qianzhi, and no one noticed that among the crowd, a Half-Faced Ghost was quite satisfied with Mo Qianzhi's speech.
...
If Mo Qianzhi was mad, his thoughts were still remarkably clear. Ignoring Shen Du's questioning, he continued to incite: "Shen Du, join us! Have you forgotten the tragedy of that year? If that woman hadn't misjudged people and listened to the slander of traitors, how could your father have met such a miserable end? You wouldn't have been forced into the palace service just to save your life."
As for himself... back then, it was said he was promoted to Battalion Commander of Yingzhou, but in reality, he was exiled, condemned to spend his life in this place, never to serve as an official in the capital. Full of knowledge and talent, yet with no opportunity to serve.
That alone was bad enough, but that woman still wasn't satisfied—she even sent people to test whether he harbored disloyal thoughts?
He had been driven to this point by them.
This was the second time Mo Qianzhi had brought up Shen Shijie's tragic death. Shen Du frowned deeply. He still remembered the events of the Shen family case and how Mo Qianzhi, who had only recently entered his father's service, had crawled on his knees along the Vermilion Bird Imperial Street all the way to the Empress to plead for mercy. Day after day, his knees bloodied from the prolonged crawling, until finally, the Empress relented. Moved by Mo Qianzhi's loyalty, she issued an edict sparing Shen Du from execution and instead sent him into the palace service as a convict slave. At the same time, following the example of Emperor Taizong of the previous dynasty who rewarded remonstrating officials to show his compassion for loyal subjects, the Empress dispatched Mo Qianzhi, who had earned the top scholar title, to serve as Battalion Commander in Yingzhou of Gannan Circuit, far from the capital.
"Senior Brother!" Shen Du murmured, a crack appearing in his usually calm, dark eyes.Mo Qianzhi also heard it and gave a bitter smile. "I never thought that after all these years, when we meet again, you would hold a blade to my neck."
Shen Du's hand, gripping the sword, loosened and tightened again, his eyes narrowing. "Senior Brother, stop this."
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