Peace Order

Chapter 1808 - 83: Reputation and Upheaval

Ji Yanzhong’s resolute stance shook the entire central camp of Emperor Ying’s army, particularly the noble families that were caught in the turmoil. They knew that Ji Yanzhong was always known for his genial nature. Why did such a benevolent elder erupt with such decisiveness in the end?

A young man from one of the noble families struggled with his facial expressions.

Suddenly, he sighed, took off his hair coronet, and said, "The lineage of the Red Emperor has fed our generations with its bounty, granting us merit, fame, and rank without lacking. Now that the country is in decline, how can people like us cherish our lives so dearly?"

Having said this, he ignored the sudden change in expressions of his clan elders around him.

With disheveled hair, he leaped off the cliff to his death.

Again, more than twenty youths followed suit and jumped to their deaths.

The tragic atmosphere affected even the Ying soldiers holding long spears and broadswords, causing He Ruoqinhu to realize that human nature is not as simple as pure good and evil, or steadfastness and weakness. The Divine General of the Nine Heavens, with eyesight far-reaching, saw the corpses floating in that pool of blood.

He saw the princess dressed in children’s clothing, and Ji Yanzhong.

He Ruoqinhu, with such cultivation, immediately recognized them as mere scarecrows.

But upon seeing the king like this, he remained silent for a long time.

The identity of "Red Emperor’s Daughter" was already dead, and that too in the eyes of all.

Suddenly someone shouted softly, "The princess is still alive, still alive, perhaps there is hope..."

"Take her into the palace; she also holds legitimate title..."

He Ruoqinhu took down his bow and drew the bowstring, the mystical weapon-level war bow whistled, pure Primordial Qi gathered into an arrow, a mere bow and single shot by the Divine General, the arrow penetrated several miles directly exploding the ’corpses’ of Ji Yanzhong and that girl.

The blood of the Red Emperor dyed the river red.

Under the burning prowess of the Divine General, the straw instantly vanished.

Ji Yanzhong and ’Ji Ning’er’s ’blood’ mixed together, scattered and washed away by the rushing river, He Ruoqinhu’s eyes remained calm, neither sad nor joyful; amidst this surging current no one had any choice.

With this, even if there were experts adept at hiding and searching, they would never find anything.

Thorough death is also a gentle compassion.

"Let me send you off on your last journey, Ji Yanzhong."

The whispering sounds of the noble families and the thoughts of the generals within the Ying army instantly froze, only the rushing river, the fierce wind’s killing intent, and the sound of the waves intercepted by He Ruoqinhu continued to beat against the riverbank.

"The family of the Red Emperor, living for eight hundred years, truly tragic."

He Ruoqinhu put down the bow, half-kneeling on the ground, and said:

"Your Majesty, Ji Yanzhong and Ji Ning’er died by suicide."

"This humble officer feared their Undying nature and has slain them."

Emperor Ying looked at this old general, took off his own battle robe, and said: "Reward."

He Ruoqinhu replied, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

He rose, took the Emperor’s battle robe with both hands; Emperor Ying quietly gazed at the waves, then withdrew his gaze, step by step returning to the main camp, where the ground beneath him was drenched in blood, without turning back.

History records that He Ruoqinhu was ruthless, personally executing the descendants of the Red Emperor, even after Ji Yanzhong and Princess Changle jumped off the cliff to commit suicide, he shot their bodies with strong bows and arrows, disgracing them. This solemn Divine General’s reputation was much sullied.

The Great Emperor of Ying Country walked with self-possession along his path.

He neither concealed nor suppressed the news, recorded the matters of Ji Zichang, Wen Wan’er, Ji Yanzhong consistently in the annals to be passed down under the heavens, nor did he imprison scholars who wrote biographies for Ji Zichang.

He even personally reviewed these biographies, eventually summoned the young writers and said: "You have not written enough; how can mere words of poetry and composition express the solemn and fierce spirit of such characters?"

The young man was stunned.

The Great Emperor of Ying Country smirked low, looking at the yellowing pages by candlelight, and said: "You should have written Ji Zichang’s fear, Ji Zichang’s fondness, Ji Zichang’s decisiveness, and at last, the fire he set."

"The Red Emperor bears the name Ji Zichang, but Ji Zichang should not be the Red Emperor, tearing the final shackles asunder; after his death, you scholars should not kneel and offer him as a statue again."

"He does not deserve such treatment."

"Writing him as such a stern and fierce monarch."

"What difference does that have with those statues in the thousand-year annals?"

The Great Emperor of Ying Country placed these manuscripts calmly on the candle, letting the flames consume these words, the fire illuminating his eyes, saying: "How could I be led by such rigid, statue-like people?"

"Rewrite it."

The young man gathered his courage and said: "Your Majesty, are you not afraid of being called a rebel by the world?"

The elderly king laughed heartily: "I once heard a saying, ’Are kings and ministers truly born to be so?’ With such spirit, can one always regard the past dynasty as the legitimate one, should it be that generation after generation, only they can be kings?"

"Rebel?"

Emperor Ying smiled faintly: "Are kings and ministers truly born to be so?"

"How can the world not allow for the overthrow of the previous dynasty, let alone be the rightful one?"

...

And the upheaval of Ji Zichang, the Red Emperor’s lineage, spread like the long wind and waves; previously, the news from Central State was suppressed by the Great Emperor of Ying Country and two Divine Generals, no one dared, and no one had the ability to convey these messages out.

The Great Emperor of Ying Country departed.

These messages swiftly and rapidly swept across the world.

When transmitted to Jiangnan, it happened to coincide with when Prince Qin’s decree requesting a posthumous title for Ji Zichang arrived, the people of the Heavenly Strategy Mansion were silent for a long time, and even the Great Scholar of Central State’s Ministry of Rites, Qu Hanxiu, remained quiet for a long time.