Chapter 424: Desperate Gamble to Kill the Manor

Chapter 424: Risking All to Kill the Banker

"Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and shame are essentially methods of subjugating subordinates; they don't feel it is a loss of face at all."

"A dog truly cannot change from eating filth, and the New Donglin Faction has never altered its ways after all these years! Since they act this way, we might as well just drop this burden. No one should dream of reaping any benefits from this ritual!"

Unlike Xu Zhun, who was consumed with fury, the young Yang Baize, despite his tender years, revealed a composure quite unsuited to his age.

"The hearts of the people seem like iron but are not, while the official laws are as a furnace and truly so. In their eyes, we are no different from the common folk; the ordinary people are industrial slaves, and we are official slaves. Our resistance is likewise not truly like iron, while their official laws are the real furnace. When even Lord Li cannot resist, what difference is there between my dropping the burden and handing over Inuyama Castle on a silver platter?"

Bristling with rage, Xu Zhun suddenly froze and asked, "What happened to Li Bufeng?"

"Dismissed from his post as Xuanweishi. He must complete the handover work before the end of the month and return to the Imperial Mainland to report on his duties. A new assignment will be arranged only after the Ministry of Officials finishes its evaluation."

Xu Zhun abruptly illuminated the electronic dossier in his hand, turning the official documents over and over to read them carefully, finally confirming that there was no relevant information upon them.

"Where did this news come from?"

Yang Baize did not answer his question, but instead said to himself, "Previously, I wondered why the New Donglin Faction only gave us the status of Tongzhi, leaving the actual head of the Xuanwei Office continuously vacant. Now it seems that from the very beginning, they had already planned the subsequent drama."

The night air was cold and crisp, piercing to the very core.

Xu Zhun's chest full of anger slowly dissipated, and his face turned gloomy as he said, "Why would Zhang Fengyue do this? Is he not afraid that these insatiably greedy vermin will ruin his grand design?"

"Because the true objective of this party chief must have the support of these prominent clans and great families."

Yang Baize's tone was calm, as if he were relaying another person's words: "Before his own genes completely deteriorate, he must thoroughly implement the New Policy, bringing the Wa Territory into the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Empire, achieving a true expansion of territory! With this precedent, other areas of condemned citizens will follow suit in the same manner. By this time next year, perhaps the dragon flag of the Great Ming Empire will flutter simultaneously in both day and night!"

"The time is too short."

His eyes fixed in a daze from being shocked by Yang Baize's words, Xu Zhun murmured after a long silence, "The human heart is unpredictable; it is utterly impossible to completely tame these condemned citizens in such a short period. Once the policy for the areas of condemned citizens is abolished and the myriad people merge, then you will be within me and I within you—does he not worry about inviting a wolf into the house and burying the seeds of disaster deep?"

"He cannot care about so much anymore."

Yang Baize spoke with absolute resonance: "Zhang Fengyue exhausted his mind and used every possible means to make his genes regress to a point where he is almost identical to his ancestor Zhang Taiyue, with even their birth horoscopes being exactly the same. How could he be willing to cast away this life just like that?"

Xu Zhun was filled with horror: "Would those heads of clans, who look upon the position of party chief with covetous eyes, just watch with open eyes as Zhang Fengyue does this?"

"There is only one position for the party chief, but there is likewise only one life for a man. Rather than fighting to the death themselves and ending up as a wedding dress for someone else, it is better to stay still and watch the situation change. After all, the worst outcome is merely maintaining the status quo and continuing to wag their tails for mercy at Zhang Fengyue's knees, which is entirely acceptable."

Yang Baize sneered: "The bird that sticks its head out gets shot—this truth circulating among the common folk is regarded as a sacred maxim by those lofty scholars as well. How truly ironic."

"And what Zhang Fengyue is doing does not bring only harm to those clans. It could even be said that except for that position of party chief, it offers a hundred benefits without a single harm."

The old man asked in surprise, "Why?"

Yang Baize narrowed his eyes, saying in an admiring tone, "After the areas of condemned citizens merge into the Imperial Mainland, what follows will be a newly added population so vast it makes one gasp. After these condemned citizens are educated by the New Policy, there will be no great difference between them and the ordinary citizens of the Empire. For other sequences to block people outside their own basic domain, the difficulty would be no less than ascending to heaven. But if they do not block them, with the Confucian sequence's capacity for infiltration and cultivation, before long, the genes they laboriously managed for so many years will be completely contaminated."

"Meanwhile, the Confucian sequence can cultivate countless talents from among them. When that time comes, all the heroes of the world will fall into the trap of the New Donglin Faction. Zhang Fengyue will only need to raise his arm and call out to ban the hundred schools of thought and honor only Confucianism!"

Yang Baize exhaled a breath of turbid air and said slowly, "When that day arrives, Zhang Fengyue will be the new saint of the Confucian sequence, becoming the genetic source of the Confucian sequence from then on, his name coexisting with green history, his lifespan equal to the national destiny. These are all the Teacher's exact words."

Xu Zhun's face turned ashen, "But if he fails—"

"If he fails, the rivers and mountains of the Empire will sink, beacons of war will rise everywhere, and countless condemned citizens will lurk among us, imitating us, learning from us, and using the sequence powers developed by dozens of generations of Ming people to slaughter us. Such a scene might be even more despairing than the 'Five Barbarians Ravaging China' that I once witnessed in the yellow millet dreamscape."

Yang Baize smiled bitterly: "But what of it? To someone like Zhang Fengyue, these are all matters after his death, so what does he care if the deluge follows?"

"Since that is the case, then what are we still waiting here for?"

Xu Zhun gave a self-deprecating laugh: "Assisting a tyrant in his wickedness, only to be kicked aside by someone later? Instead of this, I might as well return to the Imperial Mainland right now, out of sight, out of mind."

"The grand trend has formed; no follower of the Confucian sequence can escape it, nor can anyone stop it."

Yang Baize's eyes became vacant, and in his dazed expression, he seemed to see once again that old man who was accustomed to wearing coarse cloth rather than official robes.

An old yet heroic voice echoed in his ears, and Yang Baize subconsciously repeated the other party's words.

"Knowing a matter cannot be done yet still acting as a mantis trying to stop a cart, shouting about the moral integrity of a scholar with one's mouth, only to be cleanly and swiftly crushed into a patch of rotten mud—that is at best an utterly ignorant fool. Since Zhang Fengyue has tied us all to the gambling table, let us let go of our hands and feet to gather chips into our own arms. When it comes to the round that decides victory and defeat, he can sit as the banker and eat the idle players, while we risk everything to kill the banker!"

The moment these familiar words entered his ears, Xu Zhun knew whose mouth they had come from.

But before he could savor them thoroughly, he saw the youth before him straighten his back and speak loudly: "Therefore, this time I will not hide, nor will I yield. If the New Donglin Faction wins, I will be their enemy for the rest of my life. If they lose, the condemned citizens I have educated, I will slaughter with my own hands!"

Suddenly, this old official of the sea of bureaucracy, who had always been disliked by others due to his fiery temper and had never tasted the flavor of heavy power in his hands even in old age, felt his mind sway. The despondency on his face abruptly vanished, and a touch of heroic spirit rushed to his countenance.

"Lord Pei was a hero, and you, little Baize, also possess a few measures of his old elegance from his youth. In the past, I always used a nature like fire to excuse my own recklessness; looking at it now, these years of mine have been lived in vain."

With a flick of his wrist, Xu Zhun handed a palm-long metal tube to Yang Baize.

"This is the thing you asked Lord Pei to help find."

Yang Baize raised an eyebrow, "Old Xu, you had already obtained it long ago?"

"Indeed,"

Xu Zhun admitted frankly, "This thing is not cheap; even for Lord Pei, it took no small amount of effort to get a hold of it. Therefore, I intended to wait until he was on the brink of death before letting you deliver charcoal in the snow. At least that would be better than adding flowers to the embroidery now before the storm has arisen. But it seems my vision was short-sighted."

Yang Baize pinched the injector in his palm, feeling true dissatisfaction with Xu Zhun's approach, yet if he were to speak and reprimand him, he did not know what to say.

After all, when traced to its root, the other party was also considering things for his sake.

"This time it was I who did wrong; you should curse me as you see fit. Back when I followed Lord Pei, which time I played these little schemes was I not cursed until dog's blood poured over my head by his old self?"

Yang Baize pursed his lips, hesitating for a moment, but in the end, he never spoke the dissatisfaction in his heart aloud.

"A merciful person does not command soldiers, and a kind person does not serve as an official. You are a Baize, but your teacher was a lean tiger, so you must not only learn his patience before tracking prey, but even more so learn his ferocity at the moment of pouncing to kill!"

Pfft!

Amidst Yang Baize's horrified gaze, Xu Zhun severed one of his own pinky fingers.

He grabbed Yang Baize's cold palm, placing the blood-stained severed finger into his fair hand.

"This is the last bit of experience I, in the capacity of an elder, impart to you. From this day forward, Xu Zhun is merely an old clerk of the Xuanwei Office of Inuyama Castle."

The old man lifted the front hem of his robe and dropped to one knee.

"Your subordinate Xu Zhun took matters into his own hands and violated the orders of his superior. I ask the Lord to mete out punishment!"

Yang Baize stared at the striking crimson in his palm, and after a moment, he slowly closed his hand, exhaling to project his voice.

"In consideration that your motive was not bad this time, you are fined half a year's salary as a warning to others. If there is a next time, you will be dismissed from your post and expelled from the Wa Territory!"

"Thank you, Lord!"

Beneath Yang Baize's indifferent and sharp gaze, the old man propped himself up by his knees and stood up. His white-haired head hung low, but upon his face, which was full of deep grooves, was a matchlessly hearty smile.