Working together seamlessly, the group finally managed to turn the tide. Shen Du successfully reached Mo Qianzhi’s side, pointing his sword at his neck and threatening coldly, “Mo Qianzhi, order them to stop shooting arrows, or don’t blame me for being impolite.”
The archers around, seeing Shen Du threatening Mo Qianzhi, had already lowered their bows and gripped their swords, ready for action.
However, Mo Qianzhi waved them off, telling them to retreat and continue shooting arrows. He then looked at Shen Du and earnestly advised, “Shen Du, don’t be ungrateful. My actions are all for your sake. Zhu Yan is a spy planted by Prime Minister Zhang at your side. Don’t fall for her feminine wiles. Beautiful women have always been the cause of national calamities. You should know that those who indulge in the charms of women never come to a good end. Moreover, even if we don’t mention the Prime Minister, just the fact that she works for Lai Luofu is enough reason for her to deserve death by dismemberment.”
Mentioning these two people, Mo Qianzhi’s emotions became strangely agitated, his words flying with spittle.
Shen Du, however, refused to listen to his persuasion and shouted, “Shut up! Stop spewing 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? If you can forget such a deep blood feud, what about your entire Shen clan? Do you want to end up with your family ruined and your people dead? And also…”
Mo Qianzhi wanted to say more, but was coldly interrupted by Shen Du, “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 on the sword hilt, bringing the blade even closer to Mo Qianzhi’s neck as if it might slice his throat at any moment.
Mo Qianzhi saw the anger in Shen Du’s eyes, but even with a blade at his throat, he showed no fear. Instead, he moved closer to Shen Du, his eyes blazing with madness, staring at him and saying, “A mere mortal daring to contend with Heaven’s will is simply overestimating himself! Shen Du, even if you lay hands on me, you can’t kill me.”
“I will always be here, personally overthrowing this corrupt dynasty and establishing a pure and clean world, fulfilling our great ambitions!”
These words were not only arrogant but also treasonous.
Although Shen Du was shocked by these words, he couldn’t dwell on them. Seeing Mo Qianzhi’s obstinacy, he had no choice but to hold him hostage and turn to threaten the archers, “Your Prefect is in my hands. If you don’t want his head to roll, stop shooting arrows immediately, or I’ll make sure his blood spills here and now.”
As Shen Du spoke, he even made a small cut on Mo Qianzhi’s neck to show he meant business.
The archers stopped their actions, looking at Mo Qianzhi, then at Shen Du, their expressions uncertain.
Seeing this, Mo Qianzhi became furious, “If it can achieve our great cause, this official’s death is insignificant!”
“Ignorant commoners, utterly foolish, manipulated by a woman and not even aware of it, yet still adoring her. It’s simply laughable. Do you think she cherishes worthy officials and cares for the people’s livelihood? It’s nothing but a ploy to gain a reputation for wisdom! She’s a demon in human skin, ultimately a monster!”
“Since she ascended the throne, how many innocents has she killed? How many wronged souls have been added to the netherworld? Do you know? Such a ruler doesn’t deserve our support. Since these people love her so much, it means they too are demons in human skin.”
“Kill! Shoot arrows and kill them all! Use their hot blood to appease the wronged spirits, to cleanse their sins, so they can be reborn and be given new thoughts by the gods, following us to establish a brand new world.”
Mo Qianzhi practically roared out these words, and almost everyone within earshot heard them.
Sun Tan, having just stabbed a masked figure fiercely, spat in Mo Qianzhi’s direction, muttering about his nonsensical ravings. Once this matter was over, he would personally escort Mo Qianzhi to the capital and hand him over to Old Xu, letting this ‘scholar’ see what’s what and learn the lesson that ‘words cannot be spoken carelessly’.
Shen Du was so shocked his mouth hung open. His hand trembled, and he snarled, “Mo Qianzhi, do you know what you’re saying? Do you not value your life?”
To insult the monarch so blatantly in broad daylight was courting death.
On the city wall, Pan Chi and Zhu Yan naturally heard his inflammatory words. Both were startled, the latter even fumbling with her medicine bottle.
“Has this fellow gone mad?”
Pan Chi didn’t speak but nodded in agreement. Under heaven, all land belongs to the sovereign. Within the four seas, all are the sovereign’s subjects.
He ate the emperor’s grain yet didn’t know to worry for the emperor. Instead, he stirred up trouble and incited public anger. Such a person, without even reporting to the Empress, could be executed on the spot.
“It’s impossible, Prefect Mo isn’t…” Zhu Yan couldn’t quite put her finger on what was wrong, but she felt everything about this situation was bizarre and deeply troubling.
Pan Chi laughed at her, “How do you know what kind of person Prefect Mo is? In this world of countless people, how many hearts can you truly see through just by walking down the street?”
This was indeed true. Didn’t Shen Du initially suspect her of being Prime Minister Zhang’s spy? Who could know how many faces Mo Qianzhi had?
Everyone’s attention was drawn to Mo Qianzhi, and no one noticed a half-faced ghost in the crowd who seemed quite pleased with Mo Qianzhi’s speech.
…
If one were to say Mo Qianzhi had gone mad, strangely, his thoughts were still very clear. Ignoring Shen Du’s questioning, he continued his persuasion, “Shen Du, join us! Have you forgotten the tragic incident of years past? If it weren’t for that woman’s poor judgment in listening to the provocations of treacherous individuals, how could your father have met such a tragic end? You wouldn’t have been forced into the palace harem to preserve your life.”
As for himself… Back then, they said he was promoted to be the Magistrate of Yingzhou, but in reality, it was a demotion, confining him to this place for life, never to become an official in the capital, his vast knowledge and talents finding no place for service.
This would have been bearable, but that woman wasn’t satisfied and even sent people to test whether he harbored any disloyal thoughts.
He had been driven to this point today by their actions.
This was the second time Mo Qianzhi had mentioned Shen Shijie’s tragic death. Shen Du furrowed his brow, remembering the incident at the Shen mansion. He also recalled how Mo Qianzhi, who had just become his father’s student, had crawled on his knees along the entire Imperial Street to plead before the Empress. Day after day, his knees bled profusely from the prolonged crawling. It was this act that finally moved the Empress to relent. Touched by Mo Qianzhi’s loyalty, she announced that Shen Du would be spared the death penalty and sent to the palace harem as a criminal slave. At the same time, the Empress, learning from the example of Emperor Taizong of the previous dynasty who valued the advice of his officials, sent Mo Qianzhi, who had achieved the top score in the imperial examinations, to Yingzhou in Gannan Circuit as a Magistrate, far from the capital.
“Senior,” Shen Du murmured, his usually calm black eyes showing a hint of turmoil.
Mo Qianzhi heard him and smiled bitterly, “I never thought that after so many years, when we meet again, you’d have a knife at my throat.”
Shen Du’s hand on the sword loosened and tightened again. He narrowed his eyes and said, “Senior, stand down.”