Volume 5, Chapter 66 – Taking It to Extremes

Th-this… what does that mean…?

Bai Zhuqing went completely blank.

By the time she realized that this was actually someone acknowledging it, that it was in fact a kind of delegation of authority, a kind of tacit permission, Bai Xiang had already walked far ahead.

She hurried after her, only deliberately dropping back by a single step when they reached their destination, making sure Bai Xiang walked in front.

The place was not far from the square. It was a platform below the steps, where a small building had been constructed specifically for visiting guests to rest their feet for a while.

No one would actually be lodged here, of course. Its elevation did not match that of the square, which counted as “placing the guests below,” a major breach of etiquette by traditional standards.

But temporary meetings were not so particular. When the people inside saw Bai Xiang enter under the escort of several disciples, they were first startled, then immediately rose and bowed.

“We pay our respects to Your Majesty.”

“No need for ceremony.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Once the formalities were over, Bai Zhuqing brought Bai Xiang a chair and attended her into the seat of honor. Then, very obediently, she withdrew to one side and handed the entire stage over to Bai Xiang.

Bai Xiang herself was quite curious, and looked first to Hu Wenping.

“President Hu,” she asked bluntly, “I heard that the reason you all pulled strings, begged favors, and tried so desperately to find some way to see me tonight was to plead for those who were imprisoned?”

She could have had these people dragged off to prison as well. There had been no need for her to meet them in person.

The only reason she had come was because she wanted to hear why these people were engaging in such a blatant act of handing over their own heads.

“Not at all!”

Hu Wenping jerked his head up, his face filled with the grievance of someone who had been slandered.

“That was all fabricated by villains! Your Majesty, please see clearly, we have always been utterly loyal to the Imperial Court!”

“Utterly loyal? You mean submitting a weekly editorial and publicly picking apart the Imperial Court’s plans?”

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“That is a completely different matter!” Hu Wenping lowered his head again. “This subject did so in order to offer a different perspective! I was willing to tarnish my own reputation, if only there might be even one occasion on which the Imperial Court could draw inspiration from my editorials!”

“Just say what it is you want.”

Bai Xiang could not be bothered listening to him spin his wheels.

Draw inspiration from them?

Some of the people among them had openly published articles saying that the Sacred Weapon Clan was the more superior branch of humanity. What inspiration could possibly be drawn from that?

The inspiration of inferiors?

The new dynasty had finally, after no small effort, abolished the rotten Yu rites through the Xia Code, retaining only those parts that could truly be called “culture.” Yet how long had it even been? And already so many people wanted to return to the old days.

Bai Xiang was in no pleasant mood.

She knew this was an unavoidable part of human nature. She also knew that no matter how much power you held in your hands—whether nuclear weapons, military authority, or even the naked ability to order a massacre with a single word—there would still always be a certain group of people, the sort who at the end of any era would look like they had gone mad and lost all sense of self-preservation, who insisted on having “different opinions” and doing everything they could to oppose you.

But it had only been this long.

She could not help wondering whether the Void Tribulation had indirectly accelerated the fall of the Yu Dynasty, and whether, combined with the sheer momentum of the movement of qi-method citizens submitting to her rule, it had made “some people” realize very quickly that resistance was hopeless. Compared to standing on the other side and openly resisting at the time, they had preferred to join the tide, preserve themselves intact, and carry themselves through to the present day.

So in the end, they simply had not been killed off cleanly enough.

This sort of thing was appearing far earlier than she had expected.

“We have come here to make accusations!” Hu Wenping bowed again and declared loudly.

“This subject accuses!”

“I accuse Tao Muyun, president of Luezhou University and a First-Rank Academic, of dereliction of duty and failure to carry out administrative policy! He remained indifferent to Your Majesty’s decrees and allowed rumors to spread within the university!”

Hm?

The moment those words came out, not just Bai Xiang—even the disciples accompanying her, Bai Zhuqing included, all froze.

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What was this?

These people had not come to plead for mercy, but to report others?

“This subject also accuses!”

At once, another person stepped forward from below. It was the bespectacled woman with the broad face. In an extremely shrill voice, she said, “I accuse Li Sheng, president of Qingze Academy and a First-Rank Academic! She too has failed to carry out administrative policy! And many of those imprisoned came from Qingze! She must have been involved in instigating them!”

“This subject also accuses!”

“This subject accuses the president of Liangzhou University, a First-Rank Academic…”

“This subject accuses a Second-Rank Academic…”

“I accuse a sitting Grand Councillor…”

For a moment, the scene turned chaotic.

These scholars and literary gentlemen, ordinarily so mild and refined, were all craning their necks like white geese shrieking in cages at the market, rattling off one name after another, exhausting every possible angle to formulate and enumerate their crimes.

Th-this was simply… outrageous!!!

Bai Zhuqing saw through it at once. These people were still opposing the Imperial Court.

Only, compared to directly opposing the Imperial Court’s decrees, they had chosen the route of “obedience.” They had chosen to “expand enforcement without limit,” hoping by this means to force the Imperial Court to halt its present suppression.

That really was quite dangerous.

She realized that this kind of escalation did not directly threaten the Imperial Court itself. Instead, it applied pressure by shaking broader grassroots opinion and dismantling the concrete image the Imperial Court held in the minds of the people.

This was no small matter.

Never mind that only seventeen people had come here today. That joint petition had contained more than a thousand names, and it was easy to foresee that there were certainly ten times, perhaps a hundred times, that number standing behind them and watching.

If Sister had not clearly delegated this authority to me, then relying on the prestige I held before truly would not have been enough to handle this.

Bai Zhuqing knew her own limits.

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Solving the problem itself was actually simple. After all, even a small child could understand the principle involved: simply use the harshest methods possible and eliminate the problem completely.

But would that not create a new problem?

If a Grand Councillor opposed you and you moved against him, then so be it. At least that would still count as acting with just cause.

But if a Grand Councillor supported you and you still moved against him, then to certain groups who did not understand the truth, that would clearly look like tyranny.

Would that not play directly into exactly what these people had claimed in their memorials?

Would it mean truly becoming “tyrannical Yu” again?

Would it mean truly abandoning all reason?

And when the clamor of public opinion came sweeping in from every direction, a position like “Imperial Court Overseer” genuinely was not enough to deal with it.

This was something that had to be handled personally by the one who had won the realm in the first place.

Bai Zhuqing secretly glanced at Bai Xiang, curious how she would deal with it.

“Hu Wenping.”

A cool voice passed through the gaps in the din, seeming to carry a magic of its own. The other voices quickly subsided.

Bai Xiang stared at Hu Wenping and gave him an encouraging smile.

“Come. Step forward.”

?

Hu Wenping was puzzled, but he obediently stepped forward.

“Now turn around and face them.”

Hu Wenping obeyed again, though he looked even more confused.

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“Very good. That will do.” Bai Xiang nodded in satisfaction, then lifted her eyes and swept her gaze over the entire room.

“I truly have felt the sincerity of all my beloved ministers.”

“Whatever your motives may be, in terms of conduct you truly are loyal indeed, to have considered so many details, so many things… that even this side had not thought of.”

Everyone’s eyelids twitched. For no reason at all, they felt a growing unease.

Surely not…?

They had specifically chosen to come after the lecture precisely because there were so many people present at this time. There should still be a huge crowd at the foot of the mountain unwilling to leave. She would not dare to act directly at a moment like this… would she?

“However, among the many names you have brought up, some are, in my impression, pillars of the nation.”

Bai Xiang changed tone. Her voice turned cold. “Which only shows how severe this infiltration has become! We really should intensify things and investigate this properly, all the way up the line!”

“So I began to wonder: if even famous worthies and great scholars cannot, in your mouths, escape corruption or error, then might it be that… some of the corrupt have in fact mixed themselves in among you, merely putting on a righteous face so they can strike first?”

Th-this…

Surely she doesn’t mean…?

Hu Wenping’s eyes widened. It was as if he had thought of a certain possibility, and sweat began to bead across his forehead.

“So let us not waste any time. We’ll begin with President Hu.”

Just as expected, Bai Xiang pointed directly at him.

“You people below, begin accusing President Hu.”

“And President Hu may refute them, or even turn around and accuse them in return.”

“In any case, one side or the other among you must be in the wrong.”

“When dawn comes tomorrow, only one side of you will live to see the sun.”