Yinshan Record

Chapter 396, Part 73: Zhang's Tyrannical Nature, Seizing Power and Manipulating Handles (Part 2)

"Who are you? Do I need to explain my actions to you?"

Li Yizhen looked at Su Che and felt a surge of anger rising in her heart.

He was a veteran master of elixirs. Back when he was outwitting and outmaneuvering Grand Tutor Yuwen in the Northern Dynasty, the entire Su family of Duling was still intact.

Unexpectedly, so little time has passed, and now a junior who has established a firm foundation is riding on his head and bossing him around.

However, what also displeased Li Yizhen was Xiong Shou's attitude just now.

What do you mean by "he also disagrees"? We are all censors from the Censorate. It's one thing if you don't speak up for me, but now you actually jump out and say such things. You're practically selling me out completely.

Before Li Yizhen could suppress her anger, Wang Jian exposed Li Yizhen's entire plan.

According to Chief Secretary Wang, Li Yizhen was not only proficient in beast taming but also in Gu poison, capable of turning living people into Gu soldiers. Although he had lost his mind, he could still raise his cultivation level to around the eighth rank and was fearless in the face of death. His only drawback was his limited lifespan, which could only last for a maximum of six months.

Imperial Censor Li's idea was to have Chief Clerk Wang pack up the prisoners in Cizhou City and the refugees outside the city and send them to Li Yizhen, so that he could refine all of them into Gu soldiers, first gathering a force of 10,000, and then driving them to fight against the rebel army.

Even if the Great River Alliance's Rejuvenating Pill is strong, it cannot devour all of these nearly ten thousand Gu soldiers. As long as everyone maintains a 50/50 situation and drags it out until the imperial court's reinforcements arrive, that would be a great achievement.

In addition, Li Yizhen also planned to implement a scorched-earth policy, releasing Gu soldiers to slaughter indiscriminately near Cizhou, creating a no-man's-land to prevent the rebel army from becoming too powerful and influencing other neighboring prefectures and counties.

After hearing Li Yizhen's plan, Su Che felt his hands were sweaty and his fingers were trembling slightly.

"I never imagined that Li Yizhen was still harboring such a plan. Fortunately, I returned quickly, otherwise Cizhou City would have been turned into a living hell by Li Yizhen before the Great River Alliance even attacked. This man deserves to die. However, I wonder how many people like Li Yizhen are there in the court, who only care about their own success or failure and treat human lives as just a number."

On one hand, Su San Gongzi was glad that he had returned early and prevented Li Yizhen from carrying out his insane plan; on the other hand, he was secretly worried.

"Evil heretics."

Su Che narrowed his eyes: "Li Yizhen, you really have guts."

"Su Che, you're arrogant!"

"Arrogant? You first lost two thousand troops, and then crawled back like a stray dog. Now you want to act perversely and perform evil rituals to sacrifice the people. As the Imperial Guard and Judge of Justice, the first person I want to kill is a heretic like you. Do you think that wearing an official's robe can save your life? Have you asked about the three-foot-long sword in my hand? Given the situation today, Li Yizhen, you cannot escape the blame."

"Hmph, you're not the only one with a mouth, Su Lixing. Don't try to pin this blame on me."

Li Yizhen and Su Che had a falling out, their personalities intertwined, and they were about to come to blows.

Wang Jian was utterly terrified and slumped into a chair, weakly reaching out his hands to try and reconcile them.

"Alas, for the sake of the country, for the sake of the country..."

But who's willing to listen to him now?

"Old Li, you really went too far."

Xiong Shou spoke up, "Defeat is nothing. The imperial court is rich and powerful, and we can regroup and fight again. But the idea of ​​turning ordinary people into Gu soldiers is truly horrifying..."

Damn it, Yuyang Mountain is a breeding ground for hypocrites like you.

Li Yizhen glared at Xiong Shou with hatred.

That's outrageous! You didn't say a word when I was talking about this plan, but now you call it outrageous.

This guy surnamed Xiong really betrayed us. "Old Xiong, what did Old Su give you for jumping in at this time?"

Li Yizhen was consumed by rage and, disregarding all other considerations, directly broke off all pretense of civility.

"Ah, this is speaking the truth."

Censor Xiong looked at Li Yizhen and said, "We are all colleagues, so I won't argue with you. You will thank me when you understand things in the future."

"Alright, Su Che, if you want to coerce the imperial envoy, I'll go back to Jiankang right now."

Li Yizhen doesn't want to stay in Cizhou for even a second longer.

Let the rebels conquer it if they want; when we get back, we'll teach the Su family a lesson. The dire situation in Cizhou is all your responsibility, Su Che.

"Take care, I won't offer Imperial Censor Li a farewell drink." Su Che was determined to force Li Yizhen to leave: "Once you arrive in Jiankang, you must properly convict and sentence me."

Li Yizhen snorted coldly, turned around, and walked out of the hall.

"What...what should we do? Imperial Censor Li said that there are probably more than a dozen Rejuvenation Pill cultivators on the Great River Alliance side..."

Wang Jian watched Li Yizhen turn and leave, knowing that this was going to be difficult to resolve peacefully. Forcing the imperial envoy away was a minor matter; if the Great River Alliance attacked, how could Xiong Shou and Su Che possibly defend Cizhou City?

"Don't worry, I'll take care of everything."

Su Che replied to him, but his eyes were fixed on Xiong Shou, who had stabbed Li Yizhen in the back at the crucial moment.

"Wang Jian is ultimately just a pretty face; he hasn't figured out the wind here. If the Great River Alliance really has a dozen or so Rejuvenation Pill experts, then the imperial court, besides having an equal number of Rejuvenation Pill experts in Cizhou, will only have one option: to ask Old Su, a fourth-rank expert, to take action. At that point, Cizhou will be under the control of the Su family. Since the Su family is in charge, no matter what Li Yizhen does or how well he does it, he'll definitely be the scapegoat."

"Now that Xiong Shou has found an opportunity to jump ship, he has certainly honed himself thoroughly in the mortal world."

At this moment, Imperial Censor Xiong was leisurely sipping his tea, completely unaware that Li Yizhen had already left in a fit of rage.

"Chief Secretary Wang."

Su Che looked at Wang Jian, who was at a loss on the other side: "To repay His Majesty and defend our country, today is the day. Daliang is not only His Majesty's Daliang, but also our family business. Chief Secretary Wang, you must put your heart into it."

Wang Jian looked at Su Che and thought to himself, "Why does this guy keep throwing out all sorts of words? What does he mean by 'not just His Majesty's Great Liang'? It's true that powerful families and clans hold power, but there are some things they can't say about. Does he really think the Imperial Censor Xiong next to him is a dead man?"

"If Li Yi really wants to leave, let him leave. He is a defeated general. I request that Chief Historian Wang write to the court and impeach him for his incompetence in leading a defeated army, which caused the situation to deteriorate greatly."

Su Che coldly looked at Wang Jian and said, "Wang Changshi, if you are unwilling to pin this responsibility on Imperial Censor Li, then you will have to bear it yourself."

"This……"

Wang Jian looked at Su Che. He wasn't stupid, and he could naturally see that Su Che was forcing him to take sides. If he wrote this memorial according to Su Che's wishes, he would offend Li Yizhen and the people behind him to the death, and he would never be able to get off the ship again.

"I thought it was okay, but we could add another one: being at odds with colleagues and deserting in the face of battle."

Xiong Shou struck again at a crucial moment, and Wang Jian nodded when he saw that both of them said so.

"Okay, I'll write it now."

Outside the lobby, Li Yizhen was walking with her head down when she heard a slight twitch by her ear. She immediately lost her footing and almost knelt on the ground.

(End of this chapter)