The Name of Eternity.

Chapter 284 Not Enough

Dayuzhou, the holy city and imperial capital.

In the majestic imperial palace filled with divine mist, officials of all levels living in the imperial capital were all dressed in a solemn manner, heading for today's court session.

The news of the incident at Wuliang Mountain, far away on the border of Qingzhou, has already arrived. In this imperial capital, where the power of officials is most concentrated and complex, undercurrents have long been shaking, and countless people suffered from insomnia last night.

When hearing the news, many people suspected that there was something wrong with their intelligence. It was only after they contacted each other with acquaintances that they realized that the news was really exposed!

One is the Buddha, the leader who carries the Buddhist incense.

The other one is a peerless genius who has been at the peak of his career and is extremely dazzling in recent times.

At such a young age, he has formidable strength and outstanding achievements, and his future is promising.

It is horrifying that two such shining stars of the human race would actually collide with each other.

The impact caused by this collision will also spread to countless large and small forces. Although the leader is dead, Buddhism will not disperse. Even for ordinary sects, if they are not eradicated, there will be disciples who endure for years to avenge their master, not to mention a religion like Buddhism that has cohesion and faith.

Buddhism has deep roots, even though Emperor Yu banned royal family members from converting to Buddhism hundreds of years ago on the grounds that the royal bloodline was weak and they needed to have offspring.

But apart from the royal bloodline, many officials, ministers, retired veterans and other once prominent dignitaries have either voluntarily or under secret guidance become monks to cultivate a peaceful and comfortable mind.

Now, the Buddha has been beheaded and the spiritual leader of Buddhism has been shot dead, which will be a huge shock to these Buddhists.

Outside the Xuanhuang Gate, a luxurious dragon-sparrow cloud chariot came speeding and slowly landed.

The car door opened, and a graceful and elegant figure walked out.

"The head of the Xia family is here too."

"I haven't been to court for many years, but I'm here today."

"I heard that General Haotian escaped from the Death River, saved Youzhou and Qingzhou, and killed the leaders of the three major demon forces. I'm afraid the Xia family is here to plead for him."

Seeing the extremely beautiful female general, although she looked like a noble lady, she had great prestige. Many officials felt a sense of majesty after taking a few glances at her and dared not look at her for long.

"That important official of the previous emperor is here too. I heard that he is a vegetarian and has discussed the Dao with the Buddha."

Someone looked elsewhere and saw an old man walking over, supported by several senior officials.

There is no doubt that today's court will be extremely intense.

As representatives of various forces arrived, Emperor Yu sat quietly on the dragon throne in the imperial palace. His towering body was like a mountain, and his eyes seemed to shine like the sun and the moon, with an intimidating look that made it impossible to look directly at him.

His eyes were deep and reserved, like a deep pool or the blue sea, and it was impossible to read his thoughts.

In front of all the officials, Xia Linglong stood alone, with cold eyes and a calm expression. Behind her were several other officials serving in the Xia family court.

When she got the news yesterday, although she was shocked, she rushed to Dayuzhou as soon as possible.

She knew that the matter involved a lot of things. Although the young man was extremely powerful, this was the Dayu Divine Dynasty, and its foundation was beyond imagination. Not to mention the Qiandao Palace Immortal who ruled the world, even the group of Jiang family warriors who entered the Immortal Gate a thousand years ago, if they returned from the Immortal Gate, they would be enough to crush all the monsters.

Even the Buddha does not dare to kill people openly. All major forces have tacitly accepted unspoken rules, and beheading the leader is obviously a complete break.

Now that the Buddha has been killed, the Buddhist forces are intertwined and involve countless interests. Although they cannot pose a threat to Li Hao, they can stir up trouble in front of Your Majesty.

What's more, Your Majesty also needs to give them a reason to convince the people. In this way, it is possible to deprive Li Hao of his fame and appease the public anger.

But if Dayu breaks with Li Hao, it will give the demons an opportunity to take advantage. Xia Linglong knows that His Majesty should take this into consideration, but she doesn't know how he will decide. After all, if he cannot convince the people, those Buddhist disciples in various states and cities may rebel. If they are suppressed by force, there will be endless civil unrest in various states!

This will also give demons the opportunity to invade.

If Xia Linglong were to think in Emperor Yu's shoes, she would also feel torn. In the long run, she should protect Li Hao. After all, Li Hao was still young and had great potential in the future. He would most likely replace the Taoist master.

However, she didn't know whether His Majesty would be suspicious of the young general.

After all, a man of great achievements would be a threat to his master, let alone Li Hao, who is so young. If he is allowed to grow up, it is possible that the whole world will change its surname in the future!
The emperor's mind is unpredictable, and no one knows what decision his majesty will make.

But no matter what, she came here hoping that His Majesty would consider the Xia family's kindness and give it more thought when making a decision.

This is what she can do as a loyal subject.

"Your Majesty, you are the wise judge of heaven! General Haotian is a thief who killed Buddhas. He is against the will of the world and is simply lawless. He is not worthy of the title of Duke. He should be demoted to a commoner, forced to serve in prison and guard the borders, and never be given an official salary!"

As soon as the court started, an old official reported in anger.

"That's right, Your Majesty. General Haotian has a long history of bad deeds. He fought against my father and betrayed the Li family. Now he is killing Buddha for the thieves and making the people cry. He should be severely punished!"

"He cannot rely on his own merits to do whatever he wants. Otherwise, what does he think of the imperial power? What does he think of the morality of the world? If he is not restrained, he will only become more rampant and act more recklessly without hindrance!"

"Your Majesty, General Haotian is still young and has not been well taught. He is prone to go astray. He killed the Buddha and acted tyrannically with force. Although he has the merit of saving Liangzhou, he is using his merit to commit evil. We must not condone him, otherwise the world will fall sooner or later."

Officials came forward one after another, four or five in a flash, as if they had discussed it beforehand.

Others kept silent, wanting to see the reactions of His Majesty and other parties.

After all, this court is not the court of Buddhism. Although some people are indignant, some people have nothing to do with Buddhism. At this moment, they are worried that if General Haotian is severely punished, it will be extremely disadvantageous to Dayu's current foreign threats from demons.

Before Emperor Yu could express his opinion, Xia Linglong turned around first. "What you said is easy. If the demons attack the city, do you dare to stand on the top of the city to meet the enemy?"

Xia Linglong sneered and said, "You all just mentioned the merit of saving the three states in one sentence. It is said that the pen of a scholar can cut off the sword of a warrior. You all really have sharp tongues!"

"I am a military commander. If demons attack the city in the area under my jurisdiction, I will lead the army as the vanguard!"

One person stood up, looked directly at Xia Linglong and said, "But credit belongs to credit. Who among those present has not made a contribution? Not to mention killing the Buddha, even killing civilians is a sin. If everyone relies on their own merits and takes life lightly, how can the people survive and how can the dynasty continue? Is it just up to you and me? Is it still a dynasty? What's the difference between it and a bandit's den!"

Xia Linglong's face changed and she looked at him with cold eyes. The other party was not a general from the Five Divine Generals' Mansion, but a general who rose to prominence and made great achievements later.

But she could feel that the other party's remarks were not directed at Li Hao, but at the monopoly of military merit by the five major generals' palaces.

This brings up the issue of the five great generals' houses making contributions on the battlefield. Special or first-class merits are generally given to close illegitimate children or family members. As the head of the family, even if she does not encourage this, she cannot completely prohibit it. After all, this is similar to corruption and cannot be eliminated.

If other forces want to achieve success, they can only survive in the cracks between the five divine generals' palaces. This contradiction has a long history.

These people also secretly united with each other to form a force. Although they could not compete with the Divine General's Mansion, they had been secretly hostile to it for a long time. With His Majesty watching overtly, no one would break the rules.

"You're right. If you can kill people in the street for merit, what kind of morals will this bring? The people will be in a state of panic. The dynasty will prosper for a short time, but it will decline in the long run!"

"War can slay demons, civil officials govern the country, this is an eternal truth. If we use force to suppress everything, the people will certainly not dare to speak out, but what will happen in the long run?"

Ministers spoke one after another.

Xia Linglong's face was gloomy. She knew that according to common sense, as long as the other party insisted on killing someone, he would be committing a crime. This was in line with the laws of the Dayu Divine Dynasty, so she could not argue.

"The world is now in chaos with demons. You have lived in this imperial city for too long. I'm afraid you have forgotten what the demons look like. When the demons attack, I wonder if you can still use your iron teeth to talk reason into them?" Xia Linglong said.

"We are trying to reason with General Xia. Could it be that General Xia wants to compare himself to a demon?"

"We follow the great path of the ancient saints, claiming to be the most intelligent creatures, not to be compared with pigs, dogs and beasts, but now we disregard life and have lost our morals?"

"That's right. The country has its own laws. Even though General Haotian is extremely talented and has made great contributions, he killed the Buddha. It was a serious mistake. How can we just cover it up?"

"Today he dared to kill the Buddha, so tomorrow he won't dare to kill the real person and us?"

"How is he different from a demon?!"

The others all spoke angrily at the same time.

Xia Linglong was so angry that she almost laughed, but she knew it would be difficult to explain things to these guys.

Unless we take action to suppress it, but that would also mean defeat.

"I think you are the demons. Could it be that your home has been invaded by demons and you have been bewitched by them and lost your mind?"

Nearby, another group of great scholars from the Hanlin Academy saw that Xia Linglong was outnumbered by seven or eight others, so they also spoke up.

"You dare to say that General Haotian, who suppressed the demons in the three states, is no different from a demon without investigating the matter thoroughly?!"

"I think you have evil intentions and are trying to harm my loyal ministers. Your Majesty, I suggest that we first investigate their homes to see if there are any demons invading and causing trouble!"

"That's right. The merits of the three states are so great that in my opinion, you deserve to be named a divine general. Do you dare to despise a divine general?"

"There are so many doubts in this matter that have not been clarified yet, but you are so arbitrary. What is your intention? Do you want me to lose a great general?!"

As others joined in, the argument became more intense.

Xia Linglong opened her mouth slightly and watched the two civil officials arguing with each other. In the end, she chose to watch from the side. Although she was good at speaking, she was still a little lacking compared to these guys.

She turned to look at the emperor, but saw that his expression did not change at all, neither happy nor sad. She couldn't help but feel worried, wondering what the emperor was thinking.

As the debate went on for a long time, the words gradually began to repeat themselves, and Chu Jiuyue in the court coughed lightly.

Although his voice was soft, it still extinguished the arguments.

Everyone stopped and looked at His Majesty.

Emperor Yu looked calm and said, "What you said makes sense, but the truth is for the people, for us, because we are human, but how can the demons listen? Now that the demons are threatening us, you said you want to deprive General Haotian of his honors. After depriving him of his honors, who can fight on his behalf when the demons attack?"

After hearing Emperor Yu's words, many people looked at each other. Those who stood on Xia Linglong's side all looked quietly at those who had previously denounced Li Hao.

As expected of His Majesty... Xia Linglong secretly sighed inwardly, and instead of engaging in verbal battles, they went straight to discussing the most practical issues.

However, she didn't know whether His Majesty did this to support Li Hao or to worry about external threats from demons.

After a brief silence, the old man said tremblingly: "Your Majesty, I have received a petition from the Buddha Bodhisattva. The Buddha promised that if Your Majesty gives justice to the Buddha, the Buddha is willing to send 8 million Buddhist disciples to serve in the war."

After hearing his words, many people's faces changed slightly. They didn't expect that Buddhism would be so resolute.

Exchange eight million Buddhist disciples for Li Hao.

"Eight million disciples..."

Emperor Yu murmured softly and said calmly: "I'm afraid it's not enough."

(End of this chapter)