sovbooks Chapter 28 Famous Ancient Ministers
Chapter 28 Famous Ancient Ministers
Historical records indicate that in the 443rd year of the Great Chu Dynasty, the King of Chu unified the land and established the era name "Chengxiao".
This ruthless empress, who achieved unparalleled power, never married, and her harem was practically nonexistent.
She suppressed the world with extremely harsh laws, becoming an emperor who made officials tremble and the people submit.
But no one knows that on every snowy winter night...
That ruthless tyrant would sit alone in the empty Grand Council, wearing an old white fox fur cloak, gazing at a cup of cooled tea on his desk, until dawn.
Her empire was vast, encompassing the entire world.
But her heart was small, so small that she died in the snowstorm of Yixianyuan in the winter of her twentieth year, along with that sickly young man in white.
Many years later, this tyrant voluntarily abdicated.
She had no children and did not choose to be adopted, but instead directly abdicated in favor of a member of the royal family.
No one ever saw her again after that.
Some say her time has come and she has no choice but to leave.
Some say that she obtained a secret method for becoming an immortal from Da Jing and attained immortality.
Some even say she went to see her teacher.
But whichever it was, this tyrant never appeared again.
Her story with the Imperial Advisor Cheng Xiao is widely known and has become the best example of the relationship between a monarch and his minister.
That imperial advisor seemed to appear only briefly, coming and going in a hurry, leaving behind very little.
In the end, the only thing that survived to this day was his "Memorial on Dispatching the Troops," which he left to the King of Chu before his death.
Later generations, upon reading his works, are invariably amazed by his dedication to the Great Chu, even unto death.
His works have become timeless masterpieces.
"The late king passed away early, and the Great Chu was exhausted and weakened. The world was surrounded by wolves, and this was truly a critical moment of survival. However, Your Majesty has acted decisively and resolutely, and the ministers of the military have worked tirelessly within the country, while the fierce army has risked their lives without hesitation. This is because Your Majesty is moved by Your Majesty's kingly way and desires to accomplish the great task of unifying the world."
"The six ministries of the Cabinet are all one body; promotions and demotions, rewards and punishments, are all in accordance with the law. If there are those who resist the new laws or make meritorious contributions in battle, they should be handed over to the relevant officials to determine their punishment or reward, so as to demonstrate Your Majesty's fairness and impartiality; there should be no favoritism, so as not to have different laws for those inside and outside the palace."
"The ministers of the Grand Council and the Cabinet are all honest and upright, loyal and pure in their intentions. That is why I selected them in the past to serve Your Majesty. I believe that all matters of the court, regardless of their importance, should be decided according to the law before being implemented. This will surely ensure smooth governance, harmonious society, and an unshakable foundation for the nation."
"Respecting the ironclad laws and distancing oneself from powerful clans is why the Great Chu prospered; favoring noble families and distancing oneself from the laws is why the Six Kingdoms declined. Whenever I discuss this matter with Your Majesty, I cannot help but coldly watch the swift demise of Yan and Yong. The Grand Secretariat and the Military Council are all filled with loyal and virtuous ministers who would die for their principles. I hope Your Majesty will employ and trust them, and then the return of the Central Plains to Chu can be expected in a matter of days."
"I was originally a commoner, my body weakened by illness in Falling Star Valley, barely clinging to life in this chaotic world, not seeking fame or recognition among the lords. Your Majesty did not consider me weak, but walked through the wind and snow to knock on my thatched door, entrusting me with the weighty responsibility of saving the country. I was deeply grateful and thus pledged myself to Your Majesty's service. Later, during the great mourning of the late king and the rebellion of the imperial relatives, I was entrusted with a mission when the rebels forced the palace. I was ordered to act in a time of crisis, and more than ten years have passed since then."
"Your Majesty is aware of my plans, and thus entrusted me with the power of the entire nation. Since receiving this mandate, I have been planning day and night, fearing that Heaven will not grant me longevity and my frail body will not be able to bear the consequences, thus failing Your Majesty's kindness in recognizing and treasuring me. Therefore, I have executed powerful ministers, eradicated aristocratic families, pacified the Great Zhou, and destroyed Yan and Yong. I shall erect a high platform, borrow the might of Heaven, eliminate the false immortals, end the chaos, and restore peace to the world for ten thousand generations. This is how I repay Your Majesty's duty. As for governing the country, ensuring peace, managing the administration, and revising the laws, that is the responsibility of the cabinet ministers."
"Your Majesty, I beseech you to grant me the power to slay the immortals. If the grand formation fails and the false immortals are not destroyed, then punish me for my crimes to appease the spirit of the late king. If there is no good plan to pacify the world, then reprimand the ministers of the cabinet for their negligence to make their faults clear."
"Today we shall open the altar to offer sacrifices to Heaven, and prepare to die on the battlefield. As I write this memorial, I look back, at a loss for words."
......
After Cheng Xiao's consciousness left the small world, the electronic screen reappeared in front of him.
[System Notification: The current scenario, "Volume 1: Winter Love Song of Falling Star Valley," has been completed. Generating your instance settlement report...]
[The host rejects the system's pre-set script of a love affair with a princess in distress, instead using the world as a backdrop. She takes Chu Ning as her disciple, teaches him martial arts, and guides him to quell internal strife, eliminate close relatives, and conquer four kingdoms. In the face of an ultimate calamity from an enemy nation, the host breaks the deadlock with a shocking escape, using a fabricated sacrifice to erase the natural barrier, perfectly transforming into the unattainable white moonlight and inner demon in the Empress's heart.]
Final Affection Level: 100 (Max Level)
[System Evaluation: Breaking the deadlock with one's life, catalyzed by death, completely merging faith, love, and despair to achieve an unsurpassable supreme obsession.]
[Unlock CG (Golden Legend): Bloodstained Fox Fur, Asura's Swan Song]
On the scorched, black earth, battered by wind and snow, nineteen-year-old Empress Chu Ning wore only a thin, plain white dress, tightly wrapped in the white fox fur cloak that belonged to you. She pressed the bamboo slips you left behind against her heart, her tears freezing. The dark red malevolent mark between her brows was eerily blood-red. Scattered carelessly in the mud at her feet were the six imperial jade seals, representing the ultimate power in the world. The image was frozen in the morbid obsession in her eyes.
"He has quelled the chaos in this world for her; and all the killing she committed in her remaining years was for him alone. The most extreme love, in the end, blossomed into the most beautiful flower of Asura amidst despair."
[Settlement Reward Distribution]
One fragment of enlightenment on the path to ascension. Once collected, it allows one to ignore the restrictions of the laws and forcibly step into the realm of ascension.
Cheng Xiao felt as if the system had mind-reading abilities, as it gave him exactly what he needed right now.
He thought that since the system unlocked so late, the first task would reward him with a Foundation Establishment Pill.
Having spent over ten years in that dimension, it wasn't without its gains.
"Withdraw the reward and exit the settlement." Cheng Xiao issued the command.
[Rewards have been issued, and the system is currently exiting the system space... We look forward to the host's next exciting journey.]
As the electronic sound faded, Cheng Xiao's consciousness suddenly sank.
When he opened his eyes again, he was still surrounded by snow and wind, and he was standing on the top of a sea of clouds.
Cheng Xiao's divine sense swept across the entire Qingyun Sect in an instant, capturing the laws of time flowing between heaven and earth.
"Only the time it takes to drink a cup of tea has passed?"
A rare look of surprise flashed across Cheng Xiao's usually calm and composed face.
In that mortal realm, he accompanied Chu Ning from the age of thirteen to twenty-five, spending more than ten years of his life with her.
In the real world of cultivation, only a few minutes have passed.
"A dream of wealth and glory, a mere seed containing Mount Sumeru... The laws behind this system are even more profound and unfathomable than the Heavenly Dao."
Cheng Xiao became even more curious about the origin of this system.
Was it a demon sent down by Heaven before his ascension, or was there a higher-level being that forcibly bound him to the system? If it was the latter, then what was the other party's purpose?
Cheng Xiao composed himself and stopped trying to figure out the origins of the system.
He raised his hand, and a crystal shard emitting a mysterious light floated silently in his palm.
This is exactly the system reward we just received.
The fragment looked ordinary, but when Cheng Xiao tried to explore its interior, he suddenly felt a powerful force impacting his consciousness, which he could not avoid.
In just a moment, those ten-odd years in the small world flashed through his mind.
Those morbid emotions, possessiveness, madness... and so on began to frantically attack Cheng Xiao's consciousness!