Peace Order-Chapter 755 - 85: The Dignity of Marquis Qin Wu_2

Ji Zichang, Li Guanyi, who is stronger, who is weaker?

Xu Yanzhong dared not say.

Dared not think.

But he also knew that when he dared not speak, dared not think, it already represented something. Ji Zichang, after a long silence, said, "What do you think of this person?"

Xu Yanzhong looked at him, recalling the legends of the past couple of years, and said:

"If it were a time of peace, such a person would surely become a minister who loves his country and his people. He might not reach a very high position, but he would definitely be competent and make the whole world fond of him."

"Perhaps, he would not take an official post and be an ordinary ranger."

"But in times of chaos."

Xu Yanzhong paused, then said, "A hero!"

Ji Zichang said, "A capable minister in times of order, a hero in times of chaos."

He paused, then said softly:

"What do you think, is this a chaotic age or an era of peace?"

Xu Yanzhong knelt on the ground, no longer daring to speak, and so Ji Zichang, after a long silence, said self-mockingly, "You may withdraw."

Xu Yanzhong stepped back and left.

Ji Zichang said, "Li Guanyi ah... Li Guanyi..."

"How should I, the Emperor, perceive you?"

He looked at the two imperial decrees already written on the desk; one hoped that Li Guanyi would stay in Central State, worded gently and elegantly, but in reality, it was a tactful scheme, intended to trap him in Central State through marriage alliances and other strategies of balance during a prosperous era.

To make this hero settle in this place.

Beside this imperial decree there was another, much shorter one.

But this decree was hidden in the shadows, though the text of the decree that was exposed was sharp, not as composed as the previous one, almost as if it had freed itself from constraints when it was written with such abandon.

Ji Zichang thought that if the great calligrapher brought by the royal family for him saw this letter, he would surely be frustrated and say that he had lost his discipline, that the characters were written as whimsically as a mess of mud.

The elder calligraphy master came to the study of this side hall.

"Mr. Yan..."

Ji Zichang forced a slight smile, as the elderly man approached and saw Ji Zichang’s two imperial decrees, but he did not look at the composed one with discipline but at the other, with uneven size of characters.

The old man softly praised, "Good characters."

Ji Zichang smiled bitterly, "What are you talking about, teacher?"

In this past month, he had thought for a long time, so much that his eyes were bloodshot, barely resting for several days; now sitting there, he looked utterly dejected, not like the puppet previously installed by the royal family.

And not like an emperor, either.

But in the eyes of this aged calligraphy Grandmaster, those unrestrained, undisciplined characters burned fiercely.

Carrying an irrepressible heroic vigour.

[Imperial decree to Li Guanyi, Commander of the Army]!

The old man was stunned for a long while.

Just by writing this decree, it represented a change in Ji Zichang.

In the eyes of many discerning individuals, this was the edict of an emperor amid chaos, written to a minister who had drawn the Chi Xiao Sword, but in this era, such a line possessed such a biting spirit.

Two imperial decrees, two outcomes.

One, to entrap!

Using beauty and riches to bind the hero’s hands and feet.

To balance, to use a beauty to erode his resolute bones, to soften the fierceness of the hero with whispers beside the pillow, to corrupt him with money, to satisfy his regal desires with the genuflection of others, to let him have everything.

One, to release!

To give him the only thing this body could offer.

A just cause!

You already have the power, so now have this name!

You may do as you please, do what you wish to do, take the sword, take the fire, revolutionize this world, stop Ying Country and Chen Country, and ultimately even if the royal family of Central State falls amidst flames and sword cries, it shall be done magnificently.

The era of the Red Emperor has aged; now let the Red Emperor’s flame pass to the next generation.

Ji Zichang sat in the middle, the doors and windows all shut, thus dimming the room, with only the flickering candlelight on the desk visible. The aged Grandmaster looked at him, seeing his disciple with stubble all over his face.

His face full of struggle and fatigue.

He was the Emperor of Central State.

But he personally wrote the second decree, bound to stir the world.

"How should I act, teacher, how should I proceed?"

Ji Zichang’s voice was hoarse, "Please tell me, what can I do?"

"Like those uncles and grand uncles expect, or should I say, ignite this fire... even someone like me can see, taking the first path can’t trap that fierce tiger, but at least it would delay the decline of the court."

"Those uncles and grand uncles don’t desire the grandeur and glory of the Red Emperor, they just want their own benefits, they also know it’s a misguided strategy, but they don’t care, they just crave brief safety."

"And the second path, countless lessons in history have shown that once such a mighty force arises, it won’t stop, the world will flip, the grandeur of the Red Emperor will disappear amidst the flames."

"I, as such a person, may be cursed as a ruler who led to the downfall of his nation."

"What should I do?"

"Teacher, Grand Protector Yan, can you tell me?"

Grand Protector Yan replied, "Such great matters should not be answered by a subject."

Ji Zichang picked up the Chi Xiao Sword that had been placed on the desk. Over a year ago, when the blade first cried out, he had tried to draw this ancestral Divine Weapon, but the sword burned him.

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