Heirs of the Seven Swords of the Qin Dynasty

"When the time comes, both you and I will die!"

At this point, Xunzi spoke without any scruples and directly said something taboo.

This statement comes from "Shang Shu Tang Shi", and its meaning, in simple terms, is that even if we die together, we must take the "sun" with us.

As for what the sun represents, there is no need to say more.

Such a statement is naturally taboo for Confucianists who emphasize loyalty to the emperor, but it can be said.

Confucius himself explained and commented on this sentence, and he did not mean to oppose such behavior.

Confucianism at this time emphasizes loyalty, but not blind loyalty.

When Xunzi said this at this time, he was not only expressing his and the little sage Zhuang's attitude of never bowing their heads even in death, but it was also a prophecy - in his opinion, perhaps it was not a prophecy, but just an explanation of the fact that was bound to happen.

Xiaoshengxianzhuang will certainly die, but the 'sun' will not last long either.

Zhao Gao was very happy to hear this. He even hoped that the people from Xiaoshengxianzhuang would say more outrageous words.

"Okay, okay, you're full of talk about morality, loyalty to the emperor and the country, but in fact you have ulterior motives and are rebellious and rebellious!"

"I will report everything you say to His Majesty the Emperor without missing a word!"

"A villain is a villain!" Xunzi really had no interest in talking nonsense with Zhao Gao, so he just said this with disdain.

He was not belittling Zhao Gao, but the fact that the other party was still trying to stir up trouble and fan the flames at this time was really not decent.

Xiaoshengxianzhuang is about to be burned down. What is the point of characterizing it as treasonous and having ulterior motives?
After they died, the Empire could say whatever it wanted.

"A dead duck is still stubborn!" Zhao Gao was naturally not happy to hear this. He sneered and winked at the Six Sword Slaves.

The battle begins again.

………………

When Xiaoshengxianzhuang was engulfed in flames, in a remote corner of Sanghai, two figures were standing face to face and talking.

"Mother, please let me go with you. Zhao Gao has secretly arranged for someone else to help. You alone are not enough."

The person who was speaking was A Yan. She had been in Sanghai recently and had been paying attention to the affairs of Xiao Shengxian Manor.

But just like the people of Mohism, she couldn't interfere or stop this matter.

The person who was talking to her was naturally her mother Jingwei.

Jingwei plans to go to Xiaoshengxianzhuang to rescue people, and Ayan wants to go with her.

Jingwei refused without thinking, "No need!"

"Just do what you are supposed to do step by step, and don't worry about my affairs."

Ah Yan was not persuaded and replied seriously, "Helping you is what I should do most."

If she follows Jingwei in taking action, it basically means that her undercover activities in Luowang will be exposed.

Although the price is a bit high, my mother is definitely more important.

Jingwei shook his head, "No need."

"In this matter, more people are useless. What does it matter if you are one more person?"

"You know very well how many assassins Luowang has dispatched. Even if we pass Luowang, there are still thousands of imperial troops."

"Then you..." Ah Yan subconsciously wanted to ask back after hearing this.

Too many people are useless, so wouldn’t having one more you be useless too?

Jingwei raised his hand to interrupt her and asked a question first, "Do you know why your father left at this time?"

"...In my opinion, my father must be annoyed."

"Father has no intention of intervening too much in the troubles of Xiaoshengxian Manor, and Uncle Zhang Liang is unwilling to withdraw. If he stays here, it will only cause trouble. It is better for him to leave."

Jingwei nodded, "You are right, but not completely - you have been smart since you were a child, but some things are still too vague for you to understand clearly enough."

"Your father's leaving was both a way of avoiding and a statement."

"Express your stance? To whom?" Ah Yan frowned, puzzled, "Besides, there is absolutely no need for father to express this kind of concession and avoidance attitude to anyone?"

"Of course there is." Jingwei explained calmly, "But the attitude he expressed was not evasive - evasion was just his behavior, and he didn't express his attitude to the people you thought he was."

"So what is his attitude? Who is he expressing his opinion to?"

"Your father's attitude is very simple. He just tells others that they can do whatever they want and just follow their heart. He couldn't persuade Zhang Liang, and he didn't want to interfere in the affairs of Xiaoshengxian Manor, so he just walked away and put everything behind him."

"As for who to express your opinion to... you should be able to figure it out."

Jingwei touched the back of his daughter's head and hugged her gently. "When you figure it out, you'll know why I said you don't need to get involved."

After saying that, Jingwei left, leaving Ayan alone.

She was indeed smart, and she had almost figured it out by the time Jingwei finished speaking.

The fundamental reason why no one can help Xiaoshengxianzhuang with its troubles is that those who would help them and those who can help them are all rebels - even if they are not, they will be directly labeled as rebels after helping them.

Xiao Shengxianzhuang could only resist the empire alone, being a "lone minister" who risked his life for his advice, and could not be a "rebel" who formed cliques.

But there is one party that can help Xiao Shengxianzhuang, and that is the empire itself - you can't say that the empire is a rebel and is rebelling against itself.

Of course, the empire is a whole composed of countless individuals. The whole cannot betray itself, but the individuals within it can - except the individuals other than the emperor.

If an individual betrays, he or she can also be labeled a traitor, so those who help Xiaoshengxianzhuang must be people from the empire, and must be people within the empire who cannot be arbitrarily labeled as traitors.

There are not many people like this. Apart from the emperor himself, there are actually only a handful of people who have such status and position.

There is only one person left who may be able to help Xiao Shengxianzhuang, and that is Gu Xun - although theoretically speaking, Prime Minister Li Si has a closer relationship with Confucianism.

So after Gu Xun left Sanghai, many people directly sentenced Xiao Shengxianzhuang to death.

But Gu Xun is not just one person; he represents Liusha, a considerable force within the empire.

He left Sanghai. His non-involvement in the matter did not mean that the entire Liusha would remain indifferent.

………………

On the other side, at the main entrance of Xiaoshengxianzhuang.

Xunzi reached out to catch the defeated Fu Nian. His face was as pale as snow, and his clothes, which were always neat and tidy in the past, were now in tatters.

As for Fu Nian, he was even more miserable. If it weren't for Xunzi's support, he would have been unable to stand steadily.

Yan Lu and Zhang Liang hurried over and stood with their uncle and brothers.

The six sword slaves had formed a circle, completely surrounding the four of them.

In addition to the six sword slaves, there were dozens or even hundreds of Luowang assassins who were waiting covetously. At this time, the sounds of fighting inside the Little Sage Manor had basically stopped. It seemed that the students in the academy had either been killed or had already escaped.

Xunzi turned his head to look at the gate of Xiaoshengxianzhuang which was gradually being engulfed by flames, and then looked at the plaque of Xiaoshengxianzhuang. A trace of sadness inevitably flashed across his extremely turbid eyes.

Although he did not think that Xiaoshengxianzhuang had done anything wrong, the century-old foundation passed down by their ancestors was burned down, and so many innocent young students in the academy were killed. Even someone as tough as him could not help but blame himself and feel sad about it.

"Confucius said to kill oneself in order to seek benevolence, Mencius said to sacrifice one's life in order to seek righteousness." Xunzi looked at his three nephews, his tone was both generous and depressed, "I should have died a long time ago, and it is worth my life to be able to practice the words of the saints with my body."

"It's just a pity for you guys...Xun Kuang is incompetent!"

"It is because of our incompetence that we, the younger generation, have implicated our uncle..." Upon hearing this, Fu Nian immediately took the responsibility on himself.

Logically speaking, he should be the one to take the blame, and it certainly cannot be blamed on Xunzi, the retired old man.

They are incompetent as they have caused the old man to be unable to enjoy his old age in peace.

Yan Lu smiled calmly and said casually, "Uncle Master, you are too kind. It doesn't matter if it's a pity or not. Everything has a beginning and an end."

"Leaving the form and knowledge behind is the same as the great communication, which is also good."

Zhang Liang smiled bitterly, "My two brothers, one takes responsibility, the other is free and easy, they have said everything, leaving me with nothing to say."

"Well... I'll just say sorry to my senior brother. I'm a stubborn and hard-to-discipline junior brother, and I really don't deserve your painstaking teachings."

Fu Nian didn't say anything, but just shook his head slightly to show that he didn't care - he really didn't care. Although he would be very angry at the time, he would not really hold a grudge against him.

"You are so touching, but it's a pity... Tsk tsk tsk..." Zhao Gao's feminine voice sounded out at an inopportune time, and he slowly approached, "If you had figured this out earlier, why would it have come to this?"

There was uncontrollable complacency and arrogance in Zhao Gao's tone, and the face of a villain who had succeeded was clearly revealed.

Normally, he wouldn't be so emotional, but in his opinion, Xunzi and others were already dead.

When facing a dead person, it doesn’t matter if you let go a little.

Xunzi and the other three ignored Zhao Gao completely. There was really nothing to say to him.

Zhao Gao was no longer angry at this moment. He just glanced at the six sword slaves and ordered calmly, "Send the gentlemen on their way."

Zhen Gang and others were about to kill someone, but suddenly stopped.

A sword fell from the sky and stabbed straight between Xiaoshengxianzhuang and Luowang.

Immediately afterwards, a slender and tall figure fell down, bent his knees, reached out to grasp the sword, and pulled it up.

The light pink lotus-shaped salamander-shaped sword head attracted everyone's attention and made everyone recognize it at the first time.

Because it is a famous sword, and a very special famous sword—one of the Eight Swords of King Yue, Jingwei!
This is one of the only two of the Eight Swords of the King of Yue that is not in Luo Wang's hands - strictly speaking, there are three swords, but the Black and White Xuan Jian is nominally only one.

What’s even more special is that the holder of this sword is Luowang’s former top-ranked assassin, Jingwei, and her current identity is the wife of the national teacher Gu Xun.

Few people knew about this matter, but Zhao Gao and all the Tianzi killers of Luowang knew about it, after all, it was related to the Eight Swords of the King of Yue.

Zhao Gao has been thinking about the two swords, Jingwei and Xuanjian, for many years, and has always wanted to complete the Eight Swords of the King of Yue. He has put a lot of thought into this - of course, it's not that he doesn't dare to snatch things from Gu Xun, he just wants to use some more tactful means and pay a certain price to exchange the swords.

Unfortunately, Gu Xun always ignored him.

When the Jingwei Sword appears, there is no need to say who is holding the sword.

Jingwei was wearing her old killer combat uniform and the mask with spider-pattern cracks on her face.

Zhao Gao's face suddenly darkened and he began to worry.

Seeing that Jingwei was wearing a mask and seemed to have no intention of revealing his identity, Zhao Gao simply pretended to be dumb and pretended not to know who the other party was. He directly raised the flag and said:
"Luowang has been ordered to capture rebels. If you are not interested, please leave."

Jingwei looked at Zhao Gao coldly through the mask, "I want to take someone with me."

"Who?" Zhao Gao frowned, but did not refuse directly.

If the person being taken away was not important, he would have endured it - although the probability that the person Jingwei was going to take away was not important was very small, Zhao Gao really did not want to conflict with Jingwei.

He dared to touch Gu Xun's friends, but he really didn't dare to mess with Gu Xun's women.

Even with the emperor's support, he didn't dare to do that. After all, the emperor only allowed him to touch the people from Xiaoshengxian Manor and didn't allow him to provoke Jingwei.

Although there was no saying at that time that brothers are like limbs and women are like clothes, and if you touch my clothes, I will cut off your limbs, but most people still acknowledge that pillow talk is far more reliable than brotherhood... they just may not say so.

"Him." Jingwei raised his sword and pointed at Yan Lu behind him.

Zhao Gao frowned even more tightly - Jingwei couldn't help but pick an important one, even the most important one!
However, thinking of the information about Jingwei, it was not surprising that she would protect Yan Lu...but the person definitely could not be handed over.

"Impossible!" Zhao Gao replied resolutely, "He is a rebel appointed by the emperor, and a remnant of the Six Kingdoms. He is suspected to have important connections with the royal families of the Six Kingdoms. There is no way I can hand him over to you!"

"He is my brother, not a rebel, and certainly not a remnant of the royal families of the six kingdoms!" Jingwei didn't care about the accusations Zhao Gao put on him and refuted them all... although not all of them were false accusations.

These words made Zhao Gao's face turn green.

It was not because the accusation he made was refuted by Jingwei, but because of the word "brother" at the beginning.

If Yan Lu became Jingwei's younger brother, then he would be Gu Xun's brother-in-law.

Who the hell can touch him?

Zhao Gao pulled the corners of his mouth with a fake smile, trying to maintain his expression and asked, "I have never heard that the second leader of Xiaoshengxianzhuang has a sister. Are you trying to make fun of me?"

"You don't know that it's your business. Anyway, I want to take the person away." Jingwei had a clear goal and did not argue with Zhao Gao.

"You want to take the person away without any evidence? I can't explain to the Emperor!" Seeing that Jingwei didn't fight back, Zhao Gao also used his own big move and brought out the emperor.

"That's your business." Jingwei still refused to respond.

Zhao Gao was no longer polite after hearing this - he didn't dare to provoke Jingwei, but he couldn't really be a persimmon and let others bully him.

"I have given you enough face. If you want to push it further, then I will show you my true colors with my own hands."

"I want to see how you take that person away!"

Jingwei waved his hand and pointed the tip of his sword at Zhao Gao, "Then... give it a try!"

The six sword slaves looked at Zhao Gao together.

Although they are killing machines, their brains are not completely occupied by killing, and they don't really want to do things that seek death.

Zhao Gao hesitated for a moment, but seeing that Jingwei refused to give in, he made up his mind and signaled the six sword slaves to take action.

Of course, the target is still the Confucianists. As for Jingwei... just keep her from causing trouble.

However, before the Six Sword Slaves could take action, something unexpected happened.

A shocking murderous aura suddenly emerged and approached them unscrupulously.

The people of Luowang looked in the direction where the murderous aura came from, and saw a thin, weathered middle-aged man walking towards them, dragging two swords. (End of this chapter)