Step Down, Let Me Come!

Chapter 19: Disgrace (3)

Shen Tang almost choked on the tea.

“Cough, cough – former, formerly was this the truth about the extermination of the Gong clan?” after hearing the details, Shen Tang thought that Gong clan really wasn’t so upright and innocent, “They clearly knew Zheng Qiao is a crafty man and still let the tiger return to the mountain. Didn’t they think that he would retaliate against them one day?”

In this world, not everyone would repay the kindness.

Zheng Qiao’s experience in Xin country was a complete shame and humiliation for him. At that time he was weak and had to accept a compromise. Now that he had become the king of the Geng country, he developed and gained strength, and the accumulated grievance at the bottom of his heart erupted like a volcano. He wanted to urgently erase his dark past.

Qi Shan said: “This, I don’t know”.

Shen Tang teased: “And here I thought that you’re know-it-all”.

Although her transmigration began with a hell difficulty, Qi Shan “GuideNPC” was really responsible and diligent. She gave him a 5-star evaluation!

Qi Shan pretended to be amazed. He faked: “I’m extremely honored to know you’re viewing me so highly”.

Shen Tang “…”

Her face still wasn’t as thick as mister Qi, thereupon she bowed her head and started drinking tea. Actually, Qi Shan was drinking tea, while observing Shen Tang’s reaction – He was curious all along, what kind of relationship did young master Shen have with the Gong clan? Just now, after hearing that the reason behind the destruction of the Gong clan was Zheng Qiao reprisal, young master Shen didn’t show any resentment or hatred on his face. He was calm, as if this matter was unrelated to him.

However, how could it be unrelated?

If young master Shen was ruthless, how could he rush about in the rain for one fool last night?

His reaction was completely beyond common sense and logic. 

Because Geng country’s soldiers didn’t depart yet, Shen Tang didn’t want to leave yet to not arouse attention. So she asked the owner of the tea shop to gave them a new pot of tea. The two continued to stay there to kill time, and conveniently inquired about the identity of the prisoner on the prison cart.

The shop owner timidly turned around. He stole a glance at the soldiers outside, then whispered: “They say it was the imperial censor’s deputy…”

Shen Tang didn’t understand. She muttered, looking at Qi Shan: “The imperial censor’s deputy?”

Don’t blame her for being illiterate, as a person who lost her memory she truly didn’t know.

Qi Shan: “The imperial censor’s deputy’s surname was ‘Tian’?

“It seems like his surname was ‘Tian’? A few soldiers also cursed something about ‘Old bastard with a surname Tian’, ‘imperial censor’s deputy so what’, and so on”. The shop owner also didn’t understand this. Not to mention these high officials, even the veterans guarding the city gates could easily kill these little commoners. He refilled a pot of tea for Shen Tang, and sighed, “Don't be curious, you two, so that you won’t die!”

Xin and Geng countries fought. The aftermath was the most harmful thing for the common people. The Geng county’s folk were a bit better. Besides the taxation that was a bit higher than in the past, that let them feel oppressed, without a place to breathe, they were fortunate to not die from hunger. The Xin country was worse off.

The kings of the two countries fought in Xin country.

The common people from the Xin country not only had to work hard to provide military supplies and food but also had to face the burning, killing, and looting of Geng country’s soldiers.

Some people thought that it would stay calm for a while after the battle, but who knew that the king of the Geng country adhered to the principle of “don't lose money to your brothers” and allowed his subordinates who fought with him to break the law and commit crimes.   

The people trembled when they saw the Geng soldiers.

The shop owner noticed that the two young masters were really attractive and couldn’t help but remind them a bit, as to avoid younger generation to impulsively lose their lives.

“Don’t worry, shop owner. We know propriety”. Qi Shan smiled at the shop owner’s good will. After the shop owner busied himself somewhere else, the smile on Qi Shan’s face disappeared, it was replaced by the gloomy look, “Imperial censor’s deputy was a senior officer in a central supervisory agency. He received a badge of a high-ranking official in the court and maintained order of all kinds of government officials”. 

Shen Tang understood: “Like this, this imperial censor’s deputy wanted to impeach Zheng Qiao, didn’t he? I estimate that he offended him terribly…”

She recalled how energetic he looked just now. He let people sufficiently realize the charm of a language art by abusing roundly. How could Zheng Qiao let this person go?

Qi Shan sighed: “It’s not this simple…” 

“What did this imperial censor’s deputy with a Tian surname do more?”

“I heard that he was quite honest and had an explosive character. He obeyed the law and selected officials. He didn’t abstain from anything. No matter nobleman, official, or someone else, he captured everyone and impeached them. Naturally, Zheng Qiao wasn’t an exception. Ever since Zheng Qiao became a pupil of the king of the Xin country, this imperial censor’s deputy was the government official who cursed the most. He once blocked Zheng Qiao's way to court with a royal horse, and yelled at him in front of the people“.

Shen Tang asked: “Did he give him any face?”

Qi Shan: “No. Later on, the officials of the capital city as well as common people, who didn’t know what kind of person Zheng Qiao relied on? When Zheng Qiao wanted to return to his country, the imperial censor’s deputy opposition was the fiercest. He argued that if he came back home, he would become a calamity for them and cause endless trouble. He begged the king of Xin country to kill Zheng Qiao nineteen times“.

After Shen Tang heard this, she could already guess that the whole family of imperial censor’s deputy was taken down. She said: “Once Zheng Qiao freed himself, the family of the imperial censor’s deputy… no, his whole clan couldn’t have an easy time…”

In any case, Gong clan had helped Zheng Qiao, and they ended up dying or being exiled, to say nothing about the imperial censor’s deputy.   

Qi Shan said: “Not only”.    

“Are there any other grudges?”

“Before Zheng Qiao returned to his country, the imperial censor’s deputy called his disciples and family members who were officials in the court to implore the king of Xin to execute Zheng Qiao. The king was also under pressure and… He also had a problem with Zheng Qiao, so he thought about killing him…”   

I heard that the imperial order had been written and was just waiting to be issued.    

It's just that Zheng Qiao got the information in advance, and managed to eliminate the crisis as if it didn’t exist. He fled back to Geng country overnight.   

If he had received the news later, he would be dead.   

Shen Tang: “…”

What should she say?

“This story tells us that when weeds are cut, we must get rid of the roots. We have to take advantage of other's weaknesses, and we should start in advance to avoid the problems that may be incurred by a delay”.

After Qi Shan heard Shen Tang seriously “learned a lesson”, Qi Shan’s mouth twitched slightly, but he didn’t know what was wrong with it.

He just took a sip of tea, when he heard the prisoner's bloody cries coming from outside the tea shop, followed by the sound of the prisoner sobbing and cursing: “You are too much of a bully! You are too much of a bully! Zheng Qiao, you are such a cheap sl*t! How dare you do that—how dare you, how dare you!”   

Shen Tang turned her head and looked outside the tea house.    

“What happened again?”   

Qi Shan got up and went to the door of the tea shop to inquire in a low voice. After a while, he came back with a stern face, and the aura around his body was chilling: “Zheng Qiao ordered the Xin’s king to lead the old ministers to formally surrender…”   

Shen Tang was surprised: “I thought they had already surrendered…”    

“There is still a ceremony, Zheng Qiao cares about this the most”.

“But if you lose, you surrender. Isn't that normal? Xin country had been destroyed, and the overall situation had already been settled. Why is the prisoner's reaction so strong? When the prisoner was beaten to death, he didn't beg for mercy or cry. After hearing about such an inevitability, he’s crying like this…”   

There must be something in it.

Qi Shan clenched his hands. His throat rolled, and his voice trembled imperceptibly. He closed his eyes tightly and then opened them again. He calmly said: “The imperial seal has been lost for a long time, Zheng Qiao was furious, and forced the king of Xin to abdicate and give the rights to the only concubine of the king…”   

Shen Tang asked with her eyes: “Then?”    

The humiliation of changing the name to “Zhongtai” and forcing the king to give his position to the king's concubine. Zheng Qiao was a fox creating trouble.

Qi Shan’s expression was complicated. He continued saying: “…then an imperial concubine, had to perform the ceremony facing forward with hands tied behind her back and with jasper in her mouth. Completely naked, she had to lead all the officials in the mourning robes to surrender…”.

Shen Tang “…”