274: Chapter 274 Admonition

Not long after the minor disturbance passed, all preparations were complete, yet the First Specialized Academy quickly became even busier.

Waves of officials from higher institutions came and went on official business, and high-ranking figures began to appear on campus.

The Jingan Division moved in, setting up guard posts to maintain order, while the military arrived to take over security at key locations.

The atmosphere reached a climax when His Highness the Crown Prince Ye Xuanji and the Crown Princes Tutor Grand Preceptor Qian Wenzhao, accompanied by Ye Qingzhou, arrived at the venue leading the Imperial Guards.

Students in the surrounding stands could not help but scramble to stand up, eager to catch a glimpse of His Highness the Crown Prince.

Although the Imperial Guards formed a human wall, preventing ordinary people from approaching, the Crown Prince was quite approachable.

He took the initiative to walk to the center of the arena so everyone could see him, and greeted them warmly.

Meanwhile, in a secret room within the building, the Emperor Ye Qingcang was watching the scene below, lost in thought.

The door was knocked upon.

Then, Shadow walked in and reported in a low voice, "Your Majesty, Tang Long has arrived to see you by imperial decree."

Ye Qingcang nodded, "Summon him."

A dozen seconds later, Shadow led Tang Long before him, then quietly retreated to the side.

Ye Qingcang and Tang Long stared at each other for a dozen seconds before Tang Long slowly lowered his body and knelt on one knee.

"Royal Knight, your subject Tang Long, pays respects to Your Majesty."

Ye Qingcang stepped forward and reached out to help him up, and Tang Long rose accordingly.

But Ye Qingcang then asked, "Tang Qing, you shouldn't be the type of person who enjoys kneeling to others, and I have already issued an edict exempting you from such formalities. Why bother with this?"

Tang Long replied, "To be honest with Your Majesty, I indeed do not like kneeling to others, nor did I intend to kneel before. But I just realized that if one is facing a wise monarch, kneeling does not seem so unacceptable."

Ye Qingcang laughed heartily, "Well said, Tang Qing! When it comes to flattery, all the civil and military officials in the court would be put to shame by you."

Tang Long said sternly, "Your Majesty, I am not merely flattering you; I am stating a fact."

"There are gods above, and there is The Sect in this world. When a Martial Artist cultivates the Dao, they will possess worldly power upon reaching a certain height. Thus, some people are destined to be unruly."

"If our country is to achieve a great revival, we must make these people bow their heads. Therefore, we must have a monarch who is sufficiently capable of commanding respect."

Ye Qingcang nodded deeply, "That makes a lot of sense. Then do you think I am the wise monarch in your heart who is capable of commanding respect?"

Tang Long answered, "Your Majesty is able to stand here and listen to my humble advice, which is enough to show your humility; the word 'wise' is absolutely deserved. But as for commanding respect... Your Majesty, please forgive my bluntness, you... were born at the wrong time."

Ye Qingcang furrowed his brows, "What do you mean by that?"

"Your Majesty, the late Emperor left you a mess."

"With two Huagai Realm powerhouses overhead, and having just gone through great chaos, the country is filled with various heroes standing side by side."

"In such a situation, even if you are very wise, it is difficult to accomplish anything. Being able to maintain the situation until now is already very difficult."

"Those rebellious subjects already have ambitions; how could they easily extinguish them? This is something no one can help."

"Although I am confident in having some talent, even if I had been born twenty years earlier, I am afraid I would not have been able to help Your Majesty."

Hearing these words from Tang Long, Ye Qingcang was deeply moved, and tears almost fell.

He felt as if... for so many years, across the entire country, there was finally someone who understood him!

He couldn't help but pat Tang Long on the shoulder, "Tang Aiqing, I never expected that you would actually be my confidant."

"I do not deserve such praise."

"You deserve it. Sit."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Please, Your Majesty, sit as well."

The two sat side by side, and Ye Qingcang personally poured a cup of tea for Tang Long and asked again.

"Aiqing, what is your opinion of Ye Baiqiao?"

Tang Long thought to himself, the meat of the matter has arrived.

He thought for a moment and replied, "Peerless talent, glorious achievements. Mediocre courage and strategy, low intelligence. Extremely poor perspective, and completely lacking in responsibility."

After these three sentences and twenty-four characters were spoken, Ye Qingcang was extremely surprised, but the smile on his face grew wider and wider.

"The Sixth Imperial Uncle's prestige has still awed both inside and outside the country for twenty years, yet you evaluate him so poorly. Tell me in detail, why?"

Tang Long shook his head, "I will not repeat the deeds of the Sixth Imperial Uncle; quelling the chaos in Sangyu was indeed a great achievement."

"But, please allow me to say something disrespectful."

"If it were me in his position, I would have decisively become the Emperor myself."

Ye Qingcang's smile suddenly froze, "What did you say?"

"Your Majesty, please speak from your heart: if Ye Baiqiao were Emperor, what would the current Dongyu look like?"

"Would The Sect leader and the Grand Secretary dare to despise the imperial court? Would these regional officials dare to have ulterior motives?"

"Take Xu Chaoyang, for example. Would he dare to rebel? As soon as he showed the slightest sign, someone among his subordinates would cut off his head and send it to Huaidu."

Ye Qingcang's expression was very ugly, but he still nodded.

"You are right. If Ye Baiqiao were here, they certainly would not dare. The situation in Dongyu at this moment would be much better than it is in my hands. But... he left."

"He indeed left."

"For the sake of his promise, for his own personal feelings, and to avoid being criticized."

"Therefore, he disregarded the imperial dignity, disregarded the hundreds of millions of citizens, and disregarded the survival of the nation."

"So now, imperial decrees are difficult to implement, The Sect leader and Grand Secretary act on their own, the regional governors each harbor ambitions, and another great chaos is imminent."

"To the Ye family, this man is disloyal. To his subordinates, this man is unrighteous. To the common people of the nation, this man is heartless."

"Such a disloyal, unrighteous, and heartless person—I personally hold him in contempt."

"Therefore, I want to kneel to Your Majesty today, because the unification of power is the absolute prerequisite for the unification of the country."

"Your Majesty, the unification of power I speak of means removing the two great mountains: The Sect leader and the Grand Secretary. If you still have this ambition, I will not hesitate to bleed until I am dry! But if you have already lost your heroic spirit..."

Hearing this, Ye Qingcang stood up abruptly and let out a long, hearty laugh.

"Do you know, Aiqing?"

"Twenty years! In the twenty years since I ascended the throne, there has not been a single moment where I haven't wanted to topple those two mountains!"

"But no one dared to say it!"

"Except for you, no one has ever said such words in front of me. I have waited until my hair has turned white!"

"I ascended the throne at thirty-seven, and now I am nearly sixty; I am indeed old."

"But you don't need to worry! My thoughts are the same as yours; as long as I have a single breath left, I will certainly forge ahead!"

"Even if I fall! There is still the Crown Prince! You all must not give up!"

"You must also achieve the great revival you spoke of, for the sake of the hundreds of millions of citizens of Dongyu and for the descendants of the Ye family!"

"Come, come, Aiqing, tell me in detail about the method you mentioned earlier to incite conflict between the Grand Secretary and The Sect leader."

Tang Long grinned, "Your Majesty, this is not difficult, and I am already doing it. I have sent people to Huaidu to spread rumors that the Seventh Apostle was killed by Ritual Master Yu Hai."

"Killed by Ritual Master Yu Hai? Implying that it was instigated by the Grand Secretary? This strategy... I am afraid it is a bit too simple, right? The Sect leader is an old fox; he will not be so easily fooled."

"The Sect leader certainly won't be fooled easily. But what if there were also rumors that the Grand Secretary had already colluded with Xu Chaoyang and become his inside man?"

Ye Qingcang was a bit dazed, unable to figure out for a moment how such clumsy rumors could be of any use.

Tang Long provided a further hint, "Your Majesty, even I can analyze that Xu Chaoyang might have Huagai Realm-level combat power in his hands. Would The Sect leader not think of that?"

"Who this Huagai Realm-level combatant is, is not important at all."

"What is important is, if this person can pose a threat to The Sect leader at a critical moment, what do you think The Sect leader would think?"

Ye Qingcang sighed, "Aiqing might not understand. The Grand Secretary is extremely cautious and is usually very respectful to me. Even if The Sect leader wanted to deal with him, his most likely response would be to retreat. As long as he leaves the capital, The Sect leader surely wouldn't come out to hunt him down himself."

Tang Long smiled even more ambiguously, "Your Majesty's observation is absolutely correct. However, Xu Chaoyang probably thinks the same way."

"You want to move those two mountains, but does he not want to as well?"

"If he really has Huagai Realm-level combat power in his hands, and the Grand Secretary ends up alone, what do you think will happen?"

Ye Qingcang's eyes couldn't help but light up.

A few seconds later, the more he thought about it, the happier he became, and he placed his hand directly on Tang Long's shoulder.

"Tang Aiqing, I want to reward you! A heavy reward!"

"Wealth, power, treasures—whatever you want, just say it."

"Including the three cities of Song and Sangyu, as long as you ask, I can take one city and make you a marquis!"

Tang Long immediately became incomparably serious, rose again, and knelt on one knee.

"Your Majesty, enfeoffment is the root cause of division; it is absolutely not feasible."

"The reason I disregard life and death is to end the division and let the country return to unification."

"I hope Your Majesty can adopt my advice and not issue such edicts in the future."

Ye Qingcang was stunned and hurriedly helped him up again.

"Aiqing, get up quickly. I will agree to your request. However, I cannot fail to reward merit, right? Wouldn't that chill the hearts of loyal subjects and meritorious officials?"

Tang Long smiled, "If Your Majesty insists on rewarding me, I want the Torch Spirit Blood Spear."

When these words were spoken, not only was Ye Qingcang startled, but even Shadow, who had almost lost his sense of presence, immediately developed the idea of silencing him.

But Tang Long continued, "Even if the Grand Secretary is gone, The Sect leader is still there. I want to use the Torch Spirit Blood Spear to poke this old guy's backside."

Ye Qingcang and Shadow could not help but look at each other.