101: Chapter 101 An Unstable Court

Xie Feng squatted for a day and a night on the trail outside the Shituolin Swamp Seal, the cold crystal blind staff leaning against a stone tablet, and his left hand still wrapped in the hemp thread used to sew that mouth.

As the Shituolin Swamp churned, different stone tablets were churned up, seemingly all attracted by Xie Feng, but the things carved on all the stone tablets were completely stale memes.

It gave Xie Feng a headache, and the Night Demon's three eyes curled up listlessly in its left eye socket, clearly showing no interest in this pile of stone tablets carved with stale memes.

Back in the morning imperial palace, the court session had begun in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and the atmosphere inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony was far more serious than Xie Feng squatting in front of the stone tablet reading "One, Two, Three, Wooden Man".

Emperor Zhou Weixi sat on the dragon chair, the cuffs of his dark black dragon robe hanging over his knees, holding a memorial in his hand, which was the preliminary investigation report on the loosening of the Shituolin Swamp Seal ghostwritten by Wenren Jingming.

For the past two days, he had been reading memorials every day, including when he received Xie Feng. For no other reason, memorials impeaching and demanding the elimination of Xie Feng flew onto Emperor Zhou Weixi's desk like snowflakes every day.

Not everyone was so friendly to Xie Feng.

The emperor's face was calm, his gaze slowly sweeping across the faces of all the civil and military officials in the court.

Today, Emperor Zhou Weixi did not have the eunuchs read the memorials, but instead finished reading them one by one himself, occasionally picking up his teacup to take a sip.

The morning court session had been going on for more than an hour, discussing the allocation of autumn grain in the three southeastern prefectures and the rotation and garrison replacement matters for the bizarre tide on the northern border. The time for the court to be dismissed was approaching, and the Minister of the Ministry of War had already begun to tidy up the memorials at his cuffs, preparing to adjourn the court.

Duke Yong, Xue Mingyue, stepped out from the ranks of military officials.

Xue Mingyue had an extremely sturdy build, wearing a Duke's court robe and tied at the waist with a dark iron lion-barbarian belt. When he stood firmly with his feet apart and level with his shoulders, his entire person looked like a cast-iron statue pressing down upon the blue-gold brick floor of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

His hair was shaved extremely short, close to his scalp, with a wide face and broad ears, sparse eyebrows, and a scar extending all the way from his right brow bone to the root of his ear.

During a certain struggle against a bizarreness, a bizarreness appeared before him, and he used his Physical Body to block the attack, protecting the entire troop of soldiers behind him.

At that time, he had already attained the position of Duke and didn't need to go to the front lines himself.

"Your Majesty, this subject has a matter to report." Xue Mingyue's voice was loud and clear.

Emperor Zhou Weixi put down his teacup. "Beloved Subject Xue, please speak."

Xue Mingyue did not look at the jade tablet in his hand; he was one of the few military officials who could submit memorials without a script.

"This subject recently reviewed all the case files on the Ranhuo City incident submitted by Qingzhou Prefecture. The case files record that the Inner Sect Disciple of the Qingyun Sect, Xie Feng, summoned an evil entity at the bottom level of the Ranhuo City Seal.

This person is also unsettled, having once lost control of himself during battle, falling into a semi-demented state and unscrupulously attacking everyone present, including his Qingyun Sect fellow disciples.

The records in the case file are extremely detailed, with more than one eyewitness testifying to every single detail. Grand Cultivator Helan Yan of Qingzhou Prefecture personally verified this testimony."

Xue Mingyue's expression sank.

"Your Majesty, is this person currently in the imperial city?"

All the civil and military officials originally thought today's morning court session would pass so plainly, but Xue Mingyue's words were like a giant boulder crashing into a calm lake.

The Minister of the Ministry of War spread out the memorials he had just tidied up again, and the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Punishments subconsciously gripped the jade tablet in his hand a little tighter.

The two of them trembled. Logically speaking, besides the emperor, only the two of them knew about this—where on earth did Duke Yong get his intelligence?

Emperor Zhou Weixi did not speak, raising his hand to let Xue Mingyue continue.

"This subject is not targeting the Qingyun Sect. The Qingyun Sect has guarded Qingzhou for many years, training its disciples well—something known throughout the nine provinces. This subject has always deeply respected Sect Master Shen, but a person like Xie Feng can no longer be contained by a single Sect. Your Majesty, from beginning to end, this subject has never said he wanted to kill him. What this subject is saying is that he is not suitable to remain in the imperial city."

He lowered his hand from the lion-barbarian belt, performing a very formal military salute with a straight back as a military official.

"As for the matters on the ruins of Ranhuo City, Your Majesty is even clearer than this subject. If any single evil entity on this person goes out of control, it will be a disaster surpassing the provincial level. The capital's underground is already suppressing one; add him to it, and the safety bottom line of the capital will be broken. This subject requests Your Majesty to transfer Xie Feng away from the capital, at least far away from all Seal facilities."

Emperor Zhou Weixi still did not speak, placing the teacup back on the armrest of the dragon chair, his voice remaining gentle.

"Beloved Subject Xue, everything you said, We have read. We personally flipped through the case files, every single page. As for the places where you were not thorough, We can add a few points: in Ranhuo City, he delayed the fire bizarreness fragment for at least an hour, bearing the gaze on behalf of all the Cultivators present.

The evil entities on him are indeed more than one, but after all the commoners of Ranhuo City evacuated, eight or nine out of ten bizarre entities in Qingzhou were gone."

Emperor Zhou Weixi sounded like he was chatting idly with a neighbor, not arguing with a Duke in the imperial court.

"Think about it again. If We issue an order now to transfer him away, Xie Feng himself will not defy the imperial decree, but in the future, whether in Qingzhou or any other province, if another incident on the scale of Ranhuo City breaks out, you tell me... We can't possibly keep an eye on a single Xie Feng every single moment, can We?"

Duke Yong stood straight, neither persuaded by the emperor nor showing the slightest intention of backing down.

"What Your Majesty says is entirely correct. Precisely because this person is irreplaceable, it is all the more necessary to constantly keep a sufficiently strong Seal squad by his side to specifically handle his sudden losses of control. This is not targeting him personally, but rather targeting the evil entities on him."

Changing it to anyone who had summoned multiple evil entities standing at the core of the capital, the capital would make the exact same arrangement.

This subject volunteers to lead the team.

Not killing him, not harming him, only guarding against him."

The hall fell silent for quite a while; the weight of these words was far too heavy.

Duke Yong was a descendant of the Grand Cultivator who sealed the Shituolin Swamp back then. For him to personally lead a team to monitor Xie Feng was equivalent to staking both his own reputation and martial power on this plan.

The Minister of the Ministry of War sighed extremely softly beside him.

The words spoken by this old buddy truly had reason and evidence; even he couldn't pick out any flaws.

Emperor Zhou Weixi was no longer in a hurry to refute. He tucked both hands back into his sleeves, slightly tilting his head to look at the painted beams and rafters on the dome of the Hall of Supreme Harmony that had been drawn for hundreds of years, as if thinking about something.

Then he withdrew his gaze, and the look he cast at Duke Yong held no anger, only a very deep and steady calmness.

"Do you trust Us?"

Duke Yong lowered his head slightly.

"This subject trusts You."

"Then give him a bit more time."

Emperor Zhou Weixi picked up his teacup.

"We have seen with Our own eyes how that young man conversed with Us in the imperial garden. Given all his experiences, frankly speaking, if he wanted to wreak havoc, no one in Ranhuo City would have survived long ago.

We trust him, just as We trust you.

You are protecting Our rivers and mountains, and he is protecting Our commoners.

Give him time. If he ultimately remains uncontrollable, We will personally set up a sealing array together with you."

He paused, placing the memorial in his hand onto the armrest of the dragon chair, where it tapped against the gilded wooden edge, making a crisp, light sound.

Duke Yong did not argue further.

He lowered his head in a salute, stepping back half a step, but did not completely retreat back into the ranks.

His attitude was very clear.

Since Your Majesty had suppressed the matter, he would not defy the imperial decree, but he still felt that doing this was not secure enough; he reserved his own opinion.

This was the status brought by the position of Duke, and at the same time, it was because of Xue Mingyue's close personal relationship with Emperor Zhou Weixi that he was able to behave in such a manner.

Emperor Zhou Weixi withdrew his gaze and swept it across all the civil and military officials once more.

"We know that among you, Beloved Subject Xue is not the only one who thinks this way. Beloved Subject Xue has spoken openly, and We will reply openly as well. Anyone else with objections, speak up now.

After the court is dismissed, We will no longer listen."

All the civil and military officials remained silent for a moment. No one stepped out again.

Emperor Zhou Weixi waited for a moment, then stood up and casually swept aside the hem of his dark black dragon robe.

"Dismiss the court."

Having spoken, he turned around and walked out from behind the screen at the side of the dragon chair.

Outside the imperial city, the chirping of insects sounded once again.