magic high school

Chapter 88: Meeting the Prime Minister Openly and Frankly

Xiao Ye looked down on Liu Shan, deeming him weak, incompetent, and foolish; it was an open expression of her contempt.

She doesn't know the past or future of the people in this world; she simply views the world through her own values.

The first person to shock her was Deng Ai, the kind of man who waited to die in the wilderness to protect his family. This made her feel a little touched by this civilization for the first time.

She lived in a cesspool of a world controlled by large corporations, where everyone had to pay taxes. Even assassins had to pay their taxes to the tax bureau on time, or else they would face dire consequences.

Therefore, when she first saw someone sacrifice their own life to save their family, she was deeply moved. Although she did not understand it, she respected this civilized principle. So when it came time to vote on whether to save Deng Ai, she voted in favor.

The second thing that shocked her was Jiang Wei. She had initially thought he was just a general who rebelled against another empire, but when she learned that the old general's ruler had been captured by the empire, she discovered that he still wanted to revive the empire. In fact, the first thing he did after gaining a foothold was to think about how to rescue the old monarch...

At this moment, Xiaoye felt a shock for the second time.

In her hometown, the concept of "loyalty" was practically nonexistent. Therefore, after thoroughly understanding Jiang Wei's story, at this moment, she felt an indescribable shock and complexity.

So she came to Luoyang with this mindset, to see who this monarch was who could inspire such loyalty in that old general.

But at that moment, she was greatly disappointed.

He didn't have any of the integrity I had imagined; he was just a weeping old man.

He was extremely fat and looked incredibly old. Whenever Jiang Wei was mentioned, he would burst into tears as if his defenses had been broken. He would cry and cry, and while crying, he would say things like "I seek to preserve my life in this chaotic world, and do not seek fame among the princes" and "The late emperor did not consider me lowly and base"—riddles that were incomprehensible to me.

So Xiaoye even wondered if she really should save this useless person? Would saving him have any side effects?

I'm very good at infiltration and assassination. Should I switch places with Li Ge? I'll go and kill the Sima family. I'll make sure the entire clan is wiped out, even the earthworms are split in half, and every dog ​​that passes by gets slapped.

However, in the end, it was she who came here to rescue Liu Shan, while Li Ge was in charge of the chaos in Luoyang. Now, the entire Luoyang is indeed in chaos, and the towering flames can be seen even here.

Now, Xiaoye has more time to take these "royal" people away.

However, Liu Shan actually made her wait for even this tiny bit of extra time.

Xiao Ye even thought that if the royal family were all like this, then the Great Han Dynasty would probably be doomed.

Even if they are rescued, they won't live for more than a few years.

Not long after, the fat old man Liu Shan brought out a baby in swaddling clothes. It was his grandson, named Liu Xuan, the only child of his eldest son and Fei Yi's daughter.

The baby in swaddling clothes had its mouth stuffed with a strip of cloth and looked to be in great pain; it was clearly Liu Shan's doing.

"This?" Xiao Ye was a little confused by Liu Chan's actions. She looked at the fat, incompetent, and cowardly old man with a head full of question marks. At this moment, she was under the shadow cloak, and Liu Chan couldn't even tell whether she was a man or a woman.

"Righteous man, just take my eldest grandson away, and I will not hold the Han Dynasty back..." Liu Shan said solemnly, and stuffed the secret letter that Jiang Wei had written to him into Liu Xuan's swaddling clothes.

However, he added a few lines of text in his blood: "May Boyue take this grandson as his successor and assist him with the respect due to a prime minister, so as to restore the Han Dynasty."

Above it is the famous line that has been passed down through the ages: "May Your Majesty endure a few days of humiliation, for I wish to restore peace to the nation from peril and to bring light back to the sun and moon from darkness."

Xiaoye froze for a moment. She looked at the fat old man and said, "Aren't you leaving with us?"

Liu Shan smiled bitterly, tears still glistening in the corners of his eyes: "My righteous warrior, I'm too old, I can't run anymore..."

"Just take my grandson and leave. When you see my words, Boyue will understand." Liu Shan smiled. He did not choose to run away again, but chose to stay here.

In that instant, Xiaoye, holding the baby in her arms, was stunned.

This cowardly old man, who was afraid of death, ultimately chose to stay here, only allowing someone to take back one of his grandsons.

She didn't know what kind of expression she should have. Perhaps her opinion of the fat old man had changed slightly. Xiaoye, learning the etiquette of this world, silently cupped her hands and said, "Take care."

"Take care, righteous man!" Liu Shan returned the greeting. At this moment, he completely let go of the pressure and responsibility of the entire Shu Han dynasty and returned to the age when he was called "A Dou". He silently watched the figure of that person disappear into the distance.

Turning around, Liu Shan saw his Anle Duke's Mansion.

This is the mansion bestowed upon him by Sima Zhao. It is more prosperous than the Shu Han imperial palace, and the Shu brocade and silk here are more abundant and luxurious than those in the Shu Han imperial palace. However, this is not his home.

"Perhaps, if I were in the afterlife, my father and the late emperor would be disappointed in me..." He smiled and poured lamp oil onto the priceless silk.

The flames ignited the bed, and set ablaze the priceless silk and Shu brocade.

"But I have already wronged the Han Dynasty once, and I will not wrong it a second time..."

"What the Great Han needs is not a surrendered, door-knocking emperor..."

"Father, late Emperor, A Dou has come to see you!"

The flames spread completely to the beams and surrounding area of ​​the Anle Duke's mansion. In the firelight, the fat old man cried and slowly spoke.

"The late emperor passed away before completing his great undertaking, and now the empire is divided into three parts. Yizhou is exhausted and we are truly at a critical juncture of survival!"

……

Xiaoye carried the baby and left Anle Mansion. When she turned her head, she saw that the eastern suburbs were already on fire!

Amid the raging fire, some cried out "Fire!", others shouted for help to put out the fire, and still others, amidst the flames, slowly recited: "I was entrusted with a mission amidst the defeat of the army, and received my orders in a time of crisis; it has been twenty-one years since then."

"I beseech Your Majesty to entrust me with the task of suppressing the rebels and restoring the dynasty. If I fail, then punish me to appease the spirit of the late Emperor."

The flames completely engulfed the Anle Duke's Mansion. The silk and wood structure of the building could not stop the flames from devouring and surging. The fire completely enveloped the Anle Duke's Mansion, and the water poured out by the firefighters was like rootless duckweed in the bright flames.

In the firelight, some people continued reciting the "Memorial to the Throne" until the very last line, when they finally disappeared completely.

Only the blazing fire remained, seemingly igniting everything, allowing the flames to devour and purify all.

In that instant, Xiaoye's pupils contracted, and her hands holding the baby trembled slightly. It wasn't from the cold, but from some kind of feeling she had never experienced before, which shot straight up her spine to the back of her head.

The fat old man she had previously looked down upon did not choose to run away or wait to die. Instead, he chose to leave with his child and then set himself on fire in his mansion.

Why?