ebookslot Chapter 6: If the teacher says it's right, then it must be right.
Chapter 6: If the teacher says it's right, then it must be right.
Cheng Xiao sat alone in the courtyard, with tea brewing on the stove in front of him, its aroma filling the air.
After arriving here, his pace of life slowed down, as if he had returned to the time when he was still an ordinary person.
For the past three days, he has sent the princess alone to search the house, while he himself has not been idle.
He recruited a large number of clean-cut officials with no connections to the court, forming a completely new power structure to replace the previous complex deliberation process.
If it were a mortal monarch, this step would not be so easy.
But Cheng Xiao had no such concerns because he had the "Full Map Hanging".
If the world is a chessboard, then he is the only one who can see the movement of every piece on the board.
Others, having witnessed the new national advisor's methods many times, felt that he was infallible and almost divine.
Cheng Xiao lowered his head to sip his tea. Even though his cultivation had reached the half-step ascension stage, he still maintained the good habit of blowing on the tea before drinking it.
He looked up at the door; the people who were supposed to arrive should have arrived by now.
With the sound of the door opening, the palace servants pushed open the heavy palace doors.
Chu Ning stepped over the threshold and came in.
She looked somewhat disheveled; the dark gold-patterned palace dress she had specially changed into to display the majesty of the crown prince was now completely soaked in blood.
If three days ago, that still-childish face still carried a hint of playfulness, now it is nothing but indifference.
For three whole days and nights, she didn't close her eyes once.
Those lifeless eyes regained some luster when they saw Cheng Xiao sitting on the wooden chair, sipping tea.
"Teacher... I'm back." Chu Ning's voice was a little stiff.
When she reached Cheng Xiao's side, her body gave way and she collapsed to the ground.
These three days of massacre were immense torture for a girl who was only twelve years old.
Whenever she closed her eyes, all she could hear in her mind were the pitiful screams of the officials being dragged away, the desperate cries of women and children, and the warm touch of blood gushing from her neck.
Those people cursed her, mocked her, and called her a "femme fatale who brought ruin to the country" and a "madwoman who indiscriminately killed innocent people."
In the end, they stopped cursing and just kept begging for mercy.
But Chu Ning seemed not to hear anything and never held back.
She held only one belief in her heart: that what the teacher said must be correct, and she must complete the task assigned to her by the teacher.
"All 137 people on the list were killed... along with their families, not a single one was spared," she recounted, her voice trembling.
When she's outside, she's a complete disguise.
But once she reached this courtyard, she could no longer pretend. All the exhaustion, fear, and confusion she had felt over the past few days welled up in her chest.
Tears mixed with blood on his face, dripping continuously onto the ground.
At that moment, she finally let her guard down.
"The confiscated gold of 7.13 million taels, grain of 1.32 million shi, and countless weapons and armor have all been transported into the national treasury..."
Even after Chu Ning announced the results, she still felt a chill run down her spine.
She and her father were so frugal in the palace that they couldn't even bear to eat meat, saving every penny they could, while the people below lived in extreme luxury, their mansions piled high with millions of bushels of moldy grain.
These treacherous officials and traitors revel in nightly revelry, trampling on the corpses of refugees. The city is filled with decadence and debauchery; where can one see even a trace of the impending doom of the nation?
At first, Chu Ning felt some pity, but gradually his anger was overwhelmed.
"You did very well, better than I expected," Cheng Xiao praised.
He wasn't trying to comfort the princess, nor would he say such things; he was simply stating the facts.
These past few days, he has been observing Chu Ning's movements.
In case of any danger, he can secretly intervene.
But everything went much more smoothly than he had expected.
When dispatching the Imperial Guards, Chu Ning used the most loyal people to the royal family, but she was still too young to command respect.
She did not choose to use her father's name to coerce others, but instead tied this action to "righteousness," all for the sake of the State of Chu.
This princess is not as useless as rumored.
Chu Ning's body was still trembling a little, but after hearing Cheng Xiao's words, the trembling stopped.
A short sentence, yet it felt like a pair of strong hands gently lifting her up.
Her world was once shrouded in darkness.
Her father was seriously ill, and the country was on the verge of collapse. She had no one to rely on and could do nothing.
But after the teacher arrived, everything changed.
The teacher became the only beacon in the darkness, her only lifeline.
The whole world thought she was wrong, that she was crazy.
But as long as the teacher thinks she's right, that's enough.
Even if she had to fight against the whole world, as long as her teacher stood behind her and said that this would save the State of Chu, she would be fearless!
Chu Ning moved forward and leaned against Cheng Xiao's knees. The warm touch under his clothes and Cheng Xiao's calm attitude gave her a great sense of security.
She used to live in fear, but now she finally feels like her heart has found its home.
Cheng Xiao noticed that the moment he finished speaking, Chu Ning's favorability rating jumped from 30 to 50!
Although the plot went a bit off track, the outcome was good.
This also confirms that there was nothing wrong with his approach.
Cheng Xiao thought there was no problem with this; the rate at which the favorability rating increased was much faster than that of "Winter Sonata of Falling Star Valley".
"Don't cry, tears will only expose your weakness to the enemy."
Cheng Xiao picked up a clean silk handkerchief from the table and casually tossed it in front of Chu Ning, his tone still arrogant and unquestionable.
"The national treasury is full, but this is just the beginning. Now go wash up, change your clothes, and come to court with me. Go tell those remaining good-for-nothings that from today onwards, the sky of this Great Chu belongs to you, Chu Ning."
......
The court of the Great Chu is much quieter now.
The usually crowded court was now mostly empty.
Most of the surviving officials trembled and hung their heads, not daring to even breathe.
Several of the senior officials were even trembling uncontrollably.
The bloodshed of the first three days is still vivid in my mind.
The new crown prince kills without reason, and the King of Chu never intervenes, for they are all afraid that they will be next.
The morning bell rang as usual, but it only intensified everyone's fear.
Footsteps came from behind the main hall, steady and powerful.
Today, it was no longer the ailing King of Chu who came to court. Chu Ning, dressed in a dark gold robe and wearing a nine-tassel crown, stepped into the highest hall of power in the Great Chu.
She no longer possessed the awkwardness and weakness of the past, and her once clear eyes were now icy cold.
Beside her stood Cheng Xiao, dressed in spotless white robes, his steps steady.
He wasn't wearing any court robes that indicated his official rank, but the moment he stepped into the main hall, everyone in the entire Golden Palace held their breath.
All the court officials knew that the truly terrifying one was not the little girl who had only been crown princess for a few days.
It was the sickly young man standing behind her.
He is ruthless and cunning; it seems there is nothing in the world that can be hidden from him.
"My lords, why do you not bow?" Chu Ning walked to the dragon throne, turned around abruptly, and looked down at the group of nobles of the Great Chu.
The courtiers seemed to awaken from a dream, and instantly knelt down in unison, their foreheads pressed firmly against the cold gold bricks.
"Your subject...pays homage to Your Highness! Pays homage to the Imperial Preceptor!"