The Lord’s Empire

Hearing this, Li Xiaoling felt that Great Qin’s Emperor was not as ruthless and cold blooded as the rumors said he was, and she breathed out. She quelled the fear inside of her and knelt with both knees as she kowtowed, saying, “This lowly one is from the School of Confucianism. I beseech Your Majesty to pardon the School of Confucianism and stop killing people from the School of Confucianism. This lowly one has no other requests.”

“The School of Confucianism?” Hearing this name, Zhao Fu’s expression became cold. How did someone from the School of Confucianism enter the Imperial Examination? The School of Confucianism was listed as a forbidden Sect by Great Qin, and everything related to it had to be punished severely.

However, this woman dared to openly say that she was from the School of Confucianism in front of him, and she begged for mercy on their behalf; she had immense courage.

Zhao Fu’s gaze fell on her as he said angrily, “Do you know that you’re seeking death? If you had hidden your identity, perhaps you could have been greatly used by Great Qin. Since you’ve revealed your identity and tried to ask for mercy on the School of Confucianism, you’ve brought this on yourself.”

Feeling this sense of coldness, a trace of terror appeared in Li Xiaoling’s heart. However, she still raised her head and looked at Zhao Fu resolutely as she said, “Your Majesty, the decisions made by the higher-ups in the School of Confucianism have nothing to do with the countless ordinary disciples. Since ancient times, almost half of all scholars have been Confucians; Your Majesty, you know how many Confucians you’ve killed already.”

“Hah!” Zhao Fu coldly laughed, “Do you really believe that We would care about the lives of the School of Confucianism? Since they committed this crime, they have to pay the price. We know that your School of Confucianism was one of the major participants of the resistance against Great Qin.”

Li Xiaoling could sense Zhao Fu’s anger, so she immediately lowered her head, showing her subservience as she said, “Your Majesty, this lowly one knows that the School of Confucianism angered Great Qin, but the countless ordinary disciples really are innocent. They’ve all lost their rights and families and already received the punishment they deserve. I beg Your Majesty to spare the School of Confucianism!”

“Your Majesty, you are an enlightened liege. Great Qin has already punished the Buddhist Sect, School of Confucianism, and School of Mohism severely enough. Moreover, their higher-ups have escaped to other Continents, and the decisions they’ve made have no relation to the ordinary disciples. Your Majesty, please spare the three Schools and Sects,” a Sect Master said after walking out and bowing.

Li Muqing also stood up and bowed before saying, “Your Majesty, according to Great Qin’s determinations, this official can be counted as half a disciple of the School of Confucianism and should also be heavily punished. However, this official has always been loyal to Great Qin. This official believes that Great Qin’s punishment towards the three Schools and Sects should be enough. Your Majesty, please rescind the order to hunt down the three Schools and Sects.”

“Your Majesty, even though the three Schools and Sects are at fault, they can still be of use and can help Your Majesty stabilize Great Qin.” The cloaked Sect Master of the School of Yin Yang also stepped out.

“Your Majesty, please use your enlightened judgment and rescind those orders,” many other Sect Masters also stepped out and said in unison.

They had all seen Great Qin slaughter the three Schools and Sects, and many innocent people had died as a result. They could not watch anymore. Back then, Great Qin had only just unified the Midland Continent, so they had to use power to suppress all resistance.

Back then, they did not dare to say anything, as they were afraid of being dragged in. However, over the past while, the situation in the Midland Continent had settled down, but Great Qin was still persecuting those three Schools and Sects. As such, they could not help but also ask for mercy on their behalf. Of course, it was also because they had good relations with those three Schools and Sects.

Li Muqing and Li Si knew about this – it was they who had brought Li Xiaoling into the Imperial Examination. Even though they knew she was quite talented, they had never expected her to become the top scorer.

They thought that entering the top three would be enough; they could use this opportunity to ask His Majesty for mercy and spare the innocent people. They had killed simply too many people.

All academies and colleges set up by the School of Confucianism had been uprooted, and all of their disciples had been killed and their relatives heavily punished. Countless temples had been demolished, and innumerable monks had been killed. This would become the darkest part of history for those three Schools and Sects.

No one in Great Qin dared to anger Zhao Fu, so they could only use this sort of method to help Zhao Fu see the value of the School of Confucianism. They only dared to do such a thing also because of Zhao Fu’s good mood.

In history, Li Si had also once belonged to the School of Confucianism, so this was his last time helping them. Now, it all came down to how Zhao Fu would handle things. If he refused, all those who had tried to ask for mercy on behalf of those Schools and Sects would be punished as well, himself included.

Zhao Fu sat there as he thought to himself. In actuality, he did not take the three Schools and Sects that seriously; it was just a minor matter. Back then, he had been quite angry because they had been determined to oppose Great Qin, so Zhao Fu did not show any mercy.

Repay enmity with kindness? Zhao Fu did not like the School of Confucianism’s way of doing things, but he had killed enough people. In actuality he had taken many of their disciples into the harem.

They were all quite beautiful, had elegant figures, and had a decent amount of Phoenix Qi. The women from those three Schools and Sects were all quite unique and special.

However, Zhao Fu had never laid his hands on those women because he did not have time and there were simply too many of them.

“So be it. We will lift the sanctions on the three Schools and Sects.” Everyone had been incredibly anxious, worried that they had angered Zhao Fu. However, hearing this, they were delighted and quickly thanked him for his grace.

Li Xiaoling was incredibly grateful and continuously kowtowed, unable to mask the happiness in her heart. She could not help but smile because her request had saved countless people.

Zhao Fu did not care too much about this and had her rise. He then gave out rewards to the top ten scorers before giving orders for those who had performed well to be nurtured and given various ranks to solidify Great Qin’s politics.

Soon, three months passed, and it was now January of the fifth year.

“Roar, roar, roar…” Nine dragon roars sounded throughout the entire Dark Demon world. Countless people heard those terrifying roars and looked towards the Southern Continent, which was where the Night Dynasty was.

The heavens and earth gradually darkened as clouds swirled. All of the energy in the world quickly gathered towards the Night Dynasty. Nine demon dragons circled in the sky above the Night Dynasty, giving off incredibly terrifying auras.

The Night Dynasty’s people were all incredibly excited because the Night Dynasty was finally establishing a Kingdom. From the very beginning, it would be a Level 1 Marquisate Kingdom. During those three months, the Night Dynasty had cleared out 1,000 or so regions and had constructed a Great Wall.

Because Zhao Fu wanted the Night Dynasty to establish a Kingdom as quickly as possible, they only cleared those regions for now. After establishing a Kingdom, the Night Dynasty’s overall strength would go through incredible changes.

Clearing out the entire Southern Continent would take an immense amount of time, and Zhao Fu needed the Night Dynasty to quickly establish a Kingdom so that it would have the strength to resist the three other Continents. With the Night Dynasty establishing a Kingdom, Zhao Fu felt much more confidence.

There was also a big piece of good news from outside the Legacy Land, which allowed Zhao Fu to let out a sigh of relief.