Chapter 243: I’ve Never Seen Such Shameless Person!
After Princess Ziyue finished her explanation, she quickly rushed to the capital and met with Lin Beifan.
Lin Beifan greeted her with a smiling face, “Princess, what brings you here?”
Princess Ziyue anxiously said, “Advisor, our situation is getting critical! You probably know that Wuxi Duke has issued reward and hero lists to deal with our forces! Now, many experts have already headed to Wuxi. If we don’t handle this well, all our previous efforts will be in vain!”
Lin Beifan remained calm and said with a smile, “Princess, don’t worry, I’ve got everything under control.”
Seeing Lin Beifan so composed, Princess Ziyue also calmed down. It seemed that with the strategist around, nothing was a problem.
“Please help me, Advisor!” Princess Ziyue pleaded sincerely.
Lin Beifan smiled slightly and said, “Actually, it’s not difficult to break this plan.”
Princess Ziyue was overjoyed, “Advisor!”
“As long as the money is enough, everything will be fine.”
Princess Ziyue: “…”
At such a critical moment, he’s still talking about money?
Princess Ziyue gritted her teeth and said, “Advisor, I came in a hurry this time and have no money with me. I’ll compensate you next time!”
“I trust you, Princess!” Lin Beifan smiled and said, “The method is quite simple. Since Wuxi Duke has issued a reward and hero list with a reward of ten taels of silver per head, we can do the same, offering twenty taels per head! Wuxi Duke has more soldiers and clearer targets. How do you think everyone will choose?”
Princess Ziyue’s eyes lit up.
“Wuxi Duke has issued a hero list, calling for heroes to eliminate bandits. We can also issue a hero list, calling for heroes to overthrow the rebellious king! Over the years, Wuxi Duke’s ambitions have caused misery to the people due to his militarism. He is the number one rebel and enemy! Revolting against Wuxi Duke has more righteousness! How do you think the heroes will choose?”
Princess Ziyue’s eyes shone even brighter.
“Wuxi Duke can promise conditions, and we can do the same!”
At this point, Lin Beifan took out a piece of paper and said with a smile, “With this proclamation from me, we can surely shatter Wuxi Duke’s plan and make him pay a heavy price!”
Princess Ziyue was very excited, “Thank you, Advisor, for your help!”
As she was about to reach out and take the proclamation from Lin Beifan’s hand, he said, “Princess, as the saying goes, one word is worth a thousand pieces of gold. This proclamation is about a thousand words. Giving me 1 million taels of silver would be reasonable, right?”
Princess Ziyue looked at Lin Beifan’s money-grubbing expression and really wanted to punch him.
“Don’t worry, Advisor. I won’t forget you!” Princess Ziyue gritted her teeth and accepted the proclamation.
After reading it, her eyelids twitched.
Indeed, it was no wonder he got the top score in the imperial examinations. The proclamation was written exceptionally well! It was elegant, expressive, and scolded people harshly!
If he were Wuxi Duke, he would probably be infuriated!
Other heroes would probably feel too embarrassed to help Wuxi Duke after reading this proclamation!
“Thank you, Advisor!” Princess Ziyue finally felt relieved.
With Lin Beifan’s strategy and the proclamation in hand, Princess Ziyue didn’t believe that Wuxi Duke could do anything to harm her. It would be good enough if he could take care of himself.
As she was about to leave, Princess Ziyue, with a retaliatory mindset, once again hugged Lin Beifan forcefully.
“Advisor, I’m going back now. We’ll meet again someday. Hehe~!”
Lin Beifan was trembling with anger. This woman was becoming more and more audacious!
Not only did she exploit the value of labor, but she also ate his tofu without paying. Even Yang Bailao wasn’t this ruthless!
After returning, Princess Ziyue immediately announced the proclamation to the world. It listed Wuxi Duke’s crimes:
Wuxi Duke, as a official of the court, should have been loyal to the Emperor and served the court. However, he engaged in militarism and attempted to rebel, which is disloyalty!
As a royal vassal, he disregarded his ancestral heritage, which is unfilial!
For the sake of his ambitions, he ignored the lives of his subjects, causing them to suffer, which is unkind!
He harmed loyal officials and framed righteous scholars, which is unjust!
Such a disloyal, unfilial, unkind, and unjust person still dares to live in this world! I’ve never seen such a shameless person!!!
If Wuxi Duke intends to rebel and overthrow the court, aiding him would be disloyal!
If Wuxi Duke engages in militarism and harms the people, aiding him would be unkind!
If Wuxi Duke issues rewards to deal with righteous individuals, aiding him would be unjust!
If Wuxi Duke is ruthless and tyrannical, he has deviated from the path of righteousness! Aiding him would be unwise!
With such disloyal, unkind, unjust, and unwise actions, how can he have the face to stand between heaven and earth?
And he calls himself a hero?
Spit! He’s nothing but a despicable villain!
…
As the proclamation was released, the world was in an uproar!
“This proclamation scolds him well! It has a solid foundation and is eloquently written. It feels so refreshing!”
“Heh! I’ve never liked Wuxi Duke!”
“This article is right! Wuxi Duke is such a disloyal, unfilial, unkind, and unjust person! It’s unbelievable that he still dares to live in this world. Truly shameless!”
“Those who support Wuxi Duke are all scoundrels! They are all nothing but despicable villains, unworthy of being called heroes!”
…
Everyone felt relieved as they criticized, nailing Wuxi Duke to the pillar of shame, unable to be taken down.
Accompanying this proclamation were another set of reward and hero lists.
A reward of twenty taels of silver per head was offered for Wuxi soldiers’ heads.
An hero list was published, declaring the top ten killers as heroes, and the one ranked first would receive a reasonable reward.
The content of these lists mirrored Wuxi Duke’s, but the conditions were even more favorable.
For a moment, the heroes who were going to Wuxi to eliminate bandits hesitated.
If they helped Wuxi Duke eliminate the bandits, they would not only receive a bad reputation but also be called villains!
As they roamed the martial world, besides wealth, reputation was what they sought. If they lost their reputation, how could they continue standing in the martial world?
Then, they looked at the other reward and hero lists.
They found the rewards were more generous, with twenty taels of silver per head.
You see, if they went to Wuxi to eliminate bandits, they would first have to find the bandits, which would be time-consuming and laborious, with low efficiency.
But if they killed Wuxi soldiers, it would be much easier.
With so many troops stationed there, the targets were clear, so they didn’t need to search and could directly attack.
For killing one, they would receive twenty taels of silver, double the price.
If you were in their shoes, what would you choose?
Moreover, this hero list was the true hero list.
Wuxi Duke was a rebel, cruel and unkind. Such a person deserved to be killed, and only by killing him would justice be served!
That mysterious force rose to resist the rebellion of Wuxi Duke. They couldn’t be called bandits; they should be called righteous heroes! Heroes couldn’t be killed; killing them would be unjust! So what choice did they have?
In fact, there was no choice at all!
So, this group of heroes continued to move forward. Although their direction didn’t change, their targets for killing did!
At Wuxi’s palace, Wuxi Duke quickly received the news and was shocked and angry: “These lawless rats dare to falsely accuse me like this? They say I’m disloyal, unfilial, unkind, and unjust, and that I’m shameless… How can this be?”
As a king, how could he allow himself to be scolded like this, losing face?
They accused him of being disloyal, unfilial, unkind, and unjust, and what’s worse, it was all reasonable!
Now he could already imagine how bad his reputation had become!
He deeply hated the people behind all this!
“Your Highness, now is not the time to be angry!” The strategist, Mr. Feng Chu, said in a flustered manner, “After this proclamation, the heroes are still heading to Wuxi, but they are not targeting the Western Bandits, but our Wuxi Army! Your Highness, the situation is critical. What should we do?”
Wuxi Duke was also somewhat panicked.
He still remembered the incident with the slanted moon treasure half a year ago. At that time, he had been headstrong, thinking that with a million troops, he could withstand the attacks of heroes from all over the martial world. However, reality gave him a profound lesson—hundreds of thousands of troops were lost, and he gained no benefits.
If such a situation happened again, he wouldn’t even need to rebel; he would just commit suicide.
“Advisor, what should we do now?” Wuxi Duke asked anxiously.
“Your Highness, I don’t know what to do now!” Mr. Feng Chu appeared despondent and had a teary face.
“I don’t care! You must come up with a solution for me. If you can’t, then what use do I have for you?” Wuxi Duke said angrily.
“Your Highness, I will do my best!” Mr. Feng Chu was sweating profusely with urgency.
In the end, Mr. Feng Chu actually came up with a solution.
“Your Highness, we can withdraw the reward and hero lists and inform the Western Bandits that the affairs of Wuxi will be handled by Wuxi itself. What’s the point of relying on others? Continuing like this will only result in infighting, wasting resources, and being unwise!”
Wuxi Duke was furious, “Your solution is to make me admit defeat? I will never agree!”
Mr. Feng Chu smiled bitterly, “Your Highness, we have no choice but to do this now! If we continue to resist, both sides will suffer losses, but our losses will be greater! Once our strength is greatly diminished, the various vassals will not let us go, and the court will not spare us either. We can’t take the risk! Suppressing our anger for now will bring peace!”
Wuxi Duke finally calmed down and sighed, “Alright, I’ll follow your advice!”
So, Wuxi withdrew the reward and hero lists and announced to the world that Wuxi would handle its own affairs and not rely on others.
The people with keen eyesight all laughed heartily when they saw this.
“Is Wuxi Duke admitting defeat?”
“He has no choice. Heroes from all over the world are on their way, brandishing their knives at Wuxi soldiers! Wuxi Duke is indeed powerful, but how can he compete against all the people in the world? He can’t bear such a loss, haha!”
“Now, it depends on whether the Wuxi righteous heroes will agree!”
“It’s best if they don’t agree. I’m just waiting to make a fortune!”
…
Princess Ziyue naturally received this news. After thinking about it, she withdrew the reward and hero lists.
The reason she was dealing with Wuxi Duke was not because she had a grudge against him, but mainly to cultivate her own troops and let them train and grow through blood and sweat, giving her a chance to restore the dynasty.
If she relied on others to deal with Wuxi Duke, she would completely lose the opportunity to train her troops.
So, she agreed to Wuxi Duke’s request, that the affairs of Wuxi would be handled by Wuxi itself, and they would not rely on others.
Both sides arranged their troops and started fighting again.
