Chapter 45: Chapter 44: A Rebuke for the Common People

This winter felt like it would never end. A year had passed, and even now, in the first month of the Twelfth Year of Jianwu, spring had not come.

Even without blizzards blotting out the sky, the ground remained covered in frost. A full year of frozen earth was still a catastrophe. Across the Six Commanderies of Great Liang, thirty percent of all farmland had been ruined by the cold.

Plant in spring, harvest in autumn. With no spring planting, there would be no autumn harvest. The deep winter of the first month brought no snow, and famine swept through Great Liang.

Of a million refugees, ten percent had starved to death, and another ten percent had been devoured by Demon Fiends. The remaining eighty percent were still alive, but only just—waiting for death.

The Little Emperor remained unmoved.

He did not open the granaries to distribute food, nor did he discuss resettling the refugees, acting as if he couldn’t see the millions upon millions of common people in Great Liang.

’I wonder if anyone is still practicing the Heaven-Devouring Fragment.’

’That One Sword that should have confronted the Little Emperor never did find its way to him, never was swung in his direction!’

Leaning against the doorframe, Su Chen clutched his cotton-padded jacket, watching the Eunuchs and Palace Maids pass the pharmacy. They were almost all unfamiliar faces now.

Everyone he had known was dead.

The ill-fated people of this deep palace—the low-ranking Eunuchs and Palace Maids—were like chives. Once one batch was cut down, a new one would sprout.

Never mind them; even most of the current Five Great Red Robes were new faces compared to those from the Tianwu Year.

It was said that people could live to be a hundred, but the Path of Cultivation was perilous and fraught with endless strife. More often than not, one’s life was cut short halfway through.

"Master Xu."

A few Little Eunuchs from the same group as Xuan greeted Su Chen, then called Xuan out and ran off toward the Palace Gate.

"Where are you off to? It’s almost time for lunch," Su Chen said.

"Master Xu, we’re going to watch the excitement."

"The new Governor has been kneeling outside the Palace Gate for half a day, begging His Majesty to open his eyes and look upon the common people of this world."

"Even the Chief Eunuch of the Western Depot went!"

The system of Civil Servants in Great Liang was somewhat chaotic, but the Governor was unequivocally the highest-ranking Civil Servant. In his past life, it would have been equivalent to a Prime Minister or Chief Minister, a subject of the highest station.

Great Liang’s decline began in the Year of Tianluan, when it went through three Emperors in a single year. To this day, not only has it lost Three Commanderies and the position of Purple Robe remains vacant, but the Tianwu Tower’s foundation of First Grade masters has been completely lost. It now relies on a single Demon Fiend Grand Ancestor to intimidate its neighbors.

’I forgot.’

This Demon Fiend Grand Ancestor also failed to pass on his throne. In an act of "fatherly love and filial piety," he was sealed in a coffin by the Little Emperor and hidden away somewhere unknown.

’By all rights, the Governor should be a First Grade Cultivator.’

’A pity.’

’The entire court of Great Liang probably couldn’t even scrounge up a single First Grade Cultivator now.’

Su Chen shook his head.

This Governor was an ordinary man, which was why the Little Emperor dared to slight him so, leaving him to kneel for half a day.

’Going to see the excitement might not be a bad idea.’

Su Chen walked toward the Palace Gate.

The area was packed three layers deep with people: Eunuchs, Imperial Guards, and Embroidered Depot Agents from the Western Depot.

On a solitary chair sat Xu Han, clad in his Chief Eunuch’s Uniform, his red robe like a flame. With an indifferent gaze, he was sipping tea.

Behind him,

the Embroidered Depot Agents stood in formation on either side, Soul-locking Sabers at their waists and Chain Armor on their chests, their eyes filled with menace.

"I beg Your Majesty to look upon the people of Great Liang!"

"They are not Cultivators; they cannot fight Demon Fiends to protect themselves! With this unnatural winter, the earth is frozen for a thousand miles, and not a single grain can be harvested! They have nothing to eat and have been displaced by the Demon Fiend onslaught, resorting to trading their children for food..."

"They are citizens of Great Liang, too!"

Before the Palace Gate, a man of about forty, dressed in a crimson and purple long robe, held his black gauze official’s hat in his hand. His voice was hoarse as he repeatedly struck the gate.

His lips were cracked. He hadn’t had a drop of water and had been kneeling for a long time without a response. Perhaps that was the answer in itself.

The zealous light in his eyes gradually faded.

He covered his face and began to weep bitterly.

"Great Liang, how could it come to this? How could it come to this!"

The Eunuchs and Palace Maids who had run over to watch the spectacle were now silent. The festive atmosphere was gone, as if they had been soaked in the Governor’s sorrow.

A mournful silence filled the air, thick with grief.

If they weren’t on the brink of death, who would willingly sell themselves into the deep palace as servants, or even sacrifice their dignity as men?

Had they not entered the palace, they might have been among the million refugees who had either starved, been eaten by Demon Fiends, or were simply waiting to die.

"Why can’t Great Liang open its eyes and look at us wretched commoners, who are no better than dust? Is it just because we aren’t Cultivators?"

Xuan clenched his fists. His eyes filled with tears as some painful memory surfaced.

His emotions were becoming unstable.

Seeing this,

Su Chen quickly walked over, grabbed Xuan’s sleeve, and spoke in a low voice.

"Don’t stick your neck out!"

"We’re just ordinary Eunuchs..."

"It’s enough to just look after ourselves."

Xuan shook his head, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Master Xu."

"No one ever asked me if I wanted to be a Eunuch. But what choice did I have? Being a Eunuch meant a chance to live. Not being one meant starving to death..."

"My mother brought my two brothers and me a thousand miles to the Imperial City. I thought that if I became a Eunuch, my family wouldn’t have to starve."

"But I was wrong. The very night before I was to become a Eunuch, my mother and my younger brother starved to death. They did it to save one last mouthful of food so that I could enter the palace and live..."

Tears and snot streamed down Xuan’s face.

"If only..."

"If only... back then, when the disaster struck, His Majesty had spared us a single glance. I wouldn’t have had to be castrated and become a Eunuch, and my mother and brother wouldn’t have had to starve themselves to death just to save a bite of food for me..."

"The Governor is a good man. This is the first time I’ve ever known that a noble of the court was willing to speak up for wretches like us..."

Xuan’s eyes were brimming with tears, but his gaze was bright. He broke free from Su Chen’s grasp and walked forward with slow, determined steps. He supported the swaying figure of the Governor, and without a word, knelt beside him, facing the Palace Gate.

He didn’t say a word, only kneeling toward the Palace Gate, but the thousands of words in his heart seemed to cry out at that moment.

’Emperor! Open your eyes and take a good look! We are your people too! Why can’t you just let us live!’

More and more Palace Maids and Eunuchs knelt in silence before the Palace Gate, gathering around the Governor as if to support and protect him.

"Why must it be this way! Why! You’ll all be implicated... you’ll all be implicated..."

The Governor looked at the Palace Maids and Eunuchs beside him, his vision blurring with tears, his voice choked with emotion.

He was the esteemed Governor.

But he was still an ordinary man. Pleading for the common people, he could not sway the Emperor’s heart in the slightest. How many people would be dragged down with him because of his kneeling at the Palace Gate?

"Insolence! Insolence!"

"You’re all rebelling!"

"We let you come over to see the disgraceful state of this Governor, not to bolster his cause!"

The Embroidered Depot Agents grew furious, raising their whips to strike the Palace Maids and Eunuchs.

A pack of dog Eunuchs, lowly Palace Maids, you’re all rebelling!

"Sigh!"

A sigh was heard.

Su Chen stepped forward. A whip cracked against his body, leaving a bloody welt that soaked through his black robe.

His somewhat angry eyes stared at the indifferent Xu Han, who was still sipping tea in his wooden chair, and he spoke in a cold voice.

"I have heard that Lord Xu also came from a poor, wretched background. To survive, you entered the palace and performed three kowtows and nine prostrations before Lord Su in the Library Pavilion, begging for a chance at wealth and honor!"

"Is this cold indifference, this bullying of the weak, this willingness to serve a tyrant—is *this* what Su Chen taught you? Is this the wealth and honor he gave you?"

"If that’s really the case, then that Su Chen must have been truly blind to have given such a magnificent fortune to you!"

At that moment, the three hundred Embroidered Depot Agents of the Western Depot bristled with fury. Shock and anger mingled as they stared at this Little Black-robed Eunuch who didn’t know his place.

"Insolence!"

"A lowly Black-robed Eunuch like you is worthy of speaking Lord Su’s name? You dare speak to our Chief Eunuch like that?"

"You’re rebelling! Slap him! Slap him hard!"

An Embroidered Depot Agent captain roared in fury.

BOOM!

The three hundred Embroidered Depot Agents surged forward, pouncing on Su Chen.

「At the same time.」

Xu Han, the Chief Eunuch of the Western Depot in his Big Red Python Robe, who had been silent with a cold gaze all this time, finally raised his eyes to look at Su Chen.

"That kneeling in the Library Pavilion... only Master Su and I were there. How do you know of it?"

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