Chapter 1040: To Kill, or Not to Kill?

From the moment he entered the hall, Liu Chang's every move had been under Emperor Liu's watchful eye. After a brief exchange, Liu Chengyou couldn't help but wonder—was this man truly this foolish, or was he deliberately putting on such a pathetic display to survive, hoping to disarm his captor's vigilance?

Observing people and employing them well was one of the most important skills for an emperor, and after years on the throne, Liu Chengyou's ability to read men had grown increasingly refined. Yet at this moment, facing this Liu Chang, he found himself genuinely hesitating.

His piercing gaze could almost bore through Liu Chang's chest and stab straight into his heart. Liu Chang dared not meet it, cowering and burying his head low. After a moment of deliberation, Liu Chengyou asked, "You keep calling yourself a guilty minister—do you know what crime you have committed? I wish to hear you state it yourself!"

Faced with the Han Emperor's question, Liu Chang was again stunned, a flicker of confusion passing through his eyes. But he dared not refuse to answer. After thinking for a moment, he said, "The guilty minister once presumptuously usurped the title of sovereign. When the imperial army came to punish me, I sent troops to resist, causing casualties among the soldiers and officers..."

"Is that all?" Liu Chengyou raised an eyebrow.

Liu Chang was clearly overwrought at this point. In the depths of winter, even with the hall being warm, one should not be drenched in sweat—yet Liu Chang was exactly that. His face flushed crimson, his expression wavering, he agonized for a long while before kowtowing with a tearful voice: "Guilty minister, guilty minister—this guilty minister truly knows no more! I beg Your Majesty to instruct me!"

"The pacification proclamation I issued for the south—have you read it?" Liu Chengyou asked coldly.

Liu Chang instinctively lowered his voice, still not daring to raise his head, and said, "Your Majesty's forgiveness—the guilty minister never had the chance to read it!"

"Ha!" Seeing this performance, Liu Chengyou could barely contain himself and snapped, "Then what have you been doing all this time?"

From the shift in the Han Emperor's tone, Liu Chang realized he had said something wrong again. Hesitating for a moment, he said with a mournful face, "The guilty minister only played and amused himself in the palace. All matters of state and military were handled by Fan Huzi, Gong Chengshu, and the others. The guilty minister, the guilty minister..."

"And you have the nerve to say that!" Seeing him stammer, Liu Chengyou said sternly, "Employing sorcerers and eunuchs, ruining the state and disrupting governance—is that not your crime?"

Liu Chang was badly startled, growing even more terrified.

Liu Chengyou, however, felt he had to speak his mind and pressed on: "At the start of your succession, you killed all your brothers—butchering your own flesh and blood, cruel to such a degree—is that not a crime?"

Liu Chang said, "This... this was what Gong Chengshu and the others said—that my late father had also eliminated his brothers, and I should follow suit, lest my brothers develop ambitions to seize power and endanger the state..."

"Nonsense!" Emperor Liu was especially furious at this, cursing with a stern face: "Such petty slander, and you could not discern it at all? All men have souls—even with a heart of wood or stone, one could not commit such cruel and unnatural deeds as yours! What face do you have to use family, state, and altars as a pretext for your savagery, greed, and brutality?"

"Building grand palaces on a grand scale, indulging in luxury and excess, using the hard-earned sweat and blood of Lingnan's people for your pleasure, until the scholars and commoners of Lingnan are seething with resentment—is that not a crime?"

"Surrounding yourself with petty men, distancing yourself from worthy ministers, suspecting your meritorious subjects, poisoning your own generals—is that not a crime?"

"Acting on absurd personal whims, issuing evil decrees wantonly, corrupting the laws and discipline, installing eunuchs in great numbers, humiliating all men of learning—is that not a crime?"

"..."

Facing this barrage of stern questioning and condemnation from Emperor Liu, Liu Chang grew ever more panicked. He could clearly sense the hostility in the Han Emperor's tone and hurriedly kowtowed: "Your Majesty, these... these were all things Gong Chengshu and the others told me to do! I only sought pleasure—I never intended to do evil!"

Hearing his excuses, Liu Chengyou continued his rebuke: "If a sovereign is wise and virtuous, how could he be led around by petty men like a slave? Do you think that by shifting all the blame onto the sorcerers and eunuchs, you can lessen your own guilt?"

"Your Majesty, I admit my guilt! I beg for forgiveness! I implore your mercy! I will never dare do it again!" Liu Chang began to weep again. Emperor Liu's words were as sharp as knives, seeming to carry a chilling frost that pierced his skin, making him feel the danger.

As for Emperor Liu, having vented his anger, the fury in his chest subsided somewhat. He calmed himself and looked at Liu Chang once more. This time, he was genuinely considering how to deal with this man. Seeming to sense this, Liu Chang crawled forward on his knees two steps, looking up at Emperor Liu with red, tearful eyes, his face full of the will to survive.

For Liu Chengyou, Liu Chang was in truth of little consequence, and he was not nearly as enraged as he appeared on the surface. His indignation was, in fact, a political performance. Such a tyrannical, benighted ruler—a scourge upon the people—naturally had to be sternly condemned to showcase his own righteous kingly way.

Just as Emperor Liu had considered back then, he was in truth pleased by the stupidity, cruelty, and incompetence of these separatist rulers. Otherwise, if they were all worthy and loving toward their people, spreading grace and benevolence, how would they serve to highlight him, the Emperor of the Great Han? How would they reduce the resistance to the Great Han court's efforts to eliminate the separatist regimes?

As a relatively self-disciplined emperor, Liu Chengyou found Liu Chang genuinely distasteful. He would not show mercy simply because the man was young—even as Liu Chang humbled himself so completely, weeping with such pitiful cries, his heart remained largely unmoved.

Still, there was a slight hesitation in his mind over how to deal with him. To kill, or not to kill.

His index finger tapped lightly on the imperial desk, the crisp sound falling in a slow rhythm, each tap echoing in Liu Chang's heart. After considering for a while, Liu Chengyou turned his head and asked Lü Yin, "Yuqing, how do you think I should deal with Liu Chang?"

Upon being asked, Lü Yin's expression remained unchanged. After brief consideration, he clasped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, Liu Chang is mediocre, cowardly, benighted, and perverse. With his abilities, he would be ill-suited even to manage a household, let alone govern a state. He succeeded to the throne as the eldest son, young and inexperienced, led around by petty men, bewitched by sorceresses, entrusting state affairs to eunuchs—hence his deeds of debauchery and cruelty..."

The more Liu Chengyou heard of Lü Yin's words, the more something felt off. He raised his hand to interrupt him and asked, "Are you making excuses for Liu Chang?"

Lü Yin reacted calmly and composedly, clasping his hands and saying, "Your Majesty, I would not dare. Your Majesty has asked me, and I dare not conceal my thoughts—I only speak what is in my heart. In my view, Liu Chang is benighted and incompetent, and his crimes are certainly not light. But to pin the crime of ruining governance and losing the state solely on his person would not be entirely fair.

After all, he was once the sovereign of a state. Now captured by the imperial army, he kneels before Your Majesty to confess his crimes, submissive and sincere. I believe Your Majesty could punish him lightly as a warning—that would suffice to show the world!"

"Indeed! Indeed!" Seeing someone speak up for him, Liu Chang grew excited and hastily echoed, "Your Majesty, I know I was wrong! I am willing to atone for my crimes! I only beg Your Majesty to spare my life!"

Somewhat surprised, Liu Chengyou glanced at Lü Yin. He and Liu Chang certainly had no dealings or interests in common. Lü Yin was a shrewd and insightful man—yet he was speaking up for Liu Chang.

Musing over Lü Yin's words, Liu Chengyou gained some insight and came to understand Lü Yin's reasoning somewhat. This was likely a matter of values, as well as the principle of sparing the dignity of the exalted. The key point was that Liu Chang was, after all, a sovereign of a state. Just as with Emperor Zhuangzong's loss of his kingdom—the blame could be pushed onto the actors, saying they had deluded the sovereign and ruined the state—so too with Liu Chang: one could say he had been deceived by sorcerers and eunuchs, and thus committed those unrighteous deeds. Moreover, given Emperor Liu's consistent "lenient" treatment of fallen sovereigns and ministers, there seemed no need to single out Liu Chang for the ultimate punishment.

Standing from the perspective of a sovereign, this was not difficult to understand or accept. Indeed, Emperor Liu even thought to himself: if he himself made some error or committed some wrong, and the ministers and people of the realm naturally shifted the blame onto those around him—would he accept that or not?

Emperor Liu these days tended to relate matters to himself when considering affairs, pondering them repeatedly and turning them over in his mind. With this line of thought, he gradually formed an idea. He looked at Shi Yande: "Minister Shi, those sorcerers and eunuchs who manipulated the government of Southern Yue—were they all brought to the Eastern Capital this time?"

"In answer to Your Majesty, Gong Chengshu, Fan Huzi, Lu Qiongxian, and the other twenty whom the scholars and people of Southern Yue bitterly hate—all have been detained and brought to the capital!" Shi Yande had no particular interest in how Liu Chang would be dealt with; the Emperor asked, and he answered.

"Issue an edict—execute all of them in the marketplace!" Liu Chengyou said, then looked at Liu Chang: "You will go and witness the executions!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Hearing this, Liu Chang was not alarmed but overjoyed, hastily kowtowing in gratitude. If Emperor Liu said this, it clearly meant he did not intend to take his life.

"Don't be so quick to give thanks!" Liu Chengyou said instead. "Your life—I will not decide it!"

With that, Liu Chengyou instructed Lü Yin: "Convey my oral decree—let all officials of the fifth rank and above in the Eastern Capital publicly deliberate on how to deal with Liu Chang. Additionally, let those scholars and commoners of Lingnan who came to the capital to petition for troops also hold a public vote. How to deal with him—let the public and officials decide together..."