Chapter 250

"I am the Crown Prince of Yan, a legitimate descendant of the Zhou Dynasty, of noble blood. If the state of Yan is destroyed, where would I be placed?"

"Therefore, for the sake of Yan, the assassination of the Qin must proceed. Since the Six-Fingered Black Knight said he was still alive, the Mohist School would never help me with the assassination, so I had no choice but to send him to his death as he wished!"

It was unclear what the principle of Su Xuan's technique was; it was like a truth serum. As the Six-Fingered Black Knight questioned him, Yan Dan's mental defenses were completely broken, and he spoke his true thoughts directly.

Once these words were out, the Six-Fingered Black Knight's expression turned ugly, and the other Mohists also had their expressions change drastically.

After Yan Dan spoke these words, the Mohists finally knew the truth.

That was, Yan Dan was the true culprit who murdered the Six-Fingered Black Knight.

No one expected Yan Dan to be such a person.

For his own selfish interests, to preserve the state of Yan and his status as Crown Prince, he ignored the Six-Fingered Black Knight's advice and went so far as to murder him just to carry out the assassination of the Qin.

Master Ban couldn't stand it anymore and couldn't help but step forward to question Yan Dan, "Yan Dan, you ungrateful wretch, the Leader treated you with such great kindness!"

Yan Dan's gaze was vacant, and a cold sneer curled his lips, "If he truly treated me with great kindness and valued me, he should have agreed to the assassination I proposed, not refused. In the end, he led the Mohist School and approached me only because I was the Crown Prince of Yan, and I could help him promote Mohist ideals in Yan, right?"

"Since he wanted to strengthen the Mohist School, I didn't mind playing along with his act. I just needed to say a few words about caring for the common people in front of him, and he trusted me implicitly, even teaching me martial arts and giving me a high position in the Mohist School..."

Yan Dan's words were very direct. He admitted that the Six-Fingered Black Knight had treated him well, but in his view, it was just a mutually beneficial arrangement.

The reason the Six-Fingered Black Knight treated him so well was nothing more than wanting to use his status as the Crown Prince of Yan to strengthen the Mohist School.

"You!!"

Hearing Yan Dan's utilitarian words, Master Ban was furious.

After Master Ban spoke, Thief Zhi also stepped forward and asked Yan Dan, "How did you collude with the Nong Family?"

According to the Six-Fingered Black Knight's account after the grave-digging and autopsy, Yan Dan had colluded with the Nong Family to murder him. Thief Zhi wanted to know how Yan Dan had colluded with them.

Yan Dan said in a deep voice, "I didn't take the initiative to collude with the Nong Family; the Nong Family's Hero, Tian Guang, came to me. Tian Guang is a hero of Yan; I knew him before I joined the Mohist School. When I was in the Qin, he took the initiative to find me and asked me to provide a token so that Yan could take in Fan Fan Yuqi. Later, when I returned to Yan, he appeared before me again, told me his true identity as the Nong Family's Hero, and mentioned the Dragon-Slaying Plan to me..."

"So, you believed him? You determined that assassinating the King of Qin was the only way to save Yan?" The Six-Fingered Black Knight, seeing Master Ban and Thief Zhi asking questions one after another, felt a bit depressed. Upon hearing Yan Dan's words, he quickly interjected.

Today, he was the protagonist, the one who most wanted to judge Yan Dan.

"Of course I didn't think it was the only way to save Yan, but in that situation, with the Qin eyeing us like a tiger and threatening Yan at any moment, there was simply not enough time for me to reform the state and make it stronger. Although bringing the Hu people from outside the borders into the Central Plains was also a way to block the Qin's attacks, the Hu people and the Xiongnu were nothing but barbarians. My state of Yan is a descendant of the Zhou kings, of noble blood; how could I collude with barbarians?"

"Therefore, I could only proceed with the assassination of Ying Zheng!"

"As for what the Six-Fingered Black Knight said about the world falling into chaos if Ying Zheng died, I don't think so. Because Tian Guang mentioned Lord Lord Changping to me. Lord Lord Changping is a high-ranking official in the Qin and the uncle of Young Master Fusu. As long as Ying Zheng dies and Young Master Fusu succeeds him, Lord Lord Changping can immediately follow the old precedent of Lu Lu Buwei and temporarily handle state affairs on behalf of the Qin King. At that time, my state of Yan, and the state of Chu he so yearns for, can both be preserved!"

Yan Dan spoke again, answering the Six-Fingered Black Knight's question. The previous words made people sigh. Although Yan Dan had murdered the Six-Fingered Black Knight and deceived everyone in the Mohist School, he did have some bottom line. But this bottom line stemmed from his bloodline; his status as a descendant of the Zhou Emperor made him disdain colluding with barbarians to take over the Central Plains.

The Six-Fingered Black Knight didn't know if he should feel fortunate upon hearing this.

If barbarians were to take over the Central Plains, the chaos would likely be even greater than it was now. That was a situation he did not wish to see.

The latter part of his words revealed the depth of the Qin's internal affairs.

He had long known that Lord Lord Changping was behind Tian Guang. When Yan Dan first mentioned the assassination to him, he had told him these things, so he didn't have much of a reaction.

But the rest of the Mohists were shocked.

They thought Yan Dan's affair involving the Nong Family was already complicated enough, but they never expected the Nong Family not to be the key; behind them was Lord Lord Changping of the Qin.

Later, some other Mohists stepped forward to question Yan Dan.

This included details about how he murdered the Six-Fingered Black Knight.

After many questions were asked, the Mohists, whether they were willing to accept the truth or not, had to face the fact that Yan Dan had indeed deceived everyone, colluded with the Nong Family to murder the Six-Fingered Black Knight, and usurped the position of Mohist Leader.

Except for some who had recently joined the Mohist School, like Da Da Tiechui, who had been severely injured by Su Xuan and brought here with an expression of disbelief, all the veteran Mohists, after hearing the truth from Yan Dan himself, were glaring at him, wishing they could tear him apart.

Of course, although Yan Dan answered all the questions, some remained in the minds of the Mohists: according to Yan Dan, he and Tian Guang had indeed conspired to kill the Six-Fingered Black Knight, so how did the Six-Fingered Black Knight survive?

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But after the autopsy was completed and the Six-Fingered Black Knight had finished telling the truth, he had said he would tell them how he survived later.

Out of trust in the Six-Fingered Black Knight, many veteran Mohists were not in a hurry to ask this question.

Feeling the gaze of the crowd on Yan Dan, the Six-Fingered Black Knight looked at Su Xuan and said, "The truth has come to light. Release the technique on him!"

Su Xuan flicked his finger, and Yan Dan immediately snapped out of his vacant, unfocused state.

After waking up, Yan Dan was stunned, and then he noticed the gazes of the Mohists around him.

"You, what do you mean by this?"

The crowd continued to glare at Yan Dan without speaking.

Master Ban looked at the Six-Fingered Black Knight and asked, "Leader..."

According to Mohist rules, a traitor like Yan Dan should be executed. But besides his Mohist status, Yan Dan was also the Crown Prince of Yan and the mastermind behind the assassination of Ying Zheng, who was also hunting him.

If the Mohist School wanted to join the Qin, it would be best to hand Yan Dan over to Ying Zheng for disposal.

But doing so would inevitably leave the Mohists feeling somewhat unwilling.

The Six-Fingered Black Knight also considered this problem. He frowned, looked at Su Xuan, and said, "Yan Dan is a Mohist traitor, guilty of the most heinous crimes. Please tell the King of Qin when you return: if he is not killed, the grievances of our Mohist School will truly not be appeased!"

In the end, he decided to deal with Yan Dan according to Mohist rules.

— Author's Notes —

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