Chapter 58: Anling Trials the Old, A Youth Enters History

The Old Party in Anling fell faster than expected.

Once the Dragon Flag dropped, the so-called Righteousness of the Loyal King lost its roots.

When Song Huaili was escorted beneath the city walls, he was still furiously cursing Xiao Cheng'an.

He cursed him for being unfilial.

He cursed him for betraying his clan.

He cursed him for being brainwashed by Jiang Che.

Xiao Cheng'an stood on the temporary tribunal, his face pale, yet he did not flinch.

The common people of Anling surrounded the area.

The History Camp unfurled the records of crimes, and the Legislative Officer read them out item by item.

The Lu'an Blood Sacrifice.

The Heavenly Gate Pact.

The Jiang Family Blood Case.

The annexation of the Old Imperial Family's Imperial Ancestral Fields.

The Anling Private Army's forced conscription of the populace.

Countless incidents, one after another.

Many among the commoners began to weep halfway through the reading.

Some could not kneel, so they sat on the ground, beating their chests.

They had not been untouched by the sufferings of the Old Dynasty.

It was just that in the past, they did not know where those sufferings originated.

Only now did they understand that those high above had long ago written them into the register of sacrifices.

Song Huaili still stubbornly refused to admit anything.

"Fabricated! It is all fabricated!"

The Legislative Officer stated coldly, "Then bring forth the witnesses."

The first witness was a minor clerk who had once served in the Ministry of Rites.

He had personally seen Song Huaili storing documents regarding the Heavenly Gate Sacrifice.

The second was a Wu Leader from the Anling Private Army.

He confessed that Song Huaili planned to select three thousand boys and girls to sacrifice to Heaven after the Young Emperor's ascension, seeking blessings from the Upper Realm.

The third was Song Huaili's own nephew.

He had intended to flee but was captured by the defecting garrison troops.

Faced with ironclad evidence, Song Huaili finally fell silent.

Xiao Cheng'an looked at him and asked a single question:

"Do you truly believe in Orthodoxy?"

Song Huaili raised his head, his eyes filled with resentment and malice.

"Of course."

Xiao Cheng'an said, "Then why must the common people die for the sake of Orthodoxy?"

Song Huaili sneered, "Commoners are like grass; cut one crop, and another grows. If the Imperial Lineage is severed, the world will descend into chaos!"

Xiao Cheng'an closed his eyes.

In this moment, he understood completely.

The Old Dynasty was not ruined because a certain Emperor was evil.

It was that the entire system, from its very roots, had placed the common people at the very bottom.

He opened his eyes and declared:

"Song Huaili, for participating in the Heavenly Gate Sacrifice, plotting to install the Young Emperor, and inciting the populace to rebellion, the evidence of guilt is conclusive."

The Legislative Officer added, "According to the New Laws, the principal offender shall be beheaded."

Song Huaili suddenly burst into loud laughter:

"New Laws?"

"They are nothing but words written by Jiang Che's sword!"

"He does not kill the Young Emperor today only for the sake of his reputation. Should he wish to proclaim himself Emperor in the future, what can any of you do?"

A brief stir arose within the crowd.

This was the final Poison of the Old Party.

Even in defeat, they sought to plant seeds of doubt.

Xiao Cheng'an, however, remained calm.

He said, "If Jiang Che ever treats the people as sacrifices in the future, I will be the first to record his crimes."

Song Huaili stared in shock.

Xiao Cheng'an continued, "If he proclaims himself Emperor and places himself beyond judgment, I will stand before him."

"You?"

Song Huaili scoffed.

Xiao Cheng'an tightened his grip on his younger brother's hand.

"Yes, me."

"A descendant of a Crime Clan."

"One whom he spared."

"A person who knows the Dragon Throne devours people."

Song Huaili was speechless.

During the execution, Xiao Chengping hid behind his older brother, daring not to look.

Xiao Cheng'an did not want to look either.

But he forced himself to watch until the end.

Because this was not someone else settling accounts for the Xiao Clan.

This was the first debt repayment owed by the Xiao Clan.

After Song Huaili's death, Anling officially entered the Council Hall's New System.

Xiao Cheng'an did not stay in Anling to wield power.

He entrusted his younger brother to the temporary care of a childless elderly couple locally and requested the Council Hall to send people for protection.

Before departing, Xiao Chengping tugged at his sleeve.

"Older brother, where are you going?"

Xiao Cheng'an squatted down.

"To the Capital City to study."

Xiao Chengping's eyes filled with tears: "Can I study too?"

"Yes."

"Even though I am no longer the Emperor, I can still study?"

Xiao Cheng'an smiled and patted his head.

"Precisely because you are not the Emperor, you should study even more."

News of the events in Anling reached the Capital City, shaking the Council Hall.

Gu Chongming looked at Xiao Cheng'an's statement, silent for a long time.

Finally, he said to Lin Xiaoman: "This passage must enter the history books."

Lin Xiaoman nodded.

"What title shall we give it?"

Gu Chongming thought for a moment, then said:

"Crime Clan Questioning Crime."

When the message reached Jiang Che's hands, he was on the road of the Northern Return.

After reading it, he smiled.

Xie Tingxue asked: "You knew all along he could accomplish this?"

Jiang Che shook his head.

"I merely gave him the opportunity not to be a Young Prince."

"The path was walked by himself."

Xie Tingxue said: "Then he walked it well."

Jiang Che nodded.

"Indeed, he did."

He gazed northward.

Anling was only the first step.

The chess piece of the Old Party's Young Emperor was discarded, yet after the Heavenly Decree fell from the Upper Realm, the undercurrents in the Human Realm would absolutely not stop here.

Sure enough, three days later, urgent news arrived from the Western Desert.

The Drought Bone Abyss opened.

Red Earth stretched for a thousand li.

A Drought Demon King emerged, claiming to act on Heaven's behalf to punish rebels.