Chapter 955: The Dominating Li Tun

"You."

"Your Majesty!"

"How dare you!"

Li Tun's icy words made several party leaders bristle with rage.

Especially Jin Wanji; the way he looked at Li Tun, he wished he could devour him! It must be said that these people had grown accustomed to their own arrogance in front of Li Tun. The reason they were so arrogant was because they were certain that Li Tun would not truly wipe them out; whether it was the Western Faction or the Southern Faction, if they were not there, the state affairs would truly be paralyzed!

Some time ago, when the Southern Faction took power, didn't things become paralyzed then too?

This made the Western Faction even more unscrupulous.

The King could not do without them; the Li Dynasty could not do without them.

This was Jin Wanji's—no, this was these people's—way of thinking for over two hundred years. The members of the Western Faction had indeed begun to penetrate every large and small institution of the imperial court; they truly had this qualification. This time, Jin Wanji insisted on a curfew precisely because he would not allow the Vice Minister Liu who had come to Hancheng, nor Li Xuanya who currently held popular support, to stir up any trouble at this critical juncture.

This time, he had overplayed his hand.

The Southern Faction had long been waiting for them to make a mistake, and Li Tun was also waiting for them to make a mistake.

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"Your Majesty, what exactly is the meaning of this today? The people still have their grievances; we should work together to resist the enemy. Could it be that Your Majesty's actions today are intended to plunge the Li Dynasty into eternal ruin?"

He wanted to suppress the rampant public opinion, at least within Hancheng.

The popularity of the *Xie Clan's Southern Expedition* and Vice Minister Liu's "passing five passes and slaying seven generals" had terrified him.

He just hadn't expected it.

Being questioned like this, Li Tun only caused the surrounding crowd to curse wildly like madmen.

"Presumptuous!"

"Audacious!"

The atmosphere was too tense; Zhang Xuan could no longer hold back. He looked on coldly and directly issued a threat.

Because at this moment, the Crossbows of these Imperial Guards were aimed not only at the Western Faction but also at their Southern Faction!

On the Southern Faction's side, Li Hang was somewhat deep and calculating; although his expression was very ugly, he remained silent, but this Zhang Xuan could not hold back.

"Kill!"

Li Tun smiled lightly: "Eternal ruin? How could Minister Zhang think so?"

"You."

"By what right do you speak to His Majesty like this?"

"Traitors, they are all traitors!"

"Kill them!"

Pointing his finger at his nephew and the chaos caused by the struggle between the two sides, he shouted coldly: "If I, the Mandarin, do not intervene, would that not be your loss of virtue? Would that not be the ruler failing to recognize the wise? Would that not be the collapse of the court's principles, the disgrace of the ancestral temple, and the people following suit? My Li Dynasty would then have no virtue left!"

"Kill!"

With a single command.

Zhang Xuan's face darkened, and he said coldly: "Your Majesty, scholar-officials have been the heavy vessels of the state since ancient times. Rites do not descend to the commoners, and punishments do not ascend to the scholar-officials. Since the beginning of our Li Dynasty, we have never made things difficult for scholar-officials. Your Majesty, what is this today..."

Li Tun smiled coldly: "As for 'punishments do not ascend to the scholar-officials,' it means the five punishments and three thousand articles of law were established without a category for scholar-officials to commit crimes. The reason for this is that officials must be virtuous; if punishments were set for them in advance, it would mean the ruler does not recognize the wise. Therefore, here today—"

He shouted angrily.

Jin Wanji was shaken to his core. How could he dare? How could he dare? How could he possibly dare!

Like a thunderbolt from the blue!

This unexpected event left him completely stunned.

The Imperial Guard closest to Zhang Xuan struck with a blade; Zhang Xuan had no time to react. This man, who had leaped from being a merchant to a minister of the Southern Faction and had also been colluding with the Western Faction—the Li Dynasty's number one fence-sitter—had his head fall to the ground in horror before the expression of fear could even form on his face.

Coincidentally, it rolled right to Jin Wanji's feet.

The whole scene went silent; an atmosphere of terror spread.

The Divine Crossbow Guards, who had been prepared long ago, fired their Crossbows immediately.

*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! *

A rain of arrows filled the sky, striking the Duqi commanders. Some died on the spot, while others blocked the arrows but were quickly finished off by the Imperial Guards stepping in to deliver the final blow.

"Kill!"

The next moment, he realized: Li Tun was mad, this King was mad! He wanted to purge them, the old ministers! Following this, he roared, and those Duqi commanders, who had long been loyal to the Western Faction over the years, reflexively drew their swords and blades upon hearing his command, intending to resist the royal family.

"Kill!"

A cold arrow struck his throat directly, piercing right through!

Li Hang had also intended to call upon the Duwei led by the Southern Faction to resist, but upon seeing this situation, he was dumbfounded, his whole body going numb.

The King was playing for real this time!

*Crack, crack. *

Hands rose and blades fell, extremely efficiently.

Jin Wanji still wanted to roar.

Several Duqi and Duwei commanders had already been cleared out in the first instance; the remaining ones were just a bunch of lackeys. Hearing this, how could they dare to resist? They threw down their weapons one after another and knelt on the ground.

Therefore, the chaos at the scene did not last long.

Soon, the remaining party leaders were also tied up one by one.

He was playing for real!

"Kill!"

The Imperial Guards moved simultaneously; some protected Li Tun and Queen Inhyeon, while others lunged forward. As they charged, they shouted: "Those who voluntarily abandon their weapons will not be killed! Past grievances will not be pursued!"

It was terrifyingly quiet.

For a moment, there was blood, heads, and severed limbs here.

Li Tun and Queen Inhyeon, however, stood there safely.

The scene.

Once again fell into dead silence.

Silence.

"Well done!"

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Those commoners, however, were already blooming with joy. It should have been like this long ago! The royal family should have the majesty of the royal family; these animals should have been dealt with long ago!

"Your Majesty."

Li Hang, being bound, also glared over.

"Your Majesty."

The Imperial Guards soon took back the Tiger Tally of these Duqi and Duwei; these Duqi Duwei were to return to camp temporarily and await orders.

As for the corpse of that Li Wei or whoever, Li Tun did not even glance at it.

The sky is changing.

At this moment, the atmosphere of supporting the royal family reached its peak.

"Take them back!"

Li Tun said indifferently.

Rome was not built in a day; if these people were to strike or be dismissed, the impact on the Li Dynasty would be immense.

And so.

Just as the Wa army was still advancing at high speed, the Li Dynasty seemed to be shrouded in a layer of haze once again.

The Li Dynasty is about to change!

The commoners began to run and tell each other, excited beyond measure. However, regarding this matter, there were those who rejoiced and those who worried. Those who rejoiced felt the royal family had finally shown dominance for once and was finally going to clean up these animals who were plaguing the court and the Li Dynasty. Those who worried, as the old cliché went, wondered: if all these people were cleaned out, what would happen to the state affairs? What would happen to all the institutions from top to bottom?

What would happen to the provisions on the front lines?

Many people felt that time was running out.

It was about to run out.

This move by Li Tun was truly not particularly rational.

But next.

Li Tun's actions left them all dumbfounded.