[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-top-scholar-of-da-ling":3,"chapter-the-top-scholar-of-da-ling-the-top-scholar-of-da-ling-chapter-275":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Top Scholar of Da Ling",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2289110,4475,"Chapter 275","the-top-scholar-of-da-ling-chapter-275",275,"\u003Cp>Fei Hou was forced to kneel on the ground, his head bowed, his eyes vacant as they stared at the earth, his ears deaf to all sound, his mouth silent, his mind a blank, his body chilled, his surroundings utterly dark, his world\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>reduced to a single phrase, echoing endlessly in his mind, stabbing relentlessly in his heart, torturing his soul, draining his life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your giving me life is my punishment; this world is the hell you gave Jiang Mou.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had once said these words to Jiang Mingyu, once believed them the greatest mockery, the ultimate revenge, the supreme victory over Jiang Mingyu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He did not know that these words were his own greatest irony, his own greatest retribution, his own greatest failure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He did not know that the punishment he gave Jiang Mingyu was in truth his own punishment, the hell he delivered to Jiang Mingyu was the hell he delivered to himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He did not know that Jiang Mingyu’s survival was strength, that Jiang Mingyu’s world was struggle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He did not know that his own survival was cowardice, that his world was decay.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He did not know that the gap between him and Jiang Mingyu was in truth the gap between him and himself, that the contrast between them was the contrast between him and himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He did not know that everything he had was his own choice, that everything he became was his own consequence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing him struggle to rise, Liao Goudan, drawn by the noise, kicked him hard. His foot, like iron, crushed Fei Hou’s chest; like a hammer, shattered his heart; like a nail, drove into his soul; like fire, burned his life. His foot forced Fei Hou’s body to sink, his breath to gasp, his blood to surge, his pain to scream. His foot reduced Fei Hou’s pride to humility, his dignity to absurdity, his power to mockery, his wealth to uselessness. His foot turned all of Fei Hou’s existence into nothing, into meaninglessness, into worthlessness, into nonexistence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Damn it, you prisoner dare speak out before my lord? Do you think I won’t cut your head off right now?” Liao Goudan snarled. His words blew like wind against Fei Hou’s ear, cut like a blade across his face, dripped like poison onto his heart, flung like mud onto his body. His words made Fei Hou’s ears deaf, his eyes blind, his nose numb, his tongue tasteless. His words numbed Fei Hou’s senses, scrambled his thoughts, shattered his emotions, drove him to madness. His words rendered Fei Hou’s every sense senseless, his every thought ignorant, his every action irrational, his every mind witless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he raised his blade to strike, Jiang Mingyu shouted to stop him. Jiang Mingyu sneered: “Let him die so easily? That would be too kind. I want him to feel the agony of defeat—that is true revenge.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Mingyu’s gaze was icy; Fei Hou trembled in terror...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Mingyu stared at the kneeling Fei Hou, his eyes sharp with frost. He longed to tear him into a thousand pieces, but then recalled a more fitting punishment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He spoke coldly: “Fei Hou, you once said that living was my punishment, and this world the hell you gave me. Today, I return those words to you, unchanged.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His tone carried lethal intent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He ordered Liao Goudan: “Go carve the words ‘Emperor Fei Hou of the Great Feng’ into his skin, then exile him to the northern frontier. Let him beg in the streets, drowned in the people’s curses, slowly dying under shame. Watch him closely—don’t let him die too easily. That would be boring.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liao Goudan grinned slyly: “My lord is wise. I’ll see to it at once. He’ll wish for death but never find it!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that, he seized Fei Hou by the collar and dragged him away, grinning wickedly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fei Hou’s eyes bulged as he struggled desperately: “Jiang Mingyu, kill me! To live in shame—I’d rather die than submit!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But his cries vanished into the wind. Jiang Mingyu watched coldly, a chill rising in his heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Tukesiluo asked: “What shall we do with Fei Hou’s loyalists?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Mingyu did not glance at them. He said coldly: “Execute them all. They share Fei Hou’s guilt.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fang Hang quickly sealed the city gates and executed all of Fei Hou’s relatives. Dozens of his core followers were beheaded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Mingyu’s eyes were cold, unmoved by the bloodshed. He gestured to Zhuge Yu, and the group walked slowly into the capital.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Familiar streets and buildings reappeared before Jiang Mingyu. He sighed softly, knowing it was finally back in his hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After countless trials, he had finally fulfilled his vow to save the people and punish the guilty. Standing on this soil, his heart held only the relief of letting go of the burden—not a trace of joy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For far ahead lay more hardships to face, more problems to solve. The rebel army’s path was far from over; his mission was far from complete.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Mingyu stood on the familiar streets of the capital, gazing at the imperial palace where Fei Hou once entered and departed, his heart filled with boundless emotion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He softly instructed Zhuge Yu: “Let’s walk through the palace.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two walked slowly through the palace gates; the silent, empty scene before them weighed heavily on Jiang Mingyu’s heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pointed to the wall and sighed: “That’s where Fei Hou humiliated me, then sent me to Linzhang.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Recalling the humiliations he suffered here, Jiang Mingyu’s expression grew complex. The memories, vivid as a film, played frame by frame in his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From his initial ignorance to his eventual defeat, every moment he endured within this palace had left indelible marks in the river of time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhuge Yu stood silently, his gaze calm as water. Once, he too had been a penniless scholar cast out from his home, gambling everything to follow Jiang Mingyu in rebellion for his ideals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now that the seemingly unshakable Great Feng had fallen, Zhuge Yu’s heart was a tangle of emotions. Countless comrades had been lost along the way—but a general’s glory is built on ten thousand bones. The cost had been worth it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each lost in thought, both sank into deep memory. After a long while, Jiang Mingyu shook his head slightly and called Zhuge Yu back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let’s go. We still have a path ahead.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This grand palace had once hoarded endless corruption and filth. Now, to cleanse it, to rebuild its glory—that was the true purpose of Jiang Mingyu’s uprising.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Mingyu entered the palace. Before him lay ruin. Once, this had been his dream, his goal, the price he paid. Once, it had been his enemy’s nest, his foe’s throne, the object of his revenge. Once, it had been the center of the world, the object of the people’s worship, the pinnacle of glory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now, it was a wasteland, a ruin, a pile of trash. He saw the palace gates smashed open, the gold paint peeled, the dragon carvings on the pillars broken. He saw the halls burned, the glazed tiles shattered, the murals faded. He saw the walls breached, tiles fallen, the flowers within withered. He saw the inner courtyards looted, the ponds dried, the treasures scattered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He entered the main hall. Before him lay chaos. Once, this had been the place he feared, the target he dreaded, the challenge he faced. Once, it had been his rival’s stage, his opponent’s trump card, the source of his pressure. Once, it had been the symbol of power, the display of majesty, the embodiment of dignity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now, it was a farce, a joke, a heap of debris. He saw the dragon throne overturned, the brocade torn, the carpet shredded. He saw the screens smashed, the paintings defaced, the secrets exposed. He saw the eunuchs and palace maids slain, their clothes ripped, their bodies trampled. He saw ornaments, documents, and chairs piled haphazardly together like a vast garbage dump.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stood at the center of the hall. His eyes held only coldness. He felt no emotion, no pity, no longing, no regret. He felt only boredom. He found it too plain, too dull, too tasteless, too meaningless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The so-called emperor, the so-called lord of all under heaven—this was all it amounted to. He felt no aspiration, no interest, no desire, no meaning toward the title. He felt only uselessness. He found it too hypocritical, too heavy, too binding, too useless.\u003C\u002Fp>",1408,"2026-06-20T03:28:18.279Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","b3f41e5590594ede6184bd42fd1bda6404b516d056621895418b88a0280a91e6","the-top-scholar-of-da-ling-chapter-276","the-top-scholar-of-da-ling-chapter-274",392,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-top-scholar-of-da-ling-cover.jpg"]