Chapter 947

The moment those two words left his mouth, the once-noisy Lanchi Hall fell silent in an instant.

The assembled ministers all stood still without a word, waiting for Hearing Ying Zheng to speak.

"Han Ji is indeed important! But what the Chancellor says is not wrong either!

To go to war with the Great Yuan over a single woman would truly be disadvantageous."

The generals, led by Wang Ben, upon hearing these words, all revealed looks of disappointment.

After all, if they did not take Han Ji, there would be no war, and the chances of earning merit would naturally be far fewer.

"However…"

Hearing Ying Zheng suddenly smiled, his tone shifting,

"What sort of person do you all take this Wokuotai to be?"

"Hmm?"

The civil and military ministers, hearing this, could not help exchanging uncertain glances.

Li Si, hearing Hearing Ying Zheng's words, brightened up, as though he had thought of something.

Just as he was about to speak, Wei Liaozi spoke first instead,

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Apart from Li Si, none of the ministers understood why Wei Liaozi had said so.

Wei Liaozi merely smiled calmly and went on to explain,

"Since Wokuotai ascended the throne, he has used every means to suppress and squeeze out his three full brothers.

Though it is true that one cannot allow others to sleep soundly at the foot of one's own bed.

Yet Wokuotai's every action unmistakably shows that this man is extremely narrow-minded."

The ministers, hearing this, could not help nodding in agreement.

Although if they themselves sat in Wokuotai's place, they too would take certain measures against rivals with the ability to compete.

None of them would go as far as Wokuotai has.

From this, one can indeed say that Wokuotai lacks breadth of mind, utterly without the capacity to tolerate others.

But what does this have to do with Your Majesty's wisdom?

Wei Liaozi, seeing that most still had not caught on, continued with a smile full of meaning,

"Even our Great Qin, upon seeing a Han Ji, feels the urge to claim her for ourselves at once.

For her sake, General Wang Ben and the others are even willing to wage war against the Great Yuan without scruple.

So then, what do you all think would happen if it were Wokuotai instead?"

"Brilliant! Your Majesty is wise!"

Only now did the ministers suddenly understand.

All together, they turned toward the vermilion steps above, where Hearing Ying Zheng sat upon the Long Yi, and offered their praises.

"Enough, enough!"

Hearing Ying Zheng, seeing that his own thoughts had been laid bare, waved his hand and said,

"Let this matter rest here!

If Wokuotai forces Prince Ruyang Old Chahan, then our chance will have come.

If he does not force him, then you are to 'make him force him'!"

"We obey the decree!"

This last instruction, naturally, was given to Li Si, Wei Liaozi, and Zhao Gao.

After all, the stratagem of sowing discord is one of the specialties of the Black Ice Terrace and the Net.

"What about Miss Duanmu?"

After receiving the decree, Zhao Gao raised the last person on this list.

This person happened to have some connection with Great Qin, and was presently within the Great Qin Realm.

Miss Duanmu, the sole surviving heir of the School of Medicine!

Yet she, of all people, detested the Great Qin court the most!

And the Gai Nie she had saved was none other than the chief swordsman of the Great Qin court!

This tangled, unresolvable relationship was indeed difficult to handle.

After all, Hearing Ying Zheng's relationship with Gai Nie was truly a good one.

"Mm…"

Hearing Ying Zheng thought for a moment, then said to Zhao Gao,

"Summon Mr. Gai here! I shall speak with him alone."

Back when he had not yet ascended to the throne of Qin Huang, Gai Nie had already been at Hearing Ying Zheng's side.

He not only taught Hearing Ying Zheng Wu Gong and swordsmanship, but time and again risked his life to save Hearing Ying Zheng.

Therefore, even though Gai Nie's strength had somewhat declined, Hearing Ying Zheng still appointed him chief swordsman of the court.

The way he addressed Gai Nie was also with the utmost solemnity of Mr.!

Throughout the entire Great Qin court, this could be called utterly without parallel.

Gai Nie came from the Guigu Sect, and was also known as a Master of Vertical and Horizontal.

In every generation of the Masters of Vertical and Horizontal, there were only two disciples—one Vertical, one Horizontal.

One studied the Vertical Sword, its highest essence being the Hundred-Step Flying Sword.

The other studied the Horizontal Sword, its highest essence being the Eight Quarters Pierced Horizontally.

The two disciples, from childhood, studied the sword and their arts together.

By the time they had grown up, however, it had become a duel between the two of them.

In each generation, only one disciple could remain, to inherit the title of Guiguzi.

That very Wang Xu whom Ximen Wudi had frightened out of his wits back then was precisely the present-day Guiguzi — and also the Master of Gai Nie and Wei Zhuang.

After entering the world, Gai Nie had thrown himself beneath Ying Zheng's banner.

Time and again he had risked life and limb for Ying Zheng, only to earn himself the title of Chief Swordsman.

At this moment, seeing Miss Duanmu Rong on the list, he could not help but drift into a daze.

Vaguely, he recalled how, years ago, he and his junior brother Wei Zhuang had followed their Master's orders to investigate a bizarre case.

In the end, the mastermind behind the scenes had shown himself.

Neither of them had mastered the highest mysteries at that point; even fighting together, they had still fallen into a losing position.

Wounded to the brink of death, they had fled blindly.

Somehow, they had ended up at Jinghu Medical Manor.

In his heavy stupor between bouts of consciousness, he had sensed a woman carefully tending to him.

At the time, he had taken that woman for a fairy descended from the heavens.

Because of his grave injuries, he had never managed to get a clear look at her face.

Yet every smile and frown of hers had already been etched into his mind.

Later, when he came to, he had already left Jinghu.

He did not know whether he would ever see that fairy-like woman again.

Now, thanks to the exposé of the Heavenly Dao Hundred Flowers Ranking, he had learned that this woman was none other than Duanmu Rong, the sole living heir of the Medical House.

No sooner had the thought stirred to go and seek her out

than he saw her introduction: she had no fondness for the Great Qin court, and even less for those who studied the sword.

His heart could not help but sink into gloom.

Just as he was lost in troubled thought, he saw Qin Huang's personal eunuch attendant arrive.

His heart stirred — he already understood what Ying Zheng meant.

Without waiting for the eunuch to say anything, he tidied himself up and prepared to go along with him.

"Mr. Gai's swordsmanship is outstanding, and he is also blessed with a heart as fine and translucent as Eight Linglong.

No wonder, with so many extraordinary swordsmen, only Mr. Gai has won Your Majesty's deepest favor."

Seeing this, the eunuch offered praise that was half flattery and half heartfelt,

"Eunuch, you flatter me."