Peace Order
Chapter 269 - 126 I Will Be the Red Emperor!_2

Chapter 269: Chapter 126 I Will Be the Red Emperor!_2

He spat out two mouthfuls of water mixed with seaweed.

The young men glanced at each other, then hurried together to the window.

Zhou Liuying called out, "Boss, what’s going on with you?"

"Why is the Miss Xue here to see you specially?!"

Li Guanyi rolled his eyes and said, "Don’t call me Boss!"

Zhou Liuying said, "Alright, Boss."

"No problem, Boss."

Then, the young Imperial Guards all burst into laughter.

Li Guanyi’s mouth twitched.

He always felt that this title sounded like that of a bandit leader. After yesterday’s events, up to now, Li Guanyi’s prestige among the young men of the Military Merit noble families was boiling over, much like a cauldron. The sons of civilian officials felt that the child of a "daughter" should not be seated in the ancestral hall; he was too reckless.

The sons of the Military Merit noble families, however, found it thrilling, and no longer called him by his name when they spoke of him.

The ten who had made it through the Ghost Market now had bragging rights.

Zhou Liuying laughed heartily, "Boss, let me tell you, yesterday I climbed over the wall to get out and even stole a horse from home. But when I got back, my old man didn’t beat me; he just asked me one question."

"He asked me if I was scared at that time and whether I was brave against the enemy."

"I said I hadn’t taken a single step back, and my father actually drank with me, haha. He never allowed me to drink at home before. It was the first time he treated me like this, and he insisted that I must follow you."

Zhou Liuying was quite please with himself.

Li Guanyi sighed and asked, "Alright, alright, how are things with you all?"

Zhou Liuying and Ye Buyi exchanged glances and said, "General Gong is still spewing blood at those scholarly officials; right now, their concern isn’t that you killed someone, but that you’ve stirred up such a huge incident before the major ritual, causing Chen Country to lose face among other states, detrimental to the nation’s foundation."

"They say you don’t understand the bigger picture."

"At first, the General couldn’t hold out."

"But don’t worry, Mr. Wang Tong has stepped in."

"Then, we surrounded the Ghost Market area, armor, crossbow arrows, people, those folks basically wouldn’t survive with even three lives, their relatives didn’t denounce them, they are exiled three thousand miles, probably going to the Western Regions to labor for a lifetime, from evil all beheaded, not waiting for strangulation."

"The chief culprits will be put to death by dismemberment."

"The Imperial Guards worked all night; they’re all young men who hadn’t been able to let off steam in the palace, so they dragged out not just the dozen or so people you saved, but about a thousand people altogether who are still alive."

"According to our country’s laws, each is given some silver coins, allowed to return home, and those without relatives are settled on the spot, given land and exempt from three years’ taxes. After Mr. Xue heard about your incident, he took over handling these people, which is pretty much what you guessed."

Li Guanyi nodded, speaking softly.

"A thousand people..."

Ye Buyi and Zhou Liuying exchanged glances. They didn’t say that when the Imperial Guards went there, they found boiled human leg bones. It wasn’t for lack of food; the main culprit was a scoundrel who told the Imperial Guards he just wanted to try it out and didn’t do many people in.

As these people were present, he immediately admitted his guilt and was executed according to the law. He didn’t kill many—could leniency be possible? But he was hacked into a skeleton by Gong Zhenyong with a knife three hundred times and died either from fright at seeing his own White Bones or from the pain.

But Li Guanyi had already guessed something.

He clasped his hands in salute, "Thanks for the efforts, brothers."

Ye Buyi, Zhou Liuying, and the others solemnly returned the gesture.

The young man thought for a moment, then held out his hand, revealing the golden beans Miss Xue had given him, "Although these are given by Miss Xue, I’ll play the role of matchmaker and use them to buy drinks for my brothers."

Everyone exchanged glances, and Ye Buyi said, "That was given to you by Miss Xue."

Li Guanyi smiled and replied, "What she gives me is worth more than Gold."

"That, I cannot share with you."

Everyone laughed and then accepted the offer, their affection for the young man trapped behind bars growing stronger.

They felt exhilaration.

Li Guanyi sat there, his mood not very cheerful; his mind was gradually forming many ideas. Looking up at the sky, for the first time, he began to ponder his and his Aunt’s place of return, his head resting against the wall.

Awhile later, he heard the noise again; those young military officers had returned, bringing with them alcohol and meat, and even more friends, then set up a feast outside the confinement area of the Imperial Guards.

They then passed a cup through the window, and Ye Buyi said, "Come on, let’s drink together."

Li Guanyi smiled and agreed.

After a bout of drinking, the ten-man group grew to thirty-three as they invited their Military Merit friends over and drank merrily together. However, since they were Imperial Guards, they couldn’t stay for too long, and in the end, Li Guanyi was left alone.

Elder Xue visited once, telling him not to worry and also saying that he had been reckless.

The old man spoke in a gentle voice, "Saving lives is like fighting a fire, I understand your intentions, but there are other paths available to you..." The elder then taught Li Guanyi about making calculated moves, along with other safer methods, saying:

"You used the Imperial Guard and the great rite to toss the Ghost Market into the fire, but you couldn’t avoid being affected yourself. However, under such urgent circumstances, it was already the best option."

"But what you did was good, and it was right."

The old man reached out, picking up a cup of alcohol, and asked:

"Do you plan to take advantage of this and take these people under your command?"

Li Guanyi answered, "Saving people is just saving people. I didn’t do that to win them over."

Elder Xue started to laugh, speaking softly: "You stubborn child, but that’s good, it’s only with such ardor that one can truly be youthful. The matters of old schemers like us are enough; we’ll handle them. So, now I have something I need to teach you."