"..."
Li Fei remained speechless.
He could indeed single-handedly kill all the mbers of the Ten Gate Valves.
But by doing so, the entire court would be completely paralyzed!
The Four Great Border Armies and Five Great Imperial Camp Armies would fall into chaos!
The national power of the Da Lan Dynasty would be damaged, and the national fortune would inevitably be turbulent.
If they were to continue the westward campaign under such circumstances, Li Fei and Wenren Zheng would leave the country in chaos once they departed!
Hu Tingzhong was utterly heartbroken upon hearing this because he recalled Ye Ze'an's last words in the Mingxin Records.
The opponent was willing to sacrifice his life and his fa during and after his lifeti to set up this situation.
However, Ye Ze'an knew better than anyone else, that even if he risked everything, success would still elude him in the end.
All he could do was what he said—
"All my life, I have done my best."
...
On June 23, the sky over Lanling City was a shade of grey and pallid.
An Imperial Decree was issued from the palace—
"The Monitoring Pavilion is officially comncing an investigation into the Grand Secretary Ye Ze'an! A special investigation team is established, with Lou Hongtao, the Supervision Pavilion Master, as the leader, and Li Fei, Duke Jing'an, serving as the advisor."
That day, cabinet ministers from the Six Ministries were summoned, and the entire capital was thrown into a state of panic!
So officials were assassinated, so committed suicide in their hos, and so voluntarily surrendered.
Arson, poisoning, murder, even military coups...
For a mont, Lanling City plunged into unprecedented turmoil!
Centering on Lanling City, this chaos began to spread to the other twenty-three provinces!
The controllers of the Ten Gate Valves would not sit idly by.
They adopted a posture that threatened to bring down the entire Da Lan Dynasty in their wake, aiming to scare away those who wielded the blade!
Yet soon, this turmoil was decisively suppressed—
Inside the capital, The World's Number One personally took action, crushing all malevolent forces!
Outside the capital, local garrison troops, Imperial Camp Army, and Savage Killing Army were all mobilized!
The Blue Patrol Pavilions across various regions, with the Secret Investigation Departnt's powerful intelligence capabilities, precisely struck against enemies hidden in the shadows.
The visible strength of the Ten Gate Valves had already been closely watched, precautions had been taken long ago. anwhile, the hidden forces had been exposed over the past month due to Ye Qin.
The major gate valves might have anticipated Ye Ze'an's intentions, but it was an overt strategy; they couldn't simply watch as Ye Qin, a key witness in many major events, headed to Lanling City, so they had to intervene.
Of course, if the Ten Gate Valves were to exert their full power, the waves they could stir up would be much more than this.
Even if The World's Number One managed to suppress with force, Li Fei was ultimately just one person, unable to be everywhere at once.
When the world is ablaze, Li Fei cannot save it all!
The real key wasn't external strikes, but internal problems within the Ten Gate Valves—
Ye Ze'an had already negotiated with several collateral branches of each family; this incident wouldn't involve them, and instead, they would support their rise to power.
Even if it was just Ye Ze'an guaranteeing this, despite him being the Grand Secretary, few would dare to gamble everything on following him.
But with The World's Number One as the guarantee, the situation was different.
As more and more individuals within the Ten Gate Valves stood up, the situation quickly began to improve...
On June 28, the Monitoring Pavilion posted a notice, densely filled with the charges against the current Grand Secretary and his associates—
"In the twenty-ninth year of Hong Guang, Ye Ze'an conspired with the East Yang Liu Family to embezzle more than twenty-eight million from river projects, leading to the breach of the Huai River dyke, causing disasters in five cities and resulting in over a thousand deaths."
"In the thirtieth year of Hong Guang, Ye Ze'an colluded with the Jinhui Yan Family to fra the Vice Admiral of the South, Zhou Yunzheng, forcing confessions through torture, ultimately resulting in the execution of the entire Zhou Family."
"In the thirty-first year of Hong Guang, Ye Ze'an, under the guise of pushing reform, colluded with the Xiao Family to forcibly seize five thousand qing of military land, driving two hundred seventy-eight military households to death..."
Starting in the twenty-seventh year of Hong Guang, the Da Lan Dynasty implented the Mingxin Reformation.
Throughout the seventeen years of this reformation, Ye Ze'an collaborated with all the major gate valves to push through his own policies.
The Monitoring Pavilion announced more than thirty cris, each followed by one or more prominent gate valve families and involving key figures.
Once the news spread, the city was in an uproar, the entire world was shocked!
The Mingxin Reformation had been hailed as the greatest reformation in the history of the Da Lan Dynasty, bringing unprecedented changes to the lives of millions and giving new life to the Dynasty.
The more grand and glorious this reformation was, the more grievous were the cris hidden behind the guise of reform!
On June 24, outside Zhengyang Gate of the Imperial City in Lanling, a group of scholars set up a simple wooden platform, taking turns to read the detailed charges announced by the Monitoring Pavilion.
The number of gathered citizens continued to grow.
After more than thirty charges had been read, a middle-aged woman dressed in plain brocade walked silently forward.
Though simply dressed, her deanor and conduct displayed her distinguished lineage.
"I am the daughter of the deceased Vice Admiral of the South, Zhou Yunzheng, married into the An Ding Bo Mansion."
The woman's voice was calm, yet it carried a piercing chill, "In the thirtieth year of Hong Guang, my father offended the Master of the Yan Family, Yan Weifeng, and was coveted by the Yan Family for military power, then frad by Chief Minister Ye Ze'an and the Yan Family for treason..."
She spoke on the stage, narrating the tragic events that befell her family years ago:
"There were seventy-three people in my Zhou Family, including my brother who had just turned thirteen, all dead!"
She spoke each word with blood and tears, nearly fainting from crying on stage.
Next to co on stage was an old soldier missing a leg, who stood leaning on a wooden crutch, his empty pant leg fluttering in the wind.
"My na is Zhao Erzhu, I used to serve in the Western Border Army."
The veteran's voice was coarse, "In the thirty-first year of Hong Guang, they said they were going to reallocate military fields, but sohow, in the end, over a hundred of my brothers lost their family lands! I led my brothers to confront the higher-ups, and we almost got branded as rebellious troops. Many brothers died inexplicably, just died like that!"
"I held onto my breath, only now do I understand what happened! Ye Ze'an, damn your ancestors!!!"
Following this, nurous victims took the stage one by one, recounting their tragedies and expressing anger as the truth ca to light.
These blood-filled accusations were like sparks landing on dry twigs, igniting the fury of the people.
Public resentnt boiled over!
That afternoon, tens of thousands of citizens gathered outside Zhengyang Gate of the Imperial City.
People held white banners, inscribed with "Severely Punish the Traitors," "Account the Gate Valve," "Return the Justice to Us."
More and more people joined this throng, their shouts of anger echoing to the skies!
On this day, Chief Minister Ye Ze'an was officially dismissed, stripped of his title, and imprisoned.
In addition, three Pavilion Masters of the Cabinet, five Deputy Pavilion Masters, thirty-three cabinet ministers, and over a hundred sitting officials were imprisoned together!
The news broke, and the Capital erupted, fireworks resounded all night, the taverns and teahouses were packed, and the people raised their glasses in celebration.
...
Heavenly Prison.
Li Fei and Hu Tingzhong passed through layers of checkpoints and reached the deepest cell.
Ye Ze'an, dressed in prison attire, lay on the bed, beside him remained a True Master skilled in the healing arts, continually treating him.
The True Master, upon seeing Li Fei, hurriedly rose to pay respects.
Li Fei gestured with his hand to indicate the other need not be overly courteous.
"Duke, he already..."
"I know, you may go."
The True Master bowed again and left the cell.
Li Fei and Hu Tingzhong ca to Ye Ze'an's side, Hu Tingzhong knelt down, holding his ntor's hand.
Ye Ze'an laboriously opened his eyes to look at the two.
Monts later, his complexion turned rosy, and he gathered so vigor:
"Tingzhong, the 'Twelve Strategies for Governing the Country' I left with you may not all be correct, you need to use your judgnt, adapt according to ti and place."
Hu Tingzhong nodded fiercely, his eyes reddened.
Li Fei had also read Ye Ze'an's 'Twelve Strategies for Governing the Country.'
The most critical one among them was to establish eleven more universities!
These eleven universities, like the already established Hongyi University, would enroll more civilians and children from poor families.
Ye Ze'an had once used Hongyi University as an 'experintal point,' having already acquired relatively mature experience.
But now, after thoroughly suppressing the Gate Valve Families, the remaining eleven universities might be successfully established and achieve the desired outcos.
Ye Ze'an paused in silence, then spoke again:
"These days I've been reflecting on the past... In my life, I wasn't a good father, nor a good son.... Could I be considered a good official? I don't think so either....."
He turned his head to look at Li Fei:
"Li Fei, ah, over these years, I've pondered one question continually—to achieve an exceedingly correct outco, is it right to take a wrong approach?"
Li Fei opened his mouth, then shook his head, saying nothing.
Given his nature, the answer was probably affirmative.
However, observing the frail old man before him, so words simply couldn't be uttered.
The man spent his whole life exhausting everything, ultimately not being understood by his children, parents, relatives, nor even by the people of the world.
What did he gain in the end?
"Too bad, I won't see the future..."
Ye Ze'an mouthed sothing, finally saying:
"Watch it for ."
...
On the seventh day of the seventh month, in the eighth year of Yuanxing.
Ye Ze'an passed away in the Heavenly Prison.
There was no more Chief Minister Ye in this world.
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