Death… and me

This state of affairs lasted for almost twenty days.

The pampered Young Masters didn't return to their respective homes even on the New Year's Eve… all for the sake of the sword. They were worried about one thing, [What if we leave today, and the sword appears tomorrow?]

The best decision in this situation would obviously be to stay there till the end, and wait for the others to leave.

However, some clans went back home; the first ones to do so were the Dong Clan, Luo Clan, and Ji Clan. Many other clans chose not to go back, and continued to remain standstill.

This caused a great deal of trouble for Diwu Qing Rou.

He would need to appease this gang of 'second generation little ancestors' all day long. This weighed him down with anxiety. He felt as if there were a hundred knots of worry inside his intestines.

Meanwhile, the Great Zhao's royalists were trying to use tentative attacks and impeachment tactics to suppress the Diwu faction. Surprisingly, they were successful in every attempt to defame the Diwu faction.

This emboldened the royalists. They began to mess with the important personages from the Diwu faction. They would stop immediately in order to maintain the status quo if they thought that Diwu Qing Rou was going to counterattack.

However, Diwu Qing Rou didn't retaliate; no matter what happened.

This was incredible. All kinds of rumors began to spread throughout the Great Zhao. [Diwu Qing Rou has fallen out of favor. The Emperor has already revoked all of his powers and privileges. In fact, he has resigned from his office, and is lying low at home…]

Bigger waves began to rise and fall as time passed. Some of the royal courtiers were still waiting and watching. Most of the old fogies had been staying dormant for years, while some of the others had been suppressed by Diwu Qing Rou a long time ago…

However, they all began to rise from the shadows slowly and gradually.

It seemed as if even the Heavens would be overturned by these raging waves.

The Great Zhao's Emperor was sitting quietly at the helm of his fishing boat, and observing the flowing winds. However, His Majesty caught the smell of the unusual atmosphere prevalent around him as the mood and activities of the royal courtiers became increasingly intense. He then began to change out of his former low-key profile in order to gain more visibility.

[Diwu Qing Rou has made a blunder by offending the super clans of the Middle Three Heavens. Now, they're all set to make his life a living hell. It seems that his life is going to end very soon.]

His Majesty burst into laughter as soon as he verified this piece of information.

He then began to deal bravely with some high-profile matters owing to the recent developments.

He took an initiative… [Huh? I only had to exercise my rightful powers as an emperor, right?]

[Damn it! That went very smoothly.]

After that, His Majesty began to conspire the initiation of his big reform. He started by having discussions in secret. Then, he took those discussions to small banquets. Finally, they transformed into large-scale official discussions in the royal court's main hall.

Therefore, a bold and resolute reform was kick-started.

His Majesty ended-up sharing his inner-most feelings with the Empress after he got drunk. He sighed as he did so, [We had ascended the throne twenty years ago. But, we've tasted the joy of being the Rulers of Great Zhao only today.]

Two army divisions had been summoned from the distant parts of the nation. His Majesty had a clear-cut stand on the matter, [Execute Diwu! The royal entourage must make sure that this tyrant is purged. Exterminate Qing Rou, and bring back the good-old days.]

It seemed as if the entire Great Zhao had become blustery.

A strange sense of tranquility had spread everywhere since King of Hell Chu hadn't engaged in any activities during this period of time.

Minister Chu knew that this phenomenon was a result of Diwu Qing Rou's secret conspiracies. Diwu Qing Rou was capable of using his iron fist to gain complete control over the Great Zhao. So, such turbulent developments were impossible without his consent.

[The reason behind these turbulent times is perhaps hidden in the possibility that Diwu Qing Rou is planning on starting something big very soon.]

[Therefore, I mustn't get involved in the current state of affairs.]

This would ensure that Diwu Qing Rou wouldn't be able to trace the vines and grab the melon. Otherwise, there might be a possibility of Minister Chu ending-up being accused unjustly, and then dying a resentful death.

Therefore, King of Hell Chu was sitting on the mountain, and watching the tigers fight. He was more than satisfied with his current lifestyle in comparison with his comfortable life in Iron Cloud. He looked forward to seeing the mayhem caused by the members of the aristocratic clans every day.

Diwu Qing Rou's life had been made a living hell by only about a dozen of these clans. In fact, Diwu Qing Rou couldn't even set about the task of reconstructing the Golden Horse Riders Department headquarters as these clans were causing nuisance in a continuous manner.

Someone else could possibly take the blame and responsibility for something that might or mightn't have happened… However, someone else's way of dealing with such things would be entirely different when compared to Diwu Qing Rou's personal involvement in this matter.

[The more time you all spend in making this noise and ruckus, the longer shall be the delay on my part. You may as well just drag it for a year-and-a-half if you truly want to keep dragging this on… I couldn't care less, wahaha…]

Even the royalists were praying for the aristocratic clans to get rid of Diwu Qing Rou as soon as possible.

However, the brutal reality soon landed a solid blow to the faces of King of Hell Chu and Great Zhao's royalists.

A summoning order had arrived from the Middle Three Heavens, [All clan juniors who are currently outside must rush back to the Middle Three Heavens immediately. There's an emergency.]

Several aristocratic clans went back as soon as this summoning order arrived. Ao Xie Yun was among the ones who had retreated. He wouldn't be much bothered if the Moonlight Sword was to fall into someone else's hands as he had already obtained the Sunlight Saber. After all, the person that would obtain the Moonlight Sword would still have to come to him.

Xie Dan Qiong and Ou Du Xiao also left for the Middle Three Heavens.

Mo Tian Yun was left with no other option but to go back home.

Li Xiong Tu pestered for a long time. He was left in a bind since he hadn't gained anything even after he had spent so much time. Therefore, he opened his big mouth like a lion, and swept away as many gold and silver treasures as he could before leaving.

Tu Qian Hao followed suit. He took the same course of action as Li Xiong Tu.

Several other aristocratic clans put forward a variety of demands which boiled down to, [We all feel the need to be recompensed for this wastage of time.]

Diwu Qing Rou was forced to resolutely shed his blood as he sent away each and every one of the second generation little ancestors.

The Continent Center Citadel was left devoid of any Jianghu people as soon as the root cause of all this mess departed. Diwu Qing Rou flipped out as he assessed the situation. He found out that his Golden Horse Riders Department was in an utterly disordered state and the Continent Center Citadel was in a complete mess. He had put all of his efforts into gathering the manpower to deal with all this chaos. But, he couldn't gather more than three-thousand people.

The arrogant royalists and royal clan members who were being rampant some time ago were now faced with Prime Minister Diwu's dreadful wrath.

The Great Zhao's Continent Center Citadel found itself surrounded by three massive army corps on the very next day of the aristocratic clans' departure from the Lower Three Heavens.

The three enormous and mighty army corps marched into the Continent Center along with the city guards and a few other units. All the major streets had been imbued with soldiers within a single day; ferocious-looking soldiers were stationed at almost every two steps.

Diwu Qing Rou had long been planning to materialize this purge. There was no scope for mercy in his approach now that it had finally started.

The entire Continent Center was dyed red with blood on the third day. One could even smell the unbearable stench of blood rising straight towards the sky.

Han Bu Chu was clad in a thick marten coat. He was towing a heavy round-backed wooden armchair. He finally took a seat at the Meridian Gate. A team of Martial Warriors stood right behind him; each of them possessed terrifying and murderous aura that soared high into the sky.

The Martial Warriors were constantly riding in and out on their horses to give reports. One could clearly see drops of blood dripping from the tip of their blades.

Han Bu Chu was holding a thick pile of lists containing the names of the people who had been lined-up to be massacred during this genocide. It was similar to drawing a lottery… The names of the people were crossed after they were killed off. The list would be discarded as soon as all the names on the sheet were crossed. It would then be replaced with a new list of names.

Entire families were nabbed and beheaded at the same time.

The entire nine generations were executed in one go.

Diwu Qing Rou had never ordered a massacre on such a scale before. However, it seemed that he had been forced to make a tough and irreversible decision this time; there was no turning back for him. There was no scope for taking back the order to kill once it was issued.

Diwu Qing Rou would rather kill the innocents than allow the guilty to escape.

The Ex-Prime Minister, senior officials, the Royal Censor, and several more from the administration were there in the list. Even royal princes, a few royal uncles, and the Emperor's relatives as well as his sons-in-law had been lined-up for execution.

The soldiers would invade the courtyards of large families like a bunch of wolves and tigers. There would only remain a pile of corpses on the ground by the time these army troops would leave the scene after having finished their task. The loud yet pitiful screams would continue to linger in the atmosphere for a long time. The sky seemed to have been painted red by the streams of soaring blood.

In the Imperial Palace…

General Manager Lu Ren Jia saw the guarding generals smile as he ordered them to fight against the rebelling army. Then, the guarding generals opened the main gate to welcome the rebelling army. It was an unexpected scene which seemed similar to that of a bunch of sons respectfully greeting their fathers.

After that, a relentless genocide occurred.

This had happened because Diwu Qing Rou had once said, [Those court eunuchs are the most hateful creatures in the entire world.]

These words had led to the massacre of the court eunuchs of the Imperial Palace; no one was spared. The general who was given the responsibility of killing the court eunuchs had once been persecuted by General Manager Lu Ren Jia. Therefore, he did justice to the task by doing his job in the most exciting manner… He commanded his men to save Lu Ren Jia for the last. The general would shove Lu Ren Jia's face into the neck cavity of the court eunuchs as their heads were cut-off. He would do so in order to ensure that the wild splashes of hot blood were sprayed all over Lu Ren Jia's face.

Lu Ren Jiao's torment didn't stop until each and every court eunuch had been executed.

General Manager Lu's entire body had been soaked in blood a number of times. He could only issue a frightened cry, "Aaahhhhhhh…" before his limbs twitched, and the floor was stained by an eruption from the front and back of his lower body. He slumped down in a pile of muck which had originated from his own body… as if he'd been struck by paralysis. He was scared to death.

Those who knew the inside story spat as they said, [You had it coming.]

He had indeed got what he deserved. Thousands of deaths could've been avoided if it hadn't been for his actions. The smile on the faces of everyone present resembled the fake smiles on the faces of the men who carry the palanquin at the time of a marriage; [How can people just mingle, and then stay attached for dozens of years…]

It was an undeniable fact that Lu Ren Jiao's actions had led to a big conflict; it had made the present situation unavoidable.

The common people saw this massacre as an outcome of Diwu Qing Rou's catharsis. And, they believed that this catharsis was a result of the grudges that he had been accumulating, [Are you dissatisfied with me? Weren't you all plotting against me all this time?]

[Fine then! I'll kill all of you, and save myself from getting involved in your petty plots].

However, only a small number of discerning people could see through the real motive behind this well-planned purge. It was done as a part of the preparations to deal with King of Hell Chu, Tie Bu Tian, and the imminent war that they would bring.

Diwu Qing Rou hadn't been involved in a war for several years. But, he would need to take command this time in order to establish his own land under the Heaven.

No obstructions could be permitted in a war against powerful arch-enemies. There must be no place for any unharmonious songs either. He wouldn't allow those sly people to conspire and backstab him while he went out to fight a war.

One's miscalculation regarding the food provisions, weapons, warhorses, army logistics, and other things could lead to damage beyond redemption.

Diwu Qing Rou couldn't afford to be negligent while facing this tough alliance which comprised of King of Hell Chu, Tie Bu Tian, and Tie Long Cheng. Any negligence could potentially destroy his entire army.

He hadn't cared much about this earlier as he was confident of his control. However, several failures over the recent years had made him more vigilant than he used to be. This was true even though the damage that had been done to him was partial, and hadn't harmed him in any way.

Several waves of purges reeking with blood spread throughout the nation as soon as the purge of the Continent Center started.

The positions being vacated were occupied by Diwu Qing Rou's people.

It was a thorough merger.

It was said that Diwu had been seen standing at the helm of Continent Center Citadel after the conclusion of the purge… He had been gazing at the whirling fog of blood containing the vengeful ghosts of countless innocent people.

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again – I shall unify everything under the Heaven, and contain it in my hands. And, even if it can't be contained in my hands… it'll still have to pass through them!

"What's the worth of a million human lives compared to becoming the Master of the universe?!"

The cold and biting winds hunted down the flags fluttering over the Great Zhao as Diwu Qing Rou proclaimed. They then carried the flags thousands of miles away as a sign of the arriving spring.