knife

Chapter 118 Past Events

"Twenty-five years ago, many people made that choice!"

Sitting in front of the small stove, Grandpa Yu took out the roasted pears, put them in a bowl, and handed one to Wu De.

"Try it, it's from Baode Temple in Luoyang. They sent me a basket of it."

Wu De quickly took it, feeling both apprehensive and overjoyed.

If people were to go out and say that Grandpa Yu personally cooked pears for himself, I doubt many would believe it.

Grandpa Yu, of course, didn't care what Wu De was thinking, nor did he care what outsiders thought. He carefully peeled off the charred skin from the top of the roasted pear, revealing the snow-white flesh inside. He dipped a small spoon in and scooped up the glistening flesh, which was steaming hot, into the spoon. He gently blew on it a few times, pursed his lips, and swallowed it.

Seeing Wu De holding the bowl without moving, Grandpa Yu smiled and said, "I'm getting old, so I can't eat too many other fruits. But this roasted pear is good for quenching thirst, relieving coughs, and benefiting the lungs. If you don't like this, I'll have them get you something else!"

"No, no, no, it's great, I love to eat it, I love to eat it!" Wu De quickly replied.

He doesn't really care what he eats; he's not picky about food and will eat whatever is available. The key is that he's reluctant to spend money on food.

If you serve it out like that, it'll probably make those arrogant, bookish people outside lose their minds and shatter into pieces.

"Have you made a choice too?" Wu De asked in a low voice.

Yu Entai shook his head. "I don't need to make a choice."

Wu De nodded. He thought to himself that there must be very few people in the world who could confidently say that no choice needed to be made.

However, the person in front of me is definitely qualified.

Regardless of who wins the bet and has the last laugh, everyone will treat this person with utmost respect.

“General He, our Grand Magistrate and Prime Minister Wei seem to have very different backgrounds, experiences, and character, but they all made the same choice. Does that mean that their choice back then was correct?” Wu De asked.

Yu Entai laughed.

"You've already risen to the fourth position in the Black Ice Guard, and you still have such a pure and innocent heart. That's great!"

These words didn't sound like a compliment at all, and Wu De felt a little guilty.

“My main task used to be setting up mobs and assassins for the Black Ice Platform, as well as doing some specific tasks. I didn’t need to think too much!” he said cautiously.

To put it bluntly, in the past you only needed to execute orders, you didn't need to use your brain.

“People like them choose a side not because it’s right or wrong, but only because it suits their interests or what they think is right!” Yu Entai said, placing the bowl with only a pear peel left in front of him.

"I can tell there's a difference!"

“There is a difference! The difference lies in the fact that some have selfish motives and some do not!” Yu Entai said, “Just like He Qiku, in his own view, his choice back then was indeed out of a public-spirited mind, without any selfish thoughts or ulterior motives.”

"Isn't it true that not seeing necessarily means it's right?" Wu De couldn't help but ask.

"The right and wrong of many things should be judged in the long river of history!" Yu Entai shook his head and said, "Since Zhou Zhi has let you know so much, it seems that he trusts you quite a bit. I'm quite curious, why would he have such trust in someone as high-ranking as you in the Black Ice Bureau?"

"It's not so much about trust. It's mainly because I agreed to cooperate with them and lay out a network for them inside the Great Wall in exchange for the safety of my companions outside the Great Wall and the intelligence we desperately need from outside the Great Wall and the Northern Yuan!" Wu De said, "It should be considered a pure exchange of interests! They are certain that I will not break this agreement, because if I do, my companions will be the first to die. Compared to that, their losses are insignificant."

Yu Entai nodded: "There's one more thing you haven't figured out, which is that you're getting deeper and deeper into this matter. You could say that you can't get out of it now. You could ignore politics before, but now you have to. Especially since this matter involves figures like He Qiku, Wei Zhengdao, and your Grand Secretary, as well as me."

Wu De paused for a moment, then said, "I really hadn't thought about that. I just wanted both sides to get what they needed, which is a very normal practice in the intelligence community. Not to mention that our interests are currently aligned, sometimes even opposing sides will exchange intelligence." Yu Entai smiled and didn't delve any deeper into the issue with Wu De, instead directly bringing up the topic of twenty-five years ago.

"That year, Chang'an was stained with blood. The Crown Prince of Qin, the Crown Princess, and their followers all died that year, and even the traces of their existence were completely erased from the records! It was as if they had never existed in this world."

Yu Entai casually uttered words that terrified Wu De.

"Was it the late emperor who wanted to kill them?" Wu De felt his voice trembling.

"It's the powerful and influential families of the world who want to kill them!" Yu Entai said calmly. "Even within my own Yu family, many people say they deserve to die!"

Why have they incurred such widespread and divine wrath?

“Heaven is enraged and people are indignant!” Yu Entai seemed to be pondering something, and after a long while he said, “That’s not wrong. It seems that these people have always represented heaven and people. Although they only account for a very small part of the population, they control 99% of the interests in the world.”

Wu De stared wide-eyed at Yu Entai.

"Think about it, if the Crown Prince and his wife wanted to take 99% of the profits from these people and distribute the vast majority to another group, what would these people think? What would they do?"

"If you cut off someone's livelihood, and you plot to kill them, then naturally you'll go all out to kill them!" Wu De gritted his teeth and said.

“This is just the simplest layer on the surface!” Yu Entai said with a smile. “They have a deeper pursuit. They are digging up the roots and foundations of aristocratic families. Among aristocratic families, outstanding individuals are as numerous as those crossing the river. When the Crown Prince’s faction began to plan this, these people had already seen the consequences of allowing the Crown Prince to ascend the throne, so they naturally launched a fierce counterattack.”

"Sir, there are indeed too many outstanding people among the powerful and wealthy families, such as the Prime Minister, the Grand Magistrate, and of course, you. But with so many outstanding people, why is the world getting worse year by year?" Wu De asked a question that he considered very impolite.

"A good question!" Yu Entai clapped his hands and laughed, "You've hit the nail on the head. Because these outstanding people always put their families first, then the country. As for the people, it seems they're not even in their consideration. The country can change, but the family cannot be destroyed. No matter who is emperor, they can't do without these families!"

“I’m not surprised that powerful families do this, but General He came from humble beginnings. Why did he make the same choice back then? And in Lord Zhou’s opinion, General He’s choice seems to be a major factor!” Wu De asked curiously, “And I can confirm that General He is a good man and a loyal subject.”

Yu Entai gave him a half-smile.

“He Qiku was promoted by the Crown Prince, rising from humble beginnings to become the commander of the Left Army of the Imperial Guards. Half of the Chang'an Imperial Guards were under He Qiku’s command. At that time, the Crown Prince already wielded immense power, and if nothing unexpected happened, his ascension to the throne was inevitable. Therefore, killing him became the only option.”

"So, He Qiku betrayed the Crown Prince?" Wu De asked in shock.

"Back then, someone found He Qiku and told him that if they failed this time, then the whole country would be engulfed in flames of war, and the flames of war would ignite in most parts of the country, unless the Crown Prince failed!"

"How can he be so foolish? He's not a three-year-old child who will believe everything someone says."

“Because He Qiku knows that what those people said is absolutely true, and it is indeed the case. If the Crown Prince had not died, then the chaos in the country would have broken out at that time! Instead, it was delayed for decades, and now the Great Qin is still struggling to maintain itself. From this perspective, He Qiku’s judgment is not wrong!” Yu Entai said.

Wu De pondered for a moment and said, "If the Crown Prince had ascended the throne at that time, then a nationwide rebellion would have broken out. But can I interpret it this way: the reason these people wanted to kill the Crown Prince was not because they didn't want to rebel, but because at that time, the court's power was still very strong. If they dared to make such a move, they would definitely lose, and the Crown Prince would take this opportunity to wipe them out completely?"

Yu Entai burst into laughter, clapping repeatedly. "I never expected someone as seldom involved in politics as you to see through the trickery so quickly and pinpoint the real problem. Back then, the Imperial Guards in the capital were still quite formidable, and the more than 100,000 elite troops from beyond the Great Wall were loyal to the court. The Southern Garrison Army was so powerful that the Southern Dynasty didn't dare to breathe! However, He Qiku had been bullied by powerful families since childhood, and in his eyes, those people were far too strong. So, he wasn't lying; he didn't want the people to suffer, so at the last moment, he betrayed the Crown Prince. If his Left Grand Camp Imperial Guards had entered the capital when the rebellion broke out, the situation would have been reversed immediately."

Wu De stood there for a long time, then sighed.

"If the huge abscess of that year had been punctured, even if the whole country were in chaos, with the strength of the Qin Dynasty at that time, it would have taken at most four or five years to restore everything. According to the Crown Princess's plan at that time, a brand new empire would have been reborn from the ashes. That woman was the most amazing and talented person I have ever seen. Although she was a woman, she made us men feel ashamed!"

"Now that the area outside the pass is in chaos and the garrison has been defeated, can those people finally divide up the spoils of Great Qin?" Wu De said angrily.

"Not bad!" Yu Entai laughed. "The person behind this must be a formidable figure, right?"

"If these people are not killed, the world will never have peace!"

(End of this chapter)