If you don't give up, I'd like to be your adoptive father.

Chapter 1095 Analysis of Cause and Effect
"Does Grand Tutor Yu mean that Zhao He will cleanse himself of his evil deeds and become a 'good person'?" Ximen Bao asked.

"It's uncertain whether he's a 'good person.' But Manager Zhao has done a lot of bad things, such as accepting bribes and deceiving his superiors."

However, he persuaded Empress Dowager Zhao several times to reduce the corvée labor.

It is out of genuine compassion for the hardships of the people, not out of pretense.

The key point is that he actually succeeded. It's hard to say whether he was right or wrong, but I reckon that based on his loyalty and benevolence alone, he shouldn't go to hell," Xiaoyu sighed.

Yang Li asked in surprise, "Can the judgments in the Book of Life and Death be wrong?"

“If the Book of Life and Death is always accurate, what’s the point of having the Mirror of Karma?” Xiaoyu asked rhetorically, then sighed, “Reputation is indeed a powerful tool; even ghosts and gods can be influenced by it.”

Chief Steward Zhao's reputation was tarnished by his identity as a eunuch.

From high-ranking officials to ordinary citizens, everyone spread rumors about his bad deeds and misinterpreted his rare acts of kindness.

The spirits and deities, observing the human world, only hear bad reputations. The *Book of Life and Death* naturally records a large number of undeniable evil deeds, but overlooks the smaller parts of the truth beyond the surface of reputation.

Ximen Bao nodded thoughtfully and said, "The Book of Life and Death is basically error-free, with only minor omissions."

Sins unknown to outsiders are called hidden evils; virtues unknown to outsiders are called unseen merits.

Concealing evil deeds and performing good deeds in secret can both deceive ghosts and gods, and also the Book of Life and Death.

The Book of Life and Death is a database of the Shinto people.

It is the collection of what gods, ghosts, and immortals have seen and heard.

Day-roaming gods, night-roaming gods, and various other officials roam the streets and alleys, constantly monitoring human affairs.

Ninety-nine percent of the trivial matters of human life are recorded by ghosts and gods.

But there are always some things that are overlooked by ghosts and gods, or concealed by secret methods of deception, and even ghosts and gods are deceived.

At this point, the Book of Life and Death may miss some things.

However, missing data could lead to accidents in the judgments of the underworld.

Thus, the Mirror of Retribution and the King of Hell became the final step in the correction process.

Sure enough, they waited for a full hour before King Qin Guang finally came out with a joyful expression.

"Someone, go immediately to the mass grave outside Xianyang City, find Zhao He's head, and sew it onto his mutilated body."

After issuing the order, King Qin Guang looked at the headless ghost and said with a gentle expression, "Zhao He, your sins are not small, and you have committed many sins in secret."

Especially in terms of 'benevolence' and 'loyalty,' they can serve as a model for eunuchs throughout history.

"Ah, does this servant really have a lot of unseen merits?"

When the headless ghost looked into the Mirror of Karma earlier, he had already sensed something, but he wasn't quite sure.

Upon receiving praise from the King of Hell, he was overwhelmed with joy, his voice choked with emotion.

The King of Hell's attitude was much better than before. He said gently, "You once acted out of compassion and risked angering Empress Dowager Zhao. You used your eloquence to persuade and help 50,000 people in several counties to be spared from deadly forced labor."

With just this one thing, you can enter the cycle of reincarnation and be reborn as a human.

And you did more than just this one thing.

For example, Li Shan, the official in charge of the imperial tombs, was a good man, but he was imprisoned and sentenced to death for letting five hundred prisoners go.

You respected his loyalty, so you only accepted three hundred taels of silver from the Li family, and then cleverly used your power to save Li Shan's life.

You do similar things frequently, yet you receive no gratitude or praise from others; that's all unseen merit!

As King Qin Guang spoke, he used the judge's pen to record his words in the Book of Life and Death.

After finishing writing, he put down his pen and said, "Chief Judge Ximen, take him directly to the Fifth Hall and await King Yama's arrangements!"

Ximen Bao stood there, stunned and unresponsive.

The time it took for the King of Hell to close the case and his statement were almost exactly the same as what Yu Fengxian had said.

It's simply divine, not just divine, Yu Fengxian doesn't have the Book of Life and Death, nor the "King Yama's Register".

But she solves cases in a shorter time and with higher efficiency. Does that mean she is more suitable to be "King Qin Guang" than King Qin Guang?
Ximen Bao was dumbfounded.

King Qin Guang looked over in confusion and called out, "Chief Judge Ximen? Did you hear me? Are you asleep?"

“No, I heard you. I wasn’t dozing off,” Ximen Bao quickly replied.

As he spoke, he tilted his head slightly and looked at Xiaoyu with a complex expression that mixed shock and admiration.

Xiaoyu merely curled the corners of her lips into a faint, smug smile.

King Qin Guang noticed Ximen Bao's gaze, and following it, saw Yu Fengxian's "smug" face.

This is, after all, the Palace of the King of Hell, his exclusive divine domain.

With just a quick calculation, King Qin Guang immediately understood the reason.

Then he was filled with shock and anger.

After going through countless hardships to finally clear the name of "good man Zhao He," the sense of satisfaction, accomplishment, and joy, tinged with weariness, all vanished.

"Yu Fengxian, where is Empress Dowager Zhao?"

He was determined to teach her a lesson.

They dared to show off their supernatural powers in front of the King of Hell, and even to play tricks on him by manipulating heavenly secrets.

What a courage!
King Qin Guang stared coldly at Xiao Yu.

Xiaoyu noticed the coldness in his eyes and guessed the reason, but ignored it.

She had long sensed King Qin Guang's disdain and unfriendliness towards her.

She is indifferent to worldly desires and therefore invincible.

Xiaoyu blinked, a glint of light flashing in her clear black and white eyes.

Immediately afterwards, Empress Dowager Zhao appeared about four or five zhang away from her.

It happened to be under the Dragon Case of the King of Hell, in the place where the condemned should stand.

King Qin Guang's pupils contracted. He stared at her eyes carefully for a while, then turned his head to look at the sky outside the Yama Palace.

The moment Empress Dowager Zhao was released, he sensed something. Yu Fengxian used her "gaze" to open a spatial rift connecting to the underworld.

If she hadn't been standing right in front of him, within his divine realm, King Qin Guang wouldn't have been able to detect that familiar "underworld spacetime fluctuation."

With the authority of the King of Hell, he also had a vague feeling that her eyes seemed to connect from the human world all the way to the underworld.
He doesn't care at all if it's just a connection to the underworld.

But if it connects to the underworld, then what is the point of the Ghost Gate in the netherworld?

King Qin Guang wanted to ask, but then held back.

He didn't want her to continue being so smug.

—Go back and ask Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva why the Buddha Tathagata transmitted the true Dharma of the Yu Feng Immortal Buddhist sect, what the limit of the Buddha's wisdom eye is, whether it can cross the gates of hell and directly stuff the souls of the dead outside into the underworld, or steal the souls of the dead from the underworld to the human world.
"Empress Dowager Zhao, do you know where you are, and what your situation is?"

King Qin Guang asked while flipping through Zhao Ji's Book of Life and Death.

Empress Dowager Zhao was stunned for a moment before looking around and asking, "What's going on? Grand Tutor Yu, where have you brought me?" "Empress Dowager, Your Majesty, sob sob, this old servant has finally seen you again!"

The headless ghost beside him rushed over excitedly, knelt on the ground, and wailed.

"You, you are Zhao He?" Upon seeing the headless ghost, Empress Dowager Zhao "was about to be startled," but at this moment she had become a ghost king with a deep sense of malevolence, and subconsciously she was not afraid of any fierce ghost.

Once the fear and panic subsided, Empress Dowager Zhao also recognized the headless ghost's identity.

"It is your servant, Your Majesty, you are suffering so much~~" Seeing the Empress Dowager's miserable state, the headless ghost cried for its master.

"Yes, I'm so miserable, so wronged, so full of hatred~~"

Encountering her former servants and receiving "certification" of her injustices and suffering, Empress Dowager Zhao wailed with even more confidence and in greater anguish.

King Qin Guang frowned and looked at Xiao Yu indifferently, saying, "Yu Fengxian, why haven't you explained the situation to Empress Dowager Zhao yet?"

Xiaoyu said, "Just talk to her directly! Look at her now, she doesn't have the same hostility and resentment as before—"

Upon hearing this, Empress Dowager Zhao immediately contorted her face, stiffened her neck, and cried out excitedly, "No, I have been wronged beyond measure! My heart is filled with boundless resentment and hatred!"

As she shouted, thick plumes of resentment and gloomy energy indeed erupted from her body.

Xiaoyu twitched the corner of her mouth, met King Qin Guang's mocking gaze, and said, "At least she has regained her senses and can communicate normally now."

If it were any other ghost king, she would have severely damaged its very essence.

Stripped of its yin energy, devoid of spirit and power, no matter how much resentment the Ghost King harbors, it's all for naught.

Just like her previous life, a world without the power of miracles.

If a person suffers a greater injustice than Dou E and harbors a deep-seated hatred, how could they possibly harm their enemy in the slightest?

She certainly wouldn't treat Empress Dowager Zhao so simply and brutally.

While suppressing Zhao Ji in the Demon Eye Ghost Realm, Xiao Yu had a thought that transformed into another Yu Fengxian, who sat cross-legged opposite Zhao Ji and recited the "Burning Lamp for the Dead Sutra", the "Earth Store Sutra", and the "Reversed Head Sutra".

Thus, Empress Dowager Zhao's essence was not lost, and she retained the potential to continue being the Ghost King, but her rationality returned.

"Zhao Ji, why do you harbor such resentment? You should know that your retribution today is entirely your own fault."

You summoned the Marquis of Donghai to Guanzhong, and you and Lao Ai even bribed them to serve you.

Seeing that they were subservient to you, you became arrogant and overconfident, even attempting to use their power to usurp the Ying family's throne.

They want to support the illegitimate child you and Lao Ai secretly had to ascend to the throne and become the 'Crown Prince of the Lao Clan's Empire'.

In order to eliminate any future trouble, you and Lao Ai even went so far as to plan to wipe out all of Ying Zheng's children.

First, the eldest prince, Fusu, who was far away at Yumen Pass, was ordered to commit suicide. Then, all the princes and princesses in Xianyang City were executed.

The imperial edict ordering Fusu's execution has already been issued.

He's your eldest grandson, and they're all your grandchildren!

This is not finished.

You and Lao Ai even discussed that if the rebel forces in various places became too powerful to be contained, you might as well join the former royal families of the six states in Shandong in rising up against the Qin Dynasty.

You should unite to destroy the Qin Dynasty, follow the will of Heaven, and establish the "Yong Kingdom" in Guanzhong. Lao Ai will be the King of Yong, and you will be the Queen. Your son with Lao Ai will be the Crown Prince, Prince, and Princess.

Such a depraved, shameless, immoral, and immoral act, so contrary to human ethics, is a betrayal of Heaven's will that you are not dead.

How dare you complain? You're not a little bit wronged, you deserve to die!

As King Qin Guang read the Book of Life and Death, he angrily denounced its crimes. The more he read, the angrier he became, and the louder his voice grew.

Finally, filled with righteous indignation, he roared like thunder.

A once dignified human face was twisted into a ferocious ghost, looking quite terrifying.

Even though Empress Dowager Zhao was already a vengeful ghost, she was still so frightened that her face turned pale and blue, her body trembled a few times, and she retreated.

Xiaoyu was also somewhat frightened.

It wasn't because they were intimidated by King Qin Guang's roar and majesty.

It was the sheer absurdity and self-destructive behavior of Empress Dowager Zhao that deeply shocked her.

At the beginning of the year, when she heard that Empress Dowager Zhao had decided to bring foreign troops into the pass, she had a feeling of déjà vu, like He Jin bringing Dong Zhuo into the capital.

At that time, she was certain that without Meng Qi's (and mainly Meng Qi's backer, the quasi-Dàlǐ) support, Empress Dowager Sao couldn't even handle the court officials in Xianyang. Among the civil and military officials, none of them truly respected her.

Even she, a newcomer to Xianyang, had a faction formed by the Grand Commandant and a group of important officials called the "Yu Party".

The Empress Dowager is not as good as her.

Even the civil officials in Xianyang could not subdue the more unruly border military commanders who held military power.

Xiao Yu thought at most that the Marquis of Donghai was not convinced by the Empress Dowager Sao, but she did not expect the Empress Dowager Sao to be so unconventional.

You ordered Fusu to commit suicide, and Tu Guang dared to oppose the Ying clan's ascension to the throne by her bastard son, overthrow the Qin Dynasty, and establish the Lao Dynasty. Damn it, the reason you became the Regent Empress Dowager is because you are the matriarch of the Ying clan!

Without the status of the matriarch of the Ying clan, you are nothing in the Ying dynasty!
Xiaoyu is now very curious about what kind of bewitching potion Zhao Gao, Li Si, and Yu Yu, these "coup leaders," gave to Empress Dowager Sao and Lao Ai.

It's astonishing that two people who are reasonably intelligent would make such a foolish mistake.

"No, I didn't. I'm innocent. I didn't kill any of the princes."

Empress Dowager Zhao flinched a few times, but the resentment and anger in her chest supported her spine, and she straightened her back and loudly protested her injustice.

"Snapped!"

King Qin Guang slammed his gavel and roared, "It's clearly written in the Book of Life and Death, how could I possibly wrong you?"

Empress Dowager Zhao said, "I was indeed persuaded by Lao Ai to send an imperial envoy to Yumen Pass to have Fusu commit suicide."

But the envoy was killed by that bastard Yu Yu as soon as he left Xianyang.

The plan to force Fusu to commit suicide was first proposed by him and Li Si.

"Nonsense! It was clearly you who sent Lao Ai to test Li Si and the Marquis of Donghai."

Marquis Lieyang was still hesitant about whether to launch a coup at this time.

Your ruthlessness and foolishness helped him make up his mind.

King Qin Guang was furious. He looked around and then turned to Xiao Yu, shouting, "Yu Fengxian, your Queen Dowager of Qin is too despicable. She has come to the Yama King's Palace and is standing in front of Yama, yet she still dares to lie."

She must be punished to show her the majesty of the underworld and to make her understand that one cannot speak carelessly in court.

Empress Dowager Zhao immediately cried out, "Grand Tutor Yu, I am the Empress Dowager of Great Qin, and I cannot lose my dignity! Back when my son Zheng was still alive, even the Heavenly Emperor dared not lay a finger on me. You are nothing but a King of Hell, what right do you have to strike me?"

"How dare you utter such arrogant words and blaspheme against the Heavenly Emperor! Guards, beat him! Beat him mercilessly!" King Yama roared.

Xiao Yu remained unresponsive, allowing the four fierce-looking ghost soldiers to pin Empress Zhao to the ground and beat her with a full three hundred strokes of the cane, leaving her buttocks raw.

The key issue is that the original source of Yin energy has been partially dispersed.

Xiaoyu had shown her mercy before, intentionally helping her preserve her original essence, thus preserving her potential to become a Ghost King.

Now the gods and spirits of the underworld truly hate her and intend to undermine Empress Dowager Zhao's foundation.

(End of this chapter)