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Chapter 505: Killing the donkey

Zhu Yu has no idea what Lu Qing is thinking.

However, she knew that her back was already covered in a thick layer of cold sweat.

Although she didn't believe much of the fake lord's words, just hearing that story was enough to make her heart race.

Throughout history, those whose achievements overshadow their rulers have always been the most feared figures by emperors. Therefore, throughout the ages, there have been many instances of the "discarding the millstone after it has served its purpose" scenario described by the false lord.

A better approach would be to promise meritorious officials wealth and honor, but strip them of their power, and regardless of their willingness or resentment, send them all back to live as wealthy idlers.

Those who were less capable might have their mistakes discovered by the king at some point, and being spared only by being exiled was considered good; there were countless examples of people losing their heads.

The more a ruler has gone through bloodshed and turmoil before finally sitting on the throne, the more he cherishes this hard-won victory, and how could he give others the opportunity to covet it!

Not to mention Lu Qing's family members, who were originally a collateral branch of the royal family...

After all, there is historical evidence that even the twenty generations of collateral descendants of a founding emperor, who had fallen on hard times and become street vendors, were able to raise troops and horses under the guise of upholding the legitimacy of their ancestors, become a local power, and establish a kingdom.

In comparison, Lu Qing's grandfather was far superior.

He already had a military force composed of his own people, as well as many comrades willing to support and follow him. More importantly, he was broad-minded, reasonable, and benevolent.

If he had even a hint of such thoughts, or even if he hadn't originally had any, those courtiers who had supported Emperor Jin because of him would suddenly realize that there was a more qualified and wise ruler than Emperor Jin. Would they force him to take the throne and bring down Emperor Jin in the same way they had pushed him up?
After all, the throne was originally seized by Emperor Jin.

If he can seize it, why can't other members of the royal family seize it?

For Lu Qing's grandfather, this carried a sense of "possessing a treasure is a crime." Regardless of whether he himself had such intentions, all these conditions combined made it difficult for him not to become a thorn in the emperor's side.

Not to mention that Emperor Jin was originally an unpredictable person.

Even if he were sitting on the emperor's throne, Zhu Yu couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't become wary.

Lu Qing's face grew increasingly gloomy upon hearing these words. He did not respond to the question posed by the fake fortress lord, which was completely unnecessary to answer. Instead, he remained silent for a while before asking, "How can you, an outsider, be so familiar with these old affairs of the court?"

"If I didn't know, how could I help you distinguish right from wrong and differentiate between friend and foe?" The fake fortress lord seemed increasingly satisfied with Lu Qing's reaction. "I guess you've been in the Brahma Land for so long, met the Brahma King, and come to this High Priest's Mansion. You should know that the High Priest's original sect had a very powerful senior brother, right?"

Lu Qing nodded slightly, which was her response to his question.

"Back then, the high priest's senior brother was also one of the supporters who followed Emperor Jin and supported his ascension to the throne."

Jin was, after all, a superior nation, and Emperor Jin was, after all, the ruler of all under heaven. The high priest's eldest brother was single-mindedly seeking opportunities to achieve great deeds and bring glory to his sect, so he defied his master's objections and went to assist Emperor Jin. Unfortunately, despite his many acts of service and military exploits, Emperor Jin harbored contempt for the barbarians of vassal states, considering his eldest brother ruthless and unscrupulous, and therefore looked down on him and refused to give him any important positions.

The fake lord smiled mockingly: "People are just like that, selfish and hypocritical. Even if they become the ruler of the world, they are still the same."

When one is not in power, even if one feels that the senior brother's methods are not gentlemanly or upright, he is still capable of defeating enemies and is very useful, so one lets him be.

Once the overall situation is settled and the major tasks are accomplished, they start to become critical again, fearing that even giving them a slightly higher position would cause controversy and affect their reputation.

The high priest's senior brother had been neglected and received no reward. He was anxiously trying to find out what was going on when he was noticed by Emperor Jin.

So Emperor Jin secretly summoned him to the palace and asked him to devise a way to wipe out your grandfather's entire clan overnight without anyone noticing.

This is something that is difficult for others to do. Even the high priest's senior brother found it difficult, but it was the only opportunity he could seize to climb up the social ladder. He thought that as long as he could do it, the wealth and glory he longed for would come to him.

So he returned to the land of Brahma and spent a fortune to find the Jade Snowbird. It took a lot of effort to finally collect enough of the Jade Snowbird's blood.

Afterwards, he quietly searched within the capital of Jin Kingdom for someone who could be bribed to act as his inside man. After careful planning, he finally found a suitable opportunity. Taking advantage of your grandfather's birthday celebration, when your entire clan gathered to celebrate your grandfather's birthday, he ordered his inside man to mix the blood of the Jade Snowbird into the food and wine.

Sure enough, everyone was dead.

Afterwards, the senior disciple thought he was finally going to achieve fame and success, but unexpectedly, Emperor Jin reneged on his promise and secretly summoned the senior disciple to the palace, where he was secretly executed. His body was also disposed of without leaving any trace.

That senior brother disappeared as if he had never existed. He had never had any dealings with your grandfather or the others before, so naturally no one would suspect him first.

Thus, the tragic death of a branch of your family overnight became an unsolved mystery.

Emperor Jin pretended to have people investigate for a while, but as you can imagine, they found nothing, and he never brought it up again.

Since he stopped mentioning it, no one else dared to investigate. Who would have the audacity to bring up something that even the emperor was unwilling to touch?
Of course, your younger brother's maternal grandfather also deserves credit for this.

"The Duke of Yan?" Lu Qing asked.

"Besides him, who else?" the fake lord laughed. "That old scoundrel was extremely jealous of your grandfather's abilities and reputation. No matter how much he schemed, he was always one step behind your grandfather in terms of power."

The fact that something happened to your family member is exactly what he wanted.

Therefore, Emperor Jin did not want anyone to mention it, and he tried his best to cater to it. In addition, there were many sycophants in the court. Your grandfather's family, no matter what their stance was in the past, the dead are not to be respected.

Those people quickly all fell under the wing of that old scoundrel, Duke Yan, and from then on, no one in the court dared to mention the unsolved case of your branch of the Lu family.