Chapter 7147 I want him dead today!

Chapter 7147 I want him dead today!

After realizing what kind of game this was, Chen Xi's anger flared up uncontrollably. Compared to what Lu Su had done back then, this matter was more complicated, or even more unsolvable. It was only because he had Liu Bei that he was in this situation. If it were anyone else, Chen Xi would already be ready to go all out.

Because at this point, self-defense is meaningless, evidence is meaningless, and once suspicion arises, any subsequent actions are actually pointless.

In addition, the Chen family has an excellent reputation in this regard, and Chen Zichuan's own abilities certainly support this claim. Moreover, there is a saying that goes, "The Duke of Zhou feared rumors, and Wang Mang was humble before his usurpation." In the current situation of Chen Xi, no explanation can truly justify this saying.

After all, human beings are too complex, and even we ourselves find it difficult to explain them clearly.

To put it bluntly, if Liu Tong were an ordinary person with her current intellectual talents and an interesting soul that could debate with Chen Xi, would Chen Xi really not be moved?
That's not impossible. Just like Chen Xi's earlier answer to Liu Tong, "Of all evils, lust is the worst. Judge by actions, not intentions. If we judge by intentions, there are no saints in the world." In this respect, Chen Xi relied on self-control, not on being as hard as stone and completely unmoved by emotions. The latter is simply impossible.

Chen Xi is no ordinary person; he could see through Liu Tong's interesting nature. The reason he let her go so easily was more because Chen Xi knew who he was and what he was doing, which is why he put Liu Tong aside.

Liu Tong was also aware of this matter. After all, there is no such thing as a purely platonic friendship between men and women, especially the deeper the understanding between them, the easier it is for other feelings to arise.

So both of them knew the truth, but knowing doesn't mean they would do it. It's like thinking about illegal things to make money when you're broke. Thinking about it doesn't mean you'll do it. That's the value of human rationality.

Of course, it would be a miracle if Chen Xi didn't think about putting Liu Tong in a dozen different positions when Liu Tong was rambling on to him. After all, if a man doesn't even think about this kind of thing, there's probably going to be some problems. It's just that the difference between thinking and doing is terrifyingly large.

Regardless, this incident served as a wake-up call for Chen Xi, making him truly realize the extent of the madness of the major families. Or to put it more bluntly, whenever the major families had a little free time, they would act on impulse, regardless of whether it would succeed or not. They would put it aside for now, since they had nothing to do anyway and there would be no loss if they messed it up, so they would still make arrangements.

“Reducing support for the major clans is indeed a good approach, but how many clans are involved in your matter is also a problem. What about those clans that chant scriptures?” Liu Bei asked after thinking for a moment. He was now having a headache about how to deal with those clans that chant scriptures.

The mastermind behind this scheme will definitely be dealt with. Even without solid evidence, and even if the incident caused no damage, the normal legal system wouldn't be able to punish them severely. But this time, Liu Bei decided to exercise discretion, which means he's prepared to use the iron fist of feudal rule to directly eliminate the troublemakers.

There's nothing we can do. Given the current situation and the current matter, it's really just a sign. If something serious happens, it will be more than ten, twenty, or even thirty years from now. There's no way to deal with it according to the existing crimes. But Liu Bei felt that sometimes talking about the law really doesn't work.

As expected, the rule of law is far too simplistic; it still relies on the feudalistic system of rule by man. You want to talk to me about law after you've already crushed the enemy? Nonsense! Do you think someone of my rank would listen to the law? What are my millions of heavenly soldiers for then?!
Bomb him to death!
"Killing someone without teaching them is a big problem." Chen Xi was also very troubled. The biggest problem was that even if you found out the mastermind and the people who were following the mastermind in chanting the scriptures, there was no way to deal with them at this stage. If you left it alone, given the shrewdness of those people, they would stop chanting after three years without any results, and this unsolvable conspiracy would be resolved on its own.

The problem is that if you resolve things on your own, you don't even have a reason to punish them, which is infuriating. But if you try to convict them based on their existing crimes, it doesn't even qualify as a reprimand.

That's right. If the existing crimes were to be convicted, even the masterminds wouldn't be enough to warrant a reprimand, because they're just reciting scriptures at this stage. And these scriptures weren't written by this group of people. This is very important. If we're being honest, what they're reciting is actually true.

This is really serious. This is why Sun Qian slammed his fist on the table and exclaimed "Damn it!" when Zheng Xuan told him this. Sun Qian knew that what this guy was saying now was not made up at all. He had seen Chen Xi run away from the government office early in the morning and then not come out of Weiyang Palace until dark.

The truth can't even be spoken! I'll fucking swear!
This is really speechless.

At this stage, even if the so-called mastermind is caught, no one will mention those who chant scriptures anymore. They will go straight to the mastermind. This matter doesn't really need to be dealt with, because it was Chen Zichuan who did it. They saw it and just spread the word.

Furthermore, you believe that it is our Chen family, and the Central Asian aristocratic families who have recently become happy because of the internal turmoil in the Roman Empire and are unable to put pressure on them, but in reality, it is not only us who are reciting this scripture. If you deal with it this way, then the others who are reciting the scripture will also have to be dealt with.

This story wasn't just passed down by aristocratic families, but also by many of the palace guards of Chang'an. In fact, the earliest ones to spread this story were the veteran guards who served in Weiyang Palace.

This makes it even more speechless.

After Chen Xi spoke, Liu Bei quickly realized that this matter couldn't be decided by personal relationships either, because it was unclear who was truly interested in this issue and who was genuinely discussing it with envy, jealousy, or hatred.

If we take a drastic approach and kill the mastermind outright, what should we do with the rest of the group? Surely no one thinks that if the mastermind is killed, the rest of the group will stop spreading the word?

Perhaps if the mastermind is killed, those who know the true nature of this matter might restrain themselves and stop chanting the scriptures. But what about those ordinary, normal people who didn't have those intentions in the first place, who go down the low path and do things like palace secrets?
There are definitely not too few of these guys. They're all going for this idea, and there's no way to stop them. They're saying that the prince born from the union of Chen Xi and Liu Tong will cause rivers of blood to flow, that the officials of the world will have to regroup, and that the country will be set ablaze.

It's completely meaningless. These people don't think about these things at all. They're just having fun. If you tell them these things, they won't think about them at all. They might even tell you, "What does this have to do with us? We just saw Marquis Chen sneaking out of Weiyang Palace in the middle of the night and thought about it, that's all."

To take it to an extreme, like that old man Lan Fang, who just says things like "If it's going to rain, it'll rain; if a mother wants to remarry, she'll remarry." If Marquis Chen and the princess want to have a child, do you think they'll stop just because we tell the truth? What a joke! What does the business of such important people have to do with us? We're just talking about it.

Is there anything in this world that prevents us from speaking the truth?

This is even worse, and more importantly, there's no way to deal with it.

Because there are more palace intrigue stories on the market than just Chen Xi and Liu Tong's. Even if Xin Xianying doesn't write them, once new stories spread, no one else will. After all, there are plenty of people who like forbidden love and things that are unattainable. Besides, how could no one do something that can make money?

Besides, I was just writing a palace secret history. I already said it was fake, but it turned out to be true in the end. What does it have to do with me? I'm just making some money.

They can't just arrest and execute me because I wrote about the palace intrigues of the Eldest Princess and Marquis Chen, can they? Is there such a thing as this? That's going too far!
Moreover, the more you investigate such matters, the more chaotic things become. What may have started as a simple palace secret was something that everyone treated as amusement, or at least most people just treated it as amusement. But once you start debunking the rumors, many people naturally begin searching for evidence, and in the end, they die!

In addition, there are already too many versions of Chen Xi's palace secrets on the market, so many that Chen Xi is too lazy to count them all. You didn't ban so many before, but now you suddenly want to ban them? Isn't that just like trying to hide something obvious?
In short, Chen Xi was increasingly speechless about this matter. The major families were not very good at doing serious business, but they seemed to be very adept at doing this kind of thing.

"It seems that it is indeed true, no matter how we deal with it, it's not right." After thinking it over carefully, Liu Bei realized that this thing could not be solved by killing people, banning it didn't seem to work either, and banning it didn't seem to be a problem either. In short, it was a problem.

"Zichuan, don't sneak out of Weiyang Palace in the middle of the night if you don't have to." After being speechless for a while, Liu Bei suddenly remembered what had happened and immediately said to Chen Xi with a dark face.

Upon hearing this, Chen Xi also wore a look of wanting to die. He had overheard Zheng Xuan and Sun Qian's conversation before, and Sun Qian had the same attitude in the end. In his opinion, the reason why this matter could not be solved was that Chen Xi had indeed sneaked out of Weiyang Palace in the middle of the night several times.

Without that prerequisite, one has nothing to fear, and there are plenty of ways to break through a move. But in this situation, what move can one break through? Chen Xi himself is already on the verge of death.

"..." Chen Xi turned his head to the side, feeling quite helpless. He didn't want to either, but sometimes he was quite happy chatting with Han Xin and the others, so he didn't pay much attention to the time. Besides, Liu Tong also provided meals. Although, to be honest, the meals were actually paid for by the Shaofu (the Imperial Household Department), it was Liu Tong who arranged them.

"I'll have Zhongkang Lu go and kill Chen Ji tomorrow," Liu Bei said simply and bluntly. This matter couldn't be resolved in the conventional way, and it was pointless to investigate what those chanting scriptures were thinking. There was also no way to deal with the mastermind, so it was better to keep it simple and just order Xu Chu to go and kill Chen Ji.

What about punishing someone without teaching them, what about procedural justice, what about the law not punishing the masses? Simple, I'll just find someone to go and kill you, and if you ask, I'll say it was an accident. I can just make up some excuse later. As long as I act perfunctorily, people will naturally fill in the blanks and understand what really happened. As for whether Xu Chu doing such a thing is a bit outrageous.

Well, Liu Bei felt that Xu Chu's image was perfect for doing things that were mindless and just a whim, so he arranged for Chen Ji to be killed the next day.

"Ah, this..." Chen Xi was completely dumbfounded by Liu Bei's actions.

"No, this won't do. Chen Ji is different from others. There are very few people of the Confucian Master level now. Although Chen Ji is low-key, he is indeed the Confucian Master of the world. If he is killed like this, it will cause a big problem." Chen Xi quickly advised. He did not doubt whether Xu Chu would dare to do it, nor did he doubt whether Liu Bei would do it. Liu Bei was in a fit of anger and it was very likely that he would act on impulse.

After all, Liu Bei was indeed very emotional at times. Considering that the target of this scheme was Chen Xi, and that it was something that could not be refuted or explained, it is completely understandable that Liu Bei was so angry after realizing this that he wanted to go and kill Chen Xi himself. After all, that's the kind of person Liu Bei is.

The problem is that we can't be so extreme. Killing Chen Ji outright is too crude!

"I won't be able to breathe my last until I kill him. This whole mess is just between you and me, my confidants. If it were anyone else, you would have to rebel even if you didn't want to," Liu Bei said with a hint of anger. He had now fully realized just how underhanded this move was. It was a move that could truly force Chen Xi to rebel, and it could truly turn two close comrades into enemies.

Liu Bei recalled the past thousand years and realized that very few people could withstand this move, especially someone as strong as Chen Xi. Perhaps only someone like Duke Huan of Qi could accept it with a smile.

As for Liu Bei, after careful consideration, he realized that if he hadn't truly given up the throne and spent the past twenty years exploring the common people, he wouldn't have dared to guarantee that he wouldn't feel any resentment in the face of such a scheme.

After all, he also shared the surname Liu and was a member of the imperial family of the Han dynasty. It was impossible for him not to feel the slightest bit of apprehension when faced with the possibility of someone usurping the Han throne.

The fact that Liu Bei can still sit down with Chen Xi without any reservations to discuss how to handle this matter is largely due to Liu Bei's magnanimity, morality, and trust in Chen Xi.

It can be said that if any of the above conditions were missing, even if Liu Bei had tried his best to maintain a calm mindset on the carriage today, he would have taken some precautions when he returned. And once he took some precautions, it would have been impossible to return to this day. After all, that's how the human heart is; it's an abyss, but you can't test it.

Given Chen Xi's more than twenty years of acquaintance and friendship with Liu Bei, coupled with the historical assessment of Liu Bei over the past thousand years, and most importantly, the fact that Liu Bei relinquished the throne in Chang'an ten years ago, Chen Xi, after realizing what he was facing, decisively handed the letter to Liu Bei so that Liu Bei would understand what had happened.

Because Chen Xi can't be left to guard against this alone, he would easily find himself in the self-proof stage if he did it by himself. So, by dragging Liu Bei into it, at least he wouldn't have to prove himself. Liu Bei knows everything in his heart, and the two of them working together have plenty of ways to tear this situation apart.

That's how it came about. What was originally an impossible plan to break the deadlock has now become a move that can barely resolve the situation, but it is still very difficult. Chen Xi knows very well that it is still very difficult.

“If this move had been made by anyone else, it would have succeeded already,” Liu Bei said very seriously. “To be honest, you took a huge risk by giving me this letter. If someone else had received this letter, they probably wouldn’t have thought about dealing with Chen Ji, but would have thought about your threat.”

“After all, he is Lord Xuande, and he is trustworthy,” Chen Xi said with a smile.

In the official history, when Liu Bei entrusted his son to Zhuge Liang at Baidi City, he truly entrusted the future of Shu Han to Zhuge Liang. Chen Xi is willing to believe in Liu Bei's magnanimity. As for whether the gamble failed, there's nothing that can be done. Life is not always smooth sailing. Sometimes, it's inevitable to take a wrong step and fall to your death.

However, Chen Xi knew that her situation was relatively better. Even if she fell, she wouldn't be smashed to pieces. But for Chen Xi, that outcome might be worse than being smashed to pieces.

"Zichuan, don't worry about this matter, I'll handle it." Liu Bei thought for a moment and said, "I'll deal with Chen Ji. You can't handle this in your way. Chen Ji isn't even considered to have broken the law, and neither are the major aristocratic families. So you can't handle it."

“However, Lord Xuande, I think you shouldn’t use the previous plan.” Chen Xi said with a hint of exasperation. He was genuinely worried that Liu Bei would just have Chen Ji killed directly, which would be too hasty. This was Chang’an City, and if the Confucian scholar were killed like that, it would be a huge matter, and many people would be implicated.

“No, just kill him.” Liu Bei shook his head and said, “I’ll find someone who has a grudge against the Chen family. Don’t mention any crimes. Just say that he encountered Chen Ji on the road and then killed him.”

“We can’t find him.” Chen Xi sighed and said, “There may be a grudge, but the Chen family and the common people have never reached the point of life-or-death enmity, so there is no such person. Chen Ji would not allow such a person to exist.”

"How could there not be?" Liu Bei said with a sneer.

Chen Xi was stunned for a moment. "No way, if the Kushan assassins come to Chang'an to kill people, we'll lose all face."

Chen Xi decisively refused, saying that this was not as good as the previous one.

"This won't work, that won't work, what will work?" Liu Bei said with a hint of anger. He wanted to see Chen Ji die today, no matter what the method was. Chen Ji had to die today. Just because Chen Ji dared to scheme against Chen Xi and against Liu Bei, he had to die.

An arrow from a thousand years ago, huh? I'm even trying to wipe out the entire Chen family of Yingchuan now. If it weren't for the fact that they're Chen Xi's ancestral home, I would have wiped them out today! Damn it!
The author felt completely defeated.