Chapter 7150 Yellow Bird

Chapter 7150 Yellow Bird
At this moment, Chen Xi could honestly say that Chen Ji's words were almost entirely from the bottom of his heart. Because his spiritual talent was influenced by the spiritual energy emanating from Chen Ji, he only needed to make a comparison to know what kind of mentality Chen Ji truly had.

In other words, if Chen Xi wanted to, he could actually tell whether others were lying to him or just fooling him. After all, Chen Xi could distinguish between normal and abnormal mental fluctuations as long as he focused his attention.

However, this tactic can only be used on important figures. Fortunately, Chen Ji is also considered an important figure, a Confucian scholar of the world. In the manifestation of the imperial will, there are traces of Chen Ji.

Therefore, Chen Xi clearly understood Chen Ji's true intentions. Precisely because he understood his true intentions, Chen Xi remained extremely silent. As far as Chen Xi was concerned, he never needed anyone to pave the way for him; he could walk on his own. This was Chen Xi's confidence in himself.

"What, are you surprised? To be honest, if it weren't for today's situation, I would never believe that someone as intelligent as you wouldn't have considered such a thing." Chen Ji said with a hint of melancholy, "The Chen family has a good reputation in some aspects, but the Liu family is the same. The Liu royal family is like some kind of special creature. Before sitting in that position, they still looked like humans, but after sitting in that position!"

Chen Xi looked at Chen Ji quietly. No need for further words; Chen Xi's mind had already automatically filled in the rest of the plot. Starting from the reigns of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, most of the Liu royal family members were ruthless political creatures. They were the kind of political creatures who would send you to your death, or even your entire clan, to your death if necessary.

“You can’t test people’s hearts,” Chen Xi said slowly.

"Yes," Chen Ji said calmly. He was satisfied with the result and didn't care about how he died. He originally thought that Liu Bei was a normal person and Liu Tong was a normal princess, so they would choose to kill the dog after the rabbit is caught, just like all monarchs throughout the past thousand years.

After all, this has always been the case, and Chen Xi has already reached the pinnacle of his position, with no further advancement possible. So what's next?
"The yellow birds chirp and flutter, alighting on the thorn. Who followed Duke Mu? Ziche Yanxi. This Yanxi, the best among a hundred. Approaching his grave, we tremble with fear. Oh, cruel Heaven, you have destroyed my good man! If he could be redeemed, I would give a hundred lives!" Chen Ji softly described the original text of the Book of Songs, the chilling Qin style.

"I don't want the strongest sage of my Chen clan since Emperor Shun to end like this," Chen Ji said with a hint of sorrow. "But, realistically speaking, Zichuan, what do you think your final fate should be, logically speaking?"

The best outcome would have been for Zhang Liang, and that's only because Chen Xi ran fast. If he had run slower, considering Chen Xi's age, he would have ended up like the Marquis of Huaiyin. That would have been the orthodox ending. What does morality or ability matter? When your existence threatens his rule, political creatures will do anything to kill you.

"So you think it's necessary to make everything clear before you die? So that I won't be intoxicated by the dream I've woven for myself?" Chen Xi, who had been somewhat silent, sat up straight and looked at Chen Ji with a cold smile.

“Yes, before today, I always thought so. I thought you had woven a grand dream for yourself and were indulging in it. I always believed that dreams would end, and the day you woke up would be your death day. So I went all out to try to make you wake up for a moment. After all, you have shown the power to crush the world on your own. As long as you don’t surrender, no one can defeat you. However, the biggest problem is here.” Chen Ji said with a hint of sorrow.

Before Chen Xi appeared here today, Chen Ji, the Confucian master of the world, viewed the world through the lens of history. He recognized Chen Xi's Dao and Law, and also recognized that even if Chen Xi could not realize his dream, and even if he would one day fail, everything Chen Xi left behind would surpass all his predecessors.

However, the deepest point in this logic is that Chen Ji is pessimistic about Chen Xi's future. This is not a question of whether he is strong or not, but that every strong member of the Chen family branch ultimately lost to himself. Did Sun Wu lose to his opponent? No, he lost to the lord he respected, Helü. Did Kuang Zhang lose to his opponent? No, he lost to the lord he served, King Min of Qi.

In Chen Ji's eyes, the extraordinary experts of the Chen family branch always revealed a kind of naivety, a self-righteous belief in their own extraordinary talent and vision, and that the people they chose could surpass all the previous experts with their assistance.

The lord I have chosen must be an outstanding person, a hero, and will surely be able to create new history with my assistance. Then, starting with Sun Tzu, they will all be forced to submit and meet a tragic end.

Are they not strong?

No, they were very strong. Even if they weren't as strong as Chen Zichuan, those people were terrifying beings who could sweep away all opponents in their time. But what was the ending?

None of them could be considered good. This was because the conditions during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods were relatively favorable. The power these people wielded was not easily subject to direct execution by their rulers. What about now?

In Chen Ji's view, the path Chen Xi is taking now is exactly the same as that of those powerful figures from the branch lineages back then. They all believed that they could single-handedly destroy the entire world. Well, there were indeed some of these people who could destroy the entire world, but those who could have destroyed the world were all defeated by their damned vision.

It wasn't that they lost; it was more like they gave up. For such a powerful person, the moment their chosen lord betrayed them was no less than the collapse of their Dao heart.

Can Chen Xi hold on? Chen Ji thinks he can't!

Since we can't withstand it, it's better to let Chen Xi face this cruel reality sooner rather than later.

Once this is understood, with Chen Xi's abilities, if he wants to play the role of a wise ruler and capable minister, he can naturally play it to the end and achieve the most realistic ending, as long as Chen Xi wants, instead of, as Chen Ji sees it now, handing over the other end of the noose to someone else to handle.

"Whether you usurp the throne or not, it doesn't really matter. After that last time, I, the only survivor, realized one fact: you do have the ability to single-handedly destroy the entire world." Chen Ji's tone was even somewhat cold. "Everything I've done before today has only one point: your life must be in your own hands."

Chen Xi remained silent. Chen Ji's words were convoluted, but Chen Xi understood them completely. In fact, Chen Xi agreed with them, or rather, agreed with them wholeheartedly.

If it weren't for Liu Bei, and if Liu Bei hadn't actually given up the throne for his own sake during the founding of the Yuanfeng era, Chen Ji's current choice would be the best choice.

Take control of everything, grasp all the intricate details, move forward correctly, and then act whatever you want, usurp whatever you want, or continue whatever you've always done and let history judge your past glories.

But who can blame him but Liu Bei?
The romance of Shu Han lies in this sense of morality and belief. The chaotic Three Kingdoms period is barely a page thick in the history books and has made virtually no contribution. So why is the Three Kingdoms so popular? Even if some people say that the Three Kingdoms is so popular that they should pay homage to Luo Guanzhong, please remember that the Three Kingdoms had been sung about for a thousand years before Luo Guanzhong.

Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms was created by drawing on the essence of the Records of the Three Kingdoms and combining it with the folk tales of the Three Kingdoms that had been passed down for thousands of years. In other words, the stories of the Three Kingdoms had already been sung for a thousand years before Luo Guanzhong.

There's a saying that goes, "Without Liu Bei, the chaotic world would just be an ordinary chaotic world; with Liu Bei, the chaotic world gained moral principles worth describing."

So when Chen Xi met Liu Bei, although he was reluctant, looking back over the past twenty years, Chen Xi knew very well that he had no other choice. Others, Chen Xi could unify the world, but they could not go this far. There was probably no one in this world who could trust Chen Xi like Liu Bei did.

Chen Xi had even carefully considered all historical time-travel novels. Except for those where the protagonist is the master of a power, they all had a fatal flaw: an extremely powerful time traveler and a wise but completely trusting lord.

This is impossible!

When Liu Bang captured Han Xin and took him with him before his death, and when Li Er insisted on taking Li Jing to the battlefield and monitoring him from time to time, history had already told the time traveler that there was absolutely no wise ruler in this world who would tolerate someone like him.

Every leader of a power that can be associated with wisdom, when faced with a minister like you who can make money, unite his subordinates, and solve almost any problem, will ask himself, "If you're so great, why did you join me? Wouldn't it be better to go it alone and be the leader?"
This is a fatal weakness, an issue that cannot be avoided.

Chen Xi didn't know how others solved this problem, but he knew that the answer Liu Bei gave before he spoke before Yuan Feng established his reign made him understand why a scholar would die for one who understands him, and it also made him completely let go of his doubts and tests.

Let's take a gamble, maybe it really will work, right?

Chen Xi didn't know if anyone else would make the same choice, but Liu Bei had indeed given his answer before he spoke. It should be noted that the outcome of Chen Xi's previous statement, regardless of the result, would have been far more serious than it is now.

Whether the outcome is good or bad, as long as you formally speak out to stop it, it's all the same.

Liu Bei is an exception, and Chen Xi is willing to believe in this exception.

Liu Bei was also a human being, and Chen Ji was unwilling to believe in an unprecedented exception; it was that simple.

"I thought the best outcome would be for me to be killed by the Prince of Jin. That would be the most dignified result I could imagine. But I really didn't expect that an exception that hadn't happened in the past thousand years would appear before my eyes." Chen Ji said with a complicated feeling that he didn't know how to describe.

"This is Lord Xuande, and this is why I am willing to follow him," Chen Xi said calmly. Then, with a wave of his hand, a long sword appeared from the atmosphere. This was the first time Chen Xi had used the power to break through boundaries within the Han Dynasty's territory.

Chen Ji paused for a moment, then laughed, a very happy laugh. "Very good. At least you did hide your talents. Although they were useless, at least you did hide your talents. Very good."

“Lord Xuande is aware of this power as well,” Chen Xi said calmly. “In fact, Lord Xuande is also afraid that he might become incompetent one day, and he is also afraid that he might become afraid of me. He has talked to me about these things. In order to avoid that day from coming, I have the power to mobilize troops, and in the navy, Lord Xuande has never placed anyone in my place to do things at will. That’s why Zhou Gongjin came into being.”

Indeed, Liu Bei allowed Chen Xi to operate freely in the naval sphere, but the result of Chen Xi's actions was not to strengthen Gan Ning and Taishi Ci, but to strengthen Zhou Yu.

Liu Bei didn't care about this. In fact, he felt that Zhou Yu was more likely to protect Chen Xi and help him through the danger period if he went mad one day, compared to Gan Ning and Taishi Ci.

Chen Xi did not express any opinion on this, only thinking that Liu Bei was crazy.

"I see." Chen Ji sighed softly. "I've done everything I should have done, said everything I should have said, and verified everything I should have verified. You are indeed stronger than all the previous members of the Chen family. You chose the right answer in the truest sense."

“Actually, Uncle, you don’t need to be so extreme,” Chen Xi said, shaking his head.

"In the eighty years I've lived through, in all the history I've witnessed, and in all the Han princesses I've seen, it's all the same. People can't escape their own perceptions. So all I can do is point out the greatest danger I've identified to you, and then you can go your own way." Chen Ji shook his head. He didn't regret anything he had done. It was better to leave everything to Chen Xi to decide than to leave everything to the Liu royal family and the Liu princesses to handle.

If Chen Xi's morality can uphold the status of a saint, then after recognizing reality and being prepared, Chen Xi can still do everything he once did after facing the cruelest truth. The Han cultural sphere can still be built, the Han Empire can still prosper, and the people can still live in a prosperous age.

If Chen Xi's morality cannot support a saint, and he is to take that final step, a prepared Chen Xi is better than an unprepared Chen Xi. After all, Chen Ji does not want to destroy this prosperous era.

What Chen Ji fears most is that Chen Xi will be caught off guard, and then the newcomers will become suspicious of Chen Xi and strike him down, killing him on the spot, or even if he survives, his Dao heart will be shattered, and he will be forced to fight the other side with the support of others. In that case, the world will be shattered and will never be as it is today.

Of course, Chen Ji estimated that, given Chen Xi's condition, he was unlikely to die suddenly even if he was ambushed. This guy was so strong that no matter what schemes others used, it was impossible for them to kill Chen Xi instantly. And as long as Chen Xi did not die on the spot, a terrible upheaval would inevitably break out later.

As for Chen Ji, the dreamlike ending he predicted remains unspoken. Chen Xi, realizing the harsh reality of the situation he envisioned, began to actively demonstrate his power to control the court, moving everything forward, maintaining his morality, and ultimately becoming the Duke of Zhou. The Han Dynasty was in its golden age, which was the best possible outcome.

The outcome was almost tragic. Chen Xi recognized the harsh reality and, with the encouragement of others, took that step, which made it impossible for the Chen family to clear their name. However, considering the prosperous era that Chen Xi created, it wouldn't be a big problem. After all, the affairs of important figures are not as important as the meat in the people's bowls and the money in their pockets.

The worst possible outcome is that he doesn't care about anything before he dies, and waits for the other families to launch their attack after his death. Chen Xi is tricked and ambushed, but due to the ridiculous strength of the attack, he is not killed. However, he is awakened from his dream, his Dao heart is shattered, and the others surround Chen Xi and turn against him. Then Chen Xi takes over.

Compared to the previous two endings, this one was, in Chen Ji's view, a very bad one. Putting aside everything else, the world would certainly be in chaos. Even after Chen Xi's Dao Heart shattered and he ascended the throne, he might not be as diligent as before, and later evaluations would all be questionable.
As for the worst-case scenario, Chen Xi is completely unprepared and is killed when the incident actually occurs. Then, ambitious people all over the world seek revenge for Chen Xi, and the faction that killed Chen Xi will definitely carry out a major purge in order to maintain stability. The whole country will fall into turmoil, morality and people's hearts will completely collapse, and the country will enter a bottomless era of humankind until the rules are reshaped.

So it's actually quite clear how Chen Ji should choose—given those inhuman bastards in the Liu royal family, I think I should at least choose an outcome that isn't too bad.

"As the Confucian master of the world, how could he not believe in human morality?" Chen Xi, having fully realized he had embarked on a dreamlike path, spoke these words with sarcasm.

"If I, as the Confucian master of the world, do not believe in human morality, then shouldn't we face this issue squarely?" Chen Ji was very frank about this, with an air of "If I don't believe in this, how can others dare to believe in it?"

“I can’t accuse you of sophistry on this point, but you need to take responsibility for your actions this time.” Chen Xi didn’t dwell on the matter further, but spoke to Chen Ji very seriously.

“Alright.” Chen Ji nodded. “After you leave here, go to Jia Wenhe’s place and ask him to clear up your doubts. As for me, I will be holding a funeral on the nineteenth day of the first lunar month. After all, if I hold a funeral today, it will only cause trouble for you.”

"Alright." Chen Xi stood up, shook his hands, and bowed to Chen Ji. "Respectfully seeing off Uncle."

After saying that, Chen Xi didn't respond to the part about going to Jia Xu's side, but instead turned and left.

"As the saying goes, a dying man's words are good. Zichuan, the path I'm telling you isn't the best path, but it's best to take your own destiny into your own hands." Chen Ji's voice rang in Chen Xi's ears as he was about to leave, but Chen Xi didn't even stop or turn back; he simply opened the door and left.

"Sigh." Chen Ji sighed softly, said nothing, picked up the medicine he had prepared beforehand and drank it down in one gulp. He had been mentally prepared from the beginning that he would end his life regardless of whether Chen Xi listened to him or not.

　It seems that only Liu Bei was truly trustworthy in this regard. No one else, not even any emperor of the Han Dynasty, nor even those from the Western Zhou, Eastern Zhou, Spring and Autumn, or Warring States periods, were trustworthy. Only Liu Bei truly stood out.
　　(End of this chapter)