Chapter 305 None of these people shall live.

Meng Xiao flattered, "Your wisdom far surpasses that of the wise and capable men of the past. If it weren't for you leading us to withstand the pressure and risk our lives to remonstrate, we wouldn't have such a good life. From now on, we will follow your lead!"

The others bowed their hands and heads at the same time, all expressing their loyalty.

Sun Yunzheng stroked his long beard and shook his head, saying:

"Of course, this is inseparable from your support... Don't worry, when I become Xiao Qidi's royal tutor and the prime minister who is second only to the emperor, you will definitely benefit. Once the enfeoffment is restored, I will ask him to give each of you a large piece of land, so that you can all dominate a region like the feudal lords of the past!"

"Thank you, Lord Sun!" The crowd immediately knelt down and kowtowed to him.

The conservative old ministers, harboring their own selfish motives, had already begun to fantasize, unaware that after they left, Xiao Qidi directly summoned Lin Sui and the others to his study.

The seven people stood around the desk, looking at each other, unsure of what Xiao Qidi was up to.

Xing Lie, being the youngest, couldn't hold back and blurted out, "Uncle Qidi, whether you'll be angry or not, I have to say this: don't actually beat Fairy Jinli into some kind of damn witch, or else I... I'll turn against you!"

Duan Wu and the others broke out in a cold sweat, feeling both nervous and admiring of him.

Only this kid dares to speak to Xiao Qidi like that.

Xiao Qidi raised his hand and slapped Xing Lie on the head, "You brat, I was the one who delivered you! And you want to turn against me?"

Xing Lie raised his chin and said, "I don't care. If things get really bad, you can just put me back in my mother's womb! I promise I won't fight back."

*Pfft*

Li He couldn't help but burst out laughing, and the other five people's mouths twitched as well.

Xiao Qidi sat down behind his desk and said seriously, "Do you guys also think I would actually believe the nonsense spouted by those old fogies with ulterior motives?"

Duan Wu chuckled and said, "No, no, we're not stupid. We just... um..."

"Just what?" Xiao Qidi's eyes darkened slightly.

Duan Wu stammered and dared not continue, nudging Li Yao with his elbow.

Li Yao looked around, giving Qi Zhan and Mu Cheng meaningful glances.

Qi Zhan frowned, about to speak, but Mu Cheng interrupted him, saying, "We're both pure martial artists, not good with words. Perhaps Lin Sui can explain it clearly."

"What? Me?" Lin Sui was embarrassed. She secretly glared at Mu Cheng, then cautiously said, "Everything that people like Sun Yunzheng have done is ultimately an attempt to regain their original power and status. Their proposal to restore the feudal system is even more insane. In that case, the China we finally managed to unify will be torn apart again..."

"Alright, alright!" Li He crossed her arms and tilted her head to interrupt, "Do you need to tell me all this? We can all see that you're not the only one who has read the history books left by Sister Jinli."

Lin Sui chuckled inwardly. She had deliberately been beating around the bush to avoid the key point that everyone present knew perfectly well. As soon as Li He spoke up, she immediately threw out the question, "So, what are your brilliant ideas?"

Li He pouted, not that she hadn't seen through Lin Sui's little scheme, but since she didn't mind, she said directly, "Xing Lie has already made it clear, and you're still cowering. I despise you."

Duan Wu and the others looked up directly at the ceiling.

Everyone knows that Xing Lie and he never had the same period as Xiao Qidi when they were ruler and subject, so naturally they have no psychological burden.

Li He looked at Xiao Qidi and said seriously, "Brother Qidi, I know you will definitely deal with those old bastards who go against the general trend of Xuan Kingdom and have ulterior motives, but I want to ask you now what your attitude is towards Sister Jinli."

Xiao Qidi raised an eyebrow. "Does my attitude matter? And do you even know what her attitude is?"

Li He said, "I don't know what exactly happened between you and Sister Jinli, but I personally witnessed the extraordinary understanding and affection between you two—"

"Shut up!" Xiao Qidi's face turned cold. "I have no feelings for her anymore!"

Li He stepped forward and continued:

"If you really had no feelings for her, you wouldn't act like your tail has been stepped on whenever she's mentioned! But what I can't figure out is whether you still love her, or... hate her!"

"On the one hand, you ignore all the activities that the people spontaneously commemorate her, and on the other hand, you often stare blankly in the direction of Linxian City! On the surface, you never personally visit the hundreds of researchers she sent back then, but in private, you repeatedly tell us that we must take good care of them and do our best to support their work. Sometimes you even ask us indirectly if those researchers have mentioned a certain person!"

"Can't you tell us what really happened back then? Can't you tell us why she didn't come back, or why you didn't go look for her?"

"Li He! Get out of here!" Xiao Qidi roared in anger.

Xiao Qidi hasn't had such an outburst in a long time.

Duan Wu and the others were so frightened that they broke out in a cold sweat, and even Xing Lie shrank back.

Li He remained motionless, staring at Xiao Qidi's reddened eyes, and said:

"Xiao Qidi! You listen to me!"

"If it weren't for Sister Jinli's appearance, you would have inevitably become like Xiao Qidi in the secret history of the world she lived in, a human pig imprisoned behind the puppet emperor!"

"The world you painstakingly planned and schemed to unify has fallen into the hands of powerful ministers who control a puppet emperor! You will die without seeing the unification of the Great Xuan, and you will die without receiving the glory you deserve!"

"And many years later, the Great Xuan Dynasty will be destroyed by Xuan Er Shi and treacherous officials, plunging the world into chaos and causing widespread suffering! You will also bear the infamy!"

"And then what? It will evolve into a struggle between me and Xing Lie, he will die tragically at my hands, and I will gain the dynasty by stepping on thousands of corpses! Then the feudal dynasties will continue for more than two thousand years, with countless people fighting for the throne, causing bloodshed and turmoil to repeat itself in China!"

"Can't you see how many potential tragedies Sister Jinli has averted for our world, for China?! If you continue to have an ambiguous attitude towards her, don't blame me for turning against you!"

A series of rebukes, each word resounding and piercing the hearts of those present.

Lin Sui couldn't help but marvel inwardly. This kid truly deserved to be called a super-powerful figure who could have created the next dynasty and further consolidated China.

He dared to confront Xiao Qidi so directly.

That's awesome, absolutely awesome.

Lin Sui glanced at Duan Wu and the others, and saw the word "admiration" in their eyes.

boom!

An invisible aura erupted from Xiao Qidi's body, and the air seemed to carry the faint sound of a dragon's roar.

The documents on the desk were thrown all over the room, and Li He was so shocked that he staggered backward.

Even though Lin Sui and the others were three meters away, they almost lost their footing.

Only Xing Lie, standing beside Xiao Qidi, managed to withstand the aura by channeling his inner strength and combining it with his powerful physique, only managing to retreat a small half-step.

Li He groaned, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and suddenly laughed.

"Hey, look! You're still practicing the Heavenly Profound Heart Sutra that Sister Jinli left you, and your power has increased several times over. If you have no feelings for her anymore, why are you still practicing it? You might as well just cripple your martial arts!"

"It's not that I don't want to find her! It's that she abandoned me!" Xiao Qidi roared suddenly, tears welling up in his eyes instantly. "I miss her, I miss her so much... I've always missed her!"

Finally, under extreme pressure from Li He, who risked his life, he finally revealed his true feelings.

After saying this, Xiao Qidi seemed to have lost all his soul.

His tall frame slumped into the chair, his head bowed in despair, his hands covering his face.

Tears streamed between her slender fingers.

The emotions that had been building up inside him for fifteen years poured out at this moment.

An unprecedented vulnerability was exposed to others at this moment.

Lin Sui and the others lowered their eyes, their expressions solemn.

After a long silence, Li He said softly:

"Qidi, I'm sorry... If I don't do this, we'll never know what you're really thinking. If you're angry with me, then... hit me. But could you please explain more clearly what you mean by 'she abandoned you'?"

Xiao Qidi did not respond to this. He lowered his head, wiped his eyes, turned his chair around, and turned his back to the speaker, his tone becoming devoid of any emotion.

“Sun Yunzheng has already voluntarily handed over the list of his gang members, including the Confucian scholars and so-called alchemists who colluded with him. You must ensure that none of these people are allowed to live.”

Duan Wu and the others stood at attention in unison and said, "Yes!"

“Furthermore,” Xiao Qidi said, rubbing his forehead with one hand, his eyes shrouded in the shadow of his brow, “all documents left behind by the various states that involve praising and extolling the monarch and instructing future generations to follow the principles of monarchy and subjecthood should be burned, including their compiled ‘True Dragon Emperor’s Book’.”

Lin Sui pondered, "These kinds of works are mostly by Confucian scholars, and have been accumulated over hundreds of years, with very deep roots..."

“Then dig up all the roots,” Xiao Qidi said.

Lin Sui added, "In that case, should we completely erase everything related to Confucian scholars?"

Xiao Qidi shook his head slightly. "You have also read the history books of another world. Although later emperors dismissed all other schools of thought and exclusively promoted Confucianism, using its system of rules and regulations for rulers and ministers, which made it a powerful ideological tool for two thousand years of feudal rule, it is not without its merits. For example, loyalty, filial piety, propriety and righteousness, as long as they are not blind loyalty, filial piety, propriety and righteousness, can be good moral education."

“Well, let’s do it this way,” Lin Sui suggested. “Eliminate everything related to it first, but I will extract its essence and incorporate it into the rules and regulations of Xuan Kingdom and its books. I will no longer associate it with Confucianism, so that no one in the future will use distorted Confucianism to harm society.”

Xiao Qidi slowly exhaled a breath of stale air and said softly, "Go and do it."

"yes."

Lin Sui and the others turned and left.

Xing Lie wanted to stay in the study with Xiao Qidi, but Li He secretly dragged him away.

That afternoon, a large-scale search was launched within the territory of Xuan Kingdom.

In the following two weeks, all 1,355 Confucian scholars and alchemists led by Sun Yunzheng were arrested without exception.

And after a nationwide proclamation was issued listing their crimes and the evidence, they were all executed.

A large number of related books were also collected and publicly burned to demonstrate the Xuan Kingdom's determination to unify China.

Then, the unification ceremony was held as scheduled.

At the ceremony, Xiao Qidi announced that from now on, everyone in the Great Xuan Kingdom, including himself, would be a child of the Chinese nation, and there would be no longer any distinction between superiors and inferiors. All systems would continue to be implemented according to the new system, and the ancient system before unification would be completely abolished.

Besides members of all departments and institutions and countless ordinary people who came spontaneously, several hundred researchers were also present at the unification ceremony.

They were all honored guests.

After the ceremony, Xiao Qidi met with them alone, and they talked from afternoon until late at night.

It wasn't until the early hours of the morning that Xiao Qidi reluctantly sent someone to take them back.

However, before leaving, he stopped several experts in physics.

"Have you found a way to transcend time and space?" Xiao Qidi asked expectantly.

They all shook their heads.

One of the leading physicists said:

“Mr. Xiao, even in our original world, technology hadn’t advanced to the point of being able to travel through time. The reason and method by which we traveled through time remains a mystery. Perhaps many theories can explain it, but... ultimately, we can only explain it; we don’t yet have the ability to actually do it.”

Hsiao Chi-ti said, "I have also read the research books you have written over the years. According to your theories, since it has been proven in fact that time travel and parallel worlds exist, it means that you will definitely master the relevant technologies in the future, right?"

"Yes, that's for sure, but we don't know exactly when. However, what's basically certain is that it will be earlier than our world."

"Huh? What does this mean?" Xiao Qidi's eyes lit up.

"Mr. Xiao, think about it. Because of time travel, your era has gained the ideas and technologies of more than two thousand years in the future. This is equivalent to shortening the gradual progress and exploration of more than two thousand years. Perhaps by the time this era is two thousand years from now, people will already be able to freely travel between different time periods, or even explore the entire solar system. Of course, these are all speculations. The specifics will depend on the situation, because the development of science and technology is not always simultaneous in all aspects. There are many unexpected situations, and it also involves various applicable materials..."

Xiao Qidi listened intently and then pressed for details: "What unexpected situations might arise?"

The other party smiled and said, "What can be called an unexpected situation is beyond what we can fully imagine. To give a simple example, in the vast world, there may be situations like this—for example, having the ability to travel through time and space, but not being able to reach other planets in the same space-time; or having reached the pinnacle of technology on this planet, but still not being able to travel through time and space."

"Why is this happening?" Xiao Qidi asked, puzzled.

The other party patiently gave another example: "Take a real-world example. In human civilization, some civilizations, because their locations lacked metal ores, never developed iron smelting technology until their extinction. Even if they developed the technology of utilizing stone to its peak, they could not make any further breakthroughs. This means that a certain technology may not be too difficult, but rather limited by the availability of materials."

"If our world happens to be missing a certain key material, wouldn't it be impossible to achieve time travel? And you would never be able to go back?" Xiao Qidi's eyes gradually dimmed, and his heart seemed to stop beating.

This not only means that these researchers can no longer go home.

It also meant that he would never see Ning Jinli again...