"Master Ao, how are you going to persuade him?"
Minister Huang said sarcastically.
In the eyes of these capitulationists, Zuo Qiuming's banner has fallen, and you, a junior, still want to carry this banner? He has already thought about it. After the court meeting, he will send a letter to General Li outside the city, asking him to take good care of this junior and let him understand that the affairs of war are not something that a scholar like him who only talks about war on paper can get involved in.
"Rebellious ministers and traitors should be beheaded and their clans exterminated! This is the way to 'persuasion'."
Ao Ye glanced at the group of people, then bowed and spoke to the emperor on the throne.
"Your Majesty, please allow me."
The emperor looked at Ao Ye who had a determined expression and agreed to the request.
This scene naturally made the surrender faction furious.
After the morning court session, the emperor and his ministers met again. The emperor looked at Ao Ye in front of him and remained silent for a long time. He knew that Ao Ye could choose a more comfortable way to live. As long as he was willing, he could stand with those surrenderists and gain endless wealth, but he chose the most difficult path.
The people of the world are not just what we say.
"I will definitely destroy the enemy army when I go."
Ao Ye said to the emperor that he had never been so determined. Any temptation, wealth, beauty and women were all passing clouds to him. He only wanted to inherit the will of his teacher, revive the country and restore the glory of the empire.
"If we don't win."
"If the bandits have not been eliminated, Your Majesty can ask Zhang Zheng to take care of them."
The emperor burst into tears upon hearing this.
The king and his minister were no longer young. When Zuo Qiulong was around, they had a prime minister in his sixties, so few people hadn't noticed this. But now that the tree had fallen, they realized that the king and his minister were both over forty years old, and Zhang Zheng was even forty-nine, with his hair starting to turn white.
Time waits for no one.
The anti-insurgency army and the rebels engaged in combat.
The two armies fought, and both sides suffered losses. When Ao Ye arrived, the morale of the imperial army was low, and many middle-level officers were capitulationists. They had a negative attitude towards the war and only wanted to defend the city. On the first day of Ao Ye's supervision of the war, he dismissed these people and promoted a large number of officers loyal to the court. After that, he personally led the army to survey the enemy situation and formulate strategies. He led the army to defeat the rebels head-on. Under his leadership, the army was unstoppable.
The rebels were defeated and fled.
Ao Ye led his army to hunt and kill, killing all the way. All those who participated in the rebellion were killed as soon as he caught them. In the process, his momentum became stronger and stronger, and the enemy would be terrified when they heard his name. Finally, Ao Ye led his army to break into the rebels' lair, and the rebels who had been entrenched for more than 30 years were wiped out by him. All those who participated in the rebellion were beheaded by him.
Kill the entire clan!
At this moment, Ao Ye's reputation reached its peak. He returned to the court and was welcomed by the emperor himself.
This year, he was forty-nine years old.
winter.
Heavy snow.
Chen Luo's hair had turned white, and at the age of fifty-seven, he had experienced many vicissitudes of life, and his face was covered with wrinkles. Ao Ye and he rode side by side, and under the heavy snow, the horse hoof prints were fresh.
"My Lord, something bad has happened at home."
The servant was waiting outside the palace gate, and he immediately called out when he saw Chen Luo. The two looked sideways and found that the person who came was the housekeeper of the Zhang family, and also the old servant who had followed him the longest. Chen Luo's eyes were calm, and he understood.
"Brother, please go."
Ao Ye saluted and turned to the other side. In the capital today, no one dared to kill. All those who dared to show their heads were chopped off by Ao Ye. His power reached its peak and he fulfilled his promise.
He sat on the horse's back, letting the falling snow fall on his face.
The snow is cold.
Ao Ye raised his head, as if crying.
The snow fell silently, Ao Ye murmured as he looked at the swan feathers.
"Teacher, I have done what you have not done yet."
Chen Luo rushed back home.
A trace of disaster aura emerged from his body, and he went straight to the backyard. Just as he guessed, his sister-in-law Xin Hong was dying. He lay on the sickbed with a lingering look in his eyes.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, she subconsciously opened her eyes and saw a familiar figure.
"Uncle is back? He's not hurt, is he?"
The voice sounded just like yesterday, and the woman standing beside the bed had a gentle and sad look. Compared to Chen Luo, she was the one who had spent the longest time with Xin Hong in this family. When Chen Luo was away fighting, she was in charge of all the family affairs. Now seeing Xin Hong like this, she was the most uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry to have made my sister-in-law worried."
Chen Luo sat down beside the bed and held Xin Hong's rough hand. Her hair had turned white and her face was covered with wrinkles. She vaguely remembered the bride who wore a wedding dress and married into the Zhang family fifty years ago.
Also that year, bad news came from home that my father and brother were killed in battle, and my mother did not survive and passed away with them.
The same winter.
It’s this cold too.
Heavy snow.
Nineteen-year-old Xin Hong wiped away the tears from her eyes and learned to support herself and take care of her nine-year-old uncle. The cold laundry water soaked the piles of clothes, and the biting cold could not express her misery. With this rough work, she earned a few cents to support her family.
Her hands began to become rough that year.
"It's good that he is alright. When I go to the underworld in the future and see my father and your elder brother, I will also..."
A smile appeared on Xin Hong's face.
She talked a lot until the end, and there was no sound. There was still a smile on her face, as if she had fallen asleep.
Wen Wan beside her cried loudly, and some servants who were on good terms with Xin Hong also shed tears. Because she had suffered when she was young, Xin Hong was very kind to everyone around her. In the Zhang family, although she was not the mistress, her status was the most special.
Chen Luo put his hand down, feeling inexplicably uncomfortable.
This is a calamity of the inner demon.
It's his disaster.
If he didn't know that this was a calamity of the inner demon, could he still be as calm as he is now?
He pushed the door open and walked out, looking at the falling snow outside the yard.
This year, he was fifty-seven years old.
Standing in the snow, he stretched out his hand, and there was a black stone in his palm again.
The rebels were defeated, the imperial court was stabilized, and those ambitious people who were ready to make moves suppressed their inner desires under the deterrence of Ao Ye's name. The world was peaceful, and the emperor rewarded people according to their merits.
The head coach Ao Ye was appointed as prime minister and inherited his teacher's position.
Chen Luo also held a high position in the government and became a first-rank official.
Without the constraints of the ambitious, the three men revived the country, swept away all the surrenderists, promoted capable officials, and the empire's decline disappeared, and began to regain its glory. Its reputation spread far and wide, and appeared in the ears of foreign barbarians.
A few years later, the emperor died.
The new emperor ascended the throne.
Prime Minister's Mansion.
The yard where Zuo Qiulong and the other two used to make tea.
Ao Ye, with a white beard, sat on the main seat, which used to be Zuo Qiulong's seat, but now it was his. Chen Luo sat on the other side, and the two of them sat in the pavilion, warming their tea and chatting about current affairs, just like many years ago.
"Someone sent me a letter."
Ao Ye put the letter on the table, as if it were a replay of yesterday.
It's still a choice.
There are choices everywhere in life, and every choice is a life.
"regent?"
Chen Luo picked up the letter in his hand and took a look. The letter was unsigned, and the content inside was a suggestion. He hoped that Ao Ye could temporarily exercise the power of the emperor and manage the country. He wanted to prevent the new emperor from being unable to suppress those arrogant soldiers and generals after ascending the throne, causing the empire to decline again and making everyone's years of hard work go to waste.
All that is revealed in the words is concern for the country and consideration for the world. Only one purpose is hidden beneath the words.
It's power.
The familiar calamity aura emerged. This time, not only Ao Ye, but Chen Luo also had the calamity aura emerging from him.
Having reached this point of power, the next step is to change the world.
Few people who have enjoyed power can let it go. With Ao Ye's current reputation, if he were to exercise the power of "regent", no one inside or outside the court would object, not even the new emperor. If his ambition goes further, it is not impossible for him to act like Wang Mang.
On one side is the power over the world, on the other side is returning to ordinary life.
"What are you going to choose?"
Chen Luo looked at Ao Ye. He also wanted to know whether Ao Ye could still stick to his original intention after decades of ups and downs in officialdom.
Ao Ye shook the teacup and slowly poured the brewed tea into the cup. Just like the teacher yesterday, he picked up the letter on the table and threw it into the stove. The words on the paper were burned to black ash along with the fire, and the ambition to dominate the world was also burned.
"It's time to retreat."
He stood up and without looking at the letter again, he turned back to the inner room.
As the choice was made, the calamity energy on Ao Ye suddenly faded, and the energy in the inner demon calamity began to flow into the demon seed like crazy. Chen Luo also stood up. As a deputy prime minister, he could make the same choice as Ao Ye, but he had brought this calamity upon himself, so how could he not see through it?
The next morning.
The two old ministers resigned, causing a stir in the government and the country.
For the empire, these two people are like the pillars of the country, especially Ao Ye. The land dyed red by the rebellion in the past is still glowing with color. If these two people give a speech at the same time, it will have a huge impact on the empire.
The new monarch tried to persuade them to stay several times and finally agreed to their resignation.
Two carriages drove away from the capital.
Ao Ye returned to his hometown. His life was even more miserable than Chen Luo's. After retirement, he only had a wife, a servant, and an old horse. Chen Luo's side didn't have many people either. Apart from his wife Wen Wan, there were only the housekeeper and two servants.
Under the setting sun, the two said goodbye.
The carriage drove away.
On the swaying carriage, Ao Ye opened the curtains and looked at the distant capital city, feeling a little melancholy.
Finally I let it go, and felt relieved.
Chen Luo was also watching. He looked up at the sky, observing the calamity in the world. The calamity of the inner demon is born in the heart, and only those with a firm heart can survive it. He who practiced the Heart Demon Art had also been studying the calamity of the inner demon. The nature of the mind is illusory, and few people can explain what it is. But it does exist and affects every practitioner.
Just like in history books, everyone who has left his name in history, no matter whether he is a great sage or a great villain, has his own persistence.
They know what they want to do and work towards that goal.
The same should be true for cultivators.
The heavenly tribulation will screen out the true 'immortal cultivators', and only those with a single mind and a single nature can become immortals.
If it was just a simple accumulation of resources, the superiors would have become immortals long ago, so how could there be "mortals cultivating immortality"? (End of this chapter)
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