Chapter 200: See Through

When Yan Liqiang thought about Ye Tiancheng trying to subvert him, he found it funny at first, but after a split second, he quickly realized the situation. He knew that from Ye Tiancheng’s point of view, he was just an ordinary fifteen-year-old young man.

With this sort of power at this age, he could be considered excellent among those that were the same age as him in Pingxi Prefecture, but in the eyes of someone like Ye Tiancheng, he was simply a small white rabbit in the big bad wolf’s eyes. Yan Liqiang was the perfect subject for Ye Tiancheng to use his psychological abilities on.

“Prefectural Governor, what’s the use of saying these things now?” Yan Liqiang sighed as he looked at Ye Tiancheng inside the room. “You are now Patrol Inspector Sun’s prisoner and I am his attendant. Your clan has already been completely destroyed by Provincial Governor Lei Sitong of Gan Province. Although I am still young and I haven’t experienced much in this world, do you think you can still bribe me even at this moment?”

“My position as Prefectural Governor was appointed by the imperial court. Other than the imperial court, no one else including Provincial Governor Lei Sitong of Gan Province will be able to dismiss me from my position. Even though Sun Bingchen is a Patrol Inspector, he only holds the responsibility of a Patrol Inspector alone and has no right to proclaim otherwise. Even if I have a problem, he can respond to the imperial court and not take me down. Right now, what they have done has already gone beyond their authority. As long as the imperial court hasn’t issued an official order, my current position as Prefectural Governor of Pingxi Prefecture will still stand. As long as I can make it to the Imperial Capital, the Grand Chancellor will definitely take responsibility for me and the Ye Clan — the Grand Chancellor will help me vindicate my injustice, reclaim my innocence, and bring about justice for the Ye Clan!” If an ordinary person were to see Ye Tiancheng’s impassion and dramatic expression, they would have been easily swept away by his deception.

“Prefectural Governor, do you know why Lord Sun asked me to come here and watch you?” Yan Liqiang sneered, “If you still want to go to the Imperial Capital, making it out alive from Gan Province will be considered a great feat. Lord Lei Sitong might have already thought of hundreds of ways to kill you in Gan Province. You better pray to the Heavens to make it out alive of Gan Province first before you do anything. Besides, what can you do even if you do reach the Imperial Capital? Lord Sun was dispatched by the Emperor himself…”

“Hearing that, I realize that you might not fully understand the situation of the Great Han Empire and this Imperial Capital, am I correct?” Ye Tiancheng looked at Yan Liqiang with a strange expression as he continued, “Do you want me to explain so that you will gain a better understanding of the situation?”

“What does the situation of the Great Han Empire and the Imperial Capital have to do with you?”

“The Ye Clan and I serve as a backbone to the Grand Chancellor. Of course, the situation regarding the Great Han Empire and the Imperial Capital has everything to do with me!” Ye Tiancheng curled a smile and continued, “I believe Sun Bingchen never told you about these before, right? If you knew about these things earlier, you wouldn’t have been easily disoriented by the others. I’m afraid the promises Sun Bingchen made to you are nothing but lies. You can’t take them as truths!”

“Is that so? Tell me about it, I’m all ears!” Yan Liqiang said, composed.

“Then let me ask you a question. Which one do you think is relatively stronger, the monarchical power of the Great Han Empire or the imperial power?”

Yan Liqiang did not think twice and replied, “Of course it’s the monarchical power…”

Yan Liqiang quickly reacted and immediately shut his mouth despite already blurting out the word ‘monarchical’. From the perspective of a normal person, especially those who had been brainwashed by various television dramas in Yan Liqiang’s past life, when a modern person was asked that question, most of them would definitely say that the monarchical power was the strongest. However, in reality, the question of whether the monarchical power was stronger than the imperial power or vice versa was still very difficult to answer.

Apart from the Silver Continent in this world, taking China for example, the contrasting monarchical power and imperial power in a great number of dynasties based on Yan Liqiang’s knowledge of the ancient history in his past life was considered very common, almost as common as gambling. Everyone’s perception was that the Grand Chancellor must listen to the Emperor’s orders — a pattern that slowly developed after the Ming Dynasty. Before the Ming Dynasty, which was the period where the Qin, Han, Tang, and Song Dynasties had reigned, no one could really tell whether the imperial power or monarchical power was stronger. In some dynasties, and a certain historical period, imperial power was able to outweigh monarchical power. For example, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, imperial power was mightier than monarchical power. Even during the Tang and Song Dynasties, there were conflicts between the comparison of those powers and the conflicts hadn’t stopped since. An Emperor would run the state with the scholar-bureaucrats. In this case, the Grand Chancellor would represent the role of the scholar-bureaucrat.

On the other hand, despite the similarities between the Silver Continent’s Great Han Empire and ancient China, each of them had their own attributes as well. The Great Han Empire had an Emperor and a Grand Chancellor. In a world that prioritized martial arts, the question of whether monarchical power or imperial power was stronger remained debatable…

“You must have realized it by now. In the Great Han Empire, it has always been the monarchical power that is stronger if the Emperor is powerful, and the imperial power if the Grand Chancellor is more powerful. If a person doesn’t have the power that allows him to rule the world, then it will be hard to determine how much authority that person has through his so-called power. Ever since the reign of Emperor Ying, there hasn’t been a peerless cultivator with the cultivation of a Martial Emperor over the past three generations in the royal household in nearly two hundred years. Meanwhile, Emperor Yuanping of this generation has always been frail and sick since he was young. There’s nothing to say about his power and cultivation foundation either. On the other hand, the Grand Chancellor is majestic and splendid, and he’s one of the few peerless cultivators that progressed to Grade One Martial Emperor. In the Imperial Capital, imperial power and monarchical power are respectively stronger and weaker toward each other. Is there a need to say more?” Ye Tiancheng looked at Yan Liqiang with a gaze of wisdom and continued, “After knowing this, you mustn’t make any errors. That Sun Bingchen shouldn’t even think of continuing his role as the Patrol Inspector after returning to the Imperial Capital this time. I fear that he’s already in the situation where he can’t save himself!”

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“If everything is as you said, then why did Gan Province result in the situation it’s in now despite the absolute power the Grand Chancellor holds as well as you and the Ye Clan’s role as his backbone?” Yan Liqiang calmly asked.

A glint of cold aura flashed across Ye Tiancheng’s eyes as Yan Liqiang asked that question. However, within a moment, Ye Tiancheng’s cold expression turned into fury before he began speaking. “Like they say, ‘A good horse never stumbles.’ The Ye Clan and I did not expect for both Sun Bingchen and Lei Sitong to be this bold to team up with each other and make a move against my clan…”

“I heard that Lei Sitong has the backing of the Empire’s Doyen Assembly!”

“That’s right. The Empire’s Doyen Assembly is indeed the Great Han Empire’s third force aside from the monarchical power and imperial power!” Ye Tiancheng calmed down and continued, “But in the Imperial Capital, the influence the Grand Chancellor has on the Doyen Assembly is definitely more powerful than that of the Emperor himself. Lei Sitong’s current actions against the Ye Clan are mostly in line with the intention to frame us due to his own personal revenge. If he wants to become an overlord in the Gan Province, he will have to get rid of us, the Ye Clan. I believe that what he has done must not have reached the Doyen Assembly yet. Even so, that doesn’t mean that the Doyen Assembly will support the mess that he created in Gan Province. This is the reason why he wanted to eradicate the entire Ye Clan because he knows that we will definitely overturn the situation as long as one person from the Ye Clan lives on…”

There were some truths and lies in what Ye Tiancheng said. However, after listening to his words, Yan Liqiang felt like he had been enlightened all of a sudden. His mind was previously shrouded in fog, unable to see things clearly and unable to understand many aspects of the situation. Right now, however, he was able to gain a clear view of Sun Bingchen, Lei Sitong, and the things behind Ye Tiancheng along with those comparisons…

To put it simply, the recent incident in Gan Province was an act of retaliation by the Emperor and the Doyen Assembly toward the present Grand Chancellor who held power in and out of the court. Even though the Emperor and the Doyen Assembly teamed up just once, both parties had their disagreements, particularly on their interest demand. What the Doyen Assembly, which was akin to a vassal of the Great Han Empire, was most concerned about was the other party’s control and access to the territory. On the other hand, the Emperor, who supported Sun Bingchen, was most concerned about the situation’s effect on the central authority of the Imperial Capital…

Therefore, everyone that fell into Lei Sitong’s hands ended up dead. On the other hand, Ye Tiancheng, who fell into Sun Bingchen’s hands, ended up still alive. In addition, Sun Bingchen wanted to bring Ye Tiancheng back to the Imperial Capital as his own bargaining chip.

Thinking ahead, if Yan Liqiang were to put himself in the shoes of the benefactor behind Ye Tiancheng and the Ye Clan, what kind of thoughts would be running through his head if he knew Ye Tiancheng had fallen to the hands of Sun Bingchen?

Since the Emperor wanted Sun Bingchen to bring Ye Tiancheng back to the Imperial Capital, he would definitely prevent him from taking Ye Tiancheng back at all costs. Whatever the enemies agreed on, he would oppose. Whatever the enemies opposed, he would agree to. Those were the basic principles of a political battle — and to achieve this goal, there were two methods. One was to rescue Ye Tiancheng from Sun Bingchen’s grasp before he could enter the Imperial Capital. The other was to kill Ye Tiancheng before he could even step into the Imperial Capital.

After losing Gan Province and gaining ill reputation, the Ye Clan was done for. In the eyes of his benefactor, Ye Tiancheng had lost his value. Moreover, Ye Tiancheng was already painted as a traitor, giving him a notorious name that could possibly bring misfortune to those who had their names attached to him. Hence, those people would only feel relieved once Ye Tiancheng was dead. As long as Ye Tiancheng was dead, any evidence he had would be useless as dead men tell no tales.

Right now, Ye Tiancheng had already presumed to be abandoned and deserted by his comrades.

The Emperor and the Doyen Assembly must have reached a tacit agreement prior to the Ye Clan’s wipeout. Their abrupt cooperation was able to destroy the Ye Clan in an instant…

After the Ye Clan was destroyed, the Grand Chancellor and the Doyen Assembly wished to have the Ye Clan completely eradicated. If so, would both of them reach out for the same agreement this time around too?

Previously, Yan Liqiang did not have a full understanding of the situation at all. All he had been thinking about was the glory of the Imperial Capital. However, at that moment, Yan Liqiang could not help but feel a chill down his spine and shivered after he had realized the implications behind the situation.

If he truly went back to the Imperial Capital and brought Ye Tiancheng along, there was a possibility that his dangerous journey with Sun Bingchen would be filled with surprises beyond one’s expectations.

Just when Yan Liqiang had figured these things out, two servants from the posthouse appeared in the aisle across him with a tray of dishes in hand and smiles across their faces…