Master Yin threw back his head and laughed several times, then gently shook it. "So you can only forcibly conscript the elite of the private armies belonging to those noble clans dissatisfied with you. On one hand, you can fob me off; on the other, you can weaken those nobles' military strength! But that is precisely my opportunity! My special envoys contacted these princes and nobles long ago. They now follow my every command!"
Ying Zheng stared coldly at Master Yin, his face dark as he gave a grim laugh. "Once I escape, their entire clans will be exterminated."
A low laugh drifted over from afar. An old man dressed in a commandery prince's dragon robe chuckled darkly. "Your Majesty, do you still have that chance? Heh, the one we serve loyally is Emperor Ying Zheng of the Blood Qin Empire—not some old demon ghost that died ten thousand years ago yet refuses to stay dead! Ying Zheng, founding emperor of the Blood Qin Empire? You should have gone into the grave long ago. How do you still have the face to sit on the imperial throne?"
Another duke shouted harshly, "Heaven and earth bear witness: today, in slaying the demon emperor, we are setting right the court of the Blood Qin and upholding the righteous spirit of this human realm! Since this demon emperor emerged, he has drowned the Blood Qin Empire in a sea of blood and committed countless sins! Then he stirred up monstrous flames of war, leaving countless subjects homeless and adrift. The Western Continent is choked with smoke and dust, with casualties beyond count! So long as the demon emperor lives, the human realm cannot be cleansed!"
Another commandery prince shouted as though bolstering his own courage, "Everyone speaks the truth! If the demon emperor