Hearing this, Li Xiaoling felt that the Great Qin Emperor before her was not as brutal and cold-blooded as the rumors claimed. She let out a faint breath, calming her tense fear, then dropped to her knees and kowtowed. "This common girl is a member of the Confucian School. I beg Your Majesty to pardon the Confucian School and stop the slaughter of its people. This common girl asks for nothing else—this is her only request."
"Confucian School?"
At those two words, Zhao Fu's expression turned cold. How had someone from the Confucian School slipped into the imperial examination? The Confucian School was a banned doctrine in Great Qin; anyone connected to it was to be severely punished.
Yet this woman before him had not been severely punished. She even dared to appear before him, openly admit that she belonged to the Confucian School, and plead on its behalf. She truly was far too bold.
Zhao Fu's gaze settled on the woman as he said angrily, "Do you know you are courting death? If you had concealed your identity, you might even have gained Great Qin's trust and been heavily employed. Yet you exposed your own identity and even seek leniency for the Confucian School. Everything happening now was brought upon them by the Confucian School itself."
Feeling Zhao Fu's chill, a trace of fear surged through Li Xiaoling's heart, but she still raised her head and said with firm eyes, "Your Majesty, those were decisions made by the upper ranks of the Confucian School. They have nothing to do with countless ordinary Confucian disciples. Since ancient times, all scholars have counted as half Confucian. Does Your Majesty know how many people of the Confucian School you have already killed?"
"Heh!"
Zhao Fu gave a cold laugh. "Do you think