The Confucian ministers looked startled at his words. "Great General Hu Ze?"
Yue Dongyang was somewhat bewildered and asked hesitantly, "Master Taibai, isn't the Great General one of the Demon Empress's partisans?"
Li Chen said, "You misunderstand, gentlemen. Although Great General Hu Ze is a Demon Cultivator by origin, his heart has always been set on the Confucian Dao. He upholds his principles and observes propriety. He would never wallow in the same filth as the Demon Empress's faction!"
"To tell you the truth, when I first arrived after my distant travels, destitute and without anyone to turn to, he was the first to help me. He also helped print and distribute my Analects. Though he seems a wild, unrestrained man from the mountains and forests, he is truly a friend to our scholarly community."
Yue Dongyang and the others were astonished. "What? He helped print and distribute the Analects?"
This was the supreme sacred text of the Confucian Dao. That deed alone counted as a meritorious contribution.
For a moment, the Confucian ministers' feelings grew rather complicated.
"Then shall we let him try?"
Of course Hu Ze had to try. Whatever Yue Dongyang and the others thought, he truly had no choice but to save this Master Taibai.
That afternoon, with Li Chen controlling several roles at once, Hu Ze's Avatar entered the city and the palace to seek an audience with the Empress Dowager-a case of saving himself.
When Hu Meiniang learned why Hu Ze had come, she flew into a rage. "Brother Ze, why are you speaking up for Tang Taibai too? He clearly looks down on me, and he even wrote poems mocking me! I don't care. This time, I'll make him pay!"
Hu Ze's Avatar did not argue. He merely stated a fact. "Kill a