Great Shang's Loyal Minister Cultivation Plan

To die or not to die-that was the question!

Without a doubt, Bi Gan was now riding a tiger he could not dismount, and Huang Feihu looked just as utterly lost...

Making a great show of seeking death had been a strategy the two of them agreed upon. They had intended to ask for death so that Di Xin would pardon them both and let the matter slide.

But now, Bi Gan had taken the offered slope to climb down, agreeing that the two of them should die to fulfill their reputations as loyal ministers. What were they supposed to do now?

"Left Chancellor, King of Wucheng, what are you waiting for? Rest assured, once you've dashed yourselves to death, I will make certain the history books record it properly: Great Shang had two loyal ministers, Bi Gan and Huang Feihu, the King of Wucheng. When rebels stormed the palace, they failed to protect their sovereign and took their own lives in atonement. Their loyalty moved heaven and earth and touched every heart! Come, you two, hurry up and die to fulfill your loyal reputations!"

Just then, Di Xin held his spear and looked at Bi Gan and Huang Feihu, urging them on with a beaming smile.

[Negative Emotion Points from Bi Gan +999...]

[Negative Emotion Points from Huang Feihu +999...]

At those words, Bi Gan and Huang Feihu looked even more grief-stricken. They wanted nothing more than to slap themselves hard across the face and ask why they had chosen this method, giving the tyrant an opening and leaving them stranded on a tiger they could not dismount.

"You two still haven't gone off to die. Could it be that everything you just said was a lie? Are you trying to deceive your sovereign?!"

Seeing their expressions, how could Di Xin fail to realize that these two men crying about "arriving too late to save their sovereign and atoning with death" were merely trying to secure their survival? He immediately sneered and urged them on relentlessly, adding a threatening edge to his words.

[Negative Emotion Points from Bi Gan +999...]

[Negative Emotion Points from Huang Feihu +999...]

Bi Gan and Huang Feihu exchanged a glance and smiled miserably. They had dug their own pit and buried themselves in it!

These two have given me so many negative emotion points in such a short time. Killing them seems a bit of a waste!

Looking at the backend data, Di Xin discovered that this old diehard and this turncoat had supplied him with over ten thousand negative emotion points in this brief span of time. His resolve to kill them suddenly began to waver.

Perhaps keeping them around was not a bad idea. Jiang Ziya had escaped, but he could keep these two as tools for farming negative emotion points.

After all, people who could provide such enormous amounts of negative emotion points were truly rare!

Besides, Huang Feihu and Bi Gan were both leading figures among the conservatives. Cutting off their heads like this might provoke a desperate counterattack from that faction, which would be troublesome. After all, he had yet to fully stabilize the court and had few capable people at his disposal.

Still, he needed a better method, one that could reap several rewards in a single stroke!

Just then, Bi Gan's gaze shifted, and he made his decision. Gritting his teeth, he dropped to his knees and choked out to Di Xin, "Your Majesty, what I said about atoning with death was merely an exaggeration. In truth, I do not wish to die. I still wish to serve Great Shang, burning with every last spark of light and heat I possess!"

"Your Majesty, I do not wish to die either. I, too, wish to continue serving Great Shang!" Seeing that Bi Gan had thrown away even his last shred of dignity, Huang Feihu no longer cared about his own. He immediately dropped to his knees as well and repeatedly kowtowed to Di Xin.

"So what you're saying is that your supposed offer to atone with death was nothing but a lie! Are you two simply itching to see me captured and killed by the rebels?!"

At those words, Di Xin's eyes shifted as an idea immediately took shape in his mind. His face then hardened, and he shouted.

"We would never dare! Your Majesty, spare our lives!"

Hearing him, Bi Gan and Huang Feihu immediately began kowtowing frantically, pleading over and over in the hope that Di Xin would show mercy and spare them.

"Soldiers, drag out the Left Chancellor and the King of Wucheng, these treacherous ministers who deceived their sovereign, and behead them!"

Di Xin snorted coldly, waved his hand, and gave the soldiers the order in a grim voice.

As soon as he spoke, several soldiers hurried forward, forced Bi Gan and Huang Feihu to the ground, and prepared to drag them outside to cut off their heads.

[Negative Emotion Points from Bi Gan +1599...]

[Negative Emotion Points from Huang Feihu +1599...]

As the soldiers dragged Bi Gan and Huang Feihu toward the doors, they watched Di Xin recede farther and farther away. They felt death closing in, the blade already laid against their necks.

They were filled with regret and bitterness. Why had they fought this muddleheaded ruler so ruthlessly, even trying to storm the palace and murder him? Otherwise, how could they have met with this calamity today?

"Hahaha, stop!" Just as Bi Gan and Huang Feihu sank into despair, a brilliant smile suddenly appeared on Di Xin's face. He took two steps forward and stopped the executioners, then looked at Bi Gan and Huang Feihu with a broad smile. "Left Chancellor, King of Wucheng, I was merely playing a joke on you. How could I bear to kill such loyal ministers...?"

"Your Majesty..."

Bi Gan and Huang Feihu had thought they were doomed. How could they have expected Di Xin to show compassion and release them? In an instant, they were so overwhelmed with relief that tears nearly spilled from their eyes.

"Besides, the Left Chancellor and the King of Wucheng are meritorious ministers who helped eliminate the rebels. You have done me a great service, and an even greater service to Great Shang's realm! Today, not only will I let you go, I will also entrust you with important duties!"

???

Meritorious ministers who helped eliminate the rebels?

At Di Xin's words, Bi Gan and Huang Feihu froze. Then an ominous foreboding rose uncontrollably in their hearts.

"What do you mean, Your Majesty? It was your peerless divine might and your own efforts that eliminated Yang Ren and the two rebels, Fang Xiang and Fang Bi. The King of Wucheng and I contributed nothing whatsoever..."

Bi Gan shook his head repeatedly, trying to wash his hands entirely of the deaths of Yang Ren, Fang Xiang, and Fang Bi.

"Yes, yes, yes! It was all thanks to Your Majesty's flourishing martial fortune. It had nothing whatsoever to do with the Left Chancellor or me."

Huang Feihu nodded repeatedly as he spoke.

Hearing their words, the surrounding soldiers immediately looked on with envy.

Scholars really were different. Such fine phrases rolled right off their tongues! If the soldiers had possessed that ability, they would not have been so painfully tongue-tied earlier!

"Without the Left Chancellor and the King of Wucheng tipping me off, how could I have prepared in advance, waited at ease for the weary enemy, and killed those three traitors? Do not be so modest. The credit for eliminating the rebels belongs to me, but half of it belongs to you as well!"

Di Xin shook his head and spoke with a beaming smile.

Boom!

The moment Di Xin said those words, Bi Gan and Huang Feihu felt their heads about to explode.

They had wondered how this tyrant could possibly have become softhearted enough to release them.

So this was his plan-to dump an enormous bucket of shit over their heads.

When Yang Ren, Fang Bi, and Fang Xiang launched their uprising, plenty of people had seen the three enter Bi Gan's chancellor's residence with Huang Feihu and knew that these two had ordered it. If they now became despicable villains who had betrayed Yang Ren and the Fang brothers, would the conservatives ever let them off?

"Uproar..."

Almost simultaneously, the soldiers erupted as well. They had wondered why Di Xin had not been the slightest bit alarmed by their dawn assault on the palace, despite how secret it had been. So Bi Gan and Huang Feihu had betrayed them and leaked their secrets, all to become Di Xin's loyal ministers!

Yet they had known nothing and had actually been used as weapons.

Grind... grind...

For a time, the sound of grinding teeth filled the air. Every soldier stared at Huang Feihu and Bi Gan like a tiger watching its prey, as though longing to tear them to pieces.

[Negative Emotion Points from Bi Gan +1999...]

[Negative Emotion Points from Huang Feihu +1999, cumulative total +49590.4...]

Those chilling sounds of grinding teeth, those vicious eyes, and those ears pricked up to listen made Bi Gan and Huang Feihu exchange a glance. The same thought immediately sprang into both their minds:

This tyrant had played them both!

Not only that, he had played them openly, forcibly turning black into white and transforming these two conservative opponents into faithless traitors-Di Xin's diehard loyalists!

"Left Chancellor, King of Wucheng, you were willing to bear the disgrace of betraying your allies just to keep me safe! Such loyal ministers, such devoted servants of your sovereign-tell me, how could I ever kill you? How could I possibly do it?!"

By then, Di Xin had strode forward and was looking at Bi Gan and Huang Feihu with a face full of emotion as he spoke fervently. In his heart, however, he sneered:

Bi Gan, Huang Feihu, weren't you planning to be turncoats? I refuse to let you have your way. I will cultivate you into loyal ministers-treacherous ministers devoted to their sovereign, despised by everyone!