The Fight to Break the Deadlock

Inside the Confucius Temple, Zhou Ba, Xia Kuan, Dang Lu, Miao Sheng, Xu Yan, Qing Ji, and others were filled with righteous indignation.

When Shen Peigong shouted loudly, everyone quickly stopped talking and looked at the person who had crawled out from behind the Sage Kong.

"Why are you hiding behind the statue of the saint?" Shen Peigong asked, frowning.

"It's almost Chinese New Year, and we wanted to give our ancestors a bath," Kong Zhong said, head bowed. "But we didn't expect to run into this situation. It's inconvenient for us to bathe, so we'll have to wait until you're finished!"

"Kong Zhong, you always like to lower your head like this when you lie!"

Shen Peigong glanced at Kong Zhong and felt that Kong Zhong was indeed not suited to lying.

With Kong Zhong's ability to escape from the ground, if he wanted to evade them, he could have left long ago instead of hiding behind the statue of Kong.

"What do you know? What do you want to hear?" Shen Peigong asked slowly, "Do you know about the deaths of Zhao Wan and Wang Zang?"

"Shen Pei, what kind of attitude is this? My elder brother is the current head of the Kong family, how come he's always being scolded like a son by you all!"

Before Kong Zhong could answer, another head popped out from behind the Sage Kong. Ye Siqian jumped up and down, cursing as he emerged.

"Since we're going to clean the Sage Kong, let's do it openly and honestly! Come out here!"

Shen Peigong frowned, directly ignoring Ye Siqian's questioning and giving a reprimand.

"Could it be that you are involved in the deaths of Zhao Wan and Wang Zang?"

The assembled Confucian scholars watched as Li Mingrui and Zhu Jiusi emerged again, feeling as if almost all of the collateral relatives of the Confucius family had crawled under the Sage Kong.

A normal person wouldn't dare to take such a serious offense; if caught, they'd be punished.

However, the Confucius Temple was built in the name of the Confucius family ancestors, so there is nothing wrong with the Confucius family doing such things.

The key issue right now is that the timing of the Kong family's actions is too unusual. Not only Shen Peigong noticed something was wrong, but Zhou Ba, Xia Kuan, and others also sensed something was amiss.

Zhou Ba glanced at Shen Peigong, then quickly asked a question.

"Could it be that you leaked our Confucian School internal secrets?" Xia Kuan added.

"What do you mean?" Ye Siqian shouted, "Shen Pei is one thing, but who do you two think you are to question us!"

"Even if we did everything, so what?" Li Mingrui said, "At worst, you can take away the Sage Kong edict, then proclaim that you are the true Confucian School orthodoxy, stripping us of everything."

"Don't talk nonsense. I just mortgaged the Imperial Edict of Sage Kong two days ago," Kong Zhong said with a headache. "If Shen Pei wants the Imperial Edict, I really can't produce it!"

"What? The Sage Kong edict has been mortgaged?"

Shen Peigong's focus remained on the deaths of Zhao Wan and Wang Zang.

These two men, who had not been physically tortured, also died by suicide during interrogation, leaving Shen Peigong with a pent-up anger that he could not vent.

He couldn't understand why Zhao Wan and Wang Zang had come to this.

Even if the two men had minor injuries, Shen Peigong could attribute them to torture to extract confessions, thereby demanding explanations from the court and even dragging down some important figures involved. He would then use agreements to quickly elevate other great Confucian scholars to key positions in the court.

But everything disappointed Shen Peigong.

He didn't particularly care about the deaths of the two great Confucian scholars as long as it could be made up for, but the deaths of Zhao Wan and Wang Zang were of no value.

Some wanted justice, others wanted to expose the traitors, but Shen Peigong only wanted to find the key point in order to find a favorable opportunity for the development of Confucian School.

But this opportunity for development didn't materialize, and the Sage Kong that Kong Zhong was keeping disappeared, causing Shen Peigong to feel a dull ache in his liver.

Kong Zhong himself is nothing special; it is the Kong family's control over the orthodoxy of Sage Kong that is the core of Confucian School's inheritance and the gathering of people's hearts.

Kong Zhong can have the surname Kong, and so can other people. You can claim to be a legitimate member of the Kong family, and so can others.

The reason why the Confucius family didn't have these messy affairs was because they possessed the sacred decree of Sage Kong.

The imperial edict can only be invoked by direct descendants of Confucius, and is also regarded as a spiritual legacy of Sage Kong.

Upon suddenly hearing that Kong Zhong had actually mortgaged such a valuable possession, Shen Peigong couldn't help but feel angry at his lack of self-respect, thinking that the Kong family was being far too generous with their money.

"To whom was the Sage Kong Decree pledged?" Shen Peigong asked, frowning.

"He's a scholar who helped Anguo break through the borders," Ye Siqian said proudly. "My brother Kong always repays kindness with kindness; if he says he'll give it, he'll definitely give it!"

"The teacher has been teaching Anguo for so long, and I haven't seen you deliver the imperial edict to him," Zhou Ba said indignantly.

"After teaching for so long, you still haven't broken through to the next realm? How can you be so shameless..."

Inside the Confucius Temple, the voices of the crowd mingled together.

Shen Peigong couldn't help but frown.

He is now fairly certain that Kong Zhong and others are involved in the court's conviction of Zhao Wan and Wang Zang.

These things didn't need to be explicitly stated; Shen Peigong could guess them pretty accurately.

The fact that Kong Anguo could travel from Lu to Chang'an City suggests that the Kong family has most likely pledged allegiance to the imperial court, and it's even highly probable that the imperial decree has been handed over to the court.

The new emperor's methods were unlikely to reach this level, which led Shen Peigong to turn his attention to the powerful Empress Dowager.

If it weren't for the Empress Dowager's repeated interference, the Confucian School would have been able to control half of the Great Han Dynasty's court in just six months.

Now, the Great Han imperial family is targeting Confucian School and has even brought in the King of Huainan as an ally, making the situation even more unfavorable for Confucian School.

"The only way to break this deadlock is to defeat the dominant force. His Majesty and the King of Huainan will inevitably try to win over the Confucian School to assist them in the struggle for victory!"

Punishing Kong Zhong and others for what's already done is futile. Even killing Kong Zhong would not bring any benefit; on the contrary, it would only worsen the situation for the Lu School of Confucian School.

The accountability for the deaths of Zhao Wan and Wang Zang is not important; what is important is that Shen Peigong must break the deadlock and lead the future of Confucian School.

If they lose this match, they will have almost no chance of coming back and will be no different from those dilapidated and outdated schools of thought.

I need you to do something for me!

Shen Peigong took a deep breath, glanced at the arguing Kong Zhong and others, and raised his hands to signal everyone to be quiet.

"If you accomplish this, I will forgive and forget whatever you have done before," Shen Pei said fairly.

"Shen Gong, do you keep your word?" Kong Zhong asked.

"When have I ever gone back on my word?" Shen Peigong shook his head and said.

"Then what do you want us to do?" Kong Zhong asked. "We're not good at fighting, so let's make it clear first that we won't participate in magical duels. Our Kong family's wealth is almost all gone; the Prince of Lu has taken most of our family's assets, and there are no more treasures left for you!"

"No magic tricks, no treasures!"

Shen Peigong pursed his lips.

In terms of fighting skills, Kong Zhong and the others were no match for Zhou Ba.

As for the treasures of the Kong family, they were indeed quite good, but since they had all been given away by Sage Kong, there was nothing left for Kong Zhong to gain.

He didn't expect Kong Zhong and others to help him in these two areas.

"All I need is for you to dig a tunnel," Shen Peigong said. "That shouldn't be difficult for you!"

"You should have said so earlier!" Kong Zhong patted his chest and assured him, "I can dig up two for you, let alone one!"

"Then it's settled!"

Shen Peigong nodded.

Unable to rush into Anle Palace, strangle the Empress Dowager, and escape unscathed, he was left with no choice but to seek a way to approach Anle Palace, set up an altar, and perform a ritual to fight back.

If he wins this battle, the court will be thrown into chaos, and Confucian School will be able to intervene once again.

If he loses this battle, the Lu School of Confucian School will have to withdraw from Chang'an City and never again have the thought of challenging the court and bringing glory to the world.