Victory Is Justice

Having witnessed Kong Zhong and his group's performance in Yangling, Zhang Xuezhou felt he shouldn't have too much faith in them.

Kong Anguo and Du Wencai failed to rescue the person and instead got themselves involved, which may even have implicated Rong Tianding and Yi Shuo as well.

"Aren't there monks holding a ritual to exorcise Sha Qi at Yangling? What are Shen Peigong and his group doing here?"

Under normal circumstances, Zhang Xuezhou believed that Shen Peigong should have dug a secret passage in Chang'an City, leading to the location where he needed to ambush his opponent, catching them off guard.

However, Shen Peigong and his men did not cause trouble in Chang'an City, but instead went to a village next to Yangling.

Zhang Xuezhou felt that Yangling was a high-risk area, and it was not suitable to stay in such a place for long, let alone dig holes or drill.

However, no matter what Zhang Xuezhou said, he couldn't change anyone else's decision. And if asked to get Rong Tianding and the others out of trouble, Zhang Xuezhou couldn't do it.

His spirit drifted away from the thatched hut where Shen Peigong was.

Having been discovered once in the Confucius Temple, Zhang Xuezhou now knew how to maintain a safe distance from a great spiritual practitioner like Shen Peigong.

His spirit drifted aimlessly, following Rong Tianding into the distant thatched kitchen.

"Cousin, how did you end up here?"

Rong Tianding Rong Tianding is edible, but it can also be cooked.

As a Aristocratic Clan of butchers, Rong Tianding can not only slaughter pigs, but also cook excellent dishes made with slaughtered pigs.

They had been providing food for Zhang Xuezhou, but Zhang Xuezhou never expected that Rong Tianding would still be doing this after he was arrested.

"That acupuncturist woman said she'd take me to a great place to find treasure, I never imagined it would be such a great place!"

Upon suddenly hearing Zhang Xuezhou's voice, Rong Tianding did not show any surprise. He slapped the spatula loudly and quickly exchanged whispers with Zhang Xuezhou.

"I'm a cook now, and the acupuncturist is over there helping to treat that old Master Shen. We're not being mistreated, but we can't leave if we want to; there are people guarding the place and not letting us pass," Rong Tianding said.

"I can't get you out of here right now, I'll try again tonight!"

Zhang Xuezhou is weak in direct combat, but he is quite adept at escaping.

If Rong Tianding can be located, he could quickly abduct him once he uses his demonic wings.

But Zhang Xuezhou's abilities were somewhat clandestine, so he could only wait until nightfall.

He whispered a few times, and then he heard voices asking questions from outside the kitchen.

"I'm cleaning the wok. A clean wok is essential for cooking good pork, and it will be more comfortable for you to eat in this cold weather!"

Rong Tianding replied, only to be told to keep his voice down, before the questioning voices faded away.

"Cousin?"

When Rong Tianding called out again in a low voice, but Zhang Xuezhou did not respond, he knew that Zhang Xuezhou had already run away quickly.

He shook the pot and pan, then resigned himself to cooking.

Half an hour later, Rong Tianding heard a hand holding a porcelain bottle reach in through the window of the thatched house, and Zhang Xuezhou's voice also came in a low voice.

"Add this to tonight's meal, and let them all have a little!"

The moment the small porcelain bottle landed in Rong Tianding's palm, his hand quickly dimmed.

"Hey, the one whose name sounds like she likes having kids, is our food ready yet?"

"It'll be ready soon!"

Rong Tianding quickly stuffed the porcelain bottle into his clothes and then replied to someone outside.

"Hurry up, it's too cold to work in this weather, you need to eat more!"

The complaining voice came from Ye Siqian.

A large group of people gathered here, and everyone needed to eat and drink. Rong Tianding was almost constantly cutting meat, tending the fire, and working.

When Rong Tianding came out of the thatched house carrying a basin of meat, he saw Ye Siqian already running over in a flustered manner.

"It was so cold down there I was shivering, and it was incredibly difficult to dig. It was practically like chiseling through rock. Even setting traps in imperial tombs wasn't this hard!"

"We've run into frozen ground, there's nothing we can do. Besides, this is a large hole we dug, not a small tunnel we usually pass through. If we can get through here as soon as possible and find the trap hole we encountered earlier, then we've successfully completed our mission!"

Then Kong Zhong's voice came through, followed by Du Wencai and the others clamoring for food.

"Ahem, once you've cleared the way to Yangling, this task will be complete!"

Shen Peigong coughed twice, clearly not satisfied with this cold place either.

He poked at the charcoal in front of him and then reached out to warm his hands by the fire.

The great cultivator had a strong resistance to cold, but it was indeed very uncomfortable to be in such a cold for more than ten days. Moreover, Shen Peigong felt that the land in Yangling seemed unusually cold, which caused his cough, which he had suffered from fighting Dong Zhongshu, to relapse.

With the passage about to be opened, the new emperor, the empress dowager, the King of Huainan, and others will appear at the Dharma assembly one after another. This is a good opportunity for him to make his move.

Compared to storming the palace, this kind of regional combat is undoubtedly safer and reduces the opponent's reliance on geographical advantages.

He agreed to Kong Zhong's suggestion and then signaled to everyone to finish the task quickly, which would be the end of it.

"Shen Gong's words are certainly trustworthy!"

Kong Zhong muttered a reply, then looked helplessly at Kong Anguo, who was sitting obediently next to Shen Peigong.

If his son hadn't been there, he would have actually dug a few holes and locked Shen Peigong and the others in the underground passage after they entered.

Having already confessed once at the palace, Kong Zhong didn't mind confessing a second time.

After all, last time someone dug up His Majesty's ancestral graves, but this time they were driven here to dig up His Majesty's ancestral graves. Such a thing deserves to be beheaded.

Kong Zhong was quite concerned about this.

He could only eat meat in silence to replenish his body's needs.

After finishing two catties of pork and half a catty of millet cakes, Kong Zhong took a sip of hot soup, then called Ye Siqian and the others to jump back into the area not far behind Shen Peigong.

"Teacher, what you are doing is tantamount to going against the grain. Do you really have to do such a thing?"

Only Kong Aiguo, Yi Shuo, and Shen Peigong remained in the thatched hut. Thinking of the helpless look in his father's eyes, Kong Anguo couldn't help but ask a question.

"What is rebellion?" Shen Peigong asked.

"To rebel is to disrupt the imperial court," Kong Anguo replied.

"Was it a rebellion for Liu Bang and Xiang Yu to capture Xianyang?" Shen Peigong asked again.

"Qin Er Shi was tyrannical, so their uprising was naturally not considered rebellion," Kong Anguo replied, his face flushed.

"But in the eyes of the Qin Dynasty at that time, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu were traitors," Shen Peigong said. "That was the most orthodox court at the time. The court classified Liu Bang and Xiang Yu as traitors and rebels, but why don't you recognize them as traitors? Think about it carefully, and think about what 'traitor' really means!"

Shen Peigong's few words left Kong Anguo speechless, unable to refute him.

In his education, any act against the dynasty was considered rebellion.

However, Shen Peigong's reasoned and well-founded arguments left Kong Anguo with no room for rebuttal.

"Victory makes one king, defeat makes one a bandit; winning is justice!"

Shen Peigong silently recited this in his heart.

For a cultivator like Kong Anguo, whose cultivation level is very weak, everything is no greater than the law and justice, and his understanding is limited to a certain range.

However, the higher one's cultivation level, the more conflicting one's perceptions become when one possesses power equal to that of those who enjoy privilege and wealth.

Why should others have what we don't? Why should others be high and mighty while we have to be controlled? Why should others enjoy luxury while we are required to be dutiful and frugal? Why should those people enjoy themselves while countless others have to shed blood...?

If he were to look for reasons, Shen Peigong would have a thousand in his mind.

When you have enough reasons in your heart, all your actions will tend to conform to the fairness you believe in.

This fairness is no longer defined by the imperial court, but rather by their own internal judgment.

Shen Peigong didn't want to rebel against anyone or cause chaos. He simply wanted fairness between the Confucian School and the imperial court, instead of using them as pawns and causing them to die a miserable death like Zhao Wan and Wang Zang.