Star Gate

Chapter 757: Knowing Full Well (I)

The minister didn’t say anything, he didn’t make a single sound. Perhaps that outcome was what some wanted to see. Or even what Li Hao wished to see. The minister could vaguely sense strong presences sweeping through the area. What did Li Hao want to do?

Are you trying to force us into a duel to the death with you?

The minister continued to be silent. Perhaps the royal family was waiting for his resistance. It would be the perfect pretext for war between the nine ministries and Li Hao. But... he’d worked for the royal family for so many years and the Ministry of Internal Affairs was the royal representative among the nine... The royal family was growing ever more mysterious in their actions.

That was not a good sign!

Skystar royalty should be taking a stand now, whether in support of Li Hao or the nine ministries. Whatever it was, this should not be their reaction. It was good to watch a fight from the sidelines, but they should not be forgetting that Internal Affairs was their external representative and the only one among the nine who supported them!

Are you not going to say a word even when my daughter is being taken?

The chubby minister watched silently. Then take her! His daughter hadn’t committed any serious crimes, she’d simply fled from earlier custody. Could Li Hao sentence her to death for that? Didn’t he present himself as a champion of justice, that he strictly administered the law?

Then his daughter would be held in custody at most. Those who wanted to watch a show or see him stick his neck out... could keep waiting!

You guys are cherishing a snake in your embrace, just you wait!

“Take her!” Liu Long waited a while outside the front doors and didn’t see anything else developing. He swiftly gave the order for the group to retreat and vanished with Mu Xiaorong, leaving astonished onlookers in his wake. The Ministry of Internal Affairs had stayed out of this business!

......

People on all sides were mobilizing, whether Night Watchers, Silver Moon Guards, or others. Various nobles were being arrested again!

In front of a prince’s manor.

The Stable Mountain Prince was dressed in royal robes and wearing a cold expression on his face. There was a large crowd gathered in front of his manor.

Although Hu Qingfeng looked visibly timid, he set his jaw and roared, “Stable Mountain Prince, are you going to shelter criminals in your manor? That one is just the son of a steward, are you going to defy the law?!”

The prince remained silent. He didn’t want to submit to this course of action as it came down to a matter of dignity, but the royal family had sent word for him to cooperate. He wanted to snarl back at them, that this was a royal humiliation!

However, the one in the palace seemed to wish to see this kind of scene develop. The minister looked in the direction of the palace and sighed. What do you have in mind, royal brother? The Steppe Prince is dead and you don’t make a move to shelter Internal Affairs. There’s even people kicking in the doors of your brother’s manor now.

Li Hao is slapping the faces of the nine ministries and the royal family. Must it come to absolute chaos beneath the heavens?

He didn’t wish for this to happen as the dynasty was the result of their family’s efforts. It was their nation, but his royal brother seemed to seek to overthrow it all and break fresh ground again. It is not enough to be the liege of a prosperous dynasty, he wanted to be the founding sovereign of a new nation!

All of this could not be explained otherwise. This royal brother of his was not only weakening the nine ministries, he was also whittling away at royal forces. Those who wished to strengthen the royal family were being diminished because his royal brother appeared to want to start all over again!

What... grandiose ambitions!

The Stable Mountain Prince himself didn’t know if he was jeering at or disappointed in his brother. He looked at his incredibly nervous steward and slowly said, “Bring him out!”

“Your Highness!” The loyal, elderly steward was aghast and began to despair.

The prince looked at him and transmitted after a long moment, “This is an order from the royal family!”

Color drained from the steward’s face. Had they been abandoned?

It made sense! The Steppe Prince had died on a whim! Not to mention, the one being given up was just his son, the son of a servant.

A young man was hauled out of the manor moments later. He looked at his father, but the steward lowered his head and grit his teeth, not saying anything. Such was their fault when they depended on another. When he ran, it was the prince’s orders who told him to run. He hadn’t wanted to and didn’t have the courage to.

However, the prince’s men had said it was fine! That Li Hao wouldn’t dare offend the royal family! Who was speaking now that he was being taken right in front of the prince?

The young man quietly walked with the Night Watchers and was clapped in irons. He looked back at his elderly father and smiled ghastly. He... probably wasn’t coming back after this. He was different from others—he had indeed committed crimes. Li Hao wouldn’t necessarily let him off the hook.

Could they take care of Li Hao in ten days? Was he to wait again? He’d waited again and again in these matters. They’d said that everything would be fine last time, but three hundred heads were still hanging from the northern city gates!

The young man smiled with despair, but didn’t say anything. He actually wanted to yell at Li Hao that there were barely any innocent nobles in the royal city, but... he didn’t dare do so. Even though knowing that he was going to die, he still didn’t dare give voice to his feelings.

Li Hao... He murmured to himself. You’re a vicious one, Li Hao! No one will be forgetting you even if you die in ten days. It looked like he was the only interesting person in the Skystar City these days.

......

Large numbers of Silver Moon Guards and Night Watchers mobilized in all directions. Noble after noble was arrested! The operation extended through all streets and alleys, startling all of Skystar City. The Skystar Commander Office hadn’t even officially opened for operations yet! Everyone had thought that last time’s uproar had concluded, but... it looked like that wasn\'t the case.

“They’ve hit up the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a prince’s manor, duke manors, and marquis manors... The people who ran off last time have been arrested again. Are they going to be executed this time?”

“I don’t know.”

“This guy’s really something though. It’s only been a few days since he killed so many people. I thought it was all over, but... he’s really going for it. He’s going hard to the very end!”

“Will there... will there be another big battle this time?”

“I don’t know.”

“......” The crowd conversed in low voices, a few hints more expectant than last time, but even more apprehensive. Was this really a good course of action?

They actually wanted Li Hao to proceed slowly, even if it did lead to some disappointment. Some had escaped last time, but quite a few nobles had died as well. In fact, the nobles on a whole were a lot more subdued lately. The people had seen some changes and felt that... it was good enough.

Indeed, that was how easily satisfied people were. They felt that it was good enough that Li Hao was present as a deterrent. But now, the young man was starting anew. He felt that he hadn’t succeeded last time, so he wanted to fully find his footing and finish what he hadn’t been able to last time.

“The Skystar Martial Academy... Did you guys hear about that?”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to let your kids attend?”

“That’s... that’s too dangerous, isn’t it?”

“......” The crowd also quietly conversed if they wanted to attend the Skystar Martial Academy. The possibility was too frightening! A reckoning would be swiftly forthcoming once Li Hao died, so they didn’t dare.

Indeed, the people didn’t dare. As excited as they might be, they didn’t dare take the risk.

......

But at this moment, someone did dare.

“I want to sign up for the Skystar Martial Academy!” someone shouted in a large yard.

“Sign your ass! Sign up for death? The Skystar Commander Office may be in the spotlight now, but do you think it’ll be able to suppress the nobles that have stood for two hundred years? I’ll break your legs if you dare go!”

“Dad, am I supposed to not take risks and be like you for the rest of my life? I’ll just be a minor merchant and give offerings to powerful personages here and there. I kneel when I see nobles and bow when I see the powerful...”

“You bastard, I do it all for you! At least we have food to eat and clothes to wear, you...”

“This isn’t what I want! I just want to be able to lift my head. Even if I die, I want to die with dignity!”

“Can you eat dignity? It’s fine if you go, but once the Skystar Martial Academy is no more... our home may be no more as well!”

The young man fell silent. He would insist on his course of action if he had only himself to worry about, but his father was right. Once Li Hao was cut down, then his family might be soon to follow.

Hesitation like this was occurring in all parts of the city.

......

Li Hao didn’t care about any of this. He waited in the large courtyard of the northern city manor. Deputy Zhou looked at him.

“What kind of outcome do you want to see?” the deputy asked after a long moment.

“I want them to come kill me!” Li Hao smiled.

Deputy Zhou nodded. He could see that. The young man wanted nothing more than for everyone to kill him, to force everyone to kill him. Why else would he undertake all of these actions otherwise?

“They waited until the last day last time,” Li Hao laughed. “They might do that again if I didn’t do anything. There’s no need for that! Passively waiting is not my style.”

There was no fear of the nine ministries actually killing him. He had the Windchaser Boots at the ready. The existences in the ruins couldn’t emerge in the world, so what could people do if they wanted to kill him?

The ruins!

They had to lure Li Hao into the ruins if they wanted to kill him through paying the smallest price possible. Utilizing a set of ancient ruins was the only possibility that seemed feasible to the young man, and there happened to be a set that was about to be available!

He was almost worried for the nine ministries, how could they lure him in? How were they to make him lower his guard? He’d thought of everything for them. The only question remaining stymied him as well—how were they to naturally lure him inside?