Chapter 956: Do you believe it or not? (2/2)
He said, “Bai Yanqing has already died by the East Qin crown prince’s blade. His body fell into the canyon below.”
“Dead?”
“Bai Yanqing’s really dead?!”
“This…”
The three elders from Cloud Realm Trade Consortium immediately asked, “Your Royal Highness, why didn’t you escort Bai Yanqing down the mountain for questioning? There was an agreement to interrogate him about the internal conflicts and confront East Qin!”
“Bai Yanqing wasn’t killed by this princess. You should ask the East Qin crown prince this question instead,” Han Yunxi replied simply.
Third Elder sent Long Feiye a questioning look, but he only ignored the man as if he didn’t exist. Shi Jiuxia looked towards the elders of Cloud Realm Trade Consortium and grew serious. “Everyone, there’s no need for a confrontation between East and West Qin anymore. The truth of the civil war that tore apart the Great Qin Empire lay neither with East nor West Qin, but…”
“Elder Shi, you sure care about a lot!” someone yelled from the stands. “When did it get to be your turn to talk about the enmity between East and West Qin? Neither of its sovereigns are in any rush, so why are you? What a joke!”
The tone was extremely sardonic. But his voice echoed the views of everyone else present. Shi Jiuxia was an elder of Hundred Poisons Sect and the true man in charge of the sect. What right did he have to stand here and speak? He’d led the Hundred Poisons Sect disciples to do so many terrible things that it was already fortunate he wasn’t a public enemy! Despite this, Shi Jiuxia managed to remain calm and shot back, “What are the origins of this young man? Why are you meddling in other people’s business? What’s your rush?”
The speaker was neither from East nor West Qin, so he naturally had no retort.
But Baili Qiyu couldn’t take any more suspense. He asked, “Shi Jiuxia, what do you count for? There’s no need for you to stick your mouth in East and West Qin’s affairs! The civil war began because West Qin harbored evil intentions and instigated it. What the hell do you know? Stop spewing nonsense and get lost!”
Shi Jiuxia wasn’t head elder for nothing. He stood his ground and said, “This one has no right to speak of East and West Qin’s enmity, but as the Hundred Poisons Sect’s head elder, I have the right to denounce Bai Yanqing! And publicize his deeds to everyone!”
The crowd finally quieted down. Shi Jiuxia’s excuse was more than enough!
“The enmity between East and West Qin was all because of the Wind Clan. They claimed that East Qin destroyed the dam to protect an iron ore mine and even spread rumors to destroy the reputation of its heir apparent. East Qin was provoked by the Wind Clan into sending out its troops, but the Wind Clan then created such a fuss that both imperial clans misunderstood the other. Today, Bai Yanqing was even willing to sacrifice Hundred Poisons Sect despite his position as the former sect leader to sow discord between the West Qin princess and East Qin crown prince. As the head of Council of Elders, I have a duty to publicize the facts.”
Overwhelming silence swept across the crowd as everyone’s expressions grew complicated. They never expected these results. In fact, they didn’t dare to believe it! Shi Jiuxia waited a while before continuing. “If this one hadn’t witnessed Bai Yanqing arguing with the East and West Qin sovereigns with my own eyes and overheard the truth, I and the rest of the Hundred Poisons Sect disciples would still be hoodwinked! Bai Yanqing had been standing at the bottom of the mountain this entire time while those two attacked the sect just so he could use the chance to provoke both sides into a confrontation!”
Hearing this, everyone understood why Bai Yanqing had refused to leave his post. Many more began to believe Shi Jiuxia’s words, including members of the East and West Qin factions. Shi Jiuxia took another step forward and declared, “Everyone, I, Shi Jiuxia earned the grace of the West Qin princess’s mercy. From this day on, I’m willing to change Hundred Poisons Sect for the better from the inside out and submit to the Poison Sect. Today I came to personally expose Bai Yanqing’s true face and the Wind Clan’s sinister schemes. I hope that you all will give Hundred Poisons Sect a chance to start anew!”
The large crowd greeted him with silence. Nobody cared what Hundred Poisons Sect was planning, too lost in the truth behind the East and West Qin conflict. There was no right or wrong,just one huge misunderstanding?
This...how could this be?
After all, the enmity between both sides had lasted through three to four successive generations! If Shi Jiuxia had come right up to expose the truth, then no one would believe him. Instead, they might suspect that he’d been bribed. But Shi Jiuxia had used his status as Hundred Poisons Sect’s elder to denounce Bai Yanqing and expose his misdeeds. The effects were completely different and convinced at least half the crowd. Baili Qiyu’s gaze was complicated. He couldn’t help but feel that something was off, but didn’t know what. The old foxes of Cloud Realm Trade Consortium were even less easily fooled.
Third Elder asked coldly, “Shi Jiuxia, why should we believe you?”
Shi Jiuxia was no easy foe, so he only smiled coldly and replied, “This one is only speaking on behalf of Hundred Poisons Sect. Even the likes of you have no right to discuss matters of East and West Qin, much less myself. Only what the masters say count!” He added, “The West Qin princess has already accepted this one’s surrender. If Third Elder doesn’t believe me, heheh, then…”
Shi Jiuxia’s words were quite well-said. If Third Elder doubted his words, then he would be doubting Han Yunxi as well! Who would publicly admit to distrusting their own master unless they were planning to rebel?