Chapter 2265: Justice for Whom

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The Ge family's old residence in Fucheng ignited this night. The glory of an ancient and renowned family was the most fervent fuel, making the flames even more rampant.

Ge Fei's movements were very nimble; he didn't let his own father suffer, nor did he let the family members within this grand residence feel too much pain. Although he was naturally cruel and enjoyed seeing his prey suffer before death, to do a person of propriety, he could not let his own kin be too tormented.

Ge Fei was already determined to inherit his teacher's legacy, strengthen this country. This was also the best choice for him. As Gao Zheng's openly acknowledged sole direct descendant, he could naturally inherit everything of Gao Zheng, including that huge reputation. He and Yue Country were already one in honor.

Killing people is the simplest thing; the complexity lies instead after killing people. Previously, when he broke out and defeated Chu Country's chief envoy, Zhong Li Yan, that was not an easy fight. Being defeated but unable to kill made him feel even more stifled. Afterwards, Senior Brother Wen still told him to wait on the mountain for a while, to avoid the wind. This "avoiding wind" thing, he could only understand after entering the world. In the Shan Hai Realm, there was no such thing. In that place where the weak ate the strong, you needed to always show strength. Showing even half a point of weakness would lead to being surrounded and eaten by evil beasts.

His descent from the mountain this time was to act as the representative of the awakening aristocratic families, to lead the reform of the aristocratic families, and embrace the new policy. With the court above led by the emperor and prime minister, the aristocratic families' meritorious old guard in the middle with him, the first heavenly pride from the most ancient and renowned family, as a model, the vast common people below providing support, the legacy of Gao Zheng from history, the pressure from Chu Country externally, and secretly, a knife creating terror through crazy slaughter... With so many parties coming together, there was no reason for Yue Country's national policy reform not to pass.

As for whether it would succeed, whether it could truly be as Gong Zhiliang described in court, "the heavens clear and the earth bright, great prosperity for ten thousand years," that still needed time to verify. Theoretically, there was no problem with him, Ge Fei, being the model for the aristocratic families. But the words "model" are easy to say but difficult to do. To be watched by the world, one must withstand the scrutiny of the world. Especially having set up such a high framework, to perfectly inherit Gao Zheng's reputation and assets, and win huge public support, then every word and action must be carefully considered.

How to gather the remnants of the old nobles and lead them to embrace reform at this stormy moment was a complex problem. Of course, before this, he still had one thing to do— That wanted criminal from Xuan Country, the butcher secretly manipulated by Chu Country... this person's fresh blood would be used to dye red his determination, adorn his prestige, and help him win the support of the remnants of the old nobles.

What was that person called? Seemed to be... Zhang Jie Fu. A person who betrayed everything for revenge in exchange for power. The result he wanted he already possessed; the rest of his life was all about paying the price. Ge Fei could very easily end this person's suffering and collect this "tail."

The matter could have been simpler. The whereabouts of the "Residual Night Butcher," who caused all of Yue land to be anxious, were fundamentally no secret to the Yue Country emperor. But Senior Brother Wen was very cautious; he wanted Zhang Jie Fu to never know who was pulling his strings until death. Of course, Zhang Jie Fu perhaps didn't care either. So, he, Ge Fei, still needed to investigate the person's whereabouts himself. The due hunting process should all be followed. It didn't matter; as long as no other people interfered, Yue Country was just another piece of jungle, and he was very skilled at hunting.

"Fire! Fire! The Ge family is on fire!""The Ge family has experts like clouds, how can they not suppress a fire disaster? There must be a problem!""Quick, quick, quick, report to the officials!""Young Master Ge hasn't come back? What exactly happened that even he can't suppress it?"

When Ge Fei opened his ear consciousness, the clamor of this city swarmed in. The Ge family was still very supported in Fucheng. Ge Yu, when he was alive, did not spend less time pacifying, providing relief during disaster years, and repairing roads in abundant years. At least on the surface, he did not give people too much idle talk. The neighbors in this city also showed surface concern at this time.

Tonight, the Ge family would be reborn in flames, abandoning its corrupt and greedy old self, and welcoming a clean and sincere new birth. Ge Fei, the last heir of the Ge family, would be eternal this night.

Gao Zheng's closed disciple, in the midst of the fire, adjusted his sad facial expression, adding several points of firmness to his eyes, and then lightly coughed, letting his voice become heavy. Then, stepping through the flames, he walked up into the high sky, step by step. He was already prepared to speak—

"Ge Fei!"

Suddenly, there was such a loud shout, clear and sharp, like a treasured sword drawn from its sheath. It cut off the drum sound of Ge Fei's ascent to the stage. In that boundless long night, in a place the flame light could not illuminate, there was a man with a face like a bright moon, as if bringing clear frost. His skin color was extremely white, his features extremely exquisite, wearing a thin shirt, with sword energy filling his body. Traversing the night, like a hanging white rainbow.

Bai Yu Xia! The heir of the Langya Bai Clan, a renowned family in Yue Country that could only be mentioned in the same breath as the Ge family. A main participant in the Yellow River Assembly, a national heavenly pride of this generation. He actually arrived in Fucheng precisely on this night. What did he want to do?

Ge Fei's emotions were interrupted, and he was extremely impatient. Yet, he saw Bai Yu Xia pointing his halberd, his righteous and stern voice rebuking angrily: "You, this heartless mad animal, extremely evil dog thief, actually kill your father and murder your mother, destroying your entire family!"

Ge Fei heard the uproar around him. Of course, he could hear clearly the unbearable discussions among the surrounding people. The person who stood out tonight to accuse him was not some nameless junior, but a Yue land heavenly pride equally as famous as him. Opposing him so fiercely in public was staking his lifetime's reputation. Tonight, only one person from both sides could preserve their reputation.

"Bai Yu Xia, what kind of madness are you showing?" Ge Fei probed with a sentence; he wanted to see Bai Yu Xia's trump card.

Bai Yu Xia pointed at the blazing flames of the Ge family's old residence, his sword energy howling down, directly suppressing and extinguishing the rushing firelight: "The Ge family's miserable scene is before you, perhaps you want to deny it? Do you want to examine the corpses now and see if it was your hand?"

Ge Fei only wanted to laugh coldly! This Bai Yu Xia was still so unaware of the situation. Exactly the same as that Bai Pingfu. Several years ago, wearing mourning clothes to court, wanting to win others' support, it was also like this. To use words from a book, this was called "not understanding the monarch's heart." Did he really think that his slaughtering of his own family was a crime? Precisely this was his merit!

The Ge family's charges, of course, existed. The roots of ancient aristocratic families were complex; it was impossible that they had not hidden dirt and accepted stolen goods for so many years. They could not withstand exposure to sunlight. The accumulated crimes of years added together were inexhaustible! The relevant evidence had been prepared by Senior Brother Wen long ago, prepared for many years. It was most appropriate for him to bring it out. He was exterminating relatives for the sake of righteousness tonight. What discussions did he fear?

"Since ancient times, benevolent people and scholars have always put the country first, then the family. Before great righteousness, how can private feelings be allowed?" Ge Fei's opening sentence set the foundation, and he immediately began to elaborate, his language filled with grief: "The Ge family bears the name of a famous family, yet obstructs the upper classes, having sinned against the world. Today, I personally reform it, enduring the pain of cutting out a sore, responding to national policy, and opening a road for the world. The first teacher sought to 'select officials fairly, with noble and lowly having the same rights,' which is also my lifelong wish. Without removing old ailments, a new heaven cannot be opened. The Ge family swallowed the fat of the people to enrich itself. This first knife in the storm should begin with the Ge family. Though I am pained, I have no regrets!"

This performance was much more complex than pretending to be mad and selling foolishness. After saying these things, he received positive feedback from the people of Fucheng as he wished, and got sympathetic voices. Public opinion is like wall grass; people's tongues are killing knives. He experienced this deeply today.

Ge Fei turned his head to look at Bai Yu Xia, showing a kind of indignation and heartache: "Even if ten thousand people condemn me, I will bear it myself. But you, the noble son of the Bai Clan, stand on what position today, drawing your sword against me? Who are you fighting for?"

Bai Yu Xia gave him an unexpected answer, equally generous and impassioned— "I stand on the position of the national new policy; I fight for fairness!"

Ge Fei, who was just about to suppress him with righteousness, was stunned for a moment. "I am also for the national new policy, you are also for the national new policy. Are we not on the same side?"

"But Ge Fei, you are exactly the embodiment of the national ailment." Bai Yu Xia virtually suspended in the night sky, pointing his halberd and rebuking angrily: "You standing in front of me now is exactly the biggest unfairness!"

What a big hat to put on first; Ge Fei's hand couldn't pull it off. Public justice is sometimes a sharp blade; anyone can hold it to hurt people.

"Yes, I killed people today, with intense methods. But I believe righteous people can understand my patriotic heart. Living in the world, sometimes loyalty and righteousness cannot both be fulfilled! We can go to court and debate, confront Gong Xiang and the country's monarch." Ge Fei was watertight: "The Ge family's filthiness, I cannot bear to speak of it, yet I have to speak. Right and wrong, one debate will reveal!"

Going to debate in front of Wen Jingxiu and Gong Zhiliang, letting them show bias, and reenact the old events from several years ago, was exactly his good idea.

Bai Yu Xia was prepared this time and naturally unwilling to be led astray by Ge Fei, only questioning loudly: "You say your patriotic heart is very sincere, then I ask you—you have been muddled for years, madly not attending to affairs, enjoying titles and salaries, what benefit have you brought to the country? How can you still be the Right Capital Censor? Because you are the heir of the Ge family? The high official position of the court was actually granted privately by your Ge family? This is precisely not the evil that the nation wants to reform today!"

Ge Fei was originally not good at arguing. In the Shan Hai Realm, whatever he said was what it was; where did he need to explain to anyone? For a moment, his mind urgently turned, struggling to phrase: "This matter—"

"Don't even think about saying it's because of Gao Xiang!" Bai Yu Xia interrupted him: "Gao Xiang personally proposed 'selecting officials fairly, with noble and lowly having the same rights' that year, how would he violate his own political idea for a person like you? Could it be that you want to say, Gao Xiang's so-called fairness is still fair from him downwards, and he himself stands on the peak of power, he himself is the biggest old meritorious noble?"

Ge Fei of course could not deny Gao Zheng; this was tantamount to denying his biggest reliance in being a person. But he had originally wanted to bring out Gao Zheng, and for a moment, he was choked there, neither up nor down. Fortunately, he had also read books these years, and first came a sudden anger: "Good, you, Bai Yu Xia, even if you are jealous of me, you don't need to take such absurd reasons!"

Then he only said: "I am a national heavenly pride, a true person of the contemporary era, how many contributions have I made to the country! During the time of my accident, when I was muddled and ignorant, keeping me just one official position as the Right Capital Censor, is this very excessive? Or do you mean you never hoped I would wake up?!"

"Well said! How many contributions have you made to the country!" Bai Yu Xia was waiting for exactly this sentence and directly threw out a stack of materials, smashing black and densely towards Ge Fei: "Do you want to look at these criminal evidences before speaking!"

"Liu Zhi Guang, who was beheaded and abandoned in the market last month for corruption and perverting the law, had a very deep private friendship with you. That year, he also used your connections to enter the Censorate; otherwise, he was fundamentally unqualified for promotion at that time! How do you explain?"

"Zeng Shi Xian, who forcibly robbed a common girl five years ago, was already imprisoned at that time, but was only acquitted because of you. After investigation, he was your classmate at a private school during childhood. You remember childhood classmates; you, Ge Fei, are truly not one to forget old feelings!"

Bai Yu Xia's voice fluttered extremely widely in the night sky: "These one pile and one piece, all are good deeds done by you, Ge Fei. How many contributions you have made to the country are all in your mouth. But the sins you created in the position of Right Capital Censor are all in the evidence! What else do you have to say? Who kept your official position for you, and for what? To wait for you to do more evils?"

Ge Fei was completely unable to respond. He had not experienced everything of the original Ge Fei; he fundamentally did not know about these matters! So he could not even deny them, because he could not confirm whether they were true and had ironclad evidence. Once he denied the wrong point, he would instead smash himself into an abyss.

The sudden explosion of discussion voices annoyed him. One pile of seemingly true and seemingly false matters stirred into a mess in his mind. For a moment, his breathing was urgent, and his eyes revealed fierce light. In the Shan Hai Realm, the discussions of bystanders were fundamentally not important. Whoever was not convinced or had opinions, he would kill until they were convinced. After becoming a person, he was instead tied hand and foot, which was truly absurd. He had jumped out of the cage of the Shan Hai Realm, yet put on the shackles of being a person!

Ge Fei did not speak for a moment, but Bai Yu Xia did not stop. He said coldly: "You can destroy these evidences, but you cannot wipe away the things you have done. You stand out today and say you support the new policy, but I hope you are sincere! But if such a poisonous tumor is not cut out, how can the new policy be implemented?" He casually flung, and more case evidences fluttered all over the sky, scattering across the city: "All you countrymen also look, under Ge Fei's seemingly gentle and elegant false face, what kind of wolf heart and dog lungs are hidden!"

The cases Bai Yu Xia prepared were actually all sins of the Ge family, with little relation to Ge Fei himself. The previous Ge Fei focused on cultivation and fundamentally did not care about these things. Ge Fei, who was possessed by a Shan Hai monster, fundamentally did not make any friends. But these people were indeed connected to Ge Fei. For example, Liu Zhi Guang's private friendship with Ge Fei in the Censorate was indeed not bad, and Zeng Shi Xian was indeed Ge Fei's elementary school desk mate.

He was very clear that the current Ge Fei was not the true Ge Fei. To these matters that seemed to exist but did not, he was completely unable to defend himself. Did Ge Fei dare to admit he was not Ge Fei? If the Ge family were still here, if Ge Yu were still alive, these matters could still be explained one by one. But now, the Ge family had just been exterminated by Ge Fei. Ge Fei could jump into the long river and still not wash himself clean!

This situation in Yue Country was shrouded in fog. He had chosen to jump out of the situation that year and only waited until this autumn to finally see clearly—Yue Country had long wanted to reform. For the country, this might be a good thing. But the means used in this process could absolutely not be said to be correct. If only the correctness of the broad outline is pursued, it will necessarily lead to specific pain! Just like he only learned this year that his father, Bai Pingfu, was a tacit political sacrifice from top to bottom in Yue Country. The main cause of that death was not Ge Fei's evil thoughts, but the beginning of Yue Court's clean aristocratic families. Without Zhang Linchuan, other things would have happened. It was just that the No Birth Cult Ancestor passing by and doing evil left the fewest traces. In other words, if Gao Zheng were still here, those Li, Wu, Song, and so on, would not have disappeared so ugly. They would also have been like Bai Pingfu, a natural scene within the coming of spring and autumn. They wouldn't even make people suspect.

Bai Yu Xia harbored hatred. This hatred was deeply hidden in his heart, following him when he went to the country for many years, and also following him back. Since the country wanted to reform, wanted fairness, wanted to cut out tumors, should Ge Fei, this most conspicuous target, this most unfair factor, be erased or not? Yue Court killed Bai Pingfu with great momentum. Today, he also killed Ge Fei with great momentum. Either Yue Court destroyed the key brought back by Huang Wei Zhen, erasing the '器' that Chu Country was afraid to touch, or they admitted they did the wrong things and used the wrong means!

He wanted revenge not only on this Shan Hai monster that stole and occupied Ge Fei's body but also on Wen Jingxiu!

"Ge Fei! Confess truthfully! Did you slaughter your family and exterminate your household today because you wanted to destroy evidence and escape with this? Killing blood relatives to seek survival, what kind of animal are you!"

Bai Yu Xia howled in the night sky: "The great governance of the nation should begin with Ge Fei! Your Majesty—I know you sit on your country's power, hold the truth of the world, and can certainly hear. As a commoner, Bai Yu Xia, on behalf of the tens of thousands of common people of Yue Country, I ask you to plan deeply for the world, act decisively, descend heavenly punishment, and execute this evil villain!"