The Demon Lords

Even if begging for mercy, I don’t have the qualification; my father must be the one to plead.

"Ying has admired Lord Pingye for a long time. Having met today, you are indeed extraordinarily heroic."

Whenever hearing men from Jin land say words like "admire," "respect," and "yearn," Lord Zheng always has a strange feeling in his heart.

Zheng Fan ignored Sun Ying and first looked at Sun Liang kneeling nearby, and said:

"I thought you would have bound Sun Ying."

On the way here, the king of the wild people gave Zheng Fan a detailed introduction to the Sun Family.

Since the matter was discovered and broken by the king of the wild people, he naturally held great sway in this affair.

For example, the king of the wild people believed that Sun Youdao was not involved in this matter.

Because with Sun Youdao’s influence and planning ability, it wouldn’t be as simple as igniting temporary frustration in Ying Capital City.

After all, that old man helped Situ Lei plan to defeat the Chu army multiple times at Town South Pass;

And also helped Situ Lei repel Gou Moli several times before his demise.

But,

how should I put it,

when faced with a matter of rebellion,

getting completely clear of involvement is very difficult.

Sun Ying laughed and said:

"Lord, Ying is inherently crippled, a scholar without the strength to bind a chicken. Binding me makes no difference.

Binding me could potentially deceive others, but in front of you, what is there to fool?"

"Oh, still talking quite a bit."

"Ah, things have reached this stage. I planned to end it myself, but feared dying too cleanly would displease Lord Zheng, feeling it wouldn’t be satisfying or interesting.

Therefore,

Ying has specially kept this life to be dealt with by you, Lord Zheng, easing your frustration."

"So considerate?"

"It’s only proper."

"Alright, seeing how perceptive you are, I will spare the lives of your few children, Sun Ying."

Sun Ying seemed not to expect Zheng Fan to be so accommodating,

He was preparing to bow and express gratitude, saying:

"Thank you, Lord Pingye..."

"The boys will be castrated and sent to the palace, the girls will be assigned to the training institute."

"..." Sun Ying.

Zheng Fan sighed and said:

"Ah, this lord just cannot change this soft-hearted nature."

Lord Zheng looked at the Sword Saint beside him,

the Sword Saint’s expression was calm,

helpless,

having no response or humor, Lord Zheng could only turn to look at the king of the wild people again,

The king of the wild people clapped his hands immediately,

and said:

"Isn’t that right, Lord, you have the heart of a Buddha."

The smile faded from Sun Ying’s face, as he said frankly:

"Victory makes one king, and defeat makes one a bandit. Please, Lord Zheng, grant me dignity."

"Dignity? Why should this lord grant you dignity? If you wanted it, why didn’t you think about it earlier?"

"Everything I did was for Jin."

"The division of the three states of Jin has been many years."

"But I am a Jin person! Matters of Jin land should be decided by us Jin people, not by you Yan people."

Upon hearing this,

Lord Zheng laughed,

and said:

"It was the wild people who reached the Wang River, it was you who voluntarily sought allegiance with Yan, requesting assistance from my great Yan to drive away the wild people."

"Then what of the Helian and Wenren families? Were they the ones asking you Yan people to come? The intentions of Yan are known throughout the world!"

"Ha, that’s even more incorrect. My great Yan army attacked Qian State because the Helian and Wenren families’ coalition crossed the Horse Hoof Mountains to invade my great Yan;

What then,

you’re allowed to attack us, but we’re not allowed to retaliate?

Fighting is supposed to go back and forth to be interesting, but who would have thought, the Helian and Wenren families couldn’t withstand a fight, they were defeated immediately, tsk tsk."

"We Jin people..."

"Smack!"

Lord Zheng slapped Sun Ying across the face, knocking out two of Sun Ying’s teeth and causing blood to flow from his mouth.

"This lord is really fed up with people like you, clearly self-disabled, therefore more eager to accomplish something to prove you’re not useless;

"Clearly still coveting the glory of the Sun Family during Dacheng State’s time,

What for Jin State?

What for Jin people?

What Jin matters should be decided by Jin people themselves?

When Emperor Jin was still in the capital city,

Why didn’t you lead your father to seek allegiance with the legitimate royal family of Jin, instead of colluding with traitors like Situ Lei??

What kind of legit does the Situ Family count for?

Just mere traitors who violated their superiors and harbored treacherous intentions!

You,

actually dare to discuss loyalty with this lord?

Actually dare to shout about legitimacy with this lord!"

"Dacheng State was established by a virtuous person, in accordance with the mandate of heaven and popular sentiment..."

"Well then, according to you, your Dacheng State almost perished last year, does that mean the mandate of heaven and popular sentiment are no longer with you?

Now that my great Yan controls Jin land, isn’t the mandate of heaven and popular sentiment precisely with my great Yan?

Hey,

This lord finds it really peculiar,

You want to do what you want, clearly for yourself, yet you have to pretend it’s all for the country, for the people, for the world’s beings, why don’t you go around Ying Capital City inside and out, ask the Jin land people if they want another dreadful and endless military disaster like last year!"

Having finished scolding,

Lord Zheng put his hands on his waist,

And yelled into the hall:

"Grand Tutor Sun disdains to meet this lord, is that it? Fine then, this lord will leave now, when it’s time to confiscate property and exterminate the clan, this lord will return to pick and see if there are any good-looking female relatives to take away."

Meaning,

No discussion, is it?

Fine then,

Let’s handle it officially.

Then,

Inside the hall came Sun Youdao’s voice:

"Lord, please wait, I’m just preparing a gift of dignity to send along to Lord Zheng with my aging spouse."

———

No more tonight, changing the schedule today, soon the dragon will go to sleep, can’t take many more days of reversed days and nights. Good night everyone.