Chapter 879 - 79: Public Trial of Qin Hui, The World Turns Hostile

Yingchang Prefecture.

The vacant ground in the center of the prefecture city was crowded with people.

A temporary wooden platform stood in the center, and Qin Hui, shackled and chained, was escorted onto it by two soldiers.

He had long lost the dignity of a prime minister of the past, his hair was disheveled, his official robe was dirty, and he looked blankly at the sea of angry faces under the stage.

This was not an official court hearing, there was no gavel strike, no yells from the bailiffs.

Presiding over this "public trial" were a few elderly locals selected for their wisdom and a clerk responsible for recording the proceedings.

The true judges, though, were the thousands of citizens below the platform.

Of course, this was only how it appeared superficially; Gu Hui had actually arranged quite a few people within it.

Legislation indeed required such an act.

But law also needed control, and Gu Hui certainly did not forget this point.

"Qin Hui! Do you admit your guilt?!" an old man with white hair asked trembling, yet his voice carried an irrepressible anger.

The accusations poured forth like a flood bursting its banks.

"Qin Hui! You withheld the pay of the Northern Border Army, leaving countless soldiers hungry and cold, and buried in sandy battlefields!"

"You increased levies and taxes, forcing us to sell our sons and daughters, leaving families broken and ruined!"

"You condoned relatives seizing the people’s land, where is justice?"

"You flatter the powerful, deceive the emperor... No, you are in league with that muddle-headed ruler! Together you have damaged the Zhao Song empire!"

Voice after voice of bloody and tearful accusations exposed every crime committed during Qin Hui’s tenure under the sun.

There were no tedious legal citations, only the most basic sense of good and evil and the most direct statements of suffering. Initially, Qin Hui tried to bow his head and avoid them, but facing the overwhelming popular resentment, he finally collapsed, losing even the strength to defend himself.

The people’s fury surged, demanding harsh punishment in ever-louder waves.

Finally, after consulting with the elders, the clerk publicly announced the judgment agreed upon by all—Qin Hui’s crimes were heinous and innumerable, deserving the ultimate punishment to appease the realm!

When the judgment was announced, the entire square erupted in thunderous shouts, filled not only with the pleasure of revenge fulfilled but with an unprecedented excitement as if they had gained a certain power.

And on a pavilion afar, Yue Fei and Gu Hui stood shoulder to shoulder, taking in the spectacle on the square.

Yue Fei furrowed his brow, his tiger-like eyes filled with a complex expression.

He looked at the cheering crowd and then gazed into the distance, saying in a deep voice, "Master, using this method to judge a prime minister is unprecedented."

"Certainly gratifying, yet... this move equates to a complete break from the old system."

"I fear... fear that if we fail, Kyushu might not reunite but instead fall into prolonged division and chaos due to ideological differences."

"Wouldn’t we then be branded as eternal criminals?"

What worried him was this approach that broke convention, judged by the people, which would tear society apart, leaving no room for reconciliation among differing ideological camps.

And this is not mere imagination.

Why has Kyushu been able to remain unified?

Not just for any other reason, but the fundamental reason is that the concept of "great unity" has deeply rooted itself in people’s hearts, and the whole world has a high level of recognition for it.

But now the emergence of new ideas is completely contrary to the imperial system.

A slight oversight may likely cause the division of Kyushu.

How could he not worry about this?

Upon hearing this, Gu Hui subtly shook his head, his gaze on the departing citizens, his voice calm yet filled with a keen insight into worldly affairs: "Pengju, fundamentally, what supports your so-called great unity?"

"It’s the weaponry, the taxes, the script, but more importantly, whether the millions recognize this unity in their hearts."

He turned to look at Yue Fei, his eyes sharp: "Now what can Zhao Song still govern?"

"Yingtian court’s orders don’t leave the palace gates, the Jiedu envoys are like separatists, Jin invaders occupy Central Plains, various powerful lords rise, this unity is only nominal without substance, not resulting from our actions today, but due to Zhao Gou and his ministers destroying their own walls!"

"As for ideological conflict..." Gu Hui’s lips curled into a cold smirk, "Pengju, do you think maintaining the old system means there will be no chaos?"

"Now that fires are widespread, corpses litter the land from starvation, is this not the bitter fruit borne by the old system?"

"The people are not afraid of death, so how can death scare them?"

"When the people can no longer survive, with or without new ideas, they will rise in rebellion."

"What we have done is simply giving this inevitable flood, a direction, granting a certain order, rather than letting it descend into pure destruction and plunder."

He paused, his tone deeper: "Even if we eventually fail, you think Kyushu will completely split due to differing ideologies?"

"No."

"Because whoever ends up in power, whether Zhao Gou, Wanyan Digunai, or someone else, they all will face the same question—for on this land, people have begun pondering why they live."

"They will ask—why should I obey."

"And once the spark of thought is ignited, it can hardly be extinguished."

"Successors may suppress, may distort, but they can never return to that silent past where all were at the mercy of being slaughtered."

"Of course, we may fail, die, and become traitors and villains in history books."

Gu Hui then smiled faintly: "But this land, the people on this land, are different because of our efforts."

"And future generations will surely pick up the seeds we’ve sown, continually nurturing them to fruition."

He watched the tumultuous thoughts in Yue Fei’s eyes and finally said: "So, do not overly worry about division."