DLERB -Chapter 2 I’m Only Eight Years Old—So What If I Kill Someone?

Inside the Qilin Hall, the smell of blood began to spread.

Yan Le’s corpse lay slumped beside a pillar, red and white splattered across the floor.

Everyone’s eyes shifted stiffly back and forth between the body and Ying Ziye.

Drip.

No one knew whose cold sweat had fallen onto the stone tiles, but in the deathly silent hall, the sound was crystal clear.

The silk handkerchief Ying Ziye had used to wipe his hands floated lightly down, covering Yan Le’s wide-open, lifeless eyes.

That scene was even more chilling than the punch from earlier.

He had killed someone, yet remained so calm.

Was this really an eight-year-old child?

At the head of the military officials stood the old general, Wang Jian. His graying eyebrows twitched sharply twice.

An expert could tell another expert the moment they made a move.

The speed and strength that had erupted in that instant just now had made even this battle-hardened old warrior feel a trace of fear.

Pure physical power!

No flashy techniques at all!

“This young prince… has been hiding himself deeply.”

Wang Jian lowered his eyelids slightly, concealing the sharp gleam in his eyes.

Meanwhile, Li Si, leader of the civil officials, only felt his throat turning dry.

He glanced at the fallen bamboo scroll on the ground but made no move to pick it up.

In his mind, the image of Yan Le being blasted away replayed over and over again.

If he had taken that punch…

Li Si subconsciously touched his chest, only to realize that his fingertips were trembling slightly.

What “young child needing moral cultivation”?

This was clearly a young tiger wearing sheep’s clothing!

Clatter—

A rapid clash of armor shattered the silence in the hall.

Dozens of black-armored Imperial Guards responsible for protecting Qilin Hall rushed in with long halberds in hand.

Hearing the massive commotion inside, they had assumed an earth-shaking assassination attempt on the emperor had taken place.

“Protect the Chancellor!”

“What happened?!”

The commander of the guards roared, his halberd pointing toward the center of the hall.

Then he froze.

There were no assassins in the hall.

Only a minister lying in a pool of blood, and an innocent-looking eight-year-old child standing beside the corpse.

The bizarre scene left even the well-trained guards momentarily at a loss.

All the officials subconsciously looked toward Ying Ziye.

The situation was now completely out of control.

Ying Ziye slowly turned around to face the dozens of gleaming halberds.

There was not the slightest ripple on his little face.

There was even a hint of displeasure at being interrupted.

“Who allowed you to enter?”

The childish voice echoed through the vast hall.

The commander of the guards paused and looked toward Li Si.

Li Si lowered his head to stare at the tips of his shoes, as though flowers had suddenly bloomed from the floor tiles.

The commander gritted his teeth and forced himself to speak.

“This humble general heard unusual noises from inside the hall and feared for the safety of the honored officials…”

“Leave.”

Ying Ziye spoke only two words.

His voice was not loud, and his tone was calm.

But with the still-warm corpse lying at his feet, those two words weighed as heavily as a mountain.

A layer of cold sweat instantly seeped out across the commander’s forehead.

Looking at that eight-year-old figure, he actually felt an oppressive pressure even more suffocating than when facing the First Emperor himself.

“Yes, Your Highness!”

The commander answered almost instinctively, hurriedly waving his men out of the hall.

They had arrived quickly—and left even faster.

The palace doors closed once more.

Inside Qilin Hall, only the heavy breathing of the officials remained.

Having dealt with the interruption, Ying Ziye once again started walking back toward the towering steps with his short little legs.

“Stop right there!!”

A heart-rending roar finally erupted.

Scholar Chunyu Yue, who had endured as much as he could, now had a face flushed the color of pig liver.

He stormed out from the ranks, nearly tripping over his own official robes in his haste.

“Ying Ziye!”

Chunyu Yue directly shouted his name, his trembling finger pointing at the corpse on the ground.

“You… you actually dared to commit murder openly inside Qilin Hall!”

“This is a court official! A subordinate personally appointed by His Majesty under the Office of the Imperial Carriage Director!”

“Without trial by the Court of Justice, without an imperial decree, you dared to kill a minister on your own authority!”

Chunyu Yue trembled with rage, even his Confucian cap tilted crookedly.

“This is tyranny! The conduct of Jie and Zhou!”

With Chunyu Yue taking the lead, the Confucian faction officials seemed to finally find their backbone.

A large group of them dropped to their knees all at once.

“We ask the Ninth Young Master to give an explanation to the people of the realm!”

“Killing on the imperial court grounds—where does that place the laws of Great Qin?!”

“Even if Your Highness serves as regent, you cannot act so lawlessly!”

For a moment, accusations surged toward the small figure like a tidal wave.

Were they afraid?

Of course they were.

Yan Le’s corpse was still lying right there.

But what they feared even more was the Great Qin’s “rituals and laws” being completely trampled beneath the feet of this eight-year-old child.

If they failed to suppress the Ninth Young Master today, then in the future, would this court not become his personal slaughterhouse?

Ying Ziye stopped walking.

He slowly turned around and looked at the group of Confucian scholars kneeling on the ground.

A trace of confusion appeared on his little face.

“An explanation?”

Ying Ziye tilted his small head slightly, as though seriously pondering the meaning of the phrase.

Seeing this, Chunyu Yue thought Ying Ziye was frightened.

Joy immediately rose in his heart, and his tone became even harsher.

“That’s right! An explanation is required!”

Chunyu Yue suddenly turned his head toward the silent ranks of military officials.

“Old General Wang Jian!”

“Minister Meng Yi!”

“This child has committed murder in the imperial court and treats the laws of the nation as nothing! Are you still going to stand by and do nothing?”

“Why don’t you seize him at once and wait for His Majesty’s judgment!”

Chunyu Yue wanted to drag the military officials into the matter.

As long as the army took a stance, then no matter how powerful this eight-year-old child was, he wouldn’t be able to stir up any trouble.

Meng Yi frowned and was just about to speak—when a rough, weathered hand stopped him.

Wang Jian half-closed his eyes like an old monk in meditation, as though he had heard none of Chunyu Yue’s shouting at all.

What a joke.

Capture an imperial prince?

And not just any prince, but the prince personally appointed by the Emperor as Regent?

Was he tired of living?

Besides…

Wang Jian secretly glanced at Yan Le’s corpse and snorted inwardly.

Serves him right.

This old man has long been disgusted with this bunch of flattering eunuch lackeys!

Seeing Wang Jian play dead, Chunyu Yue became so furious he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

“Good! Good! You’re all cowards!”

“But this old man is not afraid!”

Chunyu Yue straightened his chest, looking as though he were ready to die for his principles.

He glared at Ying Ziye and advanced step by step.

“Ninth Young Master, if you cannot give a proper explanation today, then this old man will smash his head against a pillar in Qilin Hall and die here!”

“I will use my blood to awaken the majesty of Great Qin’s laws!”

Moral coercion.

This was the tactic the Confucians excelled at most.

Forcing a highly respected old scholar to death—such a crime was something even an imperial prince could not bear.

The atmosphere in the great hall grew tense to the extreme.

Everyone held their breath, staring at Ying Ziye in the center of the storm.

What would he do?

Admit fault?

Compromise?

Or burst into tears from fear?

Under the gaze of hundreds of eyes—

Ying Ziye suddenly smiled.

The smile was innocent and bright, as though he had just heard an amusing joke.

He raised his hand and casually picked at his ear with his little finger.

“Are you finished talking?”

The childish voice sounded soft and milky, yet it was like a bucket of icy water poured over all of Chunyu Yue’s righteous passion.

Chunyu Yue froze.

“You…”

Ying Ziye blew lightly on the little fingernail, as though brushing away earwax that wasn’t even there.

Then he lifted his head, those dark and crystal-clear eyes sweeping across the kneeling Confucian scholars.

Finally, his gaze settled on Chunyu Yue’s righteous and indignant old face.

“This man was too noisy, so I made him quiet for a while. Is there a problem with that?”

Ying Ziye pointed at the corpse on the ground.

“He said I was fooling around just now.”

“That made me very angry.”

At this point, the smile on Ying Ziye’s face disappeared.

He took a step forward.

Just one small step.

Yet Chunyu Yue, who had been full of righteous indignation moments ago, subconsciously stumbled two steps backward!

Within those clear childlike eyes, there was now not the slightest trace of emotion a human should possess.

Only indifference.

Absolute indifference toward life itself.

Ying Ziye stared into Chunyu Yue’s eyes and asked word by word, with complete seriousness:

“I’m only eight years old.”

“I’m still a child.”

“So what if I kill someone…?”

Boom!

Those words carried even more impact than the punch from earlier.

All the officials kneeling on the ground instantly straightened in shock.

They stared blankly at the innocent-looking child before them.

So what if I kill someone?

Was that even something a human being would say?!

Was that something an eight-year-old child could possibly say?!

Chunyu Yue’s mouth hung open wide. A rasping “heh-heh” sound came from his throat, but not a single word emerged.

He had prepared a stomach full of sage teachings and Great Qin laws.

Yet before this utterly unreasonable “a child speaks without taboo,” all of it shattered into nothing.

Reason with an eight-year-old child?

He could simply shut you down with, “I’m just a child.”

And this child could punch you to death with a single blow!

How was anyone supposed to deal with that?

Ying Ziye no longer paid any attention to the petrified Chunyu Yue.

He turned around and continued walking toward the highest throne.

One step. Two steps.

The small figure climbed the towering Dragon Platform once more.

Turning around, he plopped himself back onto the black dragon throne that symbolized supreme imperial authority.

His two short little legs began swinging again.

Looking down from above.

Overlooking the gathered officials.

Ying Ziye’s gaze passed through the great hall and landed precisely on Chancellor Li Si at the very front.

The corners of his mouth curled upward slightly, revealing two adorable little tiger teeth.

“Chancellor.”

“Now nobody is making noise anymore.”

“So…”

“Can the court session begin now?”