DLERB -Chapter 7 He’s Only Eight Years Old, Yet Zhao Gao’s Brother Wants to Cripple Him!

“Draft the decree.”

Ying Ziye’s childish voice echoed throughout the grand hall.

Li Si knelt on the floor, his graying hair disheveled.

He raised his head and looked at the eight-year-old child seated upon the steps.

No attendant dared move.

No court official dared speak.

The entire Qilin Hall had become like a massive tomb.

Tilting his little head, Ying Ziye asked again:

“Chancellor, can’t you understand what I’m saying?”

Li Si’s entire body trembled.

Within those innocent-looking eyes, he saw mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

“This old minister… obeys.”

Using every ounce of strength in his body, Li Si forced the words out through clenched teeth.

He waved weakly toward the outside of the hall, his voice hoarse.

“Brush. Ink. Bamboo slips.”

Very soon, a trembling attendant hurried forward with tiny steps, carrying a set of writing tools and a blank bamboo scroll. Kneeling before Li Si, he presented them with shaking hands.

Li Si took a deep breath and accepted the brush.

The wolf-hair brush he had used for half his life now felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

He lifted his eyes and glanced at Ying Ziye.

The child was grinning cheerfully at him, his little feet swinging in the air as though waiting to watch a wonderful play.

Li Si slowly closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, all struggle, fear, and unwillingness had vanished.

Only deathly stillness remained.

He spread open the bamboo slips, dipped the brush heavily in ink, and suspended his wrist in the air.

The brush touched down.

“Your servant Li Si, weeping tears of blood, submits this memorial.”

He did not immediately write down Yan Le’s crimes.

Instead, his brush turned sharply as he began describing today’s court session.

“Today, while the Ninth Young Master governed in the Regent’s stead, he uncovered the treacherous schemes of the remnants of the Six States within Qilin Hall.”

“Yan Le, subordinate of the Office of the Palace Carriages, colluded with the old Zhao nobility and plotted rebellion. His crimes deserve execution!”

“Granary Director Wang, Lesser Treasury Supervisor Liu, Grand Coachman Ying… and the rest of these treacherous officials formed factions for personal gain, seeking to shake the very foundation of Great Qin!”

Li Si wrote rapidly, every word sharp as a blade.

Not only did he include every person Ying Ziye had named, he also firmly tied all their crimes to “rebellion” and “treason.”

His wrist trembled as he wrote, veins bulging across his forehead.

Finally, his brush paused as he wrote the most crucial line.

“Fortunately, the Ninth Young Master possesses heaven-gifted wisdom and martial brilliance. With keen insight and thunderous methods, he turned the tide in court, executed the chief culprit, captured the accomplices, exposed the conspiracy, and safeguarded the Great Qin realm from disaster!”

“The Young Master’s achievements should be proclaimed throughout the empire!”

After writing the final character, all the strength seemed to drain from Li Si’s body.

He set down the brush and raised the bamboo scroll high above his head with both hands.

“Your Highness… the decree has been drafted.”

Ying Ziye jumped down from the steps and walked over on his short little legs.

Taking the bamboo slips, he unfolded them and glanced through the contents.

A satisfied smile appeared on his small face.

“The Chancellor’s handwriting is truly beautiful.”

He casually handed the scroll to Qinglong, the Jinyiwei commander standing behind him.

“Stamp it with my Regent’s seal. Announce it throughout Xianyang and dispatch copies to every commandery in the empire.”

“Understood!”

Qinglong accepted the decree and turned to leave.

Ying Ziye patted Li Si on the shoulder.

“The Chancellor has worked hard. You may rise.”

“Today’s court session ends here.”

Without even glancing at the officials still pinned to the ground by the Jinyiwei, he turned and walked toward the exit of the hall.

“Court dismissed—!”

An attendant cried out in a shrill voice.

The officials, who had been suffocating under immense pressure, felt as though they had been granted amnesty. One after another, they hurried to their feet and fled the hall as if escaping disaster.

Wang Jian and Meng Yi walked at the very front, their expressions calm.

A Confucian official friendly with Chunyu Yue, pale-faced and shaken, hurried after them and blocked Wang Jian’s path.

“Old General! You’re just going to watch this happen? Watch that brat act recklessly in the imperial court?!”

Wang Jian stopped walking.

His half-closed eyes slowly opened.

Wang Jian glanced at the Confucian official, then at the colleagues outside being dragged away by the Jinyiwei like dead dogs.

He did not get angry. His tone remained calm.

“A blessing for the nation.”

After saying that, he turned and left without another backward glance.

The Confucian official stood frozen in place as though struck by lightning.

A blessing for the nation?

Slaughtering people was a blessing for the nation?!

Turning around, he saw Chunyu Yue being supported out of the hall by two students, utterly dispirited.

The old scholar’s entire body trembled, his lips purple with shock.

He watched the crying officials being dragged away.

Watched the emotionless faces of the Jinyiwei.

“The rites and laws… collapsing… Great Qin… is finished…”

Chunyu Yue muttered to himself.

Suddenly, sweetness rose in his throat.

“Pffft—!”

A mouthful of blood sprayed out, staining the golden tiles red.

“Teacher!”

“Quick! Summon the imperial physicians!”

The students cried out in panic, but Chunyu Yue’s eyes had already rolled back as he collapsed unconscious to the ground.

…

Night descended over Xianyang.

Zhao Manor.

Zhao Cheng, Director of the Palace Carriages, was leisurely sipping tea.

He was the younger brother of Zhao Gao, the current favorite of the imperial court.

With his elder brother accompanying the First Emperor on the eastern tour, Zhao Cheng practically held authority over the entire Xianyang Palace.

A trusted subordinate stumbled into the study, nearly crawling before dropping to his knees with a thud.

“My lord! Something terrible has happened!”

Zhao Cheng slowly set down his teacup without even lifting his eyelids.

“Why are you panicking?”

The subordinate, nearly in tears, recounted everything that had happened in Qilin Hall that day in exact detail.

From Ying Ziye sitting upon the dragon throne…

To him killing Yan Le with a single punch.

From the list of crimes…

To the arrival of the three thousand Jinyiwei.

And finally—

Li Si kneeling to draft the decree and announcing it to the entire empire.

The study fell silent.

Zhao Cheng still sat motionless.

The subordinate knelt on the ground, barely daring to breathe.

After a long while—

Zhao Cheng slowly reached out and picked up a glazed glass cup presented as tribute from the Western Regions.

Under the candlelight, the glass shimmered brilliantly, worth a fortune.

He examined it for a moment.

Then suddenly flicked his wrist.

Smash!!

With a sharp crash, the priceless cup shattered across the floor.

The subordinate trembled violently and lowered his head even further.

Zhao Cheng rose to his feet and walked to the window, gazing toward the direction of Xianyang Palace.

His voice in the silent night sounded like a venomous snake hissing.

“My elder brother is not in Xianyang.”

“And now even an eight-year-old brat dares touch members of the Zhao family?”

He turned and looked toward the shadows in the corner of the study.

“Come out.”

A dark figure silently appeared before him and dropped to one knee.

Zhao Cheng paced slowly up to him, his voice icy cold.

“Go investigate that so-called ‘Jinyiwei.’ Find out exactly where they came from.”

The shadow nodded silently.

Zhao Cheng bent down, stared directly into the man’s eyes, and added word by word:

“And also…”

“Find an opportunity.”

“Break that little bastard’s arms and legs, one bone at a time.”

“I want him to understand that there are some people he can never afford to provoke in his entire life!”