DLERB -Chapter 75 I ask you about food, and you talk to me about ritual, righteousness, integrity, and shame?

Kong Fu’s aged face first turned deathly pale, then flushed into a deep liver-red.

He trembled as he slowly stood up.

Pointing at the child sitting on the grand master chair, his voice was hoarse with grief and fury.

“Eight-year-old demon child! How dare you insult the disciples of the sages!”

“We today act for Heaven and Earth to establish conscience, for the common people to establish destiny, for the lost teachings of the sages to be continued, and for eternal peace to be opened for all generations!”

“Even if we die, we will restore the rightful orthodoxy of Great Qin!”

“You—”

He was about to launch into a long, impassioned speech.

“Shut up!”

Ying Ziye’s voice instantly drowned out everything.

“Did I allow you to speak?”

“Who gave you the courage to stand up and talk to me?”

He pointed a small hand at him.

“Kneel.”

The voice carried unquestionable authority.

Kong Fu’s words were forcibly cut off.

He stiffened his neck, face flushed, still trying to argue.

“Hmm?”

The tail end of Ying Ziye’s voice came through the loudspeaker, carrying a dangerous edge.

Kong Fu shuddered.

He suddenly remembered the dagger in the Meridian Hall.

He remembered the eight-year-old child who told him to slit his own throat.

Thud.

His knees went weak.

In the end, unwillingly, he knelt down.

Behind him, three thousand students erupted in uproar.

Their leader—their spiritual pillar—had just… knelt?

Ying Ziye looked at this scene with satisfaction.

Leaning back with his legs crossed, he pointed the loudspeaker at the sea of white below.

“Sounds impressive.”

“Establish conscience for Heaven and Earth? Establish destiny for the people?”

His childish voice echoed across the entire square.

“Then I’ll ask you the first question.”

His face looked unusually serious.

“Who among you can tell me—”

“How many dan of grain does one mu of good farmland in Great Qin produce in a year?”

The question landed.

The entire square fell into dead silence.

Three thousand students looked at each other in confusion.

Not a single face had an answer.

Yield per mu?

That… was never in the books of sages.

Kong Fu’s face turned green and white.

He forced himself to speak.

“A gentleman seeks the Way, not sustenance! We who study the classics would never—”

“Ohhh—”

Ying Ziye dragged out the tone.

“So you don’t know.”

He smiled faintly.

“You don’t even know how much food the people eat, or how much land produces.”

He pointed at them.

“What exactly are you using to ‘bring destiny to the people’?”

“Your mouths?”

“Every grain of rice you eat, every bowl of soup you drink—who produced it?”

“It’s those ‘commoners’ you look down on.”

“A group of people you call useless, who can’t even eat enough to survive—and you want to educate the world?”

“What a joke!”

Puh—

A young scholar directly spat out a mouthful of blood in rage.

Many others lowered their heads in shame.

It was crude.

But they couldn’t refute it.

Kong Fu trembled all over in fury.

“Fallacious reasoning! You are distorting the argument!”

Ying Ziye didn’t even look at him.

“Fine. Second question.”

His voice suddenly turned cold.

“On the northern border, the Xiongnu invade every year, plundering south and slaughtering the people of Great Qin!”

“I ask you!”

“When the nomads’ curved blades fall on the throats of the people—”

His voice rose higher and higher.

“Can your Analects block a blade?!”

“Can your so-called ‘benevolence and righteousness’ make the Xiongnu put down their weapons and become enlightened?!”

“Can it?!”

The last two words struck like a heavy hammer into every student’s heart.

Their faces turned pale.

Kong Fu forced himself to shout hoarsely:

“That is because enlightenment has not reached them! If taught day and night with sage teachings, even barbarians could—”

“Teach your damn head!”

Ying Ziye directly cursed.

“By the time you finish educating them, the bones of the people on the northern border will already be dust!”

He waved his hand and pointed at the armored soldiers on the palace wall.

“Open your dog eyes and look clearly!”

“What saves the people is them!”

“It is the Qin sword in the hands of Qin’s soldiers!”

“It is the lives of Great Qin’s warriors that secure peace!”

“Not you useless people who only know how to talk!”

BOOM!

The crowd of students completely descended into chaos.

Some faces turned ashen.

Some began to question their entire lives.

They had always believed they were the ones destined to save the world.

But today, all their pride was torn to shreds by an eight-year-old child.

Ying Ziye looked at their reactions, his smile deepening.

“There’s a third question.”

He waved his hand behind him.

“Uncle Qinglong, bring the treasure out.”

Qinglong nodded.

Two Jinyiwei carried a huge scroll forward.

Whoosh—

The scroll unfurled in the center of the square.

It was an enormous map.

More than ten times larger than the map of the Nine Provinces of Great Qin.

Strange and unfamiliar place names were marked across it.

“Rome,” “Parthia,” “Maurya Empire”…

All three thousand students were stunned.

What was this?

A heavenly scripture?

Ying Ziye stood up.

His small figure stood on the grand master chair.

He pointed at the map.

“See that?”

“This—this is the world.”

“And you…”

His finger moved to a tiny corner representing Great Qin.

“Your vision is only this small.”

“My father thinks of expanding territory and making all nations submit.”

“But you?”

“You want to turn history backward and bring back the stupid feudal system!”

“To break a unified world back into pieces again!”

His little face was full of disdain.

“Your vision isn’t even as big as an eight-year-old child!”

That sentence became the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

Thud.

Thud.

Dozens of young scholars in the front row could no longer hold on.

They slammed their foreheads to the ground in shame, their bodies trembling violently.

Their beliefs collapsed completely at that moment.

Kong Fu watched the fallen students behind him, his eyes nearly splitting.

The people’s hearts were falling apart!

“No! That’s not it!”

He roared like a mad old wolf.

“This is all trickery! The magic of that demon child!”

“The sage’s way governs through virtue, not force!”

“Those with virtue do not eat charity food! Today—even if we starve to death—we will not bow to tyranny!”

Ying Ziye looked at his final madness and smiled.

He threw away the iron loudspeaker.

Clang.

It hit the ground with a heavy thud.

“Good.”

He clapped his hands lightly.

“Since you’re all so virtuous…”

“I’ll give you a chance to show it.”

As soon as he finished speaking—dozens of eunuchs walked out from the palace gates, carrying more than ten large iron cauldrons steaming hot.

Gurgle… gurgle…

Inside the pots was white rice porridge.

The rich aroma of rice instantly filled the entire square.

The starving students—who had not eaten or drunk anything since yesterday—could not help but swallow.

Their stomachs betrayed them with loud growls.

Kong Fu froze at the sight.

What… what was this?

Were they being given food?

Were they surrendering?

A flicker of hope rose in his heart.

But—

the next moment.

Ying Ziye walked up to the nearest iron cauldron.

Under everyone’s stunned gaze—he lifted his little foot in a leather boot.

And kicked it hard.

CLANG—!

A deafening crash!

The boiling cauldron was kicked over completely!

White porridge spilled across the cold stone ground, steam rising as hope was extinguished.

Ying Ziye turned around.

His innocent little face wore a devilish smile.

“Want to eat?”

“Sure.”

He dusted off his hands and said sweetly:

“But you’ll have to earn it through labor.”