Superhumans of the Dome City-Chapter 1400 - 14: Arrogance Unrestrained (Part 2)_2

Yan Qi yanked the rope and pulled the Chief of Staff down, stomping on his back with one foot, sneering, "If the emperor and the Divine Capital rely on you bunch of incompetent buffoons as a facade, that would be truly disgraceful. Planning to use the emperor as a scapegoat, are you? Then listen to what his imperial decree states!"

Someone nearby cleared their throat, "The imperial edict has arrived."

The speaker appeared silently, like an invisible ghost. Duke Wu Qin An stood under an old locust tree, its shadows casting uneven shadows across his face.

Minister Ma’s teeth began to chatter, and he struggled desperately to get up and salute. Qin An glanced at him and said with a smile, "No need for such formalities, just listen like this."

He took out a scroll from his sleeve and shook it open, reading, "By imperial command and dominion, the Red Emperor decrees: In military affairs, the state’s major concerns, matters of life and death, the path of survival and ruin, cannot be overlooked. Hence, a strong army results in a powerful nation, a weak army leads to decay and defeat. The bizarre farce in the Divine Capital today, with students rampant, is merely superficial; in truth, it reflects the scattered army morality, foolish officials, and incompetent leaders. The Left and Right Guards, once the sword and shield of the Divine Capital, have today shown their true colors, merely bloated fools, how sorrowful!

The Ministry of War and the Capital Guards are extremely incompetent, occupying positions and doing nothing. Focus on rectifying immediately. Students of the Imperial Academy disrespect authority and act arrogantly. Punishment is to write a thousand-word reflection, to be submitted within a week."

Qin An leisurely rolled up the scroll and looked at the Chief of Staff on the ground and the students around. Liu Zhongwu, sharp-eyed, hurriedly led the salute, respectfully saying, "Your subject, Liu Zhongwu, obeys the decree!"

Voices of "Obeying the decree" echoed one after another, but only Yan Qi mockingly uttered an "oh." Qin An did not bother with him, instead looking at the thunderstruck Minister Ma, gently saying, "The emperor also has an oral message entrusted to me to convey to you."

Minister Ma struggled to stand up, almost wishing he could grasp Qin An’s sleeve, like a traveler in the desert seeing an oasis: "The emperor—"

Qin An cleared his throat, imitating the tone of a palace noble:

"Sometimes I detest the word ’emperor’, as if in this capital, all idiotic things become supreme once linked to ’emperor’... It’s as if some brainless people think that I am deaf and blind in the palace, unaware of everything happening outside... They think their face is my face, their incompetence and stupidity my incompetence and stupidity.

I no longer wish to hear such nonsensical talk, not today, and even less so in the future... Never again!"

The oasis in Minister Ma’s eyes turned into a mirage and disappeared. He collapsed to his knees with a "thud," a rattling sound coming from his throat. Qin An no longer looked at the Chief of Staff, waving helplessly at the five inner-sect students, "Remember to write your reflections. Qin Ming, you’ll write ten thousand words."

Qin Ming waited for Mr. Qin to leave, then dazedly uttered an "Ah?" Yan Qi, laughing heartily, walked towards the Imperial Academy gate, while Gongsun Ce carefully circumvented the Chief of Staff on the ground, asking, "What are you up to? Not writing your reflection?"

Yan Qi threw his black coat over his shoulder, "To hell with the reflection; after a fight, it’s time to drink!"

·

When they say go drinking, they really mean it, even though it’s past lunchtime and not yet time for moonlit drinking, they still needed a place to have a carefree drink or two.

Divine Capital City is vast, always with places to drink. Not only is there wine, it’s cheap and plenty of good wine; not only is there good wine, there are peanuts, sauced beef, edamame, a table full of great drinking snacks; yet, unfortunately, such a good tavern lacks a five-sided table for five students to sit, so Gongsun Ce had to settle for a not-so-good stool by a not-so-good table corner.

"Being a student, spending half the day not attending classes, out fighting and drinking, what a disgrace." Gongsun Ce sighed, "Another cup."

"Disgraceful yet still drinking? Not afraid of drinking yourself to death!"

Although Yan Qi said this, he still lifted his hand to pour another cup of warm wine for him. The five of them raised their cups, clinking them happily, downing them in a single gulp. Liu Zhongwu wiped his mouth, chuckling gleefully, "After this event, you, Yan Qi, have become the hero of the Imperial Academy; the outer sect students will all admire and worship you."

"I couldn’t care less," Yan Qi said indifferently.

Situ Yi, with a half-smile, "Weren’t you standing up for the outer sect? Why don’t you see your friend happy?"

Qin Ming ordered a fried rice, a platter of pork elbows, and a roast chicken, eating with relish, "Yan Qi, he... munch munch... looks down upon... munch munch..."

Gongsun Ce couldn’t bear to watch, "Finish eating before you speak!"

Qin Ming swallowed the food with a gulp, pointing with chopsticks at the remaining chicken and pork bones on the plate, "Yan Qi looks down on those instructors; he despises their bullying nature, how they bully the weak and fear the strong, that’s why he calls them dogs. But the outer-sect students of the Imperial Academy, he looks down on them too, because when they were bullied, they only knew to endure it. Only when they heard the instructors were from the Left and Right Guards, not the Yao Guang Guards, did they think of resistance..."

Qin Ming pushed the two kinds of bones together, "But whether or not to resist when bullied isn’t dependent on who the others are. The fact that they care so much about the instructors’ identities means they are also the kind to bully the weak and fear the strong."

Liu Zhongwu grabbed the plate, tossing the bones into the trash, sighing, "Young Master Qin, spare us your insights. You are the eldest son of the Qin family in the Imperial Capital, with a vast family business, lacking nothing. Those students, even if their families are rich, don’t wield such power. Acting on impulse, losing their livelihood is one thing, but what about collateral damage?"