Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors

He Xueyi's words actually carried a hint of personal attack. The first was a direct assault on Yang Yan's motive, accusing him of "demanding perfection and seeking to gain a reputation for integrity," which is to say that the great display was simply aimed at nitpicking to fish for fame and appraisal. The second was an attack on Yang Yan's qualifications, saying he was of lowly official rank and knew nothing, completely unworthy of providing guidance in his memorials.

Actually, for He Xueyi, these two points were not the best angle to approach the situation.

The best case would have been to start with the content of Yang Yan's memorial and refute it, which would have been more solid.

However, the problem was that Yang Yan's memorial could be said to cite classics and express distress in every word. In terms of content, there was simply no room for rebuttal.

Otherwise, with so many well-read scholars in the Great Wei court, and He Xueyi's own level of competence not being low, he would have found the weak points and condemned Yang Yan to death long ago; it wouldn't have come to this.

Since the content of the memorial was impeccable, he had to find another angle.

If it had been anyone else, they would have already been rendered speechless, with nothing to say.

And having nothing to say was the same as failing to pass the barrier.

Chu Ge was well-prepared, and as he delivered the planned lines, he did not forget his acting and expressions.

After all, every word and every expression of his would be observed by Shi, and reported to the Emperor's ears.

"It is true that I, Yang Yan, hold a minor office of low rank, not unlike Mr. He, who possesses a high and powerful position. However, I too have read the sages and understand the principle that 'one who eats the ruler's grain has duties to the ruler'!

"Now Emperor Weizhao is muddleheaded, and the treacherous hold sway, indulgence above and greed below, exhausting the people's wealth. The suffering of the people—do you, Mr. He, not know of this?

"There are tens of thousands of officials in our Great Wei court, all cowed by Wang Chong's might, not one daring to speak to Emperor Weizhao. If I do not speak, future historians will surely record others who will. Mr. He, today you may kill me, Yang Yan, but can you also silence the endless voices of the people throughout the land?

"I voice their concerns alone, yet Mr. He and all the officials refute me. Do you perhaps wish for Emperor Weizhao to bear the eternal infamy throughout the ages?"

He Xueyi felt a surge of anger: "You!"

But after uttering "You," no more words followed for quite some time.

Chu Ge's speech, that is, Yang Yan's speech, was impassioned and effectively addressed the two points previously raised by He Xueyi.

"Seeking to gain a reputation for integrity" and "lowly official rank"—these two points ultimately questioned Yang Yan's qualification to present the memorial.

Chu Ge's speech, on the other hand, first confirmed the legitimacy of presenting the memorial with the claim that "one who eats the ruler's grain has duties to the ruler," solidifying his stance. Then he counterattacked, suggesting that He Xueyi aimed to discredit him in order to saddle the Emperor with eternal infamy, rendering He Xueyi speechless!

Seeing that He Xueyi was speechless, Shi, who had remained silent, now spoke.

"Enough, Mr. He, it's getting late. Let us conclude today's interrogation. I must return to report to His Majesty."

With nothing to say, He Xueyi left first.

But Shi did not leave with him; instead, he lingered behind.

He looked at Yang Yan, who had been tormented to barely resemble a human, and shook his head slightly: "Yang Yan, oh Yang Yan, seeking death is so simple, why trouble yourself and unsettle the world.

"'Die from admonishing in prose, die from fighting in war,' it's all nonsense. Scholars get all muddled in the brain from reading too much, to actually believe such things.

"Look at Mr. He, a scholar too, is he as impractical as you?

"Do you realize, your memorial not only enraged Emperor Weizhao and affected his well-being but has also shaken the very foundations of our Great Wei Empire? If we scale this up, it involves more than just you, understand?

"If things go poorly, your friends and family, your relatives, and colleagues will all be implicated!"

Chu Ge fell silent for a moment: "Then according to Shi, what should I do?"

Seeing him giving in, a look of joy appeared on Shi's face: "It's quite simple. Just say that everything in that memorial was madness, a deliberate attempt to demand perfection and to gain a reputation for integrity, seeking to challenge the current Emperor Weizhao. If you confess your guilt, His Majesty will not punish you for your offense, and you'll be able to leave this prison. Others will also not be implicated by you. Wouldn't this be the best solution for all?

"With such grand benevolence, as long as you realize your mistake and return to the right path, His Majesty would naturally not let such a pearl like you be lost to the dust. In the future, whether it's studying to enhance your knowledge or continuing your career as an official, reconciling with His Majesty as a loyal official, wouldn't that make a fine tale for the ages, so beautiful?"

Chuge still shook his head slightly.

"Shi, you may leave as well."

Shi couldn't help but let out a sigh, with an expression that said "good advice is wasted on the damned," he stood up; he turned to the two prison guards and said, "Take him away, we'll interrogate him again another day."

The two prison guards, one on the left and one on the right, forcibly escorted Chuge back to the cell.

Thrown onto the rotting straw like a tattered sack, it took Chuge a long time to recover his strength.

He knew that he had safely made it through the first phase of the instance.

Actually, for a player, this first phase wasn't very difficult. Other than the possibility of failing to respond at the beginning due to grogginess or getting caught up in political turmoil because of wrong answers, there weren't many more pitfalls.

As long as one remained steadfast in their beliefs, rejecting temptations, they would always pass through safely.

However, what deeply moved Chuge was not the difficulty level of the game itself, but this piece of real history.

He was in a game now, and he knew the real history and the conditions for clearing it very clearly. Thus, the words spoken by Shi couldn't possibly affect him at all; he was entirely immune.

And with the aid of the talent "Iron Will," the pain of his injuries could be alleviated to the greatest extent.

But none of these existed in real history.

The words of Shi were a mix of both hard and soft tactics.

Hard, they directly threatened him with the people around Yang Yan, saying that his friends and family, colleagues, would all be implicated, causing turmoil throughout the court; he didn't know how many people would be punished because of this storm.

Soft, he communicated the intentions of Emperor Weizhao, offering incredibly tempting conditions.

If he would just bow his head and admit his wrongdoing, he could immediately gain the scholarly honor that was most valued, and even rise step by step, ensuring a smooth sail in his official career, leaving behind a remarkable legacy.

On the other hand, if he persisted, what awaited him was only the dim cell and the death that would inevitably come sooner or later.

Of course, Chuge knew the outcome of this matter; Yang Yan had held out until the end and made a name for himself in history.

But the problem was, the real Yang Yan had no idea at the time.

History is full of countless officials and censors who spoke the truth to the emperor, ninety-nine percent of whom died anonymously.

In some dynasties, the censors indeed nitpicked and overly criticized, seeking reputation by harshly scolding the emperor, but that was all under the premise that the emperor himself was relatively benevolent. At most, they would only be beaten with a few court sticks and not actually beaten to death.

If it were a complete tyrant, leaving a trail of decapitations, soon no one would dare to do so anymore.

However, Emperor Weizhao was clearly not an emperor of broad magnanimity, and Yang Yan indeed came close to death.

Under such circumstances, the historical Yang Yan was still able to persevere, making the only correct choice; every time Chuge thought of this, he could not help but feel both admiration and incredulity.

Back in the cell, the instance continued.

Chuge felt a wave of dizziness, and his two injured legs began to throb with pain.

Touching them, his rough legs were covered in sores.

In previous attempts, Chuge did nothing but fall into a stupor in the cell, waiting for the next interrogation.

As a result, he would die in the cell before the next interrogation even occurred.

Chuge sighed quietly to himself, looking toward the broken bowl in a dark corner of the dungeon.

Although he knew what he had to do and had already done it a few times before, it still took immense courage to do it again!