522 Dictatorship's Cruelty

March, 201 AD.

\"Long live your majesty! May you live a long and prosperous life!\"

Hundreds of officials in the throne room prostrated to Dong Bai as usual before the monthly assembly.

Li Feihong, Sun Quan, and Liu Xie stood by Dong Bai's sides, declaring to the world that they were backing her faction. As for the other participants, no Cao Cao's supporters, Sima House members, or Te Langpu's subordinates were present.

There was a reason for that.

\"Cut the formality. I'll get to the point, so we can finish this early. As you know, several of our ministers have been missing during the last few months, and it threatens our city's order. How is our investigation?\"

During the few months after Dong Bai wedded Zhang Min to Li Feihong, Cao Cao retreated all of his men back to Xu Province as it was too dangerous to hang around within Dong Bai's domain.

Without the surveillance of Dian Wei and other cultivators with 4 wings, Li Feihong didn't hold back anymore. The latter went on a killing spree, assassinating Anti-Tong faction members, including Te Langpu's subordinates, Sima Clan's members, and Cao Cao's spies.

All the deeds were done by Xu Shu, Ma Chao, and Li Feihong as they were the only ones who could abduct and kill anyone without leaving a trace.

However, the town order went down as the disappearance of these members aroused the suspicion toward Dong Bai and Li Feihong. Everyone was thinking that they were responsible for this unusual event.

Still, none of them had a piece of solid evidence or proof. No one also dared to accuse them as they were the major powerhouse in the court.

Should anyone speak up, their head would roll.

\"Aside from the servants' testimony, we can't find any trace, your majesty.\"

\"We've deduced they ran away at night because they are afraid of the political repercussion. We've interrogated all guards, merchants, and policemen, but all of them had no clue, your majesty.\"

The court officials understood what Dong Bai was trying to do. They feinted ignorance and pretended that they found nothing worthwhile.

Te Langpu, who was hiding among the crowd, also knew what was going on. His subordinates died one after another during the past few months, but none of the royalty faction members died at all.

It was so obvious that Dong Bai was crippling all opposition factions, breaking every other faction apart and forcing everyone to switch sides.

'Despicable! If only I have my secret service guys from my old world, these yellow monkeys won't last a day!'

Te Langpu had hired a thousand policemen to guard himself 24/7. But as time passed, he doubted if it was a good idea.

Cao Cao fled the city and Sima Yi returned to his You Province. Te Langpu was stranded in the middle of his enemies.

\"Since we can't find a clue of this mass disappearance, we will cancel the election event this year. Until we can find the missing court officials, we will refrain from holding any major event in this city. What do you guys think?\"

All court officials grinned and glanced at Te Langpu, mocking this fat minister. They cupped their fist and bowed toward the empress.

\"We shall obey your order!\"

\"A wise decision, your majesty!\"

\"Of course, your majesty! A good idea!\"

Liu Xie and Sun Quan glanced at each other with a wry smile.

\"I see no problem with it.\"

\"We don't need to choose a new emperor at this troubled time.\"

As dirty as underhanded as it might be, the long-term political suppression was efficient. By taking down all potential hostile officials in the city, no one could object Dong Bai's decision in the meeting.

Nothing special, only steamrolling!

The bills issued by Dong Bai and her supporters got easily approved by the court.

After the monthly assembly ended, nobody talked to Te Langpu anymore.

…

At night, Te Langpu drank alone in his courtyard as his servants quit their jobs after they had learned about Te Langpu's situation in the court. His resident became a quiet and eerie place.

For the first time, Te Langpu reevaluated his past actions.

'What did I do wrong? I did my best to improve this country! Dictatorship and Monarchy system is so bad. Why are they still protecting this ancient government system!?'

He didn't understand that his project conflicted with the royalty faction's interests. Te Langpu envisioned too far ahead that he missed the basics of people's needs.

Had he slowly transformed the country step-by-step, no one would have questioned his motives or objected it. Unfortunately, Te Langpu still had the same IQ as his previous life.

Stupidity was still his forte. He might use to be a successful businessman, but he was terrible at politics. The reason he got sentenced to hell was that his decisions that affected his country and the deaths of many people during a period of a certain virus outbreak.

While Te Langpu was drinking on his own, a blue portal opened behind him.

Li Feihong walked out of the gate. He took a chair and sat in the opposite direction of the table.

Li Feihong sat down and looked at Te Langpu in the eyes.

\"Mister President,\" Li Feihong greeted him.

\"Ah, greeting, your highness. What do you want from this lowly loser?\"

Te Langpu sneered at Li Feihong with his sarcasm attitude. Although he had lost everything, he still acted arrogantly in front of his political enemy.

\"I'm here to ask you a few questions. If you answer me honestly, we will retire you and leave you alone.\"

\"Pfff! Go ahead. The world is yours!\"

Te Langpu didn't even look back at Li Feihong. He indulged himself with the last whiskey bottle he had.

\"Has Lilim contacted you?\"

\"No comment!\"

In reality, Lilim had once contacted Te Langpu. However, the latter mistook her for a silly game, so he simply made the oath and forgot about it.

Again, stupidity was his best strength.

\"I'll assume that it's a yes. Then, next question. Do you know about others who might have contacted Lilim?\"

\"No comment!\"

\"…\"

Te Langpu was too prideful that he didn't cooperate with Li Feihong's interrogation.  

Li Feihong sighed in regret. Since the talk was useless, it was time to move on. He placed a handgun on the table.

\"There is only one bullet in the chamber. You can keep your pride with this.\"

Te Langpu sneered as he glanced at the gun, \"You want me to shoot myself? Ha! What will you do if I shoot you?\"

\"It's impossible for fellow clan members to harm each other. The bullet will stop before it hit me.\"

\"But I can kill myself, eh?\"

\"…\"

\"You have the inventory skill, right? Do you have a few more bottles of this?\" Te Langpu waved the almost-emptied bottle of whiskey.

Without saying anything, Li Feihong placed two more bottles on the table. He gazed at the former president one more time before he opened the gate and left Te Langpu alone.

Te Langpu snickered as he continued to enjoy the liquor.

…

Six hours later, Te Langpu downed the last drop of alcohol he had. However, he wasn't satisfied.

Because of the angelic cultivation, he couldn't get drunk by normal alcohol for commoners.

\"Bah! I should have asked for a dozen bottles! I asked too few, goddammit!!\"

Te Langpu threw the empty bottles and his bowl away.

\"Hah… Boring.\"

He raised his head and looked at the starry sky to admire the view. However, faint light already mixed in, covering the stars. It was 5.30 AM, and the sun was rising.

\"Fuck! I want to see stars, not the sunrise!\"

Te Langpu took the gun and examined it. As Li Feihong had said, it was loaded with only one bullet.

\"Cheapskate. You should have loaded with more bullets. I want to practice shooting, too.\"

He sighed with a sarcastic smile. He thought about his time in hell, which was a torture.

'Why should I shoot myself when I can live free? Asshole, do you think I'm stupid? I can just leave this city and go back to America! Wait, the Indians are still there… How am I going to get to that side of the world anyway?'

Te Langpu sneered as he watched the sunrise in solemn. The stress and the regret he had was gone by admiring nature.

'I just wanted to make our country great again... Oh well, life sucks. How about I build a wall in hell? A casino in hell is also interesting.'

…

*BANG*

…

>

>

…

.

.

.

\"Do you pity him, Feihong?\"

Zhang Min was carrying a baby boy with two mixed wings in her arms. It was the child that Lu Bu gave her. However, he was Li Feihong's son now.

By Zhang Min's side, Li Feihong was gazing at a burning incense stick with a blank expression as if he was praying for a dead person.

\"In business, he was bold and ruthless. In politics, he was always overconfident, stupid, and audacious. He wanted the best for the country, but he was too insensitive at times. Had he been less prideful and consulted with the others before he acted, things would have been different.\"

\"Father once told me that he indirectly killed his citizens during the world epidemic outbreak. Was it true?\"

\"… Sort of. He just failed to protect his countrymen while he was at the top.\"

Li Feihong shed a tear as he wished for Te Langpu's peaceful rest.

'Whatever you did to me directly or indirectly in the past life, I forgive you. Also … I'm sorry. I never wanted to get it to this point. I also want the best for this country, but you're destroying it.'

'And… thank you for your hard work for our kingdom. Rest well, Mr. President. After this stupid game is over, I'll visit you in hell with more beers and whiskeys. I wonder if you're going to build another wall over there when you got to that side.'

*Piki*

A karmic chain that had been restraining Li Feihong's ankles disintegrated. As it transformed into dust, a transparent figure with the face of Te Langpu nodded and smiled at Li Feihong as if he was bidding farewell.

Li Feihong could even hear a whisper.

'Don't worry. I'll make Hell great again! By the way, bring me premium wines and cigars next time. Whiskey hurts my throat.'

After the parting of the two men, an additional wing grew from Li Feihong's back. The breakthrough automatically occurred without Li Feihong's intention.

Realizing that Te Langpu blessed him with a huge gift, Li Feihong wailed.

.

.

.

\"Why didn't you let me kill him? I thought you wanted me to be your hired sword.\"

Ma Chao spied Te Langpu and Li Feihong's conversation last night through the dimension monitors. He was curious why Zhuge Liang stopped him from killing Te Langpu directly.

\"If you had done that, other clan members would have learned that you are working for us.\"

Zhuge Liang was enjoying his tea as he watched the dead body of Te Langpu through the monitors.

\"How so?\"

\"We had fabricated a rumor that you are working for Sun Ce and Lilim, so they believe that you are in Jianye. However, if you show up here, everyone will question the empress and our lord if they are hiding vital information. When they realize the truth, Cao Cao will definitely exploit this fact and use it against us.\"

\"But Cao Cao ran away.\"

\"He has many underlings in our clan. Don't forget that two of his majesty concubines are Cao Cao's daughters.\"

\"…\"

The conspiracy and politics were too complex and complicated that Ma Chao couldn't understand. Still, he was happy that he didn't have to do all the works.

Meanwhile, twenty semi-transparent system monitors in front of Zhuge Liang flashed non-stop as the strategist was chatting with my people from different groups at once. Most of them were Diaochan and her allies.

'Ah, so busy. Well, now that Te Langpu is dead. It's time to move on to the next target. Let's see… Next stop, Jiangdong! We'll hunt down Sun Ce and force Cao Cao to choose sides.'

Spring had arrived, and it was the right time to mobilize their forces.