Book 15: Chapter 101
Arguably, Shen Wuzheng’s demise was the biggest shock in the pugilistic world for the ten years prior and after. Given his status, the imperial court would’ve strictly censored the news until there was a suitable time, lest the people panicked. Sadly, that was impossible when thousands of people witnessed a blaze consume his home and saw his children escape from the mayhem. The “upper echelon” didn’t think the news was meant to be censored.
His Majesty’s plan to personally hold a funeral for his late friend was met with vehement objections from officials until the silent Ye Yun made a bloody mess out of a protestor in court. Suffice to say, Ye Yun could’ve killed the official even without a hu, but he mounted the official and silently bludgeoned him whilst fighting back his tears that mixed in with the blood sprayed. His Majesty handed out a trivial punishment of self-reflection to Ye Yun for his actions.
On the day of the ceremony, it took His Majesty virtually all of his strength to stand. He showed no signs of pursuing the culprit, nor did he mention the consequences of Shen Clan’s downfall on the imperial court. Upon returning to court soon after, he never mentioned a word of it. Nobody dared to ask him about it ever since; they universally knew that his composure was just a pretence and asking him would’ve been poking the bear.
After nothing about it was brought up for years, it was assumed that it had passed. Little did they know how important it was to His Majesty and how capable he was. Without many being aware, he built himself up to force Ximen Chuideng into a decisive battle at Lawless Cliff a few years later, practically erasing Divine Moon Cult from the Central Plain. The event brought Shen Wuzheng’s passing back to the forefront for the majority again. It dawned on them at that point that His Majesty never got over his friend’s death, and he never forgot about avenging his friend. For all they knew, he could’ve made up his mind to destroy Demon Sect on the day of his late friend’s funeral.
Ming Feizhen felt lost when he caught wind of Shen Wuzheng’s passing. Although they weren’t close, Ming Feizhen occasionally thought of Shen Wuzheng’s smile and soothing voice. His impression of Shen Wuzheng was a scholar – composed, and organised. Shen Wuzheng gave the impression of a man who had an answer for any problem; if it was a really tough one, he’d talk you out of your pessimism and help you brainstorm together. Shen Wuzheng made for a great friend.
While the thought of investigating Shen Wuzheng’s death did come to Ming Feizhen’s mind, Yan Shisan was still active at the time. Yan Shisan swore to find the culprit behind Shen Wuzheng’s death, only to lead to Divine Moon Cult getting dragged in, destroyed, and even ruining himself. Most people stopped caring about Shen Wuzheng’s death after Ximen Chuideng fell from power, with only a few people still pursuing the case, one of whom was Ming Feizhen.
Divine Moon Cult and the imperial court were still enemies. The imperial court didn’t care if Ximen Chuideng was responsible for Shen Wuzheng’s death or not. Whatever the truth was, why did they have to care once Ximen Chuideng was gone? Divine Moon Cult was more focused on avenging Ximen Chuideng than caring about the reason behind Shen Wuzheng’s demise.
Ming Feizhen was the exception as there was never a clear-cut explanation for Shen Wuzheng’s death. Not even Yan Shisan was dead certain in his conclusion. Most importantly, the question of who killed Shen Wuzheng remained unanswered. Even though Shen Wuzheng wasn’t on Yan Shisan’s level, if Shen Wuzheng was still alive, Ming Feizhen was sure that he’d have been one of The Ultimate Three.
Shen Wuzheng wasn’t Confucianism’s Yu Sihe. He singlehandedly maintained the balance between the three bureaus. He was accustomed to dealing with schemers, and he wouldn’t have carelessly trusted someone, not even his closest friends, when he knew he was always living inside a tornado. Ming Feizhen couldn’t even imagine his current self being able to take out the calm Shen Wuzheng without the latter even being able to send out one last piece of information in his last moment. Why would someone as conspicuous as Ximen Chuideng, who loved being as flamboyant as possible, have assassinated Shen Wuzheng instead of making sure the entire capital was watching on? There was only one person who could’ve so one-sidedly defeated Shen Wuzheng, but Ming Feizhen wasn’t convinced Ming Huayu would’ve done that, so that possibility was removed. As long as he removed the part about Shen Wuzheng being unable to leave behind any information, Ming Feizhen had new routes to explore.