Chapter 32 |
In the past, eunuchs might have shown some restraint and respect towards the Second Grand Secretary of the Cabinet. But who was Wei Zhongxian? He was the number one hound, personally named and promoted by Wang Hao, and granted the power of life and death!
"Hehe, a warrant from the Three Judicial Offices? A drafted decree from the Cabinet?" As if hearing the greatest joke in the world, Wei Zhongxian covered his mouth and let out a series of high-pitched giggles, laughing until tears almost fell from his eyes.
He abruptly stopped laughing and stared fixedly at Zhang Wuji. "Lord Second Grand Secretary, the Emperor has been assassinated! This is the unforgivable crime of treason! According to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the East Depot has the right to execute those suspected of rebellion before reporting it—a special privilege granted by imperial power! This humble servant holds the Emperor's personally bestowed token. That is the highest law!"
He ignored Zhang Wuji and suddenly raised his hand, his gaunt finger pointing past Zhang Wuji's shoulder toward the crowd behind him.
"Right Censor-in-Chief, Feng Xiang."
"Director of the Bureau of Equipment, Shen Jian."
"Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, Li Ming."
...
Wei Zhongxian called out six names in a single breath. Every name spoken was like a heavy hammer striking the hearts of those officials.
"Understood!"
With a uniform roar, dozens of elite East Depot guards surged past Zhang Wuji like fierce tigers descending a mountain, pouncing on the group of officials like starving beasts.
"Insolent! How dare you!" Zhang Wuji's eyes widened in fury. He had never expected Wei Zhongxian to be so arrogant as to arrest people right in front of him, the Second Grand Secretary!
With a furious roar, the astral qi within his body erupted, and he prepared to intervene.
However, the very moment his true qi began to circulate...
Buzz—
An utterly terrifying killing intent suddenly locked onto him from the darkness a hundred meters away.
Zhang Wuji's hairs stood on end, feeling as if he were being targeted by a primordial behemoth. He struggled to move his eyes, following the source of the aura.
There, standing quietly on a rooftop a hundred meters behind Wei Zhongxian, was the figure of a eunuch dressed in a crimson python robe. The man's face was unmasked, and under the moonlight, his effeminate features were faintly visible.
The Seal-Holding Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, Sun Li.
Sun Li merely stared coldly at Zhang Wuji. Though he didn't utter a single word, the message in his eyes was crystal clear: If you dare to move an inch, I will sever your head immediately!
Cold sweat instantly soaked through Zhang Wuji's heavy robes. The true qi he had just gathered was forcefully suppressed back into his body, causing him to let out a muffled groan as a trace of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.
He didn't dare to move. He knew that if he dared to intervene, not only would he fail to save anyone, but the label of intending to rebel and openly resisting the Depot Guards would be firmly pinned on him. When that happened, the Emperor wouldn't even need an excuse to execute him.
"Good! What a fine eunuch! What a fine imperial privilege!" Zhang Wuji watched helplessly as the guards charged into the crowd. He squeezed the words through gritted teeth, his fingernails digging deeply into the flesh of his palms.
On the long street, the once aloof and arrogant group of civil officials was now in complete chaos.
"What are you doing?! I am the Right Censor-in-Chief! I am an imperial censor! You ball-less castrated dogs, don't you dare touch me!"
Right Censor-in-Chief Feng Xiang looked at the fierce East Depot guards lunging at him like wolves and tigers. Terrified, he stumbled backward, his black official's hat falling to the ground. He frantically waved his hands, trying to scare them off with the same overbearing presence he used to berate people in the imperial court.
However, these blood-soaked guards couldn't care less about his posturing.
A burly squad leader sneered, stepped forward, and viciously kicked Feng Xiang right in the knee.
With a crisp crack, Feng Xiang's kneecap was shattered.
"Ah—" Feng Xiang let out a pig-like shriek and collapsed heavily onto his knees.
"You old geezer, spewing absolute crap! It's one thing to curse us in the imperial court, but today the Emperor was assassinated, and a rebel like you still dares to act arrogant!" The squad leader grinned savagely and delivered a resounding backhand slap to Feng Xiang's wrinkled face.
The slap was so heavy and forceful that it sent half of Feng Xiang's teeth flying out in a spray of blood. Feng Xiang saw stars from the impact, and his previously ruddy cheeks instantly swelled up like a pig's head.
"Lord Second Grand Secretary, save me! Lord Second Grand Secretary! This subordinate is innocent! I wouldn't even dare to kill a chicken, how could I possibly direct assassins!" Ignoring the pain, Feng Xiang crawled on the ground like a dog with a broken spine, reaching out to grab the hem of Zhang Wuji's robes. His face was covered in tears and snot, completely devoid of the noble bearing of an upright scholar.
On the other side, Director of the Bureau of Equipment Shen Jian made an even bigger fool of himself.
When two guards pressed their gleaming sabers against his neck, Shen Jian's legs gave out. A foul-smelling, pale yellow liquid trickled down the legs of his official trousers—he had literally peed his pants in terror.
"Don't kill me! Don't kill me! I confess! I confess to everything! All the embezzled silver is in the manor outside the city. I'll hand it all over! I beg the Depot Director to spare my life!" Shen Jian knelt on the ground, kowtowing frantically while screaming, thoroughly dragging the dignity of the civil officials through the mud.
Seeing this scene, Zhang Wuji trembled with rage, his vision darkening in waves.
Trash! Every single one of them is absolute trash! Normally they fancy themselves as the second coming of Hai Rui or the reincarnation of Bao Zheng, but now with a blade at their necks, they actually pee their pants and beg for mercy! They have completely disgraced the scholar-officials!
"Wei Zhongxian!" Zhang Wuji took a deep breath, glaring fixedly at the smiling eunuch who was enjoying the show. "You claim they colluded with the Tartars and raised evil spirits. Where is the evidence?! Without evidence, openly beating and arresting imperial officials on the street—I will definitely report this to His Majesty and have your entire extended family executed!"
"You want evidence?"
Wei Zhongxian sneered, pulled out a thick stack of dossiers from his sleeve, and tossed it right in front of Zhang Wuji.
The dossiers scattered across the ground. Zhang Wuji looked down, and his pupils shrank drastically.
It was a list of confessions and physical evidence obtained by the Embroidered Uniform Guard through overnight emergency interrogations! It detailed not only how Feng Xiang and the others had used their positions over the past few years to secretly smuggle the Great Zhou's military supplies, such as horses, carriages, and runic weapon materials managed by the Bureau of Equipment, to the Tartars beyond the Great Wall; it also clearly recorded how they had secretly used human blood and living souls in their suburban manors to raise mind-bewitching evil spirits, attempting to manipulate the imperial court from the shadows!
In this world where martial arts and evil spirits existed, colluding with the Tartars was a capital offense, but raising evil spirits was an unforgivable crime that crossed everyone's bottom line!
"This... this is impossible... This is a fabrication concocted by your Depot Guards!" Although Zhang Wuji put up a tough front, his heart had already gone cold. He knew it was true; after all, he had done the same, perhaps even worse. The young Emperor had clearly set his sights on these men long ago, and tonight he was merely using the assassination as an excuse to confiscate their properties directly!
"Fabricated? If the Vice Grand Secretary does not believe it, you can visit their mansions and see for yourself." Wei Zhongxian leaned in close to Zhang Wuji with a sinister look, lowering his voice. "However, I advise you to cleanse yourself first."
Wei Zhongxian's eyes gleamed with an undisguised warning. "If the Vice Grand Secretary continues to be blind to the situation, then the Zhang family's three hundred thousand acres of fertile land outside the city, as well as that filthy object you hide in your secret chamber... Well, the Brocade Guard's imperial prison still has quite a few empty cells."
Zhang Wuji's heart violently contracted. He was afraid. He was truly terrified.
The little emperor had flawlessly seized upon these six unlucky fools with irrefutable evidence of their crimes. This was a warning to him, Zhang Wuji, and also a reassurance to the other noble families—as long as you obediently fall in line, I will not touch your foundations; but whoever dares to step out of line, I will rightfully exterminate their nine generations!