Chapter 13: Go dig up my beloved minister's ancestral grave...
The force with which Su Zhen slammed his fist onto the dragon-carved imperial desk was so tremendous that even the solid-gold paperweight bounced half a foot into the air before rolling clatteringly down the white-jade steps.
The civil and military officials in the hall, who had been fake-crying and wailing moments ago, were so startled by the sudden crash that their entire bodies shuddered, their cries catching in their throats.
The several eunuchs standing nearby to guard the Emperor were scared half to death.
Thinking an assassin had startled the Emperor, they hurriedly spread their arms and tried to shield him with their bodies.
“Get out of the way—all of you!”
Su Zhen’s furious roar was like the bellow of a ferocious tiger.
Without the slightest mercy, he shoved aside the eunuchs and guards blocking his path. His tall, straight figure sent a sharp gust of wind through the air as he charged down the white-jade steps.
He crossed three steps in a single stride. His black-and-gold dragon robe billowed in midair, his imposing presence terrifying.
At the very center of the hall—
The Left Censor-in-Chief had his eyes tightly shut. Striding forward like a maddened old ox, he was charging headfirst at the thickest coiled-dragon pillar.
He calculated the distance excitedly in his mind.
Three steps left!
Two!
He was about to hit it!
As long as his forehead merely scraped off a layer of skin and squeezed out a few drops of blood, his immortal reputation as Great Yuan’s Foremost Upright Courtier would be recorded in the annals of history!
The corners of the Left Censor-in-Chief’s mouth rose involuntarily.
Just as his forehead was only an inch away from the hard pillar, an immense force suddenly surged from the back of his neck, vast and overwhelming.
The Left Censor-in-Chief felt his neck tighten, cutting off his breath.
His charging body came to an abrupt halt in midair, as though seized by an invisible claw.
“Ow!”
The Left Censor-in-Chief let out a strange cry, both feet leaving the ground.
Su Zhen had grabbed the patched collar of his official robe with one hand and lifted him into the air like a scrawny old rooster.
The Left Censor-in-Chief opened his eyes in terror, his four limbs kicking uselessly in midair.
What filled his vision was Su Zhen’s handsome face, so close that it appeared magnified countless times.
Contrary to everyone’s expectations, Su Zhen’s face was not blazing with fury, nor did it hold the murderous ferocity they had anticipated.
Instead, the Tyrant’s eyes gleamed with an almost fatherly compassion and a bizarre expression of deep heartache.
“My dear minister! My Left Censor-in-Chief!”
Su Zhen raised his voice, every word overflowing with sincere concern and affection.
That single cry left all the civil and military officials utterly dumbfounded.
Even Su Yaoyao, seated on her little golden chair and gnawing on a lamb leg, paused mid-chew and widened her limpid, peach-blossom eyes.
“My dear minister has lived a life of poverty and devoted himself to the country and its people. You are truly a role model for every official in Great Yuan!”
With one hand still holding the Left Censor-in-Chief aloft, Su Zhen used the other to stroke the large patch on his official robe with profound pain.
“Look at this! Just look at it!”
“A dignified first-rank official, yet you cannot even afford a decent official robe. Seeing this patch, the pain in my heart is unbearable!”
The Left Censor-in-Chief was being choked so badly that his eyes rolled back. He could barely breathe.
He had no idea what madness had seized the Tyrant this time. All he could do was desperately wave his hands, trying to pry apart Su Zhen’s ironlike fingers.
“That is why I absolutely cannot stand by and watch a loyal subject like you smash your head against a pillar and die!”
Su Zhen released his grip.
With a wet smack, the Left Censor-in-Chief hit the golden-brick floor like a heap of mud, landing so hard that he was dazed and disoriented.
Before he could even crawl up and offer his thanks, Su Zhen turned around. His majestic gaze swept toward the Imperial Guards outside the hall.
“Guards!”
A squad of heavily armored Imperial Guards strode into the hall and dropped to one knee.
“Your orders, Your Majesty!”
“The Left Censor-in-Chief has lived an incorruptible life. His family cannot even afford to hire a servant to guard their home.”
The corners of Su Zhen’s mouth curled into a demonic smile, his voice booming throughout the Golden Hall.
“I am truly worried about the safety of my dear minister’s ancestral graves!”
“Immediately muster five hundred elite soldiers. Leave the city and go dig up my dear minister’s ancestral tombs—”
Every official in the hall drew a sharp breath, their eyes nearly bulging from their sockets.
Dig up his ancestral tombs?!
“Ahem. I was overcome with grief and misspoke.”
Su Zhen corrected himself without the slightest hint of sincerity, his gaze cold as a blade.
“I meant go protect them! Go and protect my dear minister’s ancestral graves properly!”
“If even one or two silver pieces are missing from those graves, I will hold every one of you accountable!”
The Left Censor-in-Chief, sprawled on the floor, heard the words “ancestral graves” and “silver.” A thunderous boom exploded in his mind.
The blood in his entire body seemed to freeze, and his face turned paler than paper.
How could the Tyrant know about the graves?!
Su Zhen continued unleashing one devastating blow after another.
Looking down at the Left Censor-in-Chief, who was trembling like a sieve, he made his tone even more concerned.
“Oh, that reminds me. There is one more matter.”
“I hear that your only son has recently picked up some unsavory habits and has been staying out all night.”
“You will also go to the underground Bliss Casino in the western part of the city.”
“Bring back that precious son of yours, who is currently slaughtering everyone at the tables, and be sure to ‘invite’ him politely!”
“And while you are there, take inventory of exactly how much hard silver he lost last night!”
The Left Censor-in-Chief’s final psychological defense collapsed completely.
It was as though a heavenly thunderbolt had struck him head-on. His knees went weak, and his entire body slumped to the floor like a pile of mud.
It was over.
It was all over.
The Tyrant knew about the five hundred thousand taels hidden in the ancestral graves and the three hundred thousand taels concealed beneath the dry well!
“Your Majesty, you must not! Your Majesty, have mercy!”
The Left Censor-in-Chief could no longer concern himself with the dignity of an upright official. He scrambled toward Su Zhen on all fours.
Tears and mucus covered his face as he desperately kowtowed against the golden bricks, each impact producing a dull thud.
“This old minister has been wronged! I have lived a life of poverty and honesty. How could I possibly have money to gamble?!”
“These are all slanderous accusations by malicious villains! It was that Demoness who bewitched Your Majesty and filled your ears with lies!”
Even at this point, he still tried to bite back, struggling desperately to survive.
Several censorial officials who usually followed at the Left Censor-in-Chief’s heels also knelt down courageously.
“Your Majesty, please judge the matter wisely! Everyone under heaven knows of the Left Censor-in-Chief’s incorruptibility!”
“How could he possibly have hidden money in his ancestral graves? This is utter nonsense!”
Su Zhen looked at this group of stubborn old hypocrites, the mocking expression in his eyes growing even deeper.
“Incorruptible? Utter nonsense?”
Su Zhen let out a cold laugh.
The sound seemed to come from the depths of the netherworld, sending chills down everyone’s spines.
He had no patience left to argue with this pack of false gentlemen. Taking a step back, he shouted sharply:
“Where are the saber guards?”
Two burly saber guards with faces cold as iron strode forward.
“Strip him bare!”
“Let the entire court see with their own eyes just how poor our Great Yuan’s Foremost Incorruptible Official truly is!”
The two guards accepted the order and lunged at the Left Censor-in-Chief.
One on each side, they pinned down his wildly struggling arms.
“Let go of this old man! What are you doing?! This is an insult to scholarship! An insult to scholarship!”
The Left Censor-in-Chief screamed shrilly, like an old dog driven into a desperate corner.
But the guards’ strength was immense, leaving him no room to resist.
One of them seized the faded patch over the chest of his official robe.
Then he pulled hard!
Riiip!
The sound of tearing fabric rang through the hall.
The tattered official robe, which he claimed to have worn for ten years and mended countless times, was brutally ripped open from the collar all the way down to the waist.
The newly risen morning sun happened to shine through the carved lattice windows outside the hall, casting its slanting rays inside.
The sunlight fell upon the lining beneath the Left Censor-in-Chief’s torn robe.
A dazzling, eye-searing golden radiance suddenly burst forth!
The entire hall drew a collective, perfectly synchronized gasp.
The inside of the coarse court robe was actually lined with Jiangnan Flowing-Cloud Brocade—the most expensive and softest fabric in the entire realm.
Beneath the patches, densely packed and crisscrossing one another, were threads made entirely of pure gold!
The golden threads formed intricate, magnificent patterns, glittering brilliantly beneath the sunlight. The sheer extravagance was breathtaking.
A tattered robe?
It was clearly a one-of-a-kind golden battle armor hidden beneath a ragged outer garment!
Inside the Golden Hall, an utter silence descended.
The few censorial officials who had just pleaded for him looked like ducks being strangled. Their mouths hung open, but not a sound came out.
They stared wide-eyed at the dazzling golden light, their entire world collapsing around them.
Was this the moral paragon they had revered as a deity?
Was this the leader who lectured them every day about purging their desires and worrying for the nation and its people?
The cost of a single undergarment was worth ten years of an ordinary official’s salary!
The Left Censor-in-Chief collapsed onto the floor, staring at the golden-thread lining now exposed to the air. He stopped struggling.
His eyes were vacant, his lips blue. In an instant, he seemed ten years older, reduced to nothing more than a soulless shell.
“So much for a lifetime of poverty! So much for eating nothing but plain porridge and simple side dishes at every meal!”
Su Zhen’s voice exploded through the hall like a thunderclap, ringing in every person’s ears.
“You old scoundrel—deceiving the world and stealing its reputation while embezzling public funds and violating the law!”
The Left Censor-in-Chief collapsed like a puddle of mud, fainting on the floor as he wheezed like a dying dog.
Once again, a suffocating silence filled the great hall.
Not a single person dared to speak. Even their breathing was deliberately restrained, lest they provoke the Tyrant’s wrath.
Time passed, second by second.
Su Zhen did not announce the end of court. He merely sat quietly upon the throne, his fingers lightly tapping against the desk.
Half an hour later—
A series of heavy, hurried footsteps shattered the silence.
The commander of the Imperial Guard strode into the hall from outside, drenched in sweat, his armor askew.
Behind him came dozens of heavily armored guards, all panting for breath.
Each pair of guards carried a large, heavy redwood chest wrapped in mud on their shoulders.
More than a dozen wooden chests were neatly lined up beneath the white jade steps of the Golden Hall.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The heavy landing of each chest struck the hearts of every civil and military official present.
“Your Majesty!”
The commander of the Imperial Guard dropped to one knee, his voice trembling with excitement.
“This humble general was ordered to search the residence of the Left Censor-in-Chief. Beneath a dry well in the rear courtyard, we discovered a massive secret chamber!”
“We also unearthed a large quantity of silver that had not yet been moved from his ancestral grave!”
“In total, we confiscated... eight hundred thousand taels of silver! Among it was even the treasury silver allocated for the Jiangnan floods three years ago!”
The moment these words were spoken, the civil and military officials of the entire court were struck as if by lightning. One after another, they collapsed to the ground.
Su Zhen rose and hurried down the steps, stopping in front of the chests caked with mud.
He lifted his foot, clad in a dragon-emblazoned boot, and aimed it at the nearest wooden chest.
Then he kicked it with all his might!
With a loud crash, the lid shattered.
In an instant, the entire hall blazed with golden light.
Neatly stacked silver ingots, mixed with dazzling gold bars, nearly blinded the officials.
The treasury of Great Yuan—the poorest treasury in the realm—had suddenly grown fabulously rich.
At the moment when everyone stood speechless, stunned by the mountains of gold and silver—
On the little golden seat beside the throne, Su Yaoyao tossed aside the lamb bone she had gnawed clean.
She casually wiped her greasy little hands with a silk handkerchief. Then, from beneath her pink quilt, she pulled out an abacus made of pure gold.
Click-clack... click-clack...
The crisp, lively clatter of the abacus beads rang out cheerfully through the glittering hall.