Chapter 127 - 87: I Still Prefer Your Defiant Look (Part 2)

Chapter 127: Chapter 87: I Still Prefer Your Defiant Look (Part 2)

At these words,

a handsome young man promptly fell to the ground.

The Junior Official had suffered too great a shock; he simply tilted his head back and fainted.

Zhao Ci quickly covered Maoju’s mouth. "I told you to wait a quarter of an hour, so you wait a quarter of an hour. What’s the rush?"

Maoju was speechless.

Zhao Ci walked to the front of the high platform and announced, "I know they aren’t the only three impostors here. You all saw that I am not a bloodthirsty man. Otherwise, I would not have gone out of my way to warn the culprits to leave early.

But some people, it seems, just don’t know what’s good for them.

However, you are all subjects who have sacrificed for the Great Yu. I would be loath to execute you.

So, I will break my word just this once. I will not kill you this time.

But there is one condition: in a quarter of an hour, you must identify the officials who incited you to do this.

If you stubbornly persist in deceiving the crown, then don’t blame me for being ruthless!

Furthermore,

do not entertain any delusions that I can’t find you.

You all saw it just now. I am very patient!

I can hand out elixirs one by one, and I can investigate people one by one.

As a Prince, I hope all of my Father Emperor’s subjects can live good lives.

But as his subjects, I also hope you can show my Father Emperor some respect.

The quarter-hour countdown starts now.

Think it over carefully during this time.

And no turning in your papers early!"

With that,

he slammed the butt of his spear into the floorboards.

The entire area outside the city walls fell frighteningly silent.

Not only were the impostors among the crowd struck silent, but the assembled officials also began to fear for their own safety.

This sort of deception could be treated as a minor issue or a major one. Previous Capital Officials who visited the Northern Three Prefectures tended not to get too hung up on it, as it was a thankless task.

Without local support, investigating such cases was extremely difficult.

And offending the local officials brought them no benefits either.

But no one had expected it.

This Tenth Prince was so damn stubborn. And judging by how precisely he had distributed the elixirs, he likely possessed intelligence-gathering methods beyond their imagination. No one dared doubt his ability to investigate them one by one.

’We’re in deep trouble!’

’In a quarter of an hour, we junior officials are definitely going to be identified!’

’If we’re charged with deceiving the crown then, what are we going to do?’

’Zhang Delv!’

’You’ve really screwed us over this time!’

Zhao Ci, however, nonchalantly sat back down, a grin spreading across his face as he looked at Zhang Delv. "Lord Zhang, you see? Isn’t this batch processing so much more efficient!"

Zhang Delv was speechless.

’He was completely floored!’

In one move, the crisis that had been hanging over the "troublesome commoners" was completely shifted onto the shoulders of the junior officials.

These people were his power base. If they were all convicted of a crime, then he would be...

He gritted his teeth and lowered his voice. "Your Highness, actually, I am aware that these junior officials don’t have clean hands. I’ve long wanted to discipline them properly, but with you making such a sudden, drastic move, it puts everyone in a difficult position.

The law doesn’t punish the masses!

His Majesty relies on us to get things done; he probably wouldn’t issue a severe punishment.

King Yama is easy enough to deal with, but his minor demons are a nightmare.

If you make mortal enemies of these hardened troublemakers, won’t it be inconvenient for you to get things done in the Northern Three Prefectures later on?"

’Make mortal enemies of them?’

’With bastards like you around, my reputation in their eyes was already shot to hell long ago.’

’Are you threatening me?’

Zhao Ci smiled faintly. "If I make mortal enemies of them, it will indeed be difficult for me to get things done. But if they were dead, my business would be much easier to handle!"

Zhang Delv’s gaze hardened. "Your Highness, what do you mean by that?"

Zhao Ci sneered. "My Father Emperor is merciful. If this matter were handled by him, indeed, not many would be punished. But... what if I report it to the Imperial Clan Court and have the Imperial Clan Court delegate the task to the Ministry of Justice?

You should be able to see that I have a great deal of evidence. As long as I’m willing, I can absolutely turn this into a major case.

The Imperial Clan Court only handles strife between the princes’ households. The more intense the conflict, the better they like it. When that happens, I’ll have all the leverage.

As far as I’m concerned, there’s no such thing as ’the law doesn’t punish the masses’!

I may not be able to take their heads, but I can definitely strip them of their official posts!

And not just their posts—even the mastermind pulling the strings might not be able to hold onto their position.

Of course,

if this mastermind can’t even protect his own men, then even if he keeps his official post, his days ahead will likely be very difficult."

’Difficult would be an understatement!’

’He incites his subordinates to stir up trouble, but when they get into it, he can’t protect them at all.’

’At that point, what Junior Official would be willing to do his dirty work for him?’

’He wouldn’t even need to be stripped of his post.’

’Zhang Delv himself would no longer want to stay in this position!’

He really didn’t understand. Was it really necessary to make things so tense just over the matter of bestowing some elixirs?

’Does this Tenth Prince not understand how things work?’

’Is this any way to be an official?’

Zhang Delv couldn’t take it anymore. "Your Highness, you..."

Zhao Ci smiled faintly. "Do you think I don’t know how to be an official?"

Zhang Delv was speechless.

Zhao Ci curled his lip. "It’s true, I’m not very good at being an official. But I do understand the ways of the world, which is why I specifically left you a quarter of an hour."

A muscle in Zhang Delv’s brow twitched. He felt more and more as if he had fallen into Zhao Ci’s trap.

’So this quarter of an hour wasn’t for those troublesome commoners, nor was it for the junior officials.’

’It was... for me!’

He gritted his teeth. "Your Highness, please enlighten me!"

Zhao Ci laughed. "Simple! You admit that this problem was caused by your negligence and has nothing to do with these commoners or the junior officials. In addition, you’ll take out forty thousand taels of silver, purchase another thousand elixirs from me, and hold a sort of blind-box lottery for these officials as your apology."

Zhang Delv sucked in a sharp breath. He was floored.

He was absolutely, completely floored.

’So with this maneuver, the commoners are blameless, and the junior officials are blameless.’

’The responsibility is all on me?’