The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 296 The Sharp-Tongued Young Master
Which three?

Cao Hanyan pressed for an answer.

With a sharp crack, like a storyteller striking his gavel, Yin Suqin began to speak in a rhythmic and expressive manner.

"Firstly, from today onwards, the sects in the martial arts world will be divided into three tiers. The ten major sects will be the 'Peak,' followed by 'Ascending Peak' and 'Looking at the Moon.'"

"These 'Moon Gazing' agents must regularly submit the head of a villain to the Embroidered Uniform Guard. In return, they can receive support from the imperial court. The more heads they submit, the more support they receive."

"The same principle applies to summiting, but you have to submit more heads."

Cao Hanyan frowned.

"This sounds like a good thing, but will there really be no cases of killing innocent people and taking credit for others' work?"

Yin Suqin spread her hands.

"Perhaps, but the martial world is in turmoil right now, and who knows how many villains are roaming around. It's not like the Embroidered Uniform Guard wouldn't check; they wouldn't go so far as to deceive that fiend—what if they get discovered?"

"This person is so ruthless; it's likely meant to intimidate others beforehand. At least for the next few years, these major sects will still have enough villains to squander."

Cao Hanyan nodded and said, "Brother Yin, please continue."

Yin Suqin then continued her sermon.

"The second rule is that the ten major sects at the 'Peak' level are to patrol the martial arts world on behalf of the imperial court. If they discover any acts of oppression against the good, they can take action directly and take the heads to the Embroidered Uniform Guard to claim a reward."

"The objects they monitor include 'Summit Climbing' and 'Moon Gazing'."

Cao Hanyan sighed and said in a deep voice.

"This is how the people of the martial arts world are divided up."

"But would these ten major sects really take action against their fellow martial artists? Even if they disregard the rules of the martial world and only consider their own interests, they wouldn't act rashly, would they?"

Yin Suqin smiled mysteriously.

"This brings us to the third rule."

"Any sect with 'celestial beings' is forbidden from attacking those who do not know martial arts."

After Yin Suqin finished speaking, she drank her wine by herself, leaving Cao Hanyan deep in thought.

After a long pause, Cao Hanyan finally raised her head and said in a deep voice.

"I understand."

"His rules are based on a hierarchical system where each level of authority surpasses the next."

"He surveyed the world by climbing peaks and gazing at the moon, and then used the highest peak to suppress climbing peaks and gazing at the moon."

"The major sects that can sit at the pinnacle of power basically have celestial beings within them. Therefore, they cannot attack ordinary people, so they can only target and kill those from the martial arts world."

“Ordinary petty thieves are not worth their time, so they can only kill those prominent figures in the martial arts world—including Dengfeng and Wangyue.”

"The sects are divided into three classes. The second and third classes kill minor evildoers, the first class kills major evildoers, and then the Imperial Guards are at the top, watching closely to see if they have made a mistake in killing anyone."

Yin Suqin nodded.

"That must be what it means."

Cao Hanyan, however, still frowned.

"But I can understand why Wangyue and Dengfeng would kill for his rule. But are the ten major sects at the pinnacle really willing to kill for his rule? And what reward can he offer them?"

"These major sects have been established for hundreds of years and are deeply rooted. They shouldn't need to seek the support of the imperial court, right?"

Yin Suqin smiled and lowered her voice.

"Well, he didn't say it publicly, but there are some speculations in the martial arts world—that this is the condition for them to retain the Celestial Human inheritance."

"Previously, the celestial beings in the martial arts world dared not show themselves, and the root cause could only be the imperial court. Now that he has opened that door, the condition for the exchange is that they must do this for the imperial court. It is only right to uphold justice, and they will not refuse."

"Although this kind of killing is only a temporary solution, it can at least stabilize the turbulent world to some extent, which is beneficial to the court in every way."

Cao Hanyan then slowly nodded.

"in this way."

"Although the methods are ruthless and don't seem like a long-term solution, they are the appropriate approach at the moment."

"It seems that this Lord Li is not as cruel and ruthless as Brother Yin described."

Yin Suqin slapped her thigh. "You're wrong! Brother Cao!"

"Although what this person is doing is beneficial to the world, his starting point is to stabilize the Great Shuo court. Right now, the two are only temporarily aligned, but if he needs to do evil to stabilize Great Shuo in the future, he will certainly not hesitate to do so!"

"We were just talking about the moon-viewing banquet, now let me tell you about this person in detail."

As the alcohol took effect, he waved his arms and gestured wildly as he spoke.

"This man is not only cruel, but also a lecherous scoundrel! He's no less ruthless than An Ziyang, who is my equal!"

"You know Yin Minjun, the leader of the Hengshan Sect, right?"

"She was forced to submit to him!"

"Even Yin Minjun's last disciple, Shen Xun Ning, was taken into his room!"

"He especially liked master-disciple relationships. He took Liu Baiyun, the heroine of the Huashan Sect, and her disciple Mei Qinghe as his concubines! He also took Gao Ling, the heroine of the Taishan Sect. He directly ruined three of the Five Sacred Mountains Sword Sects!"

"Not only that, you know the leader of the Ming Cult, right?"

Cao Hanyan was terrified.

"Ji Tianrui? Isn't he a man?!"

Yin Suqin shook her head.

"Brother Cao only knows one side of the story. Ji Tianrui is already dead, and in recent years his daughter has been impersonating him to travel the world—and he has also taken her into his household!"

"The reason why the Ming Cult went to assassinate the emperor was because the leader was... deprived of his virginity and then discarded like trash by him."

"Love breeds hate!"

"He went completely mad and did such a thing, which led to the destruction of the entire Ming Cult in Shuntian!"

Cao Hanyan was completely dumbfounded.

After a long while, he finally let out a long breath.

"Tian... Brother Yin, who told you these things?"

Yin Suqin patted her chest.

"I naturally have my friends, all from Shuntian Prefecture, guaranteed authentic!"

“At the beginning of the year, someone saw him appear on Shuntian Street with Gao Ling, Liu Baiyun, and Mei Qinghe; in the middle of the year, someone else saw him strolling around Hengshan Mountain with Yin Minjun.”

Cao Hanyan slowly shook her head.

"It's really unbelievable."

"I wonder what this person looks like. Putting aside good and evil for now, I really want to meet such a person."

Yin Suqin slammed her hand on the table and laughed loudly.

"Hahaha! I know what he looks like!"

"he--"

Suddenly, a hand was placed on his shoulder.

"Oh? What does he look like?"

Yin Suqin frowned and turned to look behind her.

A handsome man smiled at him, his left hand on his shoulder and the other behind his back. Beside him stood a woman, a long sword at her waist, whose appearance was eight or nine tenths similar to the man's.

Yin Suqin looked him up and down and said in a deep voice.

"Who is your Excellency?"

"Nobody."

The man made no attempt to be polite, stretching out his leg to pull up a chair and sitting down. He poured himself a small glass of wine, his hand still on Yin Suqin's shoulder, and smiled at her.

"I came over to listen to your story because I found it very interesting."

Li Miao's fingers, which were resting on Yin Suqin's shoulder, slowly tightened.

"Why don't you continue—what exactly does this fierce-looking, lecherous Lord Li look like?"

(End of this chapter)