Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 308 The Emperor's kindness is as vast as the sea; how can I repay it with even the smallest bit of resentment?

The sound of the water clock at midnight lasted three times before ceasing.

The vast capital city was like a colossal beast that had fallen into a long slumber; all was silent, and all the shops were dark.

The bustling crowds, the bustling merchants, and the passing carriages of the day have all turned into deep shadows. Only the cold moon hanging high in the sky casts its clear light on the glazed tiles inside and outside the Forbidden City, creating a shimmering, desolate expanse.

On the long street, only the watchman's long, drawn-out cry of "Dry weather, be careful with fire" echoed in the emptiness. Rather than a warning, it seemed more like an empty elegy for this desolate capital.

This peaceful scene is nothing more than a thin layer of ice floating on boiling water.

Within the deep shadows cast by the majestic palace walls of the imperial city, dozens of dark streams silently converge, following the city's most hidden veins.

They are ferocious beasts lurking in the darkness, sharp blades hanging from the emperor's feet a thousand miles away, and the ultimate trump card of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, clad in flying fish robes and with embroidered spring knives at their waists.

……

The Forbidden City, the Directorate of Ceremonial.

This place is at the pinnacle of power within the inner court; every inch of land is precious, and every word and action can shake the outer court.

Even in the dead of night, the palace was still brightly lit by candles, illuminating the entire room with splendor.

Inside the bronze incense burner with animal-head shaped ornaments, top-quality agarwood from Annam was burning.

Shen Lian, a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, stepped into this palace that symbolized supreme power. His steps were so light that they resembled an uninvited ghost.

In his hand was a dark, lustrous ebony waist plaque, undecorated except for a single seal character "御" (Yu) engraved in relief at the center.

A young eunuch, his face ashen, led the way with trepidation. Whenever they encountered night patrol guards or eunuchs on duty, he only needed to flash this sign slightly, and they would all lower their heads and bow down as if they had encountered a ghost, not daring to breathe.

With the imperial edict here, the palace is as if it were nothing.

Deep within the palace, Wang Tiqian, the eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, did not rest.

To be fair, Wang Tiqian was not an unmeritorious minister to the new emperor.

Back then, it was he who braved the dangers of storms to travel to Pi Island in Liaodong to appease the unruly "overseas emperor" Mao Wenlong; it was also he who handled many unspeakable dirty affairs for the emperor both inside and outside the court.

However, merit is merit, and fault is fault.

Wang Tiqian knew perfectly well that over the years, under the guise of grain transport, he had colluded with officials in the outer court and embezzled a huge sum of money that ordinary people could not even imagine in several lifetimes.

If this matter were to come to the attention of that young emperor who cannot tolerate even the slightest injustice, I fear I would be torn to pieces in an instant.

However, in addition to fear, a deep resentment and jealousy gnawed at his heart day and night like a venomous snake.

He doesn't agree!
"Why?" Wang Tiqian often asked himself when no one was around. "Why is it that Wang Chengen, who was just a cautious yes-man in the Prince Xin's mansion, who, in terms of talent, was like a firefly while I was like the bright moon; in terms of political acumen, he was like a fledgling sparrow while I was a soaring eagle! Just because of that old relationship from his time as a prince, he was able to rise to the top and sit in the position of Grand Secretary of the Directorate of Ceremonial, enjoying the emperor's favor and wielding immense power in the inner court? And I can only bow down and obey him?"

He is not satisfied.

In the Ming Dynasty, the rise and fall of officialdom was never a matter of blind loyalty alone.

Wang Tiqian was merely reclaiming some of the rewards he deserved for his talents in this cannibalistic world!

"It's not that I'm greedy or cruel, it's just the way the world is," he consoled himself.

Just as he was feeling indignant, the tip of his pen drew a rapid and heavy ink mark on the Chengxintang paper. Unaware of it, a cold shadow had already quietly appeared behind him, like a summons from Yama, the King of Hell, right before his eyes.

The candle flame suddenly flickered, casting shimmering light and shadow.

Wang Tiqian caught a glimpse of a blurry yet tall figure in the silver-inlaid square mirror on the table. A chill instantly rose from his coccyx and shot straight to his Baihui point!
His throat tightened, and just as he was about to cry out in alarm, a hand like an iron clamp swiftly covered his mouth with lightning speed, silencing all his fear and screams, which were already filled with greed.

A cold, deep voice, devoid of any human warmth, rang in his ears like a chilling wind from the depths of hell:

"Eunuch Wang, I apologize for disturbing you so late at night."

Shen Lian tilted his head slightly, his breath almost brushing against Wang Tiqian's cold earlobe.

He paused, as if choosing the most appropriate words, his tone revealing a chilling gentleness:

"When His Majesty was in the Southern Capital, he often praised the eunuch's past service in front of others. However... His Majesty's favor is as vast as the sea, how can he repay it with even the slightest resentment? Although the national treasury is tight, how can we allow petty villains to steal it for their own enrichment?"

These two questions are like the morning bell and the evening drum, or like a death warrant, leaving no room for argument or evasion.

It is no longer an interrogation, but a final judgment from the will of the emperor!
Wang Tiqian's eyes were instantly filled with boundless fear.

He struggled violently, letting out a pitiful cry like a trapped beast, kicking his legs wildly on the ground, both laughable and pathetic.

Shen Lian gave him no further chances.

The embroidered spring knife held in his other hand quietly slid out of its sheath.

The blade was long and narrow, resembling a pool of frozen autumn water in the candlelight.

With just a gentle touch, a desolate yet swift silver arc appeared in the air, as fleeting as a night-blooming cereus or a shooting star.

A stream of warm liquid shot out suddenly, accompanied by the tooth-grinding soft sound of a blade slicing through the throat.

Wang Tiqian's struggle came to an abrupt halt. His body stiffened abruptly, and then he slumped down like a lump of mud. The last glimmer of light in his eyes was extinguished like a candle flickering in the wind.

Shen Lian released his grip, letting the still-warm body collapse to the ground.

He didn't even wipe the blood off the knife.

Warm drops of blood slid steadily down the blade, one by one. The blood, like red plum blossoms, bloomed silently on the gleaming gold bricks.

Shen Lian slowly sheathed the blood-stained knife, the soft "click" sound bringing a cold curtain to this bloody drama within the palace.

Outside the door, the young eunuch who had led the way was already terrified, collapsing to his knees, defecating and urinating incessantly.

Shen Lian didn't even turn his head, only coldly tossing out a sentence: "Clean it up."

After speaking, he turned around, carrying the Embroidered Spring Blade whose blade still bore the first drop of blood from the inner court, and strode away, his figure quickly disappearing into the deeper, more boundless night outside the palace.

……

As the first drop of blood splattered in the depths of the Forbidden City, a vast and inescapable net tightened simultaneously over the entire capital.

Orders are obeyed without question, and actions are swift and decisive.

Liu Jing, a senior official in the Ministry of Revenue, was fast asleep in a boudoir with his newly acquired eighth concubine.

In his dream, he was promoted to the highest rank, bestowed with a gold fish-shaped pouch by the emperor, and had a long procession of carriages and horses in front of his gate, enjoying great prestige.

Suddenly, a bone-chilling cold swept over him, jolting him awake from his sweet dream.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw several Imperial Guards dressed in flying fish robes standing silently in front of his bed like clay or wooden sculptures of ghost soldiers.

"Ah!" The beauty beside him let out a short scream.

Liu Jing was terrified and instinctively shouted, "How dare you! Who are you? How dare you trespass on the residence of an official of the imperial court..."

The leading officer of the Imperial Guard ignored his blustering but cowardly shouts. He slowly stepped forward, took out a roll of yellow silk from his robes, and gently shook it:
"Liu Jing, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, has been found guilty of embezzling state funds by misappropriating grain tribute and colluding with foreign officials. The evidence against him is irrefutable. By imperial decree, you are hereby imprisoned to have your account of the 'Heaven and Man' investigated."

Liu Jing's face, pale from excessive indulgence, instantly lost all color, his lips trembled, and he could no longer utter a word.

His body went limp, and he collapsed onto the bed, even more pathetic than his unconscious concubine.

Meanwhile, Tongzhou Xicang, located at the end of the Grand Canal, is the largest granary in the world.

The fighting here is even more direct.

The commander of the Imperial Guard stationed in Tongzhou led over a hundred elite cavalrymen, like a black tide, straight towards the official residence of the Vice Minister of the Granary, which was far beyond the permitted regulations.

The vice minister put up a stubborn resistance, shouting for his servants and guards to defend him. But those servants who usually only knew how to act arrogantly were no match for these imperial guards who had crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

With just one charge, the resistance crumbled like snow meeting boiling water.

The guards were either killed on the spot or fled in panic, kneeling down to surrender. The Vice Minister himself was captured alive by a captain and tied up like a fat pig waiting to be slaughtered.

At this moment, the entire capital city seemed to have become a huge and intricate chessboard.

Each and every culprit that had been entrenched there was precisely and ruthlessly removed at the appointed moment by an unseen hand that reached out from thousands of miles away.

……

At the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), when the sky is just beginning to brighten but not yet fully light, and the night is at its deepest.

The two-hour-long nighttime hunt in the capital, with all its undercurrents and bloodshed, finally converged at the eye of the storm—the Duke of Cheng's mansion.

This mansion, which has been passed down since the Yongle era, is the highest symbol of military merit and nobility in the Ming Dynasty.

The majestic gate tower and the layered palaces silently proclaim its glory and prestige, which have endured alongside the nation.

At this moment, the mansion was brightly lit, but outside it was deathly silent.

Shen Lian carried the Embroidered Spring Knife and walked slowly to the front of the mansion.

He paused, looked up at the golden plaque bearing the inscription "Chengguo Duke's Mansion" written by the emperor himself, his gaze deep and unwavering, devoid of any reverence, only filled with a chilling coldness.

Shen Lian reached out and tapped the thick, vermilion-lacquered door three times with the hilt of his knife.

"Boom, boom, boom."

Three muffled thuds, in the dead silence before dawn, sounded like three death knells, their sound silent yet their power greater than thunder.

As he knocked on the door, dark figures emerged and converged from the shadows on the previously empty street behind him, like ghosts.

They were the Imperial Guards who had just unleashed a reign of terror throughout the capital.

Like rivers flowing into the sea, or stars surrounding the moon, they stood silently behind Shen Lian in a formidable square formation, completely encircling the entire Cheng Guogong Mansion.

The chilling atmosphere condensed into frost.

After a long while, the door hinges emitted a heavy and labored creaking sound, and the mansion gate slowly opened a crack.

Behind the door was the old steward of the Duke's mansion, his face contorted with extreme fear.

Shen Lian's gaze pierced through the crack in the door, like a sharp sword pointing straight to the brightly lit ceremonial gate deep within the mansion, and he shouted loudly:
"Shen Lian, commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, has come to pay his respects to Duke Zhu Chunchen of Cheng State by imperial decree!"

The sound pierced the deathly silence inside and outside the mansion, each word clearly reaching everyone's ears.

As soon as the words were spoken, from the depths of the mansion, a roar that could not be suppressed, filled with boundless humiliation and rage, suddenly exploded like the howl of a trapped beast.

(End of this chapter)