I meet all the requirements for becoming a god in this world!

Chapter 236 Tonight is quite lively!

Cheng Laiyun ran all the way into the Xie residence.

He didn't even wait for the gatekeeper to announce his arrival; he simply climbed over the wall and jumped into the backyard.

The courtyard of the Xie residence was not large, and its furnishings were as simple as Xie Yuheng himself—a few clumps of bamboo, a stone table, and in the corner, an empty fish basket and a fishing rod leaning against the wall.

The door to the main room was open, and candlelight shone through. Xie Yuheng was standing at his desk, practicing calligraphy.

He wore a faded blue scholar's robe, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing a thin but rock-solid forearm.

The brush tip moved slowly and steadily across the rice paper, writing the last stroke of the character "静" (quiet).

"Grand Tutor Xie!" Cheng Laiyun's voice was filled with the heavy panting of running all the way, and his robes were still covered with dust from climbing over walls and crossing alleys on his way to the Xie residence.

Xie Yuheng didn't even look up. He steadily brought the vertical stroke to a stop, dipped the brush in ink again, and began to write a character:

"Young Master Cheng, visiting late at night without knocking and climbing over the wall—did Zhang Linzheng teach you these rules of the Censorate, or did you learn them on your own?"

Cheng Laiyun had no interest in arguing with him about these things, and quickly walked to the desk:

"Grand Tutor Xie, something terrible has happened..." He only got halfway through his sentence.

Then I noticed Xie Yuheng's pen pause for a moment.

He looked up, glanced at Cheng Laiyun, then continued writing, his tone flat:

"Yang Shi'en rebelled?"

"Huh?!" Cheng Laiyun stopped abruptly, staring wide-eyed at Xie Yuheng:

"You...know?"

Xie Yuheng placed the pen on the pen holder, picked up a damp cloth from the desk to wipe his hands, leaned back in his chair, and a faint, cold smile appeared on his lips:

"In the entire capital, what can escape my perception?"

Cheng Laiyun stood there with his mouth agape, unsure of what to say.

He knew Xie Yuheng was very strong—he knew that the old man was unfathomable when the Prince of Zhenbei appeared in the Regent's Office.

But he didn't know that Xie Yuheng's perception could cover the entire capital city.

Since you know everything, why don't you just stop it? "Since you know... why are you still practicing calligraphy here?"

Cheng Laiyun felt his voice was somewhat weak.

Xie Yuheng glanced at him, his cloudy eyes devoid of any emotion, as if he were looking at a child who wanted to run before he could even walk:

"Once one has cultivated Confucianism and Taoism to the second rank, one can no longer concern oneself with the affairs of the common people, but can no longer concern oneself with the affairs of the royal family."

Cheng Laiyun frowned, not understanding.

Xie Yuheng picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, leaned back in his chair, and spoke in a calm and unhurried tone, as if he were tutoring a wayward student.

"In Confucian and Taoist cultivation, once you reach the second rank, there is a set of rules of your own."

"This is a set of rules that exist between heaven and earth. These rules do not bind me alone, but all Confucian scholars who have reached the second rank throughout history—the second rank of Confucianism and Taoism protects the common people, not the royal family."

"Royal affairs are the royal family's business; I cannot interfere or meddle."

"No matter what Yang Shi'en does, he still supports members of the royal family to ascend to the throne."

"Since they are members of the royal family, that is a matter for the royal family. The change of the throne is not my concern."

Cheng Laiyun's heart skipped a beat when he heard this—he thought of the Third Prince. Last time, when the Third Prince plotted a rebellion in the Imperial Study, the spirit fox almost switched Emperor Jianye's fate with the Third Prince's, and Xie Yuheng didn't lift a finger in that whole affair.

At the time, he thought Xie Yuheng didn't know, then he thought Xie Yuheng was too late, but now he knows—it's not that he didn't know, nor that he was too late, it's that he couldn't.

"So that time with the Third Prince..." Cheng Laiyun's voice was a little dry.

"Yes, the Third Prince is a prince."

"His rebellion was an internal dispute within the royal family."

"If he succeeds, he will be a member of the royal family to ascend the throne. Young Cheng, now you know why I haven't taken action?"

Xie Yuheng picked up his brush again and began practicing calligraphy slowly, the brush tip landing the final horizontal stroke on the rice paper:

"I'm afraid I can't help with Yang Shi'en's matter."

"At daybreak, no matter who sits on the dragon throne, I will still be the Imperial Tutor."

"If the new ruler is willing to implement new policies, I will be happy for him; if the new ruler is not willing—this world is not my world alone."

Cheng Laiyun stood in front of the desk, and Xie Yuheng slowly dipped his brush in ink again, preparing to write the third character.

Cheng Laiyun stared at the ink droplet on the tip of Xie Yuheng's pen, his mind racing. He understood what Xie Yuheng had just said.

But he was not willing to give up.

The policy of merging land tax and poll tax will benefit the people and the nation.

There can be absolutely no accidents!

He took a deep breath, raised his head to look into Xie Yuheng's cloudy yet still sharp eyes, and spoke in a low voice, but enunciated each word very steadily.

"Grand Tutor Xie, this is not merely a matter within the royal family."

"Yang Shi'en wants to put the Eighth Prince on the throne. Once the Eighth Prince ascends the throne, what will be the first thing he does?"

"It means abolishing the new policies. The land tax reform and the grace decree—all of them must be abolished."

"The conversion of land tax into poll tax was not a matter for the imperial family. The original intention of this new policy was never to allow the imperial family to collect a few more taels of silver."

"The original intention of this new policy was to reduce the burden on ordinary people by a few taels of silver. Do you know what kind of life the people of Changle County were living five months ago?"

"Some people paid the death tax for three years, selling their cattle, mortgaging their land, and borrowing from all the relatives they could. After the new policy was implemented and the poll tax was abolished, he killed the last old hen in his house and told his wife, 'We don't have to pay the poll tax anymore. What else is this but the New Year?'"

"You've seen the pilot data from Changle County—it's ten times higher. Before the new policy was implemented, taxes were 12,000 taels; after, they were 128,000 taels." "Of those 128,000 taels, 60,000 taels were recovered from hidden land, collected from those noble families who never paid taxes."

"That 60,000 taels of silver used to be a heavy burden on the people, but now it's the imperial court's money to build bridges and roads for them!"

He took a step forward, placed his hands on the desk, and stood only a sheet of Xuan paper away from Xie Yuheng:

"If His Majesty's destiny is changed and the Eighth Prince ascends the throne, Yang Shi'en will hold power behind the scenes."

"Do you think they will keep the new policy? The land tax reform will be abolished overnight, the grace decree will be abolished, and all the figures collected in Changle County will become worthless."

"The new emperor will not implement new policies, because those who put him on the throne are the ones who will suffer the most from these new policies."

Why did Yang Shi'en rebel? It wasn't because he had any ambition for the throne—it was because the new policies affected his land, affecting the taxes on hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile land belonging to the Duke of Dingguo's mansion.

He pursed his lips slightly, and slowed his speech:

"The child of Madam Lu's family squatted in the yard planting melon seeds. He planted roasted melon seeds, but they wouldn't grow. He watered them every day, refusing to believe they wouldn't grow."

"It was the new policy that ensured his family had food to eat, which gave him the leisure to grow sunflower seeds. If the new policy were abolished, his family wouldn't even have enough to eat, let alone grow sunflower seeds."

"This is the first time Lu Laosan has killed a chicken on a day other than the Lunar New Year. If the new policy is abolished, he'll still have to pay the poll tax for his deceased relatives next year—will he still be able to keep that chicken to lay eggs?"

"Grand Tutor Xie, these people are not members of the royal family; they are commoners." "You are a second-rank Confucian and Taoist, cultivating the way of the people. The people are suffering terribly; can you stand idly by?"

Xie Yuheng paused, his pen still.

…………

The night was as dark as ink, and the palace gates on all four sides of the imperial city were locked an hour after sunset.

According to the ancient system, the keys to the palace gates were kept by the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs, and no one was allowed to open them without an imperial edict.

However, the Director of Ceremonial Affairs, who was on duty that day, was "invited" to the Yongding Gate in the southeast corner of the Imperial City at dusk—he was invited by a deputy commander of the Imperial Guard.

With a respectful attitude and gentle tone, he only said that the Duke of Dingguo had asked him to check the palace defenses and verify the duty roster for tonight.

When the chief eunuch arrived at Yongding Gate, he discovered that the roster was fake, the verification was fake, and even the respect on the officer's face was fake.

He was placed under house arrest in a side room, and the sound of footsteps outside the window had been constant since dusk—that was the Imperial Guard taking over the palace defenses.

He tried to shout, but his mouth was gagged; he tried to run, but the door was locked.

He could only listen in the darkness to the synchronized footsteps of the procession passing by in formation.

The sound of footsteps spread from Yongding Gate to Chengtian Gate, and from Chengtian Gate to the last palace wall in front of the Golden Palace. He knew very well that these footsteps were not treading on blue bricks, but on the lifeblood of the Great Yuan Dynasty.

At this moment, this lifeline is being held in someone's hands inch by inch.

Yang Shi'en stood atop the Chengtian Gate tower, overlooking the imperial city that had fallen into his hands.

Nearly 10,000 guards were in position by tonight, all twelve palace gates were sealed, and all the eunuchs and imperial guards on duty were replaced in batches. No one could walk out of this city wall alive.

From the outside, the imperial city still appears as the brightly lit, solemn residence of the emperor, but inside it has been replaced with his chessboard, with each chess piece placed in its designated position.

"Actually... everything shouldn't have been like this."

Yang Shi'en's slightly aged gaze was filled with emotion as he uttered a sigh.

There was a hint of regret in his voice.

After the sighs.

His gaze turned cold.

He squinted, greedily surveying the entire imperial city:

"Establish the land tax system." "Hehe."

A series of rustling footsteps came from the direction of the palace gate, and several guard captains escorted several bound imperial guards past the city tower.

Those imperial guards were the last group of men on duty tonight who hadn't changed into their guard uniforms—the commander of the Vermilion Bird Gate was unwilling to relinquish his duties and questioned, "Without an imperial edict, who dares to arbitrarily adjust the palace defenses?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a knife was placed against his neck.

He and his men were being escorted to a temporary detention point set up in a dungeon by the Weilin Army. As they passed Chengtian Gate, he looked up at the city tower and saw the figure standing with his hands behind his back. His pupils suddenly contracted.

It wasn't that he didn't recognize Duke Dingguo, Yang Shi'en; he simply never imagined that this old duke, known for his gentleness, would be standing there.

Yang Shi'en did not look at him, but stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze fixed on the lights of the Imperial Study in the distance, as if he were looking at a collectible he was about to acquire.

A slender white figure emerged silently from the shadows of the city tower, its silvery-white hair fluttering gently in the night breeze like flowing mercury.

Linghu stood on the battlement, her golden vertical pupils reflecting the still-lit lamp in the Imperial Study. The weakness and panic she had felt five months ago when Cheng Laiyun had injured her were gone from her eyes.

"Redemption" consumed nearly half of its lifespan, pushing its innate supernatural powers to an unprecedented peak.

Now, it no longer needs to be as cautious and deliberate as it was when it helped Emperor Jianye change his destiny, nor does it need to be beaten into a corner by a junior of the sixth rank like it was five months ago in the imperial study.

It could feel the power within its body slowly awakening—not the fluctuation of demonic energy, but the power of destiny, the very rule that could alter the course of heaven and earth's fortune. Standing here, it was the most dangerous being in this imperial city.

"Have the arrangements been made with the Eighth Prince?" Yang Shi'en didn't turn around; his voice was faint in the night breeze on the city wall.

"It's all arranged. Your son, Yang Qianwan, has already brought him to the side hall of the East Palace."

"The Eighth Prince doesn't know why he's coming to the palace; he probably thinks you invited him." The fox spirit grinned, revealing gleaming white teeth.

"He'll know when he sits on the dragon throne."

"Don't kill him. He's the new ruler, and a new ruler cannot have blood on his hands."

Yang Shi'en finally turned his head and looked at the spirit fox, his gaze as calm as a stagnant pool of water.

He wasn't discussing things with the spirit fox; he was giving orders.

The fox chuckled softly, like the wind rustling through withered leaves.

"How many people have you killed, Yang Shi'en? Those assassins, the Marquis of Suining, and all those others—weren't they all killed because of you?"

"And your son, Yang Qianwan, when you pushed him into this mess, didn't you ever think he'd die too?"

"You're afraid of blood debts? You're just afraid that the historians will record your name in history." Yang Shi'en didn't reply.

He turned around and looked again at the lights on the west side of the imperial city—that was the direction of the Mo Clan in the capital.

He had already instructed Yang Qianwan to point all the evidence he could to Liangzhou, making sure there was no gaps in the evidence.

Just a day ago, Yang Qianwan had set a trap in the treasure vault to catch the mole, delivering a perfect report in front of Cheng Laiyun.

Cheng Laiyun should already be in Liangzhou trying to contact that grain merchant.

By the time he returned after touching her, everything had been settled: the new policies were abolished, and a new emperor had ascended the throne.

Even if he figured out all the details afterward, there was no evidence to overturn the case.

Let alone Cheng Laiyun.

No one can turn this ironclad situation around.

"Let's begin."

"Cheng Laiyun has already left Beijing."

When Yang Shi'en uttered the name "Cheng Laiyun," he could clearly sense a hint of apprehension in the fox spirit's eyes.

Seeing this hint of "apprehension," he raised an eyebrow but did not point it out.

The spirit fox, capable of changing the world, was actually afraid of a mere fifth-rank Mo cultivator.

Even if Mo Xiu had more "peeping" methods, so what?

"Um."

The fox leaped down from the battlements, its four paws landing silently on the blue bricks.

It glanced one last time at the lights in the Imperial Study, its golden vertical pupils churning with hatred that had been suppressed for nearly twenty years, so thick it seemed about to overflow from its eye sockets.

The grudge of being sealed away twenty years ago, and the hatred of being hunted down in the Imperial Study five months ago, will be settled tonight.

What it wanted was never to help anyone seize the throne; all it wanted was revenge.

It closed its eyes, and the innate divine power within its body, strengthened by redemption, began to awaken.

It was a power that did not belong to any system in this world; it was an innate law that the spirit fox clan had accumulated over thousands of years of coexistence with heaven and earth. A very faint silver light surged from its body, rippling towards the imperial study like waves.

The candlelight in the imperial study flickered simultaneously.

Emperor Jianye had just approved the document with the word "Approved," the ink still wet.

He suddenly felt sleepy—not the kind of exhaustion from proofreading papers late into the night, but a kind of exhaustion he had never felt before, a kind of despondency that seeped from the depths of his bones.

The candlelight flickered again.

No one noticed that the emperor's face on the dragon throne was gradually turning pale.

The fox spirit's magic silently seeped into every brick and stone of the imperial city, like water seeping into parched soil, slowly and irreversibly.

It calculated the time—the transfer of destiny would take half an hour.

Yang Shi'en's nearly 10,000 guards had already surrounded the imperial city like an iron barrel.

Even if someone senses something is wrong, they can't fly into this city wall.

Even if they flew in, Yang Shi'en was a third-rank military officer, and his nearly ten thousand guards were not made of paper.

The outcome for tonight is decided. Time ticks by.

Yang Shi'en breathed a long sigh of relief.

He looked at the spirit fox radiating light and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

In another quarter of an hour at most, the world will be completely transformed.

Just now.

"It's quite lively tonight."

A lazy, seemingly leisurely voice suddenly rang in Yang Shi'en and the spirit fox's ears.