"Wait, I confess! I... Aaargh..."
Yur Ping snatched the Sharp Cone Magical Artifact from the table and rushed forward. He grabbed Zhang Yulin’s collar with his left hand, and with the Magical Artifact Needle in his right, aimed for Zhang Yulin’s lower abdomen—his Lower Dantian—and stabbed it straight in.
He pulled it out, then stabbed again.
SQUELCH! SQUELCH! SQUELCH!
Zhang Yulin’s agonized screams echoed through the prison cell.
Only after stabbing Zhang Yulin’s lower abdomen until it resembled a ruined hornet’s nest, with his intestines spilling out, did Yur Ping toss the Sharp Cone Magical Artifact back onto the table. He slowly wiped the blood from his face, clothes, and hands.
Zhang Yulin was on the verge of death.
"Yur Ping is a little out of practice and couldn’t quite find your Dantian. He had to stab a few extra times. Don’t be angry, Lord Zhang."
As Li Qingxian spoke, he flicked out a Spirit Talisman to stanch Zhang Yulin’s bleeding, letting the severed intestines and wounds seal together in a messy, haphazard fashion.
"I’m more accurate," Li Qingxian said. He reached out and tapped Zhang Yulin between the eyebrows. A flicker of electric light flashed, destroying Zhang Yulin’s Spirit Platform.
"Pfft..." Zhang Yulin spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes filled with despair as he stared at Li Qingxian.
"Do you recognize this person?" Li Qingxian asked, pointing to Zheng Gaojue, whose fists were tightly clenched.
Zhang Yulin weakly shook his head and used the last of his strength to say, "I really don’t know him."
"That day, you destroyed two people’s Dantians. He is the other person’s son," Li Qingxian stated.
Zhang Yulin began to cough violently, blood spilling from the corners of his mouth. A pleading look entered his eyes.
Li Qingxian sighed. "The people you humiliated and murdered... they must have looked at you just like this, right? Oh, and that Night Guard who was gathering intelligence in Beichang County. He begged you before he died, too. I didn’t see a shred of pity for him in your eyes."
"I... I... I was wrong..."
"You weren’t wrong, you are utterly depraved! You deserve to die! Gao Jue, this man slandered his sovereign and father—an act of high treason. Cut out his tongue and break his limbs!"
"Yes!"
Han Anbo stepped forward, picked up an instrument to pry open Zhang Yulin’s mouth. Zheng Gaojue clamped Zhang Yulin’s tongue with a pair of pincers in his left hand, and with a pair of shears in his right, he snipped forcefully. Blood splattered.
"Mmph... mmmph..." Zhang Yulin fainted from the sheer agony.
"You two handle the rest." Li Qingxian glanced at the blood-stained floor and then looked at Han Anbo.
"Brother Han, he is a Direct Lineage disciple of Demon Transformation Mountain, after all. Should we use something like the Life-Breaking Sword on him?" Li Qingxian asked.
A glint flashed in Han Anbo’s eyes, but he quickly smiled. "The Life-Breaking Sword is far too precious to waste on him. With the Emperor’s birthday celebration underway, he spouted such treasonous words. The Internal Factory’s standard procedure is to kill him outright to close the case and avoid angering the Emperor. If you’re worried, we can use a normal Fate Skill to dissolve any traces after he’s dead."
"Uncle Han, what’s a Life-Breaking Sword?" Zheng Gaojue asked.
"Those who have resolved to die, yet do not fear death, might carry a Life-Breaking Sword."
Zheng Gaojue looked utterly confused.
Li Qingxian explained, "It’s a special type of Life Artifact that severs one’s fate after severing one’s life. Some people on special missions embed it within their spine. If they are about to be exposed, they use the sword to end their own fate, creating a powerful Fate Skill that eliminates all traces and prevents implicating others. Some of history’s unsolved cases might have been caused by a Life-Breaking Sword."
"Oh, so that’s how it is..." Zheng Gaojue said, finally understanding.
Li Qingxian left the prison cell and entered Chunfeng Inn.
"Uncle Zhou, is there enough money?" Li Qingxian asked.
"We’re still a bit short. It will take time to liquidate the antiques and paintings," Zhou Chunfeng said.
"If it’s not enough, then let’s raid Zhang Yulin’s home. And while we’re at it, let’s raid the homes of some Lower-Grade officials from the Ministry of Justice. The Demon Sect is masterful at extortion and plunder. Zhang Yulin, a mere Seventh-Grade Demon Cultivator, had a fortune of over fifty thousand taels just in the Capital City."
"He was a Direct Lineage disciple of Demon Transformation Mountain, after all. An ordinary Lower-Grade member of the Demon Sect wouldn’t have nearly as much," Zhou Chunfeng said.
"What is Duke Lu’s stance on this? Is he still reluctant to make a big move?"
Zhou Chunfeng smiled. "Just wait a little longer. Once he sees Zhang Yulin’s confession, it will be out of his hands."
Li Qingxian sat quietly as the two of them drank tea and talked. Before long, Fei Yan rushed in.
"Lord Zhou, a Duke’s Order..." Fei Yan glanced at the three people in the room before continuing, "Zhang Yulin, treasonous and unfilial, was overcome with remorse and took his own life. His assets are to be confiscated and used for the Patrol Bureau’s Pension fund, to comfort the souls of the fallen soldiers in heaven."
Zhou Chunfeng said slowly, "In his recorded last words, Zhang Yulin also mentioned several other Lower-Grade officials who were similarly treasonous and unfilial. I say we deal with them all at once."
Fei Yan frowned. "A few Lower-Grade officials are no great matter, but we must not disturb His Majesty."
"After seeing the testimony, I’m confident the Ministry of Justice will make sure the Emperor isn’t disturbed," Zhou Chunfeng said with a smile.
"In that case, I shall follow Lord Zhou’s lead and join the raid," Fei Yan said.
"With Eunuch Fei overseeing things, I can be at ease. Qingxian, you will go with Room Leader Hex and Eunuch Fei to raid the homes of these treasonous Ministry of Justice officials."
"As you command."
Led by Hall Supervision Army Fei Yan, Palace Garrison Commander Jingg Guan, and North Hall’s Left Room Leader Hex Lei, with Li Qingxian as their deputy, they gathered the men of the Patrol Bureau and stormed Zhang Yulin’s home to conduct a thorough search.
Once the search was complete, the assets were inventoried on the spot, with a Eunuch from the Internal Factory taking records.
Li Qingxian activated his Spiritual Eye. He flipped through some books on a shelf in the study, then went to the bedroom and looked under the moved bed. Finally, he had Yur Ping and Zheng Gaojue dig under a pine tree.
A short while later, they unearthed a large, red-lacquered chest with a Spirit Talisman affixed to it. It was about two feet tall. When they opened it, they found it stuffed to the brim with silver notes, silver coins, golden leaves, golden melon seeds, copper coins, and more.
They called Fei Yan over. He took one look, smacked his lips, and said, "Everything that needed to be recorded has been. As for this new find... no need to record it."
Li Qingxian just smiled.
Fei Yan added, "We’ll use these miscellaneous assets to reward the soldiers. I’ll make the decision on the Duke’s behalf: this time, our Internal Factory will take the smaller share, and the Patrol Bureau will take the larger one. We can’t let our soldiers shed blood only to shed tears afterward."
"We’ll follow Lord Fei’s arrangements," Li Qingxian said.
Fei Yan glanced at Li Qingxian’s Qiankun Bracelet with a look of envy, then personally arranged for the men to divide the silver.
After raiding Zhang Yulin’s home, several hundred men from the Left Room arrested seven Lower-Grade officials from the Ministry of Justice and raided all seven of their homes.
These Demon Sect Disciples were accustomed to plunder and extortion. Every one of them was wealthy, possessing far more property and land deeds than an ordinary official.
They even uncovered a massive "termite" of the Seventh Grade, an official working in the Ministry of Justice’s storehouses. In the vicinity of the Capital City alone, he owned three thousand acres of land and twelve courtyard homes. Including his properties elsewhere, his land holdings exceeded fifty thousand acres, with more than fifty residences.
Even Fei Yan, who was accustomed to wealth and luxury, was left dumbfounded.
Back at Chunfeng Inn, Zhou Chunfeng sighed after reading the list of confiscated assets from the raids. "Every word is written in blood and tears, every line scraped from the fat of the people."
"What’s the word from the Ministry of Justice?" Li Qingxian asked.
"We sent Zhang Yulin’s testimony over. The Ministry of Justice hasn’t said a word," Zhou Chunfeng replied.
"With the Emperor’s birthday so close, the Ministry of Justice can’t afford to displease him either," Li Qingxian said.
Zhou Chunfeng said, "The ledgers implicate a wide network. The Internal Factory is investigating secretly, and once they’ve untangled the connections, they’ll round up the entire seditious faction. For the next few days, focus on your Cultivation. I’ll go and request a Qi Fortune Seventh-Grade Official Body for you. After the Emperor’s birthday celebration is over, don’t go out. Just hole up at the Night Guard headquarters and cultivate."
"A counterattack from the Ministry of Justice?"
"Inevitable."
"Is the infighting that intense?"
Zhou Chunfeng cleared his throat. "Do you remember when you were a child? The Divine Capital had frequent nighttime curfews, and the entire city would be filled with loud bangs and bright flashes."
"I remember. They said the Imperial Court was at war with the Demon Race."
"That was the Six Ministries attacking each other."
"What..." Li Qingxian’s eyes widened as an image formed in his mind: the great Government Offices of the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers, all attacking each other deep in the night.