Chapter 1116: Brother Jiu’s Fury!
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
In the throne room, the ministers were all trembling in fear.
In the Regent’s seat one step away from the throne, Yan Jiuchao’s expression was calm, as if he was not the one who had just given the order to be cut in half.
The ministers broke out in cold sweat. They weren’t afraid that Yan Jiuchao would cut everyone in the court in half, but they really did not expect that this Regent, who did not do his job properly and was forced to put a square peg into a round hole, would really start to ask about their court. Moreover, once he asked, he gave them a thunderous blow.
The ministers muttered to themselves, Isn’t praising you all day long enough to satisfy your needs? How are you going to scare us?
Although they muttered, none of the ministers stopped Yan Jiuchao when he gave the order to cut off Assistant Minister Ma’s waist. It was not that they did not want or did not dare, but they did not have the time.
It was too fast!
Under Yan Jiuchao’s order, the expert called Shadow Thirteen beside him dragged him out and cut him in half.
They were still digesting the meaning of being cut in half! !!
But then again, should this Assistant Minister Ma be executed?
This matter had to start from the flood in Cangzhou a few months ago. Cangzhou was located in the southwest of the Great Zhou. The soil was fertile and there were many fertile fields. Many of the food in the Great Zhou Dynasty was produced in Cangzhou.
This summer, Cangzhou suffered a flood. The dike broke and drowned hundreds of acres of fertile fields. The victims were displaced and Cangzhou suffered heavy losses. The Imperial Court immediately distributed relief funds.
As the saying goes, when the water is clear, there will be no fish. Disaster relief had never been clean in all dynasties. It just depended on how unclean it was. If one was only half as greedy, they would be said to have a good conscience. This time, the bureaucrat in charge of disaster relief was a little overboard.
As they had to settle down the people and repair the river embankment, the Ministry of Public Works was also involved in this matter, but it was mainly the Ministry of Revenue who was in charge.
As the newly appointed assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue and the Empress’s cousin, Lord Ma was in charge of providing relief to the victims without any suspense. Lord Ma personally went to Cangzhou, and when the commoners heard that a high-ranking official from the capital had actually personally come to the disaster area, they thought that he was a good person who helped the country and the people. In the end, the Cangzhou authorities were completely corrupted, and almost all the money for the disaster relief was pocketed.
It was not rare for the commoners to eat vegetable porridge mixed with sand. What was even more outrageous was that the Cangzhou authorities actually openly snatched the women for Lord Ma’s enjoyment.
Was he still an official after doing such a shameless thing?
There was more than one girl who had been harmed. At first, everyone was angry but did not dare to say anything. After that, it was unknown who mustered their courage and jumped out, wanting to go to the Cangzhou Magistrate Prefecture to seek an explanation. In the end, something happened to him that night. Who would believe that he was not suppressed by the authorities?
The man’s family was also bold. Since they could not sue the Cangzhou authorities, they went to the capital. However, they were stopped halfway.
Of course, the truth will always be revealed. Not only were there people from the Ministry of Revenue going to Cangzhou, but there were also a few officials from the Ministry of Public Works. Some of those officials were honest and upright. After returning to the Capital, they tactfully reported this matter to the imperial court.
The reason why they tactfully reported it was because Lord Ma was the Empress’s cousin. It was true that they were upright, but they had to protect their lives first.
Actually, Yan Huaijing more or less knew about this. After the honest officials returned to the Capital, they did not say that Lord Ma embezzled the money and was harming the commoners. They only said that the disaster in Cangzhou was still continuing and asked the Imperial Court to see if there was a better way to solve it.
Yan Huaijing’s initial thought was similar to Yan Jiuchao’s. He wanted to severely punish all the people involved, especially that Assistant Minister Ma. This could not be tolerated, but an advisor in the manor came up with an idea for him.
Since the disaster had already happened, it was useless even if he killed everyone. It was better to push this matter to the Empress. Not only would he do the Empress a favor, but he would also have a leverage on her. Of course, the Empress had to compensate those injured girls well, and she had to make up for the money for the disaster relief as soon as possible.
Although he was a little against it, he still did it according to his advisor’s method after weighing the pros and cons.
He knew very well that his father had pushed the Empress to the court with him so that the two of them could compete. If he really used this matter to cut off the Empress’s wings, his father might not feel comfortable even if the Empress had fallen.
In the end, he was not afraid of the Empress, but of his father.
He did not know what the Empress had told Lord Ma. He only knew that Cangzhou had indeed received a sum of relief money. Although it was incomparable to what the Imperial Court had allocated, it had indeed resolved the urgent matter. The young girl’s family, who had been harmed by Assistant Minister Ma, had also received a huge compensation.
Every time Yan Huaijing saw Assistant Minister Ma in the court, he wanted to kill him, but he always had reservations.
What he didn’t have the guts to do was done by Yan Jiuchao…
To be honest, he did not even know how Yan Jiuchao knew about these things.
He had long heard about Yan Jiuchao’s nature in court. Every day, he was either showing off or letting the civil and military officials queue up to flatter him. If they couldn’t flatter him, they would be demoted. If they were good, they might even be promoted.
What was this? He was a comDletelv fatuous ruler! A Darasite of the countrv!
Would he care about the safety of the commoners? Would he care about the stability of the country? He wouldn’t even ask about the commoners’ lives, okay?
So it was still the same question. How did he know? Who was so unafraid of death that they handed him a memorial of the Cangzhou Disaster while a group of people was flattering him?
How could Yan Huaijing guess that no one handed Yan Jiuchao a memorial? Yan Jiuchao had heard it by himself!
On the way back to the capital from Nanzhao, they realized that the river this year seemed to be wider than usual. After asking in detail, they found out that there had been a water disaster in Cangzhou not long ago.
Yan Jiuchao directly asked the navy to cross the Cangzhou River. Yu Wan stayed in the room to recuperate and did not know, but Yan Jiuchao walked down the river and walked along the village filled with hungry people.
He stood at the bow of the ship for the entire night.
After returning to the Capital, why did he want to see the Emperor? Why was he willing to offer medicine to the Emperor? Was it really because of their deep relationship? Was it really to be angry with Yan Huaijing that he wanted to be the Regent?
Shadow Six and Shadow Thirteen had finished gathering all the evidence last night and made a long list. They did not let go of a single official involved.
Assistant Minister Ma’s crimes were simply innumerable, especially when they wrote about the age of the third daughter from the He family. They were so angry that their hearts were about to explode.
Shadow Thirteen’s sword was smeared with salt. He applied it himself. The sword slashed down, and Assistant Minister Ma was in so much pain that he was half dead.
The officials were so frightened that their faces turned pale. Some subconsciously wanted to close their eyes.
“You’re not allowed to close your eyes,” Yan Jiuchao said coldly.
This was the most miserable time the ministers had ever been in court. Not only were they forced to witness the entire process of Assistant Minister Ma’s waist being cut, but they were also punished with half a year’s salary for not reporting the news.
There was no such thing as not punishing the masses with the law in Yan
Jiuchao’s books..
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