Chapter 102: I And Evil Cannot Coexist! Requesting Monthly Tickets!
Old Zhu was plotting against Zhang Biao in the palace, and at almost the same time, Zhang Biao received a report from a minor official that Jiang Huan had brought people to take over their storeroom.
When Zhang Biao heard the report, although he was surprised, he did not get angry. Instead, he revealed a more playful smile and patted the shoulder of the messenger:
“What are you panicking about? If the Emperor wants to take over, let him take over! We are civilly demanding our salaries; we must reason, right?”
Speaking, he looked around at the nervous crowd again and raised his voice: “Brothers! This is perfect! Since the storeroom has been taken over, we have no burden! Let’s have more fun tonight!”
Upon hearing this, the crowd exchanged uncertain glances.
Zhang Biao smiled, then raised his hand: “Jiang Huan is lightening our burden! Come on! Don’t overthink it, cheers!”
As he spoke, no one responded.
The atmosphere then cooled.
Fear once again gripped the hearts of these low-ranking capital officials.
And just as the atmosphere was about to congeal, Shen Lang, whose senses had been dulled by fear and a bit of wine, cautiously leaned in and whispered:
“Brother Biao, what does the Emperor really mean by this? Giving us money and taking over the storeroom, could this be…”
He made a throat-slitting gesture, his voice even lower: “Feeding us first, then killing us?”
As soon as this was said, everyone’s heart leaped into their throats.
Sun Gui, who had lost his focus on helping the young lady with her lighting, looked at Zhang Biao with a mournful face:
“All the silver we worked so hard to audit is gone! What’s the use of eight thousand taels in reward silver! That was over eighty thousand taels!”
Li Mo was relatively calmer, but his face was still pale. He stood up, leaning on the table, and said with concern:
“Brother Biao, the Emperor’s intentions with this action are likely far more complex than they appear.”
As soon as he said this, everyone immediately pricked up their ears.
Then Li Mo said thoughtfully:
“The Emperor is openly acknowledging our audit, not killing us, and even rewarding us. But secretly, he is putting us on a fire, making you the target of public criticism.”
“All the officials in the court, especially the nobles and powerful families, probably wish they could eat our flesh right now!”
“Continue investigating? Investigate whom? How to investigate? This is clearly a plan to borrow a knife to kill!”
“He wants us to attack others, and at the same time make us enemies of the world. In the end, we might not escape…”
He paused, took a deep breath, and solemnly uttered four words: “When the birds are gone, the bow is put away.”
Wow!
The entire place erupted in an uproar!
Some people’s heartbeats suddenly accelerated.
Some people tightly clutched their official robes.
But Li Mo had not finished speaking.
He looked at Zhang Biao with a face full of admiration and said meaningfully: “Brother Biao, by tearing up the Imperial Decree today and halting the audit, you must be worried about us, right?”
“Exactly! How could we not understand the intentions of Censor Zhang?”
“Yes! Brother Biao is righteous!”
Zhao Fengman and others also nodded, their faces filled with worry and lingering fear.
The Emperor’s grace is vast? Vast my ass!
They felt this ‘grace’ was like a red-hot branding iron, searing their hearts with fear.
Zhang Biao, however, seemed not to hear their worries. He picked up a piece of cold pig’s head meat, put it in his mouth, and chewed it slowly, his eyes unfocused, as if savoring the taste of the meat, or perhaps pondering something deeper.
“What are you panicking about?”
He swallowed the meat and scoffed, breaking the silence: “Old Zhu’s move is indeed insidious, but it was within my expectations.”
“Within your expectations?” everyone was astonished.
“Otherwise?”
Zhang Biao glanced at them: “What kind of person do you think Old Zhu is? He’s an Emperor who crawled out of a mountain of corpses! Do you think he can be completely controlled by our little tricks?”
After saying this, he tapped the table and continued: “He fainted from anger because he lost face, because his sore spot was poked.”
“But when he wakes up, his first action will not be impotent rage, but plotting! How to turn this storm that is unfavorable to him into a knife that benefits him!”
“The list and accounts we uncovered are ready-made knives.”
“His rewarding us is like sharpening the knives and handing them to me, forcing me to kill for him! To deal with those he has wanted to move for a long time, but has never had the chance or excuse to because of the intricate connections and the risk of a single move affecting the whole situation! “
“In his eyes, we are a pack of ‘mad dogs’ that he has thrown into a wolf pack.”
“If the wolves are bitten to death, he benefits.”
“If we are bitten to death by the wolves, he loses nothing except peace and quiet. Either way, he doesn’t lose.”
Zhang Biao’s analysis was cold and thorough, making Shen Lang and the others shiver, as if they could already see themselves being torn apart by the wolves.
“Then what should we do?” Li Mo asked with a dry voice.
Zhang Biao smiled faintly, then straightened his back and said seriously: “Naturally, we will be in irreconcilable opposition to evil!”
“Bang—!”
The pleasure boat suddenly shook violently.
As if it had been rammed by something.
Suddenly, the pleasure boat was a mess of broken dishes and spilled wine, and the singing and dancing girls let out terrified screams.
“What’s going on?!”
“We’ve collided?!”
“Who the hell dares to hit my boat?!”
Zhang Biao steadied himself and rushed to the side of the boat, cursing.
He saw a government ship, much larger than the Phoenix Seeking Charm, with extremely understated decorations, even exuding a sense of grim killing intent, had quietly docked alongside them at some point.
There were no lanterns on the bow of the ship, only a few dark figures stood silently, as if merged into the night.
A cold, sharp voice, filled with deep mockery, came from that government ship, clearly overpowering the waves of the Qinhuai River and the remaining clamor:
“Censor Zhang truly has a refined taste!”
“Taking the Emperor’s reward silver, indulging in a life of debauchery and pleasure on the Qinhuai River!”
“It’s just that I wonder, these brothers who are enjoying themselves with you, are their families and wives and children, at this moment, as safe and sound as you are?!”
Rumble!
The moment the voice fell.
Including Shen Lang and the others, almost all the members of the ‘Audit Squad’ were struck as if by lightning.
A chilling coldness instantly surged from the soles of their feet to the tops of their heads, making their scalps tingle, their bodies tremble, and they staggered.
“Clatter!”
The wine bowl in Shen Lang’s hand fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.
The chamber pot lamp in Sun Gui’s hand swayed, and the candlelight suddenly extinguished.
Li Mo’s face suddenly turned as pale as paper.
All the members of the ‘Audit Squad’ had blank minds.
Zhang Biao’s drunken and cynical expression instantly vanished without a trace, replaced by an extreme coldness and rage.
Just as expected!
What was bound to come had finally arrived!
Damn Old Zhu!
It’s all your doing!
Those who were audited have started playing dirty tricks!
They’re threatening us with our families?!
Bang!
Zhang Biao punched the railing of the pleasure boat fiercely, sending wood chips flying.
His gaze was like a knife, fixed on the ghostly government ship in the darkness, and he squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth, his voice not loud but carrying an enormous killing intent, echoing on the suddenly silent river:
“You—!”
“Dare to touch them even a single hair and see what happens!?”
“Hahaha! Hahahaha!”
There was a moment of silence from the other side, followed by uncontrollable laughter.
The laughter was full of disdain, mockery, and contempt.
“Censor Zhang, what great authority you wield!”
On the deck of the opposite ship, a figure stepped forward, the dim lamplight outlining his richly dressed silhouette, his voice still sharp and biting:
“Touch them even a single hair? Tsk tsk tsk, the way you speak, as if we were some heinous bandits.”
“We are all law-abiding citizens, respectable people! How could we do such despicable things?”
Speaking, he changed his tone, becoming sarcastic and filled with threats:
“However, this world is not peaceful!”
“I hear there are more refugees in Yingtian Prefecture lately, and incidents of petty theft and child abduction are also common.”
“Your brothers’ families don’t live in grand mansions, do they?”
“Some have low walls, some have thin doors…”
“Tsk, what if they don’t close their windows tightly at night and there’s a fire?”
“What if they are accidentally hit by a startled horse-drawn carriage when going out to buy groceries?”
“What if a child at home, playing, falls into an uncovered dry well…”
“Oh dear, then it will truly be a case of crying to heaven and earth with no response!”
Each ‘what if’ was like a cold awl, fiercely piercing the hearts of Shen Lang, Sun Gui, Li Mo, and others.
Their faces turned from pale to ashen, and their bodies trembled involuntarily.
They seemed to have already seen the tragic fate of their elderly and young at home, and the sense of powerlessness and fear instantly engulfed them.
The chamber pot lamp in Sun Gui’s hand clattered onto the deck and rolled aside.
Shen Lang’s legs went weak, and he almost couldn’t stand.
“Oh, right!”
The person seemed to remember something, and reminded them with malicious intent:
“Censor Zhang, you are a bachelor, with no ties and no worries, fearing nothing. You can be a ‘madman’ in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and maintain your ‘elegance’ on the Qinhuai River.”
“But you can’t possibly… let these good brothers who followed you to advocate for the people and die for the country, end up with their families destroyed, right?”
“Then you, as their ‘Brother Biao’, wouldn’t be very loyal, would you!”
“How that would chill your brothers’ hearts—!”
Killing the heart!
This was an undisguised open conspiracy!
Using the safety of their families to force them to retreat, to force Zhang Biao to submit.
It was also meant to alienate these brothers who had just gone through life and death together and shared the same ideals.
“Hehehe…”
A low, deeply mocking cold laugh came from Zhang Biao’s throat.
The rage and coldness on his face gradually faded, replaced by a scornful amusement, as if watching a clown.
He even slowly tidied his slightly disheveled collar, which had become messy in his agitation.
Then he raised his head, his gaze piercing the night, precisely locking onto the vague figure on the opposite ship’s bow. His voice was not loud but clearly surpassed the sound of the flowing river, carrying a heart-stopping calmness:
“Are you done?”
The laughter and words from the other side stopped abruptly, as if choked by Zhang Biao’s unusual composure.
Zhang Biao didn’t wait for a response, and nodded to himself, as if evaluating a clumsy performance: “Your skill is really poor.”
