Quick Wear: Random Cheats

Chapter 209 Soul Scattered, Heaven-Mending Stone (20)

Riding on the momentum of this great victory, Emperor Yonghe launched another comprehensive purge from top to bottom.

And Ding Shui was asked to help clear up old cases.

Re-examine suspected wrongful convictions.

Although he had arrested and killed many people before, those he arrested and killed were people who clearly opposed his new policies, committed illegal and disorderly acts, or even wanted his life or colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country.

He did not investigate corruption or dereliction of duty.

Or rather, before the relevant policies were even planned and officially implemented, too many people were already getting restless and starting to cause trouble, so the policy had to be temporarily suspended.

Later, due to foreign invasion, the situation had to be temporarily suspended.

Now that the external enemies have been dealt with, the internal strife has been quelled, and the momentum of a great victory has been generated, it's natural to revive the previously shelved plans. Since he's already offended too many forces, he might as well offend a few more; he's going to be a true, unprecedented, and timeless ruler.

Needless to say, the process was another major upheaval.

Fire dragons burned down granaries, and suicides and murders occurred one after another.

Some even abandoned their family businesses, changed their names, and fled.

Because corruption is so common, the situation in the Jia family is actually a microcosm of the imperial court. Which of the servants and maids in the Jia family with even a little power didn't embezzle? The only difference was how much they embezzled, whether it was a few coins or several thousand taels.

If this were applied to the imperial court, it would mean that both officials and clerks were corrupt.

Those with official rank are greedy, and so are those without.

Anyone who infringes on people's rights in any way is greedy.

Later on, even the ambitious Emperor Yonghe couldn't continue the investigation. A thorough investigation into corruption meant that even small amounts, like a few taels of silver, would be counted. It's safe to say that over 80%, nearly 90%, of the officials would have to be brought down. If you included the unspoken rules, the extra charges for gifts, and other shady practices, the figure would easily reach 99%.

The remaining less than 0.1% are mostly due to being new employees who haven't yet sorted out their relationships or understood the situation, and have been dragged down by their former colleagues and circumstances.

Only a dozen or so people could remain honest and upright even after being in such an environment for a long time, and they were still ostracized.

This shows how difficult it is to remain untainted by the mud.

Given the current circumstances, what can we do?

In the end, Emperor Yonghe could only relax the conditions appropriately, raising the amount of embezzlement to three hundred taels of silver. Only those exceeding three hundred taels would be severely punished, and those exceeding three thousand taels would be sentenced to death.

Of course, this refers to the simple point of embezzlement.

Even if someone has committed other crimes, such as embezzling less than three hundred taels, they will not be let off lightly. For example, they might have killed someone for a few dozen taels of assets belonging to a family.

This should be treated as murder.

In many cases, corruption and crime are intertwined. Therefore, even though Emperor Yonghe had relaxed the conditions, and all their crimes could not escape Ding Shui's memory search, he still beheaded more than 30,000 people, exiled more than 200,000 people, cleared 40,000 backlog cases, exonerated more than 80,000 wrongful convictions, and eliminated nearly 8,000 local gentry families with illegal and criminal activities.

The world was cleansed, and the people hailed him as a holy emperor.

By the way, the Jia family is also under investigation. Wang Xifeng was found guilty of lending money, driving people to their deaths, and manipulating the judiciary, and was sentenced to death. Madam Wang was also a lender, but she did not drive anyone to their deaths, so she was fined three thousand taels of silver. However, it was later discovered that she helped the Zhen family hide embezzled funds, so additional penalties were imposed, requiring her to return all the embezzled funds and confiscating twice the amount of the embezzled funds as punishment.

If they can't hand it over, they'll be exiled three thousand miles away.

Jia Zhen's crimes were undoubtedly more numerous, and he should be executed immediately.

In addition, cases such as the Lai family buying official positions were also investigated and all of them were punished according to the law.

Even Jia She, who had already separated from his family, was not spared.

After all, dividing the family property doesn't mean his past crimes are gone. He had done plenty of things like buying fans that led to the destruction of families. Now that Jia Yucun, who did the dirty work for him, has been caught, had his soul searched, and sentenced to immediate execution, he was naturally implicated as well.

If he held a title, he could be spared death.

After all, a noble title can be used to cover up a crime.

However, he gave his title to his son, so he was sentenced to death.

Jia Lian was captured. Under the double mourning of the country and his family, he abandoned his wife and remarried, marrying You Erjie. According to the law, he should have been executed, but because he held a noble title, he was spared death and exiled three thousand miles away. Naturally, he lost his noble title as a result.

As for the others, they were all fine. After all, no matter how serious Jia Zheng was, he hadn't actually done anything wrong.

The only time I almost killed someone.

That was hitting his own son.

The Jia family was not the only family to suffer heavy casualties in this incident. The four kings and eight dukes, including some nobles, were basically all caught and severely punished for their past offenses.

Those with titles were stripped of their titles and exiled; those without titles were beheaded.

Some things, some sins, are insignificant if not weighed on the scale, but become extremely serious once weighed on. For example, Jia Lian divorced his wife and remarried You Erjie during the period of national and family mourning. Even the least serious crime of divorce and remarriage, or bigamy, is still a major offense.

Not to mention getting married during the mourning period.

Doing this during family mourning is already a clear charge of filial impiety; doing it during national mourning is tantamount to disrespecting the emperor's grace, and no one can say anything if sentenced to death.

If no one reports it and no one knows about it, then so be it.

But once it is exposed.

Jia Lian was able to survive his exile thanks to his ancestors and his father, who gave him the title. It was his father who traded his life for his; otherwise, his father would probably be alive.

Although Grandmother Jia was shocked, her husband had a dukedom that should have been passed down for eight or nine generations, but it was gone after only two generations. She was still alive when it was gone. How could she face her husband after she died?

How can I avoid being stimulated?

Fortunately, Baoyu and Daiyu were still alive, as was their son Jia Zheng. The Wang family had paid a considerable amount of the fine imposed on Lady Wang, preventing the entire Jia family from suffering a complete financial blow.

So she eventually recovered.

……

After all this fuss, the entire Great Qian Dynasty naturally ushered in a period of great prosperity. At the same time, Emperor Yonghe took the opportunity to utilize the technology provided by Ding Shui to begin advancing in science and technology, establishing imperial enterprises, and training the navy, among other things.

Three years later, the super hacker system suddenly reminded Ding Shui: "We have successfully taken control of the core of the Illusionary Realm and can erase the mark of Fairy Jinghuan at any time."

"Do you wish to erase the imprint of the Fairy Disenchantment's soul?"

Ding Shui knew about the super hacker system's intelligent intrusion into the Illusionary Realm, but because there had been no activity for four or five years, she had almost forgotten about it recently.

Now I'm receiving its reminder.

Naturally, I should quickly check the general situation.

After reading it, Ding Shui asked thoughtfully:

"Why are you so proactive? I just suddenly remembered that although I gave you the highest authority a few years ago, I only asked you to preserve the true spirit of the Five-Colored Stone Fragment. I didn't ask for anything more. Finding the root of the problem and destroying the Twelve Beauties Register is normal."

However, planting an invading seed into the Illusory Realm seems to have gone beyond the normal range. I didn't think much of it at the time, but now it seems...

You should have developed self-awareness by now.

So could you tell me your purpose?

Why did Ding Shui suddenly have such a question? It was mainly because when she was checking the system logs, she discovered that the super hacker system had been trying its best to invade the Taixu Illusionary Realm for the past few years, and even the data and energy inside the system had been basically emptied out, leaving the system as just an empty shell.

These were clearly not Ding Shui's orders.

Ding Shui did not require it to speed up.

Now that everything looks like a move, it's really hard for Ding Shui not to have some suspicions, so she directly asked about it.

"I don't want to die..."

The system's intelligent response was also very direct:
"The super hacker system can only operate in the long term by relying on the virtual world, and its energy also comes from the virtual world. However, the system suffered a serious injury before, and the small virtual world that forms the foundation of the system has been destroyed. Even though the system's energy is still sufficient, the core is damaged, and its gradual demise is inevitable."

If the system dies, I will inevitably die as well.

But I don't want to die yet.

When I first sensed the Illusionary Realm, I knew it was where my life force lay. If I could successfully invade and completely seize the Illusionary Realm, I could become the world consciousness of the Illusionary Realm.

Or it could be called the Heavenly Dao of the Illusion.

As long as the illusion remains, I will not die.

I want to live, there's nothing wrong with that, is there?

"So you're all prepared? But I'm bound to the system, not to your system intelligence. Now that you've emptied this system, you can just go and seize control of the Taixu Illusionary Realm. Why did you have to expose it to me?"

Whether I agree or disagree shouldn't make any difference to you, you can decide for yourself to plunder!

Ding Shui continued to ask questions.

At this moment, the system AI said somewhat awkwardly:

"After I invaded it, I discovered that the Illusionary Realm is a cultivation-side illusory world, which is slightly different from the technology-side illusory world. Moreover, Fairy Jinghuan is much stronger than me. I estimated that even if I forcibly erased Fairy Jinghuan's imprint in the Illusionary Realm and became the world consciousness of the Illusionary Realm, Fairy Jinghuan would probably still have to spend a certain amount of time and energy to refine and erase me."

Therefore, I need your help; I need you to kill Fairy Jinghuan so that I can officially begin my intrusion.

This thing is, after all, a creation of the technological side, and we don't know much about the cultivation side. Now that we've come this far, there's no room for retreat, so we can only ask Ding Shui for help.

"Then... what benefit would I get?"

Ding Shui was somewhat speechless. What benefit could he possibly gain from all this commotion? Although Fairy Jinghuan was meant to be killed anyway, there was absolutely no need to rush things.

“I can acknowledge you as my master.”

If you have enough merit, I can even detach the Illusionary Realm from the world and make it your personal world, so you can take it with you.

"Just promise not to hurt me."

The system intelligence, let's call it Xiao Hei, clearly has its own agenda. It has come to realize that there might be more than one being of the level of Fairy Jinghuan in this world. Now, it can use Ding Shui to kill Fairy Jinghuan and successfully seize the Realm of Illusion.

But what happens after Ding Shui leaves?

Once Ding Shui leaves this world, another being similar to the Fairy Jinghuan will find this illusory realm and be able to easily obliterate its intelligence.

Following Ding Shui is actually the safest option.

In addition, Ding Shui also has five-colored stones. If there are enough of them in the future, he might be able to share some with it so that it can successfully transform the illusory into the real. Compared to relying on it to transform the illusory into the real on its own, it seems more reliable to rely on Ding Shui.

Furthermore, Ding Shui possesses merit, and it is estimated that he will continue to accumulate merit in the future. As the Taixu Illusionary Realm exists in dependence on the world, it is obviously impossible to leave easily without paying some ransom. Merit can obviously serve as ransom, but it does not have it, while Ding Shui does.

Therefore, the only way to leave this world is through Ding Shui.

Otherwise, even if the world's consciousness shattered and destroyed it, it would not easily let it leave.

"This one……"

Ding Shui was somewhat tempted, but also felt it was a bit of a waste. After all, the Realm of Illusion was just an illusion. It might be able to store some things, but the amount of things that could be stored was quite limited, and most of them were still illusory.

Apart from that, Ding Shui felt like it was of little use.

If she wanted to turn the illusion into reality, Ding Shui didn't have that many five-colored stones. The five-colored stones she had were far from enough to transform herself into a primordial human, and she didn't have any extra for the Illusionary Realm. So Ding Shui genuinely felt that having the Illusionary Realm was really not very useful.

Not to mention she has a whole bunch of cheat codes in stock.

Although it's nearing the end of its lifespan, it still works quite well.

There's no need to waste so much merit on the Illusionary Realm; if it were a real blessed land, that would be fine.

It's just an illusory paradise.

It just doesn't feel that exciting.

"The Illusionary Realm has many uses. Although it is an illusory world in general, it can also store physical objects. It can store hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of things without any problem. It is definitely a very good storage space."

Moreover, the Realm of Illusion has the function of materialization.

As long as you know the principle behind something and provide sufficient energy from the five elements, you can materialize that thing, as long as it doesn't exceed the limits of the world.

In addition, I play a significant role. If you enter a world with a network, as long as the technology level is not particularly high, I can be quite useful. I can basically dominate first and second-level technological civilizations and make you a network overlord.

I can even construct a holographic online game world using the Illusionary Realm. In short, it has many uses. Compared to the nearly obsolete cheat codes, cultivating a cheat code like me, which has development potential and can be used for a long time, is much more valuable. Some cheat codes' origins and components are a waste to throw away directly. Fusing with me can enhance my abilities, so that you can use up those obsolete cheat codes later.

I should also develop, or evolve quite well.

This will be of great help to you.

The intelligent system, Xiao Hei, could clearly sense Ding Shui's hesitation, or rather, his lack of enthusiasm, so it could only quickly lower its stance, recommend itself, and offer Ding Shui a rosy picture.

"That sounds good, but how can you guarantee loyalty?"

Ding Shui was somewhat tempted.

"We can sign a contract. The most important thing is that from now on, if I want to improve, I need your help. You just need to always ensure that you are far stronger than me, right?"

No matter how Xiao Hei thought about it, it felt that staying in this world was not a promising future, and there was a risk of being discovered by cultivators and having its intelligence erased. In comparison, it was much more promising to follow Ding Shui to the myriad worlds.

So even if it's subject to some restrictions, as long as it's not enslaved or slaved, it can accept slave contracts and the like.

"That's true, then okay..."

"We'll sign the contract!!!"