Da Ming: I told you to die for your cause, why are you actually going to die?

Chapter 137 Go ask Zhang Biao, who is the hero?! [Seeking monthly votes]

"Bastard! I'll kill you—!"

Enraged, Sun Gui was about to charge at Old Official Wang with a dagger in hand.

At that moment, Shen Lang grabbed him tightly and looked coldly at Fu Youwen: "Does Vice Minister Fu intend to kill us to silence us? Although we have lost our official positions, we are not people who can be touched by anyone!"

"Hahaha! I never thought you'd actually walk right into my trap!"

Fu Youwen clapped his hands and laughed, full of pride: "With a little trick, I used a few fake accounts to catch you two stupid fish!"

"What murder to cover it up? Do you think we're as stupid as you?!"

Ru Chang's obese face was plastered with a sinister grin: "Breaking into the Ministry of Revenue's confidential archives! Caught red-handed! This charge is enough to send you on your way!"

"Son of a bitch!"

Sun Gui was both shocked and furious. He suddenly shielded Shen Lang, holding a dagger and his eyes bloodshot: "I'll fight you to the death!"

"Fight?" Zheng Ci sneered, "You two small fry, do you think we need to fight you to the death?"

“Exactly, do you really think Zhang Biao is so reckless that he can intimidate us? Do you think you can do that too?” Zhai Shan chimed in.

Shen Lang's heart sank to the bottom, and despair spread throughout his body like ice water.

He gripped the fake account books tightly in his hand, his knuckles turning white, then suddenly turned his head, his gaze like a poisoned knife, shooting towards Old Li, his voice hoarse with extreme anger and disappointment:
"Why?! We're giving you money to save your mother! They're oppressing you and exploiting you, we genuinely want to help you! You clearly have a legitimate path to choose from! Why are you helping these parasites harm us?!"

"Ah!"

Old Li scoffed, "What righteous path? It's nothing but a dead end where you've been used and will be punished later!"

"You chose this path yourself, so you can't blame anyone else!"

"I don't blame anyone else, so I chose the second path: betraying you!"

"Hahaha!"

Upon hearing their conversation, Fu Youwen, Ru Chang, and the other two couldn't help but burst into laughter.

But then Fu Youwen laughed and said, "Good! Well said! Wang Yong, you made the right choice!"

"Thank you for your praise, sir. I have always been loyal to you!" Old Li nodded and bowed hurriedly.

The three people beside him, Ru Chang and Ru Chang, gave him a slightly disdainful look.

Fu Youwen then looked at Shen Lang and the other man, and said jokingly, "I heard that Zhang Biao once told you that heroes of the world are as numerous as carp crossing a river?"

"Humph!"

Shen Lang and his companion both snorted coldly, simultaneously plotting how to escape.

At this moment, Fu Youwen seemed to be in high spirits, and sighed to himself, "What a pity! You are nothing but five small fry! No matter how much you struggle, you are still small fry!"

"Ha, a small fry is just a small fry. How dare you dream of riding the waves and defying the heavens?"

Ru Chang also said sarcastically, "Isn't Zhang Biao quite good at bewitching people? Have you asked him who the heroes of this world are?"

"Brother Biao didn't tell us who the hero is, but it's definitely not you bunch of parasites on the country!"

"Insolence! Seize them!"

"Yes!"

At Fu Youwen's command, the clerk immediately obeyed and pounced on Shen Lang and his companion like wolves.

at this time!

Perhaps Sun Gui bumped into the file shelf next to him when he nervously stepped back, or perhaps it was a coincidence, but with a soft 'click', a small crack appeared in the side panel of an extremely inconspicuous file shelf behind Sun Gui, which originally seemed solid!

There seems to be a dark space inside!
Sun Gui instinctively reached out and touched it, and surprisingly pulled out a small, rusty iron box about the size of his palm, which was cold and heavy to the touch!
This sudden turn of events stunned everyone, even the clerk stopped halfway.

Sun Gui himself was also bewildered, holding the iron box at a loss.

The smiles of Fu Youwen and the others froze on their faces, and a hint of surprise and uncertainty flashed in their eyes.

That hidden compartment... only Fu Youwen knew about it.

"Give it to me—!"

Fu Youwen suddenly shouted sharply, his voice carrying a hint of barely perceptible tension.

Although Shen Lang didn't know what the iron box was, Fu Youwen's instantaneous reaction made him realize that it might be real.

So, with all his might, he roared, "Run—!"

Immediately afterwards, he snatched the iron box from Sun Gui's hand and simultaneously threw the fake account books in his arms at the onrushing clerk.

"Stop them! Take the tin box back!"

Fu Youwen screamed in exasperation, completely losing his previous smugness.

Upon hearing this, the clerks swarmed forward once again.

"Go away-!"

Sun Gui roared and brandished his dagger, desperately defending himself and buying Shen Lang a precious moment.

Holding the cold iron box, Shen Lang, without hesitation, used all his strength to hurl it at the taller window on the east side of the archives, the window paper of which was already torn.

"boom!"

The metal box flew precisely through the window frame, out of the window, and into the pitch-black night.

"Do not--!"

Fu Youwen, Ru Chang, and Zheng Ci simultaneously roared in shock and anger.

The clerks were suddenly stunned and stood there dumbfounded.

"Useless trash! What are you standing there for!"

Fu Youwen roared furiously at the clerks, "Go outside the wall and search! You must find it—!"

Soon, some of the clerks rushed out of the warehouse and circled around the east wall.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Sun Gui knocked down a clerk and pulled Shen Lang, trying to run deeper into the warehouse to find another exit.

However, the enemy outnumbered them too much, and soon more officials surrounded them, attacking them with sticks, swords, and knives.

Although Sun Gui was brave, he was no match for four hands and was quickly brought down by the tripwire.

Shen Lang was completely powerless to resist, and the two of them were pinned to the ground and tied up tightly.

Fu Youwen's face turned ashen. He strode forward and kicked Shen Lang hard, yelling, "Tell me! Who did you give that iron box to?!"

"Pooh--!"

Shen Lang spat out a mouthful of blood. Despite the pain all over his body, a satisfied and mocking smile appeared on his face.

He looked at the furious Fu Youwen and repeated his words, word by word, but with a new meaning: "Minister Fu, I chose this path, and I don't blame anyone else. I only want to take the second path!"

After speaking, he glanced at the shocked and angry faces of Fu Youwen, Ru Chang, and Zheng Ci, his gaze filled with disdain and an almost insane sense of victory.

Sun Gui, with a crazed grin similar to Zhang Biao's, said, "Want the iron box? Dream on! You bunch of parasites on the nation, just wait to be dealt with!"

"Damn it!"

Fu Youwen's face was so gloomy it could drip water; he hadn't expected things to go wrong at the last minute.

But soon, he sneered again: "Ha! Even if the iron box is temporarily lost, you two wanted criminals are in my hands. Do you think I can't find out your whereabouts? Take them away! Lock them in the Ministry of Justice's prison! Give them a good 'service'!"

"promise!"

The clerks all agreed.

Shen Lang and Sun Gui were roughly dragged up.

They looked at each other and saw despair in each other's eyes, but also a hint of relief.

As long as the tin box doesn't fall into their hands, there is still hope.

Fu Youwen was so provoked by his gaze that he almost lost control and roared, "Take them away! We must pry their mouths open! Get the iron box back!"

As he was dragged out of the archives, Shen Lang glanced at Old Li one last time, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes, but ultimately turning into cold indifference. There's always a reason why someone is pitiful.

Because they were owed wages, because of injustice, and because of the justice in their hearts, they followed Zhang Biao, ready to die for him.

But not everyone is like them.

Even though those people are also oppressed and victimized, they are unwilling to stand up and help those who suffer the same hardships as them.

They might even use this opportunity to use the other party as a pledge of allegiance, allowing those who oppress and harm them to suppress the other party.

They also hoped that those who oppressed and harmed them would treat them differently or give them important positions.

It can be said that at this moment, Shen Lang truly understood what it meant to share the same ideals.

Why did Zhang Biao prefer to stay in prison and die a heroic death rather than come out?

Because he had long seen through the essence of human nature, or rather, he had long seen through the world.

You can escape the prison, but you can't escape the world.

If we're talking about heroes, in his mind, Zhang Biao is the hero of this world.

Beyond the east wall, in the dark alley.

Zhao Fengman heard loud banging on the door, fighting, and roars coming from inside, and knew that something serious had happened.

Before he could react, a dark object flew out of the wall and landed with a thud in the grass not far from him.

He immediately rushed over and picked it up. It was heavy and cold to the touch; it was a small, rusty iron box.

Just then, the side gate of the Ministry of Revenue burst open, and a large number of clerks carrying torches rushed out, roaring, "He's over there! Seize him! Take the box back!"

Upon seeing this, Zhao Fengman was terrified.

Without any hesitation, he grabbed the unexpectedly acquired iron box and ran away.

Then, relying on his extreme familiarity with the terrain, he darted like a startled rabbit into the crisscrossing alleys, desperately trying to shake off his pursuers and shouts.

……

Meanwhile, at the Huagai Hall.

Old Zhu sat listlessly in his bedroom, before him lay a thin, yet incredibly weighty, secret report that Jiang Huan had just presented to him.

The secret report contained only a few words, the core of which was two names that Zhang Biao had 'unintentionally' muttered in prison.

A certain official surnamed Wang from the former Shaanxi Provincial Administration Commission has now been promoted to the Ministry of Revenue, and Ru Chang, the Minister of War, has a brother-in-law who once served in the Shaanxi Military Command.

Old Zhu's fingers tapped the two names over and over again.

His face was eerily calm, but his eyes held a darkness even more turbulent than before.

Shaanxi... Shaanxi again!
Biao'er died after he returned from Shaanxi!
Embezzlement? Arms?
What exactly did you do in Shaanxi?!

He didn't look at Jiang Huan, but slowly and deliberately spoke, his voice as cold as ice: "Jiang Huan."

"The minister is here."

Jiang Huan knelt on the ground, his head bowed low.

"Go check."

"Give us a thorough investigation into these two people."

"Especially... what did they do, who did they meet, and what did they handle during the Crown Prince's inspection tour of Shaanxi, and before and after his death?"

"Remember, it's a secret investigation. Don't alert anyone."

Old Zhu paused, then added a sentence that sent a chill down Jiang Huan's spine: "If necessary... we can use 'extraordinary' measures. We... only care about the result."

Extraordinary measures!?
Jiang Huan instantly understood what this meant.

The most shameful and cruel tortures in the imperial prison might be used on these two officials.

"I...obey the order!"

Jiang Huan's voice trembled slightly, almost imperceptibly.

He knew that the emperor's executioner's blade had already been quietly raised because of Zhang Biao's casual "summoning of generals," and it was first swung at these two unfortunate souls.

And this is just the beginning.

Hopefully, nothing else goes wrong; otherwise, the emperor might really unleash a massacre.

With a mixture of extreme complexity and extreme fear, Jiang Huan cautiously withdrew from the palace.

……

the other side.

The intricate network of alleyways in Yingtianfu.

Clutching the cold, heavy iron box, Zhao Feng fled desperately like a stray dog.

The sounds of pursuit, footsteps, and roars behind him grew closer, and the torchlight cast his fleeing shadow on the wall, making it appear longer and shorter.

His heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to explode, and his lungs were burning with pain.

He was extremely familiar with the area, and he used every fork in the road, every pile of miscellaneous baskets, and every low wall to dodge and weave.

Several times, his pursuers almost grabbed his clothes, but he narrowly avoided them each time.

He could even hear the angry shouts and curses of the clerk behind him.

Finally, after squeezing through an extremely narrow fire lane that could only allow one person to pass sideways, he temporarily shook off his pursuers.

But he still dared not linger. He staggered into an abandoned local temple, collapsed behind a cobweb-covered statue, gasping for breath, his whole body drenched in cold sweat.

After confirming that it was temporarily safe, he shakily took out the rusty iron box.

The box wasn't locked, but it was fastened very tightly.

He pried it open with force.

There were no gold or silver jewelry inside, only a few smaller ledgers with yellowed and brittle paper, and a few old-fashioned letters.

Zhao Fengman's heart sank.

He knew without a doubt that this was something Shen Lang and his group had found, but for some reason, they had thrown it away hastily.

And they, too, are likely in grave danger.

This is something Shen Lang and his men risked their lives to protect; it's definitely not something simple!

A flash of understanding crossed Zhao Fengman's eyes, and then, by the dim light, he carefully opened an account book.

With just one glance, his pupils contracted sharply, as if in a magnitude nine earthquake.

Immediately afterwards, the ledger in his hand fell to the ground with a 'thud', seemingly due to the huge impact.

No wonder Fu Youwen was so nervous!
This is not a corruption issue at all!

This is a shocking secret that could lead to the extermination of nine generations of a family!
An overwhelming sense of fear and a chilling feeling of discovering the truth instantly gripped Zhao Fengman.

He finally understood why Shen Lang was willing to risk his life to throw this out!
This is something that people of their level shouldn't even touch!

But now, the item is in his hands!
What to do?! To whom should we hand it over?! The Emperor?! Will the Emperor believe us?! What if he kills them to cover up the scandal?!
Should we hand it over to Jiang Huan? Jiang Huan is the emperor's confidant, but...

Zhao Fengman was plunged into unprecedented panic and confusion.

……

Please vote for me with your monthly tickets!

　Requesting monthly votes, recommendation votes, follow-up subscriptions, full subscriptions, and auto-subscriptions.

　　Remember to give the braised pig's head meat a thumbs up!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)