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

Chapter 96 The Four-Strike Emperor?! I'm so angry I almost fainted again! [Bonus Chapter 5 for Monthly Tickets]

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, what's wrong?!"

Liu Sanwu and Mei Yin, who had been temporarily driven away by Lao Zhu, rushed in without hesitation upon hearing the commotion inside Lao Zhu's bedroom.

Everywhere you look, there is chaos.

Cries, footsteps, and the clatter of utensils all mingled together.

"What happened? How could this be?!"

Mei Yin glanced around, then quickly fixed his gaze on Jiang Huan, and asked swiftly, "Commander Jiang, I demand an explanation!"

"Prince Consort Mei, please stop causing trouble."

"What do you mean by causing trouble?! Who?! Who made the Emperor faint from anger?! This is outrageous! It's treasonous! Their crimes are beyond redemption!"

Liu Sanwu angrily interrupted Jiang Huan, then turned his gaze to Zhan Hui, his eyes blazing with fury, and said, "Zhan Hui!? Is that you?!"

"No, no, no, it wasn't me, it was Zhang Biao! He's the one who asked me to forward the memorial! I know nothing about it."

Zhan Hui waved his hands repeatedly, trying his best to distance himself from Zhang Biao.

Although he knew that explaining to Liu Sanwu and the other man was pointless, it was all he could do now.

Liu Sanwu frowned deeply and pressed for an answer: "What memorial?"

"That's the one."

Zhan Hui pointed shakily to the memorial that had fallen beside the dragon bed.

Liu Sanwu immediately followed his finger and picked it up in a few quick steps.

Suddenly, Mei Yin, who was standing beside him, reminded him:

"Scholar Liu! What are you doing?! This is a memorial that only the Emperor can see?!"

"Confused!"

Liu Sanwu, enraged, exclaimed, "This is evidence of plotting to assassinate the Emperor!"

Upon hearing this, Mei Yin was immediately taken aback, and then saw Liu Sanwu suddenly open the memorial.

Boom!

He knew he was doomed after just one glance!
His hands were trembling, and the papers were rustling.

His expression shifted from uncontrollable rage to shock, to absurdity, and finally to an extreme, indescribable distortion.

Why couldn't Zhu Yuanzhang kill Zhu Chongba?
More than 87,000 taels?

More than a hundred woodworms?
Secret letters between the prince and the harem?

Labor costs? Meal expenses? Work injury compensation?!

In the end, the imperial court still owed them three thousand taels of silver?!
crazy!

This world has gone completely mad!

This Zhang Biao is no subject at all!
It's our ancestor! It's a living ancestor who's come to collect a debt!
He actually uncovered so many shady accounts, caught so many corrupt officials, and even managed to obtain over 80,000 taels of silver in just one day?!
This should have been a tremendous achievement!
A meritorious achievement worthy of being ennobled!
But this method! This attitude! This insane, reckless act!
Liu Sanwu felt his temples throbbing and his head about to explode!

At this moment, Mei Yin, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but ask curiously, "Scholar Liu, what treasonous content is in this memorial?"

"Uh,"

Upon hearing this, Liu Sanwu instantly snapped out of his shock and looked at Mei Yin with a complicated expression: "Does Prince Consort Mei want to see?"

"Can I watch it?" Mei Yin asked cautiously.

Liu Sanwu thought to himself, "That's incredibly capable."

They quickly got rid of this hot potato.

Mei Yin was implicated and punished.

They came as a pair, and they will die as a pair.

Fuck you!

Liu Sanwu! You've ruined me!
When Mei Yin saw the contents of the memorial, he was so frightened that he almost flew out of his skin. He cursed Liu Sanwu in his heart.

And this time.

"Uh"

A faint groan, yet as loud as thunder, echoed through everyone's ears, coming from the dragon bed.

The crowd immediately cried out, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty—!"

Old Zhu's eyelids twitched violently a few times, and he slowly and laboriously opened them a crack.

His cloudy eyes slowly moved, sweeping over the panicked imperial physician, the pale-faced eunuch, and the trembling Jiang Huan kneeling on the ground, before finally settling on Zhan Hui, who was slumped on the ground like a lump of mud.

At first, his eyes were somewhat unfocused and confused, but they quickly hardened into a chilling glint, and a murderous intent that was almost tangible after being utterly humiliated and mocked.

He didn't erupt immediately; instead, there was an eerie calm. His voice was hoarse and weak, yet every word was like a knife, clearly piercing into everyone's ears.
"Stop howling, we're not dead yet!"

These words froze everyone in their tracks, and the crying stopped abruptly.

Old Zhu laboriously raised the hand that wasn't holding the memorial, pointed to Zhan Hui on the ground, and said in a calm tone as if he were ordering an extra dish for dinner: "Jiang Huan."

"Your subject is here!"

Jiang Huan jolted awake and practically crawled forward two steps.

"Take Minister Zhan away."

Old Zhu paused, as if gathering his strength, or perhaps savoring what he was about to say:
"Please go to the imperial prison. Treat them well. No one is allowed to visit them without our permission."

"And there's this 'root' as a gift!"

His gaze swept over the ham that had rolled to the ground, and his lips twitched with an utterly absurd disgust: "Take it with you. Feed it to the dogs."

"Yes, Your Majesty! I obey your command!"

Jiang Huan felt as if he had been granted a pardon, or as if he had received a death warrant from the King of Hell. He quickly waved for the fierce and ruthless Imperial Guards to come forward.

Upon hearing the words "Imperial Prison," Zhan Hui's vision went black, and he lost even the strength to beg for mercy. He was dragged out like a lump of mud.

The ham that symbolized his undeserved misfortune was also picked up and taken away with disdain.

After dealing with Zhan Hui, Old Zhu glanced at Liu Sanwu and Mei Yin, and said calmly and indifferently, "You two read that memorial?" *Thump!*

Liu Sanwu and his companion immediately knelt down and hurriedly began to argue their case.

"Your Majesty, we were just worried and had no intention of offending you. It's just that Zhang Biao is too arrogant!"

"Yes, Father, Zhang Biao, he..."

"okay!"

Old Zhu waved his hand impatiently to interrupt them: "So what if you've seen it? It's good that you've seen it. We need you to spread the word for us: Zhang Biao has been spouting nonsense and breaking the rules multiple times. He's really made us furious!"

"We must make sure everyone knows, so that everyone in the entire Yingtian Prefecture knows!"

"I'm dizzy, completely unconscious!"

After saying this, he took a few deep breaths and, with the help of the imperial physician, slowly sat up.

Immediately afterwards, he closed his eyes. Although his chest was still heaving violently, the destructive rage seemed to be forcibly suppressed, transforming into a deeper and more terrifying coldness.

The room fell into a deathly silence once more, everyone holding their breath, awaiting the thunderous wrath.

However, when Lao Zhu spoke again, what he said surprised everyone.

But then he called out softly, "Yunming."

"Your servant is here!"

"Go to the imperial treasury"

Old Zhu's voice was still hoarse, but it carried an undeniable, eerie calm:

“Five thousand taels of silver. No, eight thousand taels! To be awarded to all the officials who assisted Zhang Biao in the audit and case today, as ‘labor fees’ and ‘compensation’.”

"what?"

Yunming thought he had misheard and stared in disbelief.

Even Jiang Huan, Liu Sanwu, Mei Yin, and the imperial physician were dumbfounded.

After the emperor fainted from anger, he actually wanted to pay money?!
And they gave so much?!

"how?"

When no one responded, Old Zhu suddenly opened his eyes, bloodshot, and stared at Yun Ming. His tone suddenly became louder, with a hint of gritted teeth: "Are you deaf? Didn't you hear me?!"

"I heard you! I heard you! This servant will go right away!"

Yunming was so frightened that he scrambled away.

Old Zhu looked at Jiang Huan calmly and indifferently again: "Jiang Huan."

"Chen is here!"

"Take your men and go to Zhang Biao's 'temporary warehouse.' Keep all the recovered stolen money safe and sound! If you're short even a tael of silver, we'll skin you alive!"

At this point, Old Zhu paused, then said coldly:
"Doesn't he like auditing? Let him audit! The Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Rites! Let him audit them one by one! We want to see just how many festering sores this Ming Dynasty has!"

"Wait until he finishes his trial."

Old Zhu gritted his teeth, a ferocious grin spreading across his face: "Let's settle the score with him slowly!"

"promise!"

Jiang Huan understood instantly.

The Emperor wanted to kill not only the corrupt officials he knew, such as Fu Youwen and Ru Chang, but also the many more corrupt officials and big rats who were unseen and hidden in the shadows.

Only by eliminating these parasites and rats can the Ming Dynasty have a future that will last for thousands of generations.

As for Zhang Biao and the others, they were nothing more than pawns of the emperor, the kind that would be used and then executed.

Letting him take over Zhang Biao and his group's "spoils" was merely a way to force them to continue auditing, making it easier for him to monitor them.

Perhaps the Embroidered Uniform Guard can learn something from this when handling cases in the future.

Thinking of this, Jiang Huan dared not be negligent in the slightest and immediately accepted the order and left.

After doing all this, Old Zhu seemed to have exhausted all his strength, and collapsed again, coughing violently. The imperial physician hurriedly stepped forward to attend to him.

He coughed for a while before he caught his breath, staring blankly at the magnificent coffered ceiling of the palace, still clutching the memorial tightly in his hand.

Only his heavy breathing and the clinking of medicine bowls remained in the room.

Suddenly, he murmured very softly, almost to himself, in a voice so low that only the nearby imperial physicians could faintly hear him:
"Auditing. Checking accounts, hmph."

"Want to have fun? Or want to die?"

"We'll make sure you don't die."

"Attack the Emperor three times a day? Four times a day?! You bastard!"

"Since you don't want to be our 'knife,' we'll treat you like an unruly 'mad dog.'"

"We need to get those who were bitten by you to come out and beat the dog."

His voice grew softer and softer, eventually turning into a long, weary sigh, tinged with endless anger and some strange calculation, before he slowly closed his eyes.

The dormitory fell silent again, but this time, it was a deathly silence, a silence more terrifying than the temporary calm of the storm, with undercurrents surging beneath.

Everyone knows that this matter will never end here.

The emperor's calm was more terrifying than his rage.

The Ming Empire is likely about to face four major cases.

Thinking of the bloodshed and brutality of the previous three major cases, everyone felt a chill run down their spines and their bodies tremble.

This censor named Zhang Biao is terrifying.

He stirred up a storm all by himself.

"Go down."

Old Zhu's voice rang out again, carrying an unquestionable and emperor-like coldness.

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(End of this chapter)