Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 126 The dead are the undeniably guilty sinners; the living are the jury, their faces filled with shame.
In this silence, frozen like amber and filled with death and despair, a new sound suddenly rang out.

That wasn't a human voice.

Rather, it was the dull, rhythmic "gurgling" sound of wheels rolling over the bluestone pavement.

The sound came from the flank of the palace.

At first, the sound was very faint, as if it came from another world, and was almost drowned out by the sound of the wind.

But it is so persistent, so steady, one beat after another, unhurried and unhurried, with a heart-pounding rhythm, slowly becoming clearer as it approaches from afar.

Everyone who still retained a shred of consciousness instinctively turned their stiff necks toward the direction from which the sound came.

Then they saw a scene even more bizarre and perplexing than the massacre they had just witnessed.

That was a group of people.

The group was small, with only about forty or fifty people, but the formation was so neat that it looked as if it had been cut out with a knife.

They wore uniform, dark black official robes, lacking the splendor and menacing aura of the flying fish robes, but appearing even more solemn and dignified.

Their steps were perfectly synchronized, and none of them had any expression on their faces, like ghosts walking among humans wearing cold masks.

A black flag with gold lettering fluttered in front of the group.

The flag was small, fluttering slightly in the wind, revealing several seal characters on it that would send chills down the spines of any Ming Dynasty official—

Imperial order to investigate.

If the Embroidered Uniform Guard is the sharpest and most unreasonable knife in the emperor's hand, then the Imperial Investigation Bureau is the heaviest and most unquestionable pen in the emperor's hand!

The Embroidered Uniform Guard was responsible for arresting and killing people.

The Imperial Inquiry Bureau was responsible for determining guilt, classifying the nature of the crime, and making a final judgment.

Their appearance signifies that a shocking case has reached its final and most undeniable conclusion.

Wherever they went, they brought not bloodshed, but something even more despairing than bloodshed... an ironclad case!
The leader was thin and stern-looking, with his lips pressed into a stern line. Every wrinkle on his face looked as if it had been carefully carved with a chisel, exuding an air of law and order.

He did not ride a horse, but walked step by step through the pool of blood, just like his officials.

Wang Ji!

By imperial decree, the chief official of the investigation office, Wang Ji!
This name is now a taboo in the Ming Dynasty's officialdom.

He was like the chief judge of the underworld, holding in his hand an invisible Book of Life and Death that recorded the crimes of countless high-ranking officials and nobles.

When he appears before you, you don't even need to think about what crime you have committed. You just need to start calculating how many days are left from the moment your head falls to the moment your entire family is exterminated.

When Qian Qianyi saw Wang Ji and the "Imperial Inquiry Office" banner behind him, his eyes, which had long been lifeless and like two pools of murky water, suddenly flashed with an extremely faint spark of light without warning!

It's like being in a pitch-black room that's been sealed off for a thousand years, and suddenly someone lights a candle.

The firelight was faint, but enough to illuminate a corner.

"Do not……"

A faint, almost inaudible syllable was squeezed out with difficulty from Qian Qianyi's chapped lips.

"wrong……"

His mind, which had been frozen solid by extreme fear, was suddenly pierced by an invisible steel needle under the stimulation of the name "Wang Ji," and a barely perceptible crack appeared at its core.

In Qian Qianyi's heart, a roar that only he could hear immediately erupted!
wrong!

That's not right!! What does Wang Ji do?

He's the one who defines all sorts of massive cases!

He was the one who brought to a definitive conclusion on all major cases of treason!

He embodies the emperor's ultimate will!

His appearance represents legal principles, rules, and... the final judgment!
Does a madman need a final judgment?!
No need!
"Ho...ho..."

Qian Qianyi's throat emitted that sound again, like a broken bellows.

But this time, it wasn't because of fear, but because of... a complete defeat on the level of intellect and strategy that was a thousand times more terrifying than fear itself!
He thought he was a chess player, but it turns out that from beginning to end, he was just a chess piece on the chessboard.

A...the most foolish, pathetic, and self-righteous pawn!
Wang Ji's arrival was the true chess player announcing to them, these self-proclaimed clever pawns, with his voice carrying supreme authority—

General!

Just as Qian Qianyi's understanding was completely overturned and he fell into a deeper level of cold despair, Wang Ji and the officials of the Imperial Inquiry Bureau he led had already reached the center of the square.

Their steps were not hindered in the slightest by the sticky texture under their feet.

They stopped neatly in front of everyone.

Wang Ji remained expressionless, seemingly oblivious to the terrified and stunned faces around him. He saw neither the living nor the dead.

In his eyes, there was only... the case.

Wang Ji waved his hand very slightly behind him.

The officials behind him, pushing large carts, immediately sprang into action, their movements and steps exuding a chilling sense of order.

There wasn't a single unnecessary movement, nor a single unnecessary word of conversation.

Dozens of officials silently pushed the large, rumbling carts to their designated spots.

Then, they lifted the heavy tarpaulin covering the cart.

"Bang!"

"Clang!"

Huge black-lacquered and gold-painted wooden crates were unloaded from the cart by two people working together, and then piled heavily on the ground. The dull thuds were particularly clear in the deathly silent square!
The box is opened.

What was exposed was neither gold or silver treasures, nor any instruments of torture.

Instead, they were rolls upon rolls, neatly bound together with yellow silk ribbons...files!
Stacks upon stacks of confessions, piled up like a city wall!
There were also pieces of evidence, each wrapped tightly in oil paper and sealed with tape!
The officials of the Imperial Inquiry Bureau were like a group of the most diligent worker ants, silently and efficiently taking out these items representing "evidence of crimes" one by one from the boxes and then neatly stacking them in front of everyone.

What they set up was not a temporary courtroom.

They are setting up a... exhibition hall of truth on this bloody and carnage-filled battlefield!
Wang Ji directed everything with a blank expression.

His men unloaded boxes of files and pieces of evidence from the cart.

They gently placed a thick stack of investigation files on the case of manipulating rice prices in Jiangnan next to Shui Tailang's headless corpse.

They placed a metal box containing smuggling ledgers steadily next to a scholar from Shanxi.

The evidence was ruthlessly presented to everyone.
The officials, especially seasoned veterans like Qian Qianyi, no longer showed the slightest contempt or disdain when they looked at the young figure standing before the palace gate in the distance.

What welled up in my heart was the same awe and fear that a lamb would feel when staring at a butcher!
The wind grew colder.

(End of this chapter)