I, Emperor Chongzhen, have extended the life of the Ming Dynasty by five hundred years.

At the beginning of the Si hour, the Jinyiwei East City Thousand-Household Office.

The gatekeeper was cleaning at the entrance when suddenly, the sound of rapid hoofbeats rang out outside.

The leader, dressed in a bright red flying fish robe, was none other than Commander Luo Yangxing.

The gatekeeper stumbled inside, and soon a clerk came to greet him in a panic.

"This humble servant, Liu Sheng, Registrar of the Eastern City Thousand-Household Office, greets Commander Luo!"

Luo Yangxing frowned and asked, "Where is Qian An?"

"Reporting to the Commander, Commander Qian... is not on duty."

Luo Yangxing glanced at the sky and asked, "Did he say where he went?"

"This... I don't know."

Liu Sheng shook his head.

Luo Yangxing then asked, "What about the deputy commander?"

"Not here."

"What about the centurion?"

"Also...not here."

Luo Yangxing's expression grew increasingly grim as he slowly said, "Such a large thousand-household garrison, surely there must be at least one probationary hundred-household commander on duty?"

Liu Sheng looked troubled and just shook his head silently.

Luo Yangxing, enraged, laughed coldly and said, "Then bring your Commander Qian, along with the other officers, over here!"

"Yes, sir! I'll take care of it right away!"

Liu Sheng quickly nodded in agreement and turned to leave.

"stop!"

Luo Yangxing suddenly called him to a stop.

Liu Sheng turned around: "Please give your orders, Commander!"

"Go and bring me the account books for money and grain in the east of the city."

…………

Half an hour later, Qian An, the commander, finally arrived late.

"Commander Luo, your presence is an honor. I am deeply sorry for failing to greet you properly."

Luo Yangxing just stared straight at Qian An without saying a word.

Qian Andun sensed something was wrong; the oppressive feeling made him feel more tense than ever before.

Sweat beaded on his forehead, but he could only force a smile and say, "I wonder if Commander Luo has come with any mission to assign? This subordinate will certainly do his utmost."

Finally, Luo Yangxing spoke.

"Commander Qian, is this how you always work from the East City Police Station?"

Qian An was sweating profusely and hurriedly said, "This humble servant... This humble servant... has been very busy with official duties lately, and worked through the night last night. I overslept this morning. Please forgive my negligence, Commander!"

"Busy with official duties, working through the night, hahaha..."

Luo Yangxing seemed to have heard something amusing and burst into laughter.

Qian An's face grew even uglier, his eyes darting around as if searching for a suitable excuse to shirk responsibility.

Suddenly, Luo Yangxing stopped laughing and said, "Someone, tell me about Qianhu's whereabouts these past few days!"

A captain stepped forward from behind him, took out a booklet from his robes, and said expressionlessly, "Qian An, the commander of the East City Thousand Household Office, drank at the Shihua Pavilion until late the night before last, spent the day at the gambling den the day before yesterday, and stayed overnight at the Zuixiang Pavilion. Yesterday, he spent the day at the gambling den and stayed overnight at the Yuchunfang."

Qian An's expression changed drastically; it seemed that things were more serious than he had imagined.

Luo Yangxing said, "Commander Qian lives a life of debauchery, indulging in revelry day and night, how carefree and happy he is!"

"This humble servant knows his mistake, and begs for your forgiveness, Commander..."

Luo Yangxing raised his hand to interrupt, saying, "Let's set aside the matter of patronizing prostitutes for now. I've just reviewed the financial records; the East City Garrison is fully staffed, with a total of one thousand men on the register. Now, gather all personnel here!"

Qian An's eyes darted around, and he quietly took a step forward.

"Reporting to Commander, most of my men have been dispatched to various places to carry out missions. Furthermore, there has been an epidemic in the capital, and several of them have suddenly fallen ill, making it difficult to gather them all at once."

As he spoke, he secretly took out a stack of silver notes from his sleeve and stuffed them into Luo Yangxing's hand.

In his view, it was probably because he had been getting too close to Zhou Jian, the commander, recently, and had neglected the commander.

Although Zhou Jian was the emperor's brother-in-law, Luo Yangxing was the most powerful figure in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and Zhou Jian still had to be treated with respect.

However, a hint of disdain flashed in Luo Yangxing's eyes. He slowly picked up the silver note, and said with a half-smile, "This little bit of money can't buy your life!"

Qian An's face instantly turned ashen, and he murmured, "This humble servant does not understand; please enlighten me, Commander!"

Luo Yangxing no longer concealed anything and said directly, "Before I came here, I had already investigated very thoroughly. The Dongcheng Thousand Household Office is fully staffed with a thousand men, but there are only a little over two hundred men actually on staff, most of whom are your relatives or fellow villagers."

"If this continues for a while, I'm afraid even the stray dogs in your hometown village will be tied up at the East City Police Station to guard the gate!"

Qian An wiped the sweat from his brow and said, "This subordinate knows his mistake and humbly requests that the Commander grant him a month to rectify it. He will then give the Commander a satisfactory answer!"

"A month?"

Luo Yangxing smiled and shook his head, saying, "I've given you three days. In these three days, all you've done is drink, gamble, and frequent brothels. This situation is entirely your own fault!"

Qian An knelt on one knee and said, "I humbly beg the Commander to give me another chance, considering my many years of dedicated service..."

"You have indeed done your best, but not in terms of doing your job well; rather, you have been focused on accumulating wealth. Am I right, Commander?"

"I'm innocent! Absolutely not..."

"You openly bought and sold official positions in the East City, and with clearly marked prices: a junior officer costs fifty taels, a general officer two hundred taels, a probationary centurion five hundred taels, and a centurion one thousand five hundred taels! Qian An, Qian An, do you know that the Embroidered Uniform Guard is the Emperor's personal army? What you are buying and selling is not official positions, but imperial favor! Your actions constitute the crime of deceiving the Emperor!"

Qian An's face turned ashen, and he hurriedly took out another stack of silver notes and stuffed them into the purse.

"I humbly request that the Commander show leniency. This is just a small token of my appreciation; I will certainly repay you handsomely afterward!"

Luo Yangxing ignored them and directly ordered, "Qian An from the East City Office has deceived the emperor. Take him back to the Imperial Prison and interrogate him severely!"

"No, no..."

Qian An repeatedly kowtowed and begged for mercy, saying, "Please, Commander, for the sake of Magistrate Zhou, spare this humble servant..."

Luo Yangxing slowly squatted down, staring at Qian An, his tone icy: "Trying to intimidate me with the Emperor's brother-in-law?"

"No, no... I wouldn't dare!"

Qian An waved his hands repeatedly, then said, "Zhou Tongzhi is aware of some of what I have done. I beg the Commander to consider our past friendship and show leniency..."

The implication of these words is that Zhou Jian also took all the benefits.

If you try to deal with me, you'll implicate Zhou Jian, who is the emperor's brother-in-law. You'd better watch out!

Seeing that the other party still held onto hope, Luo Yangxing gave a forced, insincere snort.

"Zhou Jian is currently in dire straits, barely able to save himself. Since you've mentioned our shared bond, I, the commander, would like to offer this advice: truthfully confess everything you've done and what you know. If you are sincere, you might be spared; otherwise, even the King of Heaven himself couldn't save you. I'm telling you!"

Qian An bit his lip so hard it almost bled.

Although Luo Yangxing was the commander, he didn't dare to touch the emperor's brother-in-law unless he was crazy!

That leaves only one possibility: all of this is His Majesty's will.

Oh no, the Embroidered Uniform Guard is about to change hands!