Chapter 307 - I Will Not Tolerate This. Beheading!
Glaring at the names on the ledgers, Baili Qingcang slammed the books on the desk furiously.
When the officials heard the name of the places that caught fire from the Governor of Capital Guards, they exchanged frightened glances, and their faces instantly turned pale when he presented the ledgers to the Emperor.
According to Da’an Kingdom’s law, officials were not allowed to visit the brothels. They were officials when they wore official uniforms, but when they removed the uniforms, they were normal men with lustful desire. All of them yearned for the tender touches of women.
The owners of these brothels knew about their identities, but they did not dare to expose them, so these officials visited the places frequently. In fact, some of them even took the courtesans as their mistresses.
These shouldn’t have been recorded in the ledgers, right?
They had originally thought that they were lucky, but Baili Qingcang’s angry shout completely shattered their hope.
Baili Qingcang was so angry that his whole body was trembling, and his face was faintly green.
Shen Ninghua stood up. “Hurry up and take a Snow Lotus Pill for Father Emperor to consume.”
The chief eunuch hurriedly did as told. Seeing that His Majesty’s expression had eased up a little, he heaved a sigh of relief.
Baili Qingcang pointed his trembling finger at the officials below. “You… you…”
“Your Majesty, please calm down.”
Baili Qingcang suddenly flipped open one of the ledgers. “18th of June, General Liu rewarded the top courtesan with a hundred taels of gold… Qian Tong, Minister of Justice, offered three thousand taels of silver to spend a night with the top courtesan…”
Then, he furiously threw away the ledger and took another one. “Taipu Temple Minister… Vice Supervisor of the Household… Supervisor of the Imperial Temple… you spent money lavishly. You are really generous and rich!”
“Your Majesty, we didn’t do it.”
“Yes. I wonder who forged these ledgers. Did that person try to capture all the civil and military officials in one fell swoop?”
“Your Majesty, please investigate the matter.”
Baili Qingcang’s eyes were filled with stormy and indignant emotions. “Do you want to know who recorded these? Okay, I’ll tell you! After these ledgers were recorded, they were sent to the princes’ residences! Third, Fourth, and Sixth Princes, am I right?”
The three princes who were called hurriedly knelt down. “Father Emperor, I am innocent. There is absolutely no such thing. Please, Father Emperor, please investigate the matter.”
“Father Emperor, this is forbidden according to the Da’an Kingdom’s law. Why would I go against the law?”
“Father Emperor, please investigate the matter.”
Slamming the ledger in his hand to the ground, Baili Qingcang shouted, “Fine! You won’t admit it, right? Where is the chief of the Dragon Scale Army?”
“I’m here!”
“Go to all the brothels in the capital, lock up all the people who have been found, and confiscate all their money. Bring them to Chengqian Hall and let our Da’an Kingdom’s officials and princes have a good look.”
“Yes.”
Shen Ninghua and Baili Junyi sat side by side in their seats and looked coldly at the officials who were in a trance and had cold sweat all over their heads. They did not sympathize with them at all.
These people were paid by the kingdom as government officials, but they never wanted to share the Emperor’s burden in governing the nation. Since they wanted to leave for a period of time, they would properly clean up these useless vermin.
They would first capture the ring leaders. After getting rid of the vermin in the imperial court, they could slowly eliminate the minions who had gathered wealth for these vermin. After all, they had all the time in the world after leaving the capital.
Dragon Scale Army’s efficiency was much higher than that of ordinary guards. In less than an hour, the fires were extinguished, and the brothels were turned upside down. A large number of ingots, jewelry, land titles, and banknotes, which hadn’t been transported out of the capital in time, were discovered and sent to the imperial palace on horses.
Baili Qingcang’s mouth was dry. His hand trembled with anger as he held up the teacup. After a while, he calmed down and took a sip of tea. He knew that the Dragon Scale Army would definitely find the evidence, but never did he imagine the scale of the discovery.
One by one, boxes filled with gold and silver ingots were carried in. Because the boxes were too full, even the lid could not be closed. The golden color of the ingots fascinated many people.
At first, Baili Qingcang could remain calm. However, when more than twenty boxes were brought in, he could no longer sit still. He walked down the stairs to one of the boxes and picked up a gold ingot. One weighted ten taels, and this box contained more than a thousand taels of gold…
His body was covered in dark clouds and his anger was like thunder. “Have you calculated how much you have discovered?”
The Commander of the Dragon Scale Army knelt and replied, “Your Majesty, we have discovered a total of 3.3 million taels of silver, five boxes of jewelry, twelve boxes of precious calligraphy, painting, and porcelain. There are also forty-eight titles of land, houses, and shops. There are still other things that have yet to be counted.”
“Three million taels?” Baili Qingcang’s head buzzed, and he gritted his teeth tightly. “The northwest drought is in urgent need of silver for the disaster. The Ministry of Revenue can’t even take out a million taels. And now, you’ve found three million taels simply by raiding the brothels?!”
Baili Junyi walked forward and looked at the box full of gold and silver with a sneer. “Father Emperor, I’m afraid these taels are only a few months of the brothels’ income. After so many years, the earnings must be more than a dozen times than this.”
Baili Qingcang felt a pain in his chest. He never thought that there would be someone who would dare to make such a big profit under his nose!
“I can’t believe it. I can’t imagine that my dear officials can’t even take out a thousand taels when I asked for your donation for the disaster, but you can spend hundreds of thousands of taels on some whores! Wonderful! This is wonderful! What kind of people have I hired in my court?! Are you the officials who help me govern the country? No! You’re nothing but a bunch of blood-sucking monsters!”
Baili Qingcang was so angry that he was incoherent. He did not know how to describe his current feelings.
The officials were all frightened by his anger and lay on the ground frightfully.
Thinking of the owners of the brothels, Baili Qingcang glared at the princes with sharp eyes. “Third, Fourth, and Sixth Princes, are you the owners of these brothels?”
He had always known that his princes were restless, but it was normal for the princes to have the desire for the throne. He could turn a blind eye to it as long as their small skirmishes did not affect the stability of Da An and he would simply treat it as training Crown Prince. But if this matter was true, how much wealth had his sons collected behind his back, and how many officials were being blackmailed by them?
Did it mean that after a period of time, they would be able to control the entire imperial court, and at that time, they could even get rid of him, their Father Emperor?
Thinking of this result, he felt a chill in his heart, followed by overwhelming killing intent. He had controlled this country for nearly thirty years. He would not allow anyone to challenge his position, even if they were his sons!
The first to speak was the Third Prince. “Father Emperor, I’m innocent. I don’t know anything about these brothels, so how can I use this method to earn money?”
The Fourth Prince quickly continued, “Yes, Father Emperor, me too! You know that although I like to fool around, Although I often visit restaurants, I don’t dare to even walk past a brothel!”
The Sixth Prince was calmer than the two of them. There was not even the slightest trace of panic on his nonchalant face. “Father Emperor, ever since I was grounded, I only wanted to reflect on myself. I didn’t even go out of my mansion. Every day, I read and transcribe the Book of Filial Piety, praying for you and Mother Empress. I hope that you can clear my name, Father Emperor.”
His calm reaction made others feel the Third and Fourth Princes were overreacting.
Baili Qingcang narrowed his eyes and said in a chilling tone, “I have tolerated a lot of things in the past, and I won’t tolerate this, even if I have to kill most of the officials in the court and my sons! Where is the Commander of the Dragon Scale Army?”
“Yes, Your Highness!” The Commander of the Dragon Scale Army stepped forward.
“Where is the Shadow Guard?” Baili Qingcang shouted coldly.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” The figure of the man of sacrifice, who had just caught the palace maid, once again appeared mysteriously.
Baili Qingcang gritted his teeth, anger burning in his eyes.
“Investigate!”
“Yes!”
A wave of people quickly spread from the imperial palace to the entire capital. Baili Qingcang sat on the throne with no expression on his face. That heavy pressure forced everyone to be almost unable to breathe. This kind of terrifying feeling had not appeared for a long time, so much so that they had almost forgotten the Emperor’s iron-blooded ruthlessness.
Shen Ninghua lowered her eyes. From beginning to end, she was extremely calm.
Time slowly passed. It was clearly a cool night, but many officials were sweating profusely. They had been kneeling for about four hours, but there had been no news of the Dragon Scale Army and the Shadow Guard who had gone to investigate.
Baili Qingcang sat motionless on the throne. No one knew what kind of anger was brewing in the Emperor’s heart.
Shen Ninghua looked up at the dark sky outside and thought of the two children. They should have fallen asleep by now. However, she did not know how many people would have sleepless nights from today onwards.
After another two hours, there were faint sounds of roosters crowing outside. Many officials’ faces were deathly pale, and their knees were so numb from the kneeling that they did not feel the slightest bit of pain. Their bodies were swaying on the verge of collapse.
Finally, the Dragon Scale Army and Shadow Guards returned. Boxes of gold, silver, and jewelry were carried in. When they saw the familiar colors and markings on the boxes, many officials fainted.
The head of the Shadow Guards presented the report. “Your Majesty, I have searched through the residences of many officials. Everything that has been found has been registered in the report. Please view it.”
The Commander of the Dragon Scale Army respectfully knelt to the side. He had seen Shadow Guards before, and he also knew how ruthless and powerful they were. The Emperor rarely used them, but once he did, it would definitely be a bloodbath.
For example, today, if the Dragon Scale Army investigated this matter by themselves, they would at most investigate the whereabouts of the taels of silver, capture the owners and courtesans of the brothels to interrogate them. However, when it came to the Shadow Guards, they would thoroughly investigate everything and seize the official residence, whether it was the minor officials or the first rank officials.
Looking at the contents of the report, Baili Qingcang supported himself by putting his hand on the imperial writing desk. After a while, the gloominess dispersed from his eyes. Instead of a livid reaction, he directly declared his decisions.
“Liu Tong, Deputy Commander of the Escort Army, punished by beheading! Qian Yuan, Chief Secretary Counsellor, punished by beheading! Zhang Bing, Minister of Taipu Temple, punished by beheading…”
“Y-Your Majesty, please spare me!”
“Your Majesty, I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’ve been loyal and worked hard for ten-odd years! Please spare me!”
The officials who were called out were so scared that their faces turned pale. Some of them even wet their pants. It was the punishment of beheading! Was the Emperor really going to make a move on all the civil and military officials of the court?
The Shadow Guards did not give them a chance to beg for mercy. Every time Baili Qingcang announced a name, two of the guards stepped out, captured the official, and dragged him out. No one dared to imagine what happened to them after they were dragged out.
The Third Prince and the others were also shocked. They never thought that Father Emperor had such a force in his hands. At this moment, they had nothing in mind except how to get away from this trouble. However, could they be able to get away?
When the officials heard the name of the places that caught fire from the Governor of Capital Guards, they exchanged frightened glances, and their faces instantly turned pale when he presented the ledgers to the Emperor.
According to Da’an Kingdom’s law, officials were not allowed to visit the brothels. They were officials when they wore official uniforms, but when they removed the uniforms, they were normal men with lustful desire. All of them yearned for the tender touches of women.
The owners of these brothels knew about their identities, but they did not dare to expose them, so these officials visited the places frequently. In fact, some of them even took the courtesans as their mistresses.
These shouldn’t have been recorded in the ledgers, right?
They had originally thought that they were lucky, but Baili Qingcang’s angry shout completely shattered their hope.
Baili Qingcang was so angry that his whole body was trembling, and his face was faintly green.
Shen Ninghua stood up. “Hurry up and take a Snow Lotus Pill for Father Emperor to consume.”
The chief eunuch hurriedly did as told. Seeing that His Majesty’s expression had eased up a little, he heaved a sigh of relief.
Baili Qingcang pointed his trembling finger at the officials below. “You… you…”
“Your Majesty, please calm down.”
Baili Qingcang suddenly flipped open one of the ledgers. “18th of June, General Liu rewarded the top courtesan with a hundred taels of gold… Qian Tong, Minister of Justice, offered three thousand taels of silver to spend a night with the top courtesan…”
Then, he furiously threw away the ledger and took another one. “Taipu Temple Minister… Vice Supervisor of the Household… Supervisor of the Imperial Temple… you spent money lavishly. You are really generous and rich!”
“Your Majesty, we didn’t do it.”
“Yes. I wonder who forged these ledgers. Did that person try to capture all the civil and military officials in one fell swoop?”
“Your Majesty, please investigate the matter.”
Baili Qingcang’s eyes were filled with stormy and indignant emotions. “Do you want to know who recorded these? Okay, I’ll tell you! After these ledgers were recorded, they were sent to the princes’ residences! Third, Fourth, and Sixth Princes, am I right?”
The three princes who were called hurriedly knelt down. “Father Emperor, I am innocent. There is absolutely no such thing. Please, Father Emperor, please investigate the matter.”
“Father Emperor, this is forbidden according to the Da’an Kingdom’s law. Why would I go against the law?”
“Father Emperor, please investigate the matter.”
Slamming the ledger in his hand to the ground, Baili Qingcang shouted, “Fine! You won’t admit it, right? Where is the chief of the Dragon Scale Army?”
“I’m here!”
“Go to all the brothels in the capital, lock up all the people who have been found, and confiscate all their money. Bring them to Chengqian Hall and let our Da’an Kingdom’s officials and princes have a good look.”
“Yes.”
Shen Ninghua and Baili Junyi sat side by side in their seats and looked coldly at the officials who were in a trance and had cold sweat all over their heads. They did not sympathize with them at all.
These people were paid by the kingdom as government officials, but they never wanted to share the Emperor’s burden in governing the nation. Since they wanted to leave for a period of time, they would properly clean up these useless vermin.
They would first capture the ring leaders. After getting rid of the vermin in the imperial court, they could slowly eliminate the minions who had gathered wealth for these vermin. After all, they had all the time in the world after leaving the capital.
Dragon Scale Army’s efficiency was much higher than that of ordinary guards. In less than an hour, the fires were extinguished, and the brothels were turned upside down. A large number of ingots, jewelry, land titles, and banknotes, which hadn’t been transported out of the capital in time, were discovered and sent to the imperial palace on horses.
Baili Qingcang’s mouth was dry. His hand trembled with anger as he held up the teacup. After a while, he calmed down and took a sip of tea. He knew that the Dragon Scale Army would definitely find the evidence, but never did he imagine the scale of the discovery.
One by one, boxes filled with gold and silver ingots were carried in. Because the boxes were too full, even the lid could not be closed. The golden color of the ingots fascinated many people.
At first, Baili Qingcang could remain calm. However, when more than twenty boxes were brought in, he could no longer sit still. He walked down the stairs to one of the boxes and picked up a gold ingot. One weighted ten taels, and this box contained more than a thousand taels of gold…
His body was covered in dark clouds and his anger was like thunder. “Have you calculated how much you have discovered?”
The Commander of the Dragon Scale Army knelt and replied, “Your Majesty, we have discovered a total of 3.3 million taels of silver, five boxes of jewelry, twelve boxes of precious calligraphy, painting, and porcelain. There are also forty-eight titles of land, houses, and shops. There are still other things that have yet to be counted.”
“Three million taels?” Baili Qingcang’s head buzzed, and he gritted his teeth tightly. “The northwest drought is in urgent need of silver for the disaster. The Ministry of Revenue can’t even take out a million taels. And now, you’ve found three million taels simply by raiding the brothels?!”
Baili Junyi walked forward and looked at the box full of gold and silver with a sneer. “Father Emperor, I’m afraid these taels are only a few months of the brothels’ income. After so many years, the earnings must be more than a dozen times than this.”
Baili Qingcang felt a pain in his chest. He never thought that there would be someone who would dare to make such a big profit under his nose!
“I can’t believe it. I can’t imagine that my dear officials can’t even take out a thousand taels when I asked for your donation for the disaster, but you can spend hundreds of thousands of taels on some whores! Wonderful! This is wonderful! What kind of people have I hired in my court?! Are you the officials who help me govern the country? No! You’re nothing but a bunch of blood-sucking monsters!”
Baili Qingcang was so angry that he was incoherent. He did not know how to describe his current feelings.
The officials were all frightened by his anger and lay on the ground frightfully.
Thinking of the owners of the brothels, Baili Qingcang glared at the princes with sharp eyes. “Third, Fourth, and Sixth Princes, are you the owners of these brothels?”
He had always known that his princes were restless, but it was normal for the princes to have the desire for the throne. He could turn a blind eye to it as long as their small skirmishes did not affect the stability of Da An and he would simply treat it as training Crown Prince. But if this matter was true, how much wealth had his sons collected behind his back, and how many officials were being blackmailed by them?
Did it mean that after a period of time, they would be able to control the entire imperial court, and at that time, they could even get rid of him, their Father Emperor?
Thinking of this result, he felt a chill in his heart, followed by overwhelming killing intent. He had controlled this country for nearly thirty years. He would not allow anyone to challenge his position, even if they were his sons!
The first to speak was the Third Prince. “Father Emperor, I’m innocent. I don’t know anything about these brothels, so how can I use this method to earn money?”
The Fourth Prince quickly continued, “Yes, Father Emperor, me too! You know that although I like to fool around, Although I often visit restaurants, I don’t dare to even walk past a brothel!”
The Sixth Prince was calmer than the two of them. There was not even the slightest trace of panic on his nonchalant face. “Father Emperor, ever since I was grounded, I only wanted to reflect on myself. I didn’t even go out of my mansion. Every day, I read and transcribe the Book of Filial Piety, praying for you and Mother Empress. I hope that you can clear my name, Father Emperor.”
His calm reaction made others feel the Third and Fourth Princes were overreacting.
Baili Qingcang narrowed his eyes and said in a chilling tone, “I have tolerated a lot of things in the past, and I won’t tolerate this, even if I have to kill most of the officials in the court and my sons! Where is the Commander of the Dragon Scale Army?”
“Yes, Your Highness!” The Commander of the Dragon Scale Army stepped forward.
“Where is the Shadow Guard?” Baili Qingcang shouted coldly.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” The figure of the man of sacrifice, who had just caught the palace maid, once again appeared mysteriously.
Baili Qingcang gritted his teeth, anger burning in his eyes.
“Investigate!”
“Yes!”
A wave of people quickly spread from the imperial palace to the entire capital. Baili Qingcang sat on the throne with no expression on his face. That heavy pressure forced everyone to be almost unable to breathe. This kind of terrifying feeling had not appeared for a long time, so much so that they had almost forgotten the Emperor’s iron-blooded ruthlessness.
Shen Ninghua lowered her eyes. From beginning to end, she was extremely calm.
Time slowly passed. It was clearly a cool night, but many officials were sweating profusely. They had been kneeling for about four hours, but there had been no news of the Dragon Scale Army and the Shadow Guard who had gone to investigate.
Baili Qingcang sat motionless on the throne. No one knew what kind of anger was brewing in the Emperor’s heart.
Shen Ninghua looked up at the dark sky outside and thought of the two children. They should have fallen asleep by now. However, she did not know how many people would have sleepless nights from today onwards.
After another two hours, there were faint sounds of roosters crowing outside. Many officials’ faces were deathly pale, and their knees were so numb from the kneeling that they did not feel the slightest bit of pain. Their bodies were swaying on the verge of collapse.
Finally, the Dragon Scale Army and Shadow Guards returned. Boxes of gold, silver, and jewelry were carried in. When they saw the familiar colors and markings on the boxes, many officials fainted.
The head of the Shadow Guards presented the report. “Your Majesty, I have searched through the residences of many officials. Everything that has been found has been registered in the report. Please view it.”
The Commander of the Dragon Scale Army respectfully knelt to the side. He had seen Shadow Guards before, and he also knew how ruthless and powerful they were. The Emperor rarely used them, but once he did, it would definitely be a bloodbath.
For example, today, if the Dragon Scale Army investigated this matter by themselves, they would at most investigate the whereabouts of the taels of silver, capture the owners and courtesans of the brothels to interrogate them. However, when it came to the Shadow Guards, they would thoroughly investigate everything and seize the official residence, whether it was the minor officials or the first rank officials.
Looking at the contents of the report, Baili Qingcang supported himself by putting his hand on the imperial writing desk. After a while, the gloominess dispersed from his eyes. Instead of a livid reaction, he directly declared his decisions.
“Liu Tong, Deputy Commander of the Escort Army, punished by beheading! Qian Yuan, Chief Secretary Counsellor, punished by beheading! Zhang Bing, Minister of Taipu Temple, punished by beheading…”
“Y-Your Majesty, please spare me!”
“Your Majesty, I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’ve been loyal and worked hard for ten-odd years! Please spare me!”
The officials who were called out were so scared that their faces turned pale. Some of them even wet their pants. It was the punishment of beheading! Was the Emperor really going to make a move on all the civil and military officials of the court?
The Shadow Guards did not give them a chance to beg for mercy. Every time Baili Qingcang announced a name, two of the guards stepped out, captured the official, and dragged him out. No one dared to imagine what happened to them after they were dragged out.
The Third Prince and the others were also shocked. They never thought that Father Emperor had such a force in his hands. At this moment, they had nothing in mind except how to get away from this trouble. However, could they be able to get away?
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