Echoes of My Heart Throughout the Court

Chapter 269: King of Hell Calls the Name 2.0 (2 / 2)

Then he heard Xu Yanmiao muttering in his heart: [How did he cover up the accounts? If he had managed to pull it off, then it would have been a miracle for the old emperor’s ancestors’ graves not to be blessed with rising green smoke!]

The old emperor: “…”

Now that he thought about it… that wasn’t exactly wrong?

Setting everything else aside, that account-fixing skill was truly impressive.

[Oh ho, he’s not stupid—realizing he couldn’t balance the accounts himself, he immediately went to his superior, the Prefect of Anhui!]

As they entered a restaurant near the bathhouse, the old duck soup was served. The old emperor took a small sip and calmly said, “Record it.”

The Jinyiwei commander immediately memorized it, preparing to investigate who the Prefect of Anhui was back when Wu Jijiu served as the magistrate of Tongcheng.

[That prefect wasn’t foolish either—he went straight to the Grand Coordinator of the Canal Transport Bureau for help.]

[Tsk tsk!]

The Jinyiwei commander lowered his head even further and noted down the name of that Grand Coordinator of the Canal Transport Bureau as well.

This was truly like the King of Hell calling names!

Although many of these people no longer held their original positions, tracing them wouldn’t be difficult—just check the records from when Wu Jijiu was the magistrate of Tongcheng.

[Following the chain upwards, it led to the Assistant Minister of Revenue at the time—oh, he had already retired and returned home.]

[Before leaving office, he even showed some loyalty, helping his subordinate cover the accounts one last time.]

[666! So that’s how it was done! Taking advantage of his position, he secretly spread the deficit across the account books of various counties nationwide. I’ve learned something new today!]

[Even though I have no use for this knowledge…]

Inside the bathhouse, everything seemed eerily quiet, except for the rapid beating of hearts.

Officials who had come just to watch the drama of an imperial exam fraud case exchanged glances, suddenly feeling a chill run down their spines—almost as if they could hear the sound of a blade being sharpened. A biting cold wind seemed to seep into every pore of their skin.

“Hiss—”

Silently, they all sank deeper into the water.

They had only come to witness a case of cheating in the imperial exams—how had it escalated into a massive financial fraud case?

And it kept tracing upward, from a mere prefect to the Grand Coordinator of Canal Transport, and even to a retired Assistant Minister of Revenue?!

There were probably even more officials involved who hadn’t been mentioned yet—were they about to get new colleagues again?

Ever since little Bai Ze arrived in Daxia two years ago, their entire circle of colleagues had practically been replaced! Was this really Bai Ze? Or was he actually the Star of Destruction?!

The Minister of Personnel let out a deep sigh—another night of overtime.

With a splash, he emerged from the water. A young attendant at the bathhouse hurried over to assist him, asking softly, “Would you like some water, my lord?”

The Minister of Personnel smiled and replied, “No need, go about your work.” Then he walked over to Liang Rui and asked, “Shall we go out for a bite? The spiced crispy rolls at the bathhouse entrance are absolutely delicious.”

Liang Rui silently nodded.

The two dried themselves off, dressed, and headed outside. The crispy rolls at the bathhouse entrance were indeed tasty. Without hesitation, the two grown men bought twenty of them and crouched under a large tree at the street corner to eat.

As they ate, Liang Rui slowly spoke. “I’ve never considered myself a saint. Many times, I’ve had some terrible thoughts.”

The Minister of Personnel watched the bustling street with interest.

There were people out for strolls, walking their dogs, rushing to the market, selling grain, trading homespun cloth—people coming and going, busy and hurried. Yet, among them, wealthy families sat leisurely at the roadside, drinking and playing cards. When someone herded chickens, ducks, and geese past them, they wrinkled their noses and covered their mouths in distaste.

“What kind of thoughts?” he asked.

Liang Rui wasn’t in the mood to observe the street. He simply held his crispy roll and sank into his memories.

“When I first became a county magistrate, the common people didn’t trust me. The petty officials deceived their superiors, the local gentry controlled the countryside, and bandits were rampant and lawless. It was almost impossible to take a single step forward.”

“At that time, I was the magistrate of Tianmen County, and I was only twenty-one years old.”

When Liang Rui said this, the Minister of Personnel immediately remembered. And once he did, he felt a sharp toothache.

Tianmen County’s Guanyin Lake—that was a notorious den of bandits, the kind that could get their hands on firearms. They had the advantage of the terrain, and no matter how many times the imperial court sent troops to suppress them, they never succeeded. At the time, no one wanted to take the post of magistrate in Tianmen County. But this reckless youngster, having completed his three-year tenure as a Hanlin Academy compiler, could have chosen a cushy county magistrate position somewhere comfortable. Instead, he packed his bags and marched straight to the Ministry of Personnel, requesting to be assigned to Tianmen County.

And within three years, he completely eradicated the bandits of Guanyin Lake.

Liang Rui said, “Back then, I desperately needed money to improve the county. We were so poor you could hear our coffers rattle. More than once, I spent nights staring at the royal tombs in Tianmen County, my eyes practically glowing green. But in the end, I never disturbed the dead. Even so, I’m ashamed to admit that I truly had those thoughts.”

The Minister of Personnel suddenly had the urge to drink some Tieguanyin tea.

A conversation like this didn’t feel right being held while crouching on the roadside, eating spiced crispy rolls. It should be taking place at home, or in a quiet retreat, with a fine set of blue-and-white porcelain tea ware, brewing two cups of Tieguanyin, savoring its lingering sweetness.

Liang Rui took another bite of his crispy roll, swallowed, and continued in a calm tone, “If a few sets of armor went missing from the warehouse, no one would notice.”

“I could have traded with the bandits of Guanyin Lake. Colluding with them, ensuring that no one could report me to higher authorities.”

“I could have falsely claimed that the local bandits were tyrannical and seizing grain, when in reality, I was secretly reducing and exempting taxes for the powerful gentry—an eighty-twenty split of the annual harvest.”

Liang Rui rubbed his soot-darkened face.

—He had once been fair-skinned, but after being transferred from one county to another, traveling along those treacherous roads wedged between two mountains, enduring the frost and dust of the north, and being exposed to the wind and sun every day, there was no way to stay pale.

The Minister of Personnel felt a twinge of sympathy. “I understand. You mean to say—people always talk about leading by example, teaching through personal conduct. You don’t believe in disciplining children harshly, so you thought that if you simply became a good official, they would follow your example…”

Liang Rui choked up. “Exactly! I resisted so many temptations all those years—I never dared to reach out my hand.”

He gritted his teeth. “So how did my son get so brazen? Who the hell does he take after?!”