My Husband Is Not Easy To Mess With. - Chapter 12: Darkness Descends Again and Again
Chapter 12: Darkness Descends Again and Again
Sun Ji was so enraged he lost all reason.
Dragging his shiny bald head, he lunged to fight Nie Yao. He was so fast that his own men couldn’t restrain him in time.
“Thud.”
He suddenly rushed over, and Nie Yao, who hadn’t intended to deliver a finishing blow, found himself unable to resist the opportunity. He lifted his foot and kicked him flying. Sun Ji landed on the ground and lay in an awkward posture.
Nie Yao nonchalantly straightened his sleeves.
He slowly and deliberately warned everyone present, “Gentlemen, I usually don’t like to talk, but please don’t take me for a fool. If the next person who tries to bribe me only offers three hundred taels as if I’m a beggar, they will die.”
His casual remark sent a chill down everyone’s spine.
The officials looked at the deceased Censor, now completely cold, and then at Sun Ji, who was probably already paralyzed.
For a moment, they couldn’t distinguish whether the new Emperor or Nie Yao was more terrifying.
Killing as they pleased.
Did the two of you conspire beforehand?
The officials murmured inwardly.
Pairs of eyes collectively darted towards the Prime Minister in front, hoping he would step out and say something fair or just.
Prime Minister Dou, truly deserving of his title as a thousand-year-old fox who had survived the treacherous waves of the court and become the leader, remained composed in the face of the current chaos.
“Your Majesty, perhaps we should first summon the Imperial Physician to examine Minister Sun.”
Ah, yes, the Imperial Physician!
Otherwise, Minister Sun would breathe his last.
“Granted.”
The Imperial Physician rushed over.
After a tense round of treatment, the old physician reported: Sun Ji was missing thirteen teeth, his arm was broken, two ribs were cracked, and the meridians in various places were severed and couldn’t be reconnected.
In short, he was permanently crippled.
Incurable.
“Your Majesty, please, Your Majesty, grant justice to Minister Sun!” This time, no one dared to directly point the finger at Nie Yao; they could only beg the new Emperor for justice, their eyes welling with tears.
“Your Majesty.”
Nie Yao also had his justification for attacking Sun Ji.
He recounted the secret words Sun Ji had used when trying to win him over yesterday, word for word, shamelessly stating, “Who told him to speak ill of Your Majesty? I was simply too indignant.”
A solid and reasonable argument.
It was just that his strike was a bit heavy, and his words were a bit arrogant just now.
These were minor issues.
The key was that the new Emperor didn’t care at all.
“Minister Nie is loyal and devoted to sharing the burden of the ruler; he shall be rewarded.” The new Emperor praised Nie Yao, and then addressed Sun Ji, “Minister Sun is elderly and frail, and his health is poor. I hereby grant him leave to retire to his hometown and enjoy his remaining years in peace.”
Sun Ji was only in his fifties, a good age for hard work.
Suddenly being forced into early retirement, the last bit of consciousness he had was extinguished by anger. His head tilted, and he fainted.
“Your Majesty, this must not be.”
Even though Sun Ji had fainted, Nie Yao had no intention of letting him off the hook.
He had wanted to deal with him for a long time.
Although today’s action was somewhat unjustifiable, it didn’t matter. As a great treacherous official, it was perfectly normal for him to use unorthodox means to eliminate opponents.
“Your Majesty.” Nie Yao was determined to crush Sun Ji completely. “The salary that this official personally issues to Minister Sun is only fifty taels of silver a year. Yet, yesterday he casually offered me three hundred taels as a bribe, and gave another three hundred taels to a street beggar.”
“This official believes there might be some issues with Minister Sun’s household accounts.”
Sun Ji’s official salary wasn’t high, but his family was rich!
As a century-old prominent clan, his wealth was beyond imagination.
Sun Ji’s men wanted to speak up for him. But as soon as they stepped forward, they were met with Nie Yao’s cool gaze and the menacing, sleeve-rolling military officials behind him, who were only waiting for Nie Yao’s command to strike.
Circumstances were stronger than the individual.
They endured!
So, the feet they had extended retracted.
Nie Yao said, “Your Majesty, look. All the Ministers think so too. They have no objections.”
Shameless!
The Prime Minister’s faction suddenly thought that Nie Yao’s past behavior—not speaking and only demanding money—was actually quite tolerable. Anything was better than this!
They felt that what happened today was a bit outrageous.
Shouldn’t they try to stop it?
They secretly glanced at the Prime Minister.
Seeing that he had no intention of intervening, they all dropped the idea.
“In that case, Minister Nie, what do you think should be done with this Sun Ji?”
“Confiscate his family’s property.”
Nie Yao decided to bring his own men to raid the Minister of Rites’ household.
The new Emperor permitted it.
As for the matter of changing the start time of the court session, it seemed so mundane in comparison.
No one spoke up again.
“Your Majesty, I have a memorial to submit.” Guan Junmao realized he had been lucky yesterday not to be beaten and left with broken limbs by that group of military men.
He was inwardly quite relieved.
Originally, he shouldn’t speak up in matters concerning such high-level officials fighting, but he had something important that he had to report.
“Reporting to Your Majesty, regarding the matter of the special Imperial Examination… because Minister Sun ordered that this official and others should not consider students from humble backgrounds, the required silver money thus appeared to be not so much…”
He was in charge of the special Imperial Examination.
But when his direct superior wanted to interfere, he dared not disobey.
Furthermore, ignoring those impoverished scholars could save a lot of money, which meant they wouldn’t have to deal with the Ministry of Revenue too much.
Since Nie Yao returned to the capital, no one wanted to haggle with the Ministry of Revenue.
They would be raided.
When Nie Yao first became the Minister of Revenue, the national treasury was empty; a rat going in would have to leave behind two melon seeds.
With no money in the treasury, Nie Yao led his men to raid homes.
And every raid was spot-on.
Piles and piles of corrupt officials were executed. The execution ground turned red again and again, and the executioners’ blades were dulled dozens of times.
During that period, all court officials felt their lives were at risk.
It was only later that everyone realized Nie Yao didn’t concern himself much with court affairs. As long as they didn’t touch his money or the money he managed, they could live in peace.
Otherwise, Nie Yao’s presence in the capital over the last few years alone would have scared them to death.
Recalling the past, the officials wiped their sweat.
How could they have forgotten that this man was actually a great star of misfortune back then!
It seemed Sun Ji was indeed old, forgetting events from just a few years ago. Otherwise, how would he dare to do what he did today?
Clearly, Guan Junmao also understood Nie Yao’s past glorious deeds.
So, when proposing to add money to the project, he was extremely nervous.
“Your-Your-Your Majesty, if this special Imperial Examination is to allow students from humble families to participate, I’m afraid an additional three, three to four hundred thousand taels of silver will be needed…” Guan Junmao was on his knees, trembling, “Your-Your Majesty, please see clearly, this task truly cannot be done without this silver!”
“Mhm.”
The court couldn’t function without officials doing their jobs.
The special Imperial Examination had to be held.
Nie Yao understood that some money couldn’t be saved. After the new Emperor agreed to the allocation, Nie Yao didn’t say much more, only instructing Guan Junmao to submit a detailed budget, or the money would not be approved.
“Your Majesty is wise!! Long live Your Majesty, long long live!”
Wiping his sweat, Guan Junmao felt a sense of joy at having escaped disaster.
He returned to his position.
From his wide sleeve, he took out the “budget report” he had prepared just in case, ready to go back and check it meticulously again, to avoid any minor errors that would lead him down his superior’s path.
With the change of emperors, there were many matters to deal with.
Coupled with the new Emperor’s late arrival.
It was already noon, and the discussion was still ongoing.
“I have instructed the Imperial Kitchen to prepare the noon meal. All beloved Ministers should rest. We will resume discussion of the remaining matters at the fourth ke of the wei hour.” (The wei hour is 1 PM to 3 PM, so the wei hour fourth ke is around 2 PM.)
The military officials had no objections and were even happy to snag a meal in the palace.
The civil officials were a bit hesitant, still thinking about the ancestral system.
Ah, right, no one had yet mentioned the fact that His Majesty was over two hours late for the morning court… but His Majesty arrived with that Nie Yao.
Forget it.
Let it be.
A person is wise to be occasionally confused.