Chapter 339: Blown Up

Pa…! A crisp slap rang out in the study and Lin Zhe’s face immediately swelled up as a trickle of blood flowed down the corner of his lips.

However, at this moment, this Imperial Capital’s famous family member of an official did not make a single sound. He dared not even wipe of the hint of blood at the corner off his lips but merely lowered his head, appearing to be terrified.

“Do you know where you’ve gone wrong this time around?” After Lin Qingtian slapped Lin Zhe, he put his hands behind his back and stood before Lin Zhe, asking him calmly.

Lin Qingtian did not have a burly build and there were almost no wrinkles on his face as he had led a life of comfort. However, there was no fury on his face either. It was because Lin Qingtian was acting like this that Lin Zhe felt terrified. He looked at Lin Qingtian’s emotionless eyes and felt as if the person standing before him was a big mountain while he himself was small and insignificant. It was as if each little movement from this big mountain would cause him to tremble in fear.

Before Lin Zhe spoke, he gave himself four fierce slaps in the face. “Uncle has always told me to think before acting. This time around… I was rash… I thought that as long as I greeted the people from the Ministry of Justice, I’d be able to get rid of that Yan Liqiang… to use this as an opportunity to warn others. I didn’t find out about Yan Liqiang in advance and merely thought of him as an insignificant character, but things ended up turning out this way…”

“Tell me, what were your plans? I want to hear them…”

“I was thinking of first… first getting Yan Liqiang into the Ministry of Justice’s prison… Regardless if he had committed any crimes… then I’d find a chance to get him killed in the prison… After that, I’d push the blame of the matter concerning Xu Lang and the others onto him, and then announce that he’d committed suicide out of guilt… Director Chen is experienced in this and will be able to carry things out with ease. As long as Yan Liqiang is brought in, there’s nothing that he can do… He’s merely a commandant, and with Sun Bingchen gone, he doesn’t have any other backing in the Imperial Capital. Crushing him would be as simple as crushing as ant…” Lin Zhe gulped and spoke.

“There is the Soul Mountain Sect’s top engineer to vouch for Yan Liqiang, that Yan Liqiang had been in the Imperial Capital’s Sky Beyond the entire night to chat with him, and Yan Liqiang returned to Deer Villa last night. He has plenty of witnesses. If you were to say that Yan Liqiang committed that act, you’d be saying that all the Imperial Capital’s city guards are good-for-nothings, allowing someone to be able to come and go as they wished after the night curfew.”

“This… This wasn’t what I meant…”

“Yan Liqiang is just a Supreme Martial Warrior. Amongst Xu Lang and the other four people who were killed, two of them were Martial Grandmasters, two of them were Martial Masters, and even the one with the weakest cultivation was a Supreme Martial Warrior. These people are all on my side and just a random young man who is a Supreme Martial Warrior on Sun Bingchen’s side was able to kill so many experts with great ease…Do you know how other people would ridicule me after finding out about this? What will they say?”

Under Lin Qingtian’s glare, Lin Zhe’s countenance turned paler.

“You’re not just saying that Xu Lang and the others are good-for-nothings, but you’re also scolding me and the officials — such as Vice Minister Qu — who are on my side. People who would use such good-for-nothings would either be good-for-nothings themselves or have poor judgment of people. Is this what you’re trying to say?”

Lin Zhe’s entire body was trembling.

“The one thing you shouldn’t have done is that even if you wish to come up with a setup and kill someone, you must take it more seriously. Even a lion would have to go all out when trying to catch a hare. If you don’t miss out on anything and don’t leave such a big lead with the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Unit, the other people won’t have a handle on you. You don’t even have the time to arrange someone to wait at the Investigation Unit to act as the plaintiff and witness?”

“I… I already made the arrangements. The person I gave the assignment to thought that it was just a formality for him to show up and it’d be done. Therefore, he left before Yan Liqiang and the others arrived. The people from the Ministry of Justice know that I arranged for that person and thus they didn’t stop him from leaving either. They thought that once Director Chen arrived, they’d be able to get Yan Liqiang into the prison… So… So…”

“So now even the Minister of Justice has been called in by His Majesty. He was reprimanded for one hour, and he even has to forfeit his salary for one year. Not to mention, he has to write a self-reflection report. Director Chen was removed from his position in the afternoon and is pending to be interrogated. It’s like there’s an earthquake running through the entire Ministry of Justice. His Majesty is making use of this matter to kick up a fuss, claiming that he wishes to put the entire Ministry of Justice through reorganization, and he’s gotten the

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Supreme Court, the Censorate, and the Ministry of Justice to investigate Yan Liqiang’s case altogether. Within half a day, news of this matter has spread through the entire Imperial Capital, kicking up a storm. Everyone is laughing at me and pointing fingers at me behind my back. Is this the result that you want?”

Lin Zhe felt that his mouth was parched and his palms were sweating, “I… I…” He could not say anything…

Lin Qingtian suddenly sighed. After returning to his desk, he waved his hand gently. “It seems that you’ve lived a carefree and peaceful a life in the Imperial Capital over the past few years. You’ve forgotten what kind of place the Imperial Capital is and how you should be doing things. You can return to Hai Province tomorrow!”

“Yes… Uncle…” Lin Zhe left Lin Qingtian’s study while staggering, feeling downcasted. He had not expected that when such a small matter fermented, it became so serious in merely half a day. Without any warning at all, today had become the greatest failure in his life.

Hai Province was the Lin Clan’s original hometown and returning to Hai Province meant going back home. As Lin Qingtian did not have any children of his own, Lin Zhe’s position in the Lin Clan would be completely different whether he was by Lin Qingtian’s side or in Hai Province. Only the people from the Lin Clan would best understand the difference. Thinking of how his cousins and other seniors in the family would look at him, Lin Zhe’s heart could not help but twitch. His eyes were red, he gritted his teeth, and his face was distorted. He was like a wild beast that wanted to grab someone and swallow them up. Two words came out through his throat and teeth in the form of a deep bellow, “Yan Liqiang…”

Based on Lin Zhe’s logic, the greatest sinner that deserved ten thousand deaths was someone who dared to resist, not let things go as planned, and stir up so much trouble when he wanted to kill them…

Just as Lin Zhe left Lin Qingtian’s study, a steward in the Grand Chancellor’s manor walked past Lin Zhe along the corridors. He nodded slightly to Lin Zhe and then went straight to Lin Qingtian’s study, knocking on the door. After hearing the person in the study calling for him to enter, the steward entered the study, brought out a booklet from his sleeves, and placed it before Lin Qingtian.

Lin Qingtian did not say anything. He merely waved his hand, so the steward bowed and took his leave.

Thereafter, Lin Qingtian’s gaze landed on the booklet. He picked it up, opened it, and read it seriously——

Yan Liqiang, male, fifteen years old, from Gan Province’s Pingxi Prefecture, Liuhe Town. His father, Yan Dechang, is a blacksmith in Liuhe Town of Gan Province’s Pingxi Prefecture, XX year of the Yuanping reign…

…

The words on the booklet were all neatly written in regular script for calligraphy that was one centimeter or smaller in size. It contained all of Yan Liqiang’s personal information in great detail. He placed first among the top three in the County Trial, and imparted the method to save people who drowned. He gained merits through the Yan Coal, Yan Stove, and Yan Blade when he was with Sun Bingchen. His first confrontation with Xu Lang and the others in the servant quarters, and even The Great Han Times which was created jointly by Yan Liqiang and Fang Beidou… all of these were recorded in the booklet.

After reading through everything, Lin Qingtian lifted his gaze from the booklet. His eyes gleamed and he knocked gently on the table, “Yan Liqiang… Interesting, interesting… It’s no wonder you were picked by Sun Bingchen…”

…

At the same time, the few eunuchs who were serving the Emperor in the palace noticed that His Majesty was in an extremely good mood and had a good appetite. He even ate about one-third more than he usually did for dinner.

However, other than Sun Bingchen who had left the Imperial Capital, there was probably no one throughout the entire Great Han Empire that could share the joy he was feeling…

A subject that brings great fortune, a subject that brings great fortune… He really is a subject who brings me great fortune, hahahaha…