Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 3 The sole purpose of the knife is to carry out its master's will.
The silence in the Qianqing Palace is a heavy, deathly silence.

Wei Zhongxian remained lying on the ground, like a lump of mud from which all the bones had been removed.

He didn't even dare to breathe deeply, for fear that the slightest extra sound would be interpreted as disrespect, or... hesitation.

Zhu Youjian did not look at him again, but slowly stood up and walked to a long sandalwood table in the hall.

On the table sat a cup of tea that had gone cold. He stretched out his fingers and gently stroked the rim of the cold teacup, as if he were pondering an extremely complex question that was unrelated to everything before him.

Time flowed by in this suffocating silence.

One breath, two breaths...

For Wei Zhongxian, every breath felt like a year of torture!
Finally, Zhu Youjian spoke, his voice as calm as if he were discussing the weather.

"Go and do the first thing."

Wei Zhongxian's body trembled violently, and he pressed his ear even closer to the cold floor tiles, afraid of missing a single word.

"Cui Chengxiu is your godson and also the Minister of War, right?" Zhu Youjian asked.

"Yes... he is my adopted son." Wei Zhongxian's voice was hoarse and dry. Was the Emperor going to make an example of Cui Chengxiu?

"I know him." Zhu Youjian's tone was completely calm. "I also know that he has a confidant named Xu Xianchun, who serves as the Vice Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

Wei Zhongxian's heart sank to the bottom. Xu Xianchun was his most ruthless dog and his most greedy wolf.

This man, relying on Cui Chengxiu and his own power, has embezzled an unknown amount of family property over the years, using extremely cruel methods.

"Your Majesty...Your Majesty is wise," he replied with difficulty.

"Very good." Zhu Youjian turned around, his gaze finally landing on Wei Zhongxian. There was no emotion in his eyes, only a cold indifference like that of a scrutinizing tool.

"I will give you two days."

"Seize Xu Xianchun's residence."

"You can come up with your own charges, find your own evidence, and arrest your own people."

"I only care about the result."

In an instant, Wei Zhongxian was struck dumb.

His face was filled with shock and confusion; he even forgot his fear.

Let him investigate and confiscate the property of his own people?

Although Xu Xianchun was not the core of the eunuch faction, he was Cui Chengxiu's right-hand man and a key link in their interest group, responsible for doing the dirty work.

Taking action against him is tantamount to slapping Cui Chengxiu in the face, and it is a declaration to the entire eunuch faction that Wei Zhongxian, this old dog, has already pledged allegiance to a new master and has begun to bite back at his own kind!

This move isn't about killing people, it's about destroying their spirit!

Zhu Youjian seemed to see through his thoughts, and a faint smile appeared on his lips, a smile that carried a hint of knowing mockery.

"What? Can't bear to part with you?"

"Or is it that my sword has become dull and can no longer cut my own people?"

That chill from the depths of my soul struck again, even more intensely than before!
Wei Zhongxian felt as if his blood was about to freeze. He immediately slammed his head down, his forehead hitting the gold brick with a dull "thud".

"This servant... obeys the decree! This servant obeys the decree!"

He got it.

This is a petition.

No, it's even more ruthless than the Oath of Allegiance.

The pledge of loyalty meant killing outsiders, but the emperor wanted him to kill his "family"!
This meant he had to personally cut off his own wings, sever himself from his old faction, and thus completely become a lone dog belonging only to the emperor, without any real power base.

At that moment, he truly understood the meaning of the words "my sword".

A knife has no companions.

The knife didn't go there either.

The sole purpose of a knife is to carry out its master's will!

"Very good." A barely perceptible hint of satisfaction finally appeared in Zhu Youjian's voice.

"Go ahead. I'll be in the palace, waiting for your good news."

"Remember, two days."

After saying that, he ignored Wei Zhongxian and walked straight to the side hall, his figure disappearing behind the heavy curtains, as if the conversation that had just decided the fate of countless people was just a casual chat.

The hall fell silent once more.

Wei Zhongxian lay on the ground, motionless for a long time.

Cold sweat had soaked through his undergarment, clinging tightly to his back, icy and sticky. His life had been completely turned upside down in just one hour.

From a powerful eunuch to a prisoner awaiting trial, and then to... a knife with no control over its own destiny.

He has no choice.

That young emperor, in a way he had never seen or even understood, deprived him of all his choices.

After a long while, Wei Zhongxian shakily propped himself up and wiped the cold sweat and blood from his forehead with his sleeve.

He stood up, and his hunched back seemed to straighten a little at that moment.

His eyes changed!
The initial trepidation, fear, and obsequiousness are fading away at a visible speed.

Instead, there was a deathly calm, and beneath that calm lay a familiar, chilling ruthlessness!
Wei Zhongxian knew that he had to complete this task.

Not only must it be completed, but it must be completed beautifully, and completed in a way that exceeds the emperor's expectations.

Because his intuition, honed over years of serving the royal family, told him that the current emperor's patience was limited!
A tool without value will only have one fate—to be discarded at will.

He turned around and walked out of the Qianqing Palace step by step.

When the sunlight shone on his pale, paper-white face once again, Wei Zhongxian squinted slightly.

There was no longer a trace of hesitation in those cloudy old eyes.

As soon as he stepped out of the palace gate, his trusted eunuchs, who had been waiting outside, swarmed around him.

"Ancestor, you..."

"Grand Ancestor, His Majesty, he..."

Wei Zhongxian ignored them and only uttered two words.

"Prepare the sedan chair."

He paused, then added.

"Go to the Eastern Depot."

……

At the Eastern Depot's headquarters, black banners fluttered in the bleak autumn wind.

This place was the most feared place in the entire Ming Dynasty, a nightmare for countless officials.

In the past, when Wei Zhongxian came here, it was as if he had returned to his own kingdom. Everyone looked at him with awe and fervor.

But recently, the atmosphere has been a little different.

The news that Wei Zhongxian was to be purged after the new emperor ascended the throne had already spread throughout the capital in secret.

The agents and secret police of the Eastern Depot were filled with fear and unease, unsure of what fate awaited them.

When Wei Zhongxian's sedan chair appeared at the gate of the Eastern Depot, supported by two trusted confidants, everyone was stunned.

Everyone saw that the Ninth Prince's face was terribly pale, and his eyes had become unfamiliar and distant.

But the moment he stepped down from the sedan chair and stood up straight, a familiar yet deeply ingrained, scorching aura enveloped the entire yamen once again.

Without uttering any unnecessary words, Wei Zhongxian walked straight into the most sinister cell in the imperial prison.

“Send the Eastern Depot’s criminal officer, the chief of the criminal division, who is on duty in the court, to come here to see me within a quarter of an hour.”

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable sense of command.

quickly,

The most core and ruthless henchmen of the Eastern Depot gathered in the public room. They looked at Wei Zhongxian, who was sitting upright in the grand chair, and were filled with doubt and unease.

Wei Zhongxian picked up the teacup beside him, skimmed off the foam with the lid, but did not drink it.

He raised his eyelids and glanced around at his trusted confidants.

"Xu Xianchun, you're all familiar with him, right?"

Everyone was stunned and looked at each other.

The judge bowed and said, "Your Majesty, we naturally recognize Lord Xu of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He also has frequent dealings with our Eastern Depot."

“Yes, back and forth.” Wei Zhongxian repeated the two words softly, a sinister smirk curling at the corner of his mouth.

“We now suspect that Xu Xianchun colluded with officials outside the region to embezzle disaster relief funds, committing bribery and other illegal acts with malicious intent.”

"Our family must deal with him."

As soon as this statement came out, the whole hall was shocked!

(End of this chapter)