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

Chapter 65 Zhou Yanru, you are not the first, nor will you be the last!
The Imperial Guards turned a deaf ear to this.

In their world, there are no cries of agony, only commands. They are the emperor's most loyal and most uninteresting blades, held in the young hand of the throne, pointing and slashing wherever they are pointed, without asking why or considering the consequences!
The rough yet efficient movements seemed to have been rehearsed a thousand times.

The wealthy merchants who usually spend lavishly on the banks of the Qinhuai River and wield great influence beyond the nine border passes have now had all their armor of wealth and connections stripped away, revealing their equally cowardly and vulnerable flesh and blood.

They were dragged out of the hall like dead dogs.

In the suffocating silence, the footsteps of the Imperial Guards sounded once more.

This time, their targets were Zhou Yanru and Feng Quan, who were escorted to the main hall along with Wang Ji's Moshan.

At this moment, Feng Quan had completely lost all his uprightness and integrity. His face was ashen, and his whole body trembled like a withered leaf in the wind. His mental defenses had completely collapsed, and a foul-smelling liquid silently spread from under the hem of his robe.

"No...don't touch me..." he pleaded in a weak voice, his eyes unfocused, as if he had lost his mind.

Zhou Yanru, the Vice Minister of Rites who was recently highly regarded by the entire Donglin Party and was intended to be promoted to the position of Grand Secretary, displayed another extreme form of ugliness.

At that moment, the will to survive overwhelmed all his dignity, knowledge, and respectability, as well as the concept of the unity of knowledge and action that he had upheld for half his life.

When the two imperial guards reached out to support him, he suddenly shrank back and clung tightly to a golden dragon pillar beside him, his whole body like a frightened gecko, desperately sticking to it.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! I have something to say! I have something to say!"

His voice was sharp and distorted, full of cracks, and no longer possessed the composure of a high-ranking official.

To everyone's surprise, the emperor on the throne did not immediately order him to be dragged away.

Zhu Youjian leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees, and looked at him curiously, slowly saying:

"Oh? What does Vice Minister Zhou have to say?"

This question was like a lifeline that Zhou Yanru grasped tightly. He was like a drowning person seeing a hand reaching out from the shore, bursting out with astonishing strength.

"Your Majesty! I have been wronged! It was them! It was Qian Longxi and Qian Qianyi! They forced me to do it! I was coerced by them! My loyalty to Your Majesty is as clear as day!"

Zhou Yanru's gaze swept across the kneeling officials like a mad dog's. Those he looked at felt a chill run down their spines and quickly buried their heads even deeper, wishing they could turn into a brick on the ground.

"And Fan Yongdou! He bribed me with a large sum of money! I was confused for a moment, so confused! Your Majesty, I am willing to expose them! I know everything about them! Their network of connections is extensive and deeply entrenched, I can draw it all out! I can help Your Majesty wipe out these parasites in one fell swoop! I beg Your Majesty to give me a chance to redeem myself! I don't want to die... I don't want to die!"

His cries echoed throughout the hall, sounding so mournful.

Zhu Youjian listened quietly, his expression unchanged, as if he were watching a play whose ending he already knew.

Only when Zhou Yanru was hoarse did he speak again, his tone still calm.

"You said you were willing to draw out their network of relationships for me and wipe out these parasites in one fell swoop. Then let me ask you, why did you not draw this network earlier or later, but only when a knife was held to your throat?"

Zhou Yanru opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.

The voice on the throne grew increasingly cold, carrying a sharp edge that pierced the heart.

"Zhou Yanru, all your studying of sages and policies of governance has been for naught. You keep spouting 'to establish a heart for heaven and earth, and to establish a destiny for the people.' But in the end, all I see are two things—scheming and infighting!"

Zhu Youjian stood up and slowly walked to the edge of the steps, looking down at Zhou Yanru, who was lying on the golden pillar, his face pale.

"Zhou Yanru, you are not the first, nor will you be the last!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the temperature in the hall seemed to drop even further.

Zhou Yanru was utterly desperate.

The emperor wasn't interrogating him at all; he was making an example of him!
"No..." he roared like a wild beast, his survival instinct driving him to make a final struggle. Zhou Quan glanced at the emperor's cold, hard profile and understood.

"drag!"

The Imperial Guards no longer hesitated. One of them didn't even bother to pry his hand off, but instead drew his sword from his waist and slammed the heavy scabbard down on Zhou Yanru's fingers, which were clinging tightly to the pillar.

"what--!"

A heart-wrenching scream mingled with the cracking sound of bones breaking. Zhou Yanru's fingers were instantly mangled and bloody, and he could no longer muster any strength. He slid off the pillar carved with a majestic golden dragon and collapsed to the ground like a lump of mud.

The imperial guards immediately stepped forward and lifted him up from both sides.

"No! Let me go! You can't treat a high-ranking official like this! I am the Vice Minister of Rites! I am..."

His shouting stopped abruptly. A captain, annoyed by his noise, pulled a tattered cloth—which had apparently been used to wipe something—from his pocket and shoved it into his mouth.

"Woo...Woo..."

Zhou Yanru's body writhed violently, his legs kicking wildly on the gold bricks, leaving black scratches on his expensive court boots, making him look like a livestock with its limbs bound and about to be sent to the slaughterhouse.

His eyes were bloodshot, and his face was covered in tears and snot. His extreme fear of death made him completely abandon his last shred of dignity.

Zhou Yanru did not want to die.

Having spent half his life studying the classics and maneuvering in the officialdom, he has finally climbed to his current position and is about to ascend to the top of the cabinet to look down upon all living beings!
How could he die?

He still has so much wealth and power he hasn't fully enjoyed, and so much power he hasn't tasted!

Through his blurry, tear-filled eyes, he saw the emperor on the high platform, and that young yet cold face.

Zhou Yanru desperately tried to make a sound, to beg for mercy, to say that he was still useful, and to say that he was wrong!
But the rag stuffed in his mouth only allowed him to make muffled "ooh" sounds.

Despair, like icy seawater, surged in from all directions and completely overwhelmed him.

Zhou Yanru's body began to convulse uncontrollably, his eyes rolled upwards, and white foam spilled from his mouth.

He was dragged out of the Hall of Supreme Harmony by two imperial guards like a soulless shell.

The whole process was quick and efficient, without any delays.

It was as if it were just a play that had been rehearsed long ago.

And now, the play has come to an end.

As the last muffled thud disappeared outside the palace gates, the Hall of Supreme Harmony returned to its original silence.

Zhu Youjian slowly walked back to the throne and sat down again.

He looked down at the officials kneeling in fear below, and at the black mountain of evidence that still stood in the center of the hall, a complex expression flashing in his eyes.

There was exhaustion, resolve, and also a hint of...deep loneliness.

He knew that from this day forward, from this moment forward, the tacit understanding between him and the entire civil service group had been completely shattered!
In the past, they were both players and pieces, playing a game within the rules.

They feign loyalty, he feigns trust; it's a delicate balance, a morbid harmony.

But today, he overturned the chessboard!
(End of this chapter)