Professional Ethics of a Concubine

Shangshu Mansion.

The next morning, just as the sky was getting light, a maid's scream pierced the sky, breaking the morning tranquility.

“Ahhhh!! No! The master is dead! Someone come quickly! The master is dead!”

……

The Minister of Revenue, Lord Zhang, was found dead in his concubine's room by a maid. Only Lord Zhang died, while the concubine was not dead, she was just knocked unconscious.

Officials from the Ministry of Justice quickly took over the investigation and found that three servants in the mansion had fainted last night. When they woke up, their statements were consistent.

"It's three masked men! They are very skilled in martial arts! They want me to tell you where the master is..."

"From the accent, one of them is not from Yan, and the other one is from Yan. Huh? The third one, he didn't speak, he might be mute."

……

The deceased was an important official in the court, so of course Shangshu Wang from the Ministry of Justice had to go to the palace in person to report to the emperor.

Naturally, he didn't get away with it and was scolded by the emperor, who ordered him to catch the murderer as soon as possible.

Minister Wang was also distressed, and he immediately organized people from the Ministry of Justice to investigate the matter. In less than half a day, he got good news:

"Sir, I have made a major discovery. The people who assassinated Minister Zhang last night were the three men who broke into the palace at night and were wanted by the Imperial Guards. One of them is General Wei who is beside King Ming. I have already taken the image to those servants to confirm it."

When Shangshu Wang heard this, he not only did not feel happy, but became even more upset and melancholy. "Ming Wang's people? Well, when you investigate, you don't have to be so serious. Just pretend to do it."

The subordinate was also smart and had a clear understanding of the situation in the court. He looked at Minister Wang and asked in a low voice,

"Sir, you are planning to surrender to King Ming, but you won't be able to explain this to the Emperor."

"So, we should just make a lot of noise but do little. We should report our progress to the emperor from time to time and find some suspects to fill in the gaps. This way, the emperor can't scold us for being useless and not producing any results.

If something like this happens again, we will say they are a gang and we will never be able to catch them all. We are still catching them all. The emperor will not try the prisoners himself, so we have to decide what to do. "

Shangshu Wang is definitely a veteran in the officialdom. He has mastered how to fool people into completing the emperor's tasks.

With just two simple sentences, everything was explained clearly, and the subordinates expressed their sincere admiration.

"But what if the emperor gets angry?"

"When the emperor gets angry, we just listen obediently. As long as our heads don't fall to the ground, it's fine. Don't you understand? The Yan Kingdom can't hold out for much longer. The Zhao army is too powerful!"

Minister Wang said sadly.

"There are more and more surrenderists in the court now. Everyone is clamoring loudly, and the emperor hasn't said to kill as much as he did at the beginning. My lord, do you think the emperor is also thinking about surrendering?"

The subordinate asked again respectfully.

It is not important to catch the thief. What is important is how to save your life and how to seize the opportunity during the change of dynasties to enter the officialdom again and be reused.

"Your Majesty..." Shangshu Wang narrowed his eyes slightly and said only one sentence, "It's like a grasshopper in autumn."

It won't be able to jump around for much longer.

Moreover, even if he wanted to beg for mercy, it would be useless because he was trying to usurp the throne, and the King would never keep him.

-

For the next three days, every day when Minister Wang entered the government office, the first thing he heard was,

"My Lord, my Lord, this is bad! This is bad! Another minister has been killed!"

Minister Wang was trembling, and his legs were somewhat unsteady.

This, this...is it his turn tonight?

For several days in a row, important officials and nobles of the court died, sometimes five in one night, making the princes and nobles in the capital city panic-stricken and the people in turmoil.

Minister Wang was even more frightened. Are General Wei and the other assassins crazy?

King Ming, please spare me, General Wei, please spare me!

Although he cannot be called a fair and strict good official, he is not a corrupt official who takes human lives lightly. Shangshu Wang really regretted refusing the recruitment of King Ming.

Don't you know it's too late now?

-

Now the city is covered with portraits of King Qi and Hu Xiaoqi, and soldiers are searching house to house with their portraits, determined to catch them.

"I find that your portraits are better looking than mine, and they look more like me than my portraits. I'm obviously very handsome, but what are these paintings of me? They're so ugly!"

Hu Xiaoqi took a look at the portrait and said in a dissatisfied voice.

He didn't even disguise himself when he went out, but still no one recognized him as a 'wanted criminal'.

"Their painters are not good enough." General Wei comforted him halfheartedly, "Are you still going tonight?"

"Go ahead. Why not go? It's boring to stay here." Hu Xiaoqi said with a smile.

"Now these guys have started to play hide-and-seek with us, and the process of finding them is also a kind of fun."

As they assassinated more and more officials, those high-ranking officials became afraid and dared not stay in their own houses. At night, they would run around like rats.

So, it only takes them one breath to kill someone, but it takes them a whole night to find someone.

King Qi agreed with Hu Xiaoqi's words and nodded, indicating that he would go again in the evening.

He was now very familiar with the roads in the capital of Yan State. He even drew a simple topographic map himself, marking the residences of some officials.

In fact, there are only a few big houses. Even if the emperor is hiding from assassination, it is unlikely that he would choose a small bungalow with two courtyards. It is too cramped.

Or it could be three courtyards, or even four courtyards.

The bigger the easier it is to find.

The King of Qi had nothing to do, and relying on his good martial arts skills, he liked to fly over eaves and walls and visit these large mansions to see which ones were empty during the day but bustling with bright lights at night.

Start searching from the large courtyard with four entrances, and kill one or two people on the list along the way. It is not good to kill too many, because it will be no fun if you kill them all.

Moreover, it is already very difficult to find them now, as those corrupt officials are becoming more and more skilled at hiding.

That night, as usual, they were climbing over rooftops and walls outside, carefully avoiding the patrolling city defense troops, which were increasing in number.

However, under the cover of night, no matter how many city defense troops there are, they will not be of much use unless there are more than 100,000 of them and there is a soldier standing under every wall.

Otherwise, even if masters like King Qi and Hu Xiaoqi flew past them, they would be unable to do anything to the opponent and would not be able to catch up at all.

"Hey, Xiaosan! Come over here, there's a situation!" After a team of city defense troops passed by, Hu Xiaoqi shouted to King Qi, excitement in his eyes and voice.

General Wei did not act with them. He could fight with others, but he was not good at martial arts and could not keep up with the skills of climbing walls and flying over rooftops. So he was responsible for logistics and other matters.

King Qi flew from the eaves to where Hu Xiaoqi was, looked in the direction he pointed, and subconsciously narrowed his eyes.

"Go down."

He passed by this yard during the day and there was no one there, but now it was brightly lit, there must be something fishy going on.

Hu Xiaoqi followed him down, and after landing, he excitedly said to him, "Let's catch someone and ask him first. I hope we can find Emperor Yan."

King Qi's eyes were also filled with excitement. He nodded and rushed out.

Hu Xiaoqi, "!!!"

Come again?

Can you be a little patient?!

Hu Xiaoqi quickly followed and found a lone servant. He caught him and before he could threaten him, the servant knelt down.

“Wuwuwu… Spare me! Spare me! I know where the emperor is. I’ll take you there!”

Hu Xiaoqi and King Qi looked at each other and saw each other's confusion and suspicion.

"How do you know we are here to assassinate the emperor?" Hu Xiaoqi asked.

"My dear hero, I didn't know that I was hoping you were here to assassinate the emperor." The eunuch cried.

"The emperor is so cruel and inhumane. I pray to the gods every day, hoping that one of them will show up and capture the emperor and send him to hell."

Crying, the eunuch lifted his sleeves, revealing a bloody arm with many wounds, the new ones still bleeding and oozing pus, the old ones scabby, and many marks.

Hu Xiaoqi saw his wound and cursed him, then said to the eunuch,

"Okay, stop crying. The gods you prayed to have answered your call and sent us here. We are going to put an end to this tyrant today!"

The eunuch immediately kowtowed to thank the gods for saving his life, then stood up quickly and said he would lead Hu Xiaoqi and the others.

Hu Xiaoqi and King Qi told him to go to the emperor's room and they would follow him.

Immediately, Hu Xiaoqi and King Qi climbed up a nearby tree and hid themselves.

"Do you think this could be a trap?" Hu Xiaoqi asked King Qi.

King Qi shook his head, "Not like that."

"I don't think so either." Hu Xiaoqi grinned, "Look at the wound on his arm. It's not something a human could do."

The King of Qi nodded and hid under another tree. Hu Xiaoqi went to the roof and followed the eunuch separately.

The eunuch was also very nervous. He didn't dare to walk too fast for fear that they would not be able to keep up, nor did he dare to stay for fear of arousing the suspicion of the guards.

Finally we arrived at the room where the emperor slept.

However, the emperor had not gone to bed yet. There was a woman dancing in the room to liven up the atmosphere. The Emperor of Yan had been drinking alone and did not look at the beauty much.

"Your Majesty, it's getting late. You should rest early." The steward advised, "Drinking too much alcohol will harm your health."

"Get out of the way! Don't bother me!" Emperor Yan shouted angrily, continued pouring wine, and then drank it all in one gulp.

"Your Majesty, there is an early court session tomorrow," the steward advised again.

"Haha, morning court?" The Yan Emperor laughed loudly. "My ministers are almost all being killed. The country is about to perish. What's the point of holding a morning court?"

As ministers continued to be killed, other court officials also began to claim illness and avoid attending court. Some who knew they had committed serious sins even ran away and left the capital.

I hope I can save my life.

The steward sighed, didn't dare to persuade him anymore, and even gave up.

The Yan State is about to perish, so let the emperor indulge himself for a few more days. These good days will not last long.