This is no imperial court, it's clearly a marketplace

The hour of the Dragon arrived, but the Golden Crow had yet to rise, leaving the sky draped in dimness.

The first Grand Court Assembly since the new Emperor's ascension had begun.

Inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the sanctuary symbolizing the absolute supremacy of the Great Zhou's imperial power, ninety-nine massive Merfolk Everlasting Lamps illuminated the space as bright as day.

Wang Hao sat upright on the solid gold dragon throne, the ultimate symbol of supreme authority.

The throne's solid gold armrests were bone-chillingly cold, and while the nine golden dragons carved into the backrest were remarkably lifelike, they dug painfully into his back. It was far from comfortable.

This was his first Grand Court Assembly as Emperor.

If he had to describe it in one word, it would be "exhausting."

That was Wang Hao's only sentiment at this moment. This exhaustion was not the physical soreness of a mortal traveling a thousand miles, but a soul-deep weariness, as if countless fine threads were pulling at him amidst a cacophony that made him question the will to live.

He lowered his eyelids slightly, utilizing the Emperor's Qi Observation Technique to survey the scene below.

Below the dais, civil and military officials were lined up on both sides.

From his high vantage point, this was no imperial court; it was clearly a boiling pot of toxic porridge. In his eyes, the qi of destiny hovering above those usually sanctimonious crimson-robed grandees was either bright, gloomy, or crimson like a bloody miasma. Even worse, within some of their qi lurked the blurry phantoms of exotic beasts—a sign of colluding with foreign tribes and harboring treacherous intentions.

Loyalty...

Wang Hao looked at those shocking numbers, a self-deprecating sneer curling the corners of his mouth.

Looking out, the court was filled with nobles in crimson and purple, yet almost all were traitors at heart.

"Your Majesty..."

Just as Wang Hao's thoughts were spiraling, a rough, thunderous roar suddenly exploded in the great hall, shaking the merfolk lamps on both sides so violently that their flames flickered wildly.

"Your Majesty! I, the Minister of War, Tie Zhan, have a memorial to present!!"

Wang Hao frowned slightly and opened his eyes.

He saw a burly man, built like a bear with a face full of fierce, fleshy features, stride out from the very front of the military officials' ranks. It was the Minister of War, Tie Zhan. His loyalty stood at 85—this man, at least, was loyal. Possessing the tyrannical cultivation of the late True Intent Realm, the murderous aura radiating from him was almost tangible.

Without waiting for Wang Hao's permission, Tie Zhan dropped directly to one knee. His voice was filled with grief and indignation, spittle flying so fiercely it almost reached the steps before the dragon throne:

"Your Majesty! Just late last night, an eight-hundred-mile urgent military dispatch arrived! Those damned Tartars in the northeast border, under the cover of night, tore through our border defenses and slaughtered three of our Great Zhou's villages and towns in a row! A full three thousand commoners, and not a single survivor!"

As soon as these words were spoken, a chorus of sharp gasps echoed throughout the hall.

But this was only the beginning.

Tie Zhan jerked his head up, his bell-like large eyes bloodshot, his voice hoarse from extreme fury: "Furthermore, our scouts risked their lives to send back word that the Tartar army is accompanied by a Level Six Anomaly—the Human Skin Drum!"

"The Human Skin Drum?!"

In the ranks of the civil officials, many turned deathly pale, and some couldn't help but take a half-step back.

In this world overrun by anomalies, everyone knew what a Level Six Anomaly meant. It was a terrifying entity capable of easily obliterating a small city. Wang Hao had just led people to slay one, so he knew of their dreadfulness and was thus mentally prepared.

"It is exactly that demonic entity!" Tie Zhan clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking. "It is said that when the drum beats, its anomalous domain unfolds, and within a ten-mile radius, whether human or beast, their vitality and blood instantly flow backward! Our border guards hadn't even seen the enemy's shadows before they bled from all seven orifices and died on the spot! The remaining soldiers had their minds thrown into chaos and collapsed without a fight! This is a slaughter! This is a one-sided massacre, Your Majesty!"

Deathly silence fell over the great hall, save for the bright flames dancing soundlessly.

Tie Zhan fiercely kowtowed, his forehead smashing heavily against the floor with a muffled thud:

"Your Majesty! The Northern Border is in imminent peril! I implore Your Majesty to immediately issue a decree ordering the Ministry of Revenue to allocate three million taels of silver. The Ministry of War urgently needs to go to the Mystic Treasure Pavilion to purchase high-tier evil-suppressing grand arrays and Mind-Clearing Pills, and to request from the Ministry of Works the allocation of fifty Barbarian-Blasting Cannons engraved with demon-breaking arrays! If we are too late, I fear the Tartar's great army will drive straight in and lay siege to our cities!"

Three million taels of silver.

Fifty Barbarian-Blasting Cannons.

These two numbers were like two massive mountains, instantly crushing the air in the hall, making it even thinner.

Wang Hao sat on the high dais, expressionless. He did not speak immediately, but merely tapped his fingers lightly against the throne's armrest, producing a rhythmic tapping sound.

He was waiting.

Sure enough, before Wang Hao could speak, a crimson-robed figure from the civil officials' ranks jumped out instantly, like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on.

"Bullshit!!"

This angry curse was sharp and full of vigor, completely unlike the voice a frail scholar could produce.

The one who jumped out was none other than the Minister of Revenue, Qian Shoucai.

This old man sported a goatee, had a gaunt figure, and deep-set eye sockets, but his small eyes were currently filled with fury, like a miser whose cheese had been moved. Even though he only had the cultivation of the Fourth Stage of Martial Arts, the perfect Organ Forging Realm, when it came to the matter of money, he would dare to fight to the death with an old monster in the Spirit Condensation Realm.

Qian Shoucai pointed right at Tie Zhan's nose, his entire body trembling with rage as he cursed loudly:

"Tie Zhan! You muscle-brained brute! Do you think the silver in the national treasury blows in with the wind? Or do you think it grows in your backyard? Three million taels the moment you open your mouth? Why don't you just go rob someone! Why don't you just hold a knife to my neck, slaughter me, and sell my meat!"

Tie Zhan abruptly stood up, his eyes wide with anger. "Qian Shoucai! What do you mean by that? That is military intelligence! It's the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers at the border! It's the lives of the millions of commoners behind them!"

"We have no money! There is just no money!"

Qian Shoucai stiffened his neck, his spit flying directly into Tie Zhan's face. "Last month! Just at the beginning of last month! I scraped together a million taels from between my teeth to allocate to your Ministry of War to repair the city defenses. And the result? It vanished without even making a splash! How many days has it been? And now you want another three million taels? And Barbarian-Blasting Cannons? Those are strategic reserves! Every single cannon costs fifty thousand taels! Do you think you're setting off firecrackers?"

If it weren't for the fact that Qian Shoucai had a loyalty rating of 90 hovering over his head, with his appearance and bitter, sarcastic demeanor, he would look like an absolute treacherous minister.

"That was before! There was no Level Six Anomaly before!" Tie Zhan was so furious that his true qi surged wildly, faintly distorting the air around him. "The situation is urgent now, and special matters require special handling!"

"Can't be handled! No money!"

Qian Shoucai threw his hands up in a shameless manner, like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water. "To tell you the truth, the Ministry of Revenue's treasury is so empty right now that even a mouse would leave with tears in its eyes! Let alone three million taels, I couldn't even produce three hundred thousand taels! I have no money, only my life! If you have the ability, take my hundred-and-some pounds of flesh and sell it right now, and see how much money it's worth!"

"You—!!"

Tie Zhan was fuming with rage, his vitality and blood churning. The temperature inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony seemed to rise a few degrees along with his fury. "You old fool! You value money over life! If the Northern Border falls and the Tartars slaughter their way in, what use will it be to guard that empty treasury? We will all die when that time comes!"

"If the Tartars break through, it's because of your Ministry of War's incompetence and your dereliction of duty, Tie Zhan!" Qian Shoucai sneered, his gaunt face full of mockery. "Anyway, everywhere is asking for money right now. If we give it to your Ministry of War, what about the disaster relief in Jiangnan tomorrow? What about repairing the formations in the Western Regions the day after? Robbing Peter to pay Paul—what will we do in the future? How is the imperial court supposed to survive?"

"Bastard!"

Wang Hao sat on the high platform, watching this scene in speechless disbelief.

Was this really the highest-level imperial court assembly of the Great Zhou Dynasty?

This was clearly a bunch of shrews fighting over two stalks of green onions in a vegetable market!

But he did not stop them. He was observing. He observed everyone's expressions, and the mockery and coldness in the eyes of the silent ministers standing in the back rows.

Chaos spread rapidly through the great hall like a plague.

With the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue opening fire on each other, it was as if Pandora's box had been opened. The rest of the ministers, who had been watching from the sidelines, could no longer hold back and joined the fray.

The Minister of Works stepped forward, shouting with an anxious expression, "Your Majesty! Cults have been running rampant in the Thirty-Six Kingdoms of the Western Regions recently. The demonic cultists of the 'Blood God Sect' have already infiltrated our vital western stronghold, Yumen Pass! They are poisoning the water sources in the Western Regions and carving blood sacrifice arrays! The defensive grand formation at Yumen Pass has long been in disrepair, and I fear it won't hold! The Ministry of Works urgently needs an appropriation of eight hundred thousand taels to repair the border town's defensive formations! Otherwise, once the cult summons anomalies to invade our borders, the consequences will be unimaginable!"

"What do the Thirty-Six Kingdoms of the Western Regions matter? Is that even within the borders of Great Xia? Jiangnan is the top priority!"

The Vice Minister of Rites fell to his knees with a thud, weeping bitterly, his voice shrill: "Your Majesty! Following the severe drought in Jiangnan, there is now a flood, and it is no ordinary flood! Fishermen have seen with their own eyes a massive dark shadow swimming in the river—it is a level-six water anomaly, the 'Sea-Overturning Ape', causing havoc! The dams could collapse at any moment! Jiangnan is the granary of Great Zhou. If it floods, people all over the world will starve to death next year! We must send experts to suppress it, and we also need five million taels for disaster relief and food! Five million taels, Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty! The northwestern trade route has also been cut off!"

Another minister squeezed out, his face full of sorrow. "That seventh-tier 'Black Mountain Ghost King' in the Hundred Thousand Mountains has been restless lately. It has gathered countless low-level evil spirits and cut off the trade route. Not even one in ten passing merchant caravans survives! Commercial taxes have plummeted. If we don't send troops to exterminate it, I'm afraid this year's tax revenue will be halved!"

"Qian Shoucai! Give us the money!"

"No! I wouldn't give it to you even if you beat me to death!"

"Are you going to give it or not?!"

"There's no money! Unless you sell me!"

"I'll beat you to death, you miser!"

The Hall of Supreme Harmony descended into complete chaos.

The sounds of arguing, crying, and cursing intertwined, buzzing in the ears like hundreds of flies. The air was filled with the smell of sweat and spit, as well as the fluctuations of various true qi emitted due to emotional agitation.

Bang!

A muffled thud suddenly rang out.

The Minister of War, Tie Zhan, who had long since reached the limits of his patience, had actually made a move. Although he was mindful that this was the imperial court and dared not use his true qi, a punch from his True Intent realm physical body, even with just pure physical strength, was not something an ordinary person could withstand.

The punch landed solidly on Qian Shoucai's eye socket.

"Ouch!"

Qian Shoucai let out a miserable shriek. His whole body flew backward like a kite with a broken string. His official hat rolled far away, his hair became disheveled, and his left eye instantly turned into a purplish-black shiner.

However, he did not pass out. Instead, he took the opportunity to lie on the floor, slapping the ground with his hands and kicking wildly with his feet. He threw a tantrum, wailing to the heavens and crying to the earth:

"Assault! A military official is beating a civil official to death! Your Majesty! You must seek justice for this old minister! I can't live like this anymore! Tie Zhan is trying to rebel! He is committing violence before the throne, treating imperial authority as nothing!"

"You old fool! You still dare to spout nonsense!" Tie Zhan, his eyes red, tried to rush forward to deliver a few more kicks, but he was held back tightly by several surrounding military officials.

"Let me go! Let me beat this old thing who ruins the country and harms the people to death!"

"Come on! Beat me to death! If you beat me to death, I won't have to deal with this mess anymore!"