Conspiracy

That very evening.

The setting sun, red as blood, shrouded a capital city surging with undercurrents.

The news of the Northern Army camp distributing money, reorganizing troops, and allocating land could not be kept hidden. As if it had sprouted wings, it flew at top speed into the mansions of the capital's major noble families and top civil officials.

Inside the study of Vice Grand Secretary Zhang Wuji's private villa.

Just an incense stick's time ago, over a dozen influential leaders of the pure stream faction and top officials of the Six Ministries had been sitting here, commanding the winds and clouds of the imperial court. Sipping premium pre-Qingming Longjing tea, they had been casually and confidently discussing how they would quote classics and historical records during the grand assembly in two days. They plotted how to use ancestral rules and righteousness to force that absurd little emperor to abolish the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Western Depot, and how to once again lock imperial power back into the cage woven by the civil official faction.

But at this moment.

After Zhang Wuji's trusted butler cautiously finished reading the top-secret intelligence from the Northern Army camp.

Clatter.

The highly valuable purple clay teapot in Zhang Wuji's hand, which he had been fondling for over a decade, slipped from his fingers without warning and smashed to pieces on the blue brick floor. Tea splashed onto his expensive Shu brocade robes, but he remained completely oblivious.

A deathly silence filled the study, leaving only the sound of a dozen heavy, rapid breaths, as if a pack of dying beasts were locked inside.

Zhang Wuji stared fixedly at the teapot fragments on the ground. His lips trembled for a long time before he finally squeezed out a hoarse, distorted sentence from deep within his throat:

Three hundred and thirty thousand tiger-and-wolf troops... where on earth did he get so much money?!

Vice Minister of Revenue Zhou Kai felt his legs give way, practically collapsing into his chair. His eyes were bloodshot with terror: Six million taels... six million taels of silver! That is a full six million taels! Instead of putting it in the national treasury, he actually distributed it all directly to those grunts and martial artists? Is he insane?! The national treasury is already stretched to the limit just trying to find disaster relief funds, how dare he squander money like this!

It's not just the money... the money isn't the terrifying part at all...

The Right Censor-in-Chief Feng Xiang, who had been clamoring the loudest earlier and repeatedly vowing to smash his head against the pillars of the Fengtian Hall in protest, now had an ashen face. His scrawny hands gripped the back of his chair tightly, trembling like dead leaves in the wind. His voice carried an unconcealable fear: It's the land! Six hundred thousand acres of irrigated land! No taxes to the local government, no corvee labor, and only a thirty percent rent! He is buying the lives of those martial artists!

Feng Xiang swallowed hard, feeling his throat burn as if cut by a knife: Colleagues, do you still not understand? These lowly soldier ruffians have been given land. The Emperor is now their provider, their living ancestor! If anyone dares to say half a bad word about the Emperor in the imperial court now, the Embroidered Uniform Guard won't even need to lift a finger. Those three hundred and thirty thousand red-eyed imperial guards will swallow us alive!

Vice... Vice Grand Secretary...

Minister of Works Zheng Wen raised his head with difficulty, his forehead so drenched in sweat that it soaked through the lining of his black gauze official hat. His voice even carried a sobbing tone, completely lacking the lofty, commanding majesty he usually displayed in his ministry: At the grand assembly in three days, are we... are we still going to force the Emperor's hand? How about... we hold off for now? The Emperor currently holds an army of over three hundred thousand in his grasp! If those martial artists really stand outside the Fengtian Hall with their muskets raised, our old bones won't be able to withstand a single volley!

I'm not going! I won't go even if you beat me to death!

Zheng Wen roared frantically in his heart. What scholar's backbone? What noble family interests? In front of three hundred and thirty thousand red-eyed imperial guards who had just been given land, it was all utter bullshit! He still had eight beautiful concubines and tens of thousands of acres of fertile land waiting for him back in his hometown in Jiangnan. Why should he clash head-on with a mad emperor?!

With Zheng Wen taking the lead, several other officials also showed signs of backing down. Their eyes flickered, and some had even begun calculating how to feign illness to avoid attending the court session.

Bang!

A loud crash echoed.

Zhang Wuji violently slammed his fist onto the red sandalwood tabletop, the veins on the back of his hand bulging one by one. His cultivation at the Astral Qi realm was inadvertently revealed.

What are you panicking for?! Look at yourselves right now! Have all the books of the sages you read gone to the dogs?!

Zhang Wuji growled, his face so extremely distorted that he looked like a vengeful ghost in the dim study. Retreat? Do you think taking a step back will lead to open skies and calm seas? Do you think if you feign illness now, that little emperor will let you off?!

Zhang Wuji felt chills running down his spine, cold sweat having long since soaked his inner garments. He understood the rules of the game of power all too well.

Use your brains and think! Zhang Wuji gritted his teeth as he swept his gaze over these useless fools. This little emperor's methods are so ruthless! He has dazzled the army with money and land, gripping the hilt of the blade tightly. What will he do next? Three hundred and thirty thousand mouths need to eat, need to be paid! The money confiscated from the eunuch faction will eventually run out! Six hundred thousand acres of land will eventually be completely divided up!

When his money runs out, in order to continue buying the army's loyalty, won't that bloodstained blade in his hands swing toward us civil officials? Won't he come to confiscate our properties and steal the land of our noble families to distribute to those martial artists?!

As soon as these words were spoken, all the civil officials present looked as if they had been struck by lightning, collectively shivering.

Vice Grand Secretary, it's not that we are cowardly, it's that people will really die! Shen Jian, Director of the Bureau of Equipment and Communications, had his psychological defenses completely collapse. He fell straight to his knees, his face covered in snot and tears, The Emperor set up some kind of political commissar in the army, brainwashing those grunts every single day! Now the imperial guards are firmly in his grasp! If we dare to submit memorials to abolish the depot guards in three days, those three hundred and thirty thousand soldiers will think we are trying to cut off their source of wealth and steal their military merits!

Without the Emperor even needing to issue a decree, those soldier ruffians could just throw sacks over our heads and beat us to death right on Chang'an Avenue after court!

The secret room fell into a deathly silence once more.

Dozens of eyes stared uniformly at Zhang Wuji. The top civil officials, who just a moment ago had styled themselves as the pure stream and dictated the affairs of state, now displayed all sorts of ugly behavior, acting like a nest of quails waiting to be slaughtered.

The corners of Zhang Wuji's eyes twitched violently, his breathing as rapid as a broken bellows. Looking at these cowards, his heart filled with sorrow, but he also soberly realized: the momentum was lost.

Going to the imperial court now to lecture the Emperor on grand principles and ancestral rules was like carrying a lantern into an outhouse—looking for death. When a scholar meets a soldier, reason cannot be explained, let alone to three hundred and thirty thousand red-eyed tiger-and-wolf troops.

Huu...

Zhang Wuji fiercely bit his lower lip until it broke. A trace of metallic sweetness spread in his mouth, the sharp pain forcing him to calm down. His gaze instantly turned as sinister as a venomous snake's.

If military force cannot be defeated, then we can only use hidden schemes!

If open spears cannot be dodged, then we shoot hidden arrows!

The memorials for the grand assembly... suppress all of them! Zhang Wuji lowered his voice, every word seemingly squeezed through his teeth, carrying a ghastly chill. In three days, no one is allowed to mention half a word about the depot guards in the imperial court! No one is allowed to provoke that madman!

Are we just going to admit defeat like this? Zhou Kai asked unwillingly.

"Concede? The empire of the Great Zhou is, after all, ruled jointly with the noble families!" Zhang Wuji let out a sinister sneer, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue from the shadows. "No matter how arrogant Wang Hao is, he is still the Emperor of the Great Zhou. He must still acknowledge the ancestral laws, and he must still observe filial piety!"

The crowd froze for a moment before their eyes suddenly lit up.

Zhang Wuji tore off his tea-stained outer robe and shouted harshly at the butler, "Prepare the sedan chair immediately! I am going to submit a request for an audience tonight... to see the Empress Dowager!"

His gaze swept over every official present, his voice echoing like a phantom. "The little emperor has been bewitched by wicked figures, lost his mind, favored the secret guards, and corrupted the ancestral laws! We subjects cannot talk him out of such outrageous acts, but the Empress Dowager can!"

"We must invite the Empress Dowager to step forward and use filial piety to suppress him! As long as she issues an edict, using the ancestral laws to restrict the inner treasury's funding, or even confining him to the rear palace, his army of three hundred and thirty thousand men will not receive next month's pay and will naturally collapse without a fight!"

"Go! Get it done tonight! We are going to ask the Empress Dowager to take charge of the situation!"