The Evil of the Mortal World

Divine Capital.

Zero Ring Line.

Winter Palace.

The intense deliberative architectural style lent even the banquet underway an icy chill.

Attendants in splendid attire carried metal-woven tableware, laying lavish dishes upon the long banquet table.

Amid tableware filled with an iron-like austere chill, even the steam rising from the food seemed frozen.

Solemn statues stood around the hall, while its decorations centered on sharp angles and pointed arches, characterized by soaring spires and a forceful sense of piercing. They appeared keen and imposing, just like the meaning represented by the Supreme Council.

Yu Zhongxian, one of the eight High Councilors, was undoubtedly the central figure of this banquet.

He sat at the head of the long table in an enormous high-backed chair made of black iron-lead alloy. His body was extraordinarily gaunt, yet no one dared overlook the immense power contained within that seemingly frail frame.

Once the long table had been piled with food, Yu Zhongxian merely moved a finger. As though they had received an invisible command, all the attendants bowed and withdrew, leaving behind only a handful of people. The metal doors closed behind them, and the sole source of light in the entire hall was the metal-grated skylight overhead.

"Chang Hai."

Yu Zhongxian spoke coldly. His icy voice echoed through the austere hall, making it all the more hair-raising.

"Tell me. What's the situation in Central Province?"

A scar-faced man below answered, "Lord Yu, the three estates on Longmo Mountain have been burned to bare ground. The Central Province Public Security Directorate has stated that they will certainly track down the culprit, but they refused to accept the evidence we sent over."

"Ren Qingshan, Second Commander of the Azure Army, only took a few inconsequential stewards, women, and servants. Young Master Yu went off fooling around in the Green Prairie. He was afraid of being found, so he turned off his satellite phone. Ren Qingshan truly did not take him."

Yu Zhongxian raised a hand, and a large bald man behind him stepped forward.

"Go find some dirt on the Director of the Central Province Public Security Directorate."

The bald man accepted the order and departed.

Yu Zhongxian continued, "What is Sheng Huaixuan saying now?"

"He wants us to stop reviewing the aid, suspend the auditing of disaster-relief supplies, and cease interfering with the Empire's normal support for East Qin Province."

Yu Zhongxian gave a cold laugh. "Even if he has my boy in his hands, that is impossible."

"The Director General is wise."

Everyone in the hall spoke in unison.

Yu Zhongxian picked up his personal three-pronged cutlery and speared a piece of Hetian snowflake beef melted beneath a thick layer of butter.

Only after this movement did the others pick up their tableware and begin eating.

"He Chenggong." He asked the one-eyed man seated first on the left below him, "Is there any news from Long Mountain Commandery yet?"

The one-eyed man looked terrible. He gave Yu Zhongxian a slight bow and said, "The first conspiracy operation appears to have failed. Everyone involved was thrown into prison by Lin Wen, the new Commandery Governor of Long Mountain Commandery."

Yu Zhongxian's expression visibly darkened. The buttered beef slipped from his silver fork and fell onto his leather boot.

A female attendant behind him hurriedly knelt and began wiping it clean.

Yu Zhongxian set down his tableware, looked at the one-eyed man with an unfriendly expression, and asked, "What exactly happened? I mobilized so many resources—I even gave you an Inspector Authorization Order. Didn't that bald bastard beat his chest and swear that the new Commandery Governor was a useless fool, that he hadn't even formed a guard force, and that he could bring him down without lifting a finger?"

The one-eyed man hesitated, but still said, "According to information we gathered afterward, it seems the new Commandery Governor possesses extraordinary martial strength. He suppressed the riot all by himsel—"

He could not finish the rest, because Yu Zhongxian's expression had already become exceedingly dangerous.

"Are my people all useless trash?"

He stomped one foot onto the head of the female attendant who was wiping his shoe. The boot, made from the tough hide of a rare South American giant alligator, smashed her head heavily into the marble floor with a dull thud that rang clearly through the hall.

"How much money does the Dark Bureau cost me every year? And this is the trash it produces?"

"Or are you using this rumor to fool me?"

The one-eyed man hurriedly said, "Of course not, Director General. It's simply that our people have almost been completely wiped out, so the information is inevitably distorted."

"Putting together some other reports, it should be that the new Commandery Governor tangled with twenty or thirty rebels for some time and held them off until Fang Dashan, the garrison officer, arrived with troops and suppressed them."

"Excellent. It seems your degree of uselessness runs even deeper than I imagined. Thirty people managing to tangle with one man—truly impressive."

"And what do you mean by completely wiped out?"

Yu Zhongxian stared fixedly at the one-eyed man.

"I remember planting many hidden pieces. Unlike those Dark Bureau Inspector Guards who are all name and no substance, they were my true elite, waiting to stir up a popular uprising."

The one-eyed man swallowed and lowered his head.

"Director General, they've all... all lost contact."

As the words fell, the hall sank into deathly silence.

Everyone lowered their heads.

With a bang.

Yu Zhongxian flung an entire plate of black swan sashimi onto the one-eyed man.

Sauce drenched him from head to toe, and paper-thin slices of swan meat clung to his hair and shoulders. He did not dare move an inch.

"Very good."

Yu Zhongxian's icy voice came from the head of the table.

"It seems I really have raised a pack of useless trash. You couldn't even bring down one insignificant commandery governor."

"And we lost so many elites I spent such a hefty price training. No wonder Sheng Huaixuan dared to open his mouth like a lion."

"What do we do now? Who's going to tell me?"

The silence lasted only ten seconds before the middle-aged man seated first on the right spoke up.

"Director-General, I believe we should make preparations on two fronts. Immediately send someone to privately negotiate the ransom of those people with that brat from Long Mountain Commandery."

"At the same time, we must completely cut off any Imperial aid to Long Mountain Commandery. It does not matter even if we leave a small crack open for East Qin Province."

"Long Mountain Commandery is itself a heavily disaster-stricken area, desperately poor, and full of victims. As long as we choke off the supplies, they will revolt sooner or later."

"Then, with a little more pressure, we can bring down that new commandery governor while tearing off a chunk of Sheng Huaixuan's flesh, dealing a severe blow to the Imperial faction's arrogance."

"Not appropriate!" Someone rose to refute him. "If we go after that brat through Sheng Huaixuan, wouldn't that be twice the effort for half the result? Even if we cut off the aid, would Sheng Huaixuan not provide aid himself? We've already startled the snake in the grass. Sheng Huaixuan will definitely keep protecting that brat!"

"We can also dig up his dirt!"

"He used to be nothing but a town mayor! What dirt could he have? At most, he skimmed a little money and forcibly took a few decent girls. What use is that?"

"Exactly. Maybe everything in Long Mountain Commandery was orchestrated by Sheng Huaixuan from behind the scenes. What does that greenhorn know? He's just a puppet!"

"No."

A young man stood up and spoke calmly.

"If that were the case, why would Sheng Huaixuan go to such lengths to obtain command authority? He is already the overall governor. Wouldn't granting command authority to a subordinate mean dividing up his own power?"

"Therefore, that new commandery governor must be someone meant to stand on his own."

Only then did a trace of a smile appear on Yu Zhongxian's face. He sat back down and kicked aside the female attendant who had long since fainted. The confidant behind him immediately understood and dragged her away.

"Well said. Rare to find one with a brain. Go on, Shaohu."

The young man first bowed in acknowledgment before continuing.

"Judging from their actions over this recent period, there must be serious problems within Sheng Huaixuan's ranks. Otherwise, the new commandery governor would not have received so little support."

"But there has been no news from within, which proves Sheng Huaixuan still has the overall situation under control. If we launch a forceful attack, it will not achieve much, and may even cause them to unite against a common enemy internally, producing the opposite effect."

"I believe the most feasible plan now is to put on the appearance of a fierce offensive while actually using conciliatory measures and planted insiders to hold Sheng Huaixuan back. He must be very afraid of internal problems arising right now."

"At the same time, we strike hard at Long Mountain Commandery's new commandery governor. He has only recently taken office and has shallow roots. He is East Qin Province's only weak point. And being young and hot-blooded, he has limited understanding of the real Empire, making him easy to lure into our trap."

"As long as we bring down the new commandery governor, a flaw will appear in Sheng Huaixuan, and only then can we follow the opening and tear flesh from him."

"This is merely my own humble opinion. Please consider it as you see fit. That concludes my remarks."

After the young man sat down, the hall remained silent for a long while, with no one speaking.

Until Yu Zhongxian began to applaud.

"As expected of Yang Shaohu. Perhaps in the near future, I will witness a new star of the Empire shine."

Only then did the people around the dining table begin praising him in succession.

After a round of flattery, Yu Zhongxian set the course.

"First crush that little bastard to death, then deal with Sheng Huaixuan."

The banquet soon ended. Attendants filed in and cleared away the tableful of food that had scarcely been touched, tossing it into the garbage.

Winter Palace had no custom of eating leftovers—not even servants were permitted to do so.

The post-banquet entertainment began. The maid who had been stomped unconscious was dragged back in. Yang Shaohu did not wish to involve himself in such filth, so he walked over to Yu Zhongxian. As it happened, Director-General's "right hand," Lai Juncheng, was there as well.

He heard Lai Juncheng say, "...So in truth, regarding the flood disaster, East Qin Province and Long Mountain Commandery have been separated. This was likely because Sheng Huaixuan wanted to secure more aid for Long Mountain Commandery, while also shaking off some responsibility for the former commandery governor's poor flood control."

"Thus, Imperial aid is now split into two parts as well: one for East Qin Province, and one for Long Mountain Commandery, which suffered the worst flooding. This instead makes things easier for us. We can use audits and council reviews to choke off Long Mountain Commandery alone."

"We can also pretend to negotiate with Sheng Huaixuan and loosen the opening to East Qin Province a little."

"If Sheng Huaixuan does not want internal unrest, the support he provides Long Mountain Commandery should not be too much either."

"As long as we use our headquarters connections, we can hold up aid to Long Mountain Commandery indefinitely, ensuring they never see a single cent of relief for the rest of their lives."

"There are at least several hundred thousand refugees in Long Mountain Commandery. With nothing to eat or drink, even if they do not rebel, more than half of them will starve to death. Then we'll have our excuse!"

Yang Shaohu knew he should not speak, but he still could not help himself. "Isn't this going too far? We have other methods."

Lai Juncheng's murky yellow eyes swept toward him. "Shaohu, this is the method with the lowest cost and least risk."

"But so many people will die..."

"Shaohu!"

Yu Zhongxian's cold gaze swept over as well.

"Stop talking."

Amid the shrieks of the woman behind them and the crowd's roaring laughter, Lai Juncheng continued speaking.

"Together with what we have secretly uncovered, we'll definitely make Sheng Huaixuan unable to save face at the upcoming Thirteen Provinces Joint Conference."

After discussing for a while longer, Yang Shaohu heard someone shout, "This bitch passed out again. Wake her up!"

Yu Zhongxian turned a deaf ear. Rising to his feet, he said, "Then that's settled. I'm leaving everything to you."

Lai Juncheng gave a slight bow. "I will certainly not fail to live up to Your Excellency's high expectations."

Yang Shaohu closed his eyes, then spoke at the last moment. "Chief, I'd like to add something. The Seventh Construction Corps is in charge of overseeing their reconstruction. Investigate that corps commander. We can coerce him into demanding an exorbitant price. If Long Mountain Commandery can't afford it, the reconstruction will be shelved, further crushing their confidence. And if they can afford it, they'll bleed heavily—making their misery worse still."

"Good!"

Lai Juncheng clapped his hands.

"This is an excellent idea. Use the smallest force to strike their most painful weak spot. If I were your enemy, even I'd feel a chill in my heart."

Yu Zhongxian nodded. "Not bad, Shaohu. You performed exceptionally well today. What reward do you want? Name it."

Lai Juncheng smiled. "This is a rare opportunity. Think it through before you speak."

But Yang Shaohu did not hesitate. Pointing behind him, he said, "I want her."

Yu Zhongxian was slightly surprised. "Her? What's so good about that ruined slut? If you want women, I can give you a hundred far better than her."

Lai Juncheng smiled. "Shaohu, with your talents, I think even the First Princess would be willing to have a chat with you."

Yang Shaohu gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, "She's the one I want."

Yu Zhongxian smiled and shook his head. "I really don't understand young people's tastes. Still, she attended the banquet, so she wasn't supposed to leave alive. But since you want her, I'll make an exception. Just remember to keep an eye on her."

Raising his voice slightly, he called out, "Boys, stop playing. This famous flower already has an owner."

The boisterous crowd fell quiet, all staring at one another. Yang Shaohu walked over without saying a word, picked up the woman who was barely clinging to life, and headed for the door.

Only then did everyone understand, and waves of laughter erupted. Someone shouted in a mocking, singsong tone, "So the Empire's Star likes this sort of thing?" That set off even louder laughter.

From beginning to end, Yang Shaohu did not say a single word. At the very back, Lai Juncheng said quietly, "Yang Shaohu isn't one of us."

Yu Zhongxian said nothing. Only when the gathering finally dispersed did he leave behind one sentence.

"If those lowly peasants are all spineless and refuse to rebel even unto death, then use other means. Just make sure that little bastard dies."