While browsing the Melon Patch, Jian Ruonan learned that Official Wu was a master bootlicker who had embezzled no small amount at the Imperial Household Department-enough to have his head chopped off seven or eight times.
His backer was Wu Guiyin, the chief eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, who belonged to the First Imperial Prince's faction.
The slap stunned Official Wu senseless. For a moment, he couldn't react.
Jian Ruonan hefted the plank and delivered another blow to his right cheek.
Only one side of Official Wu's face had been swollen before. Now both sides were.
Only when he saw Jian Ruonan's third blow coming did Official Wu retreat, howling, "Official Jian, wh-what are you doing?!"
Her Ministry of Revenue colleagues were dumbstruck. Was Official Jian really this fierce?!
They had only heard of Official Jian's "Edict-Authorized Table-Flipping" and "edict-authorized beheadings." Nobody had mentioned "edict-authorized bitch-slapping"!
Official Wu was utterly detestable. He groveled before high-ranking officials but strutted and swaggered before minor officials like them. Disgusting and difficult to deal with, he was loathed by everyone at the Ministry of Revenue.
Watching him get beaten felt even better than drinking ice water on a scorching summer day!
Once the exhilaration passed, however, they began to worry about Official Jian.
As the saying went, "Leave a little room today, so you can meet again tomorrow." Official Jian had torn away all pretense of civility with Official Wu. If he resorted to underhanded tricks, they would be impossible to guard against!
At that moment, Jian Ruonan's presence stood at least nine feet tall. Gripping the plank, she turned to her Ministry of Revenue colleagues. "Shut the doors!"
Official Wu clutched his swollen face in disbelief. "Official Jian, have you gone mad?!"
Jian Ruonan said, "Yes, I've gone mad today!"
*[How dare