Emperor Deyuan looked solemnly at the pillars of the court in the front rows. "Would any of my beloved ministers like to volunteer?"
What the emperor meant was that this gambling crackdown had to be tougher. Ideally, they would scoop up the gambling dens and the old villains behind them in one fell swoop.
Emperor Deyuan had previously appointed two Anti-Gambling Imperial Commissioners. The first came from humble origins. Not long after taking office, his family began suffering harassment. Small animals that had died gruesome deaths frequently appeared in his courtyard without explanation. Once, a bloodied animal was even thrown onto the Anti-Gambling Imperial Commissioner's bed.
The Anti-Gambling Imperial Commissioner paid it no mind and continued sending men to raid gambling dens every day.
Within days, terrible news arrived: the Anti-Gambling Imperial Commissioner had accidentally fallen from his horse, which had trampled his neck and broken it.
After the Anti-Gambling Imperial Commissioner died, his home mysteriously caught fire. The women and children were killed or injured, and nearly his entire household was wiped out.
Emperor Deyuan had been furious. After comforting the deceased's family, he immediately dispatched a second Anti-Gambling Imperial Commissioner to take office.
The second Anti-Gambling Imperial Commissioner came from an aristocratic family with hereditary honors. His mother was the daughter of a prominent Jiangnan clan, giving him powerful family connections.
Besides cracking down on gambling, the second Anti-Gambling Imperial Commissioner was also charged with uncovering the truth behind the first commissioner's murder.
Yet not long after taking office, the second Anti-Gambling Imperial Commissioner ate something unknown, fell gravely ill, and lingered on his sickbed. Before long, he too passed away.
The only consolation was that the second Anti-Gambling Imperial Commissioner's family was not implicated, though misfortunes also plagued his household for a time.
Although both Anti-Gambling Imperial