Promoted to Thousand-Household Commander

In the Forbidden City's warm pavilion, dragon saliva incense curled upward.

Princess Xuan Yi lifted her skirts and strode inside, her jeweled hairpins trembling wildly. "Your daughter greets Father Emperor!"

The Emperor's vermilion brush did not pause, and his eyes held a smile. "Why did my precious pearl find the time to visit Father Emperor today?"

"Father Emperor!" Princess Xuan Yi stamped her foot. "Your daughter is already eighteen! When Imperial Brother was this age, my little nephew could already recite the Thousand Character Classic!"

The Emperor's vermilion brush paused, and ink spread across the memorial like a withered plum blossom. He raised his eyes to examine his most beloved daughter—her rouge-red palace dress made her skin seem whiter than snow, and the floral adornment between her brows trembled with every frown. She looked exactly like the Empress in her youth.

"When did I ever stop you from marrying?" The Emperor set down his brush, his indulgent tone tinged with helplessness. "You were the one who said you would marry no one but Li Chen Zhou."

At those words, a trace of cunning flashed through Princess Xuan Yi's eyes. She moved with lotus steps behind the Emperor and placed her delicate hands upon the Son of Heaven's shoulders. "Then why will Father Emperor not promote him? Today's Earth Ranking tournament..."

"Outrageous!" The Emperor suddenly slammed the table, startling the eunuchs outside into dropping to their knees. Seeing his daughter's reddened eyes, he softened his tone again. "Do you know that the boy was still calling me stingy before the throne this morning?"

For the next hour, Princess Xuan Yi exhausted every trick in her arsenal. One moment she acted spoiled and petulant, the next she seemed ready to burst into tears, until at last she even invoked the late Empress's final wish. The Emperor was pestered until his temples throbbed, and he finally sighed, voicing the three knots in his heart:

"First, he has already plucked away my pearl—was that not enough?" His fingers unconsciously rubbed the Nine-Dragon Jade Pendant at his waist. "Second, that boy is only twenty, yet he can already overpower the heroes of the martial world. If he is rewarded too heavily now..." His tone suddenly turned cold. "Third, power is poison that pierces the intestines. I am doing this for his own good!"

After Princess Xuan Yi reluctantly withdrew, the Emperor seized the celadon teacup on his desk and viciously hurled it at a palace pillar. Flying shards sliced across the old eunuch's cheek, leaving a streak of blood.

"That little bastard!" The Emperor was so furious he laughed. "He actually dared to egg the Princess on to come put me in my place!"

When Li Chen Zhou emerged from Pingxuan Hall, dusk had already deepened. He stood in the narrow passage between palace walls and took a deep breath. The icy night wind, carrying fine rain, struck his face and calmed the Heavenly Frost Fist energy within him somewhat.

"My lord, shall we return to the residence?" The accompanying Brocade Guard Xiaoqi opened an oil-paper umbrella.

"To the Northern Investigation Bureau." Li Chen Zhou rubbed the five Hundred-Household Commander tokens at his waist. "Have all the night-duty clerks wait in the archives room."

Bookworm was clearly taken aback. "At this hour?"

"At precisely this hour." A cold smile curled across Li Chen Zhou's lips. "Tell the Brocade Guard clerks that however much evidence of guilt they uncover tonight, that is how much reward money they can claim tomorrow."

Two hours later, the archives room of the Northern Investigation Bureau blazed with light. Twelve clerks in blue robes bent over mountains of case files, and from time to time someone would trot over to present a newly discovered lead before Li Chen Zhou's desk.

"My lord, this is the record of the Vice Minister of Public Works' nephew forcibly taking a woman on the Qinhuai Riverbank. It was suppressed three years ago..."

"The second steward of Wang Yan, Minister of Personnel's residence, lent money at usurious interest in the outer city and drove two merchants to their deaths..."

"The brother-in-law of the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices secretly sold military weapons to martial sects..."

Li Chen Zhou's fingertips tapped lightly against the desk, while frost spread across the redwood surface in spiderweb-like patterns. Seventeen case files already lay piled before him, every one enough to ruin a court official beyond redemption.

At three quarters past the hour of the Rabbit, the bronze bell of the Northern Investigation Bureau suddenly rang.

Li Chen Zhou sat upright in the hall, dressed in a black Flying Fish Uniform, his fingertips tapping the desk. "Bookworm, bring up all the case files."

More than ten clerks staggered in while pushing three flatbed carts piled high with files. Bookworm adjusted his crooked spectacles and opened a yellowed ledger. "Reporting to you, my lord, as instructed, we have sorted out three hundred and twenty-seven crimes committed by the relatives of key officials from the Six Ministries."

"Read them."

"The nephew of Wang Yan, Minister of Personnel, forcibly seized Li's Silk Shop in the southern city last year, driving the shopkeeper and his wife to their deaths..."

"The nephew of the Vice Minister of Public Works set up a private tax checkpoint at the water transport docks and lined his own pockets..."

"The brother-in-law of a Ministry of Rites Director colluded with martial sects to sell military weapons..."

A cold glint flashed through Li Chen Zhou's eyes. The Embroidered Spring Blade at his waist rang as it slid half an inch from its sheath. "Muster the men!"

At the exact hour of the Rabbit, five hundred Brocade Guards formed ranks on the training grounds. Black Dog, White Cat, and the other three Hundred-Household Commanders knelt on one knee, their iron armor gleaming coldly in the morning light.

"Black Dog, take men and surround Rouge Alley in the eastern city." Li Chen Zhou flicked out a command arrow. "Lord Zhao of the Ministry of Rites' kept woman is hiding in the third courtyard. Three private account books are buried beneath the floor tiles."

"White Cat, go to the West Market Gambling House." Another bronze token flew forth. "The legitimate son of Lord Qian, Vice Minister of Public Works, is gambling in the Heaven-class room. The jade pendant at his waist is the key to opening the secret chamber."

The thunder of hooves shattered the Capital City's morning mist.

Before Li's Silk Shop in the southern city, Black Dog kicked open the vermilion-lacquered gates. As the Brocade Guards streamed inside, a richly dressed young man was embracing a songstress and drinking in merriment.

"What are you doing? My uncle is—" Before the young man could finish, an iron chain had already been slipped around his neck.

Inside the West Market Gambling House, White Cat cleaved apart a carved screen. The Vice Minister of Public Works' son was so frightened that he overturned his gambling chips, and a bloodstained land deed fell from his robes—it was the very evidence lost in last month's massacre outside the city.

By noon, more than thirty playboys were kneeling at the execution ground. An old man who sold flatbread tremblingly brought out his treasured old wine and kowtowed three times toward the Northern Investigation Bureau. "The heavens have opened their eyes at last, great lord of justice!"

Inside the Hundred-Household Commander office, Li Chen Zhou watched the ledgers continuously being delivered in. The frost flowers forming at his fingertips gradually spread across the entire desk. When the final chest of stolen silver was carried in, even Bookworm's hands shook as he held the abacus. "My lord, there are five million four hundred thousand taels in silver alone, and also..."

"Keep investigating." Li Chen Zhou flicked a finger, shattering the ice at the corner of the desk. "This is merely one hair from nine oxen."

Amid the evening drumbeats, he summoned his trusted subordinates. "Take one-tenth of the silver and distribute it among the brothers. Use another tenth to pay respects to the Commander." His gaze swept over the mountain of treasures. "As for the rest... send it into the palace exactly as it is."

Inside the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the Emperor stared at the silver ingots covering the floor. Moonlight streamed through the window lattice, casting sinister patterns across the mountains of silver. The old eunuch's hands shook without cease as he held the gift list. "Ten hu of South Sea pearls, thirty-eight paintings and calligraphy works from the previous dynasty, Tianhuang stone seals..."

"Good! Very good indeed!" The Emperor suddenly burst into laughter and smashed the corner of the dragon desk with one palm. "The annual tax revenue of my Ministry of Revenue cannot compare to what was confiscated from these worms in a single night!"

After calming down for a while, the Emperor ran his hand over a bloodstained jade Guanyin and suddenly laughed again. "What a sharp blade. That old fox Wei Wuji has given me a handy weapon indeed!"

At the grand court assembly on the third day, the atmosphere inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony was as heavy as iron.

"Your Majesty! I impeach Li Chen Zhou of the Brocade Guard for abusing his authority!" The Minister of Rites stepped forward with a jade tablet in hand, his voice echoing through the hall. "Yesterday, he actually led men into the residence of the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy..."

Before he could finish, the Vice Minister of War rushed forward. "I second the motion! Li Chen Zhou has no regard for laws or discipline and should be stripped of office and investigated!"

The impeachment memorials atop the dragon desk were piled so high they seemed ready to topple. The Emperor lightly tapped the gilded armrest, his gaze sweeping across the noticeably thinned ranks of officials—more than half the positions belonging to fifth-rank officials stood empty, like teeth forcibly pulled from a man's mouth.

Wei Wuji suddenly chuckled, his python robe and jade belt glowing softly in the morning light. "Why must all you lords be angry? The young man is merely eager to earn merit." He casually turned a jade thumb ring. "Besides... which of those arrested was not guilty beyond doubt?"

The hall fell deathly silent. The ministers who had just been filled with righteous indignation all lowered their heads, and several even unconsciously retreated half a step.

Watching this scene, a trace of blood rose in the Emperor's throat. He forcibly suppressed his rage and counted—of the forty-three fifth-rank officials who had stood here yesterday, only twenty-one remained today.

When the bell signaling the end of court rang, the six Ministers were kept behind separately.

Inside the imperial study, even agarwood incense could not suppress the atmosphere of drawn swords and bent bows. Wang Yan, Minister of Personnel, spoke first. "Your Majesty, Li Chen Zhou's actions truly are..."

"Truly are what?" The Emperor suddenly interrupted, grabbed a ledger, and smashed it onto the desk. "It records the eight hundred mu of fertile land your nephew forcibly seized. Shall I read it aloud for you, my dear minister?"

The Minister of Public Works wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "But the court's operations..."

"Operations?" The Emperor sneered. "I think it is the flow of grease and profits that has been cut off, no?"

The six high ministers looked at one another. Their hearts were as clear as mirrors—those relatives who had been arrested deserved death, so let them die. It was only that so many people capable of handling affairs had suddenly vanished from the court, and documents in every ministry immediately piled up like mountains.

After a long silence, the Minister of Justice cautiously said, "How about... promoting Li Chen Zhou to Thousand-Household Commander? The Jiangnan Water Transport Authority happens to lack a garrison commander..."

The Emperor stared at the parasol trees outside the window for a long time before suddenly laughing. "Draft the decree." He rubbed the imperial jade seal on the desk, his voice so soft it seemed he was speaking to himself. "This blade... I must sharpen it even further."

Suddenly, thunder rolled beyond the window, and rain lashed against the glazed tiles like the gallop of ten thousand horses.