The Heavenly Court's laws spelled it out in black and white.
Embezzling incense offerings and leaving a deficit in the Treasury were grave crimes that led straight to the Immortal Execution Platform.
Ordinarily, when people played their little games in the government office, exchanging scraps of merit for private goods, those above turned a blind eye.
But now Xu Zhiyan had admitted outright that he could barely cover the hole anymore. What did that mean?
It meant whoever touched those accounts would die.
"Brother Xu." Lu Yuan shifted back half an inch, putting more distance between them. "You can't joke about this."
"Who's joking with you?!"
Xu Zhiyan panicked. Seeing that Lu Yuan not only refused to take the bait but was backing away, he abandoned all concern for his dignity as Right Commissioner and immediately tried to rise and offer Lu Yuan a deep bow.
"Don't, don't, don't!" Alarmed, Lu Yuan grabbed Xu Zhiyan's arm and pressed him back onto the stone stool.
He stopped him not because the gesture was too grand to accept, but because he simply couldn't help with this.
Besides, after working with Xu Zhiyan for hundreds of years, he knew the man's character all too well.
"Lord Xu, Brother Xu! There's really nothing I can do!"
Lu Yuan shook his head repeatedly, his refusal as decisive as a blade cleaving iron. "I'm on reasonably friendly terms with Wude True Lord, but we're not that close. I truly can't help you with this!"
"I can't!"
"I really can't help!"
He left no room for negotiation, trying to extinguish Xu Zhiyan's hopes.
Before his words had even faded,
a dazzling burst of golden formation light suddenly shone outside the courtyard.
Then came the sound of perfectly synchronized footsteps.
Lu Yuan and Xu Zhiyan shut their mouths