Chapter 83: Your Schemes Are Exposed!

Wu Weiye was about to explode in anger, but the moment he saw the attire of the men who had kicked the door in, the curses rising to his lips were swallowed back down. Suppressing his rage, he said, "Have you Embroidered Uniform Guard thugs no regard for the law?

We are scholars — you have no right to lay hands on us!"

The door-kicker, it turned out, wore a flying-fish robe with an embroidered-spring saber at his waist and a pair of black boots on his feet — none other than Embroidered Uniform Guard Centurion Guan Xiaoyu. Behind him followed more than a dozen Embroidered Uniform Guard lieutenants and stalwarts.

Once inside the study, Guan Xiaoyu waved a hand, and the dozen-odd guards stormed in. The rasp of embroidered-spring sabers leaving their scabbards rang out — clang, clang, clang — as the lieutenants and stalwarts leveled their blades at Zhang Pu, Zhang Cai, and Wu Weiye, bellowing, "Kneel!"

Zhang Pu merely sneered. "We scholars need not kneel even before the County Magistrate. Why would we kneel to the likes of you, you hawks and hounds?"

Guan Xiaoyu, however, smiled indifferently, a look of utter nonchalance on his face. "Kneeling or not kneeling, it's all the same. You three are great talents — rough brutes like us had best show a little respect."

With that, he stepped forward, shoved the three men aside from the desk, and, under their gazes that practically spat fire, casually pulled several letters and a small booklet from his bosom. He stuffed them haphazardly among the books already on the desk.

After a cursory tidying, he waved at the assembled guards and barked, "Come on, pack up all this criminal evidence for me — don't leave a single scrap behind!"

The guards, hearing this, set to work with grins and chuckles. One produced a sack and swept everything on the desk straight into it — the original books and letters, along with what Guan Xiaoyu had just planted.

Once every book, letter, and item in the study had been packed away, the lead guard reported, "Chief, it's all packed."

Zhang Pu struggled and cried out, "Hawks and hounds! You frame us so brazenly — do you have any regard for the Great Ming Code?

Even the Embroidered Uniform Guard needs an arrest warrant to seize a man! Where is the warrant?

If I do not see a warrant, I will go to the capital and cry my grievance before His Sacred Majesty, charging you with contempt for the law!"

Guan Xiaoyu, hearing this, laughed. "Forget the warrant — even the Guard's authority to arrest and imprison has been revoked by His Majesty.

So, were it anyone else, I'd be in a real bind. But it just so happens that you, Lord Zhang, great talent Zhang, have now become an imperial felon in a grand treason case. A warrant? No need!"

With that, he turned to the guards. "Gag these three imperial felons and take them away!

Inside that house, tear the place apart — dig three feet into the floor if you have to. See if there are any hidden compartments. If anything gets missed, watch your hides!"

He then strode out with three guards escorting Zhang Pu and the other two, leaving the remaining guards to dutifully ransack the house.

When they reached the courtyard, Zhang Pu saw that his entire household — men and women, young and old — had been herded into the yard and bound. Not even the servants had been spared. The last shred of hope in his heart vanished, and he thrashed in fury.

But bound with ropes by the guards, shoulders pinned from behind, and a rag stuffed in his mouth, he could only writhe and twist helplessly, producing muffled grunts.

Seeing this, Guan Xiaoyu walked back to the three men and said to Zhang Cai and Wu Weiye, "No need to fret, you two. Your families will be reunited with you shortly — in the Imperial Prison at the capital."

He turned to Zhang Pu with a savage grin. "And you, Grand Master Zhang, rest assured — all your fellow students, disciples, and followers will be joining you in the Imperial Prison. Don't rush. We'll take our time. Ah."

With that, he turned and hollered, "Move out, move out!" and led his men toward the Zhang residence's main gate.

But when they reached the gate, they found the street outside already surrounded, three layers deep, by the local gentry. Even Suzhou Prefect Kou Shen was there, standing prominently with a retinue of runners behind him.

Seeing Guan Xiaoyu emerge at the head of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Kou Shen demanded with open hostility, "Centurion Guan, you come to arrest men — do you have a warrant?"

Guan Xiaoyu straightened and replied formally, "Acting on imperial decree — no warrant is required. If Prefect Kou doubts it, I have here a directive from the palace. Please, examine it."

He produced a document and handed it to Kou Shen.

Kou Shen read it. The document indeed authorized the Taicang Embroidered Uniform Guard to act at their discretion in investigating the unlawful activities of Zhang Pu and his associates, and it bore the seal of the Chongzhen Emperor.

Knowing it could not be forged, he handed the document back and asked, "May I ask what Centurion Guan has uncovered? Why arrest so many?

Surely Zhang Pu has not committed treason?"

Guan Xiaoyu said, "Exactly. That is precisely the case. Zhang Pu has been colluding with scholars of the Restoration Society, plotting rebellion.

This man believed the common folk of Suzhou and Hangzhou suffer under the textile levies and lack farmland. So, with dog-swollen gall, he plotted rebellion, intending to slaughter all landlords and distribute the land to the people.

Once he had the people's support, he planned to sweep across the realm. As for the evidence, it's right behind me."

He fished out the small booklet that had been stuffed into the sack earlier and handed it to Kou Shen.

Kou Shen opened it and read aloud softly: "The people have long suffered under harsh taxes. The rich possess vast, unbroken tracts of land; the poor lack even a pinprick of soil.

We must slaughter all heartless landlords, equalize landholdings, abolish agricultural taxes, and levy commercial taxes to compensate. Thus, the House of Zhang may win the realm."

The detailed reasoning and plans within were clearly not the work of a single day — they must have required long scheming.

The surrounding gentry also heard the passage Kou Shen read. Those farther away, upon hearing phrases like "slaughter all landlords," "equalize landholdings," and "broadly levy commercial taxes" repeated by those nearby, erupted in fury.

One hot-tempered man cursed, "That damned beast — a man's face with a beast's heart! With our sacred Son of Heaven on the throne, this animal would rebel for his own selfish gain!

He deserves to be hacked to pieces!"

Guan Xiaoyu, hearing this, exchanged a knowing glance with Kou Shen and continued, "In the rear courtyard of his residence, we uncovered dragon robes, imperial registers, and other such items. The evidence of his crime is conclusive. We are now escorting him to the capital."

Kou Shen added, "In that case, the three shifts of runners I have brought shall temporarily follow Centurion Guan's command, to prevent any prisoner from escaping."

Guan Xiaoyu cupped his hands. "Then I thank Prefect Kou for his assistance."

The two exchanged another glance and said no more. Guan Xiaoyu set out with the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the contingent of runners, escorting Zhang Pu and his party.

It was only on the road that Guan Xiaoyu truly grasped the scale of Zhang Pu's fame — nearly half the city had turned out to see him off.

Seeing the crowd's seething outrage, Guan Xiaoyu had no choice but to have the Suzhou Prefecture runners guard Zhang Pu and the others, while the Embroidered Uniform Guard formed a perimeter, every man gripping his embroidered-spring saber, terrified of trouble.

Only when they reached the city gate of Taicang and linked up with reinforcements from the Suzhou Chiliarchy did they finally manage to escort Zhang Pu and the others out of Taicang and head straight for the capital.

The entire journey, every man in the Chiliarchy was on hair-trigger alert, seeing ambushes in every shadow, terrified that the slightest slip might spark disaster. Even Suzhou Chiliarch Zhao Buping gave a bitter laugh and said to Guan Xiaoyu, "We got too damn cocky."

I'll go all-out when the novel hits the paywall. For now, just two chapters a day. Only just realized — I, the Emperor, a mere PC split-push player, am going head-to-head against some veteran driver with a PC split-push AND an app recommendation.

(End of chapter)