Chapter 1492: The Rod Falls Without Warning

"Your Majesty, the Commissioner of the Palace City requests an audience outside the hall!"

"Let him in!" Emperor Liu's mood and attention were finally diverted somewhat. Without even shifting his gaze, he gave the order flatly.

"This humble one pays respects to His Majesty!" Soon Zhang Dejun entered, efficiently taking in the scene within the hall, as deferential as ever, and performed the full ceremonial bow.

In the past few days, Zhang Dejun had not, as before, sought frequent audiences or reported daily on affairs. Instead, he had held himself back, staying quietly in his office, with the feeling of watching a fire from across the river.

Yet, the moment he was summoned, it was as if he had received some kind of signal—he immediately roused his spirits and came swiftly. As the head of the Palace City Office, Zhang Dejun naturally knew well what had happened in the palace; he had even already guessed the purpose of Emperor Liu's summons.

"Rise!" Emperor Liu directly bade Zhang Dejun to stand and asked: "You know what has happened in the palace, I take it?"

"This humble one has heard a little!" Zhang Dejun replied with an exceptionally deferential demeanor. If he did not know, then his tenure as Commissioner of the Palace City would probably be at an end.

Emperor Liu, looking as if he had no desire for idle talk, said at once: "Good that you know! Now I am giving you this task—put the nose of your Palace City Office to work, investigate, investigate to the very bottom, and dig out all those vermin in the palace for me. I want to see just how many appalling, filthy deeds lie beyond my sight!"

Upon hearing the decree, Zhang Dejun put on a look of extreme agitation and even righteous indignation, vowing through gritted teeth: "Rest assured, Your Majesty! This humble one will surely drag out those ungrateful beasts who betray imperial grace, deceive the sovereign, and bite the hand that feeds them!"

Zhang Dejun's performance did not move Emperor Liu, which showed just how foul his mood was. Of course, for Zhang Dejun, being able to let Emperor Liu see his loyalty and deference was enough.

And through Emperor Liu's attitude, Zhang Dejun also formed a basic judgment of how angry His Majesty was this time, and within that brief moment, he had an idea of how to calibrate his handling of this assignment.

Seeing that Emperor Liu had no further instructions to give, Zhang Dejun moved to withdraw, but was called back by Emperor Liu. Turning to rummage through the memorials on the imperial desk, Emperor Liu looked back and asked: "It says here that the annual allocation to the Palace City Office is only one hundred thousand strings of cash. That amount is not small, but for the scope of the Palace City Office's operations—is it enough?"

At these words, Zhang Dejun could not help but feel a jolt of alarm. How had this now dragged in his Palace City Office? What did His Majesty mean by this?

Unlike the Wude Office, the Palace City Office's annual budget was allocated directly by the palace. They were Emperor Liu's true hounds, and so naturally were kept by the imperial household.

After more than a decade of development, by now the Palace City Office had only some three hundred-plus formally enrolled personnel—those with ranks and drawing imperial pay. For salaries and daily operations alone, one hundred thousand strings was enough.

However, the operation of an intelligence organization, a secret service organ, required far more than that. Various missions, the gathering of all kinds of intelligence, the planting of spies and informants—all of these needed to be driven, and that came down to power and money, with money being the most direct and effective.

With so many people in the Palace City Office, even if they were called the emperor's household slaves and hounds, to say that all of them were utterly loyal to Emperor Liu and willing to die for him—even Emperor Liu himself did not believe that.

After all, those willing to throw themselves into an institution like the Palace City Office—one should not hold such people to high expectations of morality or integrity. And what Emperor Liu used to drive them was primarily authority, but for most people in the Palace City Office, what they pursued was nothing more than fame, profit, and wealth.

The operation of the Palace City Office was clearly inseparable from money—it required large amounts of money. One hundred thousand strings, if truly calculated carefully, could only accomplish so much for the Palace City Office.

If it were limited to that, the Palace City Office could never have developed to its current extent. Not to mention anything else—just the peripheral personnel under the Palace City Office, if not five thousand, then at least three thousand. With so many people, feeding them was no easy task for Zhang Dejun.

But the problem was precisely this: every year, what Zhang Dejun drew from the inner court was only that one hundred thousand strings. How could there not be a problem in that?

At this moment, hearing Emperor Liu raise the question, alarm bells clanged in Zhang Dejun's heart. Facing that scrutinizing gaze, he hesitated only briefly before daring not to conceal too much, and said: "Your Majesty, apart from the inner court's allocation, the office's subordinates also operate some properties in the Western Capital, and the income from those is used to maintain operations..."

Emperor Liu was not surprised by this. In the Great Han court, even some purely nominal offices had their official fields and properties. The industries controlled by the Wude Office's subordinates even spanned all the major cities in the realm. The Palace City Office's base was in the capital, so it was only natural that it maintained some properties.

It was just that Emperor Liu had never before inquired into such matters. Now, however, he could not help but give it more thought, looking at Zhang Dejun with an amused expression: "It seems you are quite skilled at management. Otherwise, how could you support the Palace City Office without even requesting additional funds..."

"This humble one is not adept at commerce; the income from operations barely suffices! His Majesty trusts this humble one, and how could this humble one sully His Majesty's ears with trivial matters of money..." Zhang Dejun said.

Zhang Dejun might truly not be skilled at managing money, but he was certainly not short of people under his command.

"Heh! You certainly think of me and share my burdens!" Emperor Liu replied flatly, then after a moment's thought, said: "Whether it barely suffices, I have no intention of inquiring. However, once this matter is concluded, you will register all the properties operated by the Palace City Office's subordinates with the Court of the Imperial Treasury, and from now on the accounts will also be subject to that office's audit!"

Emperor Liu was clearly tightening the purse strings of the Palace City Office. Hearing these words, Zhang Dejun's heart shook greatly, and a look of astonishment involuntarily appeared on his face. He stammered: "This..."

"What? Do you have objections?" Emperor Liu's gaze sharpened.

Zhang Dejun was startled, bowing low and shaking his head, his tone emphatically certain: "This humble one has no objections—I will respectfully obey His Majesty's decree!"

"You needn't feel wronged. All the income will still be spent on the Palace City Office; it's only the accounts that need oversight!" Emperor Liu said flatly again.

"This humble one understands!" Zhang Dejun replied.

In truth, for Zhang Dejun, what he minded was not reporting the property accounts to the Court of the Imperial Treasury—that caused him no actual loss of personal benefit. If the Palace City Office wanted money, there were plenty of ways. A secret service organ that had no gray income didn't deserve to be called a secret service organ at all. And what real oversight could the Court of the Imperial Treasury truly achieve?

The problem lay in what the intent behind Emperor Liu's decree revealed—was this a whim born of the turmoil in the palace, a sudden thought, or did he have some opinion of the Palace City Office, or rather of him, Commissioner Zhang?

Serving Emperor Liu, one dared not fail to think deeply and carefully, nor could one afford to let down one's guard. Emperor Liu paid no attention to Zhang Dejun's now-grave expression, and waved his hand, saying: "Go and get the job done first!"

"Yes!" Zhang Dejun replied, the solemnity on his face dissipating completely.

Before taking his leave, he casually cast a sidelong glance at Yan Tuo, a hint of amusement in his eyes. At this, Yan Tuo's brow furrowed involuntarily, and his usually calm face took on a shade of gloom.

From the moment Emperor Liu had summoned Zhang Dejun and handed down the task of investigating the inner court, Yan Tuo's mood had already sunk. The enmity between the two made it impossible for him not to be on guard.

From Yan Tuo's understanding of Zhang Dejun, that fellow might well be digging a pit or setting a trap for him somewhere. And judging from that strange look in his eyes, his wariness was clearly justified.

The exchange of glances between the two senior eunuchs, the collision of their gazes, was still noticed by Emperor Liu. He raised an eyebrow and called out to Zhang Dejun: "Wait!"

"Does Your Majesty have further instructions?" Zhang Dejun turned back to ask.

Emperor Liu pointed at Yan Tuo and said: "You go along as well, to assist the Palace City Office in the investigation!"

"Yes! This humble one will render full assistance!" Yan Tuo was somewhat surprised, but immediately responded with enthusiasm.

Zhang Dejun, seeing this, felt a dark sinking in his heart, but he did not show it, nor did he dare object—he could only acquiesce. The two senior eunuchs left the hall together, neither in good spirits. Zhang Dejun was alarmed that Emperor Liu's rod had fallen without any warning, which was deeply unsettling, while Yan Tuo was troubled that these filthy affairs could hardly avoid dragging him in—especially with that old dog Zhang Dejun in charge.