Chapter 25: Cang Jun

Great Cang Imperial Palace.

Dragon Qi surged, the horizon was a sheet of Gold, and a blood mist faintly permeated the air.

"Beauty, don't run..."

"Giggle, giggle..."

"Playing hide-and-seek with Me? Once I catch you, I will let you... suffer a fate worse than death!

Hahahaha!"

Inside the Palace, Cang Jun wore yellow robes, a layer of black cloth wrapped around his eyes.

He chased, they fled.

Suddenly, Cang Jun's hand grabbed a woman.

A look of triumph appeared on his face: "Caught you."

Cang Jun removed the black cloth, his smile radiant.

His hand was like an iron claw, veins bulging, gripping the palace maid's neck and leaving blue bruises.

The palace maid's face was pale, the skin on her face taut, as if she were forcing herself to remain calm.

She dared not move, remaining perfectly still, but the slight trembling of her arms inside her sleeves betrayed her thoughts.

The smile on Cang Jun's face vanished instantly: "Are you afraid of me?"

His hand choked the palace maid's throat, and her breathing grew rapid.

"Why do you not answer My words?" Cang Jun was furious, "Do you still have Me, this Emperor, in your eyes?"

The palace maid struggled instinctively, but was powerless to do anything.

She could only emit muffled sounds.

"Oh?" Cang Jun paused, a smile appearing on his face, "So it is because I am choking your neck that you cannot speak."

A faint smile played on Cang Jun's face.

However, the other women nearby did not feel relieved because of this.

Cang Jun was tyrannical and capricious.

"It is I who wronged you." Cang Jun's voice was calm, a look of guilt on his face, "I have made a mistake, and I am willing to accept the consequences of My mistake, admit My error, and apologize to you."

"Cang Jun..." The woman knelt on the ground, her face covered in tears mixed with snot, weeping uncontrollably.

"However..." Cang Jun's tone shifted, a hint of a smile on his face, "You also made a mistake; you did not remind Me in time, you did not tell Me that I was choking your neck and preventing you from speaking."

Cang Jun's words were ridiculous.

Choking someone's windpipe—how could they answer him, how could they point out this error?

Yet, the scene was deathly quiet; all the palace maids and concubines knelt on the ground, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

No one laughed, and no one dared to point out Cang Jun's error.

"Therefore, the punishment for your mistake is..."

Cang Jun laughed heartily.

"A minor punishment: thrown into the Seven Poison Cave to feed my little darlings."

Immediately, two armored Warriors stepped forward to drag the palace maid away.

Only the sound of crying could be heard.

The kneeling women shivered, none daring to move.

The Seven Poison Cave was a demonic den built by Cang Jun.

Within the Seven Poison Cave, there were thousands of creatures of the seven poisons.

Snakes, Spiders, scorpions, centipedes, geckos, toads, and golden frogs.

Once a person was thrown inside, it would not take long before they were bitten and torn apart by the poisonous creatures, the myriad poisons attacking their heart.

Moreover, these poisonous creatures were carefully selected; they were small in size, and their poison was not of the instant-acting variety.

Once placed inside, a human would not die for at least an hour.

Of course, they would also lose the ability to move and could only endure it.

The original intent behind creating the Seven Poison Cave was because, during the ten-plus years since Great Cang pacified the world, there had been hundreds of peasant uprisings, large and small.

Cang Jun grew tired of them, so he built the Seven Poison Cave, and every high-ranking member of the insurgent armies he captured was thrown into it one by one.

"Lijia." Cang Jun spoke, retreating back into the Palace.

"This servant is here." A man resembling a eunuch walked over.

"From today on, in My harem, every concubine, and even every palace maid, must drink a pot of pineapple juice every night." A smile appeared on Cang Jun's face.

Today, he had discussed scholarship with the Minister of Rites and learned a technique.

Drinking pineapple juice would make one sweet.

Having had the Canglong Stone recognize him as its master, he felt a greater craving for certain things.

"As you command." Lijia nodded and turned to leave.

He did not understand Cang Jun's meaning, but he did not need to understand.

Cang Jun looked at the memorials on the table and waved his hand, scattering them all across the floor.

"The joy of being an Emperor is truly unimaginable."

Just then, however, a voice came from outside.

"Cang Jun, Liu Zhengwen has arrived."

A look of impatience appeared on Cang Jun's face.

The sound of footsteps approached, sounding exceptionally loud in the empty main hall.

The sound grew closer and more urgent.

"Your subject pays respects to Cang Jun!"

Liu Zhengwen knelt on the ground, the expression on his face not very good.

"Rise." Cang Jun propped his forehead with his hand, his eyes slightly closed.

"Cang Jun, I heard you just issued an order to conscript five hundred thousand laborers to excavate the Taiqing River!"

"The Taiqing River has been under excavation for so many years, yet the progress is too slow." An impatient look appeared on Cang Jun's face.

"Cang Jun, the world is currently unsettled; of the twenty-nine circuits, thirteen are suffering from flooding.

The disaster victims are already wailing everywhere; at a time like this, instead of opening the granaries to provide disaster relief, you are continuing to conscript laborers to excavate the Taiqing River!

This is to consign the masses to death and place Great Cang in peril!"

"You are a Minister of Personnel, why do you concern yourself with these matters?"

"Cang Jun, our Great Cang has a population of only thirty million, and now one-tenth of the able-bodied men have been reduced to laborers!"

There were murky tears in Liu Zhengwen's wide-staring eyes.

"A few days ago, I went to Anping County.

Anping County is only one hundred li away from our Kyoto.

Yet in such a county, every household's door is tightly shut, and on the main street, there are only the elderly and young children!

If it is like this at the feet of the Son of Heaven, then in other places, I fear..."

Liu Zhengwen's voice choked with sobs.

"The fact that the elderly are still alive only goes to show that my governance is effective, hahahaha!" Cang Jun laughed loudly.

"Cang Jun." Liu Zhengwen's eyes were bloodshot, "Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it!"

"What water can capsize is a boat, not Us!

We are not a boat; We are a True Dragon!

With Us here, Great Cang shall have a first generation, a second, a third, generation after generation, until ten thousand generations."

Cang Jun waved his large sleeve, incomparably majestic.

"How could you mere mortals perceive my painstaking efforts?

Get out of my sight immediately, otherwise, I shall confer the title of Virtuous Consort upon your daughter who just married tonight.

I presume Scholar Liu will not refuse—no, he would not dare to refuse."

Cang Jun laughed heartily.

Upon hearing these words, Liu Zhengwen raised his finger and pointed at Cang Jun: "You..."

His vision went black, and he fainted directly from anger.

Cang Jun laughed heartily: "Someone come! Minister of Personnel Liu Zhengwen is overcome by anger and fire, his body is paralyzed; quickly call the imperial physician.

Summon Liu Zhengwen's daughter, Liu Yinli, to the Palace and confer upon her the title of Virtuous Consort to bring some joy to Minister Liu."

The Jinyi and eunuchs in the Palace received Cang Jun's order and left one after another.

In the vast Palace, only Cang Jun remained.

"Imperial younger brother, do you think I am a muddled ruler?" Cang Jun spoke.

From within the shadows, an old Daoist appeared.

The old Daoist had a long, white beard and was none other than the Palace Master of the Taiqing Palace.

"You are a muddled ruler, and not just an ordinary one at that."

"Hahaha." Cang Jun laughed loudly, "The world is in our hands; what does it matter if I am muddled?

Every year there are dozens of uprisings, so what?

This world will always be the world of our Great Cang."

(End of this chapter)