Chapter 185: A New Official Takes Office

Realizing that their Prince was truly angry, Yun Tian was startled and hurriedly said, "Prince, calm your anger."

"Report! It's bad! Bad, Prince!" A guard rushed into the courtyard, shouting, "Prince, it's bad, something's happened—many citizens in Liangzhou City have contracted the plague, and many have fled from Liangzhou, possibly mixed with people already infected."

When did this happen?

Report, Prince, we have only received the news about four days ago.

Yun Shan and the others wore grim expressions; the plague differs from other illnesses—once contracted it means certain death, and most importantly it spreads extremely fast, so one case endangers everyone in the city.

Prince, the number of refugees outside the city has increased recently; could there also be people who escaped from Liangzhou among them?

Has any news come from the palace?

Not yet.

Refugee affairs have always been handled by the Ministry of Revenue, but after a purge of officials, the position of Supervisory Censor of the Ministry of Revenue remained vacant and has not been filled, so the refugees outside the city have not been cleared.

At this moment, in the Imperial Study, the Emperor stared gloomily at the document in his hand, while several kneeling ministers wished they could slip through a crack in the floor.

Pant, pant! How dare you pant!

The Emperor flung all the documents on the table onto the floor: "With a matter this big, you only report it now? Are the people below subsisting on dry rice? Useless! A bunch of useless!"

Your Majesty, please calm your anger…

Calm your anger? Hell no!

Li Gonggong, who was picking up the documents on the floor, froze, hurriedly presented the half‑collected papers to the Emperor, who then smashed them onto the officials, "Do you in the Ministry of Revenue intend to leave me with none?"

Emperor, forgive us; we only just received the document from the Liangzhou Censor recently and had intended to first…

What are you thinking? What are you thinking? What good idea could your pig brains possibly come up with?

Li Gonggong promptly handed another document over.

The Emperor lectured the Ministry of Revenue for a full half hour, and the most exhausted was Li Gonggong.

The relief effort in Liangzhou is of great importance; seal the city gates, and absolutely no one may leave.

Yes, Liangzhou is already under lockdown, but many citizens had already fled earlier; retrieving them now seems impossible, and if the plague runs rampant, I'm afraid…

At this point, the ministers lowered their voices.

Emperor, I think that since Liangzhou is the plague's epicenter, there is only one way to fully control it: massacre the city.

The Emperor sat on the Dragon Throne, coldly eyeing the Ministry of Revenue minister who advocated the massacre.

Emperor, I second the proposal.

I also second it.

"Very well." The Emperor narrowed his eyes slightly, and just as those ministers thought their suggestion had been accepted, a chilling voice rang from above, "Guards, drag those three down, beat them with fifty heavy boards, and imprison them in the Heavenly Prison."

Emperor! Emperor!

Emperor! I acknowledge my mistake!

No, you have no idea where you went wrong. Facing their pleas, the Emperor's expression was indifferent: "My selection system does have flaws; how could such fools as you be appointed officials? Even drivers and grooms are better than you!"

Prince Li, come!

Let him in.

Yun Shan pushed Mo Junyan into the Imperial Study; the ministers had not yet been dragged out. As Mo Junyan passed them, he recognized them as officials who had come up with silver and had embezzled a lot of it, a cold smile curling at his lips.

Father, what's happening?

What are you still standing there for? Aren't you dragging them out to beat them?

Father, why go through such extra steps? Mo Junyan finished, and Li Gonggong hurriedly whispered, "Prince, you should stop pleading for them; the Crown Prince already sent someone to plead once, and the Emperor rebuked them outright."

Mo Junyan gave a faint smile and said softly, "Officials who only collect salaries and do nothing are useless; now they've caused a calamity that displeases Father, so why bother beating them? Just kill them outright."

The Ministry of Revenue officials, hearing this, turned pale with terror and shouted, "Prince, spare us! Emperor, spare us! Emperor, spare us!"

While the Emperor hesitated, Mo Junyan waved his hand, and Yun Shan handed over a document. Seeing the accusations, the Emperor raged, "Guards! Remove their ceremonial headdresses, then execute them; all male members of their families are to be exiled, never to hold office again; the women are to become forced‑labor slaves; confiscate all their property."

Emperor! Emperor… um…

The officials were gagged by the Imperial Guards and led away.

"Second, this plague is raging; nearly half the citizens of Liangzhou have contracted it, and if we cannot control it, the whole city may be doomed." The Emperor furrowed his brows, his voice heavy, his features showing exhaustion: "The Ministry of Revenue has been purged clean, but now there are very few capable people left…"

Xie Yuwei, who previously earned merit in dealing with locusts and snow disasters, has not yet been given a post by Father.

Mentioning him, the Emperor's eyes lit up: "How could I have forgotten him? In less than half a year he achieved so many feats; he cannot be mediocre, and he has repeatedly resolved heavenly calamities. Assigning this plague to him should be no problem. Guards, draft the edict!"

That night, the imperial edict was sent to the relay station; Xie Yuwei was dragged out of his bedding, bewildered, received the edict, and became a Third‑rank Ministry of Revenue Supervisory Censor.

Soon the news of the Ministry of Revenue officials being beheaded spread, Jingcheng officials became uneasy, and Xie Yuwei's appointment as the new Supervisory Censor of the Ministry of Revenue caused a great uproar among officials.

After all, they had never seen an official rise directly from Seventh‑rank County Assistant to a powerful Third‑rank official.

Not to mention others, even Xie Yuwei himself was bewildered.

Early the next morning, when he went to the palace to give thanks, the Emperor assigned him a new task.

To manage the Liangzhou plague.

Xie Yuwei almost threw the edict out of his hands.

This is not a meteoric rise to a high position.

It's clearly a death warrant!

He wanted to ask if he could decline the post and not go to Liangzhou, but he dared not utter the words.

He closed his eyes, accepted the edict, and left the palace dejected.

Along the way he met many officials; although they greeted him politely, behind his back they laughed that he was a short‑lived fool, born without luck—otherwise who would be sent to die right after becoming a Third‑rank high official?

Xie Yuwei rode a carriage toward the residence granted by the Emperor; as he passed through the alleys, a very familiar fragrance reached his nose.

Stop the carriage.

He lifted the carriage curtain, and the scent inside grew stronger; he immediately alighted to search.