The officials of the Ministry of Household are all veterans of fraudulent accounts, and the incoming and outgoing items were smoothed and smoothed early in the morning. Not to mention that the emperor recruited more than a dozen competent officials to review, even if he found a hundred people, it would be of no avail. All the major families are also watching the old gods on the ground. As long as the emperor can't find one, two or three, they will collectively file an impeachment against him, and the royal family is also ready to attack.
However, things backfired, but after three days of checking the accounts, the emperor has uncovered five or six major corruption cases that are earth-shattering, including theft of army rations, theft of army salaries, fraudulent relief cases, and treasury interception cases, etc. The total amount of corruption reached It was a shocking 10,000,000 taels, which was equivalent to the sum of the tax revenue of the Dayong Kingdom for ten years, and it also involved hundreds of officials of various sizes.
The former emperor was afraid of the major generals stationed in the frontier and tried to suppress them, so he turned a blind eye to the crime of stealing army salaries and rations by the Ministry of Household, so that the situation became more and more serious, and the frontier soldiers died of freezing and starvation every year. Because of this, as soon as the fifth prince said that he would be the king of Jingqin, the soldiers from all over the country responded in groups and established him as the new master.
He wants to rectify the dynasty and clear the households, what if the dignitaries in the capital do not agree? All he needs to do is to transfer the soldiers from the frontier who have suffered from hunger and cold, such as the Tiger Army, the Ben Tiger Army, and the Dragon Cavalry Army, into the capital, and put them inside and outside the court. Who would dare to say "no" under the shadow of swords, swords, and murderous auras. Character
The Minister of the Ministry of Housing was first sentenced to be executed by Ling Chi, and he was associated with the nine clans. Not only the Ministry of Households, but also officials from other ministries were implicated, and many people were imprisoned at one time. This bloody storm came so suddenly, it caught the dignitaries off guard and became furious. They couldn't imagine how the emperor could sort out such a complicated account within three days, and how did he find the ironclad evidence
At that time, the Minister of the Ministry of Housing, who was detained in the Tianjing prison, also gave them a message, saying that there was absolutely no problem with the accounts, and let them just go to mediate for themselves, and then counter the emperor. Now let's see, is this okay? It's just full of loopholes! So someone bribed several officials of the Ministry of Justice to inquire about the situation, and only then did they know that all the evidence was found by a young man who was seconded by the Ministry of Punishment. And he has only checked one-tenth of the accounts. If it continues, more people will be implicated.
If Zhao Langzhong is gone, the world will be at peace! This idea appeared in the minds of many powerful people at the same time, and then each of them ordered them to buy their heads with a lot of money.
Youshu's house has been very lively recently. In order to protect his safety, King Yama came every night, and he did not leave until he was safely sent to the side hall of Qianqing Palace the next day. Those killers who visited Zhao's house were either crazy, unconscious, or lost their whereabouts. For half a month, they didn't even touch Zhao Langzhong's side. And those colleagues who betrayed him were dismissed from their positions and sent to the Heavenly Prison, where they were to be executed in the autumn.
It's also their fault for their short-sightedness. If this errand is done well, the addition of officials and titles will be just around the corner. But they just thought that the emperor's foundation was shallow, and he couldn't fight the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty. As everyone knows, the emperor's foundation in the court is indeed shallow, but he has three million soldiers and horses in his hands, and he has dispatched most of the besieged capital. It's as simple as eating and drinking.
He does not rely on the support of the aristocratic family, and on the other hand, he does not rely on the support of the court officials, so he does not need to be restrained by anyone at all. But unfortunately, there are very few people who want to understand this truth.
In addition to the serious corruption problem, the Ministry of Household also has a backlog of IOUs. Not only did the late emperor love to withdraw the state treasury silver taels at will, but also major officials followed suit. Money, and even daily expenses, are also taken from the treasury, and the situation of self-enrichment is very serious. Youshu is a core member of the royalist party. After quickly checking the account books, he joined Outai's debt collection team, trying to show his master his best side.
The royal list urging everyone to repay as soon as possible has been posted, but no one responded after three days of waiting. On this day, Ou Tai was going to personally go to Prince Li, who owed the most money, to collect the debt. Prince Li was the direct younger brother of the late emperor and the uncle of Emperor Xuanguang. As the saying goes, catch the thief first, catch the king, you look at me, I look at you, but you are not willing to move first, then find the hardest shot.
Ou Tai led many of the janitorial guards aggressively, but he was beaten out by Prince Li's private soldiers before he even entered the door. Youshu was also pushed twice and fell on the side of the road. She accidentally pressed a token in her palm.
Where have you seen this pattern? When he thought about it carefully, he couldn't help being secretly surprised. The shape of this token was very similar to the one on King Yama's waist, and the pattern engraved on it was exactly the same as the mask of the fourth prisoner. How can there be such a coincidence in the world? Who does this token belong to
He observed everyone present without a trace, and found that there was a slanted shadow behind everyone, obviously they were all big living people, and they were a little confused for a while. When he was stunned, Prince Li stepped out and shouted, "If you want money or not, you will die. Go back and tell the emperor that if he sends people to harass me again, this prince will be killed in the imperial mausoleum, okay? Go to the underworld to find King Yama and sue him for the crime of treason!" Word Luo slammed the front door, refusing to see guests.
While straightening the official hat, Ou Tai spat at the plaque of the Prince's Mansion, turned around, and found that the token in Shu's hand looked familiar, and quickly grabbed it and tied it around his waist.
"This is your token?" You Shu was slightly surprised.
"Could it still be yours?" Ou Tai glanced at him strangely.
Most of the tokens are of this shape, and the occasional similarity is not surprising. You Shu saw that his reaction was flat, so she dispelled her doubts and walked to the punishment department with each other's arms. Outai seemed to have injured his waist. After sitting down, he hummed and moaned continuously, and then he invited two imperial doctors to diagnose and treat.
After the imperial doctor left, he seemed helpless and said, "Zhao Langzhong, you have also seen that this officer has injured his lumbar spine and is unable to move, but the emperor has already sent a message, and he will definitely settle the prince within three days. Otherwise, I'll leave this errand to you?"
If it were a different person, he would definitely be disgusted by Outai's behavior of shirking responsibility, but Youshu was very happy and hurried away. Ou Tai and others wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads as they walked away, thinking that they were very dangerous. If Zhao Langzhong saw through their identity, they would also capsize along with their master. Fortunately, Zhao Langzhong is smart and smart, but he doesn't like to think about things very much, and he is never suspicious.
Shu turned around and forgot about the episode of the token, full of debt collection. He wanted to take this opportunity to impress his master, and naturally he had to do it properly and perfectly. Prince Li is a master who is not good at oil or salt. Relying on his high seniority, he likes to use his accent. When dealing with such people, if he is soft, he will be slapped in the nose; if he is hard, he will provoke him to jump over the wall. What should I do? What to do
Youshu never takes the usual path, and as soon as her eyes roll, she takes it to heart. In the evening, he led a group of ghost servants and successfully entered the Prince Li's mansion under the cover of a blindfold. He dragged the sleeping Prince Li up and took him to the main hall for interrogation. And his concubine was casted ecstasy, completely fell asleep, and woke up only when the sun shone the next day.
In his confusion, Prince Li thought that he was dreaming, and he couldn't help being surprised when he saw a man with a mask on his face sitting in the hall. The man claimed to be King Yama and ordered him to return the treasury silver as soon as possible, otherwise he would be thrown into the eighteenth hell.
Prince Li shouted his grievance and resisted to the end. He was beaten to the ground by the head of a bull and a horse, and he burned his whole body with hell karma, causing him to roll around and howl in agony. After being tortured for more than an hour, when it was really better to die than life, he kowtowed and said, "I will return the money tomorrow, King Yama, please forgive me this time."
Niu Tau Ma Mian escorted him back, pointed at the charming woman on the bed and said, "Tomorrow, someone will naturally come to collect the debt with a token. If you don't pay it back, we will see you in the underworld."
Prince Li was about to ask what the token was when he saw a hoof stretched out from the horse's face and clicked on the woman, and a gust of yin wind shaved off her blue silk, and then all of them were wrapped into a small box. When the ghost shadows dissipated, Prince Li was paralyzed beside the bed in fright, and he said with extreme fear: The means of ghosts and gods are indeed terrifying. If he refuses to obey, will he cut off his head next time? But death is not the most terrifying thing. What is terrifying is that after death, you will have to suffer forever in hell. In this case, it is better to return the money quickly, do more good deeds, and strive to accumulate enough yin and virtue to get a chance to reincarnate.
Let's not mention how Prince Li regrets, but here, You Shu has returned to the haunted house with a box, ready to soak her feet and go to bed.
"Pretending to be a private court, Zhao Youshu, why should you be blamed?" A deep voice suddenly sounded in his ear, causing him to step on the copper basin, making the floor full of water.
"I, I have no choice but to." You Shu looked guilty.
"Let's not mention this matter for a while, this king asks you, are you really Zhao Youshu?" King Yama patted him lightly on the shoulder, and the two moved from the haunted house to the empty and lonely Nether Hall.
Youshu became more and more nervous, and murmured, "I am Zhao Youshu, why do you ask this?"
King Yama looked at him for a long time before picking up the life and death book on the table, and said, "You can turn to the sixty-fourth page and see for yourself."
Feeling something, she opened it with trembling hands, and saw that the second, third, fourth, and fifth rows on page 64 were all blank, but the words were all written next to it, recording a personal name, life, and life expectancy. , the number of reincarnations, the amount of merit, etc. He buried his head lower and lower, and he no longer dared to think about it.
Seeing him like this, King Yama said firmly, "This king has long discovered that the words about Zhao Youshu on the life and death book are slowly fading, and they have completely disappeared today. It can be seen that the real Zhao Youshu is dead, and you are not him. This king. After a long time, I can't find out your origin, and there is no record in the book of life and death, which shows that you are not from this world."
Youshu suddenly raised his head and asked, "So you've been following me, are you testing me and doubting me?" Own. Those who have been with you all the way, chatting with each other, trusting with all your heart, turned out to be all jokes.
"You guessed it right, I'm an outsider. What do you want to do to me now? Eat me?" His tone was flat, but his tears were rushing to fall, and his face that was always flushed was now pale. .
King Yama stood stiffly for a long time before approaching him step by step, pressing him into the chair, putting his hands on the armrest, imprisoning him in his arms, and saying word by word, "You are right, I do want to eat you. ."
Youshu widened his eyes and choked, "I didn't expect you to be such a King Yama! You've been lying to me!" He had to admit that his heart was about to break. Except for the master, this was him. The person I like the most, I like it so much that I forget that their positions are opposites.
"Why are you crying?" King Yama leaned a little closer and said in a hoarse voice, "I said I'm going to eat you, but that's not the way to eat. With your small body, you only have enough for one meal, what's the point? I want to eat it every day. , eat at a time."
Youshu began to shiver and said in a trembling voice, "Are you planning to fatten me up and cut a pound of meat a day?"
King Yama laughed dumbly, restrained his slender waist with one hand, touched his stubborn buttocks with the other, and said, "I was wrong, you should eat me, not me, use here, understand?"
Feeling the fingers between the thighs, Shu's pale cheeks quickly flushed red, and the already round eyes became much larger, and he dared not believe, "You, you, you..."
"What are you, I like you for so long, can't you feel it? As the master of one world," in fact, it is two worlds, but there is no need to say it now, "I am already busy enough, but for the sake of I will accompany you all day and night, even at the expense of power for personal gain. I will take your property for you and take care of the trivial matters of the house. I have sacrificed so much for you, but you turned around and fell in love with Emperor Xuanguang. How can I be reconciled? Yes, I have long ago I found out that you are an outsider, and if I wanted to harm you, I would have already started, so why wait until now?”
He grabbed the tender meat with Shu's left cheek and scolded, "You little bastard with no conscience, figure out how many lives you owe me, and what should you pay back?"
That's right, it's just a matter of his fingertips that he wants to kill me, why wait until now? On the contrary, he has been protecting me, taking care of me, and taking care of me. Thinking like this, the fear, grief and anger in Shu's heart were all replaced by guilt. He didn't dare to struggle, but he stopped his tears. After careful calculation, he really owed this person several lives. He adhered to the principle of repaying kindness, and he should pay it back, but what he wanted was... but himself. The backyard flower, what can I do
Some Shu was entangled, and felt that this person's embrace was as hot as a stove, making him restless and full of shame. He raised his butt and kicked his legs again, wishing he could turn into a grasshopper and jump out.
King Yama pinched his chin, making him look directly at himself, and said solemnly, "Look at your little face, apart from being ashamed, embarrassed, and hesitant, there is no hatred and disgust. Do you know what it means?"
"What does this mean?" Youshu's head was so burned out that he couldn't think at all.
"This means that you also like me, like Emperor Xuanguang, but you don't want to admit it."
"Nonsense! The only one I like is the master! I will like him in the last life, the last life, this life, the next life, the next life! I love him forever and ever!" Tongue is a little knotted.
It was the first time that King Yama had heard such a declaration of infatuation and no regrets. He was moved, amused, and a little bit indescribably sour: The little bastard said that he was in love with Emperor Xuanguang, but he liked to stick to himself, he clearly liked both. , refused to admit it. Fortunately, the two belonged to the same person, otherwise he should have been hanged up and beaten.
Suppressing the smile in his throat, he threatened, "Either me or Emperor Xuanguang, I will give you three days to consider. You have to remember that in this world, apart from me, no one can save you. Bo let other ghosts find out, you should know the consequences?"
You Shu was sent back to the ghost house before he could react, and the ancestor immediately brought a pot of hot water to let him continue to soak his feet. Where did he feel that way, he just wiped his feet and went to bed, and he rolled over and didn't fall asleep all night. But the public returned to the public, the private returned to the private, and the public could not be forgotten because of the private.
Seeing the hair in the small box, Prince Li was frightened, and kept asking him where he got it from. Some Shu said that King Yama had a dream at night and asked him to bring something to ask for a debt. Although he was dubious, he tried his best. Prince Li was completely frightened, and sold iron to pay back the debt, and wrote a book to accuse the emperor. When the courtiers saw that Prince Li had already compromised, they felt that if they dragged on, they would find their own way, so they had to pay for it.
The already depleted treasury filled up in less than half a month, making Emperor Xuanguang very happy, and specially hosted a banquet in the Qianqing Palace to entertain Zhao Langzhong. He is a well-deserved hero in the thorough investigation of the Ministry of Households and the recovery of national debt.
Because of something in her heart, You Shu, who has never been a drinker, drank three glasses of spirits in a row today, which made her pink face look like a rosy glow and her eyes were cut from water, which was very moving. Emperor Xuanguang repeatedly persuaded him to drink, with an unpredictable expression.
Just at this moment, a tall figure appeared out of thin air, walked slowly to the table, hugged Zhao Langzhong from behind, and whispered softly, "Three days have passed, have you thought about it?"
You Shu woke up in an instant, and stuttered and replied with mental power, "No, no, can you give me a few more days?"
"Day after day, when are you going to drag it on?" King Yama leaned into his shirt with a low smile and slowly stroked and rubbed. His hands can be transformed from virtual to solid, so he can directly penetrate the cloth and touch the delicate and soft skin of Shu.
You Shu was paralyzed by the numb feeling, and almost wanted to groan, but the master watched from the side, how could he show an ugly appearance, he had to bite his lips tightly and endure it. King Yama took advantage of this interval to touch him all over, and when he pressed down on his lower abdomen, he suddenly shook, and then groaned.
Emperor Xuanguang showed a worried expression, "Zhao Langzhong, what's the matter with you? But you're sick, do you want to call an imperial physician for diagnosis and treatment?"
"No, don't." You Shu lay on the table panting heavily.
Emperor Xuanguang hurriedly took him into his arms, and while unbuttoning his shirt, he whispered in his ear, "However, if you drink too much and your chest is tight? Wait for me to rub it for you." As he spoke, he started to move slowly.
The two hands wandered on her body, always pressing on the most sensitive places, causing Youshu's cheeks to flush red and almost collapse. Just when he wanted to resist, King Yama had already pinched his chin from behind, turned his face away, and kissed him deeply.
Can you kiss through a mask? You Shu was stunned at first, and then she reached out and pushed it, but what she felt was not a cold mask, but a very elastic texture. This undulating shape, this high nose, deep eyes, thin lips, how come the more you touch it, the more familiar it is? The look of panic on his face slowly faded, turning into uncertainty.
Seeing him like this, King Yama and Emperor Xuanguang stopped and laughed softly. The laughter overlapped strangely, causing Youshu to look left and right, her head dizzy.
"You guys, you have the same face?" He didn't even believe this, and he finally remembered the token of Outai, and vaguely realized it.
King Yama lifted his blindfold and slowly merged with Emperor Xuanguang. He smiled and said, "Fool, Emperor Xuanguang is me, and King Yama is also me. We are the same person."
Youshu gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, complaining with tears in his eyes, "You lied to me!" These days, he has been struggling with the pain that he likes two people at the same time, but it turns out that both of them are masters! It's no wonder that from the beginning, he couldn't raise his guard against King Yama, no wonder he naturally accepted him, trusted him, and had no reservations. That's because his subconscious has long been accustomed to the breath of the other party's soul, and the body recognizes it one step earlier than the brain.
"You're playing with me!" Thinking of the threat three days ago, You Shu became even more angry.
Emperor Xuanguang picked him up and threw him into the bright yellow curtain. He kissed and whispered, "No matter who you choose, I'll let you eat. Don't make trouble, you won't be angry if you're full."
You Shu struggled hard, but was easily pressed down. The curtain fell without wind, covering the beautiful scenery, but it couldn't stop the whole room whispering. When the clouds stopped and the rain stopped, he had no energy to care, and was hugged and patted by the master in his arms.
"So we have been connected for three generations now?" Emperor Xuanguang was convinced of Youshu's words, but he had no memory in his mind. He pondered for a moment, and suddenly said, "No wonder there is an image of a purple sky falling in the starry night."
"What is Ziwei Sky Pendant?"
"Ziwei Tianzhu is the fall of the Ziwei Emperor Star." Seeing You Shu was shocked, Emperor Xuanguang quickly reassured him, "I'm still here, so the Ziwei Emperor Star should not have fallen, but has given up its star position." As for why he gave up the constellation and looked at the weak person in his arms, he already understood the answer. No wonder he woke up in the prison of humiliation, it must have been a mistake when he fell.
"What will happen if I give up the constellation?" You Shu became nervous, and wrapped her hands around her master's neck.
"It doesn't matter to me, but the world will be in a situation of strife and feudal lords. The constellations such as Po Jun, Greedy Wolf, and Seven Kills under Ziwei's command will join the WTO one after another and win the throne of Star King. But now Ziwei Although the sky has fallen, the stars have not yet appeared, only I can see it, so there are still hundreds of years of peace in the world." Emperor Xuanguang was strangled, but he was very happy.
"That is to say, the world will be in chaos?" Youshu's eyes were straight.
"For a long time, we must divide, and when we divide for a long time, we must be together. This is the general trend of the world. Well, don't think about it. Even if the Ziwei Emperor does not fall, the stars such as Seven Kills, Po Jun, and Greedy Wolf will still join the WTO. This is the arrangement of heaven, not You and I can change it." Emperor Xuanguang patted Shuguang's bare back.
You Shu has learned Doushu, and naturally understands that every time a certain age is reached, the evil stars in the heavens will take turns to join the world and sweep away the world. Even Xingjun can't reach the Dao of Heaven, he should wash and sleep as a mortal. Thinking of this, he rested in the arms of his master and fell asleep with peace of mind.