Death… and me

If one were to find an issue with this person, it would be that he was too upright and hence, too clean! To summarize, his records were too perfect to be true!

Chu Yang's methods had always gone against the norm.

There was one verse that he constantly kept in mind, 'People work hard to become officials to become wealthy. Someone who does not put himself first will be destroyed by heaven and earth'. In his previous life, he had wandered all over the world and was frustrated at witnessing the endless greed of officials so often.

Even if an official was deemed to be extremely honorable, he would still live in a large house and eat rare delicacies. Ultimately, none of these officials ended up living their lives in any way that was less luxurious than the large wealthy families.

No one was truly capable of living honorably and staying poor at the same time. As expected, even ordinary peasants would wish that their land was expanded by a few meters to allow their families to eat a little better.

Truth be told, the people that Tang Xin Sheng helped actually ate and dressed better than his own family members.

"There's an issue with this person!" Chu Yang contemplated for a moment before pointed to the documents on Tang Xin Sheng, "Investigate him!"

"Huh?" Although Wu Qian Qian had not worked in Iron Cloud Citadel for that long, she had already heard stories of the great official who 'poured his blood to protect his own country and stayed honest for the people', Tang Xin Sheng!

Tang Xin Sheng had become a role model for all the officials of Iron Cloud Citadel to look up to and emulate!

How could a person as honorable as this be a spy? Was Chu Yang messed up in the head?

"There's no need to doubt it. Send the documents to Heavenly Secret Hall to investigate him immediately! I want to receive their investigation report by noon! By then, if the report indicates that Tang Xin Sheng is clean, everyone in Heavenly Secret Hall will be paddled as punishment! Repeat everything that I just said to Chen Yu Tong!"

Wu Qian Qian rubbed her nose in disbelief, wrote a note and walked out.

Instantly, there was a burst of chaos outside the room. People were yelling and horses were neighing. The members of Heavenly Secret Hall were scattering around as if there was a fire. They were sure that King of Hell Chu's paddle was not going to spare anyone from the punishment.

Chu Yang smiled and said slowly, "You must remember that no one in this world is flawless. A saint like him simply cannot exist!" He pointed to Tang Xin Cheng's documents and snorted coldly.

Deep down in his heart, he had remembered these words, 'Are there saints in this world? First, let's assume that there are. If that's the case, would the saint not require food and clothes? Would these things not require money? Would the saint not require a wife? Or other physical needs? If a person needs any of these things, he is definitely not a saint! This is because he has needs. From this, we can infer that there are no saints in this world."

These words were delivered by Mo Tian Ji! Even though Chu Yang hated Mo Tian Ji to the core, he could not deny that his words made sense.

Ever since the three halls were created, Chu Yang had always managed them with great seriousness. However, Heavenly Secret Hall was under Chu Yang's strictest scrutiny. Every two to three days, the leader of Heavenly Secret Hall would be called into Chu Yang's room to be yelled at. After being yelled at, he would leave the room with a gloomy face and summon his underlings to be yelled at…

Expectedly, King of Hell Chu only yelled when he had his reasons. Essentially, a person would only be yelled at if he had made a mistake. Although Chen Yu Tong was yelled at, he could not get angry at all since he deserved it for making a mistake. Minister Chu was the big boss after all…

Therefore, the only thing Chen Yu Tong could do was to yell at his own underlings since he did not dare to get mad at Minister Chu. This resulted in the creation of a rigorous and meticulous work culture in Heavenly Secret Hall. As time went by, no one dared to make any mistakes…

The hall's leader would get yelled at if someone wrote just one word wrongly. This would cause everyone under him to suffer with him as well. Who would dare to make a mistake?

Unbeknownst to them, Chen Yu Tong and his men had no clue that their suffering was a result of Mo Tian Ji's words. If they knew this, they would probably have eaten Mo Tian Ji alive…

Even before it was noon, a detailed report on Tang Xin Sheng was placed on Chu Yang's desk. The amount of information had increased greatly to around half a foot thick.

Even Wu Qian Qian was impressed with such efficiency…

This was truly faster than the speed of light…

Chu Yang flipped open the document and looked over the information carefully. Soon, a smile appeared on his face.

Although the new information was still clean, Chu Yang could tell that there were many discrepancies.

"This person became an official ten years ago. He was twenty-seven years old at the time. He was a poor youth that came from a farming family. He had lost his parents at the age of ten. At the age of twelve, his village was raided by Great Zhao. The entire village perished except for him. He became the lone survivor by hiding in a cellar."

Chu Yang spoke slowly as Wu Qian Qian, with a brush in one hand, quickly wrote down everything he said, "Everyone was killed in the most meticulous manner; this is the first suspicious point. Furthermore, if his house had a cellar, wouldn't most of the houses have cellars in accordance to the general customs of rural life as well? Everyone had died, except for a little child who was hiding in a cellar and left unharmed. This is the second suspicious point."

"If the soldiers of Great Zhao murdered villagers, there was bound to be ransacking. After ransacking the houses, they would simply need to set the place on fire, which is the best and easiest way. Hence, a fire would be inevitable in these scenarios. If he was indeed in a cellar and wasn't discovered by anyone, he would not have been able to live through the suffocation even if the fire did not reach him! In a situation where he was most likely to die, he managed to survive instead. This is the third suspicious point."

"Thereafter, he escaped from his village and came to Brocade Official City. Brocade Official City is not far from his village, just fifty miles away. But… to a twelve-year-old youth, this distance was not exactly short… Let's forget about this since we can't really force this point. Let's just put that aside for now. Uh… When he arrived at Brocade Official City, he immediately found a famous scholar to study under… How could a village child be able to find referrals for such a thing? Why would that famous scholar accept a beggar as his student without any referrals? Was he such a saint? This is the fourth suspicious point."

"Uh… Tang Xing Cheng passed his scholar examination at sixteen and married right after. He passed his official examination at twenty-six and underwent training for six months before he became an official at the age of twenty-seven. Haha… Even heaven-sent talents need time to learn how to be an official and the ways of politics. How could he be instated in just six months after passing his official examination? This is the fifth suspicious point."

"While there clearly were witnesses for this time period… A poor guy being chosen to be a guard would be a call for celebration. On the other hand, Tang Xin Cheng had passed his examinations with flying colors, as if he were a prodigy or a godsend, yet he did not have any fame back then. This does not align with the human mentality."

"Human mentality?" Wu Qian Qian asked curiously as she stopped writing for a moment.

"No matter where a person like that ends up in, he would always be a role model for everyone to emulate. However, Tang Xin Cheng did not want to be a role model and instead continually downplayed his accomplishments. He was a rising youth who did not want fame. This is the sixth suspicious point."

Chu Yang continued, "If he was truly humble, he would not have promoted all his good deeds. However, ever since he became an official, words of his good deeds has spread like wildfire. Besides, he was merely an official of a small region and managed only a handful of people. How did these words spread so quickly? It seems that someone was working behind his back to build up his reputation."

"Upon arrival at Iron Cloud Citadel, he became even more resolute. It seemed that everyone knew that he was an honorable official! He has only been an official for just ten years but his position is rather high. Such great fame is certainly extraordinary. This is the seventh suspicious point."

"He is extremely harsh with himself, yet forgiving towards others. Furthermore, in his ten years as an official, no one actually hates him and he doesn't even have an enemy! Everyone is on good terms with him… This is the eight suspicious point!"

Chu Yang smiled slightly, "Everyone claims that he does his job well. However, everyone must choose a side to be on, be it in the political scene or Jiang Hu. You will offend both sides if you stay on the fence. This is literally unavoidable! The royal court works in the same way; fighting occurs from both sides until a balance is achieved and they can move on."

"He has superior prowess, has never gotten into any power struggle, and does not have a lack of accomplishments." Chu Yang chuckled, "This world has never been so extremely fair, yet such a marvel has happened with him. He had no money, backings, or background, how could he have received such fairness? This is the ninth suspicious point!"

"Diwu Qing Rou began seizing power more than ten years ago. Immediately, he implemented his plan of depriving Iron Cloud of blacksmiths. Such timing is too much of a coincidence! This is the tenth suspicious point."

"Even though his accomplishments were obvious and significant, going from a lowly ninth rank official to a fourth rank official in ten years… It seems that he was promoted yearly… Such a promotion speed is too fast. This is the eleventh suspicious point."

"Although his son is talented, he refuses to allow him to become an official. He used the excuse of wanting to avoid people's criticisms, even though he wasn't an Iron Cloud Citadel official at that time. Why would he have to avoid people's criticism then? Moreover, he is overprotective of his son and barely allows him to have any contact with the outside world. Wouldn't this make it difficult for him to contribute to the nation with his so-called 'undying loyalty'? Such a behavior is difficult to comprehend, but it is indeed filled with hidden meanings. His son is a farmer but he never disrupted his scholarly studies… How laughable. If he has no intentions of becoming an official, why would he bother studying? Whose benefit was he preparing for?"

Chu Yang's smile turned cold, "This is the twelfth suspicious point!"

"With these twelve points, I would still want to kill him even if he were a real saint!" King of Hell Chu's eyes displayed a sharp light that had such great darkness that it appeared to be from the netherworld.