Death… and me

As King of Hell Chu exited, Jun Lu Lu sighed softly and said, "This Lian Fan Lei is really unlucky.Isn't he suicidal to provoke the King of Hell Chu at such a critical moment? The King of Hell Chu already has so many people. During the coronation of the new emperor, he had remained quiet out of respect for him. However, now that it was over, the crucial moment had come for him to find someone to demonstrate his power on. However, he was unable to find anyone. Yet, you had to stick your head right under King of Hell Chu's blade."

"Yes, if the King of Hell Chu intended on going to the center of the entire continent in order to confuse Diwu Qing Rou, he would definitely wouldn't hesitate creating a large commotion within Iron Cloud Citadel. This would lead Diwu Qing Rou to believe that he was still in Iron Cloud. As a result, this would increase the possibility of success during his mission to Great Zhao! It would have been sufficient with just the Lian family. However, there will definitely be more than just them." A low voice spoke.

"Hmm, okay." Jun Lu Lu Lu turned his back into a room and said, "Young master Wei, what do you think of King of Hell Chu? Please give me your opinion on him."

"It is possible for him to be a key character." Young master Wei, who had yet to make an appearance said in a low voice, "However, this person is too dangerous!"

"Too dangerous?" Jun Lu Lu frowned.

"There seems to be a dangerous aura surrounding his body." Young master Wei said casually, "However, his strength is still relatively weak and thus does not pose a threat to us."

"What about going to the middle of the continent, Great Zhao?" Jun Lu Lu asked.

"Prepare three separate identities for him." Young master Wei said, "All of these three identities should be young musicians. Two of them male and the last female. However, only one of them will use the surname Chu. If possible, you should only use one the other two identities are contingencies."

"Okay!"

"Our House of Exceptional Beauties cannot be used by him at no cost! When he returns, make him pay something for our services rendered!" Young master Wei said in a low voice, "I heard that he has many heavenly weapons; Ah Lu, you might want to take one to play with."

"Heavenly weapons…" Jun Lu Lu showed a look of surprise. She then suddenly smiled in a cute manner, "Brother Wei… do you really think that if we help him with such a small favor, he would be willing to handover to us a heavenly weapon which people consider as precious as life itself?"

"Cough cough… I have to cultivate." Young master Wei became completely quiet.

A look of anger appeared on Jun Lu Lu's face, and she muttered, "It's the same every time. He runs away the moment our conversation reaches…"

Official Lian Cheng Gui was a minister who was focused on bringing in revenue. During this period, he was so busy that he felt as though his head was spinning. After working intensely on official business, he stretched his back to release the tension in his stiff muscles before getting into his carriage and head home.

However, while he was on his way home, he frowned as his heart was filled with worry.

The department was experiencing a large deficit. While he had been doing great work in terms of earning revenue for the past few years, he had to remain steadfast now that the new emperor inherited the throne. On the off chance that he was caught, his entire family would be done for.

Fortunately, the emperor still trusts me. During this period, I should make a few changes to the paper records and provide my subordinates with some sort of benefit. Not only will I be able to trap them but also attribute myself with a couple of achievements…

Upon arriving at home and before he could even settle in his seat, his son, Lian Fan Lei rushed into the room. His words almost caused his father to cough out blood as he said, "Father, I need to borrow a few shadow guards!"

"What do you want to do with them?" Lian Cheng Gui was extremely surprised. How could shadow guards be used as he pleased! They were part of the protective force of the national treasury!

"There is an ignorant punk that I have to deal with!" Lian Fan Lei ground his teeth.

"Someone provoked you?" Despite Lian Cheng Gui's anger, he managed to suppress his emotions as he asked for further details.

In any case, he had to at least know who offended this guy.

"Who is this person?"

"He was at the House of Exceptional Beauties! His surname is Chu!" Lian Fan Lei was so angry he could barely sit still. He quickly told his father everything.

Lian Cheng Gui was so angry that he almost fainted! Even though he was aware that his son was an idiot, he never would have expected his son to be so stupid! It was already terrible enough that he was fighting for a girl at a brothel and now he was requesting for the mobilization of the shadow guards!

The old man was continually worried every single day. He was so worried and afraid that he was barely able to even breathe. This was because he was fearful that there would be a flaw in his plan that he might have overlooked. He was also worried that someone else would use him to curry favour with the new emperor. Even though he was being extremely careful in the words that he spoke, his son was outside causing trouble. Before he was even able to reprimand his son for making so much unnecessary trouble, his son continued to pester him to mobilize the shadow guards to help him with a fight…

"Bam!" Unable to control himself, he slapped his son right in the face and roared, "Insolent! Who gave you permission to go to the House of Exceptional Beauties? Can't you at least control yourself for a little while? Huh?"

"Father!" Lian Fan Lei held his red face in astonishment. He never imagined that his father would hit him, let alone as hard as he did. He had never experienced such a thing before and had never seen his father react so harshly!

The sound of thundering horse hooves approached. A voice rang out, "Bu Tian Pavilion's business! All bystanders move aside!"

Is the sound of horse hooves coming in our direction?

Lian Cheng Gui's face turned white. He was no longer bothered about disciplining his son and immediately rushed to the main door!

His front door overlooked the main road which allowed him to see what was happening. There were a few dozen big horses which were as dark as coal. Riding on their backs were a few dozen men dressed in black. Their faces cold and emotionless as they continued to advance towards him. Moreover, their leader was none other than Cheng Zi Ang, the hall leader of Bu Tian Pavilion!

Lian Cheng Gui's mind went blank.

The moment they arrived at the manor's door, Cheng Zi Ang raised his arm and at once, all of the fighters from Bu Tian Pavilion dispersed, surrounding the entire manor!

Cheng Zi Ang softly jumped down from the horse and walked forward. With a nod, he said, "Official Lian, what a coincidence. We meet again."

Lian Cheng Gui wanted to cry. What sort of coincidence is this? In this entire citadel, the person everyone hates to run into the most is you. Seeing you is definitely not a good thing!

"Cheng… Official Cheng." Lian Cheng Gui's voice trembled a little. He greeted Cheng Zi Ang and asked, "This is…"

"We were ordered by the minister to take your entire family, both young and old, for a drink." Cheng Zi Ang said gently, "Just for a drink. I hope Official Lian will cooperate with us."

"A drink…" Lian Cheng Gui's saw the world collapse in front of his eyes. Cheng Zi Ang had said the same phrase when he arrested more than a dozen officials before this.

"What crime did I commit?" Lian Cheng Gui held onto a last ray of hope, "I request to see the emperor! I want to see the emperor! I am an important official in the royal court; you people in Bu Tian Pavilion do not have the power to arrest me!"

"The minister said that his target is not you; there was just something that made him curious…" Cheng Zi Ang sighed.

"What? Curious?" Lian Cheng Gui trembled.

"What made King of Hell Chu curious? I… While I am the minister of revenue, I don't think I am worthy of accomplishing such a feat…"

"Don't worry it's probably nothing." Cheng Zi Ang said casually, "He heard that the young master tossed out one hundred fifty thousand silver taels just to hear a beauty's melody… Official Lian, this was what made the minister curious."

"It's not just the minister who is curious! Even I am curious! Official Lian does really seem to have very deep pockets. Tsk, to give a hundred fifty thousand silver taels just to hear a single song… If I am not wrong, your monthly salary is only eighty silver taels! You don't even make a thousand taels in a year." Cheng Zi Ang said, "Official Lian, the young master didn't even hesitate to spend such a large sum of your hard-earned money that you would have had to work two hundred years to earn… just to hear a melody!"

"This is slander!" Lian Cheng Gui's body was cold with sweat. His vision become blurred as he tried to deny the charge, "How can there be such a thing?!"

"Official Lian, did the young master did not tell you?…" Cheng Zi Ang winked mysteriously, "At the House of Exceptional Beauties, the young master fought for a girl with another person." He lowered his voice and said enigmatically, "… His surname is Chu."

"His surname is Chu…" Lian Cheng Gui murmured. He suddenly remembered his son talking about mobilizing the shadow guards to get even with someone with the surname Chu…

The small bit of hope that Lian Cheng Gui had sank into the abyss as he trembled and said, "Could it be… that person was the minister?"

Cheng Zi Ang smiled. All he did was smile.

"Oh oh… oh oh…" Lian Cheng Gui did not know whether to laugh or to cry. He was so shocked that his mouth made a bunch of odd noises as though he was unable to even speak properly. Right after that, Lian Cheng Gui closed his eyes, and his whole body fell backward. He fainted without being able to say a word…

The only thought that remained in his head before he fainted was: This is indeed really hilarious! People were unable to hide quickly enough, leading to them being arrested and yet, my son dared to fight for a woman with him. He even dared to show off in front of King of Hell Chu and spent a hundred thousand taels just to hear a melody?

This is just too funny!

Lian Fan Lei came from behind his father and stood there stupefied. He could not believe what he was hearing… So… that person was King of Hell Chu!

It was no wonder that the people who came with him became so angry when I insulted him…

Right away, young master Lian wailed and screamed, "I… I really did not know who he was…"

"The minister has ordered for us to seize the entire Lian family! Seal the ministry of revenue! Scrutinize every single detail carefully!" Cheng Zi Ang gave an order which shook the entire citadel! Seal the entire ministry of revenue and check everything meticulously? How many people were going to be caught?

The entire Iron Cloud Citadel was in shock! Before, it was rooting out spies. This time, it was investigating corruptions and large fortunes of unknown origins…

It was known that regardless of whichever dynasty, kingdom or country they were in, the number of corrupt officials would far outnumber that of spies! Moreover, when it came to large fortunes of unknown origins, which official did not have at least something to hide?

The jail cells of the judicial department were once again taken over and used by the Bu Tian Pavilion! During the time before the new emperor had ascended the throne, there was a great amnesty. Many of the prisoners had been freed, resulting in a lot of vacant cells…

Early in the morning of the second day, Tie Bu Tian convened the court and saw that something was amiss.

Many officials had gone missing. Usually, the royal court would have more than a hundred people. However, from the looks of it, it seemed that there were less than half now.

"What is this? Is everyone on vacation?" Tie Bu Tian was a little annoyed.

"Your Majesty, please save us!" Even if someone had given them an order, their actions could not have been more choreographed. More than half of the remaining officials kneeled together in unison. One of the officials who could not kneel stood with a tearful face.

The remaining officials that stood in court, with the exception of the elderly ones surprisingly totaled less than thirty all together… However, the remaining people all stood proudly with their chests puffed up regardless of their position!

After removing all of the sand and impurities, one would be able to find gold! Even if the amount of gold was small…

"What is this? Where are all the others?" Tie Bu Tian was now also surprised.

The officials remained silent and looked at one another. After a long time, one of the officials who was kneeling down near the front said with a trembling voice, "All of the others have been arrested by King of Hell Chu. Even we are also… also… Your Majesty! Oh oh…" The official suddenly burst into tears, "People from Bu Tian Pavilion are outside the royal court waiting to arrest us…"

Tie Bu Tian was shocked and his jaw dropped, he didn't know what to do or say. It was as though he had been turned into stone!