Death… and me

Diwu Qing Rou remained seated as he calmly watched Lu Ren Jia. He was so calm that it made general manager Lu Ren Jia terrified as he stood facing Diwu Qing Rou.

He was here because of the royal decree, but right now, he felt as if Diwu Qing Rou was looking down at him from high above. Although his Diwu Qing Rou's gaze was impassive, Lu Ren Jia could detect a sense of disdain in it.

General manager Lu Ren Jia was nothing but just an insignificant ant at the bottom of a mountain.

This feeling made him feel extremely bothered.

He felt that he was being looked down on.

No matter what, he was still a powerful general manager after all! He was only in this position because he had lost his manhood. Money and beauty do not interest general manager Lu. His attention was only on power!

The desire for respect from others increases each day! In fact, his self-esteem had become too huge.

"The royal decree has arrived! Diwu Qing Rou, receive the royal decree!" When the greeting that he was hoping for was not received, general manager Lu stared at Diwu Qing Rou and yelled again.

Diwu Qing Rou's brows were slightly furrowed. Lu Ren Jia was unable to comprehend why, but it caused a chill to pass over his entire body.

"Read it!"

Diwu Qing Rou's expression was still as impassive and calm as before, and his gaze was icy cold. He words were gentle, but he had completely shattered Lu Ren Jia's huge self-esteem!

He could sense that if he did not read it this time, he would never ever have the chance to read it again!

Behind him, four little eunuchs that were standing in ceremony were already trembling violently in fear.

"As the heavens willed, the emperor decrees…" a nasal voice rang out.

"Give me the content!" Diwu Qing Rou demanded.

"…" Lu Ren Jia choked and almost had a fit.

"… Diwu Qing Rou is responsible for recovering all of the treasures from the royal vault…" Lu Ren Jia finally gave in and got straight to the point.

"The royal vault was robbed?" Diwu Qing Rou frowned and continued muttering to himself. "He wants everything to be returned?" mocked Diwu Qing Rou.

Standing at the side, Gao Sheng almost laughed out loud.

"Get out," ordered Diwu Qing Rou to Lu Ren Jia.

Lu Ren Jia held in his anger and said, "Prime Minister Diwu, before this servant came here, His Majesty had said that Prime Minister Diwu must have needed those treasures that he took. But those treasures are still ones that had been collected by the royal family. His Majesty hopes that Prime Minister Diwu would understand the predicament that His Majesty is in…"

"Mmm, yes, I understand," Diwu Qing Rou remarked casually.

These words, however, caused general manager Lu's eyes to widen. His Majesty asks for your understanding out of politeness, and you are able to relate?

"His Majesty also gave an oral decree." Lu Ren Jia continued with gritted teeth.

"Huh?" Diwu Qing Rou's expression was still impassive, but general manager Lu could sense that he was losing patience.

"His Majesty said that… He hopes Diwu Qing Rou knows what it means to have a bad reputation and would not choose to become a traitor! If not, He would have to lose everything," Lu Ren Jia stated hesitantly.

In actual fact, these words were not the emperor's decree. They were words that had been spoken in private between the emperor and empress. At that time, general manager Lu was waiting nearby to serve them and had overheard. As soon as he heard what they said, he had placed Diwu Qing Rou among the ranks of officials who were about to be deposed and executed at any moment.

If the emperor spoke of him that way, how can he be a good official?

Prime Minister? So what? Were there any high ranking officials that could not be killed by the emperor? Diwu Qing Rou, you might be powerful, but you are still just another subject!

Therefore, in order to redeem what was left of his broken self-esteem, general manager Lu spoke these words without a second thought.

He had expected to see Diwu Qing Rou start to sweat profusely and to kowtow to him after hearing them…

When that happened, general manager Lu would arrogantly say: If you knew this was going to happen, why did you do it in the first place? I am unable to help you… He would then wave his arms dismissively and leave…

A terrified and regretful Diwu Qing Rou would be left in the room!

Sure enough, Diwu Qing Rou's expression changed immediately after hearing those words. His gaze turned even colder. It seemed as though a layer of ice was slowly forming over his face. "His Majesty said this?" Diwu Qing Rou said menacingly.

"Of course!" smirked general manager Lu.

"In that case, I must trouble you to tell His Majesty that I, Diwu Qing Rou, will not forget this! I will give His Majesty a satisfactory answer!" Diwu Qing Rou said threateningly.

Before Lu Ren Jia could utter another word, Gao Sheng waved his arm dismissively, "Someone! Kick this eunuch out!"

In the blink of an eye, large men had grabbed both Lu Ren Jia and his entourage mercilessly and had dragged them out.

"Prime Minister, don't let the words affect you. It is highly unlikely that these words were said by the emperor himself." Gao Sheng said as he attempted to comfort Diwu Qing Rou.

"I know that this is not the emperor's oral decree!" scoffed Diwu Qing Rou.

"If that is the case, why…"

"Although they are not the emperor's oral decree, I believe the emperor definitely said those words!" Diwu Qing Rou said.

"Wh…" Gao Sheng was speechless.

The emperor said those words? Of course!

How can there be smoke if there is no fire? Lu Ren Jia was just a eunuch. Even if he was brave, he would not dare to make up what the emperor had said. What he had said was proof that the emperor did indeed say the same thing.

Conflict had existed between the royal family and Diwu Qing Rou for a long time. However, the two sides had never turned against each other. The royal family abhorred Diwu Qing Rou. They hated that they were unable to chop this incredibly powerful official into thousands of pieces. Yet, they also knew that Great Zhao could not be without Diwu Qing Rou.

Everyone knew in their hearts that what Great Zhao needed was to become a fortified, wealthy nation that could rise above others! And what Diwu Qing Rou needed was to unify the world and create an unparalleled authority!

At a glance, their goals were similar. Yet in reality, they were far from similar. Diwu Qing Rou was someone who would fight for his ideals and forget about himself. His life goal was to control everything and use his wisdom to unify the world!

Diwu Qing Rou could not care less about power! Power was only a tool for him to inch closer to his goal!

Therefore, it could be said that the two sides are in need of each other!

However, Diwu Qing Rou was so powerful that he could have easily taken over the ruling position if he wanted! But he did not do that. This implied something: His Majesty can continue to do His emperor job while Diwu Qing Rou continues to do what he does! His Majesty can continue to enjoy His glory and wealth while Diwu Qing Rou continues to fight for this empire!

This was their unspoken exchange.

But no matter how talented he was… he would still be a pain in the neck for the emperor! But the emperor of Great Zhao could do nothing but accept the situation right now. Even though the emperor was extremely infuriated… he could only continue to endure!

This situation continued, remaining unchanging. It continued until the battles ended, without any winner or loser.

This was the history of Great Zhao! Its official history!

However, right now, because of what the eunuch had said… because of his huge self-esteem, the relationship between the emperor and Diwu Qing Rou became even tenser.

Because of just a few words, Diwu Qing Rou and the royal family no longer had any room to negotiate.

It was especially troublesome, especially since there were five eunuchs, as well as Gao Sheng. If they were ordinary people, Diwu Qing Rou would not hesitate to silence them all and continue with the existing status quo.

But he could not kill Gao Sheng.

He could not kill Gao Sheng, but he could kill the five eunuchs. However, killing them would only make it seem as if he was afraid. But if he were to let them go… the friction would only intensify.

At this point in time, the robbery of the nation's vault was no longer significant! What was important was… the fight for power in Great Zhao. Because of something someone insignificant had said, history had changed.

Just like drama, history is full of twists and turns.

Who knew that an insignificant person could change history?

General manager Lu had done it! With merely a position of a eunuch, he had stirred up trouble by saying just a few words!

It could even be said that he was the most atrocious eunuch of all times!

No matter how things developed after today… or whether general manager Lu survived beyond this day… or who would win this continental battle… The fame of this Fantasy Night Phoenix would surely be etched in the history of Nine Heavens!

"The nation's vault was robbed!" said Diwu Qing Rou as his eyes flashed coldly. He started to go through each detail, "It happened in just a night, right from the moment of chaos till the moment all the young masters left, it definitely took place in ten hours or less! Golden Horse Riders Department had surrounded the outside the whole time. There was definitely no one carrying anything bulky out of the palace! There wasn't even anyone who was carrying a small bag!"

"The time frame was too short, it is impossible for anyone to clean out the nation's vault in this time period!"

"But the emperor insisted that the nation's vault is empty right now! And he wants me to return everything!"

Diwu Qing Rou scoffed loudly. His voice was as cold as ice, "He even said that he would not be afraid of losing everything…"

"Haha…" Diwu Qing Rou smiled serenely, but his smile caused Gao Sheng to shiver in fear.

What Diwu Qing Rou had just said revealed several things. In short, it meant that the royal family of Great Zhao could no longer endure the authoritative power that Diwu Qing Rou had and they would make a move sooner or later!

How could Diwu Qing Rou just stand by and not retaliate back against these people? Diwu Qing Rou always had the habit of making pre-emptive moves…

"But is the royal family really this stupid?" enquired a very puzzled Gao Sheng.

"The royal family is much more stupid than anyone can perceive!" Diwu Qing Rou said with a sneer, and with this sentence, he hammered the final nail on to the coffin.

Everything that is going to occur from now on could not be undone!

Unable to capture King of Hell Chu, Jing Meng Hun returned to the Prime Minister's manor with a letter and an IOU.

First line: Today, I owe a total of one hundred thousand silver taels to Heaven Reaching Tower for damaging its property!

Second line: Today, I owe a total of nine hundred thousand silver taels to Heaven Reaching Tower for damaging its reputation!

Third line: Signer's thumbprint.

Signer: Diwu Qing Rou.

Representative: Jing Meng Hun.

His bright red thumbprint…