Chapter 112
Chapter 112
“My lord, you really can’t beat him.”
A constable stepped closer and lowered his voice.
“Why not? Who is he?” Liu Ye asked.
“He is one of the three hundred Immortal Masters personally appointed by His Majesty. If you strike him, the consequences will be enormous! The entire city’s population will suffer,” the constable explained.
“The entire city will suffer?” Liu Ye cried in shock.
“Yes!” The constable nodded.
“Heh. My lord, now you finally under-ow!”
Before Wuxinzi could finish, Liu Ye hurled the magistrate’s block at him, jumped down from the dais, and slapped him to the floor.
“You dare strike me? Aren’t you afraid His Majesty will punish you for this?” Wuxinzi shouted, clutching his cheek.
“He can do whatever he wants. It’ll take him a few days to punish me, but you annoy me right now. I can’t stand frauds who dress themselves up as gods and ghosts.”
Liu Ye raised his hand to slap him again, only for the constable to grab him around the waist.
“My lord, please consider the people of the city!”
“Oh, I don’t know any of them. I guess they’re just unlucky.”
Every citizen present fell silent.
So did Wuxinzi.
“Stop!”
An effeminate voice came from outside. A group of attendants entered around a pale, beardless man.
Wuxinzi brightened at the sight of him. He scrambled upright and bowed.
“Eunuch Wu!”
Eunuch Wu nodded. Someone behind him immediately brought over a chair. With a stylish flick of his robes, he sat down.
“Magistrate Liu! Daoist Master Wuxinzi is an accomplished master personally appointed by His Majesty. Without an imperial decree, you may not subject him to private punishment.”
Eunuch Wu accepted a cup of tea from a subordinate and spoke with perfect nonchalance.
“So I can’t beat him without that emperor’s permission?”
“Correct.”
Wuxinzi stood beside Eunuch Wu, looking smugly at Liu Ye.
“Fine. Then I’ll rebel. I quit.”
“Pfft!”
Eunuch Wu sprayed out a mouthful of tea and stared at Liu Ye in disbelief.
“Do you have any idea what you’re saying?” he demanded in horror.
“Of course. I’m rebelling. Everyone here is now part of my faction-especially you, Eunuch Wu. You’ve been an enormous help. Don’t worry. Once I take the throne, I’ll give you a high office!”
Eunuch Wu nearly died of fright.
“Treason! This is treason! Guards, seize this madman!”
Smack, smack, smack, smack…
A few slaps from Liu Ye left every man Eunuch Wu had brought sprawled across the floor.
Eunuch Wu was stunned. These were experts from the Eastern Depot, yet Liu Ye had dispatched them effortlessly.
“What are you waiting for, Eunuch? Let us raise the banner of rebellion and turn the world upside down! The great river flows east, and the stars above all face the Big Dipper!” Liu Ye sang at the top of his lungs, throwing an arm around Eunuch Wu’s shoulders.
“Magistrate Liu, forget the Big Dipper for a moment! Let’s talk this through…”
Eunuch Wu was doing far more than facing the Big Dipper. He was trembling from head to toe.
Regret filled his heart. Why had he waded into this mess? Wouldn’t it have been far more pleasant to stay home and embezzle money?
To be fair, he could hardly be blamed. Who could have imagined that a lowly county magistrate would be this ferocious?
After this, his reputation was ruined. Even if the rebellion was a sham, his superiors would never believe him.
And even if the imperial court sent men to destroy Liu Ye, who could say Eunuch Wu would not be implicated? He had plenty of enemies.
Given the present situation, there was no guarantee he would survive long enough for an army to arrive in the first place.
He immediately put on an ingratiating smile.
“Magistrate Liu! Surely matters need not go this far. Why don’t we pretend nothing happened? Let us all return to one hour ago. Isn’t that right, everyone?”
“Yes, yes! We didn’t hear anything!”
“Magistrate Liu is fair and incorruptible, a true model for us all.”
“An hour ago, I was standing right here.”
The citizens hurried to agree.
If they were labeled rebels, ordinary people like them would suffer the worst. The army’s discipline was hardly strict these days.
Once word spread that a rebellion needed suppressing, the generals would descend like madmen-especially when the supposed rebels could barely resist. If the soldiers started slaughtering innocents and claiming them as enemy kills…
The very thought was terrifying!
And so everyone present tacitly cast the preceding events into Oblivion.
“Now, where were we?” Liu Ye asked.
“Uh, you were asking whether you could beat him,” the constable supplied.
“Right. So can I beat him?” Liu Ye asked again.
“Magistrate Liu, he was appointed by His Maj-”
“Rebellion!”
“Wait, wait! Magistrate Liu, there’s no need to rebel! No one said you couldn’t hit him,” Eunuch Wu cried.
What kind of man was this?
He turned helplessly toward Wuxinzi.
“Eunuch, you’re simply going to let him beat me?” Wuxinzi asked.
“What else do you want me to do? If he makes a scene now, none of us will come out ahead. Don’t worry. I’ll tell the men to go easy on you. For the moment, we just need to humor him.”
What choice did Wuxinzi have? He could only accept.
“Advisor Qi, bring out the instruments of punishment!”
Wuxinzi obediently lay facedown on a bench. It was only a paddling, he told himself. With Eunuch Wu protecting him and more than thirty years of external martial arts training, how could he possibly fail to endure it?
Then Qiqi staggered out from behind a curtain. In her hands, she held a spiked club taller than a grown man and over two meters thick.
Wuxinzi was circulating his energy when he happened to glance sideways.
“Aaaah!”
He sprang to his feet. The spiked club smashed into the bench with a thunderous crash, reducing it to splinters, then struck the floor and left a crater.
“What are you doing? Who uses a spiked club for a paddling? And were you even aiming for my backside?”
“Witless-zi…”
“It’s Wuxinzi! Wait-” Wuxinzi clapped both hands over his mouth.
“What is your name supposed to be? You’re awfully demanding. Can we hit you or not? If we can’t, I’ll rebel.”
“Hit him, hit him! Men, beat him!” Eunuch Wu shouted in a panic.
A crowd immediately rushed forward and beat Wuxinzi within an inch of his life.
“From now on, anyone who encourages people to drown their children will meet the same fate.”
“Silence!”
A commanding voice rang out. A man strode rapidly into the hall.
Tears nearly filled Eunuch Wu’s eyes when he saw him.
“Senior Lord Liu! You’re finally here!”
The man addressed as Senior Lord Liu immediately clasped his hands, bowed, and apologized.
“Please forgive me, Eunuch Wu. My poor instruction allowed my unworthy son to offend you.”
Eunuch Wu almost wept.
Now this was more like it. This was how a normal person was supposed to think. Who could bear dealing with someone who declared rebellion at every turn?