Chapter 83: Please Don’t Do Kindness in Any Place

Capital city.

In the Purple Palace, the emperor, wearing his yellow formal suit, sat at his desk, concentrating on reading the memorial in front of him.

Pei Shanggong gently lifted the lid of the celadon Suan Ni incense burner, moved the incense balls in the burner with a golden hairpin, and then covered it again.

Wisps of light white smoke came out of the beast's mouth, dispelling the coldness in the hall.

However, the warmth brought by the precious ambergris pills could not reach Censor Chang's heart.

He knelt on the ground, pressing his forehead against the slightly cool floor tiles, wishing that the tiles would crack so that he could crawl into the crack and never come out.

Censor Chang felt ashamed, veins popping out on the back of his hands as he stared at the official seal and hat that had been taken off in front of him.

He clearly had the seal of an official, the protection of a righteous spirit, and the backing of the True Dragon Emperor, but he still got tricked in Fujiao City—

First he entered the He family, and was almost bewitched by the He family's owner without knowing it, but was warned by the official seal and escaped from the He family;

Knowing that there was an evil spirit in Fujiao City, he did not leave the city immediately to seek help from the neighboring counties or even the provincial capital, but went to the Fujiao County Government in a daze;

Don’t you think about it? If the Fujiao County Government is still reliable, how could they sit idly by and watch the He family spread evil and pollution and develop followers of evil gods?

One wrong step, all wrong.

As an imperial censor, he fell asleep in the Fuju County government office and failed to fulfill his duty of supervising the local area.

If the Heavenly Fox, who cares about the people, had not appeared to exorcise the demon, the entire Chizhou would have collapsed in his sleep.

He failed in his duty.

Half an incense stick of time had passed since Censor Chang took off his hat and apologized, but the emperor said nothing, as if he had not heard his statement and had forgotten that there was such a person kneeling on the ground.

For the first time, Censor Chang felt that time could be so unbearable.

Cold sweat flowed down his neck into his official uniform, wetting his back and making him itchy all over, but he dared not move.

"Chang Qing."

The emperor finally spoke, and from his tone he was not angry. Censor Chang was overjoyed and knelt down twice: "I am here!"

"How does Shuiyue tea taste?"

What is Shuiyue tea? Censor Chang looked up in confusion. After a moment he remembered that the tea that Magistrate Fujiao drank seemed to be specially taken from some Wuai spring and brewed into some Shuiyue tribute tea.

He was indeed a first-rate talent who could pass the imperial examination. Although he had no intention of paying attention to these details while drinking tea, his brain, which had been trained for many years, still passively memorized these scraps.

Why did Your Majesty suddenly ask about tea?

Censor Chang was thinking quickly, and the next moment, he heard the emperor chuckle.

"A small county magistrate can enjoy such a life. This shows how wealthy Jiangnan is."

Censor Chang was startled and finally realized that Chizhou was rich and had always been a major tax collection center. The taxes from the state could account for more than three percent of the entire Dawu.

Fox fairies appeared in the world to help with disaster relief, but the government did nothing. Naturally, the scale in the hearts of the people would lean towards the fox fairies.

It is not uncommon for great demons to establish their own demon kingdoms and invade the territory of the Great Zhou.

Who knows if behind this miracle is a struggle for national destiny?

Thinking of this, Chang Yushi kowtowed repeatedly: "I am guilty, I am guilty..."

The consequences of his dereliction of duty this time were more serious than he had imagined.

The emperor glanced at Pei Shang Gong, who understood and stepped forward to help Chang Yushi up personally: "Sir Chang, His Majesty has no intention of blaming you."

Censor Chang raised his head, his forehead was red, his eyes were full of disbelief. To be honest, if he were the emperor, he would have wanted to behead himself.

"In the past two years, natural disasters and man-made disasters have continued. There are often discussions in the court and the public that it is the people without virtue who have angered the heavens and thus brought about disasters." The emperor sighed, "The matter of Chizhou is not your fault. As long as the flood can be resolved, even if you divide the north and south with the fox fairy, what's the harm?"

Chang Yushi's face changed, and he was about to speak, but the emperor said, "It's just that He was recommended by the Right Prime Minister. I'm worried that this matter will implicate him. I wonder if Chang Qing has any plans for it?"

Censor Chang was a disciple of the Right Prime Minister. Before coming to see the emperor, he had already been to the Right Prime Minister's residence and asked his teacher to teach him how to do it.

The right prime minister had only two words: "Plead guilty."

Therefore, he accepted his fate. Being dismissed from office and sent back to his hometown or even imprisoned was what he deserved.

He never expected that His Majesty would lift him up high, put him down gently, and then change the subject and ask about the Right Prime Minister.

At this moment, he suddenly understood why His Majesty would let him, a disciple of the Right Prime Minister, supervise the He family recommended by the Right Prime Minister.

At first glance, it seems that Your Majesty trusts the Right Prime Minister. Bystanders may think that the Right Prime Minister is too powerful and Your Majesty has no one to use, so he still has to rely on the aristocratic families.

However, in the opinion of Censor Chang who was in the middle of the situation, His Majesty was deliberately condoning the situation.

If he were not a disciple of the Right Prime Minister, he could now speak a few words for the Right Prime Minister.

But he is.

Then, even if not for his own sake, but only for the sake of his teacher's reputation, he had no choice but to impeach the right prime minister and ask him for his "inability to judge people clearly."

Otherwise, what awaits the right prime minister will be even more severe charges of "forming cliques for personal gain" and "nepotism".

So, although the emperor said "I'm afraid of implicating the right prime minister", what he actually meant was "I'm afraid of not implicating the right prime minister".

And the right prime minister had already given up on him.

Will the teacher understand his painstaking efforts for the teacher?

If he wanted to impeach the right prime minister, he had to do it thoroughly.

After leaving the Purple Palace today, he and the Right Prime Minister are no longer teacher and student, but enemies!

After thinking through all these points, and thinking about his experiences in Fujiao County Yamen and the Right Prime Minister's Mansion, the emperor knew everything clearly. How could Censor Chang not know that this matter was a trap set by the emperor from the very beginning.

He stared blankly at the emperor with a gentle expression. Until now, he seemed to be really worried about the right prime minister.

Is this... the mind of an emperor?

Chang Yushi's face turned pale, and he stood there for a long time, then leaned forward and said, "Your Majesty, I cannot agree with what you said."

The emperor was startled: "What does this mean?"

Now that he had started, the rest of the words came out naturally: "The flood in Chizhou was both a natural disaster and a man-made disaster. I have heard that He and the Right Prime Minister had a secret deal. The Right Prime Minister promised to use an official from the Ministry of Revenue in exchange for He's loyalty. That is why He refused to recruit your majesty and missed the best opportunity to control the flood..."

After all, Censor Chang was only an Assistant Censor and was not an important figure in front of the Right Prime Minister. Naturally, he had no evidence of the correspondence between the Right Prime Minister and He. Even the private transactions between them were heard privately from old friends.

But he had made up his mind to break away from the Right Prime Minister's party and become a loyal and solitary minister: "Three days later, at the grand court meeting, I will produce ironclad evidence to accuse the Right Prime Minister of forming a clique, deceiving the emperor, and harming the people!"

The emperor did not seem to have expected that Censor Chang would be so decisive. She had originally intended to use this person as a breakthrough point to bleed the Right Prime Minister's party.

Unexpectedly, he wanted to cut off the teacher's life.

Young people are still the ones who dare to think and work hard, she felt in her heart.

"Since this has happened," the emperor pondered, "we must find out the truth. We must not wrongly accuse good people, nor let the traitors go."

Censor Chang nodded and left with great enthusiasm.

Pei Shanggong walked behind the throne and pinched the emperor's shoulder, who looked tired. If the dynasty had not continued to this day and the aristocratic families had not become too powerful to be eliminated, why would the emperor have gone to so much trouble?

Given the emperor's temperament, the heads that rolled down from Caishikou should have been piled up into a memorial stone.

The emperor patted the back of Pei Shanggong's hand and was about to speak when he suddenly heard a slightly shrill voice coming from outside the palace: "Your Majesty, I have something to report."

"Come in."

Eunuch Lu, dressed in purple robes and with a white face and no beard, stepped over the threshold, walked into the hall with his body bent, knelt before the emperor, and said softly: "My aunt has returned from the underworld with the divine doctor Tan."

The emperor sat up straight, asked Pei Shanggong to stop what she was doing, and lowered his head and asked, "Have you seen anyone?"

"I only saw a general of the Suanni Army, who was completely mentally deprived and unable to communicate."

The emperor, whose majesty was unpredictable in front of Chang Yushi, suddenly changed his expression, clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, and endured it again and again, but still couldn't help asking: "Then...where is the imperial sister?"

Eunuch Lu shook his head.

The hall fell into silence.

After a while, Pei Shanggong whispered: "I'm afraid that His Highness has entered the reincarnation. For her, this may not be a bad thing..."

The emperor interrupted her: "Doesn't that genius doctor Tan have the ability to bring people back to life? I want to go to Fengzhou in person..."

"Your Majesty, you can't do that." Pei Shanggong hurriedly advised, "The dead cannot be resurrected. If Your Majesty knew about this in the afterlife, he would not agree with Your Majesty's actions. Moreover, evil spirits are appearing frequently now, and Your Majesty should stay in the capital. The body of the emperor is closely related to the fate of the country. Your Majesty has entrusted the country to Your Majesty, so how can Your Majesty easily take risks?"

The emperor was speechless, like a child who had done something wrong, he slowly leaned back in his chair and muttered to himself: "Then let Sect Leader Duotian sit on the throne. Aren't they all powerful? Sizhou, Chizhou, Fengzhou, where is next? Give it to them, this world, give it to them..."

It is hard to imagine that an emperor in his prime, energetic and dedicated to governing the country could utter such disheartened words.

However, when Pei Shanggong and Eunuch Lu heard these words, they understood that although the emperor said so, he was just talking.

Pei Shang Gong even had unnecessary doubts. Did His Majesty say this because he was really sad thinking of his sister, or was he saying it to the old ministers of the eldest princess?

After all, Eunuch Lu's aunt, the witch Lu who has been hiding her real name for many years, is the fastest knife left by the eldest princess for Your Majesty.

If he could continue to serve, perhaps it would alleviate His Majesty's worries about the Duotian Sect...

Fengzhou City.

Witch Lu was following the genius doctor Tan and the officials from the Demon Hunting Bureau into the city.

She suddenly felt a burning sensation on her waist and touched a jade pendant hidden in her purse. She seemed to sense something and her expression changed slightly.

Beside her, the Mozhe Yin Chan who was supporting her said with concern: "Mother-in-law, are you feeling unwell?"

Witch Lu shook her head, and a strange look flashed across her eyes.

Eunuch Lu conveyed the emperor's words to her truthfully and asked her to monitor Dr. Tan's future movements.

Doctor Tan and his fellow sisters are indeed extremely powerful, and she can understand why His Majesty is uneasy about this.

But wasn't it because I understood the character of the current emperor that I left the capital?

She was a good emperor, but after all, not a good monarch like the eldest princess.

Witch Lu raised her eyes full of white film and "looked" at the back of Doctor Tan.

Although his supernatural powers are a little different from those of ordinary people, the compassion of the miracle doctor cannot be false.

She didn't have to worry about this natural disaster. With her abilities, she could have stayed out of it anyway.

But she still chose to protect the people.

This world is full of gods and Buddhas, but in the eyes of today's witch Lu, only the miracle doctor Tan is truly worthy of the title of "God".

As Goddess Lu was feeling emotional, the female doctor Li Zhou stopped in front of an altar for praying for rain.

Chu Shen, a member of the Fangshen sect, carried Doctor Gou's banner with the inscription "Healing the World with Medicine" and followed her respectfully.

This banner now belongs to Li Zhou.

Of course, Li Zhou didn't steal or rob this thing. She asked Gong Daopan about it, and he said she could take it.

The drought situation is severe, and there are countless altars of all sizes in Fengzhou City. In order to pray for rain, everyone is trying their best to show off their magical powers.

On this small altar, a group of people wearing short skirts and holding castanets were imitating goats jumping around, while looking up and singing mysterious songs.

Doctor Li Zhou smelled it for a while and sighed in her heart: As expected of northerners, they all love to eat barbecued skewers.

She took out her lancet and prepared to be kind and have a small appetizer.

Witch Lv, who believed that Dr. Tan was the only true god, suddenly changed her mind after seeing this scene.

She knew that Dr. Tan had a kind heart, but he didn't have to be so kind all the time.