I have Immortality In The Cultivation World

Chapter 544: Chapter 404 Loyal and Commendable

Yangxin Hall.

Zhou Yi bowed and retreated.

The Orthodox Emperor watched the disappearing figure and suddenly asked the eunuch by his side,

“Little Yuanzi, on the day when the tribute entered the palace, you were conveniently out visiting relatives. Do you think he was the one who poisoned me?”

Eunuch Yuan’s complexion turned to one of alarm as his mind raced to consider what to say at this moment.

Whether it was Zhou Yi who poisoned him was not important; what mattered was that his response aligned with His Majesty’s wishes. A misstep could mean losing imperial favor.

...

After only pondering for the time it takes to take three breaths, Eunuch Yuan had an answer and said in a high-pitched voice,

“Your Majesty, I believe Eunuch Yi is certainly a suspect. Anyone who poses the slightest threat to Your Majesty should be eliminated rather than ignored!”

The Orthodox Emperor nodded slightly, quite satisfied with the answer.

Having been poisoned and fainting for half an hour the previous night, even though the Imperial Physician assured him repeatedly there were no lingering dangers, the thought alone still made him shudder.

If he were to fall victim to ghostly trickeries with his great endeavors unfinished, he would indeed die with eyes unshut!

At this moment.

The eunuch on duty outside reported, “Your Majesty, Commander Ji of the stabilization forces requests an audience.”

The Orthodox Emperor said, “Let him roll in.”

Ji Yue curled up and rolled on the ground like a ball, rumbling forward until he reached the Orthodox Emperor and kowtowed three times with nine bows, “Your Majesty’s fright is my death a thousand times over!”

The rouge case originated from a tribute outside the palace and tracing it back, Zhou Yi was not greatly related to it; direct responsibility lay with the stabilization forces.

The Orthodox Emperor asked in a cold voice, “Have you found anything?”

Ji Yue offered up a memorial, “Your Majesty, this is a record of Eunuch Yi’s movements since leaving the palace, and my men haven’t relaxed their surveillance in the slightest.” @@novelbin@@

The Orthodox Emperor quickly browsed through it, feeling relieved inside, but scolded aloud.

“For a mere palace eunuch to be so fawned over by local officials, they completely lack the integrity of a scholar. Is he returning home to visit relatives or looting localities? This is utterly disgraceful!”

Seeing Zhou Yi reprimanding Magistrate Tian and demanding corrections where due, the Orthodox Emperor felt pleased.

Little Yi was indeed somewhat greedy, but he still knew his place and was commendably loyal!

Ji Yue ventured to ask, “Your Majesty, should we investigate Eunuch Yi for embezzling?”

Zhou Yi, being one of the most powerful eunuchs in the palace, had long been a focus of rivalry between the two bureaus; naturally, he was also a target for their surveillance, allowing for quick evidence of embezzlement to be presented today.

The Orthodox Emperor glanced at Ji Yue. It was good that the bureaus were competing, but allowing it to delay the investigation into the rouge case showed a lack of agility in thinking.

After all, he had ascended the throne hastily and didn’t have enough of his own people in the mix. Ji Yue was loyal but lacked the necessary abilities.

“Strip Tian Xu of his rank and official position and hand him over to the Ministry of Justice for sentencing,”

The Orthodox Emperor stated, “Recover Zhou’s manor and lands as a display during patrols and transfer Zhou Xiong into the heavenly prison to manage it.”

Envy flashed in Eunuch Yuan’s eyes; such solid evidence of embezzlement didn’t make Zhou Yi lose imperial favor. Instead, his brother was promoted.

Managing the heavenly prison was a ranked official position, a world apart from a mere clerk!

Though Ji Yue was slow on the uptake, he now understood; the Emperor needed Zhou Yi and could not make a move against him for the time being.

“I will obey the edict!”

…

Palace Duty Supervisor.

The old eunuch and his adopted sons gathered together.

Zhou Yi sat at the head, sipping tea with a smile, listening to everyone discuss how to take down the Imperial Supervisor.

Eunuch Zhao’s relatives were implicated in the rouge case and were like grasshoppers after autumn—bound to have their families exterminated. What needed careful differentiation were those merchants involved with the tribute.

Any who could engage in tribute trade had backers in the court.

Deciding which families could be seized and which should be spared was a thorny issue.

As for those merchants without backers, they were not part of this discussion; they had already willingly had their assets seized and been exiled to demonstrate that the Emperor’s authority was inviolable!

Eunuch Yuan had said something right, “Better to kill by mistake than to let go!”

“Sir, there are so many categories of tribute goods in the palace, we could discuss this for three days and nights and still not be clear about whose household to raid.”

Wen Dianbu said, “Moreover, having resided in the palace for a long time, we also lack external news channels. If we raid the wrong one and offend some prince, it would be just like making an enemy for no reason!”

Zhou Yi nodded slightly, this was also his concern, as he could not afford to make enemies while carrying out the emperor’s orders.

“Do you perhaps have a Wonderful Technique?”

“Instead of identifying each household one by one, it would be better to release news first and let the backers of those tribute merchants send us messages.”

Wen Dianbu said, “Those who send messages won’t be raided, and if we raid those who don’t send messages, they can’t blame us!”

“That’s excellent, excellent.”

Zhou Yi nodded repeatedly, Wen Dianbu truly was cunning and shrewd. He commanded, “Send someone with the name card of the Palace Monitor Supervisor to relay the message to each household. Those who haven’t sent a message within two days will be raided!”

“Sir, you are brilliant.”

The eunuchs flattered him a few times and dispersed in a commotion.

The task of carrying palace name cards to relay messages was a very lucrative job. Regardless of whether one had connections or not, they would surely send a considerable amount of silver as a tribute.

Zhou Yi then led over twenty eunuchs, swaggeringly heading towards the Imperial Household Department.

On the way,

he unexpectedly encountered the Empress Dowager’s palanquin and immediately changed to a submissive demeanor, kneeling in a long line along the wall.

Zhou Yi quietly waited for the noble person to pass by, but to his surprise, the palanquin stopped right in front of him.

The Empress’s voice was level, “You are the little Yi, aren’t you?”

“Responding to Your Highness, indeed I am your servant.”

Zhou Yi suddenly felt a jolt; he sensed an intense, fiery aura enveloping his forehead as if it might fall at any moment and shatter his skull.

The Empress said, “Not bad, in the future, be more intimate with the imperial child.”

“Your servant obeys the order.”

Zhou Yi repeatedly kowtowed, fearful that any misstep might provoke the Empress to strike him then and there, rendering all his scheming for wealth and glory futile.

The palanquin continued on its way until it turned a corner and her figure was no longer seen.

After a long time,

Zhou Yi finally stood up, his back soaked with sweat, carefully pondering over every word the Empress had said.

The godson beside him asked, “Godfather, are we still going to the Imperial Household Department to capture Eunuch Zhao?”

“Eunuch Zhao… Zhao!”

Zhou Yi’s eyes lit up as if he had grasped something.

Zhao was the surname of the Imperial Clan, and many displaced people who had lost their household registration often deliberately took the surname Zhao when re-registering in new territories, eventually making it the most common surname in Daqing.

“Could it be that Eunuch Zhao’s ‘Zhao’ is not a fake Imperial Clan surname but actually belongs to a fallen member of the Imperial Clan?”

Zhou Yi immediately extinguished the thought of executing Eunuch Zhao’s Nine Clans, as even a collateral member of the Imperial Clan could be directly related to the current prince if traced back three generations.

“Why would the Empress Dowager remind me for no reason, urging me to take sides? But isn’t it a bit too early…”

Zhou Yi suppressed his thoughts and instructed his godson, “Go and find out where the Empress Dowager comes from, we must show our respect to her family from now on.”

The Empress lived in the secluded palace, and every move she made was highly conspicuous. To curry favor, one must start with her family members.

The godson bowed respectfully to carry out the order, going to inquire with the eunuchs on duty at Kunning Palace.

“Let’s go, we’ll have a meeting with Eunuch Zhao!”

Zhou Yi did not care whether Eunuch Zhao was of the Imperial Clan or not. If Zhao dared to poison the tribute, even if he were the emperor’s father or son, he would still be dragged out and beheaded.

A moment later,

eunuchs blocked the entrance to the Imperial Household Department.

Zhou Yi entered with a beaming smile, observing Eunuch Zhao leisurely savoring his tea, and sniffed the aroma of the tea water.

“Oh, today you’re not drinking the imperial tea?”