Royal Gold Magistrate

Guo Tianyang pressed Wu Sheng’s renzhong acupoint while patting his chest.

After a while, Wu Sheng finally regained his senses and immediately wailed, “Your subject truly suffered!!”

“That Fang Zheng forced me to say that I committed adultery with the bitch in my family! He wouldn’t let me go if I didn’t say it!”

Li Yuanzhao burst out laughing but quickly stopped upon seeing Emperor Jing’s murderous glare.

Emperor Jing frowned and said, “So what if you said it? Even if he forced you, who would believe it if it spread?”

Wu Sheng replied in a panic, “It’s…it’s that horn! That horn can actually record voices!”

“The words your subject spoke can be replayed identically through that horn!”

“Fang Zheng threatened that if I widely publicized Taoyuan County, he would release the recording to the whole world!”

“He said it’s like poop falling in your pants – even if it’s not poop, it’s still disgusting.”

“Your subject is a scholar! How can he treat me like this? Please, Your Majesty, execute this scoundrel. He’s not human! He’s a devil!”

Wu Sheng clung to Guo Tianyang’s leg, wailing incessantly.

By this point, Emperor Jing and Guo Tianyang were in no mood to pay him any mind.

Guo Tianyang muttered to himself, “Damn it all! Being an eunuch is already a tough lot in life, but this Fang Zheng is a real piece of work!”

Emperor Jing was trembling with rage. When signing the contract before, he had also recited into the horn for a long time.

To think his words had been recorded word for word! He never imagined such a treasure existed in the world! That man was truly despicable!

Li Yuanzhao’s eyes shone with excitement; he almost jumped up and applauded!

How interesting! How interesting that such a villain exists in the world! If he had time, he definitely had to meet him!

After calming himself, Emperor Jing continued questioning, “Anything else? I want to know the full situation!”

Having released all his emotions, Wu Sheng actually felt more relaxed.

It was all broken anyway, so he might as well confess everything.

So he added timidly, “Also, Fang Zheng promised me a manor and 500 taels of silver, saying I could retire directly to Taoyuan County in the future.”

“Then he let me go…that’s all.”

…

Emperor Jing paced back and forth, pondering in his mind.

He quite admired Fang Zheng’s unorthodox methods, but now it had clearly crossed the line!

An official going to such lengths just to stay in a tiny county, not serving the imperial court – did he take the Emperor for a fool?

After a while, Emperor Jing finally spoke amidst Wu Sheng’s anxious gaze, “Wu Sheng! As the Inspection Envoy of Hengjiang Prefecture, you openly took bribes!”

“You are stripped of your post and demoted to a commoner!”

“You may not speak of what happened here to anyone else. As for whether you return to Hengjiang or Taoyuan, I will not interfere. Go!”

“I will deal with Fang Zheng myself; you need not worry.”

Wu Sheng was overjoyed! He profusely expressed his gratitude.

He had escaped with his life! Losing his post was nothing! He would still live it up after arriving in Taoyuan County!

And he definitely wouldn’t speak of this to outsiders; only an idiot would.

So Wu Sheng kowtowed repeatedly in thanks before being dismissed by Guo Tianyang.

Glancing at the crown prince who hadn’t left yet, Guo Tianyang said softly, “Your Majesty, aren’t you being too lenient with Wu Sheng?”

Emperor Jing gave him a look, “If it were you, what would you do?”

“Ah…this…”

Guo Tianyang was dumbfounded. Although eunuchs already had a bad reputation and were cursed behind their backs for being infertile…

If he thought about it carefully, if Fang Zheng did this to him, his decades of professionalism probably couldn’t withstand it either!

Eunuchs had to save face too!

“Uh…Your Majesty is wise!”

“Who could have imagined a treasure that records human voices existed in the world! It’s practically divine powers.”

“To think he used such an artifact for such a despicable purpose! Unforgivable! I wish I could summon him here right now and give him a good thrashing!”

Emperor Jing had an exasperated expression.

Guo Tianyang nodded continuously, worried that if such a talent joined the Eastern Depot, the emperor’s secret intelligence agency, he might have to retire. What a scoundrel!

“Prepare yourself, I will be going to Taoyuan County again in the next few days.”

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanzhao leaped up excitedly, “Imperial Father! I want to accompany you too!”

Emperor Jing immediately reprimanded him, “Nonsense! I’m giving you another chance; don’t cause trouble like last time!”

“If you act up again, I’ll flay you alive!”

Li Yuanzhao shouted defiantly, “Go ahead! If you go, I will build the Tiger and Leopard Garden again!”

“There’s no way I’m attending morning court—not in this lifetime!”

“I’d rather spend my time watching the animal fights in the Tiger and Leopard Garden!”

Emperor Jing flew into a rage and raised his hand to hit the crown prince, but Guo Tianyang quickly stopped him.

He whispered, “Your Majesty, it could be beneficial for the crown prince to gain more experience. You achieved your current greatness through years of battle, whereas the crown prince has been raised within the sheltered walls of the palace and lacks exposure.”

“Taoyuan County is very unique; it might give him some insights.”

“Plus, it will only require two or three days, so it won’t take long.”

After some consideration, Emperor Jing felt there was some truth to that. He slowly lowered his hand and said sternly, “Fine! I agree.”

“But we need to establish some rules. You can’t travel as the crown prince, you must stay by my side, and upon our return to the capital, if I say go east, you must not go west.”

“Can you do that?”

“I can!” Li Yuanzhao agreed without hesitation.

He didn’t care what happened afterwards! Getting to go was the key! He had never met such an interesting person in the palace before.

“Good! You may go now.”

After Li Yuanzhao left, Guo Tianyang asked, “Your Majesty, why not directly summon Fang Zheng to the capital?”

“I want to observe more to see if he can withstand being cultivated. His abilities are sufficient, but his character… I need to assess it further.”

Guo Tianyang said, “This man seems to have no ambition; to think he used such dirty tricks just to stay in Taoyuan County!”

Emperor Jing smiled slightly without a word.

Everything today was fundamentally to lay a foundation for the crown prince’s future.

He only had this one son; the throne could only be inherited by Li Yuanzhao. The current cabinet elders were capable, but the new people below seemed to lack drive.

They only knew to go by the book without any flexibility.

Someone like Fang Zheng was perfect to cultivate. First, he didn’t seem to care much about power struggles.

Second, once such a person entered court, he would be disliked by others and excluded from factional maneuvering.

Highly capable, indifferent to fame and fortune, poor interpersonal relationships – he was simply the ideal candidate to pave the way for the crown prince’s future.

“Your Majesty…Fang Zheng still has the poisonous oath we took back then…what do you think?” Guo Tianyang asked cautiously.

This was what he was most worried about. Although they didn’t use real names, it was still his voice!

The toad climbs on your foot and disgusts you even if it doesn’t bite.

At the mention of this topic, Emperor Jing felt a headache coming on. He had been out of his mind to sign a non-disclosure agreement with him back then.

“Let’s put this matter aside for now! We’ll deal with it when we summon Fang Zheng to the capital later!”