Chapter 7: This Great Xia Belongs to the Tang, Not the Su!
"Take him away! Take him away!" Su Li shouted in a flustered rage, terrified that this fool would expose all his secrets.
Tang Yu, standing to the side, narrowed his eyes. Secrets? Now, that piqued his interest.
The sudden turn of events sent a wave of panic through all the civil and military officials present. Who was Zhou Cheng? Though his position was merely fifth rank, many first-ranked ministers treated him with deference, for he was Su Li’s favored confidant.
Su Li clenched his jaw, his lips twitching as he stared hard at Tang Yu. Today’s young emperor seemed altogether different from his usual self. Before so many witnesses, if Zhou Cheng were truly taken away, would Su Li still have any standing in court?
With this thought, he gritted his teeth and called out, “Wait!”
Tang Yu looked at him with a bright, easy smile. “What’s wrong? Is Prime Minister Su about to plead for him?”
He raised his hand, signaling the imperial guards to halt. He was genuinely curious to see what tricks Su Li had left. Today, he was determined to make an example—though this chicken was hard to kill, his blade had already been raised.
Su Li gazed deeply at Tang Yu, took a slow breath, and then smiled. “Your Majesty, I am but a humble prime minister. How could I dare plead for a criminal? However, though Zhou Cheng’s rank is low, he serves as Deputy Minister of the Ancestral Affairs Office, overseeing countless cases. If he is imprisoned, who will take his place?”
He looked at Tang Yu with composure, a veiled threat in his words. He made it clear: today, if Zhou Cheng fell, no one would dare take up the post—unless they had a death wish.
No one?
Tang Yu laughed quietly. Very well—threaten me, will you?
He strolled to Su Li, regarding him with cold indifference. “What a fine prime minister you are. I treat my ministers as brothers, and you regard your sovereign as a weakling? Do you think I am so easily bullied? Is there truly no one in the vast realm of Great Xia who can succeed the Deputy Minister of the Ancestral Affairs Office?”
He took a few steps closer, a mocking smile playing on his lips. “Or do you believe the empire bears the surname Su?”
The irony in his words rang clear. Only a few days before, Su Li had instructed Noble Consort Su to coerce him into signing a treaty to cede territory, thus providing a legitimate reason to depose him. If that scheme had succeeded, the Tang family might have lost the throne that very day.
At his words, the entire assembly of officials seemed struck by thunder. They fell to their knees, crying out, “Your Majesty, you must never say such a thing!”
“Your Majesty, your humble servants are terrified!”
“Your Majesty!”
Tang Yu slowly raised his fist. At once, all voices ceased. In his eyes flashed a cold, commanding light—the natural majesty of an emperor.
A flicker of astonishment crossed Su Li’s face. How could this be? No one could change so much in just a few days. Could it be that the young emperor’s former weakness was all a ruse to lull them into complacency?
He quickly resumed his previous demeanor. “Your Majesty jests. Without Zhou Cheng, the court would surely be thrown into chaos!”
He met Tang Yu’s gaze directly, his stance defiant and unyielding. The confrontation between the two was like a clash of tiger and wolf.
In that moment, the grand hall seemed to hold only Tang Yu and Su Li; the rest of the officials were mere marionettes, manipulated at will. The throne was a seat too hot to hold. Tang Yu, stripped of true power, was but a puppet emperor. Su Li had no reason to fear him, and neither did the others—how could a youth contend with old foxes who had weathered decades of court intrigue?
Seeing Su Li’s determination to fight, the other ministers exchanged glances and quickly understood. “I must report a matter!” “I have a petition to present!”
One after another, ministers hurried forward, kneeling and crying out, “Your Majesty, reconsider! Do not let Ye Yue cloud your judgment, blurring loyalty and treachery. The post of Deputy Minister of the Ancestral Affairs Office must never be left vacant, lest chaos ensue and evildoers go unpunished!”
“Your Majesty, that post requires rigorous selection; not just anyone can assume it!”
The voices rose one after another. On the surface, they urged Tang Yu to think carefully, but in truth, they forced his hand, pleading for the villain.
Tang Yu’s chest heaved with fury, blood pounding in his veins. “Fine, fine, fine!” he cried thrice, gazing at the crowd of ‘Long Live the Emperor’ sycophants. How many times, he wondered, had they cursed him in their hearts?
He glanced at Su Li, who appeared utterly confident, backed by a chorus of ministers. If Tang Yu insisted on acting, how would history judge the king of Great Xia?
Ye Yue watched with growing concern. Having followed Tang Yu since childhood, she knew his nature well—timid and hesitant. That he had managed to endure until now was already a feat.
She looked toward Murong Yun, who met her gaze. The two nodded in unspoken agreement, about to speak when—
Tang Yu clenched his fists. Today, he saw the court’s true colors at last. “Summon the magistrates of every county! Let me see who truly deserves death today!”
He swept his sleeve and turned to mount the dragon throne. The anger faded from his eyes, his expression composed, imperial authority radiating from him effortlessly—as if a lion had descended from the clouds, its might impossible to resist.
“Summon the magistrates of every county!” the chief eunuch announced shrilly from outside the hall.
The magistrates of every county? What was the meaning of this?
Civil and military officials alike looked around in confusion, utterly at a loss.
Then, one by one, magistrates in full official attire entered, each holding a petition, and assembled in lines before the throne.
“Your Majesty, I am the magistrate of Huzhou County!”
“Your Majesty, I am the magistrate of Xitou County!”
“Your Majesty, I am the magistrate of Beilin County!”
On and on, over a dozen names. When the last county was announced, the third-, second-, and first-rank ministers were thrown into utter panic.
“Prime Minister, these are the very places where I seized women from the people! The Deputy Minister handled the cases!”
“Prime Minister, you must save us!”
They rushed to Su Li in desperation, seeking his help.
Tang Yu sat calmly upon the throne, taking in every furtive gesture among the officials, a smile flickering in his eyes.
Su Li ignored the officials tugging at his sleeves, unmoved, but a blazing fury in his eyes betrayed the fact that Tang Yu had truly crossed his last line.
Little emperor—I'll see you dead!
Tang Yu raised his hand and declared, “Report your cases. Let me hear how many damned things this Deputy Minister has done—let us see if he deserves death.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
One by one, the magistrates read aloud from their petitions.
“In the second year of Great Xia, Your Majesty’s third year on the throne, Zhou Cheng succeeded as Deputy Minister of the Ancestral Affairs Office. That March, in broad daylight, a woman of Huzhou County went missing. Her family reported the case. Three days later, her body was found discarded in the wild. The incident caused panic throughout Huzhou. The Deputy Minister investigated and ruled it a suicide.”
“In the second year of Great Xia, Xitou County…”
One case after another, including murders in broad daylight and the deaths of hundreds—yet all these cases had been hastily closed.
Tang Yu’s fists clenched involuntarily as he fought to contain his fury, a deep sorrow rising within him. Pitiful, hateful! The words, though simple, cut to the bone—each one stabbing at his heart with unbearable pain.