The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

Chapter 366: Chapter 360: A Heart of Sincerity

The great hall was deathly silent.

The assembled court officials all wore varying expressions.

Guo Yingru’s brow twitched, his face filled with bitterness.

’What was bound to happen has finally happened.’

Bai Yuan had been acting far too arrogantly lately. The memorials impeaching him were too numerous to count, but the Emperor, Li Chengyuan, had suppressed them all.

But now that the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Liu Zhou, had publicly impeached him during the court session, the matter could no longer be ignored.

No matter how much the Emperor favored Bai Yuan, he couldn’t simply disregard the issue in the middle of the Imperial Court.

Li Chengyuan sat upon the Dragon Throne, his expression unchanged.

"Bai Aiqing, do you have anything to say?"

Bai Yuan stepped out from the ranks of the Civil Servants.

Though he came from a military background, his current position as Left Deputy Chief Imperial Censor was a proper Civil Servant post, so he naturally stood among their ranks.

Cases like his were, in fact, rare in the Xuan Yang Court.

Bai Yuan first bowed deeply to the Emperor, then declared in a loud voice, "Vice Minister Liu is spouting utter nonsense. It’s complete bullshit."

"You... This is an affront to decency!"

Kneeling on the floor, Liu Zhou snapped his head up to glare at Bai Yuan. After struggling for a moment, all he could say was that it was an affront to decency.

Bai Yuan shot him a sidelong glance. "I’m a Military Officer, not a Confucian scholar. What do I need decency for?"

Liu Zhou was furious and about to retaliate.

Li Chengyuan’s voice cut in. "Bai Qing, do you have something you wish to tell Us?"

Seeing the Emperor speak, Liu Zhou could only hold his tongue and refrain from lashing out for the time being.

Bai Yuan said, "Since taking office, your humble servant has poured his heart and soul into his duties, working tirelessly day and night, never slacking, all to live up to the trust Your Majesty and Mr. Du have placed in me and to restore clarity to the Xuan Yang Imperial Court. I never imagined I would be framed by this petty villain."

The corner of Li Chengyuan’s mouth twitched.

The memorials impeaching Bai Yuan these past few days had nearly flooded his Imperial Study.

Bai Yuan had recently turned the Capital City completely upside down.

Of course, Li Chengyuan wouldn’t buy that nonsense about ’living up to his trust’.

He had been on the throne for over a hundred years; he could see through the officials’ schemes at a glance. This was precisely why he hadn’t taken action against Bai Yuan.

The Xuan Yang Court had been stagnant for too long. It needed someone to shake things up.

Bai Yuan was the perfect man for the job.

However, if Bai Yuan truly dared to use the Imperial Inspection Office to serve Xu Dingchun, Li Chengyuan wouldn’t hesitate to kill him, even if he was a prodigy from the Hidden Dragon Ranking.

He would never allow anyone who could threaten his rule to appear in the Imperial Court.

Bai Yuan’s tone suddenly shifted. "Your Majesty is an enlightened ruler for the ages. The Xuan Yang Sects have long disrupted the order of the Court. Your humble servant vows to be the sword in Your Majesty’s hand, to first sweep the snow from your doorstep, then restore clarity to the world and intimidate the sects of the Jianghu."

As soon as these words were spoken, all the court officials turned in unison to look at Bai Yuan.

A knowing, amused smile graced Li Chengyuan’s lips.

Seeing Li Chengyuan’s smile, Bai Yuan knew he was safe for the day.

The reason he dared to kill so brazenly in the Capital City was that he had perfectly grasped Li Chengyuan’s intentions.

The current Emperor of Xuan Yang wished to establish a legacy for the ages, and he was determined to flatten the Jianghu.

However, over the past thousand years, the relationship between the Imperial Court and the Jianghu sects had become inextricably intertwined and could no longer be separated. Li Chengyuan faced immense resistance and had found it difficult to advance his agenda.

But now, with Bai Yuan publicly supporting his ideas—even if he was smuggling in some of his own agenda—he seemed incredibly endearing in Li Chengyuan’s eyes.

Bai Yuan had thoroughly put a theory into practice: the Imperial Inspection Office belonged to the Emperor.

As long as he acted in accordance with this Emperor’s wishes, he would be fine, no matter how outrageously he behaved.

That was the one good thing about the Imperial Inspection Office.

Within the ranks of the Civil Servants, Guo Yingru sucked in a cold breath, his regret for ever associating with Bai Yuan reaching its peak.

’Oh, my good Supreme Ancestor Master!’

’Bai Yuan is clearly making an enemy of the entire Civil Servant Group and the Jianghu sects!’

He then looked toward Xu Dingchun.

His gaze seemed to ask, ’Do you have any idea how insane your grand-disciple is?’

But Xu Dingchun’s expression was perfectly serene.

Li Chengyuan finally couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst out laughing. "In this world, only Duke Du and Bai Qing truly understand me!"

Hearing the Emperor’s words, everyone knew: the Du Qinghui who had once purged the Imperial Court was back.

As long as Bai Yuan could stay in Li Chengyuan’s good graces, he would be safe, no matter how outrageously he acted.

An isolated official... was, in a sense, also a favored official.

An isolated official whom the Emperor disliked would only die a miserable death.

With a grand wave of his hand, Li Chengyuan declared, "Bai Qing, We grant you permission to freely enter and leave the Imperial Study from now on."

Bai Yuan put on an expression of being overwhelmed by favor. "Your servant is terrified."

"We tell you to enter, so you shall enter!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your profound grace."

...

The court session ended.

Once again, Bai Yuan became the focus of everyone’s attention.

This time, even Guo Yingru and Yang Ting didn’t dare to speak with Bai Yuan, afraid that others might mistakenly think they were acquainted.

From this day forward, Bai Yuan would be a sword in the Emperor’s hand.

And a sword is meant to wound.

No one wished to be slain by this sword named Bai Yuan.

Bai Yuan, however, didn’t care. He left the Imperial Palace on his own and returned to the Imperial Inspection Office.

"Lord Bai, you’re back."

Zhou Minghan greeted him enthusiastically, his attitude a stark contrast to the other officials.

In truth, he didn’t want to be this way, but he had been present when Bai Yuan first started killing. Even if he tried to explain himself, no one would listen.

So, gritting his teeth, he resolved to spend the rest of his career in the Imperial Inspection Office until he grew old and died.

Therefore, he had to cling tightly to Bai Yuan’s thigh.

The Imperial Inspection Office was now clearly divided into two factions.

One was naturally led by Bai Yuan; the other was led by the Right Deputy Chief Imperial Censor.

By contrast with Bai Yuan, that Lord Feng seemed like a perfectly nice guy.

All the Imperial Inspection Office Officials who were unwilling to fatally offend important ministers of the Court had flocked to his side.

After all, in Bai Yuan’s presence, even the most radical Imperial Censors seemed like conservatives, and they couldn’t accept his methods all at once.

Bai Yuan didn’t force the issue.

Zhou Minghan handed over a register. "Lord Bai, we’ve arrested too many people these past few days. The Black Prison is full."

The corners of Bai Yuan’s mouth lifted slightly.

’I’ve been so busy handling cases lately, I’d completely forgotten about the Black Prison situation.’

Most of the people recently thrown into the Black Prison had turned themselves in. According to Profound Sun Law, turning oneself in was enough to be spared the death penalty.

Therefore, some officials whom Bai Yuan had not yet come for had thought it over and decided to turn themselves in. At least this way, they could stay alive.

But because so many people had turned themselves in, the Black Prison was now, for the first time in ages, filled to capacity.

The Imperial Inspection Office’s Black Prison didn’t hold ordinary people. The last time this many individuals were incarcerated at once was during the founding of the dynasty, when the remnants of the previous regime were locked up...

Bai Yuan asked, "Lord Zhou, I was wondering, does the Black Prison have a ’clearing out’ mechanism?"

"’Clearing out’?" Zhou Minghan was completely baffled. "Please enlighten me, my lord."

Bai Yuan said, "Let me give you an example—just an example. Say we behead the criminals with life sentences who have been in the Black Prison the longest. Wouldn’t that end their suffering early and also free up some space?"

"..."

Zhou Minghan stared at Bai Yuan in terror.

’Even King Yama would probably have to offer Bai Yuan a toast of three cups out of respect if they met.’

’A life sentence turning into a death sentence?’

’Now that’s what I call criminal.’

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