C11 The First Knife of the New Emperor

Early in the morning, the sun shone down from the east, illuminating the entire palace with a golden veil.

"Your Majesty, it's time for the morning assembly!" Sande Zi carefully reminded him outside the door.

Hearing the voice, Zhu Houzhao slowly opened his eyes, while the two beauties beside him had their legs wrapped around his body. They were sleeping lazily, and a sweet smile hung on their lips.

After a while, the four palace maids came in with a towel and some hot water. After putting down the towel and hot water, the four palace maids picked up a dragon robe by the side and helped Zhu Houzhao put it on.

After washing up, Zhu Houzhao and Sande headed straight for the throne room, with the imperial guards saluting them on the way.

Passing through layers upon layers of pavilions and courtyards, he arrived at the throne room of the tallest building in the Imperial Palace. Zhu Houzhao pushed the door open and entered. He calmly and confidently sat on the Dragon Throne, then closed his eyes and rested.

Pah pah pah!

Outside the throne room, the sound of three whips could be heard. It was already time for the morning assembly.

The doors of the palace slowly opened. Countless ministers, led by Cai Jing, Li Linfu, and the nine royal uncles, slowly walked into the throne room. These ministers talked and laughed, and when they saw Zhu Houzhao sitting upright on the dragon throne, they all shut their mouths and separated.

At this moment, the throne room was packed with people. The reason was because the new emperor had ascended the throne, and all the counties from various places had come to congratulate him, causing the situation in front of him to be filled with people of low status, standing outside the door.

"My dear sirs, what has made you all enjoy yourselves?" Zhu Houzhao frowned and asked coldly.

Hearing Zhu Houzhao's voice, the throne room immediately quietened down. No one dared speak up to answer, after all, not much time had passed since the previous Emperor passed.

"If you have anything to say, you can start now. If you have nothing to do, then leave the court!" Sande Zi threw the dust away, placed it on his arm and screamed.

"Your Majesty, I have a song to play!" As Sander 'voice fell, Liu Jin stood up and said loudly.

When the officials saw Liu Jin walk out, their hearts sank. They did not know who this Liu Jin was trying to harm!

Li Linfu, Gao Yu, Yan Song, and the others were resting with their eyes closed. Naturally, these matters posed no threat to them.

The nine royal uncles all had a teasing expression on their faces. They wanted to see what this nephew of theirs was like, how he would deal with government affairs, and how he would make a fool of himself.

The officials' reactions fell into Zhu Houzhao's eyes, but Zhu Houzhao remained calm and collected as he sneered in his heart.

"Present!" Zhu Houzhao said in a deep voice.

Hearing the order, San Dezi ran down the stairs and picked up the imperial report from Liu Jin's hands. Without even looking at Liu Jin, he picked up the imperial report and handed it to Zhu Houzhao.

Liu Jin narrowed her eyes as she thought about Sande Zi's performance today.

Zhu Houzhao opened the imperial kitchens' palm-print eunuchs, Cao Zhixiang and Yan Song, filled with detailed evidence. The time, place, and witnesses were all there.

The more Zhu Houzhao looked at her, the colder his gaze became. The officials could feel the change in his expression and were curious about the contents of Liu Jin's imperial report.

"Pa!"

Zhu Houzhao slammed the imperial report onto the table.

"This is my good subject!" His cold voice spread throughout the entire hall, and the temperature inside the hall seemed to drop in an instant.

"Please calm your anger, Your Majesty!" The officials advised.

"Calm down? Sanzi, bring the imperial reports to all your subjects for them to read out! " Zhu Houzhao sneered.

"..."

"The imperial food overseer, the palm-print eunuch, Cao Jiaxiang, bought high prices for five taels of silver for rice and bribed for a long time!"

"The imperial food overseer, Eunuch Wang, discovered Cao Jiaxiang's corruption and was thrown to the ground in silence!"

"Accept the bribes and promote one's trusted aides!"

"Sell the items from the palace!"

"Use poison in Emperor Xian's food!"

One after another, messages were sent out, causing an uproar in the hall.

"He deserves to die!"

"It's not worth dying for!"

Some of the more conscientious ministers were cursing loudly!

"The Minister of Government, Yan Song, is willing to sell."

"The people of Yan Song's family regard human life as worthless!"

"Yan Song is selling relief food for millions of stones!"

"..."

After reading through Cao Jixiang's information, some of Yan Song's incriminating evidence was also read by Sande Zi. Upon hearing his words, Yan Song's vision went dark, and his head began to bang.

The Emperor was going to execute him!

Yan Song didn't wait for Sanzi to finish reading the book. His legs went limp, and he fell to the ground, face pale.

Silence, a deathly silence!

After hearing Yan Song's evidence, the entire throne room fell into a strange silence. Many ministers had cold sweat dripping down their foreheads; they were all Yan Song's trusted aides. If Yan Song were to punish them, they would be implicated as well.

"Your Majesty, your subject reports that Yan Song's family sold their weapons to the pirates, and your subject risked his life to enter into their midst to collect evidence, and was determined to eliminate this evil subject!"

"This official reports!"

"This official also reports!"

Some officials who had dealings with Yan Song started to report him after he had started, in order to protect himself. Zhu Houzhao watched the performance with cold eyes, maintaining his composure.

"Did everyone push the wall?" Yan Song looked at each of the officials reporting him down and laughed coldly.

"Yan Song, do you have something to say?" Zhu Houzhao asked coldly.

"Your Majesty, this subject is guilty of a death sentence and has nothing to say. However, in the entire imperial court, how many dare to guarantee that they would be clean?" Yan Song shook his head and said.

"Since you have nothing to say, then don't provoke our relationship with these officials." Zhu Houzhao said again.

"Someone, come!" Zhu Houzhao roared.

"Your Majesty!"

Xue Rengui, who was guarding outside the door, heard Zhu Houzhao's voice and walked in. His armor made a "hua hua hua hua" sound as he knelt down on one knee to pay his respects.

"Seize Yan Song and bring him down to the Imperial Court. Slaughter him immediately!" Zhu Houzhao said coldly.

"It's His Majesty!" Xue Rengui accepted the order and waved his hand. Two imperial guards of over a thousand soldiers took down the crown, stripped off Yan Song's court uniform, and then kicked the bend of Yan Song's leg.

Yan Song immediately knelt down and struggled as he said, "Your Majesty, this subject is guilty. I hope Your Majesty will forgive this subject's family."

"Hmph, your family didn't commit any crimes? You didn't accept the benefits you brought? " Zhu Houzhao said coldly.

Hearing Zhu Houzhao's words, Yan Song knew that their Yan Clan was finished.

"Kill!"

Zhu Houzhao roared.

"Pfft!"

As Xue Rengui brandished the Azure Dragon Heaven Transforming Halberd, Yan Song's head flew into the air, blood spraying out like a fountain from his head.

Blood splattered into the throne room.

Gulp!

Yan Song's head fell to the ground. After rolling a few times, his eyes widened as he looked at the officials, as if he was waiting for the final result.

Ah!

Many ministers turned pale with fright, their hearts thumping nonstop. Seeing Yan Song's death, it was as if they had seen their own end.

"Xue Rengui, immediately lead the imperial guards to surround Yan Song Manor and arrest his family. Those who resist will be killed without question!"

"Seize Yan Song's house and confiscate his property!"

"Kill the nine families!"

"After taking them down, behead them at Caishikou."

"The western factory collects people to rob homes, those who dare to stash their finances will be executed!"

Zhu Hou ordered coldly.