Chapter 61: The Zhou Emperor’s Purpose
After condensing five star points, Su Wen chose to level up his technique.
[Ding-dong: Does Host wish to upgrade the battle technique, Stellar Transposition, to Level 2? Emotional Value requirement: 10,000 points!]
Compared to the two Earth Rank Battle Techniques he had, the points needed to level up a Heaven Ranked technique to Level 2 had already surpassed the points needed to level up from Level 6 to Level 7 for the Earth Ranks.
However, Su Wen was not scared off by the price and chose to level it up without hesitation.
[Ding-dong. Stellar Transposition has been upgraded to LV2. Star points unlocked: 7.]
This time, Su Wen gained another seven star points.
However, he smiled bitterly as he gazed at his remaining 2,500 Emotional Value points.
He could not unlock all of them, only two more!
This little thing ate too much Emotional Value.
Su Wen unlocked another two stars. This time, his luck was pretty good as he unlocked another Extreme Yang Star option.
As for the last Star point, Su Wen chose a new attribute for his Star point.
[Lucky Star. After stepping on this star, the host’s next attack would have a very small chance of triggering a critical hit. The critical hit damage will be increased by 200%. Regardless of whether the critical hit was triggered, the star will enter a cooldown period of 10 minutes]
This was an attribute that shocked Su Wen greatly. Furthermore, this star position buff was not stackable.
However, Su Wen still chose it as one of his Star positions without any hesitation.
‘F**k it. This daddy here has good luck, I’ll definitely be able to trigger it.’
Now that he had spent all the Emotional Value, he was only left with his two lucky draw chances.
Su Wen chose to just use all of them.
[Ding-dong. Congratulations, Host has received a luxury cosmetics package.]
Su Wen: “???”
Are you f**king messing with me? What’s the use of this thing?
Su Wen adjusted his mood before continuing his draw.
[Ding-dong. Congratulations, Host has received a large bag of Cat Kibble brand snacks.]
“F**k fook fugg!!!!”
Su Wen broke down. He had never been so unlucky in his entire life after transmigrating!
“I am the chosen one! You actually gave this Daddy this sort of item? I want to draw again!”
Unfortunately, the system did not give Su Wen an answer and fell silent.
After a while, Su Wen calmed down.
“F*ck, should I not have put in that Lucky Star position?” He fell into self-doubt.
He absentmindedly took out a bag of crispy noodle snacks from the large gift bag and crushed it skillfully before pouring it into his mouth.
“Hmm… delicious! So what if one has strength? Can one get to eat something like this, flavored with the King of Flavor?”
Su Wen staggered out of the room in self delusion and denial.
In the royal court, Emperor Zhou’s expression was as still as the deep waters.
Everyone could tell that he was not in a good mood.
“Look at this, all of you, take a good hard look. From top to bottom, there’s no one who isn’t greedy. It’s just as the commoners say; Even if you cut down nine out of ten, there will still be fish that slip through the net!”
The confessions of the Patrol Office were being circulated among the ministers below.
The reaction of the Zhou Emperor was also much more animated compared to yesterday.
Only Su Changqing, who had been following the Zhou Emperor for many years, knew very well that the person seated on the dragon throne above was only acting and was not really angry.
“Su Changqing! What do you think?”
Although Su Changqing didn’t know exactly what Emperor Zhou wanted to do, he still clearly knew the answer Emperor Zhou wanted. He bowed and said, “This subject believes that the governmental administration of the Great Zhou has already reached a point where it has no choice but to be reorganized!”
“That’s right! We must reorganize and punish the wrongdoers!” Emperor Zhou swept his gaze across the officials before coldly remarking, “I want to reinstate the Secret Shadow Guards.”
As the words of the Zhou Emperor sounded, even Su Changqing raised his head in shock. He didn’t expect the Zhou Emperor to have such an idea.
Speaking of the Secret Shadow Guards, they were actually similar to the Embroidered Uniform Guards in Su Wen’s history.[1]
It was a secret department developed only after the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
It could be said that just like the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Secret Shadow Guard was an important method for the emperor to restrict the authority of all officials.
However, it was precisely because of this that the officials viewed the Secret Shadow Guards as a thorn in their side. After experiencing countless battles in the royal court, the civil officials finally gained the upper hand and abolished the Secret Shadow Guards.
This was also one of the important reasons why corruption was prevalent in the Great Zhou officials. After all, the figurative sword of Damocles hanging over their heads was gone.
But now, the Emperor of Zhou actually wanted to restore the Secret Shadow Guards!
The most crucial point behind restoring the Secret Shadow Guards was to restrict the authority of civil and military officials.
At this moment, Su Changqing’s mind was filled with countless thoughts as he thought about what he should do.
However, just because he could keep his composure didn’t mean that others could.
Immediately, someone stood out and said, “Your Majesty, you can’t. The Secret Shadow Guards have too much authority. Back then, it was because of this that many innocents were thrown into prison. All the officials in the court were banned from voicing their thoughts and no one dared to say anything. If the Secret Shadow Guards are reformed, it will definitely cause chaos in the court!”
Someone even knelt on the ground and cried, “Your Majesty, when our ancestors abolished the Secret Shadow Guards, it was because this department was too violent and was not applicable to be used by rule benevolently. Your Majesty has the prestige and blessing of the Heavens, and the Great Zhou Dynasty is also flourishing and full of satisfied citizens. If we were to reboot the Secret Shadow Guards, I’m afraid it would be counterproductive. Your Majesty, please reconsider!”
“Yes, Your Majesty, please reconsider.”
All of a sudden, the Royal Court was filled with such voices.
No matter what, these people knew very well that once the Secret Shadow Guards were reestablished, the sword would come back hanging over their heads!
This was something that no one wanted to see.
Emperor Zhou said coldly, “The governmental administration of the Great Zhou Dynasty has collapsed to such a state. How can it be effective if we don’t treat it seriously? All of you don’t need to worry. The establishment of the Secret Shadow Guards, under my direct supervision, will only investigate corrupt officials.”
“Your Majesty’s words are incorrect. When the Secret Shadow Guards were first established, they must have thought the same way. However, in the end, the Secret Shadow Guards still went down the wrong path.
If Your Majesty wants to reorganize the governance of the government, a royal censor is enough to act on it. The Patrol Office is just a small piece of land, we cannot let the entire court collapse because of a single corruption and think that all the officials of Great Zhou are greedy!”
“That’s right, Your Majesty. You must not restart the Secret Shadow Guards.”
“If Your Majesty wants to reinstate the Secret Shadow Guard, you have to separate its authority to investigate, interrogate and arrest, as well as put other departments in charge of it. Otherwise, there will be no justice left.”
A cold smile appeared on Emperor Zhou’s face. Was he not aware that the authority given to the Secret Shadow Guards would allow them to do as they pleased?
But if he were to separate the authority of the Secret Shadow Guard, how would it be different from the Great Zhou Empire’s current supervisory department?
Emperor Zhou shifted his gaze to Su Changqing, who had remained silent the entire time. He asked, “Changqing, what do you think?”
Su Changqing sighed to himself. He knew that he had to go out and be a lightning rod for the Zhou Emperor to deflect all the shots.
Su Changqing took a step forward and said in a deep voice, “This subject believes that the Secret Shadow Guards should be reestablished! Not only should the Secret Shadow Guards be established, their three divisions should also be fully restored!
The Secret Spy Division can search for intelligence for His Majesty, supervise the world, and to aid the Royal Prison Division to purge His Majesty’s governing body. The Shadow Guard Division is the final barrier to protect His Majesty and is also the most elite blade of Great Zhou!”
He turned his head, looked at the officials of the court, and shouted, “All of you are His Majesty’s subjects. Now that corruption is rampant in the Great Zhou Dynasty, it is like rotted human flesh that must be cut off with a sharp blade to regrow. The Secret Shadow Guards are the sharp blades in His Majesty’s hands. For all of you to stop it, are you all rotten flesh?”
Su Changqing knew that under these circumstances, he had to maintain a united front with the Zhou Emperor. Previously, the Zhou Emperor had supported him, and now he had to support the Zhou Emperor as well. Otherwise, there would definitely be unsaid grudges left between them.
As soon as he finished speaking, one of the officials said in a low voice, “You don’t care about others after wiping your butt clean.”
That’s right. In everyone’s eyes, Su Changqing must have discussed this with Emperor Zhou.
He had just donated his family’s money a few days ago. Now that the Secret Shadow Guard was going to be established, he would definitely not be investigated. Even if he was investigated, his family’s money had already been given to the Emperor. Could he be punished? Of course not, but what about others?
[1] The Embroidered Uniform Guard was the imperial secret police that served the emperors of the Ming dynasty in China.
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