Chapter 156: An Impartial Arbiter
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
A handful of officials chuckled aloud, thinking that the fool had just embarrassed the emperor.
Did he just utter out loud a sum of a hundred taels? This was humiliating indeed!
However, those who had laughed immediately felt daggers in the glares of over several hundred pairs of eyes.
One of those pairs included those of His Majesty.
The President of the Board of Punishments, Wu Lie, was a rare, steel-headed gem in the Empire of Yutang’s imperial court – he was an unusually scrupulous and upright official.
Since he had become an official, from being a seventh rank county magistrate in the beginning to second rank president now, he had never accepted any sponsors nor leveraged on any connections.
He would never agree to even a bought meal or a cup of tea!
The tight constraints he placed on himself and his family were strict to the point of being unreasonable as well.
"Your Majesty has appointed me to the position of an official and bestowed upon me a salary; that’s the reward I should have for contributing to the imperial court! However, any other benefits aside from that are not what I should be entitled to. After dinner comes the reckoning. I, Wu Lie, cannot do wrong to the position I hold, to Your Majesty’s trust, and to the expectation of Yutang’s people!"
"This is especially true as I am the President of Board of Punishments now, overlooking the criminal laws of this empire. It becomes even more imperative that I place constraints upon myself and ensure my utter compliance in all matters!"
"I will never participate in acts for my own personal gain!"
"There is no extrajudicial mercy in my eyes, the law is the law! Even if the prince were to go against the law, he needs to be punished like any other citizen."
Criminal cases in the Empire of Yutang had indeed decreased significantly in the years after Sir Wu had been promoted to the position he held now; the unlawful activities of other officials had been quietly resolved as well. No one dared to be as open and reckless as before.
Sir Wu could be said to be an enforcer of the law, an individual who had, with herculean efforts, made the Empire of Yutang’s law and order what it was today!
Countless corrupt officials, even those who were yet to be exposed, would shudder and feel and unexplainable need to admit their dastardly deeds whenever they saw him.
However, this Sir Wu had been stricken by continuous mishaps.
First was his wife whose legs had been hacked off as a form of revenge before she passed the age of thirty when Wu Lie was still a Deputy Minister of the Board of Punishments; later investigation showed that not only were her legs handicapped, she had been poisoned. This had resulted in paralysis, relegating her to the status of the living dead.
His son had been kidnapped for revenge as well. Despite being returned alive, he was weak and often fell ill; he had also been poisoned to the point of blindness. He had not grown any better to this day, and his life was sustained through the use of medicine.
The medications used to prolong his wife’s life cost a princely sum indeed.
These incidents had caused Sir Wu’s life to be extremely difficult throughout all these years. Kind-hearted folks who could not bear to see the righteous man's suffering would sometimes send a bag of silver taels to the courtyard of his house discreetly in the middle of the night, but he would throw it out without hesitation whenever he discovered them!
Whether the intention was out of kindness or otherwise, Sir Wu was insistent that he did not wish to receive any wealth that he had no right to.
Even if he had to die from poverty or hunger, he did not want them.
In reality, Yun Yang, as Supreme Cloud, had assigned his men to send silver or gold taels to Sir Wu’s house several times in the past. Even when he was being told that it was a gift from the Nine Supremes, Sir Wu still shook his head in refusal.
Sometimes, he did not even accept His Majesty’s rewards.
If he had done something well in his job, he would take the emperor’s reward; he only took something that he felt that he had a right to claim.
If he did not believe that he had performed well enough, he would not accept the emperor's thanks or commiseration.
Sometimes, the emperor was even angered that this official had refused his generosity.
It was clearly beyond his conscience to accept even a hundred taels from such an offical.
"My dear Official Wu." His Majesty was indifferent towards the other officials who had donated a hundred or two hundred thousand silver taels but he could feel his heart throbbing in pain upon hearing that Wu Lie wished to donate a hundred taels.
"Forget the donation. Keep the taels and take care of your daily affairs," His Majesty said gently.
"All the officials have contributed to this donation drive. How can this insignificant official be exempted? It should not be so. I still have a hundred and seventeen taels and thirty-five copper coins at home. It will be enough for this month’s expenses." A smile surfaced on Wu Lie’s stern face.
"But my dear official’s spouse and child will still need to use some funds as well. This donation is voluntary but helping others should be based on your ability to do so." His Majesty advised gently, "Please, take it back."
Wu Lie replied with a serious mien, "Your Majesty, this official knows that the hundred silver taels that this official donates is barely significant and can't contribute to the larger plan. It can't compare to the others, but this official is still a part of the Empire of Yutang. The empire is facing a hard time and this official assumes responsibility in helping to donate. Besides, this donation sum is this official’s money. This official will donate if this official wants to, or not donate if this official doesn’t want to."
His words were stubborn, yet held an undeniable tone of pride.
In more casual words, it was basically saying, "Your father’s money shall be spent however your father pleases. You can’t f*cking restrict me… Even if you’re the emperor, you can’t be controlling how I spend my salary!"
His Majesty almost overturned the table under his hands in exasperation.
Both Old Marshal Qiu and Leng Daoyin chortled; the old men laughed as they pointed at Wu Lie and said, "This is a f*cking donkey1!"
Wu Lie answered stiffly, "You fellows are the donkeys! Your families are all donkeys!"
The emperor guffawed, finding their exchange hilarious despite his earlier anger.
Other than Wu Lie, there probably would not be anyone else who would dare to throw insults back at the military heroes, the duo of saber and sword!
Not even the emperor himself dared to spew insults the way Wu Lie had.
He had even said it so righteously, passionate and heroic!
With his own words, it would probably go, "Your father has done no wrong to heaven and earth, the monarch nor the people! So what if you're much more influential and skilled? Why does your father have to be afraid of you?"
The civil and military officials could not suppress their laughter when they saw both marshals spluttering in indignant disbelief.
These two arrogant old thugs had been making their way in the imperial court all these years; it was indeed a delight to see the both of them being soundly drubbed!
"This old man is willing to donate another five hundred thousand silver taels!"
An old official with gray hair stepped out. "I’ll donate it even if I have to surrender my very last bit of fortune. This old man is gratified to watch these two old rascals being insulted! It is fortune well spent!"
It was Chancellor Du Ruobing.
The old man was beaming like a blossoming flower; he had endured both of these two old thugs’ cavalier ways his entire life and had thought that he would not have the chance to seek vengeance anymore since he was old and at the end of his life. Now that someone had opened the gate for him, how could he not chip in the money for the ticket?
"It's too bad that this old man only has five hundred thousand taels as my funeral fund. Otherwise, it would be worth it even if I had to chip in another one million taels!"
The old chancellor looked contented and at peace with himself.
His Majesty smacked his forehead with his palm.
He could see that the old chancellor could die without any regrets now. Otherwise, he would not speak of things like this.
The emperor had collected a lot of silver taels in this donation drive, brutally harvesting nineteen million taels in a single session.
It was like gaining a fortune that fell from the sky. As His Majesty heaved a sigh of relief, he could not help thinking, "These rascals are all problematic… especially a few of the bunch. If they only depend on their salary, they wouldn’t be able to take out such a sum even if they fast for another hundred years. I have never heard that they have any sort of business running in their family as well. Where does this fortune that they have donated come from?"
As the emperor continued to wonder, his gaze towards the handful of people turned chillingly cold.
The officials were relieved that they had finally completed the donation drive personally chaired by the emperor but another headache was impending.
"Next, my dear officials and I shall donate a few items to put up for auction outside. I believe we can gain some more silver taels this way. It’ll probably be sufficient, in addition to the donation amount today."
The emperor revealed another card, uncertain that the amount of wealth collected was sufficient for his needs.
All the civil and military officials began coughing simultaneously.
Your Majesty, it looks like wealth is at the top of your priorities today.
…
The morning assembly ended.
As Wu Lie exited the palace gate, Old Marshal Qiu Jianhan was in front of him, blocking his way as he looked up at him.
"What?" Wu Lie looked at Qiu Jianhan warily.
Old Marshal Qiu was the head of the Empire of Yutang’s three thugs; his recklessness had always been infamous. It was one thing for Wu Lie to retort and insult the old marshal but it would not be a surprise if the old marshal decided to pick up the tab afterward and beat him up!
The old marshal snorted and threw a bag of silver taels over saying, "This is two thousand silver taels that this old man is giving to you as a loan. Remember to return them when you have money! I’m lending this to you, not just giving them, understand?"
He then turned to leave without another word.
Wu Lie swallowed dryly as he hugged the bag of silver taels; he felt warmth gushing in his chest, rendering him unable to speak.
He could not help thinking back to last night.
It was late last night when Wu Lie washed his wife and fed her the medicine. He then heard his son cry a painful groan; his son had gotten up to wash but had stumbled due to his blindness. It was a difficult task to maintain his balance from being so weak, so he had crashed to the floor rather painfully. Wu Lie gave his son some medication quickly and picked him up to carry him to bed. When he was about to fall asleep from all the exhaustion, someone glided into his room like a cloud.
"Sir Wu."
"Who is it?" Wu Lie remained calm even then.
"Sir Wu and I are familiar with each other." The person had come all dressed in black and was masked, but his voice remained friendly. "Sir Wu should have heard of me. I’m Ol’eighth of the Nine Supremes, Supreme Wind."
As he spoke, he raised his hand and wind blew softly through the room that had its windows closed.
The wind danced around the room gaily, picking up items in the space it moved over and putting them back gently. Throughout the entire time, the man dressed in black had not moved his limbs except for the initial wave of his hand.
"Is it really you, Supreme Wind?" Wu Lie was shaken.
"Hush, there is no need to speak anymore. I can only hope that Sir Wu can keep the information that I’m still alive a secret." Supreme Wind said, "I’ve come today to contribute my insignificant prowess because I’ve heard that Sir Wu’s wife and young master have been stricken with illness."
Translator Note:
1donkey (驴lǘ): an insult meant to disrespect the addressee to be as stupid as a donkey.