Infinite Professions from a Pearl Collector

The tea in the Imperial Prison was, naturally, not the finest brew.

Cui Lang and Wang Yuanzhi didn’t even get the chance to step inside the Imperial Prison.

When Tong Lei’s bloodstained sword was held before their necks, their last shred of dignity shattered on the floor.

Snot and tears streamed down Wang Yuanzhi’s face as he kowtowed ceaselessly, incoherently screaming that he was wronged and begging His Majesty for mercy, humbling himself into the very dust.

But Cui Lang, the head of a Noble Family who had held sway over the Court for decades, had actually calmed down.

He stared daggers at Tong Lei, his eyes filled with resentment.

"Tong Lei, you are nothing but a dog at His Majesty’s beck and call. You kill me today, but you will suffer the same fate in the future. Once the rabbits are dead, the hounds are cooked; once the birds are gone, the bow is put away. Just you wait!"

Tong Lei’s face showed no hint of emotion. He just coldly spat out a single word.

"Noisy."

Before the word had even left his lips, a blade flashed.

A head flew high into the air, drenching Wang Yuanzhi’s face in hot blood.

Wang Yuanzhi’s cries stopped abruptly. His entire body trembled like a leaf in the wind, and the foul stench of urine instantly filled the air.

Tong Lei didn’t even deign to glance at him again, waving to the Armored Warriors behind him.

"Take him away!"

The next day, the sky remained overcast. Lead-gray clouds hung low, threatening to release another heavy snow at any moment.

A restless crowd gathered outside the Meridian Gate of the Capital City.

Several thousand Imperial Guard Soldiers formed a watertight cordon around the execution ground. Their Long Halberds stood like a forest, and the air was thick with a chilling killing intent.

On the execution platform, the heads of Cui Lang and Wang Yuanzhi were hung high. Their eyes were wide open, as if still protesting Chen Ye’s injustice.

Below the platform, all the Civil and Military Officials of the Court, every last one, had been "invited" to witness the execution.

They stared at the two familiar yet alien heads, their faces deathly pale, silent as winter cicadas. The officials who were particularly close to the Cui and Wang families trembled so violently they could barely stay on their feet.

’How could that decadent Emperor, addicted to wine, women, and Elixir Pills, suddenly turn into such a man-eating tiger?’

Despite their confusion, when Chen Ye ascended the high platform, these people still fell to their knees and cried out in unison, "Long live Your Majesty!"

Within their voices, there was awe, but there was also fear.

Chen Ye’s gaze slowly swept over the terrified and uneasy faces below before he spoke, his voice light.

"I know many of you are unconvinced."

Chen Ye had finally spoken. His voice was quiet, but it carried clearly across the entire execution ground.

"You think I am an incompetent ruler. You think I kill the innocent indiscriminately. You think Cui Lang and Wang Yuanzhi’s crimes did not warrant death."

He paused, his voice suddenly turning sharp.

"Those two, as high ministers of the Court, took the Monarch’s pay, yet they formed factions for personal gain and brought chaos to the government! When the barbarians on the grassland were at our gates, they didn’t think of how to repel the enemy, but only of how to line their own pockets. They even plotted regicide and rebellion. For such crimes, executing only the ringleaders is already an immense act of mercy."

"Today, I will make myself clear. From now on, for anyone who oppresses the people, hoards goods to drive up prices, or colludes with the enemy to betray the country, the fate of the two traitors, Cui and Wang, will be your own."

"Duke Anguo, wouldn’t you agree?"

Chen Ye’s voice suddenly turned to Li Jun.

In the crowd, the one-eyed Li Jun shuddered and immediately fell to his knees, smashing his head against the ground with resounding thuds.

"Your Majesty is wise! Your Majesty is wise! The two traitors, Cui and Wang, deserved ten thousand deaths! My... my loyalty to Your Majesty is as clear as the sun and moon!"

But Chen Ye had no intention of letting him off. He gestured to Tong Lei at his side with his eyes.

Tong Lei immediately stepped forward and began to read the Holy Decree.

"Duke Anguo, Li Jun, for indulging his son’s atrocities and preying on the common folk, his crimes are unforgivable! Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Zhang Bo, for embezzling military funds to line his own pockets, a parasite on the nation! Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Sun Yi, for forming factions for personal gain and selling offices and titles..."

A series of names were read out, each one a prominent figure in the Court.

The Holy Decree concluded with a single, bone-chilling sentence.

"All the above-mentioned individuals are to be jointly tried by the Three Judicial Departments. Investigate them strictly and without leniency."

At these words, the named officials looked as if they had lost their parents. Li Jun fainted on the spot, only to be dragged away without a shred of mercy by the Imperial Guard.

The remaining officials all knelt trembling on the ground, their awe and fear for the current Emperor having reached its absolute peak.

After the swift and decisive purge, the second thing Chen Ye did was to order the release of the young girls who had been summoned to the palace to be used for Alchemy.

Not only that, but Chen Ye also took all the assets seized from the Cui and Wang families, directing half into the National Treasury for military use and using the other half to open the granaries and distribute food to the poor of the Capital City.

In a short time, Chen Ye’s reputation as Emperor among the common people climbed at an unprecedented rate, completely washing away his previous image as an incompetent ruler.

Through these various means, Chen Ye quickly seized control of the Court and immediately began to boldly implement his plans.

「In the days that followed.」

Chen Ye became a complete workaholic.

The lights in Yangxin Hall burned bright nearly every night.

Piles of memorials, military reports from the border, blueprints for the city’s defenses, the treasury’s accounts... He was like a tireless machine, handling all the affairs of this vast empire.

The awe the eunuchs and Palace Maids in the palace felt for this Emperor grew with each passing day.

They had never seen such a diligent Monarch. The Yang Zhao of the past was either carousing with abandon in the rear palace or seeking immortality in the Alchemy Room. When had he ever taken the affairs of state to heart?

The concubines in the rear palace, especially, eagerly awaited a visit from this completely transformed Emperor.

Unfortunately, Chen Ye never visited them once.

The results of confiscating the assets of these Noble Families were remarkable. At the very least, the National Treasury was much fuller.

And with money in hand, Chen Ye began to frantically arm the city.

The dilapidated city walls were reinforced. Countless rolling logs, massive stones, and cauldrons of flaming oil were hauled onto the battlements.

The Imperial Guard was expanded to thirty thousand men who drilled day and night, their battle cries shaking the heavens. Notices were posted throughout the city, recruiting able-bodied men with promises of heavy rewards to form a citizens’ defense corps.

The entire Capital City became a giant war machine, operating at high speed under Chen Ye’s will.

However, the enemy arrived far faster than anyone had anticipated.

Before the new year arrived, a blizzard raged as a messenger on a fast horse charged into the Capital City like a madman. By the time the rider fell from his mount, he was already on his last breath.

"Anding Prefecture has fallen! The Barbarian... the Barbarian army has passed Tong County! They’re about to lay siege to the city."

When the news spread, the Court and the country were shaken.

Chen Ye, however, was perfectly calm. Dressed in his battle armor, he ascended the towering city wall and saw a black tide that threatened to swallow the sky and earth appear on the distant horizon.

Countless Grassland horsemen, like a dark cloud pressing down, slowly approached.

Their banners were a forest, their blades and spears a sea of glittering snow. The soaring killing intent, even from such a distance, still made the defenders on the wall feel suffocated.

At the vanguard of the great army, a man from the Grassland, built like an iron pagoda and clad in Heavy Armor, reined in his horse.

He was the Grassland Khan, Yelv Boyang.

He raised his head, his greedy gaze falling upon the magnificent city before him, like a hungry wolf seeing the fattest lamb.

"My boys, do you see that!"

Yelv Boyang raised the scimitar in his hand and pointed it at the Capital City.

"In that city, there is endless silk to wear, endless fine wine to drink, and countless beautiful women! Breach its walls, and all of it will be ours!"

"AWOOO—!"

Tens of thousands of Grassland Wolf Riders roared as one, their cry shaking the plains and seemingly changing the color of the very sky.

War was about to erupt.