CQDF 8

 

CHAPTER 8: Setting Foot on Zhao Soil, Riddled with Holes

Half a month later, the wind and snow gradually subsided.

The capital of the Han vassal state of Zhao: Handan.

This northern ancient city, which had once shone with splendor during the great civil war, now appeared exceptionally desolate amidst the bleakness of winter. The towering city walls were covered in scorched marks left behind by the clash of blades and raging fires, and the garrison guards at the city gates wore tattered leather armor, every single one of them frozen pale blue, their bodies shivering uncontrollably in the biting wind.

When the four-horse-drawn bronze chariot, escorted by thirty thousand Yanmen iron cavalry, rolled slowly into Handan City, the commoners peeking out from both sides of the streets had no cheers in their eyes—only a stagnant, dead-water numbness and dread.

To the citizens of this land, the arrival of a vassal prince usually signaled a fresh round of ruthless extortion and crushing taxation.

"Your Ladyship, we have arrived at the Prince of Zhao's Manor."

Zhou Chang's heavy voice carried through from outside the carriage curtains.

Yu Xiaoqing stepped down from the carriage leading Liu Ruyi by the hand. Though the Prince of Zhao's Manor before them was built on a grand architectural scale, its palace walls were mottled and peeling, with withered black weeds even sprouting through the cracks in the stone steps—clearly neglected and unmaintained for many years. Compared to the opulent splendor of Chang'an's Weiyang Palace, this place felt as cold and deserted as a massive tomb.

Stepping into the manor's main audience hall, a wave of freezing air laced with the stench of mildew hit them straight in the face.

Not even a single underground charcoal hearth had been lit. Inside the empty, echoing hall, only a dozen or so local officials dispatched early by the Chang'an court were kneeling on the floor, trembling nervously as they welcomed their new lords.

Yu Xiaoqing seated herself upright upon the main dais. Although her moon-white gauze dress had faded slightly, the commanding authority that erupted after half a month of quiet endurance pressed down so heavily on the hall that you could hear a pin drop. Eight-year-old Liu Ruyi sat at her side, his little face held taut, faintly radiating the bearing of a ruling prince.

Shi Zhongyuan stood on the left with his hand resting on his sword hilt; the wound on his shoulder was no longer an issue, and now clad fully in dark iron armor, his gaze was as freezing and sharp as a blade.

Zhou Chang stood on the right, his face livid with fury, clutching the accounting ledgers he had just confiscated from Zhao's Chief Scribe of Domestic Affairs.

"Outrageous! Utterly preposterous!"

Trembling violently with rage, Zhou Chang slammed the Han legal codes and ledgers onto the floor, pointing an accusing finger at a pot-bellied official kneeling at the very front as he roared: "Zhao is a vital northern stronghold of the Great Han! How is it that the state treasury holds a mere three hundred taels of gold?! The grain reserves in the granaries aren't even enough to cover next month's rations for the soldiers at Yanmen Pass?! Speak! Where did all the silver and grain go?!"

That pot-bellied official was named Tian Wen, the Domestic Scribe of Zhao appointed years ago by the Prime Minister's Office in Chang'an to oversee Zhao's finances.

At this moment, Tian Wen exchanged a subtle, imperceptible glance with several Chang'an-faction officials behind him before wiping the cold sweat from his forehead and putting on an expression of extreme grievance as he wailed:

"Prime Minister, please see the truth! It is not that this humble official is incompetent, truly it is because over the past two years, the northern Xiongnu have repeatedly raided southward! The commoners across the Dai and Yanmen regions haven't harvested a single grain, making it impossible to collect taxes. Furthermore... with the armies constantly campaigning, military expenditures flow out like running water. Even if this subject ground his own bones to dust, I could not conjure up silver out of thin air!"

As Tian Wen wept and complained, he secretly cast sidelong glances up at Yu Xiaoqing on the main seat.

In his asset evaluation, this Consort Qi was nothing more than a washed-up palace favorite who had lost a power struggle in Chang'an and been dumped north by Empress Lü to await death—what could she possibly know, dragging an eight-year-old kid along with her? As long as he used "Xiongnu raids and natural disasters" as his standard force-majeure excuse, this mother-and-son duo would eventually have to submit just like previous vassal lords, dancing obediently to the tune of a local cash-flow gatekeeper like him.

"If the Prime Minister doubts my words, you may ask General Shi." Tian Wen turned his head, shooting a fake, skin-deep smile at Shi Zhongyuan. "Under the General's command, every year's armor repairs and warhorse fodder for the Yanmen Iron Cavalry—which item wasn't allocated directly from my hands? The General is well aware of how empty the treasury has been these past two years."

This was a blatant attempt to pass the buck, laced with a thinly veiled threat—I hold the financial lifeblood of Zhao; if you want to establish a foothold in Handan, you'll have to play by my rules.

Zhou Chang's beard trembled wildly with rage. Though he was an uncompromising censor, faced with such deeply entrenched local corruption and Chang'an-backed operatives, he couldn't immediately produce hard audit proof to convict them.

"General Shi, is what he claims accurate?" Yu Xiaoqing's cool, clear voice rang out across the hall, her tone so flat and even that it betrayed zero emotion.

Shi Zhongyuan stepped forward, clasping his fists in a formal salute as he spoke in a deep voice: "Replying to Your Ladyship, since the year before last, the military payroll issued from Chang'an for Yanmen Pass has been skimmed at every single layer. Of the military funds Scribe Tian actually disbursed to the troops, not even one-tenth remained. Today, the armor worn by our border soldiers is largely damaged, their iron swords are dull and inferior, and due to a lack of quality fodder, our warhorses can scarcely carry heavy barding. Had my Shi clan not held the line at our own expense, Xiongnu cavalry would have trampled Handan flat long ago."

Every single word from Shi Zhongyuan carried the raw reek of blood.

Tian Wen's expression shifted slightly, yet he still hardened his nerve and insisted: "The General speaks inaccurately; this official simply operates according to established regulations..."

"Regulations?"

Yu Xiaoqing suddenly let out a light chuckle. She stood up slowly and walked down the dais step by step, the hem of her moon-white skirt brushing against the freezing stone tiles with a faint rustle. Stopping directly in front of Tian Wen, she looked down condescendingly at the bloated bureaucrat.

"Scribe Tian, back when I was in Chang'an, I once heard His Majesty mention a secret prescription." Yu Xiaoqing’s voice was gentle, yet to Tian Wen's ears, it inexplicably sent a violent shiver down his spine.

"Wh-what secret prescription?"

"Gaozu said that corrupt officials under heaven are just like rats hibernating in winter. Normally, they hide deep in their burrows—no matter how you beat them or interrogate them, they swear their bellies are completely empty. Yet the moment you drag them out and press a red-hot branding iron against their stomachs, or... rip the fingernails off all ten of their fingers one by one, they will vomit out every drop of human fat and horse blood they swallowed, down to the last detail."

The temperature inside the main hall seemed to plummet below freezing in a single instant.

Tian Wen's smile froze dead on his face as he stared in disbelief at the stunningly beautiful woman before him. He never could have imagined that a pampered dancing consort from the inner palace would open her mouth with such bloodthirsty, ruthless pragmatism.

"Consort Qi! This lower official is a commissioned officer of the imperial court! Even if the Prime Minister wishes to investigate, he must abide by the laws of the Great Han and rely on concrete evidence! Without proof, how dare you subject an official to private torture?!" Tian Wen panicked, immediately pulling out Chang'an's authority as his shield.

"The laws of the Great Han?" Yu Xiaoqing sneered coldly. Reaching into her tunic, she pulled out a bronze tiger tally—the covert command tally stained with the blood of Empress Lü's assassins at Changle Slope, still carrying a faint metallic scent.

"Gaozu's imperial decree is right here: within the borders of Zhao, military and fiscal affairs are entirely autonomous, and the Prince of Zhao's Manor holds full discretionary authority! Inside this territory, my word is the law!"

Yu Xiaoqing whipped her head around toward the young wolf general standing by his sword, barking out a sharp command: "Shi Zhongyuan!"

"Present!" Shi Zhongyuan slid his longsword half an inch from its scabbard, a fierce light erupting in his eyes. He had waited far too long for this moment. Previously, forced to consider the bigger geopolitical picture, he had been compelled to swallow the petty arrogance of these civil bureaucrats; now that this woman had unleashed him—this lone wolf—what reason on earth did he have not to bite?

"I order you to immediately lead three thousand elite Yanmen cavalry to surround the residences of Domestic Scribe Tian Wen and every single Chang'an-faction official present in this hall today! From their main reception halls down to their deepest underground cellars, every single piece of gold, silver, or even a single grain of unaccounted rice you uncover is to be seized and liquidated straight into the state treasury!"

Pointing directly at Tian Wen's paper-white face, Yu Xiaoqing delivered every word with resonant, iron-clad finality:

"Anyone who resists is to be executed on the spot without exception! I want to see whether slaughtering these few fattened pigs will be enough to cover next month's payroll for my soldiers at Yanmen Pass!"

"Your Ladyship! This is outright banditry! Chang'an will never let you get away with this! Her Majesty the Empress will never let you off!" Tian Wen lost all composure, roaring hysterically as he tried to thrash free, only to be pinned flat against the floor by two rushing Yanmen personal guards.

"Chang'an?" Yu Xiaoqing stepped right up to him, planted her foot directly onto Tian Wen's thick, fleshy palm, and ground her heel down viciously.

The sickening crunch of shattering bone echoed through the hall alongside Tian Wen's pig-like shrieks of agony.

Leaning down, Yu Xiaoqing fixed him with eyes as freezing as the northern frontier gale: "Tian Wen, remember this: the Empress in Chang'an can govern Chang'an, but her jurisdiction ends at Zhao's border. From this day forward, the Prince of Zhao's decree is the sole operating rule of Zhao. Shi Zhongyuan, execute the audit!"

"Yes, Your Ladyship!" Shi Zhongyuan answered like a clap of thunder, spinning on his heel and striding out.

Outside the hall, the earth-shaking roar of three thousand iron cavalry mounting up and thundering forward erupted across the city.

Zhou Chang stood rooted to the spot, staring at the chaotic floor and the corrupt officials being dragged out, before shifting his gaze back to Yu Xiaoqing standing at the center of the hall—blood staining the hem of her skirt, yet radiating an unmatched, sovereign majesty. Having weathered decades of political storms, this veteran censor experienced for the very first time in his life what true "shock" meant.

He knew the winds over Handan City had shifted completely from this exact second onward.

Under Consort Qi's iron-and-blood restructuring, this riddled, decaying state of Zhao was about to undergo an unprecedented, violent rebirth.

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