Chapter 127: Major Taboo

Chapter 127: The Great Taboo

"Enough. This official is aware of the matter; this official shall handle it presently."

Pei Xingjian stifled his laughter, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes as he waved a dismissive hand at the brocade-clad guards. "As for you lot, wherever you came from, go back there."

"However, when you return, remember to deliver a message to your superiors. This time, it was the Confucians' own people who were too foolish, blundering into a trap unawares, so I shall not hold it against him."

"But if your Embroidered Uniform Guards dare lay a hand on Confucian personnel again," Pei Xingjian's brows and eyes turned frigid, "do not blame this old man for beating a drowning dog, leaving you not a single tile for shelter."

A seventh-rank magistrate berating the Embroidered Uniform Guards in a thunderous voice, even threatening to expel them from his jurisdiction.

What a bizarre scene, yet the expressions of everyone present suggested it was only right and proper.

In the old man's eyes, the so-called Embroidered Uniform Guards were merely a bunch of defeated generals.

Had the new emperor not pleaded for them back then, they would have been uprooted entirely, eradicated root and branch.

And now they actually dared meddle in Confucian affairs—it was simply overestimating their capabilities.

In the deathly silent hall, the straw-sandaled Embroidered Uniform Guards stood rooted to the spot, motionless.

Pei Xingjian's graying brows twitched slightly. "Well? Still not rolling out?"

The leading Embroidered Uniform Guard took a deep breath, silently producing a section of golden wood from his bosom and holding it aloft.

There was no dazzling radiance, no terrifying commotion.

What the man held aloft was merely an ordinary, unremarkable piece of wood.

Yet Pei Xingjian's pupils suddenly contracted, and Zhang Xian cried out in alarm: "The Moving Log?!"

The Legalist ancestor Shang Yang had once moved a log to establish trust, winning the people's confidence to enact his reforms.

Later generations of Legalist sequencers followed suit, taking the Moving Log as their token of identity.

Now that this Embroidered Uniform Guard produced the Moving Log, the implication behind it was abundantly clear.

This operation of theirs had a Legalist Censor overseeing it!

Pei Xingjian's expression grew several degrees graver, a faint unease spreading through his heart.

Currently, although the New Donglin Party of the Confucians held absolute dominance in the court, due to the existence of the Great Ming Code, the Legalists still firmly controlled the Censorate.

And because the New Donglin Party had trapped the Legalists once during the "Great Court Debate" years ago,

these years, the Legalist Censors had kept their eyes peeled, staring at Confucian officials day and night, desperate to seize their handles.

Now these mad dogs had colluded with the Embroidered Uniform Guards—did they intend to stir up another storm?

"Today we must take the criminals Feng Huang and Gu Xi away. Please forgive us, Magistrate Pei."

The leading man's voice was hoarse, as if the repressed rage burning in his chest had scorched his throat.

The situation had developed far beyond the imagination of Gu Xi and Wu Gong, and even the three-man inspection team led by Zhang Xian was at a loss.

All eyes were fixed on Pei Xingjian.

"No wonder you dared barge into my county yamen. So you have backing behind you."

Pei Xingjian sneered. "But alas, others may fear the Legalist Censors, but this old man does not. If you have no other trump cards, today you still have only one option: scram."

"There is one more thing,"

Seeing the old man so overbearing, the man didn't mince words either, directly flipping his final hole card. "Our Commander's surname is Yu."

"Yu..." The old man mused for a moment. "The Yu from the Qingcheng Group?"

The Embroidered Uniform Guard nodded, confirming the guess.

"The Daoist sect has a hand in this as well?!"

At this moment, even with Pei Xingjian's city-deep composure, he could not help but reveal a look of astonishment.

A perfectly ordinary recommendation, yet behind it were entangled so many powers.

What infuriated Pei Xingjian more was that as the local chief official, these things were happening right under his nose, yet he had been so oblivious until now.

"In the end... I really am getting old."

Such a thought suddenly sprang up in the old man's heart, and he couldn't help but sigh involuntarily.

"Since you have prepared so thoroughly, this old man has nothing more to say."

The leading Embroidered Uniform Guard cupped his fists, about to offer thanks, but saw Pei Xingjian point a finger at Wu Gong instead. "Take this man away."

"Me?!"

Wu Gong's face was struck with shock, and he suddenly screamed with a heart-rending voice: "Why me? On what grounds?!"

Beside him, Gu Xi, who had been hanging his head, feigning a posture of resigned capture, suddenly lifted his head. His breathing grew abruptly rapid, his pale face full of astonishment and the wild joy of survival after a catastrophe.

Sorrow and joy swapped places in that instant, catching one off guard.

The other three officials of the Merit Evaluation Bureau, however, seemed to have anticipated this outcome long ago.

"Because, Wu Gong, you have committed the Great Taboo that must never be violated!"

Yao Chongli perhaps still couldn't bear to see Wu Gong die without understanding; gritting his teeth, he offered an explanation.

"Great Taboo..."

Wu Gong murmured these two words repeatedly, a look of sudden realization dawning on his face.

"I didn't intentionally collaborate with the Embroidered Uniform Guards; I was used!"

Wu Gong shouted in panic: "This was a trap they set for me! I had no idea the dossier was provided by the Embroidered Uniform Guards!"

"Enough."

Zhang Xian shouted sternly: "Unable to see you were being used, a man like you is fit to participate in the recommendation?"

Wu Gong turned a deaf ear, rushing to Yao Chongli's side, clutching at his sleeves like a madman. "Lord Yao, please speak for me!"

"It was your own grave error. There is nothing more to say."

Yao Chongli flicked his sleeve, flinging Wu Gong away violently.

At this moment, he wanted absolutely no further entanglement with Wu Gong; how could he possibly speak for him?

"Nothing more to say?"

A fierce glint surfaced on Wu Gong's face, bloodshot veins crawling in his eyes. "Yao Chongli, so you're drawing a line between us now? Don't forget when you took so many things from my Wu family..."

He is courting death!

This thought had just risen in Gu Xi's mind when a cold light flashed before his eyes.

*Pu chi!*

An Embroidered Spring Saber pierced through Wu Gong's throat, severing all his remaining words.

Wu Gong clutched the blade, his eyes nearly popping from their sockets, staring fixedly ahead.

Yao Chongli, the one who had struck, expressionlessly withdrew the Embroidered Spring Saber and tossed it to the leading Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Looking at the blood-stained long saber, the man frowned tightly. "Lord Pei, this doesn't seem to follow the rules, does it?"

"Here is the Chengdu County Yamen. Only Pei Xingjian's rules apply."

The old man spoke without expression: "You just want to swap in someone else to make the money, don't you? The Gu clan, the Wu clan—it's all the same."

"Many thanks, Lord Xie, for your magnanimity."

The big man fell silent for a long while. Finally, he sheathed his Embroidered Spring Saber, cupped his fist, and said: "However, there are orders from above. The prisoner's consciousness must be committed to the Imperial Prison and taken back for interrogation."

"Moreover, the household is to be confiscated."

Zhang Xian's eyelid twitched. He slammed the table and rose, roaring: "Taking kindness for weakness, are we!"

"Give it to them."

Pei Xingjian's voice rose an octave. "Since you've lost, then accept it with good grace."

"This round, your skill was superior," he looked at the brocade-clad guards, speaking slowly. "But this old man still has quite a few years left serving in Chengdu County. Our paths will cross again soon enough."

The Embroidered Guards said nothing. They merely cupped their fists, bowed to the old man, and retreated into the rain with Wu Gong's corpse.

"Is it over?"

With Wu Gong dead, the nominee for this recommendation naturally need not be chosen again.

Seated in the rosewood chair, Gu Xi drew a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart, and slowly stood up.

Just as he prepared to offer some polite words of thanks to Zhang Xian and the others, the communication device in his ear canal suddenly recited a message on its own.

In the next second, Gu Xi's face changed drastically. He could no longer care for any Confucian propriety. He strode like an arrow to the door, lifting his gaze to the south.

For some reason, in this night rain, the sky was actually full of crimson light.

His home... it had truly been burned!