Chapter 22: The Calamity of the Witch's Vessel
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When Zhao Yi returned from outside the city, he felt as though every bone in his body was about to fall apart.
First there had been the cement, then the glazed tiles, and on top of that he had to watch out for his father’s horse-slaying saber.
Being a transmigrator really wasn’t easy.
Dragging his exhausted body back to the Zhao residence, he found the entire family unusually gathered together at dinner.
The atmosphere at the table was downright bizarre.
His father, Zhao Zhao, had two unmistakable dark circles beneath his eyes. His face was stretched long as a mountain range, and every now and then he would shoot Zhao Yi a vicious sidelong glance.
The resentment in his eyes was almost tangible, as if it had seeped into the dishes and seasoned them.
His mother, Madam Liu, was the complete opposite.
She looked at her son with heartache, constantly piling food into his bowl while muttering,
“Yi’er, just look at you. You’ve lost weight. You must have worked yourself half to death out there, haven’t you?”
“Eat more, eat more. This is your favorite braised pork.”
His younger brother, Zhao Changge, had stars of admiration in his eyes and practically wanted to press his face against Zhao Yi’s.
Only Grandfather Zhao Xiao sat as steadily as a fisherman on a quiet lake. Stroking his beard, he sipped his wine leisurely, pretending not to notice the undercurrents surging around the table.
Zhao Yi picked up a piece of braised pork and stuffed it into his mouth.
“Mother, I’m fine,” he mumbled indistinctly.
His eyes shifted toward his father, and a concerned expression appeared on his face.
“Father, you’re the one I’m worried about. You don’t look very well.”
“Did you not sleep well last night? Shall I find you a physician to help restore your health?”
Zhao Zhao had just swallowed a mouthful of soup. At those words, he nearly choked to death on the spot.
“Cough… cough, cough!”
His old face flushed crimson. Pointing at Zhao Yi, he trembled as violently as if he had Parkinson’s disease.
You bastard, you still have the nerve to ask!
If it weren’t for you, you unfilial wretch, would your mother have chased me around with a rolling pin?
Madam Liu sent him a sharp look, then smiled gently.
“Your father is in perfectly good health. You needn’t worry about him.”
Zhao Yi gave an awkward chuckle and stopped tempting fate, lowering his head to eat in silence.
Dinner ended amid that strange atmosphere.
…
The next day, at the Golden Hall.
The atmosphere at the morning court was off from the very beginning.
There was an additional figure standing at the head of the civil officials.
He was an old man dressed in purple court robes, with a completely white beard and hair and a stern, rigid face.
He merely stood there, yet an intimidating authority radiated from him without any need for anger, pressing so heavily on the surrounding officials that some found it difficult to breathe.
The current Prime Minister, Wang Defa.
A veteran of three reigns, he had taken leave to return home and pay respects to his ancestors, and had only just come back from the provinces.
The morning court had barely begun when the Empress mentioned the matter of disaster relief for the floods in the south.
Wang Defa immediately stepped forward. Citing the classics and speaking at great length, he delivered an eloquent speech whose central meaning could be summed up in one sentence:
This matter was inappropriate.
The Empress’s expression visibly darkened.
That old bastard opposed her at every turn. He was irritating beyond words.
Unfortunately, he was a grand minister of state left behind by the late emperor, with former students and protégés spread throughout the court and the provinces. His foundations ran deep, and he could not be touched lightly.
Amid the oppressive atmosphere, the Empress suddenly changed the subject and spoke in a cool voice.
“My esteemed ministers, a divine object has recently appeared in Great Zhou.”
“Zhao Yi, Vice Director of the Ministry of War, has developed a binding substance called cement. Fortifications built with it are said to be indestructible.”
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“This is a vital weapon of the state and a blessing to the realm!”
At those words, Wang Defa’s shrewd old eyes narrowed at once.
He stepped forward and spoke with booming confidence.
“Your Majesty is wise beyond measure! Such a divine object is an auspicious gift bestowed upon Great Zhou by Heaven!”
He began with a torrent of flattery, but then abruptly changed tack, revealing the dagger hidden beneath his robes.
“Precisely because it is a vital weapon of the state, we must handle it with the utmost caution!”
“In my view, an affair of such importance to the foundation of the nation should properly be placed under the overall management of the Ministry of Works, with the Secretariat supervising from the side. Only then can we guarantee that nothing goes wrong!”
“Though Zhao Yi deserves credit for developing it, he is young, and his official rank is low. How could he possibly shoulder such a responsibility? If the slightest mishap were to occur, who could bear the consequences?”
He spoke with righteous indignation and magnificent solemnity.
Several officials behind him immediately stepped forward in support.
“Prime Minister Wang is absolutely right! Your Majesty, please think this over carefully!”
“How can a vital weapon of the state be treated as child’s play?”
These old foxes had come straight out of the gate trying to pluck the fruit from someone else’s tree—to seize control of the cement!
The Empress said nothing. She merely sat upright on her throne, her phoenix eyes glancing at Zhao Yi at the end of the line with an ambiguous smile.
The meaning in her gaze was unmistakable.
Your turn.
Zhao Yi understood instantly.
He yawned and sauntered out from the line, without even bothering to look Wang Defa and the others in the eye.
“Prime Minister Wang, is it?”
“Let me ask you something.”
“Do you know how this cement is made?”
Wang Defa was caught off guard. He instinctively shook his head.
Zhao Yi smiled.
“Well, you don’t even know where the stuff comes from. What the hell are you going to supervise?”
“You!” Wang Defa’s old face instantly turned the color of pig liver.
“Outrageous! How dare a whelp insult me!”
“I didn’t insult you. I merely stated the truth.”
Zhao Yi spread his hands, the smile on his face turning cold.
“Let me ask the esteemed gentlemen of the Ministry of Works as well.”
His gaze swept toward Sun Decai, Minister of Works.
“Minister Sun, when I came to you asking for a few craftsmen, what was your attitude? Shall I repeat your exact words in front of the entire court?”
Sun Decai’s calves went weak on the spot. He lowered his head farther than anyone else, wishing he could find a crack in the floor and crawl into it.
Zhao Yi’s voice suddenly rose like thunder, reverberating throughout the entire hall.
“When I was working alone with a few craftsmen, burning kilns day and night in those godforsaken ravines beyond the city, where were all you gentlemen who never stop preaching benevolence and morality?”
“Were you in your warm mansions in the capital, sipping tea, cuddling your concubines, and thinking about how to scheme against your colleagues and embezzle the national treasury?”
“Now that the thing has finally been made, every one of you comes leaping out, scrambling to supervise it and scrambling to manage it?”
“I’m telling you now!”
Zhao Yi advanced step by step, until his spittle nearly hit Wang Defa in the face.
“You want it? Fine!”
“If any one of you can make Censor Chen stand up again and trade three hundred more rounds of insults with me, I’ll hand him the formula!”
With that one sentence, he silenced the entire court.
Every civil and military official present looked at Wang Defa with a trace of sympathy.
Good heavens.
Chen Zheng was still lying at home, telling everyone he met, “You’re no good.”
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That living Bodhisattva was someone nobody could afford to provoke!
Wang Defa trembled from head to toe after being verbally pummeled. He pointed at Zhao Yi and stammered, “You… you… you…” for a long while, yet could not produce a single complete word.
His father, Zhao Zhao, silently shifted two steps farther away, afraid that he might be splashed by the spittle of his own unfilial son.
That mouth of his… It was fucking unbearable!
Before long, there were no further objections concerning the cement.
The Empress issued a direct decree establishing a special Cement Bureau, placing Zhao Yi in complete charge and making it answerable to her alone.
…
After court.
The same formula, the same familiar flavor.
Eunuch Gui once again blocked Zhao Yi’s path.
“Lord Zhao, Her Majesty has summoned you to the Imperial Study.”
Inside the Imperial Study.
The Empress reclined against a soft couch, looking at Zhao Yi with an amused curve to her lips.
“Wang Defa is an old minister left behind by the late emperor. He cannot be dealt with easily.”
“I need a way—a way to ensure that he never rises again.”
She paused, fixing Zhao Yi with her phoenix eyes, then parted her vermilion lips.
“Think of a damn scheme for me.”
Zhao Yi was displeased.
“Your Majesty, how can you put it that way? Every plan I offer is designed to preserve the state above and pacify the people below—a timeless strategy for the good of the realm! How can you call it a damn scheme?”
“Be quiet.”
The Empress shot him an exasperated look.
“Think faster.”
Zhao Yi stroked his chin and pondered for a moment. Then an exceptionally sinister smile spread across his face.
He leaned toward the imperial desk and lowered his voice. His posture made him look exactly like a human trafficker preparing to abduct a child.
“Your Majesty.”
“Have you ever heard of the Disaster of the Sorcery Curse?”
The Empress’s pupils contracted sharply.
Zhao Yi’s voice was like the whisper of a devil from the depths of hell.
“We find a skilled craftsman and have him carve a little wooden figure out of fragrant sandalwood.”
“Then we carve Your Majesty’s birth date and hour onto it.”
“After that, we secretly bury the figure in his residence.”
“Once some time has passed, we ‘accidentally’ expose the matter and claim that he has been practicing sorcery, intending to curse Your Majesty…”
“Your Majesty, think about it. That is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine branches of the family!”
“By then, with witnesses and physical evidence all in place, he could have a hundred mouths and still never explain himself!”
When the final word fell, the Empress felt a chill shoot from the base of her spine straight to the crown of her head.
She stared at Zhao Yi’s face, which wore an almost innocent smile. After a long silence, she finally forced a sentence through clenched teeth.
“You… really are a fucking monster.”
Zhao Yi chuckled. His unruly gaze once again slipped, entirely beyond his control, toward the Empress’s chest, which was gently rising and falling from shock.
Tsk.
There was quite a lot there.