Mortal Mage

To the north of the Taihe Palace in the city, outside an inconspicuous high wall gate, there is a red wooden sign hung with a row of delicate small characters written on it.

"Northern Pacification Office"

Two big men in red coats and cloaks stood at the door with swords at their waists. A thin layer of snow covered the brims of their hats.

The thick snow on a tiled house inside the high wall seemed to be about to crush the house.

A plaque on the door of the tile-roofed house was covered tightly with snow.

"Clang,"

The chain on the tile-roofed door was opened.

The snow on the plaque was shaken off like goose feathers.

Two sword-like characters were frozen in the thick icicles.

"Imperial Prison"

The stench of rancid shit rushed into my nose like a needle.

Inside the tile-roofed house, there is a staircase leading deep underground.

Dark, damp and hot.

A fly was lying on the dirt, sucking, as if it had been breeding here for generations.

In a torture room, a jailer was writing the last stroke of a line of words on the wall with white lime.

"Leniency to those who confess, severity to those who resist"

Li Xucheng's entire body was entangled in chains as thick as his arms.

He is a cultivator at the third level of Qi Refining. If he were to be brought to the Imperial Prison for interrogation, it would be extremely dangerous.

"Sir Li, you have been an official for so many years, it is not appropriate for you to embezzle such a small amount of money, right? Are you sure there is no spiritual stone in this ring?"

Zhang Mingxuan was dressed in a dragon robe, staring at the iron ring in his hand with a cold tone.

"Bah, you little bastard, a mere ant, dare you put on airs in front of me? Don't you know you are licking honey on the edge of a knife?"

"Aren't you afraid that the concubines in Li Si's harem will tear your tendons and skin you alive?"

"Well, Dang Nanzhi, just chop him up!"

After Zhang Mingxuan finished speaking, he left the torture room with his hands behind his back.

With a "swish", Dang Nanzhi drew the sword from his waist with one hand and walked towards Li Xucheng with murderous intent.

"impossible!"

Li Xucheng looked terrified.

As long as he doesn't hand over the spirit stone in the ring, Zhang Mingxuan will never kill him.

Dang Nanzhi raised the long sword with one hand.

“There are spirit stones!”

The knife in his hand had already reached Li Xucheng's neck.

"Why are you going through so much trouble?" Zhang Mingxuan turned around and held the ring in front of Li Xucheng's face. "Open it."

"If I open it, you won't kill me!"

"Kill him, he talks too much nonsense."

Zhang Mingxuan wanted to put away the iron ring, but Dang Nanzhi picked up the knife with one hand and the blade flew up again.

Li Xu's face was filled with fear, and he quickly whispered a mantra. The iron ring created a ripple in space, creating a space as big as a sleeve that could be used for peek.

In the space, there are mountains of gold and a few spirit stones.

"I was saying it, how could he only cough up a few hundred thousand taels of silver after being the Minister of War for ten years?" Zhang Mingxuan showed a happy expression; "Take out the spirit stones first."

A row of spirit stones flew out of the ring.

A total of one hundred low-grade spirit stones.

Three jailers who were guarding the cell entrance hurried in, picked up the spirit stones, put them into a cloth bag, and handed it to Zhang Mingxuan with both hands.

"The rest of the property in the storage ring will be handed over to the Ministry of Revenue to be flushed into the national treasury, and Li Xucheng will be handed over to the Censorate and Yamato Temple for disposal according to the law."

Zhang Mingxuan touched his nose, feeling a little embarrassed.

-

According to the laws of the Taicang Empire, anyone who embezzles more than 60 taels of silver will be skinned and stuffed with straw.

"My son! You ant! You can't kill me! I'm at the third level of Qi Refining! I'm an immortal! You can't kill me!"

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! I have already handed over the Spirit Stone! You can't kill me!"

"emperor……"

"Tell your story honestly and try to get leniency."

Zhang Mingxuan has been released from prison.

-

The imperial study is simple and elegant.

There are two more pots of four-season green plants in the room.

"How is the progress of the house search?"

Zhang Mingxuan sat at the desk and opened a huge book as thick as a dictionary.

"The Complete Chronicle of the Imperial Dynasty"

"Now, except for Wang Mingde's family, all the third-rank officials and above in the court have had their property confiscated. The initial report to the Ministry of Revenue shows that there are about 80 billion taels of silver.

"The gold in Li Xucheng's storage ring has not yet been counted."

Xiao Feizi took out a letter from his sleeve and presented it to Zhang Mingxuan.

Zhang Mingxuan pointed at a corner of the table, where Xiao Feizi had been put down, and then asked calmly, "Is it true that the Imperial Hospital cannot cure Wang Mingde's injury?"

"Your Majesty, Wang Mingde's daughter said that the wound he suffered was caused by a hidden weapon of a certain grade,"

"This hidden weapon is highly poisonous. Unless we seek help from a Foundation Establishment Immortal from the upper realm, there is a chance that the poison can be removed. Otherwise, Wang Mingde will probably not survive for more than ten years."

"Wang Wan'er learned that the teleportation array in your palace was destroyed, and now she has no intention of practicing."

Xiao Feizi squatted in front of the brazier in the study, added a new piece of charcoal into the brazier with tongs, and responded softly.

Zhang Mingxuan turned another page of the book in his hand and stopped talking.

-

for a long time.

After flipping through more than half of the thick book, Xiao Feizi picked up two large pieces of charcoal and added them to the brazier.

"Your Majesty, Dang Nanzhi requests an audience."

"Shu Xuan!"

Zhang Mingxuan closed the book with a snap and stood up.

"Your Majesty, it's clear!"

Dang Nanzhi stepped into the study, bringing in a gust of snowflakes, and fell to his knees.

"There are a total of ten concubines at the first level of Qi Refining in the harem. Among the officials in the six ministries of the court, only two were found to be at the second level of Qi Refining, and there are no others."

“Why only these few people?”

Zhang Mingxuan looked surprised and asked in a deep voice.

"According to the concubines' instructions, Li Si will not help them practice. They got the spirit stones by doing something illegal with Bu Dazhen and Ye Buwen."

"All of Li Si's spiritual stones are in the inner treasury. He has not used them to support any monks in the palace! According to the eunuch who manages the inner treasury, the money is all in Li Si's storage bag. He can take it out as needed. There is no inventory."

Dang Nanzhi finished the report quickly.

"Execute them all!"

Zhang Mingxuan's face was gloomy and he gave the order in a cold voice.