A Quiet Homecoming

His words clearly favored Lin Yu. Several officials exchanged glances, but they did not panic—they had prepared thoroughly this time. Since His Majesty had already allowed the petitioner in, they were confident they could make the accusation stick.

What an exalted position the Divine Maiden of Heaven’s Mandate Tower held—so close to the gods, coveted by countless people. Why should an orphan with no power or connections occupy it? What had she done to catch the emperor’s eye and earn his personal appointment?

But it didn’t matter. She had already been Divine Maiden for four months. Her good fortune had reached its end. Soon, this position would change hands.

Two or three eunuchs hurriedly brought the man in, not because he was important, but because he had endured fifty blows of the spiked cudgel and was on the verge of death. He couldn’t even walk and had to be supported.

The petitioner was a young man of about twenty, with fair skin—even under the severe punishment, one could tell he had once been a wealthy young master. He had a refined, scholarly air, clearly a frail bookworm. Once the eunuchs helped him inside, he knelt and performed the kowtow ritual. "Your subject pays respects to Your Majesty."

Fu Ming was somewhat surprised when he saw the man. He looked far too frail; it was hard to imagine how he had survived the earlier punishments and made it to the imperial presence.

The Imperial Censor and the Minister of Rites both wore expressions of distress. They spoke one after another. "Your Majesty, look at this... truly pitiful! A promising young talent, beaten to half-death like this. This old minister’s heart aches to see it!"

"The one who committed such heinous acts must be severely punished! I have reviewed the complaint; the Divine Maiden didn’t kill ordinary people—she killed cultivators! Cultivators are rare pillars of talent, and their deaths damage the nation’s fortune! She is unworthy to be our Divine Maiden!"

The Grand Commandant shot the scholar a glance, his contempt evident. "How can someone with such a venomous heart not understand that her position is lifted up by the myriad common folk and cultivators? Without them, she is nothing!"

"To kill the innocent like this, so many lives lost at her hands—I plead in death, Your Majesty, execute the Divine Maiden!"

Fu Ming sat on the dragon throne, his gaze sweeping lazily over the crowd before settling on the Grand Commandant. "Since the Grand Commandant has already offered his death remonstrance, then..."

The Grand Commandant straightened his back, smiling obsequiously.

Fu Ming paused, then curled his lips. "Then go die. I grant your wish."

In an instant, the entire court was stunned. Fu Ming’s single sentence crushed the speeches everyone had rehearsed. "Guards, drag him out and execute him immediately."

It all happened too fast—before the Grand Commandant even realized what was happening, guards had seized him and dragged him away!

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Please calm your anger! I am wronged!..." The Grand Commandant’s cries faded into the distance, his screams echoing before the hall, sending chills down everyone’s spines.

The esteemed Grand Commandant had merely misspoken, yet Fu Ming had him beheaded without hesitation!

Suddenly, no one in the court dared speak. The officials who had conspired together fell silent, not even daring to breathe.

Fu Ming was always mad, but never this mad. An eerie silence fell over the court; no one wanted to repeat the Grand Commandant’s mistake.

Fu Ming rested his chin on his hand, looking bored. He drawled, "Does anyone else have something to say? If not, court is dismissed."

He let his gaze drift to the Imperial Censor. If the matter had reached the court, it was the Imperial Censor who had started it. Naturally, he should be the one to end it.

Seeing no one step forward to support him, the Imperial Censor swallowed hard. After a moment’s deliberation, he steeled himself and said, "Your Majesty, this man’s complaint is heartfelt and does not seem false. I beg Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly!"

Mindful of the Grand Commandant’s fate, the Imperial Censor chose a more tactful phrasing. "This old minister would never allow anyone to slander the Divine Maiden, but we must not wrongfully kill the innocent either. If—I mean, if there is any truth to this, then the Divine Maiden must be punished..."

"Spreading rumors to confuse the people—drag him out and execute him with the scholar." Before the Imperial Censor could finish, Fu Ming waved his hand, signaling the imperial guards to move.

The Imperial Censor was so startled that he dropped his hu tablet; the ivory tablet clattered to the ground with a sharp sound.

"Your Majesty... Forgive me! Your Majesty—"

Fu Ming raised his hand with interest, signaling the guards to stop. He smiled. "Go on, tell me. What crime have you committed?"

Fu Ming’s expression was smiling, but it felt like a viper’s sting to everyone present. The Imperial Censor lowered his head. "Your... Your Majesty..."

Suddenly, the Imperial Censor’s gaze flicked to the scholar’s sleeve. How had he forgotten about him?

This scholar, Zhang Cheng, was the son of a private school teacher in the city. One night not long ago, he had accidentally killed a woman on the outskirts of the city. After the murder, he dragged the corpse to a nearby mountain and hid there all night, intending to bury her. But that same night, he saw something he shouldn’t have.

A group of white-robed cultivators, who clearly had high cultivation, were besieging a red-robed young man in front of the Earth Immortal Temple. They fought fiercely, raising dust everywhere. As a scholar, Zhang Cheng had never seen cultivators before.

He stopped digging the grave, grabbed the corpse, and hid behind a large boulder, trembling. After a long time, when the sounds of battle ceased, he peered cautiously toward the Earth Immortal Temple.

That single glance showed him Lin Yu.

Zhang Cheng had an exceptional memory—he was one who learned through rote memorization. Not only could he remember texts at a glance, but he also remembered faces. He had attended the Divine Maiden ceremony with his father and had seen the Divine Maiden surrounded by the crowd.

So he recognized her immediately: the Divine Maiden of Heaven’s Mandate Tower.

The fear of manslaughter still loomed over him, and now he had seen the Divine Maiden. His heart pounded wildly. Then, the Divine Maiden, who had been smiling a moment ago, suddenly drew a long whip and struck at the cultivators!

At the same moment, a beast—pure black, lion-like—ran out of the Earth Immortal Temple. In moments, it tore the boastful cultivators into bloody mist!

Zhang Cheng’s mind was in turmoil. He forgot all about the murder and the unburied corpse. Before dawn, he fled down the mountain like a madman and ran home.

But when he finally reached home, it was empty—no one was there.

The house had been ransacked, as if it had been robbed. Zhang Cheng was clever and realized immediately that something had happened to his family. But he hadn’t even made it out of the courtyard before two constables caught him and hauled him to the Court of Judicial Review.

His father had colluded with officials at the examination hall, privately selling exam questions to wealthy young masters and ladies for years. The scandal of bribery and fraud had come to light.

In the Yu Kingdom, all civil positions were determined by the imperial examinations. By bribing officials and purchasing a seat, one was effectively buying official rank—a grave crime punishable by execution of the entire family.

Zhang Cheng not only had a murder on his hands, but his family was now in prison. He knew he was doomed, so he used his only leverage: the story of the Divine Maiden killing those people.

Things went more smoothly than he expected. Too many people coveted the position of Divine Maiden at Heaven’s Mandate Tower. If the accusation stuck, the Divine Maiden would surely be replaced. Soon, he was brought before the Imperial Censor.

...

Now, the Imperial Censor studied Zhang Cheng’s thin back, covered in bloody welts, still wearing the same prison clothes. The testimony from that day was fresh in his mind.

Zhang Cheng stared at the ground, unmoved. Each of them had his own hidden agenda.

The Imperial Censor had bought Zhang Cheng’s life and promised to spare his family. All his efforts were meant to make Zhang Cheng a willing sacrifice.

Once Zhang Cheng was dead, the Imperial Censor would rally others at court to make a fuss. If enough officials protested, they could force the emperor to investigate, dragging Lin Yu down and putting someone else in her place.

But His Majesty was harsher than usual today—he killed anyone who questioned him, even the esteemed Grand Commandant. Survival was the priority now.

Even if he failed to topple the Divine Maiden today, he had other means to spread the story of the petition. Once rumors spread across the city, the Divine Maiden’s reputation would be ruined, and that would be a good enough outcome.

Rumors would slowly fester and eventually achieve his goal.

The Imperial Censor cleared his throat. "Forgive me, Your Majesty. I was deceived by this villain and believed his lies. That’s why..."

He knocked his head twice on the ground, and at the same time, his fingers tapped rhythmically twice.

Zhang Cheng’s eyes flickered. It was the prearranged signal.

Zhang Cheng clenched his fists and stayed kneeling. After a moment’s thought, he decided to go all in. "Everything I said is true! I have evidence!"

In an instant, all attention shifted to him; no one paid heed to the Imperial Censor anymore. Zhang Cheng raised the complaint paper high. "If I am lying, may heaven strike me with lightning, and may I be reborn as an animal in my next life, never to escape rebirth!"

"Is that so?" Fu Ming’s interest was piqued. He rested his chin on one hand, his gaze flickering over the Imperial Censor behind Zhang Cheng. "What evidence do you have?"

"I found the dagger the Divine Maiden used to kill!" The scholar quickly pulled a bloodstained dagger from his clothes and presented it. "I am the witness, and this dagger is the physical evidence. Your Majesty can send someone to verify it at the Earth Immortal Temple outside the city. I speak nothing but the truth."

The dagger wasn’t actually found by Zhang Cheng. After learning of the incident, the Imperial Censor had sent men under cover of darkness to the temple, searching for any trace. A death warrior had found it wedged in a crack of a cushion inside the temple.

The eunuch hurried down, took the dagger, and presented it to Fu Ming. It was gilded with gold thread, studded with luxurious gems, crafted with gold-and-silver inlay and treasure-inlay techniques—exquisite workmanship. Dried blood had caked over it, obscuring its original color.

Fu Ming merely glanced at it and waved the eunuch away. He looked at the Imperial Censor as if he were a fool, but addressed the scholar. "Before you frame someone, don’t you bother to investigate their likes and dislikes?"

Lin Yu never liked ostentatious things. This dagger was purely ornamental, the kind noble ladies carried for show, but it was inconvenient for killing—the gems were just dead weight.

"The Divine Maiden detests gold. Didn’t anyone tell you?" Fu Ming chuckled. "She would look down on such vulgar objects."

The Imperial Censor remained kneeling, head bowed, afraid to move. He had been trying to keep a low profile to avoid displeasing Fu Ming further, but now he froze.

The Divine Maiden disliked gold? Impossible.

The moment he saw the dagger brought back by the death warrior, he was certain it belonged to Lin Yu—simply because the dagger matched her style perfectly.

The Imperial Censor had seen Lin Yu twice, and each time she was decked out in gold and jewels, as if she had embedded every gem she owned into her clothes. When sunlight hit her, it was blinding. How could she dislike such things?

Zhang Cheng’s heart pounded like a drum, but he persisted. "Precisely because she hates gold, she used this dagger to kill. Even if the murder weapon were found, no one would suspect her!"

Fu Ming was amused by the argument. He asked the eunuch beside him, "What is the punishment for slandering the Divine Maiden according to the law?"

There was no such provision in the laws of the Yu Kingdom, but since His Majesty asked, the eunuch quickly invented one. "Execution of the entire family."

Fu Ming seemed to ponder. "Then let’s do that. Court is dismissed."

Hearing that his family would be executed, Zhang Cheng panicked. He had risked his life for this petition solely to save his family. "Your Majesty! I am not lying! I saw it with my own eyes! I saw it clearly—it was her!"

Fu Ming did not so much as blink. He descended from the high platform and walked step by step to stand before the scholar. "You saw it with your own eyes?"

The pressure of Fu Ming’s approach was overwhelming. Zhang Cheng looked up at the emperor, who was now within arm’s reach, holding his breath, trembling all over. "I... I saw it with my own eyes."

Fu Ming patted the dust off his robes and began to walk away. As he walked, he said, "If that’s so, then those eyes of yours have no further use. You’ve seen too many things you shouldn’t have."

He glanced back. "Dig them out."

The scholar, already weakened by punishment, lost all strength at these words. He collapsed to the ground as if his spine had been removed. Before he could catch his breath, Fu Ming spoke again.

Fu Ming turned around, a playful smile on his lips. "Dig out his entire family’s eyes too. Then send them to the Imperial Censor’s residence."