Daily Intelligence System: Don't Kill Me, Honey!

Listening to the advice from the people on both sides of the street, Chen Jie cupped his fists toward them and said, ”Today is Jiu Si’s wedding, thank you everyone for coming to celebrate!”

As he spoke, Chen Jie instructed the accompanying ceremonial officer to take out countless peanuts and candies from the big basket they had prepared in advance, and then scattered them all at once. Immediately, countless children began to scramble, eager to share in the festive joy.

The procession continued forward.

Soon, the group passed through the main street of Huangzhou Prefecture and headed towards the City Lord Mansion. Here, the welcoming party consisted not of ordinary people but more of officials from Huangzhou Prefecture and their families.

At this moment, the officials lined up in two rows, and among them, Chen Jie spotted his elder brother, Wu Hong.

He is currently the head of the Supervision Department in Huangzhou Prefecture.

He stood within the crowd, not part of Chen Jie’s wedding procession; not because Chen Jie didn’t invite him, but because he directly refused the invitation.

His current status does not permit him to mingle with other officials in Huangzhou Prefecture.

Wu Hong is doing a job that’s universally disliked—supervising officials. It sounds mighty, overseeing everyone from the Prime Minister Hu Weiyong in Huangzhou Prefecture to the Village Chief of Xiantao Village in Mianshui County.

You could say it’s a job feared by everyone under one man’s authority.

While the position is indeed prestigious and powerful, it also invites the resentment of other officials.

There’s no way to avoid it; Wu Hong genuinely shows no leniency. Anyone daring to indulge in corruption is met with merciless reporting from him.

And it’s no use pleading for mercy.

On regular days, Wu Hong doesn’t form factions or make friends, living as a solitary pillar. Every official hopes to befriend Wu Hong, but none can actually become his friend.

Wu Hong refuses to befriend anyone and stands firm, daring even to directly impeach Hu Weiyong.

Chen Jie had received several impeachment reports from Wu Hong about Hu Weiyong accepting gifts and hosting banquets—a small matter, slightly overstepping boundaries. Yet, Wu Hong still reported it.

This scared Hu Weiyong into rushing overnight to explain to Chen Jie.

This toughness from Wu Hong doesn’t come without consequences. The consequence is an extremely poor rapport, lacking friends. Besides Chen Xiaohu, an old village mate of his in Chen Jiusi’s Huangzhou Prefecture group, no one else communicates with him.

Others simply don’t associate with him, and recently many have impeached him, even calling him a cruel official.

Claiming he makes a big deal out of nothing, they say he has the entire official circle in upheaval, even accusing him of unfounded impeachments, being the source of chaos.

Multiple similar reports have crossed Chen Jie’s desk, but he merely suppressed them and sent people to investigate these accusers, checking their backgrounds meticulously.

If their records were already spoiled, Chen Jie handled them directly. For those slightly tainted but not completely, Chen Jie offered a degree of protection.

Chen Jie cannot allow anyone to bring down Wu Hong, nor can he strip other officials of their right to report. Hence, while protecting Wu Hong, he grants other officials oversight. Of course, if you’re already involved in dirty dealings, you’d best clean up before meddling.

It’s impossible for Chen Jie to let anyone malign Wu Hong, for Wu Hong is akin to a catfish in the official system of Huangzhou Prefecture. With Wu Hong present, anyone considering misdoing must think twice.

Would they dare succumb to corruption?

It’s evident that Wu Hong’s role is pivotal, and devoid of alliances, Chen Jie is his strongest supporter.

No one should think of ousting Wu Hong with foul play, and Wu Hong is aware of this, so he acts even more cautiously, ensuring ample evidence even when impeaching other officials.

Thus, due to Wu Hong’s ruthless nature, officials nicknamed him the Iron-faced Tiger.

He’s truly iron-faced and unyielding. As such, Wu Hong seldom ventures out and even avoids befriending officials, claiming he’s fearful that closeness might hinder him in future cases.

For all these reasons, he refused Chen Jie’s invitation to be the best man at this grand wedding.

At this moment, he stood among the crowd watching Chen Jie parade down the street on horseback; their eyes met, and Wu Hong subtly nodded, extending his reserved blessing.

Chen Jie received Wu Hong’s blessing, lightly nodding in return, then proceeded with the entourage directly forward, soon arriving at the City Lord Mansion’s entrance.

Here, large red lanterns adorned the exterior of the City Lord Mansion. As Chen Jie approached, a round of firecrackers was immediately set off, their crackling noise dispelling evil spirits and ushering in good fortune.

Next, the Commandery Princess alighted from the sedan, stepping over the fire pot, symbolizing crossing over disasters, thereby ensuring good fortune and averting misfortunes.

Si Xi, in charge of the arrangements within the courtyard, approached with a bow and three red arrows, instructing Chen Jie to shoot three arrows at the sedan carrying the bride, expelling any evil spirits encountered en route. Upon hearing this, Chen Jie harbored no other thoughts and promptly shot the three arrows.

With all preparations complete, Si Xi, acting as the master of ceremonies, invited the groom and bride to enter.

At this time, inside the main hall of the City Lord Mansion, three memorial tablets were arranged. They were for Chen Jie’s deceased maternal grandfather Chen Yongwang, his mother Chen Juan, and his husband-like father.

On the opposite side were the Ruyang King and Princess Ruyang, seated together. Aside from setting up memorial tablets, Chen Jie invited his first mentor—White Wenjing, Mr. Bai—to act as his elder throughout this journey.