Realms In The Firmament

The two officials who had been dragged out the door were dragged back now. They were pleasantly surprised when they heard the king. They couldn’t believe their ears.

It was the first time in all those years that the king took back what he decreed himself.

”You two… go back and treat the girls well.” The king spoke in a deep voice, ”You are right. This time, I… can not escape the guilt! When the case is thoroughly sorted out, I… will admit my fault to all people and exempt all tax for five years. I will make up for the families who suffered a loss. I will do the most… that I can do!”

Officials were all driven to tears. They all kneeled and said, ”Long live the king!”

No matter what he does, he could never truly make up for those poor families, as they had suffered the pain of losing their beloved ones. He could never make up for those who had already died… However, the king confessed his fault after all.

That was enough.

There was no other way to deal with this after all…

”Minister Wang, please go on,” the king spoke in a deep voice.

”The Voluptuous Flower Building has made a great wealth by exploiting those poor women. The number is… sixty-three billion! Silver!”

When Minister Wang said the number, he was shaking. He spoke in a deep voice, ”By now, the money is still missing…”

Officials were all stunned!

[Oh my almighty heavens! So much money!]

The monster exploited the women and got so much money. It was not difficult to imagine what happened to those poor women…

”We should make a law about this! We should put this case in the record. Every person in the Kingdom of Chen should remember it!”

The king’s voice reverberated.

”It is the biggest disgrace of the Kingdom of Chen since my ancestor built this kingdom! It is the biggest shame! The one to blame is exactly my own son… I, as his father, can not absolve myself from the blame!”

”…”

”A monument of shame should be built in the royal house. Here I decree! Every king, prince, and princess in the Kingdom of Chen from now on should learn and remember this monument! We should read it loud every once a month! Whoever dares to commit such a crime again should be cut into pieces till death! No mercy!”

”Second Prince was unscrupulous and unforgivable. I decree that he is no longer a member of the royal family, no longer a prince. He is from now on a sinner in the history of the Kingdom of Chen. His body should be thrown to the wild. He is an animal…”

The king didn’t finish the decree, however. He was gasping, and his face had turned red. His eyes showed that he was extremely furious at the moment.

Suddenly, after a gasp, he spat out blood.

- Puff! -

It all became red around the throne!

”Your majesty!”

Officials exclaimed.

”I am fine!” The king was gasping. He raised his head up and showed his gloomy eyes. ”I am just angry about that animal son. I feel much better now as the blood is out…”

”Since I sat on this throne, I have been wishing peace and happiness for the kingdom and my people. I want my kingdom to be a land of joy. I never knew… that my son actually did such filthy things. I cannot imagine how many lives he ruined and how many places he destroyed. He should bear the anger from men and heavens. He is unforgivable. I am a king and a father. I have responsibility on this. I am also unforgivable. I decree, that it is my unforgivable fault. I shall warn all the kings to come after me that the kingdom is important, but the people living in it is the most important. The throne is the least. All the young generations and the generations to come in the future in my clan should never forget the words I am saying today. I want everybody to remember the pain that we suffered today! We should never forget it!”

”Whoever ignores this, may heavens show justice and abandon him!”

”Other than that, the assassins who have been killing around recently are holding justice for the heavens. They are sharing the burdens for the kingdom and saving people from misery…” The King sighed. ”As long as they only target people who participated in the case of Voluptuous Flower Building… I remit them from punishment. Local governments should never stand on their way and stop them. Never ever fight against them!”

He announced two decrees. First decree, he admitted his own fault and tried to make up for the people. That was reasonable and understandable. However, the second decree was such a shock to the officials. He actually connived on the assassins’ crime! That was something that had never happened in history.

Somebody was killing inside the kingdom. Over a hundred thousand had already been killed by then, and they were still killing more. The king actually announce a decree to allow them! These murderers were not guilty!

[What… What the hell?]

Nobody dared to stand out and make an objection to it. If they objected it, they were against the people. If they objected it, people might suspect that they were also related to Second Prince in that business. All in all, they decided to shut up!

The officials of the Ministry of Rites were troubled. They were the ones who wrote the decree on papers. The king’s words were too frank, and they shouldn’t write it down word by word as he said. Otherwise, the royal court would disappoint the world.

They had to change it in a way to express the king’s intention.

”The entire kingdom should work together to strike the evil Voluptuous Flower Building! Make a conviction! Strict disposal! Dig out the truth! I will never allow any unscrupulous criminal to slip through the cracks!”

”From now on, in the Kingdom of Chen, all brothels…” The king suddenly stopped when he reached this point.

Officials looked up in a panic.

They looked at the king.

[He is not going to shut down all the brothels in the kingdom, is he?]

[Because your son did such a filthy thing so you are going to shut down all the brothels in the kingdom?]

[That will lead to a national disaster…]

Brothels were never elegant places in the world. However, they were essential leisure places… It concerned the profits of many influential figures… If brothels were all shut down, then rebellion would very likely roll over the entire kingdom… They would be all noble borns and rich figures!

At least… Some women would seem to be saved, but in fact they would have nowhere to go. They would starve to death…

Because of the wars, all kingdoms had low ratios of men to women. Less than twenty-five percent of the popularity were male… And women were physically weak…

”Brothels in the kingdom… should all be investigated. Whoever forces girls to prostitute or traffic in persons…” The king apparently had thought much about it too. He hesitated and said in a low voice, ”Should be cut into pieces till death and suffer clan extermination!”

”Besides, no Discipline Supervisor is allowed in the Kingdom of Chen from now on! All Discipline Supervisors should die with dismembering! Catch them now and kill them right away! Minister Li, you and your Ministry of Penalty are in charge of this. If you miss any one of those pricks, I will take the lives of your family to make up!”

The king’s decree was full of vigor and killing qi!

…