The Emperor used his hand to punish corrupt officials. He used the Emperor’s hand to rot the Empire from within.
That was how Li Changsheng thought, and that was exactly how he acted.
Over the past few years, Li Changsheng had grown increasingly adept. After eliminating the Wu family, he confiscated all their property, seizing more than 50 million spirit stones in total.
He handed 30 million to the national treasury, gave 10 million to Princess Long Qianqian, and kept the remaining 10 million for himself.
Long Qianqian herself had not expected that choosing Li Changsheng would be such a brilliant decision. She could lie in her palace and earn vast amounts of spirit stones every day. It was already more than what she could freely spend from the imperial treasury.
The Ministry of Revenue was equally stunned. Who would have thought that targeting corrupt officials could generate so many spirit stones?
The Empire’s annual tax revenue was only several tens of millions of spirit stones. After deducting all expenditures, it did not even reach 100 million.
Yet the donations Li Changsheng submitted, inside and out, had already totaled 100 million. That was pure profit.
No wonder he had become such a favored figure. The Emperor supported him primarily because Li Changsheng could make money and was unafraid to offend powerful people. The dirty work of offending others was something he was willing to do.
“Move in!”
On the streets of the Northern District, Li Changsheng gave the order. More than 1,000 soldiers immediately surrounded Spring Moon Pavilion.
The Imperial Capital’s greatest money-making machine, Spring Moon Pavilion, earned over 100 million spirit stones in illicit income every year.
It was not merely a single brothel. Under its control were more than 100 smaller establishments scattered throughout the streets and alleys of the Northern District. It profited from the wealthy elite and from ordinary citizens alike. It had practically monopolized all gambling houses and pleasure venues in the Northern District. Its capacity for absorbing wealth was terrifying.
As the troops stormed inside, all thugs, courtesans, and the idle sons of wealthy families were arrested together.
“What are you doing? This is Spring Moon Pavilion! Are you trying to rebel… Ah!”
A sharp slap echoed.
The middle-aged madam shouting at the entrance was struck and sent crashing against the doorframe.
Clutching her face, she stared at the middle-aged man before her in terror.
“Madam, you can eat recklessly, but you cannot speak recklessly. This is not rebellion. This is rectifying the Empire’s moral order.”
Li Changsheng’s face was dark as he spoke coldly.
“I suspect Spring Moon Pavilion of trafficking young women, organizing lewd gatherings, colluding with criminal forces, forming illegal factions, operating black-market gambling dens, and disrupting public order in the Imperial Capital. No one here leaves. Take them all away.”
Today, he would tear it down completely.
The mortal thugs who had beaten his daughter to death were long dead. But Li Changsheng had always believed the fault was not his daughter’s. The fault lay with this building, with this Imperial Capital, with this imperial empire.
Now he was not only avenging his daughter, but also every woman like her.
Even demolishing Spring Moon Pavilion would not extinguish the hatred burning inside him.
The madam trembled violently under Li Changsheng’s chilling gaze.
She knew well that a ruthless figure had emerged in the Imperial Capital. Even the mighty Wu family had been exterminated. Spring Moon Pavilion had no chance of escape.
Even though powerful nobles stood behind it, not one dared step forward to protect it now.
“Li Wu, do you know who my father is? How dare you arrest me!”
“My father is the Minister of the Ministry of War! If you arrest me, just wait… Ah!”
Another crisp slap rang out. The young master spun three full circles in place. His face turned red instantly, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. His arrogance vanished, replaced with stunned clarity.
“So you’re the son of the Minister of War. Write to that father of yours and tell him to bring money to redeem you.”
Li Changsheng did not care who it was. Even if a Prince fell into his hands, no money meant no release.
As for the courtesans, he did not make things difficult for them. They were detained briefly, given a stern lecture, and then released.
Inside the Northern District prison of the Ministry of Justice, the smell of blood filled the air. The floor was stained red, the torture instruments and walls splattered with gore. Anyone who entered felt as though they had stepped into a living hell.
The jailers themselves were covered in blood, their clothes soaked crimson, resembling demons.
From Spring Moon Pavilion alone, over 1,000 thugs were arrested, along with several hundred mid-level managers. There were also numerous idle sons of wealthy families and cultivator county magistrates, adding several hundred more.
In total, more than 2,000 people were imprisoned. They provided the jailers with plenty of work.
Under Li Changsheng’s orders, the black-hearted thugs were tortured immediately. Whether they survived or died did not matter.
The jailers were experienced. They would not kill them outright. Instead, they would torment them until they wished for death, then slowly execute them through lingering torture.
The wealthy young masters watched in horror, their bodies trembling, legs going weak. Some fainted outright.
One by one, they were interrogated. Even before torture began, the county magistrates and wealthy youths confessed everything. New chapters come out on g.com first.
Confession did not spare them. Torture still followed, though not to the point of death. Survival depended on money arriving promptly. If payment came too late, they died. If payment came early, they still endured severe beatings. They entered standing and left carried out.
Every day, citizens of the Northern District gathered around public notice boards as if reading news, cheering with satisfaction.
Announcements listed which county magistrate or which son of a prefect had been arrested for what crimes, which gambling boss had been captured or executed. There were new postings daily.
Soon, the thugs and gambling bosses of the Northern District lived in constant fear, like rats scurrying across the street.
Some disbanded outright and returned home to farm. Who dared act arrogantly in the Imperial Capital now?
Whenever ordinary citizens suffered injustice, they went directly to Li Changsheng’s residence and wept outside his gate. He would personally handle and resolve their grievances. He was even more upright than a legendary just magistrate. He arrested first and sorted later. If wrongly arrested, they were beaten. If rightly arrested, they were tortured severely, squeezed dry, sometimes executed outright.
Before long, the Northern District grew quiet. Public order became astonishingly good.
Spring Moon Pavilion was sealed and demolished. The gambling houses were sealed and torn down.
If Li Changsheng discovered evidence against any wealthy family, he confiscated their property. In lighter cases, families were ruined financially. In severe cases, entire clans were executed.
All confiscated wealth went to the treasury.
Li Changsheng also reinvested funds into city development, reclaiming barren land, building Academies, expanding the Northern District’s territory, constructing houses and farmland, distributing land to citizens, creating employment, ensuring that every resident had work, could earn money, eat their fill, and never starve.
Naturally, such actions trampled upon the interests of the aristocratic class. Every court session was filled with complaints. Officials impeached Li Changsheng daily.
But it was useless.
This was not a mere mortal empire. The Emperor was an Emperor-level Spiritual Practitioner who stood above all family factions. As long as the Emperor tacitly approved, Li Changsheng remained untouchable.
Unless assassins targeted him.
Yet this was the Imperial Capital. Even those who hated him desperately did not dare act within its walls.
Moreover, Li Changsheng feared nothing.
With his divine ability [Longevity Spirit Sea] at full power, even a King-level Spiritual Practitioner could not defeat him. At his absolute limit, even a Saint-level Spiritual Practitioner could not kill him in a single strike.
…