I Am Immortal in Great Yu

Chapter 241: Chapter 97: Burial Flower (4)

The appearance today of that colossal Burial Flower, one that seemed to connect heaven and earth, was the first sign that the Zheng Family’s ancestor had utterly failed his breakthrough... Well, perhaps it wasn’t a complete failure. It was more likely that he had succeeded, but was unable to suppress the extreme resentment contained within the Demigod and Spirit Medicines. His body perished and his spirit was extinguished, and in Nanshan Garden’s environment of overwhelming resentment, his corpse reanimated...

This was even more terrifying than outright failure; it left behind a colossal mess.

Clearly, this was a scheme from start to finish.

The Zheng Family had roped the Divine Capture Bureau into a partnership, only to cultivate the Demigod Medicine in secret. When the Zheng ancestor began to show signs of failure, they didn’t stop. Instead, they increased the supply in a desperate attempt to salvage the situation. In the end, it all blew up in their faces.

But the most absurd part was that, due to the partnership, if any truly terrible consequences arose from this, the Divine Capture Bureau would be unable to escape blame, even though the Zheng Family would have to bear the majority of the responsibility.

Many of the men seated below secretly glanced at Zhou Changfa. This time, the Zheng Family hadn’t just played the Divine Capture Bureau for fools; they had made a complete monkey out of Director Zhou Changfa himself!

Sure enough, Zhou Changfa’s beard trembled with rage, and veins bulged on his forehead. A man known for his even temper, he completely lost his composure. ”Your Zheng Family captured people behind my back? Cultivated a Demigod Medicine behind my back? Let your ancestor attempt a breakthrough behind my back? And when signs of failure appeared, you still kept it from me and went for broke?”

”And now that it’s all blown to hell, you finally tell me? You’re just dragging me in to share the blame and clean up your mess, is that it?”

He snatched the teacup from the table and hurled it at them. ”Your Zheng Family really is something else! What do you take the Imperial Court’s Divine Capture Bureau for? What do you take me for? Someone to wipe your asses for you? Huh?! Are you just banking on the fact that the Court has no Second Grade officials in Huaiyin Prefecture, so we can’t touch you?!”

Zheng Jingwei and Zheng Jinghan didn’t dare to dodge the incoming cup. They let it smash against them, shattering into pieces as tea splashed down their heads and faces.

They dared not answer his final, damning accusation. Cold sweat beaded on their foreheads.

In fact, it was just as Zhou Changfa had said.

The Zheng Family had banked on the fact that Zhou Changfa, being in his final term of office, would want to avoid any major incidents. He wanted a favorable review and a peaceful retirement with his legacy intact.

It was precisely because Zhou Changfa had grown somewhat lax in his duties that the Zheng Family was able to bribe officials at every level, act first and report later, and capture a large number of the Qualified to cultivate their Demigod Medicine.

Once Zhou Changfa had vented his anger and calmed down, Zheng Jingwei finally spoke. ”Lord Si Zheng, please quell your anger. This is not a situation our Zheng Family wished for. We will offer generous compensation afterward.”

”There will be plenty for everyone,” Zheng Jinghan added from the side.

It was a smaller price to pay everyone off now than to let the matter reach their superiors. In fact, it wasn’t just the Divine Capture Bureau; the Prefectural Magistrate’s Office would also need to be placated.

The other officials hadn’t interfered yet, but only because the Divine Capture Bureau and the Zheng Family were the ones directly responsible. ’The less you do, the fewer mistakes you make’—they simply didn’t want to get dragged into the mess.

Ultimately, everyone present was a rational person. Or, to put it another way, anyone ruled by their emotions would have been weeded out long before they could ever climb to such a high position.

”Lord Si Zheng, the Zheng Family’s mistake was unintentional.”

”Yes, the urgent priority right now is the aftermath. We must deal with the giant Burial Flower in Nanshan Garden and prevent it from spreading.”

”That’s right. Let’s solve the problem first and pursue accountability later!”

...

Almost half of the people present were members of the Zheng Family, and many others had close ties to them. With one person speaking up and other Zheng Family members chiming in, a coercive consensus quickly formed.

Only Sun Shouchai and Zhang Henshui exchanged a helpless glance and remained silent.

Zhou Changfa surveyed the room. As everyone lowered their heads, he let out a sudden sigh. ”So be it.”

A clear trace of exhaustion colored his voice. ”We will make our move tomorrow at noon, when the Yang Qi is at its zenith. I will bring out the Secret Treasure, the Martial Extreme Sword. As for the Zheng Family...”

”Rest assured, my lord!”

Zheng Jingwei hurriedly replied, ”Our Zheng Family has prepared the Great Sun True Yang Array. We will deliver the Array Jade Talismans first thing tomorrow morning.”

”Indeed. This array is the ultimate counter to all things yin and evil. Combined with your divine might, my lord, we are certain to achieve swift success and eradicate that massive Burial Flower,” Zheng Jinghan added, shamelessly flattering him.

”Excellent. So the Zheng Family had this all prepared long ago, did you?”

Zhou Changfa sneered but said no more. ”Then pass down the order. We move at noon tomorrow. Settle this matter as quickly as possible!”

...

「The next day.」

First thing in the morning, Fang Rui arrived at the Government Office, intending to gather information about the Zheng Family and Nanshan Garden.

’That was right; he hadn’t rashly gone to investigate Nanshan Garden the previous night. After all, with a free channel of information from the Divine Capture Bureau to leech off of, why would he go to the trouble and risk of doing it himself?’

He hadn’t been there long when Li Dadan found him. ”Chief, there are two Golden Seal Renowned Hunters outside asking to see you... One of them is from the Zheng Family.”

He had come in extremely early today because of his son’s situation, hoping to find some news at the Government Office, but he had clearly been disappointed.

”I will go to greet them.” Fang Rui gave the order nonchalantly. ”Dadan, go out back. Have those two informants commit suicide out of fear for their crimes.”

...