Nathan Ye didn't quite grasp what was going on, but he wasn't blind. He saw a burly man in the distinct black official robes of the Ministry of Supervision raising a blade at an old man lying on the ground—a horrifying sight.
"Gavin!" Nathan called out, spotting Gavin Tsai, who nearly broke down in tears at his appearance. Gavin, though skilled in literature, lacked the experience to know how to handle such a situation.
"So, this is the new Censor?" The rest looked Nathan over, a glint of disdain in most of their eyes. Another frail scholar, they thought, useless except for his words.
Nathan strode forward, heading straight for the drunkard. The man, still holding his blade high, sneered at him with a scornful glance, clearly unimpressed. But Nathan didn't waste words. He raised his hand and struck the man hard across the face.
Smack! The resounding slap shattered many of the onlookers' assumptions about him, leaving several mouths agape.
"Watch out, Commissioner Wei doesn't take insults lightly!" someone whispered, realizing the consequences. Commissioner Wei, the man Nathan had struck, barely felt any pain but seethed with rage. It wasn't about the impact but the public humiliation of being slapped in front of everyone.
"You dare to hit me?" Commissioner Wei's bloodshot eyes flared with anger.
Smack! Nathan hit him again, with the other hand this time.
"Scum! I wish I could beat you to death!" Nathan spat. "As a government official, you dare to point a blade at a defenseless citizen? You're a disgrace!"
Furious, Nathan's voice carried a deep resonance of indignation. As a person, the sight of a towering official threatening an unarmed elderly man crossed every moral line.
"Are you asking to die?" Commissioner Wei's face flushed as he tightened his grip on the sword handle.
Nathan broke into a grin. Is this guy serious?
If Commissioner Wei actually dared to kill him, Nathan would commend him. Nathan leaned in and pointed to the back of his head, saying, "Go on, strike here!"
The system, surprisingly, didn't object, deeming his challenge within acceptable limits. Thrilled, Nathan egged him on. Come on, do it!
But Wei didn't strike. Instead, he clenched his jaw, momentarily paralyzed. He had been angry enough to kill, but Nathan's invitation brought him up short, forcing him to reconsider.
"If you weren't my superior, I'd kill you here and now!" he growled, finding a way to save face. "You may outrank me, so I'll let you off!"
Nathan chuckled, clearly unimpressed. He promptly shed his official robes and stood bareheaded in the snowy courtyard, saying, "I'm no longer your superior. Go ahead—kill me now if you dare!"
The officials looked on in stunned silence, while Gavin was left slack-jawed. Only Clara stood by quietly, poised to intervene if Wei actually struck.
But Wei didn't dare. His face flushed with either anger or embarrassment. Did he really have the guts to kill Nathan Ye? The answer was no. Nathan's reputation was well-known; the appearance of divine signs and ancient sages had cemented his status. Killing someone like him would mean certain death, with enraged scholars demanding justice.
"Coward!" Nathan scoffed. "I actually thought you had some backbone. You call yourself a man?"
Though he looked every bit the brute, Wei wasn't stupid. He certainly wasn't willing to die over a dispute.
"You and I have no enmity," he muttered, forcing himself to justify his retreat. "But here you are, humiliating me for a mere commoner!"
"A commoner?" Nathan's eyes narrowed as he looked at the elderly man on the ground, trembling with fear and desperation.
He raised his voice, "What is this place?"
No one answered, unsure what he was getting at.
"This is the Ministry of Supervision—theoretically, the most just and rigorous judicial authority in all of Emperor Zhou's land!" Nathan stated firmly. "Yet here stands a Ministry Commissioner, dismissing the people as lowly and worthless. With such contempt, how can you possibly administer justice?"
A heavy silence hung in the air.
"Millennia ago, Emperor Taizu wrote words of wisdom above the Ministry's door as a reminder to all officials," Nathan continued. "'To wrong the people is to wrong the heavens; deceive no one but yourself. Betray your country, betray its people—who could bear to do so?' Today, I have sixteen words of my own for you."
With a deep breath, Nathan let his righteous energy burst forth, filling the air as he recited, "You live on your salaries, from the sweat of the people. The lowly are easily oppressed, but heaven is hard to deceive."
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