115: The Heavenly Master punishes on behalf of Heaven and upholds justice!

The light in his eyes dimmed little by little, finally turning into a dead gray.

He stared blankly at the figure below, bowing before his son, feeling as if an invisible hand had clenched his heart, making even breathing difficult.

That person who once told him, “Heaven’s secrets must not be revealed.”

That person who once guided him when he was most lost.

That Daoist leader whom he thought would always stand behind him.

Had defected.

He had betrayed him, choosing the son who filled him with dread.

Why?

Why on earth?

Li Shimin’s body trembled violently, an indescribable coldness spreading from the depths of his bones, instantly pervading his limbs and hundred joints.

He had not lost to a mad son.

Had he lost to fate?

Li Chengqian looked at Yuan Tiangang, who was bowing before him, his face still bearing that indifferent expression; all of this was within his expectations.

He reached out and gently patted Yuan Tiangang’s shoulder.

A simple gesture, yet it was a resounding slap, fiercely landing on the face of the Khan of Heaven on the city wall.

“Grand Tutor, you may rise.”

Li Chengqian’s voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable authority.

“From now on, you are no longer the Grand Tutor.”

He withdrew his hand, his gaze sweeping past Yuan Tiangang towards the distant, majestic palace.

“You, shall be my… Celestial Master!”

Yuan Tiangang straightened his slightly bent back; his posture remained slender, yet at this moment, it seemed to prop up heaven and earth.

He did not look at Li Chengqian, but slowly turned, his eyes, which saw through worldly affairs, swept over the dense crowd before Xuanwu Gate, over faces that were shocked, confused, or terrified.

Finally, his gaze, like two sharp swords, pierced towards the towering city wall, towards the Khan of Heaven, who had turned pale.

“Your Highness has appointed this humble commoner as Celestial Master; this commoner feels unworthy.”

Yuan Tiangang’s voice was not loud, but it carried a peculiar penetrative power, silencing all whispers.

“A Celestial Master acts on behalf of Heaven to punish evil and uphold the Righteous Path.”

He paused, his voice suddenly rising, filled with grief and desolation, “But now, in this bright universe, where is the Dao? In this majestic Chang’an, evil demons run rampant!”

He suddenly flicked his sleeve, and from within his wide robe, he actually pulled out a thick scroll of bamboo slips, its edges worn and blackened, and slammed it fiercely onto the bluestone slab beneath his feet!

“Clang!”

The crisp sound was like a slap, hitting everyone’s heart.

“This is the Bad People’s painstaking effort of five years!”

Yuan Tiangang’s voice was laced with blood and tears; he pointed at the bamboo scroll, his finger trembling slightly from the force.

“In the tenth year of Zhenguan, the Bad People investigated: within Chang’an city, there were one hundred and three temples, three thousand monks, owning ten thousand acres of fertile land and a thousand shops, yet they never paid a single coin in taxes to the national treasury, nor contributed a single effort to the imperial court!”

“This is the first crime: thieves who steal from the nation!”

A suppressed gasp arose from the crowd.

Ten thousand acres of fertile land, a thousand shops?

These monks, who supposedly lived detached from worldly affairs, were even wealthier than many aristocratic families?

On the city wall, Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui exchanged glances, both seeing shock in each other’s eyes.

As chancellors, they had such a superficial understanding of the deep infiltration of Buddhist forces!

Yuan Tiangang did not stop; his voice grew more impassioned, like a cuckoo crying blood.

“In the twelfth year of Zhenguan, the Bad People investigated again! The largest brothel in Chang’an city, the Lichunfang, had as its biggest financier the Huichang Temple, which had flourishing incense offerings in the west of the city!”

Boom!

If the previous crime only shocked people, this one completely overturned everyone’s worldview!

A pure Buddhist sanctuary was actually the behind-the-scenes boss of a pleasure quarter?

This was simply the biggest joke in the world!

“They converted the incense money offered by believers into dirty silver, lending it to desperate gamblers and merchants, charging ten, even a hundred times the interest! What is this called? This is called ‘debt of joy’!”

A look of extreme mockery appeared on Yuan Tiangang’s face.

“This is the second crime: thieves who disgrace Buddhism!”

“Oh, my goodness…”

Cheng Yaojin’s mouth was wide enough to fit a fist; he never imagined that the temples he occasionally passed by and clasped his hands in prayer were engaged in such sordid activities.

“Not only that!”

Yuan Tiangang’s voice rose again, sharp as an awl, piercing everyone’s eardrums, “In the fourteenth year of Zhenguan, the Jingzhao Prefect received a report: the wife of Blacksmith Wang in the east of the city, unable to repay the temple’s ‘debt of joy,’ was forced to hang herself! The Bad People secretly investigated and discovered that this was not the first such incident!”

He suddenly raised his head, his eyes bloodshot, staring intently at Li Shimin on the city wall.

“All those who could not repay their debts, the men were beaten and had their limbs broken, then thrown into black kilns as slaves! The women, if young and beautiful, were sold into brothels as prostitutes! Those with some allure were even locked in the dark rooms of the temples by those beasts in cassocks, raped day and night, serving as… serving as their ‘Joyful Buddhas’!”

“Those with sons and daughters suffered even more tragically! They would coerce the debtors to personally sign contracts of indenture, selling their own flesh and blood to those temples! Boys as slaves, girls as prostitutes!”

“Five years! A full five years! No fewer than a hundred commoners were driven to death by them! As many as three hundred children were sold by them! In this city of Chang’an, beneath every magnificent temple, beneath every gilded Buddha statue, lay piles of white bones! Flowed the blood and tears of innocent commoners!”

“This is the third crime: thieves who harm the nation and its people!”

Yuan Tiangang finished speaking in one breath, his body heaving violently, as if he would cough out his internal organs.

The entire Xuanwu Gate square was deathly silent.

The scent of blood in the air grew heavier at this moment.

It was no longer the blood of the imperial guards and eunuchs, but the blood of countless innocent commoners.

Everyone’s breathing grew heavy, a fire burning in their chests, threatening to consume their reason.

So, behind the Buddha statues they devoutly worshipped, lay such a dirty, bloody, and cruel truth!

Those kind-faced eminent monks were actually a group of evil spirits in human skin!

“Evil Monk! Damned Evil Monks!”

Someone in the crowd let out the first roar of anger.

Immediately after, anger erupted like a mountain torrent and a tsunami!

“Kill them! Kill these beasts!”

“My third uncle’s daughter was tricked away by the monks of Huichang Temple, saying she had a Buddhist affinity, but it turns out… it turns out she went to be a ‘Joyful Buddha’!”

“Oh, my heavens! The incense money we offered all turned into the knives they used to kill people!”

“Kill! Kill! Kill!”

Tens of thousands of commoners and soldiers waved their fists, veins bulging on their necks, eyes bloodshot, letting out earth-shattering roars.

The towering hatred threatened to overturn the entire city of Chang’an!

All the Civil and Military Officials turned ashen.

Wei Zheng’s body was trembling, not from fear, but from extreme rage.

As a remonstrance official, whose duty was to correct His Majesty’s faults, he had never heard of such heinous crimes!

This was his dereliction of duty!

And an utter betrayal of the common people under heaven!

Qin Qiong gripped the sword at his waist tightly, the knuckles on the back of his hand white.

He remembered the comrades who had died on the battlefield; the peaceful and prosperous era they had bought with their lives had actually nurtured such a group of blood-sucking maggots!

Their anger burned, but soon, an even more terrifying thought, like a venomous snake, slithered into everyone’s hearts.

The Bad People.

They were the Son of Heaven’s personal army, His Majesty’s ears and eyes.

Everything Yuan Tiangang had said was investigated by the Bad People.

They had investigated it five years ago, and again three years ago… These shocking dossiers must have been presented to His Majesty long ago.

If that was the case… Swish!

Swish!

Swish!

In an instant, everyone’s gaze, whether the commoners and soldiers below the city or the Civil and Military Officials above, simultaneously and in unison, shifted from Yuan Tiangang and converged on the solitary figure standing on the city wall.

Li Shimin.

The Son of Heaven of Great Tang.

The father of ten thousand people.

He had known all of this long ago.

Why?

Your Majesty, why did you not punish these Evil Monks?