141: Three-in-one multi-functional Zhou Yan

"Ah?"

Qiao Wenze was snapped back to reality by Zhou Yan's words and quickly interjected, afraid of being interrupted again.

"Oh, right, right. Just follow the procedure for the Three Judicial Offices. After all, this is necessary for a serious conclusion and to start the new officialdom of Jiangzhou on the right foot."

Zhou Yan also returned to normal and spoke toward the rear.

"Li Shan, bring my items."

Li Shan stepped out from the guards, jogged to the back, and received three sandalwood boxes from Yuan Chenling.

He then quickly returned, respectfully placed the boxes on the table, and rejoined the ranks.

It was clear this had been prepared in advance; his movements were smooth and practiced.

Just as Qiao Wenze and the others were wondering what was inside the boxes, Zhou Yan clapped his hands, and the soldiers began dispersing the public and preparing to close the doors.

"My apologies, everyone, but the Joint Trial by the Three Judicial Offices is about to begin here, and the subsequent proceedings are not suitable for public disclosure."

Huh? What was he talking about?

Now, it wasn't just Qiao Wenze; all the new and old officials present, as well as the convicted officials being tried below, were stunned.

How could presenting three boxes represent a Joint Trial by the Three Judicial Offices? They couldn't have possibly packed the three officials inside, could they?

Everyone was deeply shocked and found it hard to recover their senses for a moment.

Zhou Yan opened the boxes one by one, turned the contents toward the crowd, and then introduced them individually.

"The Director of the Dali Temple, the Vice Director of the Ministry of Justice, and the Palace Attendant Censor."

"These are the official posts I have recently been temporarily promoted to and concurrently hold due to my successful case-solving in Jiangzhou."

He stood up and walked to the table, taking a fish tally from each of the three boxes, and smiled at Prefect Qiao.

"What do you say, Prefect Qiao? Would you like to verify their authenticity?"

"H-h-how is that possible!"

Qiao Wenze's eyes were wide as he stared at the three fish tallies, collapsing onto his chair as if his bones had been removed.

In contrast to him, the other newly appointed and temporary officials of Jiangzhou were all extremely excited, their faces flushed.

These three official posts were actually not high-ranking; the highest, the Director of the Dali Temple, was only Rank Six, just one level higher than Qiao Wenbin.

But the Heaven-Defying aspect was that these three positions were held by one person.

Whether temporary or concurrent, Zhou Yan had essentially formed his own small judicial system.

As long as it didn't involve the entire Great Yu level, he could practically arrest, try, and sentence people freely in Jiangzhou.

As long as the evidence was conclusive, Zhou Yan could completely swagger around Jiangzhou.

Everyone thought to themselves: We followed the right person this time!

Originally, they only thought he was a subordinate of the Censor-in-Chief, or even his groomed successor.

They never expected this Young Lord Zhou to have such a formidable background. If The Emperor weren't only a teenager, they would almost suspect Zhou Yan was the current Emperor on an incognito inspection tour.

How did the Imperial Court approve such official posts?

In fact, Zhou Yan himself wasn't entirely sure what these three official posts signified.

These three boxes were sent by his Cheap Senior Brother, who said they were things that could help him clean up the Jiangzhou officials.

Zhou Yan only knew that with these three tokens, he could try, arrest, or sentence anyone he wished in Jiangzhou.

Prefect Qiao was forced into silence, slumping in his chair with a look of utter despair.

With the final obstruction gone, the subsequent process became much simpler.

Because Zhou Yan himself was the "Mini Three Judicial Offices," he only needed to write down the verdict for this case, supervise it himself, and apply the official seal himself.

No one objected, and no one dared to object.

Ultimately, the case concluded with the confiscation of all property and execution by beheading.

After the judgment was issued, the soldiers escorted the convicted officials back to the Prison. This time, most of them wore smiles, as if they had finally been liberated.

On the other side, Zhou Yan finished tidying up and prepared to begin the property confiscation.

It was still that familiar little booklet.

I have to say, the Joyous Union Sect really had a system; everything was investigated thoroughly.

Zhou Yan quickly cleared out the private assets, hidden ill-gotten gains, and various treasures accumulated by the corrupt officials.

Even the number of their illegitimate children, their whereabouts, and whether they concealed any treasures were recorded one by one.

Relying on this booklet, in just one afternoon, all the discoverable assets were piled up in front of Zhou Yan.

The final count revealed 2.17 million Spirit Stones, and if factoring in treasures and various industries, the combined assets of all corrupt officials in Jiangzhou Prefecture amounted to nearly ten million Spirit Stones.

For some reason, the more Spirit Stones there were, the less excited Zhou Yan felt compared to the beginning.

He didn't know when it started, but his income was now measured in the millions.

Initially, Zhou Yan just wanted to get some Spirit Stones for top-ups, but those Mall fashions really weren't worth spending money on.

Now he had even bought items like stockings and bunny girl ears, but this wasn't due to any special fetish; it was purely because he had too much money and nowhere to spend it.

Yuan Chenling noticed his Boss's unusual mood and couldn't help but feel confused.

He remembered how his Boss's eyes would light up whenever they extorted money together in the past.

Why was he less happy now, despite seeing so much money?

"Boss, what's wrong?"

"With so many Spirit Stones right here, why aren't you happy?"

Zhou Yan looked indifferent and spread his hands.

"I'm not interested in Spirit Stones. I just feel pained thinking about how much of this is the accumulated sweat and blood of the common people."

Yuan Chenling wore an expression that clearly said, 'Are you kidding me?'

Now he understood: the Boss wasn't in a bad mood; he just had too much money and had forgotten his roots.

And Zhou Yan's next words deeply wounded Yuan Chenling's heart.

"Confiscate ten percent of this money for the state Treasury, and use the rest to establish a Charitable Foundation for revitalizing Jiangzhou and aiding the impoverished populace."

"Ah!"

Yuan Chenling's vision went black, and he nearly fainted. A single sentence from Zhou Yan almost killed a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, but sadly, this achievement was not realized.

Yuan Chenling bristled all over and glared angrily at Zhou Yan.

"I don't care who you are, get off my Boss!"

"Ha—!"

"Are you an idiot? Do you really think we can swallow all the money from the confiscation ourselves?"

A Sound Transmission entered his Sea of Consciousness, and Yuan Chenling was startled, only then realizing that Zhou Yan was using Sound Transmission.

"This is money they acquired through corruption; it rightfully belongs to the Imperial Court."

"Although we can secretly hold back a little, no matter how much we hold back, we still have to distribute some to the current officials."

"Setting aside my current awkward position, the people haven't even been executed yet, and the last thing we need is unexpected complications."

"If we were to truly divide it, if we take too little, we don't gain much; if we take too much, it's hard to explain to those above, which causes trouble."

"By doing it this way—confiscating a portion and using the rest to establish a foundation under the guise of supporting Jiangzhou's development—we can use the foundation's money to invest in industries and then earn the money back from those industries."

"Isn't this better than directly taking the money and inviting trouble? We don't have to share it with others, we can revitalize Jiangzhou, and we can continue to make money."

Yuan Chenling didn't fully understand, nor did he grasp exactly what a foundation was.

But he knew that the money hadn't disappeared; it had just changed hands and was flowing continuously into their Private Coffers.

"Ahem, Boss—ah, no, Lord Zhou is truly a good official who serves the country and the people! This Little Yao is utterly impressed, utterly impressed. For Great Yu to have an official like you, even I, a member of the Yao Race, feel great envy."

Zhou Yan rolled his eyes at Yuan Chenling, ignoring his flattery, and silently watched as the Spirit Stones in front of him were gradually moved into the Treasury.

Actually, Zhou Yan initially wanted to be greedy. After all, taking the gold coins stolen by a giant Dragon after slaying it was perfectly reasonable; he wasn't a benevolent person to begin with.

But during the confiscation process, seeing the respectable women who had been imprisoned, the buried nameless corpses, and the common people whose families were ruined because of these officials, he couldn't help but feel a flicker of compassion.

Who wasn't once a common person? Why make things difficult for them?

Therefore, he decided to use this money to give back to the people of Jiangzhou through investment.

It wasn't to establish a persona; it was just to satisfy his own small sense of pity. Since he wasn't short on money, he figured he might as well do good deeds, accumulate merit, and earn some reputation, especially since he could still profit from it.

By channeling the money this way—into his own hands and the hands of the people—other officials wouldn't dare interfere.

In fact, since Zhou Yan was now the Three Judicial Offices in One, even if he embezzled half and didn't share it, no one would dare speak up.

And now that everyone tacitly accepted that this was Zhou Yan's asset, naturally no one dared to do anything.

After all, they had already gained benefits from Zhou Yan; if they dared to cause trouble again, Zhou Yan wouldn't mind executing one more person tomorrow.

Watching these officials being fully liquidated, Zhou Yan breathed a sigh of relief. The only remaining troubles were the clues mentioned by Qiao Wenbin and the bothersome Judge Chen.

However, Zhou Yan already had a countermeasure, and everything was about to settle down.