Chapter 23

The two assassins were excited despite being cooped up in the latrine with the horrible stench, If they could manage to kill Zhao Hao in an ambush, it would not only be a great service to the Holy Sun Sect, but they would also become famous for managing to kill the emperor under the noses of two War Emperor cultivators.

Zhao Hao while doing stretching exercises with his arms, slowly slipped to the front of the latrine.

As the Zhao Hao grew closer to the latrine, the heartbeats of the two brothers quickened due to anticipation.

Three meters away…..

Two meters…..

one meter…..

Zhao Hao reached out and grabbed the door of the latrine...

Yamada Ye Yamada Ying flexed their muscles ready to spring forth as soon as the door was opened.

However, at that moment, Zhao Hao stopped in place.

"It's dark, there must be a lot of mosquitoes inside."

Zhao Hao trembled, took 10 steps back, and turned to take a pee in the open on the grass. He then zipped his pants and left with a comfortable face.

"..."

In the stinking narrow space, Yamada Ye and Yamada Ying stared at each other with ugly expressions.

"..."

"All this stench for nothing!" They thought in unison.

They dared not attack out in the open with Dong Zhuo and Huang Diewu close by.

...

The next day, early in the morning.

"Li Tianba has levied violently, and his taxes have been getting higher every year for the past ten years. The people are overwhelmed. The court should have advised him and rectified this long ago."

"The emperor will probably be better but he seems so cruel."

"What do you know, the benevolent monarchy would only last a little while in this world before it declines. The stricter the ruler is, the more likely they are to create a prosperous age. To govern the kingdom, he must strictly watch over those officials. A crime such as selling out the kingdom must be rebuked and must have very severe consequences."

"But... I feel like he's a tyrant..."

"Shhh~, keep your voice down, do you want to be whipped while naked."

"What do you think will happen after Li Tianba returns? Won't he slaughter the whole city in rage?"

A crowd had gathered at the gate to witness Li Tianba's family which had been hung on a chain.

"Slash! Slash! Slash!"

The imperial executioner Yang Lie carried an iron pot on his back, with his upper body bare showing his toned muscles. He was sweating while waving a long tendon whip in his hand, constantly beating the corpses hanging on the city gate.

….

When he woke up in the morning, Zhao Hao sat on the dragon bed, straightened his eyes, and stared at the system data page in a daze.

[The current faith value is 161021.]

[The current belief value is 168392.]

[The current belief value is 175115.]

[The current faith value is 182577.]

...

Zhao Hao scratched his head. When he woke up and summoned the system panel, he found that the faith value had risen to over 161, 000 and it still kept increasing with each passing minute.

Zhao Hao tidied up his clothes and decided to go to the court. He had decided that the task of 'first showing his power, regaining control of the court, and stabilizing the government before Li Tianba returned to was to be completed today.

...

Golden Phoenix Temple, on the emperor's throne.

Zhao Hao was wearing a five-clawed golden dragon robe and a jade emperor's crown. He squinted his eyes and looked down quietly, his face gloomy.

In the courtroom, unexpectedly only less than ten people had shown up!

"They really dare not give me face. Yesterday, there were dozens of people in the court. Today, how come there are only six or seven people?"

An official shuddered as he stepped forward, knelt on the ground, took a deep breath, and then said "Li Daren fell ill and asked for leave. Mr. Yang wasn't felling well today and asked for leave. Mr. Mao... Master Situ is sick..." He said out dozens of names quickly all of them with a similar excuse.

 The man reporting the names had a look of grievance, and it was obvious that he had been forced by some means into this role by the other officials.

Yesterday, Zhao Hao had overseen the killing of six ministers and even the prime minister was killed. The officials had lingering fears due to the events of the previous day. Knowing that Zhao Hao was planning to regain control of the court, they thought that Zhao Hao had plans to make a big move on his second visit to the court. They were all Li Tianba's people and therefore they did not dare to come to court for fear of being killed.

Therefore, they discussed and decided last night that before Li Tianba came back, they would collectively pretend to be ill and would not be able to come up to court. In this way, they would not only save their lives, but they could also keep the power in their hands.

Zhao Hao's voice sharply raised: "The court is currently discussing major events concerning the kingdom. This will be crucial for the rise and fall of the country. As officials of the court, you must be prepared to die for your country. As long as you are still alive, you should come to the court even if you have to be carried up in a strecher. I know all of you officials are loyal and abide by this"

"Since these few officials failed to appear in the court, they must be really unable to move. Well, on that note, those who haven't come will be dismissed from their posts and will not be used from now on. Let them stay home and recuperate." Zhao Hao added.

"Huh!"

The officials couldn't help but tremble even more.

His first order is to demote dozens of officials. Sure enough, there was a big move!