Chapter 701: One Palm Cannot Clap
Translator: Pika
The officials lining up behind Zu An became unhappy. They all urged him to move aside for now.
Zu An straight up ignored them. He gave this official with the mustache a cold look. “My clothes are not orderly as long as you say they aren’t? Who do you think you are?”
The official with the mustache cupped his hands towards the palace and said coldly, “This is the authority the court has granted me. When it comes to the inspection of the appearance of officials, I naturally have the last say.”
“Does this mean that you have already made your decision to deliberately trouble me?” Zu An’s expression was cold.
The official’s nose pointed straight at the sky. “I have always enforced the law fairly, how could I possibly deliberately trouble you? Why am I not troubling others? One palm cannot clap. You should reflect on your own instead of blaming others.”
Zu An was immediately shocked. He didn’t expect to hear the classic quote of a certain someone from his past world.
The mustached officer said impatiently again, “You are wasting everyone’s time here. According to the law, you should be made to stand to the side for two hours in punishment as a model for other officials!”
Even though it was early in the morning, the sun had already risen. Standing for two hours under the sun wasn’t too big of a deal, but the humiliation was great.
After all, those who passed through this palace gate were all court officials. Once they witnessed this scene, he would become the laughingstock of the entire court.
Zu An’s eyes narrowed. “May I ask what sir’s name is?”
“What, do you want to get revenge on me?” The mustached official had a look of disdain on his face. “I will never give out a fake name, I am the Assistant Minister of the Huang Gate, Shi Jun! Everything that has happened today has been done impartially. You cannot do anything to me no matter how you complain and cry today.”
“Shi Jun?” Zu An suddenly realized what was happening. “What kind of relationship do you have with Shi Kun?”
The mustached officer gave him a cold look. After a long time had passed, he said, “Shi Kun is this one’s younger brother.”
Zu An thought to himself, no wonder he found this guy familiar. So he was that kid’s big brother!
Shi Jun continued and said, “I would never target you because of my younger brother. I am just doing my job according to official business.”
The Shi clan’s brothers were all close. This guy was the reason his younger brother died, so he obviously needed to get revenge.
The Shi clan was originally a bit cautious because of the crown princess, but King Qi Manor contacted them. With their cooperation, the Shi clan had nothing else to worry about.
As for Zu An defeating King Qi’s heir, the Shi clan didn’t pay that much attention. According to the reports, the only thing special about this fella is his movement technique. His real cultivation was only around the sixth or seventh rank.
The reason King Qi’s heir lost was mainly because he underestimated his opponent, as well as the help of a mysterious expert.
Now that they were in the imperial palace, how could any mysterious experts dare to approach? The emperor would just kill him!
Furthermore, he was a seventh ranked expert himself, so he naturally dared to clash with Zu An head-on like this.
The officials who were passing by all snorted disdainfully. Who are you trying to fool? However, none of them would stand out at this type of time.
After all, there was no proof that he was avenging a personal grudge right now, and no one wanted to offend the Shi clan.
“Ah, so you’re just doing your job according to official business~” Zu An repeated and deliberately stretched out the words.
Shi Jun harrumphed. “It doesn’t matter what you think. You have no choice but to obey me. Get lost and stand to the side!”
He deliberately spoke this way to infuriate the other party. Once he could no longer hold back, he could call over the Imperial Guard. He was currently in a position of power, so he had more than enough methods to deal with Zu An.
Zu An shook his head. “Unfortunately, you made a fatal error.”
“What?” Shi Jun frowned. He wondered to himself where he slipped up, but he understood the rules of etiquette like the back of his hand. Not even the emperor himself would be able to criticize him in any way.
Zu An chuckled and said, “Who said one palm cannot clap?”
As soon as he finished speaking, he instantly moved in front of Shi Jun. There was a loud and clear smack noise. A red handprint appeared on Shi Jun’s face.
Zu An already returned to his original location. He stretched out his fingers. The recoil from that slap actually stung a bit. “Look, didn’t one palm make a clapping sound just now?”
Everyone was stupefied. No one expected to see this! His speed was way too fast, and he actually dared to attack Shi Jun!
Shi Jun clutched his face. His head was ringing. His head went completely blank in that instant and he only reacted after the event.
I was hit?
This motherfucker hit me?
In front of so many people’s faces?
He erupted into rage. “You bastard, you’re courting death!”
You have successfully trolled Shi Jun for +999 +999 +999…
But even so, he didn’t attack. Instead, he calmed himself down and said, “You dare to publicly attack an Etiquette Inspection Officer? This is a huge crime! Guards, arrest this man and punish him with a hundred strikes with the rod! Then, throw him into the imperial prison until further orders from his majesty!”
He thought to himself that not even King Qi’s heir could take down this guy. Furthermore, the other party moved too quickly just now, to the point where he couldn’t even see too clearly. He didn’t think he could win against Zu An himself.
But he was currently in charge of inspecting the appearance of officials. In this type of situation, he could command the Imperial Guard.
The surrounding Imperial Guards were stunned. They had never encountered this type of thing before.
In the past, those officials who failed the inspection were all panicking in fear and obediently suffered their punishment by standing off to the side. When did they ever lash out against the inspector?
Ever since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, no, since even further back, has anything like this ever happened before?
That was why they didn’t immediately react when they heard Shi Jun’s exasperated roaring. How were they supposed to deal with this type of event?
Zu An used this chance to speak to Shi Jun. “ Again and again, you are saying how you are in charge of supervising the etiquette of all officials. Then let me ask you, what if there is an official whose clothes are so disorderly that they didn’t even wear their pants properly?”
Shi Jun subconsciously replied, “They are looking down on the court’s laws and discipline of course. Their crime of disrespect will remove them from office, and those whose crimes are more serious are to be banished.”
He was stunned as soon as he finished this sentence. Why am I replying to him? I should be arresting this man right now.
He was just about to urge the guards again when Zu An said with a voice of ridicule. “Oh? I was just about to remind you that your pants dropped.”
“Nonsense! Don’t think that you…” Shi Jun sneered. Unfortunately, he felt a chill between his legs as soon as he reached halfway through his sentence. When he lowered his head, he saw that his pants already fell between his legs. He immediately froze up.
Zu An said to the guards, “This person’s bearing is not in order. Why are you not arresting him already? He should be sent out to the front lines, right?”
Those imperial guards subconsciously nodded. But there was something wrong here, right? They didn’t know what was right here.
Everyone was shocked. The disturbance here became even greater than before.
The officials who were passing by were merely acting as detached bystanders, but now, they all surrounded this place for gossip. There were many people who even commented:
“The Shi clan’s people groom themselves pretty well. It’s white and clean.”
“But there’s no hair down there at all! They don’t look all that masculine.”
“Wow, his underwear is so fancy…”
…
Shi Jun raised his head to the sky and screamed in agony when he heard the surrounding discussions. “No!!!!!”
He vomited a mouthful of blood. Then, he collapsed.
Throwing up a mouthful of blood looked terrifying, but with his cultivation, it wasn’t a big deal at all.
However, the shame he suffered was too much. Pretending to faint in this type of situation was better than to go through this pain.
It’s all this damn Zu An’s fault!
You have successfully trolled Shi Jun for +1024 +1024 +1024…
Zu An used this chance to sneak into the imperial palace. He was full of disdain inside. You want to use the rules against me? I’ll flip the damn table!
He arrived at the eastern palace and idly played a few games of five-in-a-row with the crown prince. There were several times when the crown prince was screaming in panic. Little Xu and Little He broke out into cold sweat from watching. Sir Zu really was brave, he actually didn’t let the crown prince win!
Time passed just like that. Soon afterwards, the morning court session ended. The crown princess returned with a sullen expression. “Gather all of the eastern palace’s important members. There is a huge matter to discuss!”