Chapter Three: The Useless Golden Finger

Zhu Yu forced himself to calm down, then leaned close to the young eunuch and asked softly, “After memorizing all this, who are you supposed to recite it to?”

Instead of the expected answer, the eunuch shuddered violently, collapsed to his knees, and trembled so fiercely that he couldn’t manage a single word.

Zhu Yu did his best to keep his expression gentle and personally helped the boy to his feet, asking, “What’s your name? How old are you? When did you enter the palace?”

Though still shaking uncontrollably, the young eunuch managed to stammer out a response. “My name is Xiao Shunzi. I’m seventeen. I only entered the palace half a year ago.”

“Only half a year? And you’re already serving at my side? For an eunuch, that’s an unprecedented rise—neither Elder Wu here nor even Cao Zhengchun advanced so quickly.” Zhu Yu felt his anger mounting.

Xiao Shunzi heard the question, but only trembled harder, offering no answer.

“Tell me, who are you planning to repeat my words to? Just say it, and I promise to let bygones be bygones.”

Unexpectedly, before Zhu Yu finished speaking, Xiao Shunzi dropped to his knees again, still mute with terror.

All the fear and anxiety that had built up since Zhu Yu’s ascension now erupted. It wasn’t just anyone—now, even a mere eunuch dared to defy the emperor’s orders. If things had come to this, perhaps his reign was truly at its end.

In his previous life, Zhu Yu had been an ordinary office worker. After crossing over, he became crown prince for a month—never even having the chance to savor the privilege—before the previous emperor died suddenly and he was thrust onto the throne. Since learning the realities of this world, the pressure had been crushing, leaving him barely able to breathe each day. If not for the nightly reprieve of selecting concubines, he might have lost his mind already.

But in this moment, all that pressure found its outlet in the trembling eunuch before him, pushing Zhu Yu to the brink of hysteria.

Yet Zhu Yu’s hysteria was unlike most. The carefully maintained calm on his face vanished, replaced by a chilling blankness.

“Eunuch Wu, go to the East and West Bureaus and fetch their best interrogators. Tell them to bring their tools. You have half an hour. Fail to return with them, and don’t bother coming back at all.”

Zhu Yu’s lips curled in a faint smile as he addressed Wu, who was already kneeling on the floor. Though his face now bore a smile, it chilled all who saw it to the bone.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Eunuch Wu bowed low, then scrambled out of the hall as if fleeing a nightmare.

In less than half an hour, Wu returned, bringing with him the interrogators from the East and West Bureaus, who bowed before Zhu Yu.

With a dismissive wave, Zhu Yu indicated he had no patience for formalities. Pointing at the now motionless Xiao Shunzi, he said, “I have questions for him. He refuses to answer. Help me get the truth.”

“Here, Your Majesty? In the imperial study?” one of the interrogators asked uncertainly, glancing at the splendid surroundings.

“Right here. Begin.”

At Zhu Yu’s command, the interrogators grinned cruelly and began arguing over who would begin—after all, whoever extracted what the emperor wanted first would win glory not only for himself, but for his entire bureau, especially since the rival bureau was always a sworn enemy.

But before they could begin, Xiao Shunzi, terrified by their competition, screamed, “I’ll talk! Your Majesty, I’ll talk! Spare me, please!”

Seeing Xiao Shunzi had yielded, the interrogators stopped arguing and exchanged glances, waiting for the emperor’s decision.

“Continue,” Zhu Yu said coldly. “Just leave him able to answer my questions.”

His anger, which had begun to subside, now flared again. As emperor, he thought bitterly, even his word carried less weight than that of two torturers! No, he corrected himself—they hadn’t even spoken yet.

His original intention had been to grant the eunuch a swift end after extracting the truth, but now Zhu Yu felt that not tormenting the boy to death would be a disservice to the throne itself.

Time crawled by, and unspeakable punishments—many of which Zhu Yu had never even heard of—were performed before his eyes, leaving him on the verge of retching. It wasn’t that the scene was unbearably gruesome, but rather that Zhu Yu knew that if he didn’t harden himself, one day he might be the one suffering such a fate. So he endured.

“That’s enough. Stop.”

Unable to bear it any longer, Zhu Yu wiped away a fleck of blood that had somehow made it to his face despite the distance.

Taking a deep breath, he approached Xiao Shunzi, who could no longer stand and was now propped up by others.

“Now will you talk?” Zhu Yu asked.

“Yes, yes,” Xiao Shunzi gasped, barely audible.

“Who were you going to recite my words to?”

“Prime Minister Cai.”

At that, Zhu Yu’s heart sank. He continued, “My questions are finished. Is there any information you’d like to share? It could buy your life.”

He waited, but Xiao Shunzi only shook his head weakly, and Zhu Yu, disappointed, gave a careless order: “Deal with him.”

With that, Zhu Yu turned to return to his chair, taking only a couple of steps before a crisp sound of bones snapping echoed in his ears.

Instantly, Zhu Yu spun around in shock to see Xiao Shunzi’s neck grotesquely twisted—the sight alone was enough to terrify the executioner who’d acted.

At that moment, Zhu Yu realized his actions had been excessive, and hastily waved everyone out of the room, even the eunuchs and maids who attended him.

He couldn’t help himself—because, as the sound of snapping bones rang out, a long-awaited voice echoed in his mind.

Detected: Host has killed a low-level spy. Reward: 1 Luck Point! Imperial Destiny System activated!

Zhu Yu dropped into his chair, drew a deep breath, and began to examine this belated system.

With a focused mind, a legendary system interface unfolded before his eyes.

Host: Zhu Yu
Identity: Emperor of Jing
Status: Healthy
Martial Arts: None
Imperial Luck: 501 points
(Warning: Imperial Luck is about to fall below 500. If it remains under 500 for more than three months, host must raise it above 500 within that time or the dynasty will face catastrophic, uncontrollable events, possibly leading to its destruction. You may focus your mind to view a general outline of these threats.)

Seeing that, even with the reward, he had only 501 points, and about to fall below 500, Zhu Yu didn’t hesitate and chose to view the threats.

Immediately, the interface shifted.

It displayed: If Imperial Luck remains below 500 for over three months, the following disasters may occur, including but not limited to: earthquakes, floods, locust plagues, and other natural disasters, or invasion by foreign powers, treason by high officials, usurpation by rebels, peasant uprisings, assassination by wandering knights, and so on...