Chapter 1269 - Vexation of Officials (2/2)
“Those who refused to bend and accept this hand that fate had ruthlessly dealt to them eventually all disappeared soundlessly from this world. God? Is there such a thing as God in this world?!”
“Could it be that the aristocrats of Tian Xiang are really all so inhumane? Don’t they know any gratitude?” Tie Huaili’s voice broke and grew hoarse.
Tang Yuan was also completely speechless.
To think that a simple question from him would actually uncover such a serious matter.
“Lord Tang, you’d once lived the life of a debauchee as well and visited your fair share of brothels!” Tie Huaili’s breathing grew rough as he lamented bitterly: “But do you know how many of those girls that hundreds and thousands of men abused in those brothels that you’d once visited were daughters of men who’d bled and died to protect Tian Xiang!? How many of them were girls that had been sold to the brothels after the aristocrats had their fill of fun with them!
“Many of those girls had come from good families. They were the daughters of loyal subjects, knowing nothing but purity and innocence! They were precious daughters who were doted on and loved by their fathers!” Tie Huaili panted from the effort to voice the tragic emotions in his heart. Looking firmly at Tang Yuan, he roared: “God of Fortune, Tang Yuan! You are lofty and exalted, setting yourself apart from the affairs of the world. But are you able to hear the aggrieved souls of those soldiers in the underworld crying so loudly?!”
“I CAN HEAR THEM!” Tie Huaili hammered his chest again. “Every night when I lie on my pillow, I will dream of my departed brothers, begging me to take care of their family! But I can’t do it! I am helpless to do it! I have sinned! I have sinned, ah!”
Tang Yuan drew in a breath of air, his lips trembling with shock. Standing up, he said. “Lord Tie, this Tang had been disrespectful with my words just now. Please, sit. Sit down, and let’s talk slowly.”
Jun Moxie listened from the side, his face as sullen as a stale pool of water. Killing intent leaked from his body.
Those things that Tie Huaili had said were undoubtedly the cold, hard truth.
The top families of Tian Xiang who wielded the highest authority perhaps would not stoop so low to do these kinds of things.
However, some of those middle ranking families indeed had this kind of perverse past time.
In the last several hundred years of Tian Xiang’s history, the various influential families in the country had formed extremely wide connections. Even if a single small family was provoked, if the matter was not handled cleanly, all their backings would quickly come forward to retaliate!
As long as the offended party was not snuffed out quickly enough with a single stroke, they would have countless opportunities to strike back!
This heavenly web of connections was completely airtight! However, how could there be heavenly webs in the mortal world?!
As time passed, this web had become harder and harder to unravel, and the connections between the aristocrats grew ever more intricate. At the same time, their actions became more and more lawless, resulting in the lives of the commoners becoming harder and harder to the point where many people would not be able to continue living. In the end, the country would also devolve into a criminal state…
Tie Huaili sat down, his emotions still incredibly agitated. He’d already completely forgotten about the matter that he’d come to ask from Tang Yuan and had instead completely vented his emotions. His eyes red and bloodshot, he sighed. “Just like this, the people of the capital even began to hail me as a just and incorruptible official who’s willing to serve the people. But in actuality, I’m just a useless person who cannot do anything for them. However, the people still become increasingly reliant on me, and my reputation as an official actually became better…”