Chapter 463 - 236: The Group of Seven, Snake and Ye, the Trace of Zhu

Chapter 463: Chapter 236: The Group of Seven, Snake and Ye, the Trace of Zhu

Zheng Erniang was completely stunned.

’What Zheng Xiu wanted to auction was... the Red King’s lunch?’

Zheng Erniang continued to massage Zheng Xiu for a while longer. As she worked, Zheng Xiu fell asleep. Looking at his sleeping face, so peaceful like a child’s, she saw none of the tyrannical aura he usually had as a Prince. Zheng Erniang smiled, planted a light peck on Zheng Xiu’s cheek, and tucked the thin blanket around him. The rest of the night passed peacefully.

The next day, Zheng Erniang began organizing and promoting the "Red King’s Luncheon," sending shockwaves through the city’s elite circles.

Even many nobles outside the Capital City heard about it and began to get ideas.

But the Red King, the "nuke" who had inexplicably set off this earthquake in high society, forgot all about the matter not long after giving Second Lady the idea.

To him, it didn’t matter whether there was an auction or not. He just wanted to find something for Second Lady to do.

It was all for fun. The money was irrelevant.

After the first two days of "onboarding," Zheng Xiu finally became the hands-off boss he’d always wanted to be, letting the four departments of the Disaster Prevention Bureau operate and fulfill their respective duties.

Any case from across the country that seemed even slightly off would be reported by the Six Gates. After passing through multiple layers of reporting, it would ultimately land in Jiang Gaoyi’s hands. Jiang Gaoyi would then hand over the seemingly suspicious case files to Yin Qingqing of the Secret Ministry for a final screening.

Yin Qingqing herself was a Mystic of the "Time Demon" Path and a member of the Disaster Prevention Bureau’s "Pillar." In Zheng Xiu’s presence, she remained deferential and subservient, referring to herself as "your servant." The only thing she couldn’t understand was why Zheng Xiu trusted her so completely. After all, she had originally been one of the Great Emperor’s people, but a single word from him had landed her in Zheng Xiu’s hands.

The Great Emperor would naturally never ask for someone he had given away back; he had his pride to consider. So, Yin Qingqing was now effectively "homeless" and could only stay obediently by Zheng Xiu’s side, resigned to being an emotionless tool.

How could Yin Qingqing know that Zheng Xiu didn’t care whether the people he used were trustworthy or not? He had the "Brotherhood," which he had built from the ground up, to watch his back, and the former "Number One Ghostwriter" to stand guard for him. Zheng Xiu wouldn’t be flustered no matter who developed ulterior motives. Besides, someone as "useful" as Yin Qingqing—cheap, an Innate Mystic, a living Teleport Point, familiar with the Secret Ministry’s procedures, and obedient—was a rare find these days. The thought made Zheng Xiu want to use her even more, afraid that he might wear her out one day and then she’d be of no use.

’People who are useful should be worked to death.’

’Yep. The secret to the Richest Person’s success.’

Although Jiang Gaoyi was the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, in order to advance more smoothly on the "Official" Path, he had become the Disaster Prevention Bureau’s "Specially-appointed Secretary" after some prodding from Zheng Xiu. When there was work, the secretary did it. When there wasn’t, the secretary still did it. Juggling two jobs, Jiang Gaoyi was so busy he felt like his head would split. He spun like a top, attending the morning court as an official, heading to the Ministry of Justice in the afternoon to review cases, and then rushing to the Disaster Prevention Bureau after work to sort through mountain-like piles of files. It was said that Madam Jiang had some complaints about this. When strolling through gardens with a few other beautiful ladies from her circle, she would confide her boudoir frustrations to her close friends.

Practicing with his sword during the day, playing with his cat in the afternoon, walking his phoenix at dusk, and soaking in poison at night—the Red King’s days were peaceful and healthy after he’d delegated his responsibilities. When it was time for the first inspection of the Disaster Prevention Bureau’s work, the Red King took a carriage to the Bureau to look over the personnel roster.

Jiang Gaoyi had finally compiled the complete personnel configuration for the Disaster Prevention Bureau’s four departments. Of course, this mostly concerned the "Dawn" Department. The "Pillar" went without saying; it was just four people and one cat, all of whom Zheng Xiu knew inside and out. As for the "Secret" and "Can" Departments, Zheng Xiu had granted them a great deal of autonomy, making them bureaus within the Bureau. They were run by Yin Qingqing and Wei Chen respectively, and Zheng Xiu only needed to maintain a direct line of contact with them. Since its inception, the Dawn Department had recruited exactly three hundred and sixty members.

As a side note, the three leaders of the Brotherhood had also joined the "Dawn" Department in name for convenience.

Among them, seven individuals stood out in the Dawn Department and had obtained Level A clearance.

The strength of these seven was top-tier within the Dawn Department, but still below that of a Mystic.

They were:

"Flower-Picking Wandering" Qing Shisan, "Wife-doting Ironman" Pei Gaoya, "Thousand-Handed Flower Lady" Ji Hong’ou, "Immovable Saber" Gu Qiutang, "Shadow Puppetry" Jun Buxiao, "Gold Medal Middleman" Xi’er, and "Living Dead" Situ Yong.

Throughout the entire month of July, the Disaster Prevention Bureau began to operate with high efficiency under this new model. The members of the Dawn Department went all out, hoping for promotions, raises, and the chance to marry a rich man’s daughter. They channeled all their pent-up frustration from Ye Weiyang’s paralysis, rushing off to various regions. Along the way, they also sought to contact old Ye Weiyang subordinates scattered across the lands of Daqian, all to expand and strengthen the Disaster Prevention Bureau.

In one month, thanks to the miraculous messaging of the "Eternal World Painting," news flowed back from all over Daqian. Operating at peak efficiency, the Disaster Prevention Bureau solved over a hundred backlogged strange cases in total.

Among the more dangerous ones were: the Kitchen God Temple Corpse-Boiling Case, the Word-Eating Demon Case, the Headless Man Case, the Ten Thousand Empty Tombs Case, the Naked Woman’s Demanding Life Case, and the Flying Fox Demon Case.

These hundred-plus cases sounded like the work of Demon Fiends and monsters. But, for reasons everyone knew, almost all of them were man-made, perpetrated by rogue Miracle Masters. After Ye Weiyang fell silent, many people with Miracle Techniques got other ideas, using their abilities to cause chaos everywhere.

In just one short month, the name of the Disaster Prevention Bureau gradually spread among the common people throughout the land.

Unlike Ye Weiyang’s previous secretive methods, the Disaster Prevention Bureau’s principle was to act with high-profile flair and make a name for itself. After handling a strange incident, the Dawn Department would often absorb the local, pre-existing Ye Weiyang office, hang up a plaque for the "Disaster Prevention Bureau Branch," and leave some personnel behind.