DLERB -Chapter 10 Chancellor, Come Play the Role of a Minister of a Doomed Nation!

Ying Ziye looked at Li Si kneeling on the ground, on the verge of collapse.

His childish voice rang out once more.

“Chancellor, help me make the fire burn even hotter!”

Li Si suddenly lifted his head, his wrinkled old face filled with terror and confusion.

“Y-Your Highness… what… what do you mean?”

Ying Ziye walked up to him and patted his official hat with a small hand.

“It means the fire still isn’t big enough.”

“It won’t burn out the rats hiding in the gutters.”

Li Si shuddered violently. He could not understand at all.

Tilting his little head, Ying Ziye asked innocently:

“Chancellor, you are the head of all officials. The people of Xianyang trust your words, don’t they?”

Li Si nodded with difficulty.

“Good.”

A brilliant smile spread across Ying Ziye’s face.

“Then right now, issue a public notice in the name of the Chancellor’s Office.”

Li Si immediately pricked up his ears. He desperately wanted to know what this little ancestor intended to do.

Word by word, Ying Ziye said: “The notice only needs eight characters.”

‘Inspecting the national treasury. Grain stores in critical shortage.’

Boom!

Li Si felt as though a bolt of lightning had struck the top of his head.

His entire mind went blank. Slumping onto the floor, his mouth hung wide open, yet no sound came out.

Inspecting the treasury… grain stores in critical shortage?

If those eight words were posted, Xianyang—no, the entire Qin Empire—would instantly explode into chaos!

This was no longer pouring oil onto a fire.

This was directly igniting the entire powder keg!

“Your Highness! Absolutely not!!”

Snapping back to his senses, Li Si clutched Ying Ziye’s little leg as tears streamed down his face.

“If this happens, the foundations of the empire will shake and the realm will descend into chaos! When His Majesty the First Emperor returns and investigates this matter, you and I… both of our heads will fall!”

Ying Ziye lowered his head to look at him, the smile disappearing from his face.

“Chancellor.”

“Are you teaching me how to do things?”

Li Si’s body froze instantly.

Within Ying Ziye’s eyes, there was no childish innocence—only cold indifference.

The indifference of one who viewed all living things as mere grass and dogs.

Li Si slowly released his grip, feeling all strength drain from his body.

Ying Ziye turned around, walked back to the grand chair, sat down, and swung his little legs leisurely.

“Go handle it.”

“Or would you prefer the Jinyiwei handle it for you?”

Li Si staggered to his feet, his official hat crooked to one side.

“This old minister… obeys.”

Like a walking corpse, he stumbled out of the prison.

Every step felt like walking on knife blades.

He knew he was personally pushing Great Qin toward the abyss.

…

Half an hour later—

Dozens of official notices bearing the Chancellor’s seal were plastered across every corner of Xianyang City.

“Inspecting the national treasury. Grain stores in critical shortage!”

Those eight blood-red characters struck every citizen of Xianyang like heavy hammers.

“Heavens! Even the Chancellor’s Office says the grain stores are running out! We’re really going to starve!”

“Quick! Buy rice! If we’re late, even bran will be gone!”

“It’s over! Great Qin is finished! They’re even inspecting the treasury now! Has that little tyrant already emptied the national coffers?!”

Panic reached its peak in an instant.

The price of grain skyrocketed from three hundred coins per dan to one thousand coins per dan!

And it was still climbing higher!

Countless citizens swarmed the grain shops like madmen, smashing each other bloody over half-bags of stale rice.

The entire city of Xianyang descended into utter chaos.

…

At Zhao Manor—

Listening to his subordinate’s report, Zhao Cheng laughed so hard he nearly doubled over.

“Hahahahaha! Good! Excellent!”

He slapped his thigh, his face filled with delight.

“That little bastard has truly gone insane! He actually ordered the announcement of a grain shortage himself! He’s making sure he dies as quickly as possible!”

One of Zhao Cheng’s retainers immediately flattered him:

“My lord is truly wise! This is Heaven helping us! That brat is digging his own grave!”

Zhao Cheng lifted his teacup and gently blew across the steam.

“Pass down my orders!”

“Tell Luowang to make the fire burn even hotter!”

“Go! Burn down several grain shops in the western district! Then spread the rumor that the little tyrant intends to move all the grain into his own private warehouses!”

“I want him abandoned by everyone! I want the people of Xianyang to hate him so much they’d gladly eat his flesh alive!”

“As you command!”

…

At Chunyu Yue’s residence—

“Cough cough… pffft!”

After hearing his student’s report, Chunyu Yue became so excited that he spat out another mouthful of blood.

Yet his face glowed with vitality and excitement.

“Heaven’s justice is clear! Heaven’s justice is clear indeed!”

He gripped his student’s hand so tightly that the young Confucian winced in pain.

“That brat’s reckless tyranny has already stirred both Heaven’s wrath and the people’s resentment!”

“Hurry and contact the remnants of the Six States east of the pass! Tell them Ying Ziye is already a corpse waiting in the grave! The day to raise troops is near at hand!”

…

Inside Xianyang Grand Prison—

Li Si knelt upon the floor, his face ashen.

Listening to the faint sounds of chaos and screams drifting in from outside, his heart felt like it was being carved apart.

“Your Highness… everything is in chaos… everything…”

His hoarse voice carried endless despair.

“At this rate, before His Majesty even returns, Xianyang will become a city of death!”

Ying Ziye continued calmly eating osmanthus cakes as though the outside world had nothing to do with him.

At that moment—

Jinyiwei Commander Qinglong appeared behind Ying Ziye like a ghost and dropped to one knee.

“Reporting to Your Highness.”

“The fish have all entered the net.”

Li Si suddenly lifted his head and stared at Qinglong in confusion.

From his robes, Qinglong withdrew a thick bamboo dossier and respectfully presented it with both hands.

“All sources responsible for spreading rumors throughout the city: one hundred and thirty-two individuals.”

“All ruffians who took advantage of the situation to inflate prices, commit arson, and cause unrest: two hundred and seventy-four individuals.”

“All messengers and retainers secretly communicating with Zhao Manor and Chunyu Yue’s residence: sixty-eight individuals.”

“And…”

Qinglong paused, his voice turning colder.

“All Earth-rank and Human-rank Luowang assassins hidden within Xianyang, including three contact points: a total of forty-nine individuals.”

“Every person’s name, residence, and daily movements have been completely recorded!”

Li Si listened blankly, his mind utterly empty.

Looking at the bamboo scroll, he finally understood.

The chaos…

had been created precisely to force those hiding in the shadows to expose themselves.

The so-called “grain shortage.”

The so-called “boiling public resentment.”

All of it had merely been bait.

Bait… to lure the snakes out of their holes.

Ying Ziye took the bamboo scroll and tossed it before Li Si without even looking at it.

“Chancellor, take a look.”

With trembling hands, Li Si picked up the dossier.

The names densely packed across it were documented in astonishing detail.

Even which brothel a certain thug preferred to visit…

Or which tavern a certain Luowang assassin liked to drink at…

Everything had been recorded clearly.

A freezing chill shot from the base of Li Si’s spine straight to the top of his head.

This net…had been woven far too tightly.

And this little ancestor’s schemes…were far too deep.

Ying Ziye finished the last bite of osmanthus cake and wiped his hands with a napkin.

Then he jumped down from the grand chair and walked over to Qinglong.

“The fire is bright enough now.”

Tilting up his little face, he looked at Qinglong.

“Bright enough to clearly see every rat’s face.”

He paused briefly.

Then, in his childish voice carrying bone-piercing coldness, he gave the order:

“Pass down my command.”

“Before dawn, I do not wish to see a single living person from the list remaining anywhere in Xianyang.”

“Remember.”

“Not arrest.”

“But… kill.”