Chapter 11591 — Even the Six Great Princely Mansions

"Don't forget, Wei Zhao has ties to all six great princely mansions—especially the Zhao Mansion. The connection there is quite close."

"The Rule Design Institute has Zhao Mansion shares in it too. The moment we cross the line, Zhao Mansion will be sure to jump out."

However vast the Night Central Palace's power might be, it had not yet reached the point of being able to cover the sky with one hand.

Especially since this time he had acted on his own, without the collective vote of all the Night Central Palace's core ranks. If something really did go wrong, the backlash from within the Night Central Palace alone would be enough to give him a bitter mouthful.

Xiang Feng asked blankly, "Then what do we do?"

Wang Lai, cigars dangling carelessly from his lips, said, "Simple. We go through the proper procedures. So long as we give no one grounds for complaint, naturally no one will be able to get in our way."

Xiang Feng still had not caught on. "Proper procedures? How do we go about that?"

"You—do less of the thinking. Learn from your uncle. Just set your mind at ease and be a good thug."

Wang Lai rose at once and headed for the door. "Come on, let's go pay a visit to some old friends of mine."

Thus, looking across all of Cheng Shuang'er's core power departments, the Rule Supervision Bureau could be counted as the department with the most complete set of laws and regulations, and at the same time the one with the most lenient internal oversight.

It was a summons, not a silent understanding.

The Inner Royal Court could only grit its teeth and plead softly. The other party was, after all, the Rule Supervision Bureau; even if they had not yet trampled all over you, unless it was absolutely unavoidable, you still could not tear off all pretense of civility.

The operation of the Rule Supervision Bureau bore directly on the functioning of the man-made rules throughout all of Cheng Shuang'er, and those man-made rules were in turn the very foundation on which Cheng Shuang'er could maintain its extraordinary operation.

"Is that a new rule?"

"Miss Cheng, your Rule Design Institute is suspected of the illegal buying and selling of man-made rules. Your bureau has been ordered to conduct a full-scale supervisory investigation of the institute. Please cooperate."

The Inner Royal Court narrowed its eyes. "The Night Central Palace?"

Their side would lose the initiative entirely; even the slightest resistance would become a vain hope.

Wei Zhao's expression turned stern at once. "Miss Cheng, your Rule Design Institute is suspected of numerous minor violations. From this moment on it must be sealed off completely and submit to rectification."

Just to strike at their own side, those people had actually gone and cooked up a brand-new rule—which showed plainly just how hard they were striking!

Yet Wei Zhao felt no fear.

The Inner Royal Court's eyelid twitched.

To make the Rule Supervision Bureau act so brazenly, to force out a new rule that any clear-eyed person could see was nonsense, all for the sake of that one wave of annexation—such influence was already far from ordinary.

The Inner Royal Court's heart sank.

"The Rule Supervision Bureau is handling a case—all concerned parties, stand aside!"

With that, without waiting for the Inner Royal Court to react, he straight away ordered his men to storm into the Rule Design Institute and forcibly place everyone under supervision.

At the main gate of the Rules Design Institute.

Two days later.

The Inner King's Court drew a deep breath of foul air and argued his case with all his might: "Under the public regulations of the Rules Supervision Bureau, the Rules Design Institute may be sealed and investigated only when there is insufficient hard evidence, a clear charge, and the proper paperwork - otherwise it is a violation."

A squad of fully armed elites in silver armor came striding through the air, sealing off every entrance and exit completely and slapping on seals so conspicuous and glaring they stung the eye.

Who could have imagined that the other side would say not a word and simply seal off their own Rules Design Institute?

The interests involved were so vast that any man might gamble everything on a single throw.

If Zhou Wei were still around, that would be another matter - with Zhou Wei's personal influence and the deterrence of his post as Director of the Danger Review Bureau, he could have overridden the Rules Supervision Bureau with ease.

Once trouble arose over this matter, it would deal a tremendous blow to the entire Cheng Shuang'er.

The man at their head was named Wei Zhao, a director of the Rules Supervision Bureau; in the past, to keep relations smooth, Qi Sheng had given him no small number of benefits.

This new rule was plainly aimed at their own house.

Qi Sheng chuckled. "That's right, it is a new rule. If Miss Cheng has any objections, she is welcome to raise them with your superiors. Our Rules Supervision Bureau is, on occasion, broad-minded as the sea and humble in accepting remonstrance - we may well heed Miss Cheng's opinions."

Then again, if Qi Sheng had really been present, the other side would likely have dared only to come knocking and make trouble - today's scene would never have happened.

The Inner King's Court was astonished beyond measure.

The Inner King's Court had already rated the other side's weight rather low, and had made no small preparations for that reason; but now it seemed he had still underestimated the other side's influence.

Before long, the Supervision Bureau team leader who had just gone in came hurrying back out and whispered a few words into Wei Zhao's ear.

In the years since, the Inner King's Court had dealt with them often, and relations had always been maintained fairly well.

If the Rules Supervision Bureau wished to bend the rules, there was not the slightest leeway - at least compared with other key departments, the difficulty was far greater.

But now Wei Zhao was putting on an air of strict official business.

This was plainly a case of one who came with no good intent.

Wei Zhao said nothing.

Their posture was that of people who meant to do things to the bitter end, leaving not the slightest margin!

"Lord Zhou, this conforms to the rules."

"If Miss Cheng is willing, she may appeal at any time; I will certainly not stand in the way."

Wei Zhao spoke with a teasing lilt: "Miss Cheng may not know that just last night, our Rules Supervision Bureau issued a new regulation - so long as a report is received, we have the authority to carry out sealing and inspection, and as work requires, we are obliged to keep it confidential from the outside."

After all, matters had come to this point; even if there were no problems, they could manufacture problems at any time.

No need to guess: the one who struck was certainly this Wang Lai of the Night Palace.

Otherwise, the whole lot of them at the Rules Design Institute would have been devoured alive in the blink of an eye.

Yet no matter how the Inner Royal Court tried to communicate, Qi Sheng remained utterly immovable, neither advancing nor retreating a single step.

Cheng Shuang'er rushed over upon hearing the news and was stopped at the gate on the spot.

"Miss Cheng, you know full well what he said, but whether it counts for anything is another matter. You may as well give them a straight answer."

Wei Zhao said, his face pale, "There is nothing I can tell you. In any case, all they want is a single point: from now on, there will be a deadline for rectification, and no further operations may be carried out. Violators will be severely punished, and that is final!"

The Rules Supervision Bureau was a department Cheng Shuang'er had established specifically to oversee the operation of man-made rules. To any Rules Design Institute, the name of the Rules Supervision Bureau carried a menace far greater than that of any other official department.