Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Reprint those newspapers, the printed ones can go to the trash…”
“Pull down all the previous headlines. Put the story of the Spirit Peace River’s stone turtle at the front. Yes, the writing must be big, especially the words on the back for the turtle. Even a blind man has to see it. Put this news out, the report article can wait a little…”
“Add the printing label…”
“Print 300,000 copies of this newspaper…”
“No one is allowed to rest tonight, all of you work overtime. The salary will be five times the amount, let the transportation carriage group wait outside. Send the first batch to Jinling and other cities…”
Fang Beidou’s throat was on fire, his head covered in sweat as he made orders in the printing press. The entire newspaper agency from head to toe was working very hard.
Under Fang Beidou’s governance, the printing press used its fastest speed to reprint the newspapers. Soon, a newly-printed Great Han Times appeared in Fang Beidou’s hands.
Fang Beidou didn’t look anywhere else but the headline: ‘Spirit Peace River Stone Turtle Emergence Shocks The World.’
After a brief introduction, a crystal clear image of the turtle was shown. Most importantly, there wasn’t one word missing from its back. It was in large bold text and covered the entire page.
“The Great Han Empire, fifth lunar month in the 16th year of the Yuanping reign, the Heavenly Dog devours the sun in Liu Province…”
“The Great Han Empire, eighth lunar month in the 16th year of the Yuanping reign, the great drought in Zhu province…”
“The Great Han Empire, first lunar month in the 17th year of the Yuanping reign, the great earthquake in Gong Province…”
“The Great Han Empire, fourth lunar month in the 17th year of the Yuanping reign, landslide on Mount Luchuan…”
“The Great Han Empire, ninth lunar month in the 17th year of the Yuanping reign, the Heavenly Tribulation occurs. All stars fall. The capital regions become the land of death, a desert that spans a thousand li where thousands of lives perish and return to ashes…”
“The stone turtle doesn’t open its mouth. If you see this item, you gain the opportunity. Save the citizens, escape a thousand li away, and you shall survive!”
Even Fang Beidou’s heart was shaking when he looked at the content. Other than the content itself, it was because he knew from whom this content came from.
This was the crisis of the empire, tens of thousands of stars falling, thousands of kilometers of land around the capital turning barren. Without that person, he didn’t know how many would die under this crisis and what huge change would come to the Great Han Empire.
The reason the Great Han Empire Times existed was due to today!
“Manager, do you think this is fine?” A craftsman carefully looked at Fang Beidou’s face.
“Print everything like this, quickly…”
“Yes, yes…”
Everyone in the printing press worked quickly. When it was dark, the bundles of newly printed newspapers were carried out of the printing press and carried onto the carts waiting outside.
Under the protection of the guards, the coachman waved his whip and the horse quickly pulled the carts to all places in the capital during the night.
The printing press was lit up everywhere. Everyone was working overtime and challenging the night…
Not just the printing press, but the entire capital erupted. When it was dinner time, the restaurants, the homes of the wealthy, and even the farmers were discussing the stone turtle.
……
In the palace’s throne room, all the ministers and the Emperor himself looked at the stone turtle with a serious face. Everyone was silent as they glanced at each other. The atmosphere seemed to have been frozen.
The turtle was very heavy and the palace received news of it late. With countless people watching it while it was shipped, it traveled slowly. So by the time it was shipped to the palace, it was already dark.
“Everyone, the stone turtle is here. Speak up with what ideas you have!” The Emperor scanned his ministers and finally spoke.
“Emperor, this is very suspicious. The words of the stone turtle are too shocking and blasphemous. The entire capital is worried about this now. I think someone is behind this. The White Lotus Society is best at doing such foul play. I think we should forbid discussion of this in the community. Those who dare to speak of this will be punished heavily!” The Minister of Justice Gu Chunyi spoke first.
“Lord Gu, that’s not the best idea. We don’t know if the White Lotus Society is behind this. Even if they are, restricting discussion would be useless and would instead cause chaos. Tens of thousands of people saw this already at the river and on its way to the palace, more citizens saw it as well. Probably a few hundred thousand people saw it. If we apprehend them for discussion, then wouldn’t we be apprehending more than a hundred thousand people? Even if we empty all the prison cells, it wouldn’t be enough. That would cause great trouble!” the Imperial Capital Military Governor Yan Jingtian said.
“So Lord Yan thinks we should let rumors spread and not care about it?” Gu Chunyi glared at Yan Jingtian coldly.
“Of course not, otherwise His Majesty wouldn’t have called us over for discussion. This is a big dilemma, so we should be careful about it. Everyone should voice their opinions and let His Majesty decide!” Yan Jingtian said calmly.
“Lord Yan is right, this is a big issue, the imperial court must not worry first and give those enemies a chance to attack. Careful, Your Majesty!” another minister said.
Gu Chunyi glanced at that person desperately. Lin Qingtian left the capital two days ago to Jin Province to check on agriculture. He would take seven days to come back. As soon as he left, this big thing happened in the city. Although he already sent news to the Grand Chancellor, Lin Qingtian probably only just got the news now. Even if he rushed back, it would take at least three days.
Under Gu Chunyi’s signal, the Minister of Revenue stood out and coughed, “I feel the message of the stone turtle is unfathomable. It says that the heavenly disaster will come during the ninth lunar month of next year and turn the capital into a desert. This is definitely blasphemy and shenanigans. We should let the justice department send troops out to investigate who is behind this and if this is related to White Lotus Society!”
“That’s right, that’s right, we should do this!” The political faction of the Grand Chancellor all stood out, supporting the Minister of Justice. As Lin Qingtian’s faction, the first thing they should do was have authority over this thing. With that, they could gain benefits. Whether or not the White Lotus Society was behind this was not priority.
With Lin Qingtian’s faction standing out, the Emperor’s faction immediately came out too and the two factions began arguing in the imperial court.
“Cough cough…” A shaky old minister came out and said, “I think everyone doesn’t need to argue. There’s no rush to determine whether it’s real or fake or how the imperial court should act accordingly. We just need to wait till the fifth lunar month and see if the Heavenly Dog devours the sun. If that doesn’t happen, then this stone turtle is all lies and the imperial court needs to do nothing. If there really is such an event, then no one would dare to stay around the capital. If something big happens, I suggest everyone and His Majesty make early plans…”
The throne room fell into silence…