I, Am a Living Yama, Empress Advises Me to Stay Calm-Chapter 232

Chapter 232

Within the imperial hall of Yingtian Prefecture, Zhu Yuanzhang inhaled deeply, forcing down the anger and dread swelling inside him. He cast a sweeping gaze across the gathered officials.

“Now, the Great Ming is teetering on the edge of a crisis—all because of these damn crayfish… We must act with all possible speed to expel these creatures from our territory entirely.

“Not just from the embankments—they’ve spread further. If we delay any longer, these pests will bring Great Ming to ruin. The Zhou people… such a vile and ruthless strategy.”

The room fell into uneasy silence as every official drew a sharp breath, their scalps prickling. The threat was far worse than they had initially imagined.

What had begun as a structural issue—undermining dams—had now spread to agriculture and fisheries. Treating the infestation as merely an infrastructure hazard was no longer sufficient. They had to regard the crayfish as the foremost menace to the empire.

An hour later, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an imperial decree. The command, drafted and distributed with unprecedented urgency, called for the immediate capture and eradication of crayfish across the entire empire.

The language used to describe their danger was unflinching—harsh, even brutal in tone. As soon as the proclamation was made public, it sent shockwaves rippling through every province.

Two weeks passed.

In the countryside, farmers and fishermen had begun setting up nets in earnest, desperate to protect their land and livelihood from the rapidly multiplying invaders. Yet in the cities, most commoners still treated it as idle gossip, convinced the crisis remained distant from their daily lives.

In the bustling streets of Yingtian, the capital, the topic of crayfish spread like wildfire. Everywhere, one could hear talk of the strange creatures. Determined to correct the public’s complacency, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the Great Ming Daily to publish repeated warnings, emphasizing the severity of the threat.

Inside a dimly lit tavern just off a busy market street, voices buzzed with indignation.

“Tsk… I heard those crayfish came from the Zhou. Malicious, every last one of them,” muttered a man, slamming down his wine cup.”

“Hmph. It’s that venomous Grand Chancellor’s doing again,” another spat. “He’s infamous for his sinister plots. Sending these things into Great Ming—it’s inhumane!”

“I saw one in a pond near the village,” someone added. “Grotesque little monsters. Gave me chills just looking at it.”

“Lucky for me, I stuck with farming all these years. If I’d changed trades, I’d be ruined by now.”

“Damn it!” growled a fisherman near the door. “I just switched from farming to fish trading this year—and now this? I’m done for.”

The voices around the tavern overlapped with curses and muttered fears. No one laughed. The crayfish had become a terror whispered with the weight of myth, as dreadful as a tiger in the brush.

Meanwhile, inside the grand halls of Taiji Palace in Great Tang, Emperor Li Shimin stood in grim silence. He wiped at the cold sweat on his brow.

“They even caused part of the dam to collapse…” His voice wavered. “These creatures—these so-called crayfish—are beyond terrifying.”

His trusted ministers—Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, and Du Ruhui—nodded with solemn expressions. For half a year, the Zhou had remained unusually quiet, and no one had suspected they were preparing such a devastating scheme. Their silence had concealed a lethal plan.

Li Shimin’s face darkened.

“Yang Yi’s tactics are impossible to anticipate. Thank the heavens Great Ming was in their path… had it been us instead, Great Tang would have suffered the full force of it.”

Around him, the court nodded with unease, each man silently acknowledging the bitter truth. As immoral as it seemed, they had been spared by another’s misfortune. Had Ming not been struck first, Tang would have been left just as vulnerable.

Li Shimin drew himself upright.

“Men, spread my decree. Draft an edict at once: if any of these crayfish are found within Tang’s borders, local officials must dispatch personnel to capture and destroy them without delay. Moreover, any citizen who reports a sighting—depending on the number—shall be rewarded.”

He turned back to his advisors. “And ensure that the Great Tang Daily features illustrations and warnings. The people must not underestimate this threat.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, their thoughts still lingering on the monstrous things that had upended the lives of thousands. The Living Yama from Zhou had proven himself truly vicious.

Elsewhere, within the golden walls of Zhangtai Palace in Great Han, panic stirred.

“Your Majesty, something terrible has happened—” Zhufu Yan burst into the throne room, gasping for breath.

Emperor Liu Che, startled, placed both hands on the edge of the imperial desk. His brows furrowed.

“What is it?” he asked, his voice tense with worry. Had disaster struck Great Han?

The officials standing nearby turned their heads, faces shadowed with concern.

Zhufu Yan gave a strained smile. “Your Majesty, this time it truly is something related to us… It’s Great Ming.”

The hall fell silent at once.

Liu Che stared, confused. He scowled and barked, “Something happened in Great Ming—how does that concern the Great Han? I thought you were going to tell me something happened here!”

“You burst in like that and gave everyone a scare.”

The ministers exchanged bemused looks. It was clear the emperor himself had been startled as well.

Zhufu Yan swallowed again and stepped forward.

He spoke with a heavy sigh. “Your Majesty, it’s no small matter. Great Ming was attacked by the Zhou Dynasty. They released a species of insect—called crayfish—into Ming’s lands.

These creatures breed at alarming speeds. In lakes and ponds, they have no natural enemies. They destroy ecosystems, burrow into riverbanks and farmlands…”

“Many of Ming’s rice fields have already been ravaged, leading to reduced harvests. But the worst incident was at the West Water Gate. The crayfish dug hundreds of tunnels under the dam. When the waters rose, part of the dam collapsed. Floods swept across the region—tens of thousands died. Countless acres of fertile land were lost.”

His voice trailed off. The throne room was still.

Liu Che and his ministers could only listen in stunned silence.

Liu Che finally broke the tension. “To think that such a terrifying creature exists. For it to cause such devastation in Great Ming,” he added, shaking his head, “it’s simply inhumane.”

Zhufu Yan offered a bitter smile. “They say it was the work of Yang Yi from the Zhou Dynasty…”

Everyone froze at the name.

Well, that explained it.

Zhufu Yan folded his hands again and continued, “Your Majesty, Great Ming has already issued orders for large-scale crayfish-catching operations across the country.”