Chapter 112

Chapter 112

The terrain of Western Shu is complex, and searching for hidden troops there is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Ye Xuanjiu looked toward the direction of Lulin County.

"Are we going to investigate this sect?" Ye Xuanjiu hesitated. If troops were to be hidden, the best method would be under the guise of bandits or Jianghu People. Based on their deductions, the place on Chen Xuqiu's list called Qingfeng Stockade was the most suspicious.

Qi Hanzhou merely glanced at it. "We cannot go there."

The list Chen Xuqiu provided was useful, but deducing a single location would be wrong.

If someone wanted to hide troops, they would inevitably set up outposts as decoys. Given the schemer's shrewdness, it might be possible to narrow it down to three or four locations. If there was only one place, it would be nothing but a trap, and any move would alert the enemy.

"Did Chen Xuqiu's secret letter mention only one place?" Qi Hanzhou asked.

Ye Xuanjiu replied, "No. It's just that after we eliminated the unlikely spots, only this one remained."

He handed the remaining letters to Qi Hanzhou. The list was extensive, and Western Shu was notoriously complex in terrain. Ye Xuanjiu had handled things thoroughly, marking the locations of every Jianghu sect and bandit stronghold on a map they had drawn themselves.

Western Shu was vast. Ever since he learned that the Prince of Qin was involved, Qi Hanzhou had spent the past half-year mostly surveying the terrain of Western Shu, especially the areas frequented by mountain bandits. To raise troops, one must first train them. The schemer had embezzled military funds and then siphoned off the embezzled money from Jiangnan. With such vast sums of gold and silver flowing in, training troops and soldiers was inevitable.

The Jianghu sects provided by Chen Xuqiu, the imperial censors' movements provided by the Censorate... These clues were bound to intersect somewhere. As Qi Hanzhou examined them in detail, he found a detailed sketch tucked inside Chen Xuqiu's secret letters. The handwriting appeared somewhat aged, not Chen Xuqiu's, and simply bore the words: "Search for this herb."

Ye Xuanjiu leaned in and explained, "This was drawn by Wu Lao."

Qi Hanzhou had looked into Wu Lao. The man had ended up in Jiangling after committing some offense and was said to be a native of Western Shu. Such a famous doctor had gone into hiding, and being a Western Shu native, his only known intervention was treating Ying Fusheng's health condition, after which he had followed all the way to Jiangnan. Anyone without a purpose wouldn't be so thorough in everything.

For this reason, the Light Garment Guards had kept watch on Wu Lao for over half a year, only relaxing when they confirmed he was nothing more than an eccentric old man.

Before setting out this time, Wu Lao had uncharacteristically handed this item to Chen Xuqiu. Being at Prince Yan's mansion, he couldn't have been unaware of the uproar over the Jiangnan case. He didn't give it to Ying Fusheng but instead passed it to Chen Xuqiu, knowing it would reach Qi Hanzhou's hands.

To search for a herb without even a name or specific details, only a lifelike drawing—and not placed separately but tucked inside Chen Xuqiu's secret letters.

"Find a few locals, and don't expose the Imperial Guards."

Qi Hanzhou said, "Follow the suspicious locations and search for this herb."

Ye Xuanjiu paused. "Junior General, do you mean...?"

Given Chen Xuqiu's shrewdness, how could he have let Wu Lao include this herb drawing?

Since it appeared, there could only be one explanation. Qi Hanzhou said, "He's not trying to find a herb—he's giving us a signal."

Forging weapons requires mines; soldiers require provisions... But besides these, there's another essential need: herbs.

Common herbs are far too easy to trace back to their source. To avoid detection, one would have to use local herbs, preferably those known to as few people as possible. Qi Hanzhou had come from a military background, and among the Imperial Guards, no one was more sensitive to battlefield needs than he. When dealing with such hidden troops, one has to start from the smallest clues.

Qi Hanzhou's men quietly infiltrated the deep mountains and forests, while the Imperial Guards secretly investigated the censors in Western Shu.

Meanwhile, in Lulin County of Western Shu, after the incident, the Lu family had tightened security. The injured and unconscious Eldest Prince was surrounded by a crowd of physicians. Song Yu waited outside until the imperial physician had finished taking the Eldest Prince's pulse before entering. No sooner had he stepped inside than a medicine bowl flew toward him. The wounded Eldest Prince, pale-faced, leaned against the bed. After waking up and realizing his limbs were crippled, he had been unable to accept the outcome.

"Has it been found? Who did this?!" Seeing Song Yu, the Eldest Prince demanded coldly, "I've had you investigate for so long, and there's still no result?"

The horses suddenly being spooked, the dead groom with no trace—this was blatantly a conspiracy.

The aide fell to his knees in panic: "Your Highness, the deceased groom was a native of the capital. His family is already under the control of Consort Gui. As of now, there is no direct evidence pointing to the Third Prince. The situation in the capital is volatile; you must take care of your health!"

The Eldest Prince had him dragged out, unwilling to listen to any more explanations.

After waking, he had repeatedly sent people to the scene of the incident to uncover the truth, only to be told everything was an accident.

At that moment, Song Yu stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, this humble servant has an important matter to report."

He had someone bring several horseshoes. "When the carriage passed through Lulin County, we rested for a day. These horseshoes were found on the horse that had the accident. Someone had tampered with them. Under external force, the horseshoes would shatter, causing the horse to panic."

The Eldest Prince's expression shifted, and he had them brought closer.

Indeed, he found hidden needles embedded in the shattered halves of the horseshoes. The discovery immediately drew the aides around him.

"Your Highness, if that's the case, the only place where such tampering could have occurred is Lulin County."

Song Yu gradually retreated to the edge of the crowd. After presenting the horseshoes, he said no more, watching the vicious look in the Eldest Prince's eyes.

He lowered his eyes to hide his cold expression, thinking that his scheme had succeeded.

Within two days, the news reached the capital. The unusual horseshoes on the carriage, suspected to have been replaced in Lulin County, became evidence for the Eldest Prince Faction to directly accuse the Third Prince Faction. If earlier it was mere speculation, now the problem in Lulin County was as plain as day.

The Minister of Revenue submitted a memorial, requesting the removal of the Lulin County magistrate and that the capital send someone to conduct a thorough investigation.

Given that it involved the attempted murder of a prince, the Emperor, after careful deliberation, ordered the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice to jointly send personnel to Lulin County. This news immediately became the spark that ignited tensions. The court was already uneasy over the massive Jiangnan case, and with the two factions biting at each other, the charge of poisoning a prince was about to be pinned on someone from their own side. The Lu family could hardly stand by and do nothing; they had no choice but to impeach officials from the Ministry of Revenue.

The Eldest Prince Faction, buoyed by the prince's misfortune, grew increasingly aggressive. The Emperor, concerned about the Eldest Prince's plight, demanded a detailed investigation. Under these circumstances, even without conclusive evidence, the Third Prince Faction would inevitably have to shed some skin to appease the Eldest Prince Faction. The only way to bring down the Eldest Prince Faction was to use the Jiangnan case.

Ten days later, the uproar over the Jiangnan case had fully ignited conflict between the two factions.

All the pressure in the court fell upon the Ministry of Works and the Court of Judicial Review, which were handling the Jiangnan case. Over the past five days, countless pieces of "evidence" were sent to the government offices. The Minister of Works, Liu Yunshi, did not come forward to discuss the progress or results of the Jiangnan case, and even at court sessions, he repeatedly dodged the topic.

Everyone in the court knew that the Jiangnan case had far-reaching implications, but only the Emperor and Prince Yan were privy to the details of the case. Both factions feared that the issues exposed by the case would implicate them, and they also feared being the mantis stalking the cicada with the oriole behind.

"Your Highness, given the current situation at court, some are already impeaching Ministry of Works officials," Weng Yanqing said. He understood that it wasn't just about the Ministry of Works; this was also a way to pressure Prince Yan. The Jiangnan case had stirred up a great commotion, yet there was still no resolution, and instead, it had devolved into infighting among the factions. "The Yun family is indeed secretly investigating the mastermind behind the Jiangnan case, but at present, they are more eager to build momentum for the Seventh Prince."

The Second Prince was shrewd. He knew that all Factions feared the possibility of a hidden threat, so he applied pressure to force them into conflict. Even if a hidden threat existed, to test its presence, they first had to secure their own positions. The case of the Eldest Prince, which stood between the two factions, was an unavoidable contradiction.

"What about Meng Jinyuan?" Ying Fusheng asked.

Weng Yanqing replied, "Minister Meng hasn't made a move, but officials from the Ministry of Personnel have."

On the fifteenth day, at the morning court session.

The accumulated pressure finally erupted. The Jiangnan case, which had yielded no results, became the target of all attacks.

An official from the Ministry of Personnel, while reporting on the impeachment of other officials, brought up the Jiangnan case.

"May I ask His Highness Prince Yan, now that half a month has passed, why have the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Works still not provided a report on the Jiangnan case?" the Minister of Revenue asked.

An investigation, no matter how it was conducted, should yield some results.

The two factions could no longer hold back and were determined to pull Prince Yan down from his position first.

"Lord Minister of Revenue, you seem to be in quite a hurry," Ying Fusheng replied unhurriedly. "The case is still under review."

Above them, the Emperor remained silent, but the court officials clearly had no intention of letting Prince Yan off.

"Lord Meng, when officials investigate a case, they should observe the rules of avoidance, shouldn't they?" the Minister of Revenue asked.

Upon hearing this, Meng Jinyuan stepped forward and said, "Indeed, that is correct."

When Meng Jinyuan said this, an official immediately spoke in court: "Your Majesty, based on the publicly available case files of the Ministry of Works, it is known that during the time when the Fei family in Jiangnan embezzled using the canal transport system, it coincided with the period when Shen Changcun served as Vice Minister of War. Shen Changcun is now in the Dali Court as a suspect due to issues with the case files. This matter is closely related to the Ministry of War. If details are still not disclosed, Prince Yan should make the relevant case files of the Jiangnan case public and have them jointly reviewed by the Three Judicial Offices and the Grand Secretariat!"

Although not explicitly stated, it clearly alluded to the relationship between the Shen family and Prince Yan, and aimed to make this case a public trial.

The Chief Minister of the Dali Court looked displeased, knowing that all sides were now muddying the waters. Disclosing more details would only give others the opportunity to tamper with or forge false evidence.

Xiao Yan couldn't help but look at Ying Fusheng—this was aimed at him.

As the one who exposed the Jiangnan case, Prince Yan was the most above suspicion and ideal person to serve as the presiding judge. However, if Shen Changcun, who was closely related to Prince Yan, was implicated, Prince Yan's position might become unstable.

So this was the real purpose behind the initial move against Shen Changcun.

This scheme not only stirred up conflicts between factions but also tested how much evidence Ying Fusheng actually possessed.

The Second Prince observed the court disputes from the sidelines. The move by the Eldest Prince's faction gave everyone an opportunity to bring Prince Yan down. For the factions, even if Prince Yan was not the ultimate power behind the scenes, they couldn't allow him to remain in a high position and preside over this major case.

A member of the Lu family stepped forward: "I have something to say. During this period, there have been constant debates in the court regarding the garrison forces and the Ministry of War, and many officials have been impeached as a result. If the Jiangnan case cannot be fully resolved, the turmoil in the capital will not cease. I support a joint trial by the Three Judicial Offices and the Grand Secretariat!"

As more and more officials debated, the Emperor finally looked at Ying Fusheng. "Prince Yan, what do you think?"

"Your son has indeed found some information, but I'm not sure if I should speak of it," Ying Fusheng said.

Seeing no signs of weakness in him, the Emperor knew he must have something substantial. "Speak freely; there is no need to hold back."

Ying Fusheng turned to Liu Yunshi, who was nearby. "Lord Liu."

Liu Yunshi hesitated for a moment, but seeing the certainty in Ying Fusheng's eyes, he thought briefly and then said, "Regarding the Jiangnan canal transport case, I have a memorial to submit."

Liu Yunshi looked somewhat haggard, but his steps forward were steady. Slightly bowing, he no longer gave vague answers but spoke in detail: "Upon receiving the order, I reviewed all the accounts and records of the water conservancy and river defense bureaus within the Ministry of Works. I also requested from Lord Hu of the Ministry of War all the Ministry of War's coordination records from the past twenty years. By comparing the records of water conservancy materials with military deployments, I managed to identify more than thirty unaccounted entries."

Hearing "more than thirty cases," the faces of many officials changed drastically. Did the Jiangnan case really involve so many?

An official said, "Lord Liu, that statement is not quite accurate. As we all know, the Ministry of Works case from a few years ago was also due to account irregularities. If you are presenting these conclusions now, who knows if they are based on tampered case files?"

The accounts of the Ministry of Works had always been a mess. The legacy left by Zhou Bingjun and the Xu family turned what should have been traceable matters into unsolvable mysteries.

Liu Yunshi shot him a glance and continued, "Among these, twenty duplicate entries are related to the accounts tampered with during Zhou Bingjun's tenure. These accounts are questionable and not suitable as evidence. Therefore, I focused my review on the ten remaining case files deemed reliable. As for the official's concern about authenticity, I stated earlier that these accounts were compared with those of the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War, as well as the accounts provided by Lord Wang Guanzhi of the Jiangnan local administration."

The Second Prince remained composed. When the Ministry of Personnel official heard this, he responded calmly, "Lord Liu, you must realize that the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of War, and the Jiangnan local administration have all had corruption issues in the past. The accounts you investigated are themselves problematic—how can they serve as evidence?"

True—the initial military payroll case in the Ministry of War, the account case in the Ministry of Works, and the corruption case in the Jiangnan local administration—these were all known corruption hotspots in the court. How could key evidence be found among such accounts?

"Does this official not realize? Wang Guanzhi was not a high-ranking official in the Jiangnan local administration. He was just a minor official in the Ministry of Works who could be transferred at any time. His accounts were not those of the Jiangnan local government but were calculated personally by him and the craftsmen after their own measurements," Ying Fusheng stepped forward. "These accounts are unrelated to the corrupt officials in Jiangnan. They were reorganized by upright officials like Zhang Wuyong and Wang Guanzhi, who sought justice for the people."

"The Ministry of Works accounts may indeed contain errors. Therefore, Lord Liu compiled the accounts from the records that were personally reviewed and approved by Lord Hu during his tenure as Vice Minister of War and up to his current position as Minister. Based on the records of the Ministry of War and the Jiangnan local administration, these can be used to reconstruct the true accounts of the Ministry of Works," Ying Fusheng looked up at the Emperor and said calmly. "These have been compiled by the current craftsmen of the Ministry of Works and officials of the Dali Court through careful investigation."

In other words, questioning these results means questioning the recently purged Jiangnan local government, questioning Hu Buyu—the official personally promoted by the Emperor—and questioning the Dali Court, which has handled countless corruption cases.

The court fell silent. If these accounts were genuine, then the problems with the canal transport could be identified. At this point, Ying Fusheng changed his tone and said, "Clearly, this case is not without progress. I am not investigating alone; I have the support of all the distinguished officials here. As for the final results, once everything is fully clarified, it will certainly be reported to everyone."

With words like these, it was no longer appropriate to bring up the relationship between Prince Yan and the Shen family.

However, the Second Prince noticed an issue in Ying Fusheng's words. He glanced at someone and subtly gestured. The Ministry of Personnel official immediately understood and stepped forward, "But Your Highness, there is one item missing from this set of accounts."

The official added, "When it comes to the canal transport, the revenue should also be checked against the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue."

At this, the Minister of Revenue's expression changed.

The funds from canal transport, after being handled by the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War in coordination, would ultimately be recorded in the Ministry of Revenue. In the Dayuan Dynasty, all money flowed to the Ministry of Revenue. Hu Buyu and Liu Yunshi were slightly startled. They had been reluctant to disclose the investigation results precisely because the accounts they had compiled were correct, but once they had to reconcile with the Ministry of Revenue, problems would inevitably arise.

Behind the Eldest Prince's faction, the Ministry of Revenue was controlled by powerful nobles. The accounts of the Ministry of Revenue could not be completely clean.

If issues were found in the accounts, the corruption case would inevitably implicate the Minister of Revenue and the Yun family. However, those familiar with the secrets of this case knew that the Yun family might not be the real perpetrators.

The Second Prince watched the situation unfold calmly. There were only two ways to stop the Emperor from investigating the southern border: one was to use factional struggles to hinder his progress, and the other was to find a scapegoat. The first method had failed, but the second might still work.

He looked at Ying Fusheng. In fact, he had to thank the other party for pushing the Ministry of Revenue into the spotlight.

Now, an opportunity to crush the Ministry of Revenue lay before the Third Prince's faction. The Lu family, who had been pressured by the case of the Eldest Prince, would never let it pass. As soon as the words were spoken, a Lu family official stepped forward: "I second the motion. If we are to audit the accounts, we must audit the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue."

The Minister of Revenue retorted, "The canal transport first passed through the Ministry of Works before reaching the Ministry of Revenue. Zhou Bingjun fabricated so many false accounts back then. If we are to investigate now, we must first verify the issues in the Ministry of Works accounts!"

The Lu official said, "Lord Minister, why are you so anxious? Are you questioning Minister Hu and the local officials of Jiangnan? Lord Liu has already stated that these accounts are clean!"

Hu Buyu and Xiao Yan looked at the Emperor, and sure enough, they saw a frown on his face.

The Emperor knew that there were indeed issues behind the Ministry of Revenue, but this could not be used to cover up the Jiangnan case. If they did, the real embezzlers would disappear without a trace.

Other officials turned their gaze to Ying Fusheng. Whether to audit the accounts or not depended on Prince Yan's stance. If Prince Yan agreed, then in the presence of the entire court, the Minister of Revenue and the Yun family would have no choice but to hand over the account records.

"Your son believes that before auditing the accounts, one more thing needs to be investigated," Ying Fusheng suddenly said. "When I served as a supervisor in the Ministry of Works, I oversaw the construction of the Lingxiao Platform for the Grand Sacrifice ceremony. At that time, officials from the Ministry of Personnel conducted multiple reviews and were meticulous in every detail. They even suggested that the Ministry of Personnel provide additional personnel to relieve the workload of the Ministry of Works. Because of this, I took the liberty of borrowing personnel from the various officials present here."

The Minister of Revenue, as if spotting an opportunity, immediately looked at Meng Jinyuan.

The Ministry of Personnel official, who had been diverting attention, changed his expression. How did this lead back to the Ministry of Personnel?

Meng Jinyuan looked at Ying Fusheng, a hint of wariness in his eyes: "Your Highness, what do you mean by that?"

"When I reviewed these accounts, I noted the Ministry of Works officials involved in the ten case files that Lord Liu organized. Following them, there were also the handling officials from the Merit Assessment Office of the Ministry of Personnel," Ying Fusheng smiled calmly and looked at Meng Jinyuan. "Fortunately, these officials are still serving in the court. In light of such a major event, the Ministry of Personnel, which is most thorough in evaluating the performance of all officials, should have detailed records of the engineering specifics from back then, right?"

The Second Prince's eyes darkened.

Liu Yunshi immediately looked at Ying Fusheng.

The performance evaluations of the Ministry of Personnel were indeed based on actual achievements, and these engineering projects naturally fell under such evaluations. Thus, whenever a project was completed, the Ministry of Personnel would send someone to record and evaluate it, and these records would be kept for future reference in assessing other officials' performance.

"Those are just documentary records," the Ministry of Personnel official who had raised the issue about the Ministry of Revenue said, sweating profusely.

Ying Fusheng nodded: "Of course, but the lords of the Ministry of Personnel have always been diligent in their duties. Surely they recorded everything truthfully? It just so happens that our accounts still need to be perfected, and these records are exactly what we need. Once that is done, we can reconcile with the Ministry of Revenue without delay."

Xiao Yan, who had been about to intervene, stopped himself. This was too clever.

From the high seat, the Emperor's gaze fell upon Meng Jinyuan.

The Minister of Revenue was eager to have someone in front to block the pressure, giving him an opportunity to deal with problematic accounts. At the same time, this dragged the Ministry of Personnel into the vortex, allowing the Emperor to see clearly into the Ministry of Personnel's conduct.

The Ministry of Personnel controlled the promotions of so many officials in the court, and their records of achievements were always detailed. That meant the current archives of the Ministry of Personnel should contain the performance records of the officials involved in the engineering projects at that time.

These were mostly written records, but they would inevitably include some information about the projects themselves.

Prince Yan now had a clear set of accounts. If the Ministry of Personnel's records showed discrepancies, wouldn't that imply that the Ministry of Personnel had known of the situation all along but remained silent? Or that the Ministry of Personnel officials had accepted bribes?

The Ministry of Personnel, due to Meng Jinyuan's status as a staunch imperial loyalist, was seen as a clearly neutral faction in the court.

Over the years, despite numerous court conflicts, the Ministry of Personnel has remained unshaken, never tangled up in factional disputes. The seasoned foxes navigating officialdom have long kept an eye on it.

Especially after the Jiangnan case came to light—once the faction list was announced—which princes were still in the running?

The Second Prince was one of them, yet he lacked merit and virtue, just muddling through and keeping his head down without any clear factional backing.

But before the Sixth Prince went to Jiangnan, he too had no faction behind him.

All the old foxes at court now had a chance to dig into both the Ministry of Personnel and the Second Prince. "Second Imperial Brother, in your view," Ying Fusheng looked at the Second Prince, offering a light smile that didn't reach his eyes, "on this matter, could the Ministry of Works let us take a look at the case files from that year?"