Chapter 113

Chapter 113

The Ministry of Personnel was completely trapped in the court by Ying Fusheng's words. The wily old officials all turned to look at the Second Prince, waiting for him to respond.

For all his years in court, this was the first time the Second Prince felt a blade at his back.

If Ying Fusheng had failed to produce this clear ledger today, the Jiangnan Case would have been sealed forever, and as the Second Prince wished, it would have sunk into a quagmire of factional strife. The Yun family and the Lu family would have been locked in mutual destruction, the court's order destabilized, and the Emperor would have no choice but to reorganize the government, leaving no time to attend to the local princes and marquises.

But Ying Fusheng had found the ledger. Not only that, he had deliberately allowed the high-pressure atmosphere in the court to build, pushing the Yun and Lu families to their extremes. The emergence of this clear ledger meant that the "evidence" submitted during the two factions' mutual smear campaigns could now be distinguished. He had been dragging his feet in submitting it, ostensibly showing respect for both factions, but in reality using his apparent weakness to pressure the court.

After a moment of silence, the Second Prince stepped forward a few paces. "It is the Ministry of Personnel's duty to share the Emperor's burdens. If it aids the investigation of the Jiangnan Case, we shall do our utmost. I have little involvement in the Ministry's affairs; I hope Minister Meng can make the final decision." His tone was flustered, fitting his image of mediocrity in the Ministry, and he smoothly deflected the conflict onto Meng Jinyuan.

The old foxes began to look at the Second Prince with different eyes.

Hu Buyu's eyes darkened. The Ministry of Personnel stood aloof from disputes yet held some of the records.

If such records existed as evidence, why weren't they produced earlier, and instead the dispute was shifted onto the Ministry of Revenue? Now, regardless, the moment Prince Yan had put the Second Prince and Meng Jinyuan forward, a new breakthrough had emerged.

"Meng Jinyuan." The Emperor said in a stern tone.

Meng Jinyuan did not look at anyone else. Only after the Emperor spoke did he step forward: "As Prince Yan stated, the Ministry of Personnel does have written records. If these records are needed for the investigation, the Ministry of Personnel is fully willing to cooperate with the Ministry of Works."

The Second Prince bowed deeply, his knuckles whitening as he heard Meng Jinyuan's words.

If the Ministry of Personnel had denied it, it would have been unable to explain its previously strict assessments of all ministries. With this move, Ying Fusheng had all but thrown the Ministry of Personnel into the crosshairs, including him.

As he lowered his head, he cast a sidelong glance at the man. Ying Fusheng's eyelids were half-lowered, and when he noticed the Second Prince's gaze, he shot him a sideways glance.

That gaze was cold and stern, without panic or fluster—the calm control of the one orchestrating the game.

The Emperor seemed to have anticipated this outcome. He swept his eyes over the court officials: "What do you all make of this?"

Hu Buyu spoke first: "I agree."

The Minister of Revenue also said, "I also agree."

General Lu, after careful deliberation, also voiced his agreement.

In the court, the young man in his court robes stood firm as a mountain.

He simply stood there, and anyone who tried to use any excuse to challenge his authority to investigate the Jiangnan Case would have to cross that clear ledger first. And no one dared to overturn that ledger, for it was a product of the Emperor's silent approval.

The court dispute finally ended with the Ministry of Personnel agreeing to cooperate with Prince Yan in the audit. But everyone in the court understood that this was no longer a simple audit.

The officials left the hall one after another.

Ying Fusheng left first, with Liu Yunshi hurrying after him.

On the palace path, the officials separated, each lost in thought.

General Lu called out to Hu Buyu. Others might not see it clearly, but Lu and Hu had known each other for long and saw this was a setup: "Old Hu, about today's matter—did you and Lord Liu arrange it in advance?"

Hu Buyu paused. "General, the situation in court is volatile. The Lulin County matter is unrelated to your Lu family, and you wouldn't want this sudden mud to stain the loyal Lu family."

"I merely made the situation in court clearer."

General Lu said nothing, and Hu Buyu bowed and left.

Elsewhere outside the hall, the Minister of Revenue saw two officials from the Ministry of War approaching and thought it over.

"Your Excellency, Hu Buyu has been rather ambiguous in his stance toward Prince Yan lately," a subordinate official remarked.

The Minister of Revenue knew that Hu Buyu had never openly sided with the Eldest Prince Faction. He was merely repaying the favor the Eldest Prince did him by stabilizing his position in the capital back then. He was shrewd—the Eldest Prince Faction had tried many times to draw him in, but he always kept a delicate distance. Such a man could be a temporary ally, but never a true colleague.

"Today in court..." the subordinate tried to continue.

"You still don't understand?" The Minister of Revenue looked at the other. "The fact that Prince Yan brought up the Ministry of Personnel in court means the Ministry of Revenue's books are also in his sights. His decision to prioritize the Ministry of Personnel's books is just giving us a way out."

To contend for the succession, one cannot afford to leave any handles showing.

Whether the Ministry of Revenue's accounts were clean was clear to every powerful official in court. The Emperor might look the other way, but that didn't mean he let them run wild. They could drag the Third Prince down, but they couldn't put themselves in a bad position—otherwise, the whole ship would capsize, like the Xu family before them.

As for the Ministry of Personnel, it had kept silent earlier. Even when Prince Yan was about to let things slide, it suddenly stepped forward to bring up the Ministry of Revenue's accounts. That clear ledger was already a huge boulder; if even one problem appeared in the Ministry of Revenue's ledgers, it would go the same way as the earlier Ministry of Works case.

Earlier in the hall, the Minister of Revenue had been too flustered to think straight, but now he saw it clearly: the Ministry of Personnel official who spoke was either acting on orders from the Lu family, or the Second Prince and his Ministry were up to something.

"Watch the Second Prince!"

The Ministry of Personnel officials had barely arrived at their office when Liu Yunshi showed up with Ying Fusheng's orders, barely giving the Ministry any time to tamper with the records. The Ministry of Works officials stood watch as the Ministry of Personnel packed the records into chests, loaded them onto carts, and had them escorted by the Ministry of War to the Ministry of Works building.

"Lord Meng, I'll take my leave now." Liu Yunshi turned and left.

Meng Jinyuan nodded. The Second Prince, standing nearby, merely smiled, as if he couldn't care less about the records.

Once Meng Jinyuan was gone, the Second Prince's expression gradually cooled. His eyes turned dark and calculating as he looked at Meng Jinyuan's retreating figure. "It looks like we need to move the plan up. Proceed as instructed."

The Ministry of Personnel official acknowledged.

...

Under the watchful eyes of all, the Ministry of Personnel's records were all delivered to the Ministry of Works.

The moment they arrived, Liu Yunshi began verifying them, only to find that the delivered volumes were far more extensive than he had expected.

"The Ministry of Personnel officials didn't dare to hold back any," he said.

Ying Fusheng replied, "Because the Second Prince doesn't know which volume we've been checking."

The wealth amassed by the Fei family could only be traced through limited accounts.

But the Second Prince and his supporter knew exactly which items were problematic. That was precisely why they didn't dare to randomly alter them.

In court, Liu Yunshi only mentioned that thirty-plus cases had been examined, and after eliminating some, only ten remained. So many official and merchant ships traveled between the capital and Jiangnan each year, and the Ministry of Works' Waterway Bureau conducted detailed surveys annually. Under these circumstances, the Second Prince could not forge these records; the best he could do was send them all, muddying the waters.

"Your Highness, we have identified inconsistencies in the accounts, but this does not conclusively point to the canal transport," Liu Yunshi voiced the concern he had suppressed in court. "Now that the Ministry of Personnel has sent its records, at most, it can complete this clear ledger. There is indeed evidence of corruption, but no direct proof of where the Fei family's money went."

Was it in the capital or in the provinces? No one knows.

Moreover, the biggest difficulty in the Jiangnan Case was the lack of direct evidence.

The Ministry of Revenue was also corrupt, and if someone exploited that, the Ministry would become the 'scapegoat.' Yet the only ministry their accounts could directly implicate was the Ministry of Works, which had already become a bottomless pit in the earlier case involving the Xu family and the Deposed Crown Prince. All they could prove was that someone was embezzling, but after the deposed crown prince, who was embezzling? They had no evidence or leads.

Even if the Ministry of Personnel's records could reconstruct part of the picture, they were merely records. Without direct evidence, at most it would lead to more officials being investigated for corruption, which would only further confuse the situation.

"Your Highness, if you want to thoroughly investigate the Second Prince, you must have proof of two things: first, collusion between the Ministry of Personnel and the Second Prince; second, secret dealings between the Second Prince and the former Xu family," Liu Yunshi advised. "We have no evidence of the former at present. As for the latter, the fact that the Second Prince managed to extricate himself when the Xu family fell shows that he has contingency measures. Without these two points, the Second Prince remains untouchable."

At most, he could be implicated in factional infighting, but the Jiangnan Case would remain unsolved.

"Lord Liu, I have a question for you," Ying Fusheng suddenly said.

Liu Yunshi looked over in confusion: "Your Highness, just go ahead and ask."

"Is Meng Jinyuan with the Second Prince?" Ying Fusheng asked bluntly.

Liu Yunshi paused at that, like he was picking his words carefully.

To be honest, when he first learned from auditing these accounts that the Jiangnan Fei family case was connected to the Second Prince, he didn't believe it at first. But being caught in the game, he could see that the First Prince and the Third Prince had almost no ties to the Fei family, and rarely even interacted with Jiangnan. If these accounts were linked to anyone, it would only be the Deposed Crown Prince.

Yet the Xu family had been destroyed, leaving only the Second Prince, who had once associated with them, unscathed.

He couldn't help but suspect that, based on the current evidence, the Second Prince was indeed not as simple as he appeared. But such a vast fortune—where could it be used or hidden? There was no clue.

Now that the Ministry of Personnel was implicated, Meng Jinyuan was completely dragged into it.

He said, "Your Highness, I've been in court for years. When you investigated corrupt officials, you shook up one department after another. To be honest, all those shake-ups could've easily thrown the whole court and country into chaos."

"But have you noticed? First the Ministry of War, then the Ministry of Rites, and then the Ministry of Works—after these upheavals, the court actually revived and has been able to maintain stability. And honestly, even my move to Minister of Works couldn't have happened without Meng Jinyuan putting in a good word."

In other words, without the Ministry of Personnel, the court would've been way more vulnerable.

Meng Jinyuan's recommendations to the Emperor also fulfilled the duties of the Ministry of Personnel. As a department overseeing the others, it was the go-between in several big cases, allowing the court to undergo repeated reforms and personnel changes, stabilizing after numerous upheavals.

"Maybe Minister Meng had plans to back the Second Prince, or thought highly of him, but he would never go so far as to commit such heinous acts. Do you have any idea how hard he is on his own people? The Ministry of Personnel is basically the poorest department in the whole court..." Liu Yunshi had to defend Meng Jinyuan, but before he could finish, Ying Fusheng slid a scroll across to him.

Liu Yunshi paused, seeing the final approval on the scroll with Meng Jinyuan's seal on it.

Seeing that, he flipped through all the papers right then and discovered that nearly half of the documents related to water transport carried Meng Jinyuan's final approval.

"These documents might've been doctored..." Liu Yunshi murmured.

At that moment, footsteps were heard from outside the door.

Ye Xuanqi appeared at the door, with an urgent report from the Light Garment Guard: "Someone has gone to the Court of Judicial Review to sue Meng Jinyuan."

Liu Yunshi went pale and whipped around to stare at Ying Fusheng.

"Lord Liu, you've been in court for ages. I trust your take on Lord Meng."

Ying Fusheng said, "But do you get why the Second Prince didn't bat an eye when you went to pull those files?"

Because from the second he went after the Ministry of Personnel, the Second Prince had already picked a fall guy.

"A department that is extremely impoverished, while outside it are departments full of embezzlement and corruption. If someone comes and asks you to do some little favor for a couple taels of silver, would the clerks who are strapped for cash and barely making ends meet be willing to take that step?"

Once they take that step, they become leverage for someone. Ying Fusheng said, "A little bribe? No big deal. You've been around—you know how things work here. Even if the First Prince did it, my father the emperor would look the other way."

Over the years, the Ministry of Personnel has been almost harsh in evaluating court officials, controlling the promotions of some. Precisely because of this strict adherence to rules, as long as there are no problems in governance, the officials of the Ministry of Personnel rarely change. The iron rules are too tight; Meng Jinyuan is strict with himself and a clean official, but if these iron rules are pressed down on the Ministry of Personnel officials...

The mastermind and the Second Prince? They're experts at playing people.

If Meng Jinyuan is the emperor's steady anchor that holds the court together, then it makes sense why the Second Prince moved from the Ministry of Works to Personnel—he realized Meng Jinyuan had to go, and they couldn't plant their own people.

Ying Fusheng went on, "Today in court, the Second Prince almost gave himself away in front of those old foxes. Minister Meng's made a ton of enemies in court. The Ministry of Revenue can't wait to smear the Ministry of Personnel, and the Third Prince wants to nail the real culprit behind the Jiangnan case and the First Prince's assassination. So the Second Prince and Personnel become everyone's target."

Then Meng Jinyuan would be the one everyone's gunning for.

Liu Yunshi shot to his feet as the implications hit him: "Your Highness, Minister Meng—"

"Lord Liu, you know how the Second Prince plans to wriggle out of this?" Ying Fusheng retorted.

How? Liu Yunshi thought, a chill running down his spine. In factional infighting, if at this point someone shows evidence that Meng Jinyuan was in cahoots with some court official, the fire would completely burn toward others—this could be the Yun family, the Lu family... or even the Prince Yan's residence.

Then they would be turned against themselves.

Liu Yunshi came back to his senses and looked up to see Ying Fusheng calmly gazing at him.

The young man closed the scroll. These scheming conspiracies—Prince Yan probably saw them coming the second he set foot in court or when he pointed the finger at Personnel and the Second Prince. Even this lawsuit against Meng Jinyuan now? He might've expected it.

Ying Fusheng looked at Liu Yunshi and said slowly, "Of course I know the Jiangnan case will yield no results, because this money is not in the capital at all."

This was the consensus he reached with Qi Hanzhou, both in Jiangnan and after returning to the capital.

He was drawing the attention of all factions at court, including the Second Prince and the mastermind, while the one truly investigating the Jiangnan case was already in Western Shu.

Liu Yunshi was stunned: "Then why did you still lead things to—"

He was about to say something when hurried footsteps were heard from outside. It was Weng Yanqing, who should have been at the Ministry of War.

His expression was solemn, and as soon as he entered, he said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, something has happened at the Ministry of Personnel."

In his panic, Liu Yunshi knocked over the scrolls, scattering them on the floor. He turned to look at Ying Fusheng.

"Lord Liu, we missed the key point." Ying Fusheng put down the scroll and stood up, his eyes slightly lowered, then lifted to look at the snowy scene in the capital outside the door.

Outside the door, a fluttering falcon slowly landed on a withered branch.