Chapter 114

Chapter 114

Liu Yunshi frowned at Ying Fusheng, who picked up the scrolls and handed them to Liu Yunshi: "Lord Liu, you trust Minister Meng so much. Don't you want to take another look at these scrolls he specially sent over?"

Only a small portion of the scrolls were sent to Prince Yan's residence; the rest remained in the Ministry of Works.

Taking a closer look... Liu Yunshi realized something and turned his gaze to Prince Yan and Weng Yanqing.

Ying Fusheng looked at Weng Yanqing, who said, "The Court of Judicial Review has already gone to the Ministry of Personnel to make an arrest. Meng Jinyuan did not argue or resist and was taken away."

...

Trouble arose in the Ministry of Personnel. Someone went to the Court of Judicial Review to accuse Minister Meng Jinyuan. The Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review led his men to the Ministry of Personnel offices. When they arrived, Meng Jinyuan was still signing a document. Seeing the Court's arrival, he set down his brush, stood up, and followed the Chief Minister. That very morning at court, they had discussed investigating the Ministry of Personnel’s records. Only a few hours later, the Minister of Personnel was taken away by the Court of Judicial Review.

This sudden development plunged the Ministry of Personnel into chaos. Minister Meng was renowned throughout the court for his incorruptibility and strictness. Such an unexpected event gave his political opponents immediate ammunition.

Inside the Ministry of Revenue offices.

"Prince Yan said he would investigate the Ministry of Personnel, and now trouble has arisen. The Ministry of Personnel might be... The Second Prince spent many years there. Is Meng Jinyuan allied with him?" The Minister of Revenue was auditing his ministry’s accounts due to the Jiangnan case. On hearing the news, his first thought was of the Second Prince. His subordinate reported that the Second Prince had no close ties with anyone in the Ministry of Personnel; most officials simply found him amiable. The Second Prince had hardly interfered in Ministry affairs. Most matters were handled by Ministry officials, and he had essentially been coasting.

The Minister paced back and forth, feeling the situation was becoming more complicated: "No, Meng Jinyuan's downfall is actually good for us."

Meng Jinyuan was also a minister, a staunch imperial loyalist wielding considerable power.

If Meng Jinyuan were truly a follower of the Second Prince, then the Second Prince would be incredibly foolish. Which faction wouldn't look for a scapegoat in a crisis? The Ministry of Personnel had many people; finding any substitute would be better than sacrificing the Minister.

"Take this opportunity to pin the Jiangnan case on Meng Jinyuan," the Minister of Revenue said.

News of the Minister of Personnel's arrest spread rapidly.

It was said that the one who went to the Court of Judicial Review to accuse Minister Meng was the Chief Attendant of the Ministry of Personnel. When Prince Yan mentioned investigating the Ministry’s records at court that day, he realized this was his last chance to report Minister Meng. He immediately went to the Court and submitted evidence of Meng Jinyuan's secret communications with other offices.

"Was Meng Jinyuan's arrest at this time Prince Yan's doing?" an official from the Ministry of War asked. "Should we send someone to the Court to ask Lord Shen?" Several high-ranking officials from the Ministry had already left for the outskirts of the capital, likely due to movements by the Lu family.

"No, now is not the time to approach the Court," Hu Buyu said, his expression grim. Prince Yan lacked concrete evidence against Meng Jinyuan. Making a move against the Ministry of Personnel so suddenly would be a big step. Moreover, the trouble was that Meng Jinyuan's secret communications pointed to which faction in court?

Prince Yan had just begun investigating the Ministry, and Meng Jinyuan was already arrested.

If this situation escalated, it would be extremely detrimental!

This was no longer just about whether Meng Jinyuan was aligned with the Second Prince. In the eyes of the Lu and Yun families, Meng Jinyuan had repeatedly pressured civil and military officials, especially cracking down harshly on military officers, creating a long-standing enmity with the Lu family. Now the Yun family clearly saw the Ministry of Personnel as a thorn in their side, eager to use it as a shield for the Ministry of Revenue’s accounts...

Now the court suspected the Second Prince was the hidden hand behind the factions. If Meng Jinyuan were removed, how many positions would be left for the Second Prince’s faction? This could not only extricate the Second Prince from factional strife but also tear down the banner of Meng Jinyuan as a staunch imperial loyalist. Which faction would not relish pushing this forward?

Hu Buyu said, "It’s too perfectly timed that someone pushed him out as a scapegoat."

In court, the Emperor’s attitude toward Prince Yan had been one of tacit approval, allowing him to investigate the Jiangnan case thoroughly. For the Emperor, this was a good opportunity to curb factional strife and uncover hidden currents at court—but not at the cost of losing Meng Jinyuan. If Meng Jinyuan had always been the Emperor’s man, then this move would be a heavy loss for both the Emperor and Prince Yan.

And with the situation thus, the Emperor’s support of Prince Yan leading to the loss of Meng Jinyuan would inevitably disappoint the Emperor. This move would give the Lu and Yun families the chance to eliminate the "Second Prince faction" once and for all, and also drag down Prince Yan—a double victory...

"Weng Yanqing went to Prince Yan’s residence. What’s Prince Yan’s current situation?" Hu Buyu set down his brush to write a memorial, preparing countermeasures.

A Ministry of War official said, "Nothing—Prince Yan’s residence is very quiet..."

Hu Buyu froze, the tip of his brush hovering, ink spreading into a blot.

...

While the outside world was in turmoil over Meng Jinyuan’s arrest, Prince Yan’s residence remained quiet. Minister of Works Liu Yunshi traveled daily between the Ministry and the residence. Even when Prince Yan went out, it was only to the Ministry of Works, as if Meng Jinyuan’s arrest mattered less than those Ministry of Personnel records. At court, Prince Yan did not even bring up the matter, letting events unfold.

On the third day after Meng Jinyuan’s arrest, some Ministry of Personnel officials were taken to the Court for interrogation.

On the fifth day, an old case linking the Ministry of Personnel and the capital garrison troops surfaced. The capital garrison involved the Ministry of War and the Lu family, and because of Prince Yan’s ties to the Ministry of War, the ripples spread to both the Prince Yan and Third Prince factions.

When this clue emerged, the Minister of Revenue seized the opportunity to shift the blame. The Third Prince faction was unwilling to be tainted, and conflict between the two factions flared up again.

Inside the Court of Judicial Review, after days in prison, Meng Jinyuan looked haggard but sat upright with his back straight. Hearing the clink of chains, he looked up and saw Ying Fusheng standing outside the bars.

The Chief Minister of the Court accompanied Ying Fusheng here. "Your Highness, don't stay long."

Ying Fusheng nodded, and the Chief Minister left, taking the jailers with him.

Watching this, Meng Jinyuan finally stood up and said, "Prince Yan."

"Now the whole court is talking about the collusion between the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel. Your former subordinates, Lord Meng, are quick to act, trying to cut ties with the Ministry’s recent filth and blame it all on you," Ying Fusheng said, studying Meng Jinyuan. "The people listed in this ledger—some have been thoroughly investigated by the Court, and others are now suffering in prison with you."

"Your Highness, how is the investigation of the records going?" Meng Jinyuan avoided pleasantries. He looked at Ying Fusheng, a faint cold gleam in his murky eyes. These slanders mattered less to him than the results of the Jiangnan investigation. He wanted to know the outcome of the records.

Seeing Ying Fusheng silent, Meng Jinyuan lowered his head, as if unwilling to go on: "If you’re here about the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War, you’ve come to the wrong person, Your Highness."

Noticing his reticent manner, Ying Fusheng recalled his demeanor in Jiangling.

Few questions, no overstepping boundaries, strictly business—just as the court described him: completely selfless.

"All the records bear your signature. Your subordinates in the Ministry of Personnel are not authorized to use your official seal. This means you compiled these records yourself and, using the Ministry of Works investigation, sent them to the Ministry of Works offices at an opportune moment," Ying Fusheng said, stepping into the cell. "Because you knew that once the Ministry of Personnel fell into trouble, certain things would be destroyed. To preserve them, you had to leave them in the Ministry of Works."

Only then did Meng Jinyuan truly look at Ying Fusheng.

"The final seal is yours, but every step along the way, the officials involved are all recorded. Lord Liu spent three days and nights extracting the list you intended to convey." Ying Fusheng handed a ledger to Meng Jinyuan. "You knew about the Ministry of Personnel’s problems long ago, and you knew the Second Prince was forming a faction."

The scrolls he sent were all records of the Ministry of Personnel’s dealings with other offices after the Second Prince entered the Ministry.

Some names appeared multiple times. Only Meng Jinyuan had the authority to fully transfer officials within the Ministry. In the eyes of those secret followers of the Second Prince, they likely thought Meng Jinyuan’s attention was favorable, believing they had manipulated him. Little did they know it was Meng Jinyuan’s test and a means of retaining evidence of their dealings through official documents.

"Rest assured, I haven’t let any of the suspects off the hook," Ying Fusheng said.

When Meng Jinyuan saw the names on the list, his hand gripping the ledger tightened involuntarily. They matched the officials he had suspected.

Prince Yan had not shielded any official. The scrolls he had sent were intact, and the Prince indeed possessed a clear account.

Meng Jinyuan had never mentioned this matter to the Emperor or his trusted colleagues. Even after detecting the internal problems in the Ministry, he kept silent, stabilizing the court situation while sorting out the Ministry’s affairs. But too many things had happened in the court. With multiple departments in trouble, he suspected someone was pulling strings behind the scenes, but he dared not alert the enemy.

"Meng once suspected you, Your Highness," Meng Jinyuan said truthfully. "That is why I did not trust you, even though you served the people."

In recent years, the court had changed so much that the entire structure of government was affected. As a neutral party, Meng Jinyuan could see that Ying Fusheng served the people but also benefited from every incident. Such a potential beneficiary, floating outside the factions, was someone Meng Jinyuan had to guard against.

When the Second Prince first came to his Ministry, Meng Jinyuan was wary of him.

But the Second Prince never actively sought favor nor tried to form an alliance. He seemed like an easygoing prince content with a sinecure. For Meng Jinyuan, a prince who did not interfere with Ministry affairs was harmless. This led him to let his guard down, and by the time he noticed something wrong within the Ministry, it had already been infiltrated.

"Lord Meng, if you had investigated earlier, things might not have reached this point," Ying Fusheng said.

"Your Highness, now I can be pushed out as a scapegoat. What about the other officials?" Meng Jinyuan asked. "If I had used the Court of Judicial Review or the Three Judicial Offices to investigate, would others have ended up as scapegoats like me today?"

The Ministry of Personnel was impoverished. These officials had served the court for years. Meng Jinyuan could not make a clean sweep that would implicate innocent officials. Dayuan could not afford to lose these good ministers. So he had to maintain court stability while investigating corruption within the Ministry.

"So what did you find?" Ying Fusheng asked.

"Evidence of the Second Prince colluding with remnants of the Xu family."

Meng Jinyuan said this, a weariness surfacing in his expression. "But Your Highness, you know that's not enough."

The Xu family was already ruined; at most, it could only prove the Second Prince was part of a hidden faction. Even if exposed, it would only add another factional struggle to the court. After sensing problems in the Ministry of Personnel, Meng Jinyuan realized a more serious suspicion: how could such audacious conspirators have infiltrated the court for years, infecting nearly all six ministries? He wanted to uncover who this hidden faction stirring up trouble truly was, who wanted to destroy Dayuan.

"Now, the path we can walk ends here," Meng Jinyuan said, unable to trust Prince Yan without conclusive evidence to rule him out, until Prince Yan proposed investigating the Ministry of Personnel, until this list appeared in prison today. "The Jiangnan case is connected to this hidden faction. I can only do so much. The rest must be left to you and Lord Liu."

He took a key from his sleeve. "There is an old residence in the city. Inside a hidden compartment in the study is the evidence. This is the key."

Ying Fusheng looked at him. "What if I hadn't earned your trust?"

The key that Meng Jinyuan held out hung in the air. His hand paused slightly. Without trust... when the court's accusations had destroyed His Majesty's trust in him, the final outcome of these secret pieces of evidence would only end with the Second Prince forming a faction case, unable to uncover the deeper secrets, and would be forever buried in the sea.

Then his path would only be to die in prison by remonstrance.

But such an outcome would destroy the foundation of the Dayuan Dynasty that he had worked to stabilize.

"Lord Meng, you are too smart, and too stubborn."

Ying Fusheng took the key from him and said, "His Majesty demoted you many times, but you still haven't learned your lesson. You should learn from Liu Yunshi. In the same court, he knows better how to adapt."

He hefted the key and said, "As for this path, I won't walk it for you."

Meng Jinyuan turned sharply to him. "Your Highness!"

Suddenly, footsteps echoed in the prison. The Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review hurried in, looking panicked.

At the same time, an urgent report arrived with the Emperor's decree. Before Meng Jinyuan could react, the Chief Minister said, "The Imperial Guard and the Censorate have both arrived. They are now in the main hall of the Court of Judicial Review, demanding that the Minister of Personnel and other officials from the Ministry be brought to the hall for trial!"

Ye Xuanqi emerged from the shadows and whispered to Ying Fusheng.

After hearing this, Ying Fusheng lowered his head to look at this loyal minister of Dayuan who had not yet aged—

"Minister Meng, you should walk this path yourself. The time has come."

This sudden turn of events came urgently. The summons not only brought the Ministry of Personnel officials but also summoned the Second Prince, Prince Yan, and others. With both the Censorate and the Imperial Guard dispatched, this was no longer a case solely tried by the Court of Judicial Review but a decree from the Emperor in the palace. When the decree reached the Court, the other factions in the court stirred. The Minister of Revenue and General Lu arrived uninvited at the Court.

The Ministry of Personnel case was too far-reaching: first, it implicated the Jiangnan case; second, Minister Meng was involved with the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War.

This single case dragged nearly every faction in the court into it. In the time since the incident, the open and covert struggles between factions had been relentless. Within half a month, more than a dozen officials had been brought down, some neutral officials and some honest officials praised by the people.

When everyone arrived, the Emperor was already seated in the main hall, flanked by the Chief of Imperial Guard, Ji Wuming, and Xiao Yan from the Censorate.

Below the hall was the Chief Attendant of Personnel who had accused Meng Jinyuan.

When Meng Jinyuan was brought up, the entire hall fixed their eyes on the former Minister of Personnel. The wily old foxes in the court scrutinized him with varying judgments, but what was certain was that in the eyes of all factions in court that day, Meng Jinyuan had become the sole scapegoat.

The Imperial Guard announced the results of its secret investigation: "In the case of the Minister of Personnel, the Imperial Guard's secret investigation confirms that the evidence submitted by the Chief Attendant is conclusive, determining that the Minister of Personnel had dealings with the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works. Furthermore, Minister Meng had a private seal indicating he had exchanges with the Fei family of Jiangnan, and when a Jiangnan merchant ship passed through the Ministry of Works, Minister Meng sent someone specifically to receive the Fei family's vessel."

The Chief Attendant of Personnel, presenting the evidence, quickly said, "I passed letters for Minister Meng... the letters bore the character 'Fei' as the signature."

The Emperor looked coldly at the man kneeling below. "Meng Jinyuan, do you have anything to say?"

Conclusive evidence... Meng Jinyuan turned back and saw his colleagues behind him.

Factional strife, collusion with Jiangnan—the charge of the Jiangnan case was to be pinned on him, and on him alone.

Meng Jinyuan was silent. After a moment of hesitation, he was about to speak: "I..."

"I have a memorial to submit, Father," Ying Fusheng interrupted him, stepping forward and bowing. "The relevant case files submitted by Minister of Personnel Meng Jinyuan to the Ministry of Works have been reconstructed and compared. It has been determined that the embezzled funds involved in the Jiangnan case are not in the capital!"

Hearing that the funds were not in the capital, the Minister of Revenue and General Lu's faces turned pale instantly!

If not in the capital, where could they be?! For the past two months, the capital had been in turmoil, shaken by this affair, and now you say it has nothing to do with the capital!?

The Second Prince realized something and turned sharply to Ying Fusheng.

"I found private granaries in Jiangling and uncovered that corrupt officials in Jiangnan used the local government network to transport grain to Western Shu," Ying Fusheng continued. "This matter was previously reported. Prince Jin's reply, submitted through the Jiangnan authorities, stated it was private profit by corrupt officials colluding with grain merchants. But in secret files, I discovered that these grain merchants had dealings with the Prince of Qin's residence in Western Shu!"

The Minister of Revenue stepped forward. "Your Highness, your words are too absurd."

"Now there is evidence showing the Ministry of Personnel had dealings with the Fei family, and this has been verified by the Imperial Guard and the Censorate. Are you not making false statements to clear the Ministry of War!"

"I am not saying that the Ministry of Personnel had no connection with the Fei family," Ying Fusheng looked at the others in the hall. "At the time of the Jiangling granary case, the main culprit, Prefect Liu, had close ties with the Fei family. Don't forget, it was Minister Meng himself who escorted him into the capital."

Prefect Liu was sent to the capital for trial at that time, and Meng Jinyuan escorted him all the way.

If Meng Jinyuan had colluded with corrupt officials from Jiangnan, Prefect Liu could never have safely reached the capital...

The Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review stepped forward. "After interrogating Prefect Liu, it was determined that the problem originated in the Jiangnan officialdom, and the Fei family was ultimately identified as responsible."

"Therefore, I have reason to suspect that there is a hidden faction in the Ministry of Personnel framing Minister Meng, and that they secretly communicated with the Prince of Qin's residence in Western Shu to embezzle the funds from the Jiangnan case!" Ying Fusheng looked at those who questioned him.

The Second Prince looked at Ying Fusheng. He already knew that the trial would expose the Jiangnan officialdom problem, and now the exposure of the Fei family was known to the entire court. Prefect Liu's testimony had been proven true, so now Ying Fusheng was using Meng Jinyuan's escort of Liu to exonerate him.

"Meng Jinyuan, do you have anything to say?"

Finally, Meng Jinyuan understood Ying Fusheng's intent. Without hesitation, he said, "I have something to report. There is indeed a hidden faction in the Ministry of Personnel. In tracing and investigating, I discovered that the Second Prince has close ties with the Deposed Crown Prince's faction and there is evidence of his dealings with some guilty officials from the Xu Faction."

The Second Prince is connected to the Xu Faction!

The Minister of Revenue and General Lu immediately sensed the problem.

Hearing this, the Second Prince knelt quickly. "Your son is wronged!"

Some officials in court might not be clear, but before these old foxes, the Xu Faction and the Deposed Crown Prince were associated with the military pay case, which in the Emperor's eyes had the nature of treason.

Feeling the surrounding gazes, the Second Prince insisted on his innocence. "Your son did study under Grand Secretary Xu, but before that, I had already severed ties with the Xu family and went to serve in the Ministry of Personnel."

When had Meng Jinyuan gotten hold of the matter between him and the Xu family...

The forged evidence of the Ministry of Personnel's dealings with the Fei family was indeed their work, done to frame Meng Jinyuan, so convincing as to be almost authentic. The matter did not go through Meng Jinyuan, but everything pointed to him. If Meng Jinyuan truly exonerated himself, then Ying Fusheng would turn the tables, using this forged evidence to pull down their hidden agents in the Ministry, and through Meng Jinyuan's current accusation of his ties with the Xu Faction, label him as part of the hidden faction in the Ministry.

The Second Prince thought quickly. The Ministry officials could not admit it. If they denied the evidence of collusion between the Ministry and the Fei family, that would be fabricating evidence to frame a state official. If they admitted the evidence, then there must be a hidden faction in the Ministry. They had to acknowledge the forged evidence and pin the Jiangnan case on the central government. However, Meng Jinyuan's claim of his collusion with the Xu Faction could conversely be treated as "false evidence."

As long as they determined Meng Jinyuan was a traitor, then the evidence in his hands would naturally be "false evidence."

It was just troublesome. They had finally used Meng Jinyuan to divert attention, but Ying Fusheng, with his silver tongue, had talked his way around it.

"By comparing the Ministry of Personnel's case files with the compiled official accounts, I found suspicious individuals, and these suspects have been compiled into a list by Minister Liu," Ying Fusheng looked at Liu Yunshi, who stepped forward and presented the list to the Emperor. "Minister Meng, why don't you explain? What does this mean?"

Meng Jinyuan continued along the story, revealing his intentional actions. He knew that the people who handled those files were not among the people present in the hall, nor were they involved in the dispute. Before this incident, others might have thought that he, Meng Jinyuan, had ordered them or tampered with the files. But now that he had accused the Second Prince, he was undoubtedly cutting ties with those people.

Ying Fusheng used the matter of the Ministry files to separate him and his subordinates from the Second Prince's hidden faction. Because of this, the Ministry of Personnel had now split into two sides in everyone's eyes: one was Meng Jinyuan, the other was the Second Prince. Now, whoever was connected to the Jiangnan case was a traitor.

The Emperor read the list and said nothing.

The Second Prince was surprised but remained silent. He didn't know who the suspicious individuals were that Ying Fusheng had identified by comparing the files.

The entire courtroom had not expected the situation to turn out like this. The Ministry of Personnel had two factions, one of which was a secret faction colluding privately. But who was the secret faction? The Second Prince's faction said the stolen funds from the Jiangnan case were still here, while Prince Yan and Meng Jinyuan claimed they were in Western Shu. Both sides stuck to their arguments, making it difficult to discern the truth.

"Your Highness, are you referring to the Prince of Qin's residence in Western Shu? Such a statement requires solid evidence," said General Lu, frowning, knowing the gravity of the matter. "Without solid evidence, spreading this would be falsely accusing the Prince of Qin's residence of hiding stolen funds and plotting rebellion. This is no trivial matter."

Murmurs rippled through the courtroom as everyone looked toward Ying Fusheng.

"Yes, where is the evidence?" asked the Minister of Revenue. "Without proof, you cannot make baseless claims."

The Second Prince calmed down. The Fei family had covered their tracks completely; even if problems were uncovered, they would only lead back to the Marquis Cen'an, not to the Prince of Qin. Moreover, all incriminating evidence along this path had been destroyed. Had he not been so certain, he would not have pinned everything on Meng Jinyuan, for he was sure there was no concrete evidence pointing to Western Shu.

The Emperor knew the Prince of Qin might harbor rebellious intentions but had not acted due to a lack of evidence.

Even the Emperor had no evidence, so how could Ying Fusheng? He was bluffing.

Ying Fusheng said nothing. He seemed certain of everything, as if waiting for something.

Suddenly, urgent hoofbeats sounded outside the Dali Temple.

Ying Fusheng looked back. A young man dismounted swiftly, his robes fluttering, followed by a crowd of Imperial Guards from the capital.

Qi Hanzhou, travel-worn, strode into the courtroom. The Imperial Guards sealed off the Dali Temple entirely. He knelt in the courtroom and reported: "Your Majesty, I have not failed my mission. In Western Shu, I discovered that the Prince of Qin's faction has been hiding rebel troops."

The Emperor rose abruptly. The Second Prince's face turned deathly pale.

The existence of private troops alone is irrefutable proof!