Chapter 255: Filial Piety (IV)

Chapter 255: Filial Piety (IV)

After finishing a plate of crispy fried pastry flowers, Le Wuya's illness was cured without any medicine.

He energetically went to apologize to Wang Su, full of genuine remorse.

Wang Su, seated at the head of the room, had already changed to a different wig.

However, that wig had clearly been procured in haste—a poor fit for his head, bulging oddly from under his official hat, making him look like a lopsided, top-heavy mushroom.

Being a censor was a thankless job by nature.

Others might not say it aloud, but they always kept their distance and stayed on guard.

As the head of the censors, Wang Su always maintained an impassive, stern facade, every move and gesture following the rules of decorum.

This time, the grand censor, known as the "Iron-Faced Censor," had completely lost his dignified bearing—every stray hair was chipping away at the imposing image he'd worked so hard to build.

But the fault was his own: he'd first thrown a private banquet, then forced subordinates who said they couldn't drink to drink anyway. No matter how you spun it, he was in the wrong.

But the emperor had also privately ordered him to do it; he didn't dare make it public, so he could only swallow the bitter pill and even had to console Le Wuya: "Are you fully recovered now? I've made some honeysuckle and salvia infusion—it clears heat and cools the blood. Drink a cup before you leave."

Le Wuya obediently replied, "I've fully recovered, thanks to Your Excellency's concern."

Wang Su: "..." Having to face that familiar face, with its flippant tone and constant cajoling, was hard to stomach.

He picked up his teacup to hide the brief flicker of discomfort on his face: "How's the Yuzhou Circuit case coming along? The Ministry of Justice has already sent two reminders."

"Your Excellency, I've come precisely to discuss this matter with you." Le Wuya's eyes were bright and clear as autumn water. "I'd like to request permission to leave the capital and personally investigate this case in Zhangde Prefecture. I hope Your Excellency will grant it."

With a soft clink, Wang Su set down his teacup, the fine lines at the corners of his eyes narrowing as his cold, piercing gaze swept across Le Wuya's face: "Is there something off about this case?"

He stressed the word "off," heavy with unspoken warning.

...He'd already told him this case was simple and could be wrapped up quickly.

Wang Su knew a thing or two about this Wen Ren Mingke, who'd risen through the ranks so fast.

He'd heard this man handled cases with a knight-errant's flair, able to move the common folk to tears and get them singing his praises as a "reincarnation of Judge Bao."

But he wanted him to know the world was full of muddled cases like Scholar Tian's.

The law was the law—how could it allow him to act on personal whims and turn the courtroom into a stage for self-aggrandizement?

Wang Su thought he'd made himself perfectly clear.

So why did he still insist on going his own way and refusing to listen?

Le Wuya ignored Wang Su's obvious displeasure, took a sip of the honeysuckle dew to wet his throat, then said airily, "No. The other day, the Sixth Prince came by my place to check on my illness and asked about this case. Since it didn't involve any deaths, I gave him a brief rundown. The Sixth Prince was really interested in that folk remedy Scholar Tian's mother used. Problem is, the Justice and Revenue Ministries each have their own turf—Revenue folks have a hard time getting at case files or questioning prisoners, so he asked me to check it out."

"...Mingke." Wang Su picked up his teacup, his face cold. "Do you know what crime it is to privately fraternize with princes and discuss state affairs?"

Le Wuya replied with a look of pure innocence, "But this is by the emperor's own verbal order, allowing the Sixth Prince to look into this matter."

...Wang Su nearly choked on his tea.

"I wouldn't dare act on my own authority." Le Wuya chose that moment to bow deeply, with utmost respect. "So I've come to ask Your Excellency to decide."

...Decision? Decision on what?

If the emperor already knew, what was left for Wang Su to decide?

Wang Su let out a deep, forced sigh: "Mingke, it's not that I'm out to make things hard for you. You've just arrived in the capital—you need to be more careful in your actions. Casually cozying up to the imperial family can easily bring trouble down on your head. Do you understand?"

Le Wuya's look of deference was utterly sincere: "I've taken your advice. Thank you for Your Excellency's guidance."

Wang Su: "..." With him being so obedient, scolding him more would just make Wang Su look harsh.

He had no choice but to suppress his frustration and wave a hand: "Go."

Le Wuya finished off the honeysuckle dew, clasped his hands in thanks, and strode briskly out of the main hall. He glanced back at the plaque reading "Uphold Governance, Enforce the Law" and smiled faintly.

Old Wang, you think a case file can control me?

Sure, you're bald with age, but you're still a bit too green.

He tucked his sleeves, clasped his hands behind his back, and hurried into the document room, where he summoned the Yuzhou Circuit censor to issue his travel papers.

He looked relaxed on the surface, but his mind was churning with schemes.

Before him lay three games of chess.

The first game was against the Fifth Prince.

Thanks to Xiaoliu's earlier scheming, the Fifth Prince had fallen out of favor with the emperor, stuck with the bad label of being "unfraternal."

Le Wuya had picked up this unfinished game and kept playing it.

The Fifth Prince, jumpy as a startled bird, was constantly anxious and scared. Seeing Le Wuya come to court with a face so much like that old acquaintance of his, he was bound to get suspicious.

For him, this was a golden chance to get something on his sixth brother.

Taking advantage of the emperor giving Le Wuya a mansion and the new household being short-staffed, the Fifth Prince had eagerly sent in spies to check things out.

So whatever the Fifth Prince got to hear was entirely up to Le Wuya.

This game wasn't hard—just slip in quietly, feed him false info, and slowly push into the heart of the board, and the Fifth Prince would fall apart on his own.

The second opponent was Wang Su.

Wang Su was a man with a stern face and a narrow mind, who loved everything to go by the book and hated nothing more than the word "change."

In his view, case files had to be filed by year, memorials copied out in proper format, and even his daily steps to the office should ideally be measured with a ruler to get the right stride.

If it were just that, Le Wuya wouldn't have felt the urge to punch him even on his deathbed.

The thing was, for Wang Su, the word "rules" could bend depending on who was involved.

When the emperor wanted Le Wuya dead, Wang Su could cobble together several forged pieces of evidence of treason.

That stretch had been pretty amusing, actually.

Every time Wang Su cooked up fake evidence, Le Wuya would use it to drag in other equally guilty officials.

And unlike Wang Su's wild fabrications and flimsy links, Le Wuya had real evidence in hand.

Zong Yao's uncle and older brother had been dragged into the mess when Wang Su tried to slap the charge of "harming the people" on him.

Le Wuya had said, "Sure, I harmed the people, and those two from the Zong family were in on it with me. I've even got evidence saved. Want to see it? If you do, no rush—first file it officially, present it to the emperor, and show me the imperial decree. Then I'll confess on the spot, own up to my crimes, and let Lord Wang close the case. How's that?"

During that period, one was in prison and the other outside, locked in a sharp, head-to-head battle of wits and nerve.

And Le Wuya, trapped in his cell, tormented Wang Su so thoroughly that he dropped several pounds, his hair coming out in fistfuls.

Le Wuya spun the crimes Wang Su pinned on him into a monstrous, all-encompassing web.

The shadow of that monstrous net loomed over the officials of Dayu, great and small, scaring them half to death, leaving them in a constant state of panic. They wished they could slip him a cup of poison and see him dead on the spot.

Speaking of which, the charge he copped to the fastest was the one Xiang Zhi Jie leveled against him—swiping tangerines from behind Zhaoming Hall.

When he heard this accusation from Wang Su's mouth, Le Wuya was momentarily stunned, then cracked a faint smile—the first in days.

"Ah, that one I did actually do." Le Wuya propped his chin on his hand, speaking lazily. "I swiped the Emperor's rose cakes and poria cakes too. Lord Wang, want to tack those onto the list as well?"

By the end of the interrogation, Wang Su's spirit had been completely worn down by Le Wuya. Just seeing him made Wang Su pull a sour face, and the hair on his head was so thin you could count every last strand—which had Le Wuya snickering to himself.

A man like that was nothing but someone else's mouthpiece, someone else's puppet—hardly a real stickler for rules and order.

And for a man like Wang Su, besides "imperial authority trumps all," the second ironclad rule was "if there's a legitimate eldest son, he takes the throne; if not, the eldest brother does."

Promote the worthy?

Sorry, the ancestors didn't say anything about that, so it doesn't count.

His loyalty was welded tight to the Emperor and the Fifth Prince.

Knowing his own temperament, Le Wuya figured he'd never get anywhere good working under a man like that.

So why play along with him at all?

All he had to do was use the Fifth Prince as a mouthpiece, then use the Emperor—the man Wang Su worshipped most—to put him in his place.

Le Wuya chatted amiably about travel plans with the Yuzhou Circuit Censor, while running a third chess game through his head.

This one was trickier.

After all, his opponent was the Emperor himself—he'd have to use soft power to beat hard power, and play the long game.

By now, the Emperor had already heard the case from both Xiao Wu and Xiao Liu.

Knowing Xiang Zheng's temperament, he'd probably lean toward giving Scholar Tian a commendation.

After all, when it came to "not treating your son like a person," this Emperor and that scholar were two peas in a pod.

Once he'd straightened out the logic of all three games, Le Wuya packed his bags and rode hard for Zhangde Prefecture.

Fifteen days later, in the thick of summer's heat, Le Wuya finally sauntered back.

He'd timed it to the day.

During this period, the Fifth Prince was due again for his monthly report.

Xiang Zheng asked the routine question once more: "The Censorate still hasn't wrapped up this case?"

The Fifth Prince, having learned that Le Wuya had left the capital for Zhangde Prefecture to investigate on Xiao Liu's behalf, casually brought it up in front of the Emperor.

When Xiang Zheng didn't react, the Fifth Prince figured that Zhi Jie, being the meticulous type, had probably already gotten the Emperor's quiet okay.

Before Xiang Zhi Jie made his move, Xiang Zhi Yun never dreamed he'd end up butting heads with his own brother.

He was hopeless at this kind of scheming.

His clumsy attempts to stir the pot got him nowhere, so he steeled himself and, from Scholar Tian's perspective, launched into a big speech about how filial piety trumps everything.

...He had no choice but to do so.

Scholar Tian's case happened to align with his own interests.

If he were to speak from the perspective of that child who was thrown to his death, wouldn't that imply the father was unkind?

He'd have to be an idiot to step on that landmine of innuendo.

Xiang Zheng's response was flat: "Got it."

He'd already pulled the commendation files for Zhangde Prefecture from the Ministry of Rites, and once the Censorate made its call, he'd sign the imperial edict and make it public.

...

The day Le Wuya got back to the capital, he was hauled straight to the palace, where he ran into Minister of Rites Chang Yuxing, who was also waiting to be called in outside Shouren Hall.

Chang Yuxing didn't dare look him in the eye, merely greeting him mildly: "Surveillance Commissioner Wenren, back already?"

"I'm back." Le Wuya's eyes crinkled into a smile—the kind of cheerful look that won over old folks. "The last time I met Minister Chang was when the Jing tribe envoys visited. Back then, I'd just arrived in the capital and was a nervous wreck. Thanks to Minister Chang for the kind words."

Minister Chang: ...Don't you be nervous—I'm the one who's nervous now.

But Le Wuya's chipper tone still softened him up a bit: "Surveillance Commissioner Wenren, here to report on the Tian Youde case from Zhangde Prefecture, I take it?"

"Yes." Le Wuya spoke in a gentle, soft voice. "The Censorate has a one-month cap on case reviews. Today's exactly one month, so Lord Wang told me to skip the office and head straight to the palace to report to His Majesty, so we don't drag things out and hold up the verdict."

Chang Yuxing: "...?"

Was he imagining things?

He couldn't shake the feeling that Wen Ren had timed his return down to the minute.

Chang Yuxing was a kind-hearted, honest old man.

In his view, that fellow Tian had spent decades studying the classics only to have it all go to waste—muddled-headed at the imperial examinations, unable to produce any earth-shattering prose, yet cunning as a fox when making vows to the Bodhisattva.

If he were truly filial, he should have pledged his own life, not his son's.

But to stand firm in the court, one relied on gauging the Emperor's intentions, not on righteous conviction.

His own feelings and opinions were, in fact, the least important thing.

With this in mind, Chang Yuxing lowered his voice: "Ming Ke, hear an old man's words... His Majesty wishes to establish a model of filial piety. Do you understand?"

Le Wuya revealed a beautiful, obedient smile: "Thank you for your guidance, Minister Chang. This humble official understands."

Seeing him so receptive, Chang Yuxing breathed a sigh of relief and nodded approvingly.

At that moment, the officials who had been in deliberation filed out of the study.

The Emperor specifically summoned Le Wuya to enter and report first.

Chang Yuxing stood outside the door, smoothing the wrinkles on his robes, ready to be called in at any moment, when he heard Le Wuya's clear voice ring out from within the hall: "Your subject wishes to impeach Kou Chun, Prefect of Zhangde Prefecture, for falsely reporting commendations and deceiving Your Majesty!"

Chang Yuxing's legs gave way, and he nearly tumbled down the steps.

By the Three Pure Ones!

What exactly did you understand?!