Chapter 329: In the Court (Part 3)

Chapter 329: In the Court (Part 3)

Gotta say, Wang Su reacted fast: "Your Majesty! Zhou Wenchang was, after all, a second-place imperial exam graduate. Even if his talents were mediocre, I saw him stuck in a low rank for so long, I couldn't stand it, so I would periodically review his records, hoping he'd make a little headway—and that I might recommend a worthy man to the state!"

Xu Yingrui didn't buy it and shot back: "Lord Wang, if you so cherish talent, why did you only review but never recommend him in all those ten years?"

The moment the words left his mouth, Xu Yingrui knew he'd messed up, and his face went bright red.

Several lower-ranking officials, hiding in the back rows, couldn't help but cover their mouths with their sleeves and snicker.

Xu Yingrui lowered his head, red-faced, steadied himself, and silently psyched himself up.

There was no better time than now to impeach Wang Su.

Especially after reading Le Wuya's file and talking with Ming Xiangzhao, his conviction had only hardened.

If he let this chance slip, once Wang Su got his bearings and came after him, he wouldn't survive it!

Xu Yingrui continued: "...I just went to the Ministry of Personnel to check Zhou Wenchang's performance reviews, but a few days after returning home, I noticed something off—my letters at home had been tampered with, and someone was tailing me when I went out."

"As an imperial censor, I didn't want to tip my hand, so I went about business as usual while quietly cleaning house—and eventually, I got somewhere."

Xu Yingrui's logic was crystal clear.

An outsider wouldn't even know where his private letter box was.

...So there had to be a mole in his own house.

"I failed to keep my household in check—one of my servants was bought off with a hefty bribe. They found a hefty stash of gold and silver in his room, and that's not all..."

He raised his voice: "...we also found a Changmen Guard badge and several secret letters!"

"This is too serious for me to sit on. I was about to submit a memorial anyway, so I might as well lay it all out today."

Xu Yingrui paused, cleared his throat, and continued:

"I hereby impeach Bo Xin, Lord Wang Su's personal attendant, who bribed one of my close servants to spy on me and my private affairs—and who even dared to use the imperial Changmen Guard for his own private purposes!"

On paper, he was impeaching Bo Xin—but without his master's say-so, how would a mere servant have the guts to spy on a fourth-rank official?

Xu Yingrui was aiming at Bo Xin, but the blade was meant for Wang Su!

The exact charges that had been slapped on Le Wuya—"spying on colleagues" and "using the Changmen Guard like his own servants"—were now slapped right back onto Wang Su!

Wang Su choked, his eyes involuntarily darting toward the Emperor.

Halfway there, he forced himself to look away.

Xiang Zheng had already resumed his seat on the imperial throne, his fingers slowly tracing the cold armrest of the throne.

He couldn't shake a growing sense of irritation and unease.

Back then, he'd valued Qiu Sinian's skills and promoted him from prison warden to Deputy Commander of the Changmen Guard, but the Commander post—which had once been Le Wuya's—had been left deliberately empty.

Wang Su had been quietly wielding that power for years, though it was never officially acknowledged.

Xiang Zheng knew damn well whether Wang Su had used the Changmen Guard for personal business.

But that was something he could never admit.

Wang Su's heart was now a pot of boiling oil.

He'd used this exact charge to frame Le Wuya, so he knew better than anyone how lethal it was.

Because a lot of it had been done on orders—but he could never say the Emperor told him to do it.

His life now truly hung on a single whim of the Emperor.

And even now, Xiang Zheng was still inclined to protect him.

He let his gaze drift across the deathly silent Zhaoming Hall, waiting for some minister to say a word or two for Wang Su.

Even a little pushback would've been fine.

But he was in for a disappointment.

Not a single person in the entire court spoke up.

First, the court wasn't a marketplace—you couldn't have random people yapping and airing their opinions.

Second, Wang Su wasn't exactly popular—more like "everyone keeps their distance" popular.

Finally, Xiang Zheng's gaze landed on Jie Jitong.

Jie Jitong's eyelids flickered, catching the Emperor's eye for a split second.

Since Le Wuya died, it had been his job to give the Emperor an out and clean up his messes.

In the past, Jie Jitong would've been annoyed by this.

But this time, he took the Emperor's cue without hesitation.

He immediately raised his voice, his tone extra fair and proper: "Censor Xu, impeaching a senior official requires hard evidence! Lord Wang has long been known for his diligence, integrity, and incorruptibility—his heart pure as ice in a jade pot, his ambitions bright as the autumn moon, and nothing but clean breezes in his sleeves! According to your account, your personal servant was lured by wealth—but Bo Xin, who serves under Lord Wang, is himself a man of modest means. Where would he find the silver to bribe others? How do you explain this point?"

"Lord Xie's concern is well taken. Precisely because Lord Wang's reputation for integrity is known throughout the court, when I first discovered this matter, I myself could hardly believe it. I feared that if I investigated carelessly, I might tarnish the lord's good name, so I dared not make a fuss—I merely investigated in secret."

Xu Yingrui, being a censor by profession, chose his words with extreme care, but his content was extraordinarily bold: "Moreover, Lord Wang has handled few major cases in recent years—the most significant one being the case of the Rebel Le..."

Wang Su suddenly perceived Xu Yingrui's intent and sensed trouble at once. He immediately seized the initiative and thundered: "Xu Yingrui! Silence!"

He turned to the imperial throne, his voice trembling with fury and alarm: "Your Majesty, you see! One after another, they come—their true aim is plainly not what it appears. They are clearly trying to exonerate the Rebel Le and overturn his case!"

Hearing the accusation, Xu Yingrui remained perfectly composed.

Compared to Zhang Yuanye, who had genuine old ties with Le Wuya, his position was far more solid: "My lord, this official has only heard the Rebel Le's name and never met his face. We have had no dealings whatsoever. Such an accusation truly embarrasses me. I am presently reporting matters to His Majesty—I would ask the lord not to interrupt and allow me to finish."

Wang Su fell silent, but the Emperor also said nothing, as if he had no intention of continuing this line of discussion.

Once again, an eerie silence descended upon the court.

Just as Xu Yingrui was about to be caught in an awkward spot, Jie Jitong helpfully spoke up on Xiang Zheng's behalf: "Xu Yingrui, continue. But bear in mind—this is the imperial court. Not a single word may be false or fabricated!"

Xiang Zheng: "..."

He did not want to hear it.

He shot Jie Jitong a cold, displeased look.

And Jie Jitong nodded back at him with great confidence: Rest assured, Your Majesty. I understand. I know what you want to hear.

Xiang Zheng: "..."

At a moment like this, he found himself oddly nostalgic for Le Wuya.

"Yes."

Xu Yingrui accepted the order and said calmly, "I re-examined Rebel Le's corruption case files and found two things that don't add up."

"First, back then, Lord Wang oversaw the confiscation of the Le estate, rolling out a hundred big carts in a display that shook the whole capital. Yet the estate's registered household consisted only of Princess Xiaoshu and five servants. The mismatch between the people and the property—that's the first red flag."

"Second, as a censor, I've handled corruption cases—not by the truckload, but definitely a good number. For great corrupt households, hoarding gold and taking bribes, they're usually worried their rooms aren't big enough—a hundred carts, even several hundred, wouldn't be surprising. But back then, Lord Wang went with a hundred carts and returned with a hundred carts, fully loaded—not one cart more, not one cart less. That's way too convenient to be a coincidence!"

"Rebel Le's bribes should have been itemized in a clear ledger, filed with the Ministry of Revenue. I ask permission to cross-check the ledgers from that year and trace where those bribes went!"

"This memorial isn't me trying to clear the name of some criminal I've never even met. I just worry someone's been using confiscation as a cover to line their own pockets and deceive His Majesty, and using that stolen wealth to bribe the Changmen Guard to spy on the officials!"

At that, Du Tonghe's face went pale.

He remembered Ming Xiangzhao once asking him about that same mismatch in the Rebel Le case!

Why would Xu Yingrui suddenly bring this up?

Du Tonghe turned to Ming Xiangzhao, his eyes asking: Did you—

Ming Xiangzhao tilted his head with an innocent look, righteous but genuinely confused and clueless.

If Du Tonghe had ever seen how Le Wuya, back when he was Magistrate of Nanting, had conned the local gentry, he'd have realized Ming Xiangzhao had nailed that look—a perfect ten out of ten.

...Too bad he'd never seen it.

So he easily let his guard down.

Ugh, the court was in chaos today—what a headache.

At least Shou Yue was solid.

The Minister of Revenue, in charge of the confiscated goods, also went pale.

Le Wuya's bribes had sat in the vault untouched since the day they arrived.

Back when the Sixth Prince ran the Ministry of Revenue, he'd specifically told him to keep everything from the Rebel Le case safe.

The amount was huge—if His Majesty ever wanted to pad the imperial coffers, these items would come in handy.

But His Majesty hadn't given them a thought for years, so they just sat gathering dust in the Ministry's vault.

If even one thing went missing, he couldn't talk his way out of it even with a hundred mouths!

Luckily, the Sixth Prince had reminded him, so the Minister had checked the records and had a solid handle on what was stored.

Scared of being accused of negligence, he quickly knelt and said, "Your Majesty, hear me out! The goods seized from the Le estate total three hundred and sixty-eight big chests, still sealed with both the Ministry of Revenue and Censorate seals, sitting in the Jiazi Vault! One inspection will prove it—I'm not lying a bit!"

Wang Su's face went white as a sheet.

Wang Su knew better than anyone what was really in those chests.

Every bribe Le Wuya had taken—he hadn't touched a single coin, just packed it all up and stored it neatly in a side room, labeling each one with who gave it and when, down to the smallest detail.

The gold His Majesty had given him, he'd deliberately put in the most obvious spot, stacked into a little pagoda, with a little sign hanging next to it, flashily reading: "Imperial gift—handle with care."

And other than that?

Other than that, the Le estate was basically broke.

Who'd have thought a guy who was an expert at judging paintings, calligraphy, and antiques would use a lopsided vase Princess Xiaoshu had casually molded from clay in her spare time to hold his flowers!

To make the corruption charges stick, Wang Su had racked his brains and literally scraped a layer off the Le estate's grounds.

And he meant "scraping the grounds" literally.

Chopping branches, stuffing in mud and dirt, prying up floor tiles, ripping off roof tiles...

To fill those hundred carts, Wang Su had pulled out all the stops.

Now, if that pile of dirt, tiles, and branches ever saw the light of day, he'd have to explain where the original jewelry, paintings, antiques, and contracts had gone.

Everyone who'd taken part in the confiscation was one of Wang Su's trusted men.

So this messy account would boil down to two conclusions: either Wang Su had pocketed the goods, or Le Wuya had never been that corrupt to begin with.

On the Dansui matter, Wang Su could still argue his case, but on this one, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place—couldn't say a word even if he had a mouth!

If His Majesty wanted to protect him, he'd first have to deal with the careless Minister of Revenue, then punish Xu Yingrui for wrongly accusing a superior, then find a way to get rid of Wen Renyue...

Chip after chip stacked up, and Le Wuya, still not satisfied, twisted the knife again: "Your Majesty, Wang Su's crimes go way beyond corruption and abuse of power! His worst offense is deceiving Heaven itself! He used imperial authority to order Wen Huan to oversee Dansui—that alone was overstepping. After I locked up the Wen brothers, the Dansui county jail mysteriously caught fire, nearly burning them both to death! They found traces of arson afterward, but no culprit. If that's not using Heaven's name to do the devil's work, what is? I beg Your Majesty to investigate!"

Wang Su's eyes bulged with rage, bloodshot and furious: "Wen Renyue, you—"

But at this moment, he knew the most urgent matter was not to debate with Le Wuya, but to swiftly win back His Majesty's heart.

He hastily prostrated himself, his forehead striking the cold jade tiles directly, not daring to ease up, and after several knocks, blood began to flow: "Your Majesty, I beg you to see clearly! This old servant has spent his life in tireless devotion, giving his all—everything I've said and done has been for the court! I truly haven't done any of these things! I beg Your Majesty—"

But in that brief rise and fall, he inadvertently caught a glimpse of Xiang Zheng's expression.

The look Xiang Zheng gave him was cold, indifferent, and tinged with a trace of disgust.

The words of self-defense stuck in Wang Su's throat, unable to emerge.

He turned his face away, staring fixedly at Le Wuya.

This man was truly vicious beyond measure!

He wasn't merely seizing on his crimes.

He knew well that three hundred lives couldn't shake Wang Su's standing in His Majesty's heart after so many years.

And so, word by word, thread by thread, he had meticulously revealed the one fact His Majesty could least tolerate:

That Wang Su, as His Majesty's blade, had become "incompetent" and "troublesome."

Author's note:

Wen Renyue's expression—refer to a Pomeranian looking innocent after trashing the house, lol.