lcionline Chapter 56 From this point on, there will be no more Prince An's faction in the court.
Chapter 56 From this point on, there will be no more Prince An's faction in the court.
Lin Shiming clung to Lu Yuxi's arm and peered outside, his face flushed and his whole body trembling as he tried to suppress his laughter.
Lu Yuxi was speechless. He raised his hand and gently patted Lin Shiming on the back of the head to make him stand up straight, then stepped out.
"Mu Bolin, why don't you hurry up and take everyone to wash up? Are you just going to let them continue to offend Father's eyes here?"
Mu Bolin seemed to realize what was happening at that moment, and raised his hand to summon a group of imperial guards to carry away the ministers in the hall who could not even kneel properly.
At Lu Yuxi's signal, several eunuchs jogged in and quickly and carefully wiped the floor tiles.
After the eunuchs finally withdrew, the ministers, who had been so shocked and terrified that they were speechless, gradually came to their senses.
Liu Wei, the Grand Secretary of the Hanlin Academy, stepped forward with his hands clasped. "Your Majesty! Hasn't the Military Affairs Bureau gone too far? Lord Huang and his men are, after all, officials appointed by the court. How could they—"
“Hey! Scholar Liu, don’t talk nonsense!” Liang Zhangyi said sternly, “My subordinates didn’t know they were officials when they arrested them. They just imprisoned them according to the rules. There was no violation of the law at all.”
"But they shouldn't be so covered in dust and dirt, right?"
"What's wrong with that? That's always how it is in prison. We just followed the rules by taking off their outer clothes, not feeding them, and not even using torture during the interrogation. It's just a bit dirty and messy, that's all. Don't wrongly accuse people!"
Lin Shih-ming's same confident and self-assured attitude!
The King of Ping silently observed everything, then turned his head away in disdain.
If this wasn't at Lin Shiming's behest, I'd rip my head off and put it on Prince An!
"Your Majesty!" Liang Zhang bowed and stepped forward, presenting a booklet. "I knew that this matter would inevitably arouse suspicion, so I brought the patrol records from that night. The records clearly document the entire process of these ministers' arrest. The actions of the Military Command were all reasonable and justifiable. I implore Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly!"
Emperor Longyun took the booklet presented by the eunuch and pretended to look through it carefully for a few moments.
"That's certainly reasonable."
That's perfectly reasonable. Emperor Longyun was afraid that this show wouldn't go well, so he even went out of his way to check for and fix any flaws.
Liang Zhang stood tall, head held high, under the various gazes of the crowd.
A eunuch quietly entered the Taiji Hall and whispered a few words in Li An's ear. Li An nodded in understanding and stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, the fourteen ministers have already washed up. The imperial physicians have also examined them; they had been starving for more than a day and were temporarily weak. After drinking some ginseng soup, they have regained their strength to get up. They will fully recover after a few days of rest back home."
You actually gave them ginseng soup? Do you even know how expensive ginseng is?! Do they deserve it?!
Emperor Longyun's fingers gripped the table tightly, his heart bleeding. "Then bring them all over."
"The slave obeys the order."
*
The ministers, led by Huang Renxuan, were then taken to the Taiji Hall.
After they quickly tidied up and washed up, everyone recognized those familiar faces one by one.
Wow, they're all Prince An's men.
Let's think about what's been happening in the court lately, Prince An's current situation, and when these people were arrested.
Understood.
He was summoned by Prince An to discuss the Southern Region tax issue, and was arrested on his way home after the discussion. It seems there's no need for anyone to guess what happened with the Southern Region tax; it was another brainless act by Prince An.
"Your Majesty! Please, Your Majesty, do justice for us!" Huang Renxuan knelt down and crawled two steps, weeping bitterly. "I want to denounce Liang Zhang, the commander of the capital's military command. He is acting recklessly and dares to imprison court officials and even starve us to death! And the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo, it was the Tingyun Army that imprisoned us!"
Lin Shihe, whose attempt to feign death failed, was called out: "... ..."
For a moment, countless unspoken words were stuck in my heart.
Lin Shihe sighed deeply, glared at his younger brother who was still grinning at him with his big white teeth, and then slowly stepped out of the line.
"Huang Renxuan, you are an imperial censor. Don't you ever bother to find out the details before submitting your memorial? You criticize without even knowing the facts. Is this how you usually share the burden of His Majesty and stand up for the people? Your rash actions show that you are not fit for the position of imperial censor."
Lin Shihe spoke slowly and deliberately, yet every word he uttered utterly scathing criticism of Huang Renxuan, the censor.
Huang Renxuan was so angry that he almost couldn't catch his breath. He stared straight at the people from the Censorate, waiting for his fellow censors to speak up for him.
However, the censors also felt that he had disgraced the Censorate, so they all turned their faces away and refused to speak.
Emperor Longyun really didn't want to listen to this person who shared the same brain as Prince An anymore, so he waved his hand and ordered Huang Renxuan to be dragged out, and then casually pointed out the name of another person.
"Is the second one after that Wei Zhengrong, the transport commissioner in charge of grain supplies for the capital?"
Wei Zhengrong crawled forward on his knees and bowed his head.
"Your Majesty, I, Wei Zhengrong, the Commissioner for the Transport of Grain and Supplies in the Capital, pay my respects."
Emperor Longyun tapped the table. "Alright, then it's your turn. Tell me why you went out in the middle of the night, and why you were arrested by the Military Command?"
Wei Zhengrong broke out in a cold sweat.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, please wait..."
"Not going to talk?" Emperor Longyun sneered. "Then I'll talk for you!"
"It's all clearly written in the military register that you all came from Anxing Ward. In Anxing Ward, the only place that would attract a group of ministers like you to go there so late at night is the Prince An's residence, right?"
Wei Zhengrong was extremely anxious, but in his panic, he suddenly came up with some quick thinking.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty is wise. We had only arranged to visit Prince An to inquire about his injuries, but we ended up talking quite late and returned to our residence late at night."
Factional strife is an open secret; it's just that they were unlucky enough to be dragged into it all at once. As long as a suitable reason can be found to cover it up, and there's no evidence that they colluded, even His Majesty can't arbitrarily punish such a large group of people.
The ministers behind them also suddenly understood and kowtowed, saying, "That's exactly right, Your Majesty, please see this clearly!"
Emperor Longyun tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his gaze falling on Lin Shiming, who was sitting in the front row on the left.
Lin Shiming, tired of watching the show while clinging to Lu Yuxi, no longer bothered to hide it and simply stood in front of her, practically ready to crack some melon seeds.
When Emperor Longyun looked over, he waved enthusiastically.
Emperor Longyun: "... ..."
That's enough. I won't stoop to the level of a child.
In truth, while Lin Shiming did orchestrate today's events, his aim was merely to bring Prince An's main supporters into the open, thus giving Emperor Longyun a pretext to suppress them. Incidentally, he also wanted to stir things up a bit and watch the show unfold.
He didn't want anyone to cause trouble while he was investigating the case, nor did he want his cronies to launch a counterattack when the investigation eventually reached Prince An.
Last time, they dealt with Mu Xiaoguang; this time, it's the Southern Region Governor Du Duan, who has already cut off both of Prince An's arms. As long as they can find and suppress the last of Prince An's loyal followers, then Prince An will have no power to resist.
As the saying goes, first remove their power, then eliminate them. Without power and followers, they are like soldiers without weapons and limbs, left only to await death.
Emperor Longyun, that old fox, naturally understood Lin Shiming's intention in making this move. He calmly picked up his teacup and waited until the crowd below could no longer kneel before speaking.
"I will certainly investigate thoroughly. Until I have found out the truth, you should all stay in your residences and not go out, lest you be arrested by the Military Command again."
Staying at home and not going out sounds like a mild punishment that won't cause chaos in the court. This is because such punishments are usually lenient; the emperor can simply leave once he's calmed down.
But this time was different. They knew in their hearts that Emperor Longyun would not give them another chance to come out.
Therefore, in reality, this is a stripping away of power and an indefinite confinement. Compared to Mu Xiaoguang, who was directly dismissed from his post, they only have an official title, and according to custom, their salary is reduced by half.
Moreover, at least Mu Xiaoguang could go out for a stroll, while they were confined to the mansion. They were just waiting for the day Prince An fell so they could be purged.
"Your Majesty, we, your subjects—"
"There's no need for further explanation. Regardless of whether you're visiting Prince An or not, leaving the house after curfew without a serious illness or emergency is a violation of the law. Confining you to your quarters is already an act of leniency on my part."
Emperor Longyun turned his hands behind his back, got up and left.
"Retreat—"
Li An's voice was high-pitched yet long; from then on, there would be no more Prince An's faction in the court.