Catching Monsters

Chapter 585 What is your relationship with Hakuryuji Temple?

The court was eerily silent. Many people stared at Liu Bufu, cursing him inwardly for being such a fool and wondering what was wrong with his brain.

No, this guy is completely brainless; otherwise, he wouldn't have done something as ridiculous as publicly berating His Majesty in court.

Of course, some officials secretly admired Liu Bufu's strong character, thinking he was truly a qualified official. However, while they admired him, they would never dare to actually do such a thing.

Feng Yu on the stage frowned slightly and coughed softly, breaking the silence of the court.

He stepped forward and said softly, "Lord Liu, there are other important matters to announce today. Perhaps we could postpone it for another day..."

Liu Bufu's face was stern, but he said seriously, "Eunuch Feng, corruption is a major issue that shakes the foundation of the country. Putting aside other matters, His Majesty can be considered a wise ruler in severely punishing corruption. Not long ago, he even confiscated the property of several corrupt officials."

"In my humble opinion, the corrupt practices must be dealt with as soon as possible, especially against officials like Jiang Yun who wield great power."

After saying this, Liu Bufu began kowtowing repeatedly in the court, shouting loudly, "Your Majesty! Please thoroughly investigate those who are corrupt and restore justice to the Great Zhou!"

Hearing Liu Bufu's shouts, Xiao Yuzheng took a deep breath, glanced at Feng Yu, who immediately understood, forced a smile, and slowly put away the imperial edict in her hand.

It seemed that the announcement of the crown prince would have to be postponed. He then stepped forward, took the thick stack of materials about Jiang Yun's accusations, and handed them to Xiao Yuzheng.

Xiao Jingqing's face was ashen, as if he had swallowed a fly, and his lips twitched incessantly.

His anger wasn't directed at Liu Bufu; instead, he looked at Gu Zhengyu beside him, his eyes seeming as if he wanted to devour him.

Gu Zhengyu coughed, his gaze shifting elsewhere, somewhat embarrassed.

However, Xiao Jingqing soon noticed that many ministers in the court were looking at him.

He still had to force a smile.

Xiao Yuzheng's face darkened, his expression grave, because of this material.

it is true.

Jiang Yun's corruption had two aspects. On the one hand, there was a fixed amount of money to be made in the Eastern Garrison Office.

Many Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards) would travel on official business, becoming imperial envoys. Officials from various regions would offer them money and other gifts, which the Jinyiwei would accept without hesitation.

After receiving the benefits, they would be delivered to Jiang Yun's study according to a certain ratio.

This was practically no secret within the entire Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The other part, the main attraction, is Hakuryu-ji Temple.

The accusation stated that Jiang Yun controlled most of the shares of Bailong Temple.

Most of the profits from Bailong Temple ended up in Jiang Yun's pocket...

As for the gifts given by other officials to Jiang Yun at his wedding, although they are listed above, no one made a fuss about them.

The thick stack of documents contained the entire Eastern Garrison, including Qi Da, Dong Qiaofeng, Zhu Zanyu, and others. It seemed the person who compiled this document intended to uproot the entire Eastern Garrison.

After reading it, Xiao Yuzheng remained silent, unsure of what to say.

You know, the money that Hakuryu-ji Temple sends to the palace every month is quite a lot...

Jiang Yun was only holding the shares on behalf of someone else; the real money ended up in Xiao Yuzheng's hands...

"Your Majesty!" Liu Bufu's shout brought Xiao Yuzheng back to reality. He knelt on the ground, looked around at the court officials, and said, "That scoundrel Jiang Yun! When the Embroidered Uniform Guard went on missions abroad, they plundered wealth. Everywhere they went, local officials presented them with a generous gift."

“This amount of money alone is probably tens of thousands of taels of silver per month.”

"As for Bailong Temple, its incense offerings have now been restored to their former glory. According to the records, its monthly profit is probably 30,000 taels of silver, of which 20,000 taels have all gone into Jiang Yun's pocket."

"That's 30,000 taels a month, and 360,000 taels a year!"

"What a covetous corrupt official!"

"Thirty-six thousand taels of silver is an amount that ordinary people, even ordinary officials, can never reach in their entire lives."

"Jiang Yun easily pocketed 360,000 taels of silver!"

"These are bloodsucking worms that are crawling all over our Zhou Kingdom!"

"If Jiang Yun is not removed, how can His Majesty combat corruption?"

Xiao Yuzheng's lips twitched. Thirty thousand taels of profit per month from Bailong Temple? The person who wrote this report seriously underestimated Bailong Temple's money-making ability…

Xiao Yuzheng is the most qualified to speak on this matter.

Of course, Xiao Yuzheng would never reveal this matter. He coughed lightly, looked slowly at Jiang Yun, and asked, "Jiang Yun, come out here! Tell me properly what exactly happened regarding Lord Liu's accusation against you."

"If you cannot explain yourself clearly, you are truly a corrupt person, and I will surely execute you today!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yun's face quickly showed a look of 'horror'. As she stepped forward, she gave Xiao Yuzheng a look, as if to say, "Others may not know, but Your Majesty, how could you not know?"

Jiang Yun stepped forward, took a deep breath, and slowly said, "Regarding the two things Lord Liu reported about me, firstly, the Embroidered Uniform Guard never accepts any money from others while on duty. This is an ironclad rule set by His Majesty."

Liu Bufu hurriedly pressed on, "Hmph, if you don't accept money, then how do you Embroidered Uniform Guards bring back so much money from outside every year?"

Jiang Yun replied calmly, "Lord Liu, when we from the Eastern Garrison are out on the move, we're always slaying demons and monsters. You know what demons and monsters are, right?"

"These demons roamed the land, greedily amassing wealth and sucking the people's hard-earned money, until they were finally slain by the experts of our Embroidered Uniform Guard."

"According to unwritten rules, a portion of the wealth accumulated by these demons can be distributed within our Embroidered Uniform Guard."

Jiang Yun's words were half true and half false. The Embroidered Uniform Guard did indeed have such a rule: except for a very few demons, most demons had absolutely no interest in human money.

Liu Bufu's eyes widened: "How is that possible?"

Jiang Yun stepped forward: "How is it impossible? If Lord Liu insists that this money was embezzled and bribed by our Embroidered Uniform Guard, then tell me, which official gave the money to which Embroidered Uniform Guard?"

"If you tell me and that official admits it, I will immediately deal with this matter severely!"

"You!" Liu Bufu was taken aback. So many officials had given gifts, and who would stand up and say that they had secretly given Jiang Yun a gift?
“Without evidence, it is a false accusation. According to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, a false accusation is punished according to the crime alleged, right?” Jiang Yun said coldly.

"Officials who speak out are innocent!" Liu Bufu could only reply with this answer. Then, he quickly grabbed Bailong Temple and asked, "Then tell me, what's going on with Bailong Temple?" "The current abbot of Bailong Temple, Abbot Yunwu, was someone you arranged to be placed in Bailong Temple."

"You can't just back out and refuse, can you?"

"You tell everyone here, what do you mean by saying that Hakuryu-ji has nothing to do with you!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yun fell silent, secretly glancing at Xiao Yuzheng.

Xiao Yuzheng: "Why are you looking at me like that? Why don't you tell Liu Bufu what your relationship is with Bailong Temple?"

Jiang Yun took a deep breath; it was really hard to sever his ties with Bailong Temple.

He simply...

“Yes, I have shares in Bailong Temple. I’ve taken all this money. So what?” Jiang Yun said slowly. “Bailong Temple had fallen into such a state before. I’m doing this to revitalize Bailong Temple.”

"Does a Buddhist temple need a Taoist priest like you to revitalize it?" Liu Bufu retorted.

The many ministers present were also slightly surprised, not expecting Jiang Yun to admit it so readily.

It should be noted that Xiao Yuzheng has absolutely zero tolerance for corruption. If it were to be done openly, even embezzling a hundred taels of silver would be a capital offense.

Xiao Yuzheng cannot tolerate even the slightest imperfection.

Xiao Jingqing and Gu Zhengyu were also delighted. They hadn't expected that Jiang Yun, unable to deny it, would actually admit it so readily!

Xiao Jingqing breathed a slight sigh of relief. He knew that his father's attitude towards corruption was always that he would rather kill the wrong person than let a corrupt official live.

All eyes turned to Xiao Yuzheng, while a few secretly hoped that he would punish Jiang Yun as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, some civil officials in the court frowned deeply. These officials were all from the faction of the eldest prince, Xiao Jingzhi, and they also knew that Xiao Jingzhi had gone to see Jiang Yun before leaving.

This can be considered as sending a signal to everyone.

Many civil officials were also brainstorming, trying to figure out how to help Jiang Yun out of this predicament.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Yuzheng coughed slightly, took a deep breath, and slowly said, "Jiang Yun did this... for the sake of Buddhism. As for the money he earned, it should be considered reasonable..."

"As far as I know, after Bailong Temple fell into decline, Jiang Yun invested a large sum of money, which is why Bailong Temple was able to be revived."

"From this perspective, Jiang Yun's investment was merely a normal business investment. Have none of the ministers present here ever invested in any industry?"

Liu Bufu was slightly taken aback, not expecting His Majesty to have such an attitude. He quickly stepped forward and said urgently, "Your Majesty, Jiang Yun, as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, is not devoted to his duties, but instead invests in Buddhist temples."

Xiao Yuzheng nodded: "Yes, yes, yes, I have to criticize you, Jiang Yun. You need to spend more time on the Eastern Garrison Command and less time on the White Dragon Temple."

"This humble servant knows his mistake," Jiang Yun replied respectfully.

Liu Bufu was dumbfounded, as if he had thrown a punch with all his might, only to end up hitting cotton.

The key point is that His Majesty's attitude is completely different from how he dealt with other corrupt officials.

"Alright! Lord Liu, let's leave this matter at that. Feng Yu, announce the important matter." Xiao Yuzheng quickly changed the subject with one sentence.

If Liu were to dig any deeper, wouldn't he eventually discover that Bailong Temple's major shareholder was his own affair?
Feng Yu slowly stepped forward and began to announce the candidate for the position of Crown Prince, which had been a matter of great concern to everyone.

However, what was originally a joyous occasion was ruined by Liu Bufu's meddling, and many people lost their enthusiasm for it.

Many civil officials looked at Jiang Yun with a slightly different gaze; they could sense Xiao Yuzheng's special attitude towards Jiang Yun.

If it were any other court official, if they were involved in corruption, they would at least be thoroughly investigated. In officialdom, who can be completely clean?
They often suffer serious injuries, even if they don't die.

However, His Majesty let the matter of Jiang Yun go lightly.

No wonder the eldest prince went to see Jiang Yun one last time; perhaps there is still hope for his return to the capital!

Many civil officials had different ideas in their minds.

Soon after announcing this, a grand ceremony was held at the imperial mausoleum to pay respects to the ancestors and inform them of the matter of the crown prince.

It was lively, but it was obvious that many people were somewhat distracted.

Including Xiao Jingqing, who is now the crown prince.

The entire ceremony lasted a full day. When they returned to the mansion, the plaque at the entrance had been replaced with three large, gilded characters: "Crown Prince's Residence."

Several gilded plaques were delivered.

The servants in the Crown Prince's residence were also overjoyed, knowing that once the Crown Prince ascended the throne, many of them would be promoted.

Some servants were even considering whether they should castrate themselves after serving the Crown Prince for so many years, and then return to the palace to continue serving Xiao Jingqing. Perhaps they could make a name for themselves in the world of eunuchs.

However, the real Crown Prince, Xiao Jingqing, was not in as good a mood as one might expect.

At this moment, Xiao Jingqing, Gu Zhengyu, and several close confidants were sitting in the study.

These trusted confidants were all second-generation military officers and nobles, and they had a good relationship with each other even before Xiao Jingqing truly rose to power.

Now that Xiao Jingqing has become the crown prince, countless people are trying to curry favor with him, but he cannot trust most of them.

The people you can truly trust are the friends who stayed by your side when you were down on your luck.

"What does my father mean by this today?" Xiao Jingqing sat at his desk, his brows furrowed, indicating that he was not in a good mood.

Gu Zhengyu, standing to the side, advised, "Your Highness, please don't worry. You've already been formally appointed today..."

Xiao Jingqing took a deep breath and slowly said, "It's true that he was formally conferred the title, but my elder brother went to see Jiang Yun before he left."

"As you have all seen today, my father's trust in Jiang Yun is extraordinary. He even turns a blind eye to corruption."

"Didn't you see how ugly the faces of those civil officials were during the investiture and ancestral worship ceremony today? They even wished they could stand up and oppose me becoming the crown prince."

“I know they dislike me because I’m not the eldest son and my mother’s background isn’t high.”

As Xiao Jingqing spoke, his unease grew stronger. He slowly clenched his fists, determined to find a way to resolve Jiang Yun's problem as soon as possible!
(End of this chapter)