Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 346 Who Instigated
"Minister Yuan of the Court of Judicial Review has been lured out of the palace!"

Zhang Dai was still pondering when he suddenly heard someone shout. Upon hearing this, the students in the Hanlin Academy all moved outside to look. Seeing this, Zhang Dai quickly followed.

When the three officials were summoned to Xingqing Palace together, everyone couldn't help but wonder what major case the court needed to handle jointly. Therefore, not only in the Hanlin Academy, but also elsewhere, officials stopped to observe and whisper among themselves.

Before long, an official in purple robes was led towards the palace gate by an eunuch from the south side of Xingqing Palace. The man had deeply furrowed brows and a worried expression. He was none other than Yuan Guangyu, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.

The Yuan Qianyao family is also a large family with a long history, dating back to the Northern Wei Dynasty, which is why they were able to associate with the old money families of Guanzhong. Because of this long history, there are often contrasting combinations in the age and seniority of family members.

Although Yuan Guangyu is Yuan Qianyao's grand-nephew, they are not much different in age. In addition, he was in a heavy mood, so Yuan Guangyu walked with a somewhat unsteady gait.

"Could it be that someone in the Genji clan has committed a crime?"

Seeing Yuan Guangyu's appearance, everyone couldn't help but start discussing it. Only the Emperor had read Zhang Dai's memorial, and the others were unaware of it. Of course, they didn't know that the matter was caused by Zhang Dai, who was standing silently among them.

Zhang Dai, the instigator, was not in a hurry to show off his deeds. Yuan Guangyu's distraught appearance made him even more suspicious. Could things really be that serious?

Even after Yuan Guangyu left Xingqing Palace, the discussions among the officials continued. Even high-ranking officials such as Cui Mian and Xu Jian, who remained there, couldn't help but leave to go to Daming Palace to find out what had happened.

Another half hour passed, and another official hurriedly entered Xingqing Palace. The well-connected courtiers immediately recognized him: "This is Qiao Mengsong, the Chief Justice of Dali!"

It seems that the Yuan family must have committed a crime, so Yuan Guangyu, as the head of the Dali Temple, needs to recuse himself. Meanwhile, Qiao Mengsong, the Dali Temple's chief official, was dispatched here as a representative of the Dali Temple.

However, this Qiao Mengsong also had a close relationship with the Yuan family, having served as a judge under Yuwen Rong for a long time.

Shortly after Qiao Mengsong went to the Qin Zheng Building, the three chief officials of the Ministry of Justice were led out by the eunuchs. In addition to Qiao Mengsong, who came in place of Yuan Guangyu, there were also Han Xiu, the Vice Minister of Justice, and Li Huairang, the Censor-in-Chief.

After leaving Xingqing Palace, the three of them, each accompanied by their attendants, headed straight for the Taiji Palace in the Imperial City. The offices of these three departments were all located in the Imperial City, along with the Censorate's Investigating Office. It seemed they were there on imperial orders to investigate and supervise the case.

Human curiosity is boundless. The officials here only saw the three chief officials coming and going, but they had no idea what was going on. Therefore, some officials whose affairs were not important simply left Xingqing Palace and went to the capital to see who was being tried and what was going on.

Leaving aside the onlookers' immense curiosity, Zhang Dai himself was deeply perplexed. However, he dared not abandon his post, fearing that the Emperor might summon him again at any moment, and it would be disastrous if he couldn't find him.

Zhang Dai had just returned to his seat in the separate hall and was about to carefully examine the deeper details of the case, trying to figure out why the Emperor was so eager to launch a major offensive.

Suddenly a commotion arose outside, followed by an angry voice echoing through the Hanlin Academy: "Zhang Dai! Where is Zhang Dai? Get out here at once!"

Hearing the harsh shouts, Zhang Dai was naturally displeased. He stepped out of the separate hall and soon saw Yuwen Rong standing in the courtyard, his face covered in sweat and filled with anger, shouting loudly.

Upon seeing him, Yuwen Rong immediately strode forward, staring intently at Zhang Dai. He pointed at him and shouted angrily, "Zhang Dai, what have you done to falsely accuse Lord Yuan and his family! You are but a lowly eighth-rank official, repeatedly humiliating ministers. Do you really think that you can act with impunity because of your grandfather's influence?"

Zhang Dai knew that Yuwen Rong had a close relationship with the Yuan family, but he was very displeased to hear that Yuwen Rong had come to the Hanlin Academy to loudly accuse him of falsely accusing Yuan Qianyao's family without knowing the inside story. He immediately frowned and said, "Minister Yuwen, please be careful with your words. The matter has reached the ears of the emperor. Whether it is a false accusation or not is not something that you can decide with just one word!"

"I report this truthfully. I know not where this insult to a minister has been inflicted. My duty is absolute, and I am permitted by Heaven's mandate; I need no one's influence to embolden me to speak! Minister Yuwen's words are truly slander against a colleague, mere fabrication!"

"How dare you! I used to admire your wit and talent, but I never expected you to be such a power-abusing and reckless madman! No matter what you report, if the authorities find no evidence to support your claims, I will not let you off the hook!"

Yuwen Rong glared at Zhang Dai and said angrily, before turning away with a furious expression.

After Yuwen Rong's commotion upon entering the office, the students of the Hanlin Academy finally realized that the matter that had caused them so much discussion without any clear conclusion was actually Zhang Dai's doing. Moreover, judging from the Emperor's arrangement for a joint trial by the three judicial departments and Yuwen Rong's furious rebuke, it was clear that the matter was definitely not simple.

The court was already uneasy due to the escalating power struggle between the two prime ministers. Now, it seems that the old grudges between former prime minister Zhang Yue and Yuan Qianyao have been brought up again, which makes everyone even more suspicious and uncertain.

Zhang Dai was neither particularly popular nor unpopular among the court officials, and he had a few good colleagues he got along with. But even these people didn't dare to approach him easily to inquire about the matter, and as for others, they kept their distance even more.

While they were naturally curious about the inside story, they also knew that once you got easily involved in such a political struggle, you wouldn't be spared from being implicated, regardless of your innocence! Zhang Dai was already filled with many questions, and after being yelled at by Yuwen Rong, his mood worsened. Seeing everyone standing at a distance, looking at him with suspicion, he simply went back to his duty dormitory, found his bunk, and went straight to bed for a nap.

When he woke up again, it was already evening. The crowd outside was still buzzing with discussion, but when Zhang Dai reappeared, no one looked at him with those strange eyes anymore. A few people even came up to him and asked rather mysteriously, "Did Zhang Xielu really spend over 50,000 strings of cash to buy property in Pingkang Ward? How can the land price be so high?"

Nothing is impossible for a willing heart. Thanks to the persistent inquiries of the general public, even though the joint trial by the three judicial departments has not yet concluded, related information has gradually begun to circulate.

"Sigh, I was tricked by Yuan Da Yin Zi Yuan Jie, otherwise where would I get so much money!"

Zhang Dai knew the principle of not flaunting his wealth. If his colleagues found out that he had really spent so much money to buy a house, who knew what rumors would spread behind his back, or even be exaggerated by those with ulterior motives, directly triggering a new round of investigations to recover the stolen goods from his grandfather.

"I knew it was impossible! No matter how expensive the land in Pingkang Ward is, there's always a market price standard. How can they ask for such an exorbitant price?"

Upon hearing Zhang Dai's reply, some officials couldn't help but laugh.

The information they currently have, which is fragmented information passed down by word of mouth, cannot be confirmed as true or false. They have already been discussing it for quite some time, each holding their own opinion.

Seeing these people still discussing with great enthusiasm, Zhang Dai couldn't help but sigh that these officials in the capital were too idle. They should be sent to armor workshops to sew clothes and make armor for the soldiers on the frontier in their spare time, so that they would be too tired to speak, which would greatly reduce personnel disputes within the court.

"Zhang Xielu, Cui Sanqi summons you to the hall for questioning."

Suddenly another official rushed forward, clasped his hands in greeting to Zhang Dai, and said...

Zhang Dai knew that the investigation into Yuan Qianyao would significantly impact Cui Mian's schemes, which was probably why the latter had summoned him. Now that the case was officially under investigation, he wasn't worried about the other party interfering, so he headed towards the main hall.

"I heard that you were the one who reported the case to the Supreme Court and the three judicial departments? What are the details? Would you mind telling me?"

Cui Mian had already traveled between the provincial and municipal authorities and returned, but the information he had obtained was still not comprehensive enough. After all, only the three officials in charge of the case knew about it, and they were all currently in the Censorate's Investigating Office to investigate the case.

Aside from these individuals and the other suspects already under trial, naturally only Zhang Dai, the one who caused the trouble, knows the truth best.

Cui Mian is now serving as Left Attendant Gentleman of the Palace, having been relieved of his concurrent post as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. He also has a certain superior-subordinate relationship with Zhang Dai, who concurrently serves as Left Advisor. However, due to the unpleasant experience of the previous provincial examinations, they do not pay attention to each other in their respective offices.

However, Cui Mian has been interacting frequently with Yuan Qianyao recently. Yuan Qianyao was first escorted to Dongdu, and then his son was questioned by the Three Departments. Even his clansman Yuan Guangyu was excluded. This inevitably makes Cui Mian worry whether the Emperor is going to take drastic measures against Yuan Qianyao.

If Yuan Qianyao really fails this time, Cui Mian is worried that he might be implicated. Naturally, he is eager to learn more about the inside story. So, he can no longer maintain his aloof attitude. After hesitating for a moment, he asked someone to invite Zhang Dai over.

Seeing the undisguised worry in Cui Mian's eyes, Zhang Dai realized that Cui Mian must have been communicating and interacting with Yuan Qianyao quite a bit during this time, otherwise he wouldn't be so nervous.

He'd actually wanted to keep this guy in suspense and make him even more anxious, but he was quite puzzled himself, so he set aside that mischievous idea for the moment and said directly, "It concerns my recent purchase of property in Pingkang Ward..."

"Is it that simple?"

After listening, Cui Mian immediately frowned and asked again. He had been listening very carefully and believed that he had not missed any important information, but he did not think that such a simple matter would make the emperor so fussy. After a moment of thought, he asked in a deep voice, "Who told you to report on matters at this time?"

"I was extorted for a large sum of money by criminals, and thus I felt compelled to submit a sound strategy for assessing and pricing the stolen goods, hoping it would benefit the nation. It is my duty, and I need no one's instructions to do so?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dai immediately glared and said.

"Indeed, it's unnecessary, it's unnecessary. I misspoke. Is that all..."

Upon hearing this, Cui Mian bowed slightly to Zhang Dai in apology, but still looked puzzled.

(End of this chapter)