A son who doesn't resemble his father? Love you, old man, see you at Xuanwu Gate!

Chapter 263 Confiscating the house
"Bitch!"

With a flash of sword light, Zhang Tang blocked the self-destructive sword. With a flick of his wrist, the Dragon and Phoenix Sword slipped from Princess Pingyang's hand. As it fell, Zhang Tang caught it, preventing the sword bestowed by the Empress Dowager from falling to the ground.

The sword was sheathed.

Zhang Tang sheathed his sword, looked at the furious Princess Pingyang, and became even angrier. "Whom does the Princess intend to harm with her death?"

If Princess Pingyang were to commit suicide on the spot, the mission of the Embroidered Uniform Envoy could even be considered a failure.

Although Princess Pingyang was not as powerful as Liu Sheng, the King of Zhongshan, she died during her arrest before being fully convicted, which inevitably tainted the emperor with the blood of his relatives.

The Emperor was about to offer sacrifices at the Imperial Ancestral Temple, recounting to Heaven, Earth, the gods, and his ancestors the achievements of unifying the nine provinces of China. Whom was Princess Pingyang trying to annoy?

Jiang Bo, King Liu Zhu of Chu, and King Liu Ji of Hejian were both surprised by Zhang Tang's superb swordsmanship and fearful that Princess Pingyang also possessed such a bloody and ruthless method.

"Aunt, please forgive me!"

Still shaken, Liu Zhu apologized to Princess Pingyang and then ordered the officials from the Imperial Clan Court who had accompanied him to arrest the man.

Two members of the imperial clan rushed over, one on each side, grabbed Princess Pingyang by the arms, lifted her up, dragged her out of the Marquis's mansion, and threw her into a prison cart.

If things go according to the emperor's wishes, she could still go to the lost land. Now, Princess Pingyang can only be like the deposed King Liu Duan of Jiaoxi, stripped of her princess title and her fiefdom, imprisoned in the dark Zongzheng Prison until her death.

This is the price of tenacious resistance.

Immediately afterwards, Cao Xiang, the Marquis of Pingyang, who was terrified, was also thrown into another prison cart by the Embroidered-Robe Envoy.

Cao Xiang was still clamoring to see Princess Wei, begging the Crown Prince's elder sister to spare his life out of consideration for their past as husband and wife, completely forgetting that his wife and children had entered Chang Le Palace months ago and had not returned, and that it was even less likely that they would show up today.

The Cao family members living in the Pingyang Marquis's residence were also captured by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but they did not receive the same treatment as Princess Pingyang and the Marquis of Pingyang and his son. Instead, they were shackled and led to the imperial prison by ropes.

As the hour of Hai (9-11 PM) drew to a close, the festivities in various places dissipated, and the people who had come to watch the lanterns and exorcise rituals had to return home before midnight. However, the people living near the Pingyang Marquis's residence witnessed a new kind of excitement: the Pingyang Marquis's residence had been raided.

Zhu and Zi were close, and the people living in the Qili were not commoners. Looking at those familiar figures, they were all unable to move their feet. For a time, many people squatted against the wall and at the intersection, not daring to make a sound, but just counting how many members of the Cao family had been arrested.

The result was that the entire Cao clan perished.

On the day of the grand year-end ceremony, all members of the Cao family who were honored returned to the Marquis's residence; not one was left out.

Then came another burst of running sounds from the formation.

Everyone instinctively looked in the direction of the sound and saw the two carriages of the Minister of the Imperial Household and the Imperial Guard arriving.

Before the carriage had come to a complete stop, Zhao Yu, the Minister of the Imperial Household, jumped down. This scene caused Zhang Tang, Liu Zhu, Liu Ji, and Jiang Bo, who had just come out of the Marquis's residence, to twitch at the corners of their mouths.

"Thank you, Grand Minister. We, the Junior Chamberlain, will take care of the rest," Zhao Yu said with a smile.

Zhang Tang felt his blood rushing to his head. He had finished offending people and was about to reap the benefits when the Minister of the Imperial Household appeared and said in a cold voice, "Zhao Yu, do you want to die?"

The two were old acquaintances who had worked together to draft various laws and create the "Law of the People".

Officials of the Han Dynasty used this method to monitor, spy on, and denounce each other. Your Majesty's cruel bureaucratic politics began from that time.

After the emperor took office, Zhao Yu maintained his integrity and humility, and, as had been the case since he became an official, he had no retainers in his household. At the same time, the people under his rule gradually became more lenient, and he slowly gained a reputation for being "light and fair" in the court.

If it were anyone else, Zhang Tang would have immediately ordered his embroidered guards to take action if they dared to try and steal the credit, but he was willing to be more patient with Zhao Yu.

Even if Zhao Yu doesn't leave, he will still have the Embroidered Uniform Guard take action. Even if things get out of hand, he won't panic. The Han Dynasty has an indefinite accountability system. Even if Zhao Yu hasn't done anything wrong in recent years, some of Zhao Yu's actions during His Majesty's reign cannot withstand scrutiny.

He independently carried out his own ideas in law enforcement, adopting any legal provisions he saw without reviewing them, and harshly investigating and digging up the hidden crimes of his subordinates, which indeed created a lot of wrongful convictions. Although there were no major cases, it was enough to bring down Zhao Yu.

"Grand Minister, what do you mean by that? I am only acting under orders," Zhao Yu replied cryptically.

The Embroidered-Robe Envoys became increasingly unscrupulous in their actions, often employing cruel methods in patrols, arrests, and interrogations. The Imperial Prison was like passing through the gates of the underworld, with very few ever emerging.

Those corrupt officials deserved their fate; their lives or deaths were not that important. However, among the Embroidered-Robe Envoys, more and more were cruel and ruthless, and many even used their power to amass wealth.

It was intolerable to extort money from prisoners and their families in order to avoid some torture. Those who were imprisoned in the imperial prison were mostly sentenced to death or were heavily incarcerated. After the prisoners were executed or exiled, their families were mostly confiscated by the imperial court.

The money extorted by the Embroidered Uniform Guard's subordinates was essentially robbing the court. If it had stopped there, the court might have let it go. However, the Embroidered Uniform Guard still wanted to swallow the property confiscated from the family and put into official possession. Of course, they dared not swallow it all, but they dared to take a portion of it.

The more they take, the more they swallow; the less they take, the less they swallow. The more Embroidered-Robe Envoys pass through their hands, the greater the loss to the court. The Embroidered-Robe Envoys seem to have returned to the era of His Majesty's cruel officials.

Upon receiving the order, Zhao Yu, the Minister of the Imperial Household, who was already dissatisfied with the Embroidered Uniform Guard, immediately rushed over.

Zhang Tang's anger vanished, replaced by surprise and doubt. He asked, "Whose orders?"

"The Grand Minister of Works need not know."

Zhao Yu did not answer, but smiled and said, "As colleagues, I can only remind the Grand Minister that the task of investigating and punishing evil should not become a means of corruption. I hope the Grand Minister will not forget the example of Wen Shu, the Prince of Nanyang."

Wang Wenshu, who abused his power in Nanyang by selling prisons, embezzling and accepting bribes, and creating a society where "no one would pick up lost items," was so enraged by the emperor that he set a precedent in the Han Dynasty by executing five generations of his family.

Zhang Tang, perhaps, will be next.

“I have no greed,” Zhang Tang said, his words clear and resolute.

Throughout his journey, he never accepted money from anyone. He had several hundred taels of gold at home, but those were all rewards from His Majesty and the Emperor, as well as his accumulated salary over the years.

"The Grand Minister of Works is a master of law and should know that the crime of dereliction of duty is no less serious than that of embezzlement and perverting the law."

Zhao Yu spread his hands and smiled slightly, saying, "That's all I have to say. Please, Grand Minister and all the Embroidered Robe Envoys, leave the Pingyang Marquis's residence. It's freezing cold, so Grand Minister, you might as well get some rest."

The officials of the Imperial Household Department entered the residence of the Marquis of Pingyang and seized all the valuables from the Embroidered Uniform Guard. They then registered and sealed them in full.

"Grand Commander, may you have a peaceful winter!"

Liu Zhu, Liu Ji, and Zhang Tangdaoan, without saying much, turned around and got into the carriage.

Jiang Bo was the same.

Watching the three cars rumble away, Zhang Tang suddenly felt a chill run through him; this winter was unusually cold.

(End of this chapter)