I, Emperor Chongzhen, have extended the life of the Ming Dynasty by five hundred years.

The Forbidden City, Fengtian Hall.

The officials entered the palace and began the morning court session.

Wei Zaode slowly walked forward, preparing to report, when he suddenly heard a voice behind him.

"Your humble servant, Censor Du Yang, reports this!"

The crowd couldn't help but be curious and began to whisper among themselves.

After all, when attending court, everyone speaks according to their official rank, with the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet starting first, and then everyone talks about their own affairs.

The Grand Secretary hasn't even spoken yet. You, a mere censor, do you have some extremely urgent matter at hand?

Wei Zaode's expression was somewhat unpleasant, but he still quietly stepped aside.

Zhu Youjian, seated on the dragon throne, asked, "What matter do you wish to report, my lord?"

Du Yang's voice boomed: "I impeach Luo Yangxing, the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, for using the guise of investigating a case to act recklessly and amassed wealth in Jinan Prefecture, Shandong Province, even driving the wife and concubine of the Jinan Prefect Xiong Hua to their deaths, resulting in the deaths of both mother and child!"

These words caused an uproar throughout the court.

Wu Linzheng, a supervising secretary of the Ministry of War, immediately stepped forward: "I second that opinion! The Embroidered Uniform Guard's blatant disregard for human life is a disgrace to the nation!"

"I second that opinion!"

Wang Duo, a principal officer of the Ministry of Rites, stepped forward: "The Embroidered Uniform Guard disregards the law and oppresses local officials. If they are not severely punished, how can the court be governed with integrity?"

The court immediately erupted in discussion, with many officials displaying indignation.

Wei Zaode watched coldly, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Zhu Youjian's expression held a hint of amusement as he asked, "Minister Du, tell me, what did Luo Yangxing do in Jinan Prefecture?"

Du Yang, already prepared, said, "Your Majesty, please allow me to report! On the day Luo Yangxing arrived in Jinan, he demanded ten thousand taels of silver from Prefect Xiong under the pretext of investigating a case involving pension funds. Prefect Xiong was an honest official and truly could not produce such a large sum of money. He was arrested on the spot by the Imperial Guards and severely beaten and tortured in the post station!"

He paused, then took out a blood-stained petition from his sleeve: "This is a blood-written letter delivered at the risk of the Xiong family's steward. The Imperial Guards stormed into the prefectural government office, ransacking the entire place, even seizing the women's dowries and jewelry. Finding no silver, they publicly humiliated Prefect Xiong's wife, Yunmei."

An uproar erupted in the court, with someone exclaiming, "How is such behavior any different from that of bandits?"

Du Yang, his expression filled with grief and indignation, quickly continued, "That Yun woman was already pregnant and, unable to bear the humiliation, hanged herself that very night! Luo Yangxing, however, declared that if they couldn't raise 50,000 taels of silver within three days, he would slaughter the entire Xiong family!"

"That's not all. Commander Luo has spread rumors that he's been amassing wealth in Jinan Prefecture, and is actually working for His Majesty!"

"Your Majesty, do you know that Luo Yangxing committed the evil deed, but the people are cursing you!"

These words were spoken with great force, and the Fengtian Hall immediately erupted in an uproar.

"They're utterly beasts! Worse than pigs and dogs!"

"A dignified fourth-rank official, utterly humiliated!"

"Driving a pregnant woman to her death is an outrage against humanity!"

"Your Majesty! I wish to impeach the Embroidered Uniform Guard for establishing a private torture chamber and extorting officials!"

"I second that proposal!"

"I second that proposal!"

In an instant, most of the civil and military officials knelt down, demanding that Luo Yangxing be severely punished.

Seeing this, Du Yang pretended to be grief-stricken, but a barely perceptible sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Zhu Youjian's gaze slowly swept over the assembled officials, finally settling on Wei Zaode: "Minister Wei, what is your opinion?"

Wei Zaode calmly stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Your Majesty, I am unaware of the cause and effect of this matter and dare not draw any conclusions."

These words caused another uproar in the court.

The officials, who had just been indignant, looked at each other in dismay, some even gasping in shock.

The civil and military officials of the court and the Embroidered Uniform Guard were already in opposition. So, which side are you, the Grand Secretary, on?

Du Yang stepped forward and said righteously, "It's unlikely that Grand Secretary Wei can remain uninvolved! Luo Yangxing is insatiable, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard is merely a tool for him to amass wealth. Today, we officials are being utterly oppressed by the Embroidered Uniform Guard; how can Grand Secretary Wei expect to escape unscathed tomorrow?"

After he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the hall suddenly became tense.

Wei Zaode remained calm and slowly asked, "Imperial Censor Du, did you personally witness the actions of the Embroidered Uniform Guard?"

Du Yang was momentarily speechless, then retorted firmly, "The gentry of Jinan Prefecture have jointly submitted a memorial, and there is a coroner's report as evidence. Prefect Xiong's second wife, Yun Mei, was six months pregnant and was forced to hang herself. The local people are outraged! The steward of the Xiong family wrote this in blood; the gentry of Jinan jointly submitted this memorial—how could it be false?"

Wei Zaode gently shook his head: "I just find it strange. Commander Luo was ordered to investigate the case, so why is he suddenly extorting local officials? If he really wanted to make money, why would he specifically target a well-known honest official like Prefect Xiong?"

Du Yang's expression was somewhat grim, but he still said, "Luo Yangxing does want to be chosen, but he's going to Jinan Prefecture on business, so naturally he'll start with the prefect!"

Wei Zaode asked unhurriedly, "Imperial Censor Du, when did you receive this news?"

Du Yang hesitated for a moment: "Reporting to the Grand Secretary, I don't remember the exact time, only that it was probably last night."

As he spoke, he thought he had given a very clever answer, because most people wouldn't remember the exact time for something like this.

"Oh?"

A glint of light flashed in Wei Zaode's eyes, and he smiled, saying, "If what you say is true, the incident happened three days ago. The distance from Jinan to the capital is eight hundred li; how could the news travel overnight?"

The courtiers in the hall, who had been discussing amongst themselves, all fell silent upon hearing this.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Du Yang's forehead as he murmured, "This, this... this humble official, this humble official..."

Wei Zaode pressed on: "To transmit 800 li in a single day, we'd need to activate the 600-li express courier service. But the 600-li express courier service is only for urgent military intelligence; what authority does Jinan Prefecture have to use it arbitrarily?"

In his panic, Du Yang offered an explanation: "Perhaps the Shandong garrison couldn't stand by and watch, so they relayed the message on my behalf..."

Are you sure?

"I'm not entirely sure, but it's the only possibility."

"Alright, let's talk about this possibility."

Wei Zaode looked at the assembled officials and said, "The activation of the 600-li express courier service requires the approval of an official at the level of a general or governor. General Liu Zeqing and Governor Zeng Hualong of Shandong are currently in the Dengzhou-Laizhou area, 900 li from Jinan Prefecture. If the news reaches Dengzhou-Laizhou and a 600-li express courier is sent to the capital, the timing simply won't match!"

After speaking, he turned to Zhu Youjian and said, "Your Majesty, I believe that the source of Imperial Censor Du's information is probably suspicious."

Du Yang's face was ashen, his body was covered in cold sweat, and his legs were trembling.

Zhu Youjian's gaze sharpened, and he slowly asked, "Minister Du, where did you learn of this?"

Du Yang's knees buckled, and he knelt down with a thud, kowtowing and saying, "Your Majesty, I... I actually heard it from someone else..."

"Who told you that?"

"Yes, it was at a teahouse in the south of the city, I overheard people talking about it..."

These words caused an uproar throughout the court.

The officials who had been indignant just moments before suddenly changed color, and some even couldn't help but sneer.

"This is utterly absurd!"

Zhu Youjian retorted sternly, "A dignified Censor-in-Chief actually uses rumors from the marketplace as the basis for his memorials? Is this how the Censorate operates?"

Left Censor-in-Chief Li Banghua immediately stepped forward: "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. I bear responsibility for oversight in today's events!"