Duke of Zhenguan

The Jinwu guards, with only their eyes showing, remained silent like puppets, no matter how Lin Chuan asked them.

After entering Chengtian Gate, Lin Chuan was searched. A young eunuch took over from the soldiers and led him into the palace. When they arrived outside Xiande Hall, another eunuch led him into Xiande Hall.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!"

Under the watchful eyes of all the ministers, Lin Chuan strode to the imperial steps and bowed to Li Shimin, who was sitting behind the imperial desk.

"No need for formalities!"

Li Shimin waved his hand and asked in a deep voice:

"Master Lin, are you in charge of the renovation of the Lizheng Hall?"

"Your Majesty, it is your responsibility!" Lin Chuan replied, bowing.

"Imperial Censor Sun has impeached you for abusing your power and coercing merchants to offer timber, lacquer, and other materials, causing damage to the court's reputation. Tell me what exactly happened!" Li Shimin said.

"Your Majesty, after I took over the repair of the Lizheng Hall, I went to discuss it with my colleagues in the Directorate of Works. As a result, the Director of the Directorate of Works said that the precious timber in the warehouse was used up, and the next batch of timber would not arrive for at least half a month."

In order not to delay the construction period, I thought of finding a timber merchant to borrow a batch of timber to ensure that the repair of Lizheng Hall can proceed smoothly!

Upon hearing of this matter, the owner of the timber merchant in the East Market voluntarily donated timber for the repair of the Lizheng Palace. I have never coerced anyone! Your Majesty may send someone to verify this!

As for the loss of face for the imperial court, I have no idea where to begin!

Lin Chuan bowed in response.

As soon as Lin Chuan finished speaking, an imperial censor in a blue robe stepped forward, holding a ceremonial tablet, and said in a deep voice:

"Your Majesty, I have something to say!"

Li Shimin nodded:

"Speak!"

"Your Majesty, the supply of timber is the responsibility of the Imperial Workshop. Since Assistant Minister Lin is an Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Works, why is he interfering in the affairs of the Imperial Workshop?" the old man asked, bowing.

"Your Majesty, I have something to say!"

Another censor stepped forward.

"Speak!"

"The repair of the Lizheng Palace concerns His Majesty and should not be the responsibility of merchants!"

"Your Majesty, I have something to say!"

Another censor stepped forward.

Li Shimin nodded with a calm expression:

"explain!"

"Your Majesty, whether it is the Ministry of Works or the Directorate of Works, there are only established procedures for doing things. Lin Yuanwailang's actions are undoubtedly a violation of the laws of the court, and I believe he should be severely punished!"

"His Majesty!"

"..."

One after another, the imperial censors stepped forward, and for a moment, the crowd in the hall was in an uproar.

Lin Chuan stood alone on the side, watching the group of censors perform with great interest.

Lin Chuan glanced at Pei Qing and Li Shan in the civil official line and saw Pei Qing nod at him with a smile, and he returned the smile.

He knew from the beginning that this was a trap, but he didn't expect the soil used to bury it to be here.

Looking at the group of censors below who wanted to dismiss Lin Chuan from his post and strip him of his title, Li Shimin sat silently. Just as he was about to speak, a young censor stepped forward:

"Your Majesty, I have something to say!"

Li Shimin looked at the young censor who stepped forward, a strange expression appearing on his face, and nodded:

"Speak!"

"Your Majesty, I impeach Pei Qing, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, and Li Shan, the Director of the Ministry of Works, for abusing their power for personal gain, and for colluding with Chen Wang, the Director of the Directorate of Works, to use their positions to resell precious timber for personal enrichment!" the young censor said, bowing.

Pei Qing, who was watching the commotion, was startled and quickly stepped forward, bowing and replying:

"Your Majesty, I am innocent!"

"Your Majesty, I am innocent!"

"..."

Li Shan and Chen Wang were also terrified and stepped forward to shout that they were wronged.

Li Shimin glanced at the three men, then fixed his gaze on the young censor, and asked in a deep voice:

"Imperial Censor Wen, do you have any evidence?"

"Your Majesty, these are the Ministry of Works' previous construction orders. I have copied some of them and marked the problematic parts. Please take a look!" The young censor took out a thick notebook from his sleeve and held it up high with both hands.

Li Shimin waved his hand, and Zhang Anan, who was standing to the side, quickly walked down the imperial steps, took the letter from the young censor, and presented it to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin opened the letter, but after only flipping through two pages, his face darkened.

The notes were densely marked with problematic sections, and these problematic sections were handled by Pei Qing, Li Shan, and Chen Wang.

With a grim face, Li Shimin finished reading the notes, then rose from his throne, walked a few steps to the steps, threw the notes in front of Pei Qing, and said coldly:

"Minister Pei, take a look for yourself!"

Pei Qing picked up the note, glanced at it, and then knelt down with a thud, saying tremblingly:

"Your subject acknowledges his guilt!"

Li Shimin glanced at Pei Qing, who was kneeling in a low voice, and then said to Pei Ji, who was standing at the front of the civil officials:

"Lord Pei, you should take a look too!"

"Your subject acknowledges his guilt!"

Pei Ji, being quite straightforward, bowed shakily in response.

Pei Qing is his nephew. A few years ago, he was the one who strongly supported Pei Qing to become the Vice Minister of Works. He knew some of what Pei Qing had done, and he even sent a portion of the benefits Pei Qing had received to his residence.

"Lord Pei, there's no need for that. The Ministry of Personnel has countless matters to attend to every day; some oversights are inevitable!"

Li Shimin smiled and comforted Pei Ji, then asked:

"Lord Pei, what should be done with these three?"

"According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, this should be handed over to the Dali Temple for investigation!" Pei Ji bowed and replied.

Li Shimin nodded and instructed Sun Fujia, the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, who was standing in the crowd:

"Sun Shaoqing, throw these three men into prison and investigate them thoroughly!"

"Here you go!"

Sun Fujia bowed and replied.

"Your Majesty, I believe that the Assistant Minister of Works has also acted improperly and should be punished!" said the young censor who impeached Pei Qing and others.

Li Shimin thought for a moment and said:

"Let's fine them half a year's salary!"

After saying that, he said with a cold face:

"Court adjourned!"

After Li Shimin led Zhang Anan and several eunuchs out of Xiande Hall, the solemn hall suddenly became noisy.

Several soldiers guarding outside the door came in and escorted Pei Qing, Li Shan, and Chen Wang, who were lying on the ground, out of the main hall.

Lin Chuan walked up to the young censor, cupped his hands in greeting, and said:

"I am Lin Chuan, Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Works, greetings to Censor Wen!"

"I am Wen Changling, Supervising Censor of the Censorate, and I greet Assistant Minister Lin!" the young censor replied with a cupped hand.

"please!"

Although the two did not know each other, everything was understood without words. Lin Chuan smiled, cupped his hands in greeting, and turned to walk outside.

He had handed over the materials he had compiled from the Ministry of Works to Yan Xiangshi just in case, and the targets were only Li Shan and Chen Wang.

Now it seems that things have clearly gone beyond his original plan, and even he and these things have become part of the plan.

He wasn't particularly indignant. As soon as he left the main hall and stepped down the stairs, someone grabbed him from behind by the shoulder and lifted him up.

Cheng Yaojin's teasing voice reached my ears:

"Young man, have you forgotten your promise to me now that you've become an official?"

Lin Chuan broke free from Cheng Yaojin's grasp and said awkwardly:

"General Cheng, how could I forget? I just dared not presume to pay you a visit!"

"If you don't want to go, then you don't want to go. What nonsense are you spouting! Is my house too high a threshold, blocking your way?"

Cheng Yaojin cursed irritably, then continued:

"Come on, I'll personally show you around today!"