My father ordered me to kill the emperor, but His Majesty bestowed a princess upon me instead.

Chapter 128 Discarding the Battle

When Lu Huaizhou returned to the Censorate, his eyes were glazed over from copying so much.

He sat under the lamp, his left hand pressing down the curtain, his right hand writing, his posture very upright.

It's just that his complexion doesn't look like that of a living person.

Ah Liu was grinding ink for him, yawning as he did so. But halfway through his yawn, he would stop, afraid that the ink would drip out of place.

He was so choked up that his face contorted in pain.

When I entered, Lu Huaizhou looked up at me and his first words were: "Lord Shen, these people in the Ministry of Revenue really deserve to be impeached."

I looked at him.

"How long did Lord Lu take to copy it?"

"Two hours."

Are you tired?

"tired."

Are you scared?

"Afraid."

He spoke very frankly.

"But the more I copied, the more I wanted to write 'hiragana' (a type of ancient Chinese paper-cutting).

This person is not bad.

Afraid of death, but with a strong will.

The Censorate needs this kind of person.

Zhao Guanlan sat at the head of the table, with three documents laid out in front of him.

One of them is a copy of Zheng Huaien's impeachment memorial.

One is our on-site record of Qinghe Lane.

There was also a draft of an appendix that had just been sent from the Princess's residence.

Zhao Guanlan pushed Zheng Huaien's share to me.

"See?"

I took it.

Zheng Huaien's folded paper is very well written.

really good.

The words were steady, the tone respectful, and every sentence seemed to express concern for the court, to share the emperor's worries, and to think of the disaster victims.

I hate this kind of folding.

Arguments that involve insults are easy to refute.

It's not easy to play the loyalist card.

The memorial begins by stating that the disaster in Jiangbei is a matter of great concern to the people, and that the Ministry of Revenue is willing to accept an investigation.

Then it goes on to say that Shen An was too eager to investigate the case, so he overstepped his authority and broke into Qinghe Lane at night without consulting the Ministry of Revenue or the three judicial departments, and privately seized evidence.

Furthermore, the discovery of a wooden plaque in Qinghe Lane bearing the inscriptions "Shen An" and "Southwest" suggests involvement with traitorous agents. As someone involved in the matter, Shen An should not continue to hold witness statements.

The real fight begins in the last part:

Your Majesty, please temporarily halt the investigation into the Ministry of Revenue's disaster relief funds case involving Shen An, and transfer the evidence from Qinghe Lane to the three judicial departments for joint trial, in order to prevent the case from being controlled by one person and disrupting the grand wedding ceremony.

That's really well written.

It was as dignified as a bowl of poison laced with a calming tonic.

Ah Liu peeked over and took a look, then got so angry he couldn't stay awake anymore.

"Young master, why didn't he write the Ministry of Revenue's seal and prepare the 'Southwest Counter-Evidence' beforehand?"

I put the folding paper down.

"Because that would make him seem less intelligent."

Lu Huaizhou sneered.

"He's not unintelligent, he's too clever. He put the 'Southwest Wooden Plaque' out in the open, forcing Lord Shen to explain. If he can't explain it clearly, it's tantamount to colluding with the Southwest; if he can explain it clearly, he has to admit that the wooden plaque does exist."

Zhao Guanlan glanced at him.

"Go on."

Lu Huaizhou immediately sat up straight.

"What Zheng Huaien really wants is not to convict Lord Shen, but to seize the evidence. As long as the evidence from Qinghe Lane is handed over to the Three Departments, the Ministry of Revenue can intervene in the name of the Three Departments. Once the evidence leaves the Censorate, half of the Qinghe account book, the pre-written seal, and the signature of Chief Clerk Ma will all become 'required for further verification'."

Ah Liu asked, "What does 'need to be rechecked' mean?"

I said, "Just leave it for now."

Ah Liu frowned.

"Leave it there?"

"They let the witness die, the account books burn, the wooden plaques disappear, and in the end everyone said it was too old and the evidence was insufficient."

Ah Liu understood.

"Isn't that just defaulting on a debt?"

Zhao Guanlan said calmly, "To renege on a debt in the imperial court is called being cautious."

Ah Liu looked at us and suddenly felt a sense of despair.

"You officials are really good with your mouths."

Lu Huaizhou looked at Zheng Huaien's folded paper and tapped his finger on the table.

"This humble official wishes to write a memorial."

Zhao Guanlan asked, "What should we write?"

"The Tanhu tribe did not enter Qinghe, but they knew about the southwest."

I looked at him.

Lu Huaizhou's eyes shone brightly.

"Since Zheng Huaien says that Lord Shen is hiding evidence from the southwest, then let's ask the Ministry of Revenue three questions."

He held up one finger.

"First, why did the Ministry of Revenue official Ma carry the 'Qinghe Private Warehouse Southwest Counter-Evidence' seal without even entering Qinghe Lane?"

The second finger.

"Secondly, why did Steward Ma, upon seeing the wooden plaque, imply that Lord Shen was connected to the Southwest?"

The third finger.

"Third, Qinghe Lane involves multiple lines of goods, including disaster relief grain, medicine, old disaster relief clothing, and sealed palace garments. Why did the Ministry of Revenue only focus on the wooden plaques in the southwest, ignoring the fact that the dead received grain and the living were nameless?"

A hint of satisfaction finally appeared in Zhao Guanlan's eyes.

"Write."

Lu Huaizhou immediately picked up a pen.

Ah Liu whispered, "Lord Lu, aren't you sleepy?"

Lu Huaizhou said, "I'm sleepy."

"Then why are you writing so fast?"

"Those who are afraid of death must hand over their folded paper before others kill them."

Ah Liu's gaze towards him changed instantly.

It's like finding someone like me.

I watched Lu Huaizhou put pen to paper.

The handwriting isn't particularly elegant.

But it's sharp.

His writing style is neither like that of the cunning old fox Pei Shen, nor like that of the steady hand of Zhao Guanlan.

He was more like a young imperial censor who was so poor he only had a pen to his name, knowing he couldn't break through the city wall, so he deliberately poked at the cracks in the wall.

This pen is very useful.

It's easy to offend people.

It's also easy for readers to like it.

I started writing my own folds.

Zheng Huaien asked me to explain the Southwest wooden plaque.

I'm not going to explain.

I'll admit it first.

Your servant found a wooden plaque in the wall between two walls in Qinghe Lane.

The front is engraved with Shen An, and the back is engraved with Southwest.

This item was neither obtained from my person nor from the mansion; it was found in the wall of Qinghe Lane.

When it was discovered, Qin Er and He Qi, clerks from the Censorate, and Zhou Xian, the Minister of Rites, were present. Later, Luo, the Commandant of the Military Affairs Department, and Ma, the Principal of the Ministry of Revenue, were also present.

This is called gripping the blade first.

You said there's a wooden sign?

Yes, there is.

You say the wooden sign is suspicious?

Yes, it's very suspicious.

But what's suspicious is why the wooden sign was hidden in the wall of Qinghe Lane, not why I took it away.

Next, write the seal.

When Ma, the head of the Ministry of Revenue, arrived at Qinghe Lane, his accompanying servants carried a pre-written seal that read "Qinghe Private Warehouse Southwest Counter-Evidence".

At that time, the wooden plaque had not yet been discovered by the Ministry of Revenue.

Your Majesty, may I ask: How did the Ministry of Revenue know this beforehand?

This sentence should be short.

The shorter the length, the more it hurts.

Write down the full and half accounts again.

Your servant also obtained half a book of Qinghe's accounts, which contained records of old rice, calming medicine, old disaster clothing, sealed palace robes, and wooden plaques, which matched the evidence from the West Soup Porridge Shed, South Soup Porridge Shed, Ministry of Rites inner robes, and sealed palace robes.

However, this account only has outgoing items, with no incoming items.

Your Majesty, I request permission to continue investigating and recording the funds to clarify where the relief funds came from, how they were transferred, and where they went.

Finally, I wrote Zheng Huaien's request.

Zheng Huaien requested that the case be transferred to the three judicial departments for joint trial, and I dared not obstruct it.

However, the evidence was not verified, the witnesses were not all present, and the Ministry of Revenue was also involved in the case.

If the Ministry of Revenue were to participate in the transfer of evidence at this time, it would be tantamount to putting the suspect in control of the key.

After writing this sentence, I thought about it and crossed out "suspect".

Replace it with:

It is like ordering the judges involved in a case to first obtain the key to the evidence.

Be more tactful.

Otherwise, Zhao Guanlan would say that I'm too good at offending people.

After reading my folded paper, Zhao Guanlan neither said it was good nor bad.

He simply said, "This sentence could be even harsher."

I froze for a moment.

"grown ups?"

Zhao Guanlan picked up his pen and added a sentence beside the text:

It is not that I do not trust the Three Judicial Offices, but I do not believe that once evidence is caught in the net, it remains as it was before it was caught.

Looking at this sentence, I am completely convinced.

An old censor is an old censor.

They seem steady on the surface, but when it comes to actually cutting, they're more ruthless than me.

After reading it, Ah Liu whispered, "Lord Zhao, what you said sounds like an insult to the Three Departments."

Zhao Guanlan remained expressionless.

I was criticizing the internet.

"Who is the net?"

"Whoever has a guilty conscience is guilty."

Ah Liu immediately became respectful.

Lu Huaizhou's eyes lit up even more.

He probably thought the Censorate had a promising future.

The princess's residence also sent a document.

Xiao Lingyi's accompanying document was not long.

But every single sentence is accurate.

She only proved three things.

First, the half-book of Qinghe's account was indeed placed at the side gate of the princess's residence by an unknown person. The princess's residence did not keep it for herself and has already transferred it to the Censorate for sealing.

Secondly, when the Ministry of Rites sent Shen An's wedding inner robe, the female official of the Princess's residence personally removed a piece of Fang Liu's old disaster clothing, proving that the old clothes of the Jiangbei disaster victims were indeed included in the wedding attire.

Third, the cover of the main volume of clothing belonging to the three prefectures of Jiangbei was removed from the bottom layer of the palace clothing box. The female officials of the princess's residence were present, and Wei Zhi and Zhou Xian can testify to this.

She did not write anything questioning the Ministry of Revenue.

There was no mention of any suspicion towards the inner court.

She simply writes about what she sees.

This is more ruthless than mere suspicion.

Because what we see cannot be easily denied.

After reading it, Ah Liu exclaimed, "His Highness's writing is even more frightening than the Young Master's."

I said, "What's scary about it?"

"The young master stabs people with a knife, while Your Highness places the knife on the table and lets people watch themselves bleed."

Lu Huaizhou looked up and glanced at A Liu.

"That's a good sentence."

Ah Liu was taken aback.

"what?"

Lu Huaizhou said seriously, "It can be written into the memorial."

Ah Liu was so frightened that he waved his hands repeatedly.

"I don't want to be remembered by the Ministry of Revenue."

I put the three folds together.

Shen An defended himself.

Lu Huaizhou submitted a memorial to the Ministry of Revenue.

The Princess's Residence is attached.

In addition, there are copies of the Qinghe account, rubbings of the seals, and signatures of Commandant Luo and Zhou Xian.

Sending this set of equipment in might not necessarily defeat Zheng Huaien.

But that was enough to prevent him from easily taking away the evidence.

By the time the folded document was delivered to the palace, it was already fully light.

Wei Zhi sent someone to deliver a message.

His Majesty held a small court assembly after 7:00 AM and ordered Shen An, Zheng Huaien, Zhao Guanlan, Zhou Xian of the Ministry of Rites, and Luo Xiaowei of the Military Command to enter the palace for questioning.

I looked at the young eunuch who was delivering the message and suddenly smiled.

The emperor acted swiftly.

Zheng Huaien snatched the folding paper.

I handed him the folded paper.

The emperor immediately convened a small court assembly.

What does this look like?

It's like some people are enjoying the spectacle and don't mind making things worse.

Ah Liu is already numb.

"Young master, are you going to the palace again?"

"Um."

"Will you wear palace attire?"

I paused for a moment.