The low-key prince summons trainees from the Imperial Household Department at the start of the game.

The Imperial Palace!

Zhou Xing sat by the window of the side hall, with Xu Jie's secret letter spread out in front of him.

By comparing Lu Zhi's secret letter and Nie Zheng's detailed report on the failed assassination attempt by Scarface, the entire sequence of events becomes clear.

After failing to take direct action in Jiangxi, Li immediately turned to official procedures, attempting to remove Xu Jie from Jiangxi through impeachment.

He folded the secret letter, held it to the candle flame, and burned it, gazing at the ashes in the bronze dish.

A faint hint of coldness appeared at the corner of his mouth as he picked up his brush and wrote a few lines on the Xuan paper in front of him.

They put several copper tubes into the legs of the gray sparrows, tied them to the legs, and opened the window to let them disappear into the night.

A few days later, at the morning court session in front of the Qian Yuan Hall, the agenda of the Ministry of War's report on the northern border was completed in an orderly manner.

Just when the ministers thought the court meeting was about to end uneventfully...

Chen Qi, the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, suddenly stepped forward, presented a thick stack of memorials with both hands, and said loudly, "Your Majesty, recently the Censorate, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Court of Judicial Review have successively received memorials impeaching Xu Jie, the Vice Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Jiangxi."

"The grounds for impeachment focus on three points: overstepping authority, personal retaliation, and procedural impropriety."

"According to regulations, such impeachment memorials involving high-ranking local officials should be reviewed by the Cabinet before being presented to the Emperor for his perusal."

"The Cabinet completed its deliberations yesterday, and the results of the deliberations and the original report are now submitted together."

These words caused a slight commotion in the previously quiet hall.

The cabinet's decision was divided into two factions.

The faction led by Kong Yan believed that the grounds for impeachment were vague and mostly unfounded.

It is recommended that the impeachment be rejected and the matter be kept confidential.

Another faction, led by another Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, believed that Xu Jie's handling of the case was indeed flawed.

It is recommended that the impeachment petition be forwarded to the Ministry of Justice for review.

The cabinet's draft proposal listed both sides of the opinion, and neither side prevailed.

Zhou Qian took the stack of memorials and flipped through a few pages. His expression was unreadable, but he slightly raised his eyelids and glanced at all the civil and military officials in the hall.

His voice, though not loud, carried an imposing weight: "I have been keeping an eye on Xu Jie's case in Jiangxi."

"Disputes over land ownership and accounts of salt and iron taxes—every single one of them has a file available for review."

"Now that the case has just reached a crucial point, impeachment petitions are being submitted one after another."

"This makes me quite curious. Did Xu Jie really make a mistake, or did he investigate someone he shouldn't have?"

He gently placed the memorial on the table, leaned back on the dragon throne, and slowly swept his gaze across the faces of every minister present.

The entire hall was silent, with many officials lowering their eyes and not daring to meet the emperor's gaze.

Some people remained outwardly calm, but inwardly they were quickly calculating the hidden meaning behind the emperor's words.

Minister of War Sima Lie and Minister of Rites Meng Yanlun exchanged a glance.

Grand Commandant Zhou Jing leaned on his bamboo cane, his face expressionless.

Grand Tutor Kong Yan held his prayer beads and closed his eyes slightly.

After the court session ended, the news spread like wildfire beyond the palace walls, reaching all six ministries and departments.

As soon as Zhou Bangyan, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, stepped out of the Qianyuan Hall, he was surrounded by several subordinates.

Everyone is asking if His Majesty's statement, "We found someone we shouldn't have investigated," was a warning to someone.

As Zhou Bangyan walked, he straightened his clothes and earnestly warned everyone: "His Majesty only said one sentence, 'I have been paying attention,' which means that Xu Jie's case has been formally investigated."

"The impeachment memorials should be investigated, but don't rush to take sides."

"Both factions in the cabinet have submitted their opinions. Can't you see His Majesty's attitude?"

The subordinates looked at each other, not daring to ask any more questions.

Shortly after Zhou Bangyan left, Dong Chang, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, and Zhao Huan, a senior official of the Ministry of Works, walked side by side under the corridor.

Both of them walked a little slower than usual.

Zhao Huan lowered his voice and said, "My lord, His Majesty's words today sounded like he was warning those who impeached Xu Jie."

Dong Chang kept his eyes straight ahead and did not stop walking. He simply replied, "The memorial impeaching Xu Jie was submitted by the Censorate and the Court of Judicial Review. It has nothing to do with our Ministry of Works."

"The Ministry of Works should just focus on its own purchasing list and not concern itself with or ask about anything else."

Zhao Huan's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly replied, "Yes."

Meanwhile, in the office of the Ministry of Personnel's Performance Evaluation Department.

Wang Anshi was placing a stack of evaluation records that had just been retrieved from the archives on the table.

After the court session ended, Chen Qi took a detour and came in, briefly recounting the process of the cabinet's deliberations.

Then I sat down opposite him, picked up my teacup, took a sip, and asked him what he thought.

Wang Anshi tapped his fingers lightly twice on the table, his thoughts extremely clear: "When Your Majesty said 'I have been paying attention,' he wasn't saying it to Xu Jie, but to those who impeached Xu Jie."

"The impeachment memorial accused Xu Jie of overstepping his authority, but the Vice Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's power of impeachment in criminal matters included emergency detention."

"Xu Jie only detained officials of the seventh rank or below, which is perfectly procedurally sound. As for 'personal revenge'..."

"When Xu Jie was serving as a censor in Jiangxi, he had no prior acquaintance with those who were detained. Where did this personal relationship come from? Without personal relationship, where did this revenge come from?"

"These impeachment memorials were ostensibly aimed at Xu Jie, but in reality they were targeting the case Xu Jie was investigating."

"What they fear is not Xu Jie, but what Xu Jie has uncovered."

Chen Qi nodded slightly and put down his teacup: "You're right, but it's not enough for us to see this; His Majesty needs to see it too."

Wang Anshi picked up the evaluation record that had just been retrieved from the archives from the table, turned to one of the pages, and said with a hint of coldness in his voice, "His Majesty has already seen it."

"This morning I checked Xu Jie's performance evaluation records over the years and found an interesting phenomenon."

"Xu Jie served as a supervising censor in Jiangxi for several years, and his performance evaluations were always above average. He never showed off his abilities and never caused trouble."

"But right after the salt and iron tax accounts were investigated, people suddenly appeared to impeach him."

"Where did these people come from? Why are they impeaching a provincial judge who never causes trouble at this critical juncture?"

"After auditing accounts at the Censorate for so long, I only believe in one principle: there must be something fishy going on when things seem abnormal."

He closed the evaluation record, leaned back in his chair, and said calmly, "Lord Chen, I suggest that the case of Xu Jie be investigated further."

"It's not about investigating Xu Jie, it's about investigating the people who impeached Xu Jie."

Chen Qi looked at the stubborn young doctor in front of him.

After a long silence, he slowly stood up, walked to the door, stopped, and turned back to say, "Investigate. I'll talk to Minister Pei."

Meanwhile, in Nanchang Prefecture, a thousand miles away, Xu Jie was sitting in the office of the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, flipping through a stack of impeachment memorials sent from the capital.

One letter was from Censor Liu of the Censorate, and the other from Vice Minister Zhou of the Court of Judicial Review.

The two impeachment letters were issued only a few days apart, and the reasons for the impeachment were strikingly similar, both focusing on "overstepping authority".

He gently placed the copy of the memorial on the table, leaned back in his chair, and gazed at the old locust tree outside the window, rustling in the spring breeze. He remained silent for a long time, and then suddenly smiled.

The clerk beside him was puzzled and whispered, "What are you laughing at, sir? Being impeached at this critical juncture is not a good thing."

Xu Jie tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his tone gentle yet meaningful: "These memorials all talk about procedure, but they all evade the substance. Does any of them accuse me of making a wrong judgment or wrongly convicting someone?"

"No, since the case is not wrong and the person is not innocent, the procedural flaws are just an excuse for the higher-ups to investigate."

"The imperial court sent people to investigate, which allowed them to thoroughly review Duan Xi's past deeds. Their impeachment of me is like shooting themselves in the foot."

He put the copy of the memorial back on the corner of his desk and picked up his vermilion pen again.

He continued reviewing the list of irregularities in the salt and iron tax accounts, as if the impeachment memorials were nothing more than a passing breeze.

Meanwhile, in Yangzhou, a thousand miles away, Lu Zhi also received news of Xu Jie's impeachment.

He was sitting in the duty room in the back hall of the Yangzhou government office, with an unusual list of canal transport losses spread out in front of him.

Next to it were records of several tax payments that Sun had pieced together in recent days.

After reading Xu Jie's letter, he folded the letter and placed it on the table.

He tapped his finger lightly on the letter and said to the clerk beside him, "These impeachments are clearly desperate measures."

Xu Jie investigated Duan Xi in Nanchang and Sun Nian in Yangzhou, both of which were clashing with the Li family's network of interests in Jiangnan. Naturally, the Li family would take action against them.

The clerk hesitated and asked if we should slow down, but Lu Zhi shook his head: "Not only can we not slow down, we should speed things up."

"Xu Jie is holding the line, so we can seize the time to finish checking the accounts. He can handle it, so we have to live up to his expectations."

He picked up his vermilion pen again and continued to review the list of anomalies in the accounts of canal transport losses.

Each entry was marked with points of doubt and directions requiring further verification.

Outside the window, the evening drum of the Yangzhou government office sounded softly, and the candlelight in the duty room flickered slightly in the night breeze.

The images of two classmates, separated by thousands of miles but both burning the midnight oil, are projected onto their respective walls, both standing ramrod straight.