I only wished to take up my fiefdom, but my elder brother forced me to rebel.

Wei Zhengyuan knelt forward two steps and raised the memorial above his head.

"Your Majesty, the Celestial Empire operates under strict laws and regulations. If the Crown Prince were to kill someone based on personal whims, the court would surely descend into chaos!"

Several imperial censors followed suit, all pointing their criticism at Lu Yuan.

"Whether Li Zhenyuan committed embezzlement should be investigated by the three judicial departments."

"Your Highness's execution of him without trial is a violation of the laws of the court."

"Your Majesty, please withdraw the imperial edict appointing you!"

Lu Cheng stood next to the censor, a smile returning to his face.

There was still no news from Fuyuan Escort Agency, but the matter with the Ministry of Justice turned out to be an unexpected bonus.

As long as he can get his father to postpone the appointment of the crown prince, he will still have a chance to turn the tables.

"Ninth Brother."

Lu Cheng raised his still-healing arm. "Although we have had our disagreements, I have always treated you like a younger brother."

"It's not that your second brother wants to harm you today."

"As a prince, you should set an example."

"If you think any official is guilty, you can have the Ministry of Justice investigate, the Censorate impeach him, or even report directly to the Emperor."

"But you killed someone in public without trial or conviction."

"How is this any different from treating human life like dirt?"

Lu Yuan looked at him and said sarcastically, "Second Brother, those words were truly beautiful."

"If you had had this kind of brain yesterday, you wouldn't have been grounded."

Lu Cheng suppressed his anger, "This prince only deals with the law of the land, and will not argue with you."

Wei Zhengyuan continued, "His Highness went to the Ministry of Justice yesterday because Shen Yilei assaulted his superior."

"Li Zhenyuan demanded that the matter be handled according to the law, but His Highness protected his father-in-law and tried to forcibly break into the archives."

"Li Zhenyuan was just fulfilling his duties; there was nothing wrong with it."

Lu Yuan walked up to Lord Wei and said, "Lord Wei has investigated very thoroughly."

"Have you found out why Li Zhenyuan had a dispute with my father-in-law?"

Wei Zhengyuan raised his head.

"I have already investigated!"

"Cao Yuan, the magistrate of Yongning County, got drunk and rode his horse into and killed an old charcoal seller."

"The Ministry of Justice has differing opinions on how to sentence him. Li Zhenyuan advocates using fines to atone for his crime, but Shen Yilei disagrees, which is why the action was taken in the East Courtyard."

"Just negotiating a verdict?"

Lu Yuan reached out and took the memorial handed to him by an imperial censor, and flipped through it.

Shen Yilei was portrayed by those in power as a powerful and domineering member of the imperial family.

Li Zhenyuan was portrayed as a loyal minister who upheld the law and was unafraid of powerful figures.

As for the 10,000 taels of silver that the Cao family sent to the Ministry of Justice, and the matter of Li Zhenyuan sending people to force the victim to change his story, not a single word was mentioned.

"Master Wei."

"Two hundred thousand taels of silver, thirteen shops, and six estates were confiscated from the Wu family."

"Do you know?"

Wei Zhengyuan's expression changed slightly.

"I heard about this matter yesterday."

"A fifth-rank official's salary is no more than a hundred taels of silver."

Lu Yuan threw the memorial back into his arms. "Where did the 200,000 taels of silver in his house come from? No one in your Censorate has investigated."

"Twelve petitions from Yongning County were sent to the Ministry of Justice, alleging that Cao Yuan had seized land, beaten victims, and driven people to their deaths, yet none of you investigated."

"The Cao family sent 10,000 taels of silver to the side courtyard of the Ministry of Justice, but the victim didn't receive a single penny."

"You still don't know."

He raised his hand and pointed to the censor behind Wei Zhengyuan.

"Now that I have executed a corrupt official, you have investigated the matter thoroughly overnight."

"Who made the first move, what they said, even my father-in-law tore up a few pages of the case file, are all written in the memorial."

"The Censorate is truly capable!"

Several censors lowered their heads and flipped through the memorials.

The information they received was delivered overnight by several officials from the Ministry of Justice.

It only mentions that Lu Yuan committed murder, but does not mention how much property was confiscated from Li Zhenyuan's home.

Wei Zhengyuan forced a smile and replied, "Li Zhenyuan's corruption and abuse of power were due to the oversight of the Censorate."

"Your subject is willing to accept punishment."

"But one thing at a time."

"Even if Li Zhenyuan is guilty, he should be interrogated by the Ministry of Justice first, and then submitted to His Majesty for a decision."

"His Highness the Ninth Prince has killed officials without authorization, which still violates the laws of the court."

Lu Yuan raised his leg and kicked him in the chest.

Wei Zhengyuan fell backward, scattering the memorial in his hand all over the ground.

The censor next to him quickly helped him up.

"Your Highness, this is the imperial court!"

"Lord Wei was merely fulfilling his duties as an imperial censor. How could you commit such a heinous act in the palace?"

"They don't investigate corrupt officials, but they pounce on me and tear me apart."

Lu Yuan pointed at Wei Zhengyuan, "I thought your Censorate was just a bunch of watchdogs."

Wei Zhengyuan pushed away the official who was helping him up and knelt down again.

"Even if Your Highness beats me to death, I will finish what I have to say."

"Your Highness is not an official of the Ministry of Justice. Without an imperial edict, you have no right to access the archives."

"Li Zhenyuan's obstruction of you is in accordance with the rules of the Six Ministries."

"You killed him to break into the archives; that was settling a personal score!"

Lu Cheng also stepped forward, "Ninth Brother, although Lord Wei's words were direct, he was not wrong."

"Your father asked you to coordinate the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue, not to interfere with the Ministry of Justice."

"If you wish to view the files, you can simply ask the Emperor for an imperial decree first."

"Yet you drew your sword and killed him directly."

Lu Yuan turned to look at the throne. "Father, you instructed me to coordinate with the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works to raise funds and provisions as quickly as possible. Is that true?"

Lu Cangqiong nodded.

"have!"

"The Ministry of Works used silver to manufacture cement and the Ministry of Revenue used it for disaster relief, and the Ministry of Revenue was in deficit for many years."

"I'm telling you to figure it out yourself; all six relevant ministries must cooperate!"

Lu Yuan then turned his gaze to the officials below.

"Did you hear that?"

"I am ordered to raise funds and provisions!"

"The Wu family embezzled 200,000 taels of silver. I executed the corrupt official and recovered the silver from the national treasury. This can be considered acting on imperial orders!"

Wei Zhengyuan immediately retorted, "His Majesty asked you to raise money, but he did not give you the right to kill people at will."

"Besides, Li Zhenyuan stopped you to uphold the rules of the archives!"

"rule?"

Lu Yuan walked up to Guo Kai, the Minister of Justice.

"Lord Guo, did the officials of the Eastern Courtyard also hear what Li Zhenyuan said?"

Could you repeat that?

Guo Kai had a fine sheen of sweat on his forehead.

"Your Highness, I was not in the East Courtyard at the time!"

"Then call everyone present here."

Lu Yuan raised his hand and pointed outside the hall, "Several officials in charge of the Ministry of Justice, as well as the guards of the archives, can testify!"

"When Li Zhenyuan stopped me, he personally stated that no one was allowed to enter the archives!"

Wei Zhengyuan gritted his teeth and said, "Although this statement is very harsh, it is in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Justice."

"I asked him, 'What if Father Emperor comes in person?'"

Lu Yuan stood before Wei Zhengyuan and said in a deep voice, "He said that even if the Emperor were standing before him, he couldn't look!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the expressions of all the officials in the hall changed.

Lu Cangqiong leaned forward, his face turning pale.

"Did he really say that?"

"More than a dozen people from the East Wing of the Ministry of Justice can testify."

Lu Yuan pointed at the censors and said, "A corrupt official who takes bribes, coerces victims, and protects a murderous magistrate has seized control of the Ministry of Justice's archives and even dares to stop the emperor."

"I have already done more than enough by killing him."

Upon hearing this, the officials who had previously been echoing him all retreated one after another.

The censors also put away their memorials.

If Li Zhenyuan only stopped the prince, it could be considered a way of upholding the rules of the Six Ministries.

But since he didn't even respect the emperor, the nature of the situation was completely different.

Lu Cheng was also taken aback.

He turned to Wei Zhengyuan and said that he hoped the Censorate could come up with some more excuses.

However, Wei Zhengyuan opened his mouth but could not explain Li Zhenyuan's treasonous words.

Lu Yuan walked between Lu Cheng and Lu Yuan.

"Speak!"

"Weren't you guys very talkative just now?"

He turned his gaze to the two people.

"Why aren't you saying anything now?"

"Is it because you're naturally not very good at talking?"