SEHE Chapter 107

Court Debate 

Pei Yanci looked up in astonishment.

Seeing him finally look at him, Gu Jiuqing quietly let out a sigh of relief, leaning back lightly against the chair. “So you understand—there are things you can say to him, and things you cannot.”

“This subject will remember.” Pei Yanci cupped his hands, asking tentatively, “But Minister Zheng won’t easily let go. Your Highness should beware of hidden hands in the shadows.”

He still couldn’t help but worry about this prince.

Gu Jiuqing’s heart felt refreshed. Back then in the Crown Prince’s Mansion, the two of them had sat together in long talks, jointly facing the conspiracies and schemes from outside—that scene seemed to have returned.

Those were among his few warm moments. Even unknowingly, the bond between sovereign and subject, master and servant, had quietly transformed through their secret discussions.

In an instant, the image of Pei Yanci’s resolute departing figure flashed through his mind.

So cold, so heartless, completely contradicting what he was saying now.

The next moment, Gu Jiuqing forcefully suppressed that sense of discomfort, constantly making excuses in his heart for his attitude back then, while thinking that he still needed to use him now. He was just doing things beneficial to himself, nothing more.

“Minister Zheng is in mourning at home and cannot move about in court. This prince stepping to the forefront will actually lull opponents into complacency.” Previously, in the eyes of the officials, he had mostly presented himself as weak. Only recently had word spread of his decisiveness and methods, and most people’s impressions hadn’t had time to change.

“He has formed a marriage alliance with the Wang family. Even if this prince now favors the Wang family, with this marriage connection, could this prince and the Wang family possibly cast him aside? He has nothing to worry about.”

As he spoke, he looked toward Pei Yanci again.

The person below understood.

He himself was the third reason Gu Jiuqing was making Zheng Qinglai feel comfortable letting go of this case.

With him passing information, Zheng Qinglai would still feel his eyes and ears were clear, that he could firmly control the Crown Prince.

Of course, the prerequisite was that this informant was working for him.

“Aren’t you going to ask why this prince is excluding him?”

“Your Highness does all this with good reason, for the sake of the great cause.” It’s nothing more than a question of who wants to manipulate whom.

“That fool, the Minister of Revenue, makes this prince feel that the Zheng family sometimes does bad things with good intentions.”

Liu Yan lacked resolve when impeaching the Director of the Ministry of Works, showing some cowardice. His performance was also poor when subsequently impeaching the Minister of Justice. Though this matter didn’t reach the court assembly, one could tell from regular meetings that this person actually held a moderate attitude. This instead became Gu Jiuqing’s legitimate reason to exclude Zheng Qinglai from this game.

Pei Yanci thought that perhaps the previous two minor moves weren’t entirely designed to conceal the real killing blow—Gu Jiuqing also wanted to see which among the Zheng faction members were relatively easy targets.

Now it appeared to be Liu Yan.

Worry appeared on Pei Yanci’s face at the appropriate moment. “If Minister Zheng throws down his burden, will those in the Zheng faction still be willing to exert effort?”

A cold smile appeared at the corner of Gu Jiuqing’s mouth. “Now is precisely the time to test who these people are truly loyal to.”

Where Pei Yanci couldn’t see, Gu Jiuqing had actually been secretly eroding Zheng Qinglai’s power all along.

Though they belonged to the same faction, when two leaders appeared, those below still needed to choose sides.

On one side was the heir apparent, on the other a prominent family—this choice was even more related to one’s own and one’s clan’s survival.

Pei Yanci, this prince is also giving you a chance to choose again.

Don’t disappoint this prince again.

Pei Yanci knew these people had long been united in appearance but not in heart. He was more concerned with Tang Xizhui’s choice, but unable to see him, he could only prepare wholeheartedly according to Gu Jiuqing’s intentions.

Apologies, Nine-Thousand-Years.

Pei Yanci’s heart leapt with joy.

****

Soon, the minor court assembly arrived again.

The last major court assembly had ended hastily. This time at the minor assembly, with Tang Xizhui’s figure absent from the great hall, both sides had different thoughts.

“His Majesty arrives——“

Just as everyone was debating whether Cui Ya should preside over this assembly, a eunuch’s resounding voice rang out from outside the hall.

In an instant, all the officials bowed in greeting.

None of them had expected that the Emperor, who hadn’t attended a minor court assembly in several years, would appear here.

“Last time, the Crown Prince said that both the Secretariat and the Chancellery were controlled by Tang Xizhui. Zhen was particularly concerned about this matter. Presumably you’ve all collected quite a bit of evidence. Today, Zhen wants to hear you debate this properly.”

Unlike how court assemblies had become mere formalities now, if this had happened a dozen years ago, the officials would have been quite accustomed to it. This Emperor didn’t like simply reading memorials and evidence submitted by others—he enjoyed holding evidence in court while listening to officials debate, observing their words and conduct, then making judgments.

What was surprising was that such proceedings rarely resulted in miscarriages of justice. The reason was that this Emperor had also thoroughly studied the Great Yu Legal Code in his youth, understood the workings of this empire intimately, and was exceptionally skilled at reading people.

So all the court officials feared him, especially feared being on the impeached side.

At this moment, beads of sweat involuntarily appeared on the faces of Cui Ya, the Director of Works, the Vice Minister of Justice, and several officials from the Secretariat and Chancellery.

The Zheng faction members looked only slightly better, nothing more.

A tall table had already been placed before the Dragon Throne, with several eunuchs carrying stacks of case files and memorial papers piled on either side.

“Crown Prince, you speak first.”

The atmosphere grew inexplicably tense.

Gu Jiuqing had never experienced such a thing, but had also feared this imperial father’s authority since childhood. He started somewhat haltingly, but grew increasingly smooth, passionately repeating what had been said last time.

The Secretariat was mainly responsible for drafting and issuing imperial edicts. They could know in advance about many important decrees not yet officially issued. Originally, the Left Prime Minister also served concurrently as Grand Secretary of the Secretariat, but Cui Ya did not—that position belonged to another old man.

The Chancellery was responsible for reviewing edicts and proposing corresponding amendments, opinions that could often influence the Emperor’s final decisions. The Chancellery’s highest official, the Grand Councillor, was a plump man in his fifties. At this moment, his face had already flushed red, yet his lips trembled pale, sweat continuously flowing down his face, though he dared not make large movements to wipe it.

Under the absolute imperial power of an individual, sometimes without even speaking, this atmosphere alone could frighten someone to death.

Cui Ya immediately stepped forward. That face couldn’t possibly match with the two characters for “justice,” yet he insisted on showing his righteousness, appearing rather comical.

“If Your Highness were to review the decrees from the Secretariat and Chancellery, you would know that every edict has been reviewed through proper channels by all three departments, following proper procedures. Setting aside everything else, your Ministry of Rites and Ministry of War have submitted quite a few approvals throughout the year—when has the Secretariat or Chancellery ever blocked you? Everyone is treated equally, each matter judged on its merits. How can there be any dereliction of duty or negligence, much less anyone overstepping authority and covering the sky with one hand?”

“Left Prime Minister Cui, what do you mean by ‘your’ just now?” Pei Yanci stepped forward, looking at him with an earnestly inquiring expression. “The Three Departments and Six Ministries, all officials under heaven—not one doesn’t belong to His Majesty. Where does this ‘your’ come from? When Cui Daren divides them into ‘your,’ naturally there’s also an ‘our.’ Isn’t Cui Daren brazenly dividing into factional forces right before His Majesty? If Cui Daren himself has a faction, then doesn’t that mean he wants to use the power in his hands to eliminate dissenters?”

The Eunuch faction and Zheng faction—those were what they called themselves privately. No one dared to dance before the Emperor and speak of it plainly.

“This is all baseless speculation, completely without foundation.” The Minister of Personnel said, “The people in the Secretariat and Chancellery were all personally selected by His Majesty. Speaking this way, are you questioning His Majesty’s judgment in employing people?”

Just as Pei Yanci was about to respond, a scent of rouge drifted from beside him. Turning his head, he saw it was Wang family head Gui Jingbo.

Each member of the Wang family was blessed with fine looks—otherwise they couldn’t have climbed to prominent family status by selling daughters step by step. This person was no exception, his body still carrying the scent of whatever revelry from last night he’d brought back.

“Your words are wrong. Which of us wasn’t personally selected by His Majesty? People’s hearts change easily. As time passes, who’s human and who’s demon all surface. You lot appear sanctimonious on the surface, but who knows how many benefits you’ve privately received from the Elu Bureau eunuchs. Your own greedy private desires are heavy—can you really blame this on His Majesty?”

He pointed at the Grand Secretary and Grand Councillor to scold them. Seeing the various officials all looking at him, his face grew even more proud and pleased with himself.

This wastrel. Pei Yanci secretly shook his head. With the words “sanctimonious” spoken, hadn’t he offended everyone? He was also implying the Emperor was poor at judging character—whether officials or Tang Xizhui, weren’t they all chosen by the Emperor?

Seeing the words increasingly directed at the Emperor, Zhang Dongqin stepped forward and said in his usual gentle tone. “Distinguished officials, please calm down. What we’re discussing now is whether the Secretariat and Chancellery have privately overstepped their authority, helping Dugong Daren sell offices and titles. These other useless words have no meaning.”

One sentence brought the topic back, and moreover made the scope of discussion more explicit and narrow. Gu Jiuqing had listed eighteen charges to heap upon Tang Xizhui’s head, yet somehow in his hands it had unknowingly become just one charge of “selling offices and titles.”

As if. Pei Yanci secretly glanced at the Emperor on high, and indeed saw the impatient coldness in his eyes ease slightly.

Zhang Dongqin hadn’t climbed to this position in less than ten years for nothing.

However, he couldn’t see through this man.

Listening to these words, it felt like this person belonged to the Eunuch faction. Could he be an undercover agent Tang Xizhui had secretly placed in the Eastern Palace?

Thinking this way, everything done before instantly made sense.

“Zhang Daren.” When Gu Wanchong stepped forward, the military officials in the great hall stirred slightly.

Great Yu valued martial prowess, so there were many military officials, but each province’s garrison command had at least one general stationed there, usually training troops. So there weren’t many military officials remaining at court.

This was also one of the strategies by the founding Emperor to prevent rebellion. With few military officials at court, the Southern Office Imperial Guards were rotated from garrisons across the land to serve in the capital—they had low loyalty to capital military officials and didn’t stay long enough to become familiar with other court officials, making them hard to turn traitor. The Northern Barracks Imperial Guards were descendants of the near-guard troops who fought alongside the founding Emperor to conquer the realm, in earlier years comparable to the Emperor’s sworn guards—loyal and skilled in battle. But as time passed, they’d long since become a gathering place for idle wastrels who knew nothing.

The Eunuch faction and Zheng faction struggle appeared to military officials as civil officials fighting amongst themselves, nothing to do with them.

Gu Wanchong was very popular in the military. Previously he’d spent years campaigning in distant campaigns for several years, with extremely high prestige. It wasn’t until three years ago when Tang Xizhui supported him that he entered the civil officials’ view.

“What insights does Fifth Prince have?” Zhang Dongqin smiled kindly.

“After all this debate, actually this prince is only curious about one thing—on what evidence do Zhang Daren and the other distinguished officials judge that the Chief Overseer is guilty?” Gu Wanchong spoke politely, his voice low and magnetic, carrying a unique masculine charm.

After all this wasted scolding, finally someone asked something substantive. Pei Yanci sighed. Sometimes these well-dressed officials weren’t much different from shrews at the market spreading gossip and cursing in the streets.

Sharp and severe in rhetoric, but upon close listening, there was absolutely no substantive damage.

Military officials wouldn’t engage in these empty tricks.

Pei Yanci smiled slightly and walked opposite him. “Your Highness, this subject has evidence.”

Gu Wanchong’s expression stiffened slightly as the fear branded in his soul began to strike.

No, he was a military official. What he was best at was crushing death threats that came at him.

“What evidence do you have?” He quickly calmed down.

That’s how it appeared on the surface.

“Six years ago, Vice Minister of Works Shao Bo was still a seventh-rank official stationed outside the capital, with no outstanding record. For some reason, in that year’s Personnel Ministry evaluation he received top marks, and subsequent edicts also included his appointment as Vice Minister of Works—according to normal procedures, an outside official taking a capital position can only be promoted within the same rank for the first three years.

“These past six years, the Water Department of the Ministry of Works has received fifty thousand taels annually from the Ministry of Revenue. Though not much, over these five years the Water Department excavated the Wuzhou canal, which would cost at least three hundred thousand taels in labor costs. Setting aside everything else, just saying all the Ministry of Revenue’s allocation went to this canal—could it be that Director Shao also contributed fifty thousand taels of his own silver? Just based on his previous seventh-rank position, where did those fifty thousand taels come from?”

“Hah?” Gu Wanchong and the Eunuch faction had only seen people embezzle from the state treasury—they’d never seen anyone contribute their own money to the court to build canals.