The next day when Yun Qian Meng woke up the place beside her had already turned cold. She softly called out for Mu Chun while she propped up her body and slowly stood up. Her moist and glossy smooth black hair flowed down from the shoulder along with her movements which formed a beautiful sight, causing Mu Chun, who was lifting up the curtain, to get startled and she was only able to resume her work after a long while.
"My lady, it is still very early in the morning, you may lie down for some more. Xiang Ye had particularly urged us not to disturb you during your sleep." Yun Qian Meng was only wearing a thin layer of inner clothing as she sat up on the bed. Mu Chun quickly took a cloak which was folded neat and tidily beside and draped it over Yun Qian Meng's shoulders in fear that she might catch a cold.
Yun Qian Meng shook her head and cleared her throat as she asked "Did Xiang Ye go out to attend the morning assembly?"
During the ancient time it was unlike the modern time in which people had colorful and abundant nightlives. During the nightfall what common people could only do was to go to bed and sleep early. Although it was still very early in the morning yet Yun Qian Meng already had enough sleep and if she was to lie down again she would only get headache.
Furthermore, since this was just the beginning of their lives living together if she were to not show some daring moves right now while Chu Fei Yang still loved her dearly, it would be hard to avoid having people look down on her in the future. It would be better for her to be more diligent so as to avoid causing trouble for Chu Fei Yang in the future.
"Xiang Ye left Xiang Fu around the five in the morning. My lady, what would you like to have for breakfast? Allow nubi to let the kitchen prepare them for you." Mu Chun took out the purple winter dress from the wooden box and helped Yun Qian Meng to dress up after which she draped over the waistcoat over her shoulders while she cautiously picked up a wooden comb to help Yun Qian Meng to fix her hair.
"Some red date porridge then! After a while let Yuan Dong go out to invite Steward Hong and Shang Guan Mama here. I want to understand more thoroughly about the current situation inside Xiang Fu." Yun Qian Meng spoke indifferently as she picked up a dangling ornament made from twirled golden string and handed it over to Mu Chun.
"Yes!" Taking the golden head ornament Mu Chun sticked it in the right side of her bun. The golden head ornament dangled in her hair glistening brightly and that yellow huge pearl which hanged down at the end of it slightly swayed along with Yun Qian Meng's movement. It made it seem to be very ingenious.
And at this time inside the main hall of the imperial palace Su Yuan was kneeling down in the center of the palace hall while his head was beaded with sweat. Lowering down his head and drooping down his eyes he listened as the Right Imperial Censor of Pang Cha Yuan dictated aloud all his conducts and deeds during the past few years.
And during this time aside from the clear and lively voice of the Right Imperial Censor that slowly echoed there was total silence. The thoughts of all the people inside were all different as they could not understand why the Right Imperial Censor would suddenly expose the high official of the Ministry of Justice for accepting bribery and maltreating the prisoners.
Every person of each faction within the royal court reacted indifferently. The expression of their eyes remained tranquil and unmoved as they listened to the crimes being mentioned. Only those small officials who relied on Su Yuan for their living were trembling with fear, while one by one they remained speechless as their hearts continued to guess what kind of person this Right Imperial Censor of an investigative institution was. The majority of the people inside were lifting their heads and looking at Chen Wang while their hearts continuously guessed whether Chen Wang would speak out protect Su Yuan or not.
However, what made them feel disappointed was that Chen Wang was still standing in front of the hundred officials just like before. His eyes looking grave and stern while looking straight while , the coldness penetrated through making all the major officials who were observing him to regain their gaze as they were afraid of being frightened by his dreadful expression.
"What a great high official of the Ministry of Justice. You have truly wasted my trust on you, giving you such greatly honored position to you, contrary to what I've expected, you have actually accepted bribery, maltreating the prisoners. If these were to spread out the common people would say that I am a tyrant and an incapable ruler? Where do I place my reputation? Fancy that you knew very well about all sorts of punishment in our Western Chu but these punishments you only used them in handling the enemies. The tools you used for accumulating wealth and accepting money were all unheard of. You have truly disappointed me!" Hearing Emperor Yu Qian's angry voice louder than the Right Imperial Censor of the investigative institution, facing Su Yuan as he roared at Su Yuan who was feeling the chill all over his body.
Being questioned by Emperor Yu Qian, Su Yuan's face immediately turned deathly pale. In deathly stillness without any life force his whole body slightly tremble as he knelt down in the center of the palace hall. Deep within his heart he was hoping that Chen Wang would be able to stand and exonerate him.
After all, he had already adhered himself to Chen Wang. In addition to his quite high official post if he was to be pulled down by other people the present situation would also be disadvantageous for Chen Wang.
Thinking about this Su Yuan managed to calm down the uneasiness inside of his heart however his face was still deathly pale as he advanced towards Emperor Yu Qian who was sitting on the dragon throne as he shouted for justice "Your Majesty, weichen had been cautious and conscientious all these years and had never stepped off the boundaries for anything! weichen had never changed the dwelling place for my official residence during the past ten years, this is already sufficient enough to prove that I have never accepted bribe and maltreatment of prisoners is a false accusation! With my position I had used punishment against those prisoners who refused to tell the truth. However, all of those punishments were within the scope of the criminal law. I absolutely had not abused the law. Your Majesty you may investigate further on this, weichen is truly being accused wrongly!"
While speaking, Su Yuan quickly made his kowtow facing Emperor Yu Qian this way proving his own loyalty.
But the Right Imperial Censor had already announced all the criminal charges against Su Yuan, which had already penetrated deeply inside the people's hearts. Therefore, no matter how hard Su Yuan tried to explain, even extravagant embellishments would never be able to wipe off the suspicions inside of people's hearts.
Besides, the Ministry of Justice was the sixth division that handled the punishments. If they were to handle it properly it would make the entire imperial court to be well organized. Also gaining trusts from the common people towards the imperial court; if they handled things inappropriately, corruption would rise among the imperial court, then the entire royal court would be in a great disarray. If that were to happen then how could the hundred officials be able to make the common people trust the imperial court and His Majesty the emperor?
Such major position was being appointed to him because Emperor Yu Qian knew very well that Su Yuan was being earnest, careful, and neat. Due to these attributes he had given him such heavy responsibility but quite unexpectedly during all these years the vicious behavior of Su Yuan had became increasingly profound. The greediness in his heart became increasingly big which made Emperor Yu Qian to feel bitter and hateful and same time he hated Su Yuan to the bones.
"Governor Su, I've heard that the parents' home of your concubine was actually like the water that went with the wind, their house was not inferior to those who had the fourth rank official post. The fire that happened before the metropolitan exam had destroyed a lot of talented persons in our Western Chu, but up until now, the Ministry of Justice was still unable to find the person who committed the arson. And as for maltreating the prisoner, Your Majesty, weichen heard that Su Yuan had accepted the bribery from a male prisoner that allowed the male prisoner to enter the female prison to do whatever he pleased. Your Majesty, please assigned people to investigate thoroughly on this matter!" How could Su Yuan be able to escape from the eyes of the Right Imperial Censor, he was in charge of defending other people and also took charge of supervising the major officials within the imperial court. Since he was able to testify against Su Yuan today, he naturally had the assurance not to allow Su Yuan to escape or else if such kind of vermin was to continue staying inside the imperial court, he would be very likely to damage the country and cause suffering to the people.
Having heard what was said Su Yuan immediately lifted up his head, his eyes shot out the specks of insidious glance and his tone of voice was stirred up as he said "Governor Liu, there has never been an animosity between me and you before, and currently we don't have any complaints about each other, why do want to entrap me? The Ministry of Justice is the place handling the punishments. If we are to use kind words to let the prisoners tell the truth then why would you need the Ministry of Justice? Your Majesty, weichen had dealt with all sorts of prisoners during these years in order to allow the imperial household as well as the common people to have their auspicious and peaceful lives, naturally it would also incur hatred from other people. However, if I were to incur criminal charges due to these things then weichen will not die in peace!"
While speaking Su Yuan's eyes could not help but glanced at Chen Wang. However, he saw Chen Wang was as cold as usual. He was being entrapped by others yet his face showed no traces of it. A bad feeling suddenly rushed into Su Yuan's heart.
"Your Majesty, weichen would like to submit a report!" And during this time the Chief Magistrate of the Capital, Governor Qian, stepped out from the back row among the major officials. His both hands were holding the report which he had already prepared as he walked near Su Yuan.
Seeing Emperor Yu Qian had nodded with a gloomy face, Yu gonggong quickly went down the stairs to take the report from the Chief Magistrate's hands and respectfully placed it on the dragon table.
While Emperor Yu Qian was reading the report Su Yuan felt his sweat was dripping down from his back like rain. He did not know what sort of account book did the Chief Magistrate handed over. and was wondering whether it was related to him? And could it save him from the criminal charges.
Chen Wang's reaction was truly quite strange today. He clearly understood that losing Su Yuan was the same as losing an arm. However, during this time the expression in his eyes remained unchanged as if the one being accused of misconduct by the Right Imperial Censor of the investigative institution was some other person.
These series of arguments rushed forth into Su Yuan's mind during this very short period of time but there was one thing that he could not understand. And that was, why Chen Wang refused to stand up to plea for his leniency. Now perhaps none of the people from the same faction would never step up and speak up for him.
Such kind of passive situation made Su Yuan's heart extremely angered. If he had known earlier that the Right Imperial Censor would accuse him when he least expected it he then would have made Yue'er enter the gates of Han Guo Gong Fu. This way, even if Chen Wang were to refuse to speak up at the time, with such relatives, how would he need to be afraid?
The remorseful feeling rushed forth to his heart. But foresight cannot be bought with a thousand gold, how could he be able to predict that such a thing would happen.
After reading the memorial Emperor Yu Qian remained silent. When the hundred officials saw that all of them started to guess the details that the submitted report had and were hoping that it would not involve their names.
The silence prevailed inside the main hall while the atmosphere was tense. Su Yuan who was kneeling at the center was nervous and felt as if he was suffocating yet he did not dare to inquire about the details inside of the accounts book.
""Yun Xian, what do you think about this?"" Bearing an inquiring tone of voice Emperor Yu Qian asked Yun Xuan Zhi who was standing aside maintaining his silence all along. As compared to the angry Emperor Yu Qian earlier he appeared to be calmer now.
Being called by Emperor Yu Qian, Yun Xuan Zhi stepped forward while coldly glancing at Su Yuan who remained kneeling on the ground. He then spoke slowly "Reporting to you, Your Majesty, based on weichen's knowledge, there is one more thing Governor Liu hasn't mentioned."
Yun Xuan Zhi slightly paused while his cold eyes shot a glance at Su Yuan again, his eyes containing a large amount of hatred. This glance caused Su Yuan's face to turn pale, while his heart sank to the lowest ebb once more. He could still retort back on what the Right Imperial Censor said however he will be unable to retort back to Yun Xuan Zhi as, during all these years not many things that he had done were able to escape from Yun Xuan Zhi's eyes.
Yun Xuan Zhi was crafty and seemed to possess some of the information that could be used against him, which caused Su Yuan to be upset. Yet, he was powerless as he could only stare blankly while Yun Xuan Zhi opened his mouth and slowly said "Inside Su Yuan's residence there were wicked servants who oppressed the people nearby which caused a lot of complaints from the people. Please examine it carefully, Your Majesty!"
Yun Xuan Zhi was extremely clever as he did not point out the mistakes that Su Yuan had done in his officialdom, so as to avoid Emperor Yu Qian blaiming them for not reporting it. He just pointed out the situation inside the residence of Su Yuan. This way making all the people realize his usual behavior and the reason why the servants in his residence had behaved this way, making people believe that Su Yuan being the high official of the Ministry of Justice had certainly did things by abusing his own authority and had wasted Emperor Yu Qian's trust.
For a moment all the people started to discuss passionately inside the imperial court and one by one they looked at Su Yuan while feeling disdainful and disgusted. Even people who had the same standpoint as Su Yuan had avoided such kind of person like him as they started to privately whisper to each other.
"Chen Wang, did you know about this matter?" Emperor Yu Qian was not in a hurry to file criminal charges but instead he treated Su Yuan as a rat which was caught by a cat and was teased by it. After inquiring Yun Xuan Zhi he shifted towards Su Yuan as his face became uglier.
Chen Wang had already expected from Emperor Yu Qian to ask about this. It was especially obvious when Emperor Yu Qian's tranquil eyes were flickering with snowy rays while hiding an extremely vague light, causing Chen Wang to feel annoyed. Yet, he just replied with a deep voice "Your Majesty, you are always being clear and bright, humble servant naturally believed that His Majesty will justly handle these things!"
While speaking those words, that stretched taut heart string of Su Yuan was being cut off. Chen Wang's words earlier had made him realize that he had been left all by himself now. Not only was he unable to obtain Chen Wang's protection, now perhaps the fierce and cruel people from all over the place would rip him apart and swallow him whole.
"Ministry of Rites, please draft an imperial decree to strip Su Yuan off from his position as the high official of the Ministry of Justice. He must be kept in the prison of the Ministry of Justice and his family members will be interrogated while detained inside the prison cell. Once the matter has been clarified, he will be condemned with the criminal charges" Chen Wang's response made Emperor Yu Qian immediately hand down an imperial decree. And in an instant Su Yuan's body fell softly on the floor of the main hall.
"Do you have any recommendations as to who will take over the position in the Ministry of Justice?" In the meantime, Emperor Yu Qian's both eyes swept through the hundred official inside the palace hall, choosing the candidates who would be able to take over the position as the high official of the Ministry of Justice.
"Your Majesty, based on our rule his subordinate should take over the position of the superior." After recording Emperor Yu Qian's words earlier the high official of the Ministry of Rites replied.
"Governor Shen, you are quite silly! Since Su Yuan was able to achieve his aim by underhanded means for so many years, we can't guarantee if his subordinate would make use of the same strategy again." This time Yun Xuan Zhi spoke to overrule the request.
In an instant Su Yuan lifted his head to look at Yun Xuan Zhi, seeing a vicious heart concealed deep within his courteous appearance. If his assistant minister was able to take over his position, perhaps he would be sentenced to some minor criminal charges. However, Yun Xuan Zhi did not give him such a chance he even extinguished his only hope. No wonder Yun Xuan Zhi was able to settled the matter concerning Qing'er by all means.
"Your Majesty, the high minister of the Ministry of Justice is an important position we must take our time to think it through. There were quite a lot of talented persons during this year's imperial examination, if they were given the chance, they wouldn't disappoint Your Majesty's training." After he muttered to himself Yun Xuan Zhi spoke trying to observe the reaction on this matter.
Yet unexpectedly he had attracted a lot of sound of opposition.
It was exactly due to the importance of this position that they were choosing the prestigious persons among the royal court but when based on those people who had just attained their position through the examination, although they have the enthusiasm but their capabilities and knowledge were limited. They were all still unable to perform the duty alone not to mention becoming the high minister of the Ministry of Justice.
Perhaps the people could not understand Yun Xuan Zhi's intention but Chu Fei Yang was utterly clear about it. He briefly casted sidelong glances as he sneered at Yun Xuan Zhi yet he did not express his point of view.
Chu Fei Yang's eyes were bearing an extremely strong sense of insight which allowed Yun Xuan Zhi to realize that he knew very well what he was thinking. Instantly he felt somehow confused then he straightened out the frenetic look in his eyes and quietly stood in front of the hundred officials.
Translated by: cristina Edited by: ChocolateMorn