Bai Qingyan still remembered that Wang Qiulu was deeply devoted to Princess Liu Ruofu of Nandu – he was a man of devoted heart.
This time, once the matter between Yan and Great Zhou was settled and Wang Qiulu returned to the capital, Bai Qingyan planned to have someone tell Wang Qiulu the location of Liu Ruofu’s resting place, which could be considered some comfort for Wang Qiulu.
Just as Bai Qingyan was about to dismiss the court and rise to leave, she saw Imperial Censor Sima Yan, father of Sima Ping, step forward.
Sima Yan impeached several clan elders of the Bai family for various crimes, among which one was the most serious… Sima Yan impeached both Minister of Justice Lu Jin, saying that the Ministry of Justice had actually participated in privately releasing exiled prisoners and finding substitutes, and also implicated the Ministry of Revenue, claiming that the Ministry of Revenue had even provided false household registrations for the replaced criminals. He had concrete evidence, which he presented to His Majesty.
Sima Yan’s impeachment came suddenly. Both Lu Jin and Wei Bugong were caught completely off guard. The two exchanged glances, both looking bewildered, and looked toward Sima Yan with great interest, quite confident in their innocence.
The court ministers were also nervous. This Imperial Censor had revealed no hint beforehand, yet directly implicated a Minister of Justice in the case, and even involved the Ministry of Revenue. Though he hadn’t named Wei Bugong specifically, as Minister of Revenue, he could hardly escape responsibility if the Ministry had problems.
Wei Zhong walked down the high steps with small steps, took the memorial from Imperial Censor Sima Yan’s hands, and then hurried back to Bai Qingyan’s side.
Bai Qingyan took the memorial and opened it to look.
This matter of substituting prisoners and privately releasing exiles implicated two clan elders of the Bai family and their grandsons.
One sentenced to exile was the grandson of a Bai family clan elder, named Bai Qingshi.
Bai Qingshi had encountered in the capital a couple who had been their family’s servants and had obtained their freedom several years ago. After redeeming themselves years ago, the pair had come from Shuoyang to the capital, married, and set up a wonton stall in the busy market to make a living.
The woman had been forcibly violated by Bai Qingshi several times. Later, Bai Qingshi’s mother, using the excuse that the woman had seduced her son, beat her nearly to death and had human traffickers take her away to be sold. It was the woman’s current husband who spent money to redeem her from the traffickers, then used his hard-earned savings to purchase freedom for himself, and brought the woman to the capital to make a living.
They had thought they would never return to Shuoyang, but unexpectedly encountered Bai Qingshi in the capital years later.
Bai Qingshi, relying on being an imperial relative with the Bai surname, once again forcibly violated the woman. When her husband returned home and saw this, he fought fiercely with Bai Qingshi. Within two days, the woman’s husband died from severe injuries, so Bai Qingshi was sentenced to exile.
There was also another grandson of a Bai family clan elder, named Bai Qingfan. Somehow, this Bai Qingfan became involved with Qin Lang’s sister, the eldest Miss Qin. He had used another prisoner to substitute for the second Miss Qin, who had been sentenced to exile for obstructing new policies under instructions from assassins who attacked Bai Qingyan at the kite competition. After the substitution, he even obtained a genuine identity for this second Miss Qin through the Ministry of Revenue and settled her in Baiwu City.
The reason Imperial Censor Sima Yan discovered this matter was because the second Miss Qin returned to the capital and was spotted by Sima Yan, who then had people investigate. Only then did he learn that the eldest Miss Qin had already given herself to Bai Qingfan, but was neither his wife nor concubine – the two merely met at fixed times for intimate relations.
Of course, Sima Yan didn’t write these details in the memorial.
After reading, Bai Qingyan looked up at Imperial Censor Sima Yan, who was respectfully kneeling in the center of the hall: “Censor Sima is truly loyal and devoted. If I remember correctly, this eldest Miss Qin should be Censor Sima’s niece. That Censor Sima can sacrifice family for righteousness… I am deeply gratified.”
Sima Yan hastily kowtowed: “For this subject to serve Your Majesty loyally is proper duty and responsibility. If fulfilling my responsibilities makes Your Majesty feel gratified, then it is this subject’s fault – it means this subject hasn’t fulfilled his proper duties before…”
Bai Qingyan smiled and called: “Minister Lu Jin…”
“This subject is here!” Lu Jin hurriedly stepped forward to respond.
“You are the Minister of Justice. This case should normally be handed to you for investigation!” Bai Qingyan spoke in measured tones. “However, since Censor Sima has also impeached Minister Lu, to avoid suspicion… Minister Lu should rest at home for a few days. I happen to have other matters that will trouble Minister Lu. If there’s anything in this case requiring Minister Lu’s cooperation, I hope Minister Lu will cooperate fully!”
When Bai Qingyan said this, Sima Yan became nervous. The meaning was clearly that Bai Qingyan had complete trust in Lu Jin. His rash impeachment of Lu Jin – he wondered if His Majesty would have a poor opinion of him, and whether Lu Jin would create obstacles for him once he regained favor.
In that flash, Sima Yan’s mind was already churning with countless thoughts.
“Yes!” Lu Jin responded.
“Both Censor Sima and Minister Lu may rise!” Bai Qingyan’s gaze fell on the Court of Judicial Review Minister. “This matter will be handed to the Court of Judicial Review Minister for investigation!”
The Court of Judicial Review Minister hastily stepped out of line to respond.
Looking at Sima Yan retreating, Bai Qingyan recalled the hero of breaking through Potian Gate Pass – Sima Ruodan.
“I hear that Minister Sima’s beloved daughter is about to marry our top scholar?” Bai Qingyan smiled as she spoke.
Sima Yan, who had just retreated, hastily stepped forward again, knelt and kowtowed, hesitating slightly before saying: “Thank you for Your Majesty’s concern. Xue Renyi and this subject’s… this subject’s adopted daughter have had a marriage contract since childhood. They were originally to be married, but unexpectedly, Xue Renyi’s father fell ill, and Xue Renyi stayed by his father’s side, caring for him. Later, he returned to study at the Imperial Academy. Both families had already decided that after the imperial examinations, regardless of whether Xue Renyi passed, they would marry on the fifteenth day of the fifth month.”
Adopted daughter? Bai Qingyan only smiled without speaking, her fingers stroking the armrest of her chair.
Watching Sima Yan speak now, he didn’t have the same confidence and clear articulation as when he was making his impeachment earlier. Originally believing seven parts of Sima Ruodan’s words, now she believed completely.
“Then, congratulations to Minister Sima on gaining an excellent son-in-law!”
“Thank Your Majesty!”
Sima Yan felt somewhat guilty about his earlier words, since the marriage contract wasn’t his concubine daughter’s. But now that His Majesty had asked, he could only steel himself to answer. In his heart, he again felt his mother’s actions were simply senseless.
Learning that Xue Renyi was outstanding at the Imperial Academy, his mother recalled the marriage contract between his adopted brother’s daughter, Sima Ruodan, and Xue Renyi. Fearing that if Sima Ruodan married Xue Renyi in the future and Xue Renyi’s career went smoothly, he would remember the Sima family’s refusal to save his father and harm the Sima family. So behind Sima Yan’s back, she brought back the adopted brother’s daughter and had Sima Yan’s concubine daughter pretend to be Sima Ruodan to meet Xue Renyi, even returning tokens and establishing their relationship.
By the time Sima Yan learned of this and wanted to set things right, he discovered that his adopted brother’s wife had already been driven to death by his mother, and Sima Ruodan had also been silenced by people his mother had sent.