Wei Yuan calmly picked up the memorial and opened it to read. His pupils suddenly contracted.
Without saying a word, he knelt and cried out, “This subject deserves death for failing Your Majesty’s trust. I only ask for death.”
Wei Yuan’s posture left the Supervising Secretaries, who were prepared to step forward and denounce him, demanding Emperor Yuanjing execute this scoundrel, at a loss for words.
Emperor Yuanjing let out a cold laugh, “You’re quite honest, Wei Yuan. If you had tried to quibble today, I would have thrown you into the imperial prison.”
Wei Yuan kept his head lowered, saying nothing.
Emperor Yuanjing snorted coldly, “The one who reported you was none other than Zhu Yang, the Golden Gong of the Night Watchmen’s Office.”
Wei Yuan remained silent.
That memorial detailed some criminal evidence of corruption and perversion of justice by the Night Watchmen from Golden Gongs to Silver Gongs in recent years. Some were cases with conclusive evidence, while others were pure slander.
Of course, it also included a newly recruited Bronze Gong, with no small charge – amassing thousands of taels of silver through abuse of power in just one month, and frequenting the courtesans’ quarters daily, sleeping with the top courtesans.
At this moment, a Supervising Secretary from the Ministry of Justice stepped forward and said, “Your Majesty, the Night Watchmen have abused their power for personal gain and broken the laws they’re meant to uphold. This subject proposes executing Wei Yuan to serve as a warning to the Night Watchmen and to purge this corrupt atmosphere.”
Immediately, several officials seconded the motion.
Emperor Yuanjing glanced at Wei Yuan, who was admitting guilt and accepting punishment and said in a deep voice, “This case will be jointly handled by the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Prefecture. I want results within three days.”
The meeting concluded.
South Palace Qianrou followed behind Wei Yuan with a gloomy expression. They hadn’t walked far when they heard someone call out from behind, “Lord Wei, please wait.”
The father and son stopped and turned around. The one who caught up was the Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, dressed in a dark red robe embroidered with clouds and wild geese, befitting his fourth-rank official status.
Like the Prefect of the Capital, the Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review was an official whose position wasn’t considered very high, but who wielded enormous power and carried great weight.
In the capital, an official’s status and influence were never determined by rank, but by how much power they held.
Even the nobility, who were above official ranks, had been pushed to the margins of the power stage.
This white-haired old man with a thin face smiled and cupped his hands in greeting, “This official would like to inquire about the details of those wanted criminals on the list from Lord Wei.”
Wei Yuan nodded without showing any emotion, “I’ll have someone send a copy to the Court of Judicial Review later.”
The Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile, “There’s one more thing. This official sees that Golden Gong Zhu is a talented person, upright and incorruptible. I’d like to transfer him to the Court of Judicial Review. This official will report to His Majesty shortly, but wanted to give Lord Wei a heads up first.”
Seeing Wei Yuan still calm, the Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review took a few steps forward and said, “Lord Wei knows what this official wants.”
Wei Yuan smiled, “The exchange is not a loss.”
The Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review watched Wei Yuan’s retreating figure with a gloomy expression.
Returning to the carriage, South Palace Qianrou drove towards the Night Watchmen’s Office. In the carriage, Wei Yuan rubbed his brow and sighed deeply:
“I misjudged, I misjudged…”
South Palace Qianrou sneered, “Adoptive Father, you knew he might have ulterior motives, yet you insisted on remembering old friendship. Now look what’s happened. This isn’t just a simple loss of troops and generals for you.”
In the Night Watchmen’s Office, apart from the foolishly loyal like Li Yuchun, there were also inflexible martial arts fanatics like Yang Yan, who had no interest in beauty or money.
Then there were obsessive types like South Palace Qianrou, who liked to spend all day in the dungeons torturing death row inmates, not caring for money, and as for women… are they as beautiful as me?
“Should we kill him?” South Palace Qianrou said resentfully.
“Settling accounts waits until after autumn,” Wei Yuan replied calmly.
They rode in silence as South Palace Qianrou drove the carriage through the market and into a quiet street. She continued, “Although this matter wasn’t because of that kid, he was the trigger. Adoptive Father, you could have avoided this originally. Is that kid worth such high regard from you?”
“There are many Golden Gongs, but only one person so interesting. I look forward to his growth,” Wei Yuan chuckled lightly, then changed the subject:
“Our Emperor, you see, won’t feel at ease letting me grow too powerful.”
At this point, Wei Yuan finally showed a trace of gloom.
“The Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review just wanted to exchange that list for the secret letter in Adoptive Father’s possession. Why did you refuse?” South Palace Qianrou asked.
She knew that her adoptive father’s last words, “The exchange is not a loss,” weren’t agreeing to the Chief Minister’s exchange, but deciding to painfully give up the Golden and Silver Gongs, resulting in mutual destruction.
Silence was the only response.
This year is truly eventful, no, every imperial examination is a time of great upheaval. The team that Adoptive Father has painstakingly cultivated will inevitably suffer greatly this time… South Palace Qianrou sighed.
Every imperial examination has its victors, and the Wang faction rose to prominence in the last one. But one thing is unavoidable: when the examination ends, all factions suffer heavy losses. Even the victors win at a great cost.
“When we get back to the office, go find Xu Qi An and tell him to lay low for a few days. I’ll find a way to keep him out of this.”
“Yes,” South Palace Qianrou nodded sourly.
…
At dusk, Xu Qi An, who had finished house viewing early, spent an hour accompanying Chu Caiwei shopping, buying whatever tasty treats they came across.
The beautiful big-eyed girl was in high spirits, enjoying herself immensely, with a sweet smile constantly on her face.
Shopping is indeed more tiring than fighting. This fatigue isn’t physical, but mental… Xu Qi An let out a breath. As long as this woman is happy, a bit of tiredness is worth it.
In his previous life, he had heard a saying: there are 70 ways to please a girl, one is shopping, and the rest are 69.
Xu Qi An couldn’t implement the latter, so he couldn’t verify it, but shopping certainly had good results.
Entering Guiyue Tower, they ordered a sumptuous dinner worth five taels of silver. To get his money’s worth, Xu Qi An ate heartily, competing with Chu Caiwei.
At this moment, a feeling of unease came over him.
He discreetly stopped eating and took out the small jade mirror to check the information.
[One: Something has happened at the Night Watchmen’s Office. Golden Gong Zhu Yang reported Wei Yuan for corruption. This case involves four Golden Gongs, twelve Silver Gongs, and thirty Bronze Gongs. It’s being jointly handled by the Prefecture, the Ministry of Justice, and the Court of Judicial Review. Does this mean Wei Yuan is about to fall out of favor and be overthrown during the imperial examination period?]
Zhu Yang turned traitor… the report implicates so many people… Xu Qi An stared at the text information on the mirror’s surface, his heart surging with shock.
During this period, the factional struggles in the capital had been fierce, with victories and defeats on all sides. Because Xu Qi An wasn’t of high enough rank, he had treated it as a casual conversation topic, listening but not paying much attention.
He had originally thought that due to the Night Watchmen’s special position, they could navigate this storm steadily without being affected by the power struggles. But it seems he still didn’t understand enough about the court situation and factional conflicts.
“As a Golden Gong, Zhu Yang must have a lot of dirt on the Night Watchmen. Now that he’s suddenly rebelled, the Night Watchmen are probably going to suffer greatly.”
“If I’m not mistaken, it’s probably because of me. I heard that Silver Gong Zhu’s internal organs were damaged by that sword strike, leaving him with a chronic condition, with no hope for his martial arts future. Yet not only am I unharmed, but I’ve been promoted with a pay raise.”
“…Indeed, if I were Emperor Yuanjing, I definitely wouldn’t watch Wei Yuan grow too powerful. From the tax silver case to the Sangbo case, and then to the struggles of this period, the civil official factions have been fighting like dogs, while the nobility has remained largely intact. But that’s because they don’t have enough power in their hands, they don’t have the confidence to engage in infighting.”
“Wei Yuan told me that currently at court, the Wang faction and the Night Watchmen are the strongest. Now the Wang faction has suffered losses. The eunuch faction represented by Wei Yuan will need to be weakened.”
“As a small Bronze Gong, I should… Damn it, Zhu Yang wouldn’t let me off the hook.”
As thoughts flashed through Xu Qi An’s mind, Number Four, who had once served in the court, transmitted: [Corruption is just a superficial pretext. If we’re talking about corruption, with Wei Yuan managing the Night Watchmen, how could they be as unsightly as those beasts in human clothing in the court?
[Emperor Yuanjing is just using this opportunity to suppress Wei Yuan a bit.]
Number Four, worthy of being an old hand in officialdom, analyzes the situation incisively from thousands of miles away… This is similar to what I thought… Eh? With Number One’s level, shouldn’t he see through such a simple truth? How could he ask such a foolish question… Xu Qi An input the information:
[If it’s Emperor Yuanjing’s intention, then Wei Yuan is powerless, right? He’ll have to sacrifice these subordinates no matter what.]
[Four: Hehe, that depends on the attitudes of Emperor Yuanjing and Wei Yuan. If it’s just corruption, the punishment won’t be too severe, but there will be a batch of people expelled from the office.]
Disciplinary review is it… Xu Qi An suddenly worried about his future.
“What are you writing and drawing in that mirror?” Chu Caiwei asked, eating a braised pork trotter.
So women are all pig trotters… Xu Qi An put away the mirror and said, “It’s nothing. After we finish eating, let’s go check out that haunted house.”
No matter what, let’s buy the house first. Owning a piece of real estate is more important than anything else.
I have a good relationship with Prefect Chen of the Prefecture… If I’m really on the list, I’m not afraid of going to the Prefecture, but I’m afraid of ending up in the Ministry of Justice’s prison… I haven’t embezzled anything, but the facts don’t matter… If worst comes to worst, I’ll disappear for a few days. I’ll ask Wei Yuan how to arrange things tomorrow morning.
Leaving Guiyue Tower, Xu Qi An handed the small jade mirror to Chu Caiwei, “Help me keep this for a few days.”
“Oh,” Chu Caiwei took it and casually tucked it into the deerskin pouch at her left waist.
After nightfall, they arrived at the haunted house and climbed over the wall to enter.
“Can you tell me now? Why did we have to come at night?”
Their footsteps echoed in the desolate abandoned house. There was no wind tonight, and in the depths of winter, there were no insect sounds. It was terrifyingly quiet.
Chu Caiwei, holding a candied haw stick, said in a clear voice, “During the day, when yang energy is abundant, the female ghost in the well won’t appear. To eliminate her, we have to wait for her to come out.”
“Also, I suspect there’s something strange at the bottom of the well. I plan to go down and take a look later.”
Go down and take a look… Xu Qi An, who had thalassophobia, immediately became cowardly, especially knowing there was something strange at the bottom of the well.
They waited and waited as the night grew deeper. Chu Caiwei said puzzledly, “Let’s just go down directly. Are you coming or not?”
“I’m not going… but I’m worried about you jumping into the well alone.”
Chu Caiwei nodded, supported herself on the well’s edge, and plunged in with a splash.
This silly girl was still very timid when listening to ghost stories… Xu Qi An gripped his black gold long saber and followed her into the well. The well water was icy cold. He saw a glimmer of light ahead, illuminating the graceful figure of the girl in the yellow dress. She twisted her waist in the water, like an agile mermaid.
That glimmer of light came from the Eight Trigrams disc at her waist.
After swimming for about ten minutes, Xu Qi An suddenly saw Chu Caiwei stop. She took off the Eight Trigrams disc from her waist, as if confronting something.
Xu Qi An swam over and, in the light cast by the Eight Trigrams disc, saw a woman in white crouching at the bottom of the well.
She seemed to sense something too and slowly raised her head to look at them. It was a face with mangled flesh, an eyeball hanging on the cheek, and maggots writhing in the dark, empty eye sockets.