Chapter 60#

This was merely the tip of the iceberg of court factional strife. No matter how the River Slope incident unfolded, the outcome presented at court was that the Crown Prince had vigorously pushed forward the River Slope pipeline project, but due to the Ministry of Revenue’s negligence and other factors, the nearly completed River Slope official road ended in failure.#

With this conclusion reached, the people in the private room fell silent.

The Crown Prince’s thirst for grand achievements and the Xu family’s covert maneuvering had resulted in the deaths of the River Slope artisans.

“Expose the corruption in the Ministry of Works,” Shen Yunfei said, extremely indignant.

Ye Xuanjiu shook his head: “If you reveal this, it won’t affect the Xu family.”

“If they had done this in advance…” Weng Yanqing, having come to understand the Xu family’s thoroughness in handling matters over this period, said, “Do you think the Xu family wouldn’t have taken precautions against something you could so easily find out? A human trafficker who can’t keep their mouth shut—the Xu family is well aware of that.”

Information obtained from human traffickers on the street was unreliable. It could only suggest a situation existed but couldn’t be used as evidence. This matter passed through the Ministry of Works. If corruption within the Ministry of Works were uncovered, for these cunning old foxes, at most they would lose another Vice Minister or Attendant. The Ministry of Works would still be there, and someone else could easily fill the position.

Moreover, the Xu family’s reputation was established—among civil officials and among the common people. It was the accumulation of two dynasties that had made them a family whose network of power spread throughout the court and countryside.

Shen Yunfei suddenly understood: “We can go find the artisans. Their testimonies should be usable, right?”

Ye Xuanjiu frowned: “Which artisans? None of those at River Slope survived.”

Whether the River Slope project could be completed, the Ministry of Works had countless reasons to prove it could be done.

But those who were truly in that situation were the artisans. The bodies of the River Slope artisans might never be recovered. How could they ask these artisans about anything? The Xu family’s move was truly ruthless—people dead, some things simply couldn’t be investigated.

“Then expose it anyway,” Ying Fusheng said, watching the common people coming and going outside the restaurant. “Also, go investigate. Look into other artisan cases, combine them all, and submit this to the Court of Judicial Review. Cause as much uproar as possible.”

Shen Yunfei turned and left. Ye Xuanjiu looked puzzled.

Weng Yanqing hesitated, then looked at Ying Fusheng: “Wouldn’t the Ministry of Works guard against these cases?”

“The Ministry of Works’ artisans include more than just those building pipelines. Investigate the other cases as well,” Ying Fusheng said, looking at Weng Yanqing. “Especially those cases that might have left traces in the Ministry of War.”

Ying Fusheng stood up. He instructed the restaurant staff to settle the old woman and then prepared to return to the palace.

Before he even reached the palace gates, news was already spreading on the streets that the Emperor had invited Grand Secretary Xu back to the Cabinet to handle the River Slope matter. When this news reached the common people, everyone rejoiced. In their eyes, Grand Secretary Xu’s return to the Cabinet would surely mobilize the civil officials to think of the people, and the villages near River Slope would be saved.

“As things stand now, it seems nothing can stop Grand Secretary Xu from returning to the Cabinet,” Song An said.

Ying Fusheng lowered his eyes. Destroying River Slope had also provided the Xu family with a good pretext to gain fame and merit. When the Crown Prince had boasted in court about building the River Slope pipeline, the Xu family had already calculated the interests behind it. He suspected that the Xu family members were already quietly handling the River Slope matter.

As soon as he entered the palace, Chen Xūqiū was already waiting for him.

She had been in the palace and could hear some rumors.

Chen Xūqiū performed acupuncture to draw out the poison, keeping it hidden from the imperial physicians. Black toxic blood was released from the tips of his fingers, drawn out from deep within his organs, only a few drops at a time. An ordinary person suffering such pain during detoxification would have long since been unable to bear it. But this prince before her, though still young, could endure it all without changing his expression.

She carefully removed the toxic blood, her peripheral vision falling on Ying Fusheng. His brow didn’t even furrow.

Just then, a sound came from the window. She turned and saw Qi Hanzhou climbing in through the window.

Qi Hanzhou had received a message from Ye Xuanjiu. When he arrived late at night at the side hall of Cining Palace, the candles were still lit. He saw Chen Xūqiū look up and only then remembered there was a jianghu person in the hall.

Chen Xūqiū silently withdrew the needle and left. “Your Highness needs to rest quietly these two days.”

These two always met by climbing through the window late at night. One might think they were having a secret rendezvous.

Seeming to hear a sound, Ying Fusheng finally looked up. He hadn’t been in good spirits lately. Chen Xūqiū had blocked his acupuncture meridians, and even the things he kept hidden under his pillow had been found by Song An. So whenever Chen Xūqiū was present, he had no choice but to obediently listen to advice.

As soon as he saw Qi Hanzhou, he knew why he had come.

“Grand Secretary Xu returning to the Cabinet is something Father Emperor had no choice but to allow. He will become suspicious about the River Slope matter and will order you to investigate it,” Ying Fusheng said, looking at him. “You must investigate, but not through the Xu family. With his abilities, he won’t let you find anything. Only by investigating according to Father Emperor’s wishes will the authority of the Embroidered Uniform Guard truly fall into your hands.”

Though he was not in the court, he seemed to know everything.

“What do you want the Embroidered Uniform Guard to investigate?” Qi Hanzhou asked.

Ying Fusheng smiled faintly: “I thought the Young General would ask me if I was trying to use the Embroidered Uniform Guard to fuel factional strife.”

“Shuang Yue’s death made the person behind the scenes afraid to act. He doesn’t dare to move, but others do,” Ying Fusheng’s thoughts were very clear. “For now, it seems he has been acting through the Xu family. Do you think the River Slope incident was within his expectations?”

Qi Hanzhou’s expression changed slightly. He looked deeply at Ying Fusheng.

“This person’s chess pieces might be scattered all over the court, but his movements are slow,” Ying Fusheng’s eyes flashed with a trace of coldness. “The Crown Prince promising the River Slope project in court was beyond his expectations.”

River Slope seemed to help the Xu family, but it also had its drawbacks—it would make the Emperor more wary of the Xu family.

With the conspirator’s strategy, if he had wanted to do the River Slope project, it would have been more foolproof. The promise the Crown Prince made exceeded both the Xu family’s and the conspirator’s calculations. So the Xu family could only use this to push forward, and the conspirator behind the Xu family couldn’t stop it either.

When facing an opponent who was good at lying low, patience was most important.

“This shows that his plan has gone awry due to losing Shuang Yue and other covert agents. He’s stretched thin and can’t attend to everything at once.”

So much so that the Crown Prince’s sudden move disrupted his plans.

Ying Fusheng said: “Young General, the opportunity has come.”

In the past few days, Chen Xūqiū had been drawing out his poison continuously, making Fusheng’s complexion even worse than usual, with a faint weariness. He leaned against the bed, speaking a little slower than usual, but his smile hadn’t changed. He always wore that hypocritical smile, a smile that never reached his eyes, hiding thoughts that no one could see behind that obedient face.

Just like now, revealing his most naked malice.

As if, in his eyes, transactions and interests had to be clearly calculated to avoid burdens.

Some people were desperate to be associated with the Qi family and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the closer the better. But every time Ying Fusheng cooperated with the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he gave them corresponding convenience in return, following the principle of mutual benefit.

“Who should I investigate?” Qi Hanzhou simply said.

Ying Fusheng replied: “The Eastern Palace.”

When the Ministry of Works was touched, those who were pushed forward were merely pawns on the chessboard.

But the only one connected to the Xu family and the conspirator’s layout was the Eastern Palace.

“The Xu family has reached its current position because its lower levels are an intricate web of relationships. We need to find irrefutable evidence,” Ying Fusheng said with a smile, but suddenly met Qi Hanzhou’s gaze, and his smile faltered slightly. Had he said something wrong? What was that expression on the man’s face?

“How old is Your Highness now?” Qi Hanzhou suddenly asked.

This question was so abrupt that Ying Fusheng looked a little surprised. He looked at Qi Hanzhou, trying to see something in his eyes, but only saw his own reflection.

He considered for a moment. The end of the year was approaching again. Once the New Year passed, he would soon be thirteen.

“Twelve? Thirteen?” Ying Fusheng looked a bit confused but still answered cautiously: “What does this have to do with the matter we’re discussing?”

Age was the least important thing to Ying Fusheng. It was his temporary shield, enough to allow him to maneuver while his wings were still not fully grown, to win the Emperor’s favor and trust, giving him an additional advantage in this game…

As he thought, a shadow appeared before him.

Qi Hanzhou suddenly leaned in, interrupting Ying Fusheng’s train of thought. The other man’s hand pressed on his shoulder. Before he could react, he was pushed onto the bed. As he touched the bedding behind him, accumulated fatigue suddenly surged forward. He looked up and met Qi Hanzhou’s gaze.

“You need to rest,” Qi Hanzhou said.

The candlelight flickered. A few stray strands of Qi Hanzhou’s hair fell, obscuring the darkness in his eyes. Ying Fusheng’s gaze flickered slightly, but he didn’t avoid those eyes. He let the man gently pull the quilt up to his neck, but the motion carried a force that couldn’t be shaken off.

Just like before.

Seeing that the person had quieted down, Qi Hanzhou brought the calming incense closer. The fatigue on Ying Fusheng’s face was undeniable. He still had things to say, but when the calming incense was brought closer, the lingering fragrance seemed to cover the nightmares deep in his memories. Shadows overlapped by the bed, and his words remained in his throat, unspoken.

Whether it was the person or the medicated incense, the forcibly held fatigue finally broke through his defenses. Ying Fusheng’s eyelids drooped slightly, and he finally fell into a deep sleep.

“Thank you, Young General,” Chen Xūqiū said as she entered. “The Sixth Prince has too many worries on his mind. He keeps the calming incense far away and often rests very late.”

Qi Hanzhou didn’t respond. He just lowered his head to look at the sleeping figure. He had lit the calming incense, and it hadn’t put him to sleep for a long time. Who knew how long he had been forcing himself to stay awake?

When Qi Hanzhou looked over, Chen Xūqiū’s expression tightened slightly, and then she said: “The poison from the crushed red seeds has been extracted. It’s also a poison from the previous dynasty, and as the Young General suspected, it appears to be a congenital poison.”

“I’m afraid the Sixth Prince’s weak constitution since childhood is not unrelated to this congenital poison,” Chen Xūqiū said.

“Is it not related to premature birth?” Qi Hanzhou asked.

When he asked this, his eyes were as sharp as a northern wolf. For a moment, Chen Xūqiū felt as if she was being seen through. Her heart tightened, and she said: “If I couldn’t distinguish between premature birth and congenital poison, I wouldn’t have been able to enter this palace.”

Qi Hanzhou withdrew his gaze. His peripheral vision fell on the resting Ying Fusheng, and then he turned and left.

As soon as he was gone, Chen Xūqiū’s expression relaxed slightly.

When Qi Hanzhou asked about the premature birth, she remembered what her grandmother had said before leaving for Jiangnan. Empress Xu had once taken the current Crown Prince to a thatched cottage for a consultation. The pulse diagnosis at that time had indicated deficiency during childbirth. Empress Xu had a difficult labor, so the pulse reading for the Crown Prince was consistent. Neither she nor her grandmother had doubted this. It wasn’t until she felt Ying Fusheng’s pulse and learned, after entering the palace, that the Crown Prince and the Sixth Prince were born on the same day.

A bizarre and terrifying thought emerged in her mind.

She concealed her shock and quietly withdrew.

After she had been gone for a long time, Ying Fusheng opened his eyes on the bed. He looked faintly at the lit calming incense beside him, stared for a long time, and then reached out to extinguish it.

Chen Xūqiū’s medicine—he had known it thoroughly since his previous life. “Same methods, no variation in approach.”

“Then again, they aren’t people from a previous life either.”

Ying Fusheng rose from the bed fully dressed. It was not yet time to rest.

Not far away, on the chessboard, the pieces belonging to the Xu family were scattered in chaos.

He stared deeply at this chaotic board. With the Xu family at the head, civil officials were scattered throughout the court. The court had just gone through corruption and the imperial examinations. Civil governance depended on these officials. So even his Father Emperor was constrained by this vast web.

The Xu family might once have been a pure faction, but the higher they climbed, the denser the web below them became.

Relying solely on pure connections, a family like the Xu family couldn’t have gathered such immense power… There must have been other secret ties and exchanges. The Xu family’s disciples and former students were spread across the Six Ministries. Empress Xu entered the central palace as empress. Female members married into the imperial clan. Members of the Xu family held key positions in the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Personnel. The Xu family was no longer a noble family relying solely on a pure reputation; it was a vast web woven with interests as bait, and even a slight move could shake the foundations of the court.

A trace of coldness appeared in his expression.

He wanted to move against the Crown Prince. With this alone, the bonds of blood between them would never lead to a good end.

Besides, some roots were already rotten to the core.

He had originally intended to observe for a while longer, but he hadn’t expected the River Slope incident to happen.

“Cleverness can overreach itself…”

What he wanted to investigate was not the accounts of the Ministry of Works.

-*

Grand Secretary Xu returned to the Cabinet and immediately set about handling the River Slope pipeline. The Crown Prince was particularly concerned about the disaster at River Slope. He repeatedly consulted with the Ministry of Works’ artisans to redesign the River Slope pipeline.

Ying Fusheng tacitly allowed the matter to be stirred up as much as possible. So the stories about the artisans and the human traffickers were spread by Shen Yunfei and others, and several artisan cases were submitted together to the Court of Judicial Review.

When the Court of Judicial Review saw the situation, they quickly forwarded the cases to the Censorate for joint trial.

When the accumulated artisan cases piled up on the Censorate’s desk, many imperial censors began to act. Xiao Yan, the head of the Censorate, looked at these files, hesitated for a moment, and then ordered a full investigation.

Due to the household registration issues, the Ministry of Revenue was repeatedly impeached. The faction of the First Prince did not sit idly by. After waiting a few days, the case of the Shuntian Prefecture magistrate’s artisan being cruelly killed was presented before the court. The Court of Judicial Review submitted it, and the First Prince immediately seized the opportunity, exposing the irregularities in the Ministry of Works’ standby labor costs, directly accusing them of corruption.

“How does the Ministry of Works explain this?” the First Prince condemned in court.

Eyes from all sides turned to Grand Secretary Xu. Grand Secretary Xu was silent for a long time before finally saying: “Your Majesty may not be aware, but civilian labor wages fluctuate with the work season. Those merchants are quite shrewd, so labor costs also change accordingly. The fees charged by the Ministry of Works to artisans are fixed. These are the accounts. Your Majesty can see clearly.”

The accounts clearly recorded the whereabouts of every transaction.

When labor wages increased, the fees for hiring through the Ministry of Works also increased.

Conversely, when they decreased, this surplus was retained by the Ministry of Works for emergencies.

The Xu family had come prepared. They had the accounts ready. With this clear ledger before them, anyone trying to make an issue of it couldn’t avoid this fact. The Ministry of Works even used this to explain why the standby fees had recently increased. They said the Ministry of Works had always been paying out of its own pocket to cover the shortfall. They had no choice. This time, because of the tight deadline and the Ministry of Revenue’s obstruction, there was no alternative but to adjust the standby fees.

“Father says the Ministry of Works’ accounts are clear. Censor-in-Chief Xiao of the Censorate personally verified them,” Shen Yunfei said, relaying the news from court. “The funds in the Ministry of Works’ treasury have also been checked one by one.”

Ying Fusheng listened and said: “Everything was checked thoroughly?”

“Yes,” Shen Yunfei hesitated upon hearing this: “Is there a problem?”

“Then it’s as I thought,” Ying Fusheng looked at Weng Yanqing and said softly: “Even the most careful plan has its flaws. That case can now be submitted to the Court of Judicial Review.”

…

In the Eastern Palace, news of the Ministry of Works’ incorruptibility reached the palace.

When the Crown Prince heard this, his mood lightened: “Elder Brother was trying to crush me to death. Over this period, there have been no problems with the Ministry of Works’ accounts. Now he’s mired in his own words. It only shows that the Ministry of Revenue wants to crush the Ministry of Works.”

Empress Xu was listening nearby. Seeing the Crown Prince’s confident demeanor, her expression turned somewhat gloomy: “You were wrong this time.”

“Mother, I originally wanted to complete the River Slope project. The Ministry of Works’ blueprints were fine too,” the Crown Prince tried to appease Empress Xu. “If Elder Brother hadn’t acted recklessly and falsified the headcount, how could this have happened?”

Before he could finish, a palace attendant hurriedly came to report: “Your Highness, a message from the Grand Secretary. He asks about the Jade Beast Statue.”

“What statue?” the Crown Prince hesitated.

Empress Xu frowned: “The gift you gave the Empress Dowager a few years ago.”

The Jade Beast Statue from the Eastern Palace. That gift had been a matter of years ago. At that time, he had secretly tasked the Ministry of Works with finding a jade carver to make it, but in the end, it had been nothing special. Mentioning it still annoyed him. Seeing the situation, he asked: “What’s wrong?”

Empress Xu’s expression changed slightly. She suddenly realized something: “You said you privately found a jade carver?”

At that time, how could the Crown Prince have made such arrangements? He was accustomed to handing everything over to others. Carving jade, especially a jade beast, would naturally require someone skilled from the Ministry of Works. “I gave it to the Ministry of Works…”

“Which account was it charged to?” Empress Xu asked: “Was it not from your treasury?”

The Crown Prince was momentarily at a loss for words: “I just gave the order. I don’t quite remember.”

Such a large piece of jade carving. When the Eastern Palace’s order reached the Ministry of Works, the officials there had already made the arrangements.

The jade carver was a Ministry of Works artisan. Where did the jade material come from? Who carved it? What were the labor costs?

With such a huge expenditure, it couldn’t have been recorded openly. And with the Crown Prince’s order, which official would dare to ask the Eastern Palace for money?

A Ministry of Works that had always claimed to be incorruptible—how could it have balanced such a huge account?!

The Crown Prince realized the problem and hurriedly ordered: “Quick, go find that account—”

Before he could finish, a voice came from outside the palace.

“Your Highness, something terrible has happened. The Embroidered Uniform Guard has arrived with the Emperor’s decree—the leader is Qi Hanzhou!”