Chapter 64 - 1#

News of the Minister of War’s accident quickly reached the court. With the military pay case about to be retried, who would suddenly make a move against the Minister of War? And what did Commander Qi manage to uncover from the Minister of War’s residence?#

“Is the assassination attempt real?”

“It’s real. The emperor specially allowed imperial physicians from the Imperial Hospital to attend to him. It’s said that the Minister of War has lost consciousness,” a minor official whispered. “Now the Embroidered Uniform Guard is watching over him strictly. Only the physicians can enter or leave. They say he’s delirious, unconscious most of the time, and they haven’t even found the cause…”

Court officials all had their own informants. Places like the Imperial Hospital had even more hidden lines.

When the medical records of Imperial Physician Chu from the Imperial Hospital were released, the informants lurking there had already transmitted this intelligence in full. Everyone knew that the Minister of War was in poor health—it was said to be an old ailment left over from earlier years. Yet he was still fairly sturdy, remaining firmly in his post even when seriously ill.

For someone like that to suddenly lose consciousness… who had made a move against him?

The court officials exchanged subtle glances, each hiding their thoughts.

“Grand Secretary, here are the medical records from the Imperial Hospital.” Inside the Xu residence, a secret agent slipped in and handed the documents to Grand Secretary Xu.

Compared to his usual demeanor, Grand Secretary Xu wore a darker expression. Ever since the Ministry of Works incident, he had discarded his usual informants and activated a long-dormant asset. The message came from an agent who had been stationed in the Imperial Hospital for years. These medical records could not be fake—the Minister of War had truly been struck down…

Grand Secretary Xu’s expression shifted slightly. “Was it from an existing illness, or caused by the assassination?”

As early as last year, he had received intelligence that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had placed undercover operatives in the Minister of War’s residence to protect him. The Minister of War had already been in bad shape by then.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard’s actions were too sudden, and the emperor’s subsequent attitude was ambiguous.

Having spent years in court, Grand Secretary Xu had a keener sense for certain matters. He asked directly, “Is it poison?”

“As for whether he had already fallen unconscious before the assassination, that is still inconclusive,” the agent whispered. “The only thing certain is that among the causes of his coma, there is poison.”

Poison that even the imperial physicians couldn’t solve… from the previous dynasty.

Grand Secretary Xu immediately realized something. Last year’s incident had been due to a suspected mole from the previous dynasty appearing in the palace during the Crown Prince assassination case. Now, the previous dynasty’s palace had a department highly skilled in poison. The poison used against Consort Ning’s crushed red seeds had originated from that secret branch. The same situation had appeared again. No wonder the Embroidered Uniform Guard was being evasive… They were using the Minister of War incident as bait to reel in the moles.

Grand Secretary Xu’s expression tightened.

“Grand Secretary, what should we do?”

Grand Secretary Xu said in a low voice, “Wait.”

Outside both the Xu residence and the Minister of War’s residence, the Embroidered Uniform Guard agents who had been watching for a long time signaled to withdraw their operatives.

The mastermind was clever. They wouldn’t act rashly on such a trap, and even the Xu family remained motionless.

News of Qi Hanzhou’s actions had already reached Ying Fusheng’s ears. He was staying at Wanchun Hall that night, closer to the Qianqing Palace. The moment the report of Qi Hanzhou’s entry into the palace arrived, he knew about it.

“There have been no extra movements from the Xu residence. Grand Secretary Xu should have received the news. As for the Eastern Palace’s eyes, they’ve entered and left the Xu residence a few times, but otherwise, there’s been no other activity.” Ye Xuanjiu, entrusted by Qi Hanzhou, came to relay the message.

“The eyes haven’t moved?” Ying Fusheng asked again.

Ye Xuanjiu: “They haven’t.”

But if the eyes didn’t move, wouldn’t their efforts in planting false evidence in the Minister of War’s residence be wasted?

That false evidence couldn’t withstand scrutiny. If it wasn’t used, it would be pointless.

Ye Xuanjiu frowned. Now everyone knew that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had uncovered evidence from the Minister of War’s residence. If they didn’t produce it, how could they convince the public? “If the eyes don’t move, the evidence is useless. Then, in the eyes of those old foxes, this will look like a trap.”

“Who said everything we did was fake?” Ying Fusheng said softly. “This assassination is real, because the Minister of War really has lost consciousness.”

Everyone knew the Minister of War was gravely ill, but the news that he had already lost consciousness had been blocked in advance by the emperor and the Embroidered Uniform Guard. So very few people in court actually knew.

If the assassination was real, was the evidence real or fake?

Truth mixed with falsehood was the hardest to distinguish. As long as one part of the matter was true, those people would go investigate it.

“Do you know what those cautious old foxes fear most?” Ying Fusheng half-lowered his eyes, candlelight flickering in his pupils. He sat there in his robes, and his words sent a chill down the spine.

“Loss of control.”

…

Three days into the Minister of War case, physicians frequented the minister’s residence, their expressions grave.

Court officials kept a close watch but dared not make a move. On the court floor, the clever ones waited for the Embroidered Uniform Guard to reveal something—even the slightest hint would allow them to gauge the emperor’s intent.

But nothing happened. The Embroidered Uniform Guard members all wore stern faces, and the emperor said little on the court. The only activity was within the Court of Judicial Review, the Censorate, and the Ministry of War, where officials were continuously visited by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and several were even taken into the garrison’s imperial prison.

If it had been a grand commotion, it might have been easier to handle. But the silent, restrained approach made the matter even more unfathomable.

Inside the Xu residence, when the Minister of Works visited for the third time, an undercover agent was rooted out.

The spies hidden in the Xu residence began to notice something unusual. That old fox Xu had started an internal investigation, flushing out several servants planted inside the residence. This indicated that the old fox had sensed something was wrong and was now purging his own faction’s officials and informants.

The agents stayed put. Losing a few people to calm the old fox’s suspicions was a small price.

The Ministry of Works case had already exposed some of the agents’ arrangements to the Xu family. If they hid too deep, it would only make Grand Secretary Xu more suspicious. They still needed the Xu family to carry out their plans. Stabilizing Xu was crucial.

As long as the Xu family held steady and the military pay case didn’t burn them… the key question was: what exactly did the Embroidered Uniform Guard want?

Just as they were pondering the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s next move, bad news came from the court—

“The First Prince has gone to Prince Yongjia’s mansion.”

“Vice Minister of War Hu Buyu has entered the palace to see the emperor.”

“A local prefect appears to be coming to the capital with a new case!”

Suddenly, a flood of mixed rumors filled the court. Various small pieces of news forced different factions into involuntary motion. The old foxes knew someone must be manipulating the Minister of War case from behind, yet they couldn’t simply wait and watch.

No one dared to gamble on what the Embroidered Uniform Guard had actually uncovered. Everyone knew how closely the court was watching the military pay case. Whoever it landed on would face disaster.

By the tenth day of the Minister of War case, the first court petition appeared: an official accused a Ministry of Works official of colluding with a local prefect to deliberately delay court messages. Not long after, a second case emerged: the Vice Minister of Revenue was allegedly visiting a key Ministry of War official’s residence frequently, for reasons unknown.

In the midst of this eerie silence, the Embroidered Uniform Guard suddenly visited the Ministry of Works and, without a word, arrested a Ministry of Works official. The civil officials present tightened their expressions. Everyone remembered how the Ministry of Works had cooperated fully with the Ministry of War in tracing evidence during the military pay investigation. Yet now, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had arrested someone from the Ministry of Works before even touching the Ministry of War.

Minister of Works Zhou Bingjun’s face was dark. Since the Riverbank Slope case, the Ministry of Works had already lost too many officials’ authority. The Ministry of Personnel and Ministry of Revenue had been interfering in its affairs constantly. Given the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s style, they wouldn’t arrest someone without solid evidence or leads. The arrested official was a Crown Prince loyalist, someone who hadn’t been purged in the previous Riverbank Slope case and was generally considered steady in his duties. If they were going to arrest anyone, it shouldn’t have been him.

“Our people have word that something serious was found in his residence.”

This wasn’t the first time. During the Ministry of Works accounts case, two items had surfaced that weren’t recorded in the ministry’s secret ledgers. The deceased Chief Steward of the Court of the Imperial Stud had indeed been a Crown Prince loyalist, and the Ministry of Works had sometimes facilitated things for him—but everyone involved knew the limits, and they had proper contingency plans. Yet that time, the discovered items weren’t among those plans.

The Riverbank Slope affair had fallen apart too quickly, and it was connected to the Eastern Palace.

How could they not know? There were moles hidden in the Ministry of Works and the Crown Prince’s faction. Someone was framing them!

“Bad news, Your Excellency! The Court of Judicial Review seems to have extracted something!”

Everyone knew the close relationship between the Court of Judicial Review and the Embroidered Uniform Guard. No sooner had the arrested official been taken to the Guard than the Court of Judicial Review began producing results. The Minister of Works hurried over to find that the court was reviewing some scattered cases. The Jade Beast Statue case had started as a minor matter, only to balloon into a major Ministry of Works scandal.

Now, whatever case the Court of Judicial Review was handling, informants from every ministry swarmed in.

“It’s several postal relay station cases within the Ministry of War, brought to the capital for trial and linked to several past construction projects handled by the Ministry of Works,” someone reported, his face pale. “But, Your Excellency, the Court of Judicial Review didn’t submit the cases to the Censorate or the Ministry of Justice for review. They seem to have handed them directly to the Embroidered Uniform Guard.”

The Minister of Works sensed something wrong immediately.

Only cases directly handled by the Embroidered Uniform Guard could bypass regular evidence review.

If someone with ulterior motives used this to target the Ministry of Works, even if they had done nothing wrong, they’d be in trouble. Everyone understood court intrigues—framing, shifting blame, leading the fire elsewhere. Right now, the entire court hoped the military pay case would die down. The only way for that to happen was to find a new real culprit.