Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 391: No Need to Be Direct
Zhu Ji came out of Liu's house and immediately returned to the Beizhenfusi Yamen.

Before he reached the yamen gate, someone came to inform him that Wei Tai, the former eunuch in charge of the Eastern Depot and now the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, was waiting for him inside.

Zhu Ji was shocked.

Regardless of whether Wei Tai is the current governor of the East Factory, the future director of the factory will most likely be a eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, who will be Wei Tai's subordinate.

"Greetings to Eunuch Wei."

Zhu Ji hurried in and said he was here to pay his respects, but he actually knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

Wei Tai sat there, holding the teacup in his hand, but not drinking the tea.

At this time, there was a person standing next to him, who was Qin Chang's nephew Qin Yun.

Although Qin Yun was only a centurion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he was of good family background after all. In addition, Qin Yun had a close relationship with the Crown Princess's family and was ordered to protect and monitor them closely many times. In addition, Qin Yun's uncle Qin Chang was Wei Tai's superior. Even if he was only a centurion, he could accompany Wei Tai when he visited.

"Get up."

At this point, Wei Tai put down his tea bowl, stared at Zhu Ji with a sharp gaze, and said, "I came here to ask about the progress of the Tongzhou warehouse case... Tell me about it."

Zhu Ji stood up and his eyes fell on Mou Bin, a captain of the Jinyiwei who was standing by and interrogating the criminals. He couldn't help but wonder, could it be that he had already told everything to Mr. Yin in front of him before I came back? If that was the case, anything I said would be superfluous and even cover up the suspicion!
Seeing that Zhu Ji did not answer for a while, Wei Tai frowned and asked, "Why, the suspects haven't appeared yet?"

Zhu Ji said: "All the people have been arrested."

"Is it because they refuse to confess? Or is it because there are too many people and their statements are too diverse, so you can't summarize them all at once?" Wei Tai was very familiar with the character of this group of people, so he first gave Zhu Ji a way out.

Zhu Ji quickly said, "In reply to Eunuch Wei, those people did confess, but it is difficult to form a complete chain of evidence. We are now collecting physical evidence."

"hehe."

Wei Tai sneered and said sarcastically, "You are such an interesting person... This is a corruption case. The so-called evidence, is it to find the account books where they embezzled money and grain? Will they leave you physical evidence? Or do you think that finding some money and grain and pointing to it proves that they embezzled it?"

When Zhu Ji heard this, he knew that Wei Tai came with anger.

At least during the period when Wei Tai was promoted to the position of the Chief of Imperial Household Department, he, as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, did not go to pay a visit, nor did he send a gift to congratulate him, which seemed very impolite.

And this time he obviously intended to follow Wei Tai's words and find a way out for himself, so it would be strange if he could get Wei Tai's goodwill.

Zhu Ji could only adopt a businesslike attitude and said, "I am still investigating."

Wei Tai frowned and said, "I am asking on behalf of His Majesty... If you have found anything, you can tell me everything..."

Zhu Ji's face turned ugly, and then he said: "Some criminals have pointed their spearheads at the deceased Ministry of Revenue Left Vice Minister Sun Ren, saying that there is a small circle behind him, and many officials have joined it. Some also said that the former Imperial Horse Supervisor Liang Fang was the mastermind, and that Nanjing garrison eunuch Qian Neng and others were accomplices..."

Wei Tai nodded slightly, stretched out his hand and said, "Since you have the confession, bring it here for us to see."

Obviously, this was not the first time that Wei Tai had dealt with the Jinyiwei. As the former head of the East Depot, he would not be fooled by Zhu Ji's tricks.

It's no use just talking. I know you're not honest, so I can only look at the evidence of the signature.

"Come here, take out the confession and show it to Lord Wei."

When Zhu Ji said this, he turned deliberately towards Mou Bin, his eyes were as cold as a knife, and the implication could not be more obvious.

I asked you to go and get them, but based on my answer just now, you have to select carefully which ones can be shown to your superiors and which ones cannot be shown, and don't cause any trouble for me.

……

……

Mou Bin knows how to get things done.

Not long after, a stack of confessions was taken out and carefully handed to Wei Tai.

Wei Tai actually just flipped through it casually. He didn't bother to strictly read the contents of these confessions. He knew very well that interrogations in the imperial prison were mostly just a formality. Basically, they would first determine the facts for you, and then beat and torture you, and then you could only confess according to what we said.

For ordinary civil officials, this method is effective all the time.

Civil officials in the imperial court were all very tough, but once they were in the imperial prison, no matter what their integrity was, they would immediately become obedient after being severely beaten, because dying there would not fulfill their reputation, and others would not know whether they had any integrity in prison.

Because the imperial prison is a place where secret operations are carried out, leaving here early and being exiled to the Sanfashi Yamen may give one a glimmer of hope.

"Good."

Wei Tai quickly read the confession and handed it back to Mou Bin, saying, "Give me a detailed list, focusing on the key points. I will present it to His Majesty for review tomorrow... Do you know what to do?"

"Yes."

Mou Bin was terrified.

The evidence brought over was all insignificant. At least there was no confession attributed to Wan'an and Liu Ji. Even those involving the Minister of Revenue Li Min or some senior officials of political factions in the court were suppressed.

But if the case is reported to the emperor tomorrow, it will be a big problem.

If the emperor sent people to investigate in detail and found that things were different from what they reported, the ones who would be in trouble would definitely not be Zhu Ji, but those who actually did the work.

To put it bluntly, when something happens, someone has to take the blame.

How could a superior like Zhu Ji carry it himself?

……

……

Wei Tai seemed like a careless person who knew nothing about the world. He walked away without even asking about the case or investigating the files.

But his departure made the entire Jinyiwei very uncomfortable.

"Your Excellency the Governor." After seeing Wei Tai off, Mou Bin quickly looked at Zhu Ji for help.

Zhu Ji frowned and asked, "What did you show him?"

Mou Bin pointed at the confession and said, "Governor, please take a look yourself."

Zhu Ji said angrily, "It's dark, what do you want me to see? Didn't you understand what the old man said? It doesn't matter whether you can fool him now or not. If you deceive Your Majesty tomorrow, this matter will definitely not end."

Do I need you to say that?
Mou Bin thought, what you mean is that you are going to pass the blame to us?

“How should the summary be presented?”

Mou Bin asked, "This matter involves the cabinet and a number of factions. Even Minister Zhou of the Ministry of Rites is involved in the case, but there is no evidence other than the confession. We have not sent anyone to Tongzhou to investigate in detail. At this critical juncture, His Majesty wants to hear a report on the case. I am afraid we cannot handle it."

Zhu Ji's face was extremely cold at this time.

He looked up at the dark night sky and frowned, "Your Majesty, why is it that you want to investigate the case at this critical moment? Knowing that you can't find out the truth, you still want to make some noise? Who are you trying to warn?"

Mou Bin thought, is this just a warning to you and our Jinyiwei?
Zhu Ji said: "We have considerable power, but we cannot expand the case without reason. During the period when His Majesty is seriously ill, the court should focus on stability. It is not a good idea to involve too many people.

"Go and make a summary of these confessions and write a memorial. I will give it to Eunuch Wei tomorrow and he will submit it."

Mou Bin sighed inwardly, it is better to give the most difficult task to me, so that if something goes wrong, it will be convenient for you to shirk the responsibility.

……

……

The next morning, when Wang Ji was examining the emperor's pulse alone, Wei Tai came to the inner hall of the Qianqing Palace with the progress of the case reported by the Jinyiwei.

"Just tell me if you have anything to say."

Zhu Jianshen did not shy away from having doctors present.

At least Li Zisheng and Zhang Luan, who were involved in the incident, were not there, so the emperor didn't think it was a big deal to talk about the Tongzhou warehouse case.

Wei Tai reported: "Your Majesty, only some small fish and shrimps have been caught, and no big fish have been caught."

When Wang Ji heard this, he wondered what bird language this was.
Are you deliberately not telling me what it is, so that I won't get to know about it and spread it?
By the way, do I have the courage to spread it?
Zhu Jianshen asked angrily: "How is this possible? We have arrested so many people, but we can't get anything useful out of them?"

Wei Tai said helplessly: "Some people are deliberately pushing the blame on the dead and those who have lost their power."

"Like...?"

Zhu Jianshen frowned.

"They said that the Tongzhou warehouse deficit case was masterminded by Sun Ren, the left vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and Liang Fang also frequently intervened behind the scenes, so that no one dared to report the embezzlement of warehouse funds." Wei Tai said.

"Humph, they are not going to say that I have spent all this money, are they?" Zhu Jianshen was very angry. "These people are good at shirking responsibility. Are they deliberately trying to make a big deal out of a small matter? Don't they know that this is the first court matter I have given the Crown Prince to do? Do I want the Crown Prince to prove himself?"

Wei Tai said: "I don't know what they think."

Now Wang Ji's mood was a little strange.

Is love matter so serious?
Does it also concern the prince?

If this is true, it will also be related to Zhang Taichang, and it will be inconvenient for me to be here.

"Your Majesty, I have finished taking your pulse. You may leave now."

Wang Ji stood up and was about to leave.

"No need."

Zhu Jianshen said, "Take a closer look."

"Yes."

Wang Ji thought, you are a patient who doesn't cooperate at all. You always scare me with things, and you still want me to take a closer look? What can I see?

After taking a look, isn't that the case with your condition?
I diagnose you every day, but I can’t find anything new!

Zhu Jianshen asked, "How did the prince react?"

"The prince...still leaves the palace every day to investigate cases."

Wei Tai said, "But I only go to see Zhang Taichang occasionally."

"Didn't he go to Li Zi's government office?" Zhu Jianshen asked.

"Never before."

Wei Tai said, "It seems that the prince and Master Li do not know each other. They have never had any contact with each other."

When Zhu Jianshen heard this, his face looked somewhat relieved.

This fully demonstrated that his son was very sensible and knew that getting close to Li Zisheng now would only bring him trouble.

Zhu Jianshen asked, "Did Li Zisheng take the initiative to contact the Crown Prince? For example, did he try to find a way to help the Crown Prince?"

Wei Tai said, "No. But whether the message was passed secretly through Zhang Taichang, I don't know."

The implication is that if there is any connection between Li Zisheng and the Crown Prince, it must be through Zhang Luan, and the middleman must be this old guy.

Zhu Jianshen smiled and said, "Zhang Luan is the prince's father-in-law anyway. Using his connections is the same as not using him. Send the results of the trial to the prince and let him make his own decision. Ahem! That's enough. I feel better now. You can all leave now."

(End of this chapter)