Ink Burns

Chapter 236 What kind of filial piety is this?

The news of Chang Lin's detention was not reported for three consecutive days.

For some reason, Chang Lin's wife, Zhou Fangniang, did not go looking for him. It was only when the Ministry of Personnel was taking stock of the officials attending court that they discovered that the Marquis of Guanbei had been missing for three days. After several attempts to trace the clues, they finally found the Censorate.

Despite the Chang family's questioning, the Censorate remained silent.

The Chang family members blocked the entrance to the Censorate. Xiao Po, a fourth-rank Vice Censor-in-Chief, came out with a smile, holding in one hand the decree of the Taizu Emperor on the Censorate, and in the other hand the issuing order he had signed, as well as the imperial petition from the Sun family in the southwest that had been transferred to the Censorate: "If the Chang family has any objections, they can ask the Emperor to issue an edict to protect them. Otherwise, they will have to step over me, the fourth-rank Vice Censor-in-Chief who is in charge of the Censorate."

Xiao Po's eyes crinkled into a smile, his expression harmless, and his tone eager: "However, I must remind you—if you dare to touch a fourth-rank official in the imperial court, you'll also have to go in and stand trial with the Marquis of Guanbei. Then, you'll be a complete family, all four corners together!"

Fuck your four-cornered perfection!

Chang Jiacai suddenly realized that Xiong Laowu and Fan Yi, who were sent to Jiangnan, were indeed the vanguards in blowing up the bunker, but the short-legged cat who stayed in the capital and had been hiding behind Xue Xiao was by no means a peaceful guardian beast!

Princess Jing'an entered the palace to meet the Emperor, only to be told that the Emperor was traveling incognito in Jizhou and was not in the capital. Princess Jing'an was furious. Holding back her anger, she broke her riding whip and lashed Wu Dajian, the Grand Eunuch accompanying Xu Quyan, three times. With a burst of strength, she uttered a harsh statement: "—On the fifteenth of July, the grand court will be held. Can the Emperor avoid the first day of the month and avoid the fifteenth?"

On the fifteenth of the seventh lunar month, the gates of hell open.

The grand court ceremony, held once a month, slowly began under the pale light of dawn.

Emperor Yongping, Xu Quyan, who had been traveling incognito for several days, had just sat down when six or seven officials stepped forward to impeach him. They all pointed to the same issue: the Censorate was abusing its power and acting arbitrarily, causing trouble and misleading the court, betraying the grace of Emperor Taizu, and failing to live up to the current dynasty's preferential treatment. Every day that the Censorate was in power, the civil and military officials suffered. The officials were secretly saddened by this!
Yuan Wenying stepped forward from the crowd, indignantly saying, "The Marquis of Guanbei is from a family of nobles with an iron certificate of merit, yet he was abducted by the Censorate on his way to court! As officials, we are all interconnected and vulnerable. Is Chang Lin today not the same as you and me in the future? Since the Qin Dynasty, the Nine-Rank System has selected the most outstanding members of their families for official positions, and the law has always been above the law for high-ranking officials! Now the Censorate is doing the opposite, publicly detaining a court official and a noble family! Has the Censorate become the governor of the capital for the scholar-officials?! A third power above the officials and below the emperor?! Where is the dignity of the scholar-officials? Where is the honor of scholars? Isn't this chilling the hearts of meritorious officials and causing regret to the pillars of the state?!"

Apart from Emperor Taizu, no one in the Great Wei Dynasty ever truly used the Censorate for the benefit of its officials—after all, positions are subject to change, and today I am a member of the Censorate, but tomorrow I may be in one of the Six Ministries. Things change every thirty years, so who would risk offending people by exercising the power to change positions at any time?

Now that the Censorate is revising the laws, the officials realize that Emperor Taizu has elevated the Censorate to such a high, broad, and significant position!
The impeachers dared not directly point out the errors in Emperor Taizu's laws; they only dared to incite conflict between officials and the Censorate, forcing Emperor Yongping to take sides.

Those who impeach dare not speak frankly, but the Censorate does.

Xiao Po bowed and stepped forward. Although he was still five ranks behind Yuan Wenying, the Second Grand Secretary, and was positioned at the back of the civil officials' line in the Qian Yuan Hall, he responded in a loud and respectful voice: "Could it be that the Second Grand Secretary believes that the decrees issued by the Taizu Emperor are wrong?"

Yuan Wenying did not turn her head, but straightened up, her hands folded at her sides, her expression slightly arrogant: "It is the times, it is the order. There are no laws that are right or wrong, only policies that follow the times. Are the tables, chairs and rattan used by the Censorate all old things from a hundred years ago? Are the things in the Censorate just going to be used indefinitely without being repaired or replaced?"

Xiao Po bowed obediently and replied, "Lord Yuan has audaciously compared the Emperor Taizu's edict to broken tables, chairs, and rattan. The Censorate dares not respond. If the Vice Minister has the courage, he may repeat these words before the Emperor's tablet at the Temple of Heaven next year."

Yuan Wenying glared angrily: "You—!"

"Alright." Emperor Yongping finally spoke from the dragon throne. The young emperor's voice was deep as he interrupted the inappropriate discussion: "Alright, this involves the founding emperor, how can we speak so presumptuously—Teacher has misspoke."

Yuan Wenying was the tutor of Emperor Yongping. The emperor's words have already distinguished right from wrong.

Emperor Yongping, having made his decision, intended to move on from the matter of impeaching the Censorate and discuss other matters. However, a gentle and clear male voice came from among the civil officials: "The Emperor Taizu's edict is certainly correct, and the Censorate, acting with proper authority and following the rules, cannot find any fault in its actions. There is only one point—"

He Qingshu, the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, bowed and carried his tablet as he stepped out. Approaching forty, he was considered young among the civil and military officials who had the qualifications to attend court in the Qian Yuan Hall. He was handsome and refined, with clear eyes and a refined scholarly air. In addition, he was always quiet and reserved, and his reputation in the court had always been good.

Emperor Yongping could not stop him from speaking, so he could only remain silent to signal him to continue.

"Just one point," He Qingshu said. "Lord Lu, the registrar of the Imperial Medical Academy, was summoned to the Censorate yesterday. Coincidentally, our Court of Judicial Review needed to examine injuries. Lord Lu came to me at noon and said that Marquis Chang Lin of Guanbei had lost the strength of both legs and could not walk, his throat was swollen beyond description, and his eyes were bloodshot and unable to see—even our Court of Judicial Review cannot use torture to extract confessions from prisoners. Although the Censorate has the duty to supervise all officials, it is rash to torture and cripple a scholar-official."

He Qingshu bowed even deeper: "But I don't know, has the Emperor been aware of and approved this matter?"

Emperor Yongping raised his eyes: "I do not know."

He Qingshu continued, "Since the Emperor is unaware, then this humble subject can deduce that this was a private act of punishment by the Censorate—was this an overreach of duty, or a personal vendetta?"

He Qingshu bowed deeply and said, "I hope Your Majesty will see this clearly."

Emperor Yongping remained silent, and the Empress Dowager's eyes did not waver in the slightest: "Xiao Po, is this true?"

Xiao Po lowered his head, remaining silent for a moment. Just as he opened his mouth slightly, a proud and steady voice rang out from outside the court: "This matter is true!"

Outside the Qianyuan Hall, Xue Xiao, the mad dog of the Censorate, dressed in a red robe of the third rank, holding a tablet, strode forward with great strides. He stopped beside Yuan Wenying, the second-rank Grand Secretary of the Inner Cabinet, lifted his robe, knelt down, and shouted "Long live the Emperor!" three times before rising upon hearing the sound.

Yuan Wenying stood ramrod straight and rebuked in a deep voice: "This is the imperial court. According to the law, those who are in mourning are not allowed to attend court! Xue Qishu, do you know that the Ministry of Personnel can punish you severely!"

Xue Xiao raised his chin and glanced at the person beside him: "May I ask, Lord Yuan, what worries do I, Ding, have? What mourning am I observing?"

"It is your stepmother, Madam Zhu, who is showing filial piety!"

"fart!"

Xue Xiao arrogantly raised his chin, flung his wide sleeves open, and a thin book slammed onto the gilded blue bricks of the Qian Yuan Hall with a "bang": "The Marquis of Guanbei has confessed his crime. He bought Zhu Shi from Fanlou in Zhenjiang Prefecture and sent her to the Xue family. While my mother, Su Shi, was giving birth, he served her poisoned wine, causing my mother's death. Afterward, the Marquis of Guanbei forged an identity for Zhu Shi and successfully married her into the Xue family, becoming Xue Changfeng's wife, in order to achieve control over the Xue family!"

Xue Xiao stood facing Emperor Yongping, his eyes bloodshot, and shouted, "Your Majesty! Should children be required to observe mourning for their mother's murderer?! Can my mother rest in peace in the afterlife?!"

After two days of oxygen therapy, Shengmai Yin (a traditional Chinese medicine), and IV fluids, my blood pressure finally returned to normal today.