Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 470: Concern for Treachery and Loyalty

"Zixian." Opposite the six cabinet ministers, the Minister of Personnel Zhou Jiamo crossed out the paper in front of him and whispered to the Minister of Rites Xu Guangqi who was sitting next to him.

"Zixian."

"Xu Zixian!"

Xu Guangqi was stunned for a moment, and only turned his head to look when Zhou Jiamo raised his voice slightly for the third time. "What advice do you have, Lord Zhou?"

"I'm not giving you any instructions. Keep your voice down." Zhou Jiamo lowered his voice further and waved his hands repeatedly to signal Xu Guangqi to speak softly. On March 16th in Wenhua Hall, the word "instruction" had a special meaning.

Xu Guangqi nodded, not understanding what was going on. He had never been to Wenhua Hall before and didn't quite understand the intricacies of the place.

Zhou Jiamo glanced around, and seeing no one paying attention, he whispered, "I heard there was a mourning in the palace, and the princess died young. Is that true?"

Xu Guangqi's expression froze, and his eyes changed. "Just the day before yesterday."

"I also heard a rumor related to this matter, did you know?" Zhou Jiamo took the next paper forcefully, trying to drown out his voice with the sound of flipping through the pages.

"Even the one involved in the Ministry of Justice?" Xu Guangqi subconsciously glanced at Huang Kezan, the Minister of Justice. He had been secretly observing Huang Kezan's expression since he met him this morning, but until now, he hadn't been able to make out anything. It seemed as if Huang Kezan, the man at the center of this vortex, was completely unaware of the situation.

"Yes. That's it." Zhou Jiamo lowered his head, seemingly serious but actually absent-minded as he looked at the newly received answer sheet. However, he was almost immediately attracted by the answer sheet. He recognized the handwriting on it!
"Who did Zhou Gong hear that from?" Xu Guangqi reached out to take the tea on the table and took a sip.

"My sedan bearer." Zhou Jiamo was quite old, but he still had the ability to multitask. "The rumor seems to have spread quite widely. I think someone is deliberately spreading it. It's coming with such force, you must be careful."

Xu Guangqi had clearly taken a sip of hot tea, but he shuddered as if he had inhaled a breath of cold air. "That rumor shouldn't be directed at my Ministry of Rites."

"Don't let your guard down just because it doesn't concern you," Zhou Jiamo warned. "Although these rumors directly implicate the Ministry of Justice rather than the Ministry of Rites, both the Wuqing Marquisate and Jingren Palace involve matters of propriety and ethics. Someone will undoubtedly bring up old rituals and precedents, perhaps even digging up past cases from the previous emperor's reign. You're in charge of the Ministry of Rites, and the intricacies of this matter will inevitably intersect with you. If you're not careful, you could be dragged into it. You must be fully prepared and speak with caution! It's best not to say anything until the Emperor has given the Ministry of Rites clear instructions."

Xu Guangqi nodded solemnly. "Mr. Zhou is thoughtful. I will pay attention to it."

Zhou Jiamo sensed a hint of attention from the corner of his eye. He quickly cut off the topic and handed the test paper to Xu Guangqi. He raised his voice slightly and said, "Zixian, take a look at this answer sheet."

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Meanwhile, across the Imperial City, in the main hall of the Western Depot, the newly appointed Chief Supervisor, Li Xizhe, knelt on the ground, reporting to the eunuch Wei Zhongxian, the Superintendent, intelligence gathered from various parts of the capital. On Wei Zhongxian's left and right sat Li Yongzhen, the Director of the General Affairs Department, and Wang Chengen, the Director of the External Audit Department.

"At least for now, this kind of outrageous rumor can be heard in Renshoufang in the central city, Rizhongfang in the west city, Beijuxianfang and Huanghuafang in the east city, Chongnanfang, Xuanbeifang and Xuannanfang in the south city," Li Xizhe concluded.

The Western Depot was not authorized to investigate public sentiment, nor did it have a dedicated external investigation unit within its framework. The position of Chief of the Execution Bureau was modeled after the Eastern Depot's Chief of the Military Affairs Bureau, ostensibly to oversee the budgets and personnel rosters of the various execution brigades. Therefore, strictly speaking, Li Xizhe and his detectives were engaged in illegal investigations. However, the emperor, believing that more sources of information were better than a single eye, turned a blind eye. As long as Wei Zhongxian didn't cause any unpleasant rumors, he remained indifferent.

"Master! Such outrageous rumors are spreading in so many places at the same time. Someone must be behind this!" Li Yongzhen looked at Wei Zhongxian and suggested gravely, "We should immediately send more people and get to the bottom of this!"

"We don't have the authority to arrest people from outside," said Wei Zhongxian.

"Then call the Northern Pacification Office," Li Yongzhen said, "and have the Imperial Guard arrest these people."

Wei Zhongxian remained silent. He frowned slightly and asked Li Xizhe, "Have you found out who did it?"

"Not yet." Li Xizhe had limited manpower and funds, and no authority to arrest or interrogate, so the efficiency of the investigation was not high.

"You haven't found any clues about what happened just now?" Wei Zhongxian glanced at Wang Chengen inconspicuously.

"It's not completely impossible!" Li Xizhe said quickly: "We have identified some idlers who are making a lot of noise and jumping very high."

"What idler?"

"Whenever there are some strange things or anecdotes in the streets, those people will shout a few words. I think if we start by asking them, we may be able to find the source." Li Xizhe's words were very conservative.

"Why are you still asking? Just have the Northern Pacification Office arrest and interrogate them!" Li Yongzhen said, "If we keep trying until they spit out the milk they drank as children, we'll definitely find out who's behind this."

Wei Zhongxian looked at Wang Chengen. "Secretary Wang, what do you think?"

"Master, Li Shusi!" Wang Cheng'en clenched his fists, his face flushed red, clearly furious. "Li Guochen was imprisoned, and now this news has spread. It must be the work of the Li family. We should go directly to Tsinghua Garden and arrest Wuqing Nihou and his son! Before they can escape again!"

Wei Zhongxian raised his lip and was about to join in the conversation when Li Yongzhen interrupted him. "You're not going to do that!" He hadn't expected the boy to be even more radical than he'd imagined. He quickly advised, "It's better to let the Northern Pacification Division arrest those gossipers and clowns first. We don't have the final say on whether or not to arrest Wuqing Hou."

"Then report it!" Wang Chengen jumped down from the chair with the help of the armrest.

"What are you doing?" Li Yongzhen also stood up.

"Didn't the factory manager say we don't have the authority to take people away?" Wang Chengen had already taken a step. "I'll go get it right away!"

"Oh my! My little ancestor!" Li Yongzhen stepped in front of Wang Chengen. He was truly afraid this guy would run straight to the Qianqing Palace. "Don't be so impulsive!" Although he was speaking to Wang Chengen, he turned to look at Wei Zhongxian, hoping that he would also intervene to help this young man who was so grateful for the emperor's kindness and was anxious about his own situation.

Wei Zhongxian remained seated, showing no intention of responding.

"The accusation must be based on solid evidence. We don't know whether it was done by the Li family yet, and we don't know how serious the incident is. We should wait and let the Pacification Office arrest those noisy rumormongers first. It won't be too late to report the facts after the matter is more clearly investigated!" Li Yongzhen looked at Wei Zhongxian and said, "If we act rashly and disturb the emperor, and end up arresting the wrong people, everyone in our Western Factory will be in trouble!" "Well, what Li Shusi said is right." Wei Zhongxian's eyes turned and he made the decision. He looked at Li Xizhe first. "You go to the Northern Pacification Office now, take Tian Ergeng's people to various markets, arrest those 'idlers' and bring them back to the imperial prison for strict interrogation!"

"Yes." Li Xizhe accepted the order, turned around and ran out of the main hall of the West Factory.

"Li Shusi." Wei Zhongxian looked at Li Yongzhen again.

"Here." Li Yongzhen breathed a sigh of relief.

"Go to the Imperial Household Department and report this matter," Wei Zhongxian said.

"Yes." Li Yongzhen responded, holding Wang Chengen's hand like a son. "Let's go together. Don't you want to report? Let's go."

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"Your Majesty, this is what happened." Nearly two quarters of an hour later, Admiral Wei Zhongxian simplified and exaggerated what he had just heard from Li Xizhe and told his "subordinates", Concubine Shen of Yongshou Palace and Director Mi Mengshang of the Western Factory Inspection Bureau.

Mi Mengshang didn't speak immediately. Instead, she picked up a brush and wrote her signature on the draft of the closing opinion in front of her. "Your Majesty, Mi Mengshang, respectfully submits this report."

Her handwriting was elegant, even with a touch of cursive. The slightly trembling characters might even lead one to imagine a delicate woman, half-lying on a couch, composing a poem of boudoir resentment. However, as soon as one glanced at the contents of the draft opinion, this impression immediately vanished. The draft proposed several death sentences.

After the last downward stroke of the character "衣" was drawn, Mi Mengshang finally spoke. "I think Li Xizhe's trip was in vain."

Wei Zhongxian was stunned. He hadn't expected Mi Mengshang's first words to be these. "Do you think Li Xizhe will miss?"

"You're old, but I'm not." Mi Mengshang frowned slightly. "If you keep yelling like that, I'm afraid I'll have a few more wrinkles on my face when I wake up tomorrow morning."

"Haha. I'm sorry for being so rude." Wei Zhongxian smiled innocently. He changed his tone and repeated his previous question. "Why do you think Li Xizhe will fail?"

"Not to say that we failed completely, but at least we didn't catch them all." Mi Mengshang put down her pen, raised her hand to cover her mouth, and yawned.

"That shouldn't be the case. His men are watching us," said Wei Zhongxian.

"If his people can find out, other people's people can find out too." Mi Mengshang raised her head and narrowed her eyes slightly.

Mi Mengshang was acutely aware of her declining eyesight. Lately, she'd been having trouble seeing distant objects. Now, even looking at Wei Zhongxian, who sat nearby, required squinting. This scene reminded her of the first two lines of Su Che's poem "Night Sitting": "Young men study to exhaust their eyes; old men, afraid of the light, often go to bed early."

"Are you talking about the people from the East Factory?" Wei Zhongxian didn't know what this woman was thinking, but that didn't prevent the smile on his face from becoming more honest.

Mi Mengshang got a better look at the expression on Wei Zhongxian's face. That naive smile didn't make her feel happy, but rather disgusted. "If the West Depot reports to the government, does that mean the East Depot is no longer needed? You still need to ask the Northern Pacification Office for help in arresting people. I'm talking about the East and West Offices. As long as they get the order from the Commandery, they can arrest people directly. This is much faster than Li Xizhe running around with his men."

"That's right." Wei Zhongxian nodded and asked hurriedly, "Do you think we should go to the Qianqing Palace and report this to the emperor?"

Mi Mengshang didn't answer him, but called softly towards the door. "Someone come here."

"For matters like this, we should go there in person." Wei Zhongxian's face flushed slightly, and he stood up. "When the time comes, please be kind enough to say a few words. This is, after all, the Emperor's family affair, and I'm just a servant, so it's difficult for me to speak up."

Mi Mengshang waved her hand to signal Wei Zhongxian to sit down. At this time, a eunuch also came in. "What does the Queen want?" After asking this question, the eunuch bowed to Wei Zhongxian.

There were many respectable men in the Western Factory, but none of them could be found in Mi Mengshang's villa.

"Go get me a basin of hot water, use a copper basin," Mi Mengshang ordered.

"Yes, I'll go right away." The eunuch immediately understood what Mi Mengshang was going to do and turned around and left.

"Ah?" Wei Zhongxian was stunned. Logically, as the emperor's favorite concubine, Mi Mengshang should have been more anxious and angry than Wang Chengen when faced with such a thing. But she was obviously nonchalant, and was just about to cross her legs and say "It has nothing to do with me." "What are you going to do?"

"I'm trying to treat eye diseases," Mi Mengshang said. "I saw a method for treating eye diseases in 'Su Shen's Prescriptions.' Now I'll tell you, so you can learn it too." Mi Mengshang even memorized the key points of the chapter "Treatment of Various Eye Diseases": "'Fill a vessel with hot water, a copper vessel is preferred, and use your hands to scoop up the water and apply it to your eyes. Keep your eyes tightly closed and do not open them. Do not rub your eyes with your hands. Just scoop up the water and pour it over your eyes until it cools. If you have an illness, do this three or four times a day, and twice a day if you are healthy. This will make your eyes bright. This is the best way to treat red eyes and itchy eyelids.'"

"I don't understand." Wei Zhongxian looked at Mi Mengshang with a puzzled look.

"Forget it if you don't understand." Mi Mengshang frowned even more. "It might not be useful anyway."

"Aren't you going to the Qianqing Palace?" Wei Zhongxian asked directly.

"I don't want to go!" Mi Mengshang's anger suddenly flared up. She slapped the table lightly. Although it didn't make much noise, it still startled Wei Zhongxian.

Wei Zhongxian licked his lips, and the smile on his face faded a little. "What are you doing?"

"Not only do I not want to go, I also want to suppress this matter and not let the emperor know." Mi Mengshang slowly exhaled. "Wei Zhongxian, can you suppress this matter?"

"Suppress it?" A smile began to return to Wei Zhongxian's face. "Why?"

"There's been a recent funeral in Jingren Palace, and we're still busy with the palace examinations. Liaodong is also receiving two daily reports. Now, if there's a 'Jiulian Bodhisattva' incident, that's the Emperor's... Sigh!" Mi Mengshang's brows furrowed ever tighter. That was until the eunuch appeared at the door with hot water. "Forget it, you can't suppress it. You don't have the ability. It's pointless to tell you. Get out!"

(End of this chapter)