Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 288 Only the Emperor's Favor Remains, No More Factions

The newly established temporary Huangming Andu Prefecture government office in the western city.

This place was once the villa of some ungrateful nobleman, but now it has changed hands.

The pavilions, towers, bridges, and flowing water of the past have all been replaced by solemn government offices and a somber drill ground.

The imperial guards in their flying fish robes moved about in a hurry, creating a scene that was both orderly and awe-inspiring.

Inside the governor's residence, Governor Tian Ergeng of Andu Prefecture felt as bright and passionate as the June sunlight outside the window.

He sat upright behind a large rosewood desk, holding a cup of fine pre-Qingming Longjing tea in his hand. The tea was emerald green, and steam rose gently in the beam of light, emitting a delicate bean fragrance.

In his view, the newly established Andu Prefecture was a peerless weapon of destruction that he had personally forged.

He was confident that he had polished the empire's sharpest blade to a gleaming shine, making it radiate a chilling light.

The future is promising.

Tian Ergeng took a sip of tea, savoring the mellow flavor as it melted on his tongue, and felt a surge of pride welling up inside him.

Just as he was feeling smug, a series of steady yet hurried footsteps came from outside the door, interrupting his reverie. A guard bowed and reported, "Commander, someone from the palace has arrived."

Tian Ergeng frowned slightly and put down his teacup: "Who is it?"

"It's...it's Eunuch Wang."

Wang Chengen?
Tian Ergeng felt a chill run down his spine.

Wang Chengen was the emperor's closest eunuch in the Qianqing Palace, and he was always by the emperor's side. His personal departure from the palace was no small matter.

Just as he was about to get up to greet him, the door to the public housing unit was pushed open.

Wang Chengen, dressed in a royal blue tuxedo and with a plain face, walked straight in, his usual gentle smile absent.

“Commander Tian,” Wang Chengen said, skipping all formalities and getting straight to the point, “His Majesty has decreed that you must go to the Wenhua Hall for an audience immediately, without any delay.”

The tone was less like an imperial decree and more like a message.

Tian Ergeng's heart sank instantly. The still-warm Longjing tea seemed to turn into ice water in an instant, chilling him to the bone.

“Eunuch Wang,” he forced a smile and asked tentatively, “I wonder why His Majesty summoned me so urgently? So that I may be prepared.”

As he spoke, he subtly gave Wang Chengen a look that, in the past, would have been enough to elicit a few veiled words of guidance.

But today, Wang Chengen simply shook his head slightly. His eyes, which were always filled with warmth, were now unfathomably calm, a calmness that was unsettling.

"I don't know." He lowered his eyes, his voice flat. "Commander Tian, ​​His Majesty is waiting for you."

Tian Ergeng quickly went through all the major events he had recently handled in his mind.

Battle report from Liaodong? Everything is stable.

Taxes from Jiangnan? They are being collected.

The training of the new army is progressing smoothly.

He couldn't think of any reason why the emperor would use Wang Chengen to summon him in such a solemn manner.

The unknown is the deepest fear.

He dared not hesitate any longer, immediately stood up, and said sternly, "Someone, help me change my clothes!"

When Tian Ergeng put on the court robe with the Qilin embroidered patch that represented the glory of the military profession, he felt a layer of fine goosebumps rise on the skin under the clothes.

Filled with immense questions and an increasingly profound sense of foreboding, he quickly boarded the carriage, guided silently by Wang Chengen, and sped towards the inner palace.

The moment Tian Ergeng stepped into the Wenhua Hall, he knew that all his anxieties had come true.

The emperor had his back to him, seemingly studying a landscape painting on the wall. Hearing footsteps, he didn't turn around, but simply asked a question.

"Minister Tian, ​​you've arrived."

The voice was calm and even, revealing no emotion, yet it sent a chill down Tian Ergeng's spine.

He immediately knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Your subject, Tian Ergeng, Governor-General of Andu Prefecture, pays his respects to Your Majesty!"

Zhu Youjian slowly turned around, his gaze falling on Tian Ergeng like two beams of cold moonlight. He pointed to the pile of dossier scattered next to the secret box.

"Come and take a look at these things."

Tian Ergeng felt a tremor in his heart and dared not disobey.

He crawled forward on his knees, and the moment his gaze fell upon the files, his face turned from red to white, then from white to green, and finally to death. The file was titled "Regulations on Losses and Deductions in the Transportation of Grain."

That ledger, with the words "Gongzhong" embossed in pure gold, recorded countless sinful names.

And that forged document, so convincingly made, bearing a fake seal that read "Imperial Treasury Procurement," was also there.

He felt a sudden darkness before his eyes and a buzzing in his ears.

It’s over.

Only those two words remained in his mind.

As the chief magistrate who holds supreme power over criminal investigations, he understands better than anyone what these three things together mean.

And he, who should have been the emperor's eyes and ears to see all this, was completely unaware of it!
Just as he was feeling utterly devastated, the emperor's voice rang out again, still calm, yet every word piercing his heart.

"I once thought that when Shaanxi suffered a great disaster, they were able to send grain and fodder, which meant they had already repented."

"I once thought that they paid the nine million taels of tax back out of a sense of awe."

Zhu Youjian walked up to Tian Ergeng, his eyes filled with a look that was hard to tell whether it was disappointment or sarcasm.

"Minister Tian, ​​you were also present at the time. Did you also think that I could let them off the hook?"

This question was like a red-hot iron rod, piercing deeply into Tian Ergeng's heart.

He remembered that it was he, Wen Tiren, and others who had echoed the emperor's leniency towards the grain transport group.

At the time, he thought it was because the emperor and his ministers were of one mind and understood the emperor's intentions.

Looking back now, it was the greatest humiliation of his life!

He himself had conspired with that group of corrupt officials to deceive the emperor!
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty..." His lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a single word.

The emperor did not press him further, but instead bent down and picked up the gilded "List of Officials" from the pile of files.

His slender fingers casually flipped through the pages, then turned to a certain page of the roster and gently pushed it in front of Tian Ergeng.

"My Imperial Guards are truly omnipresent."

The voice was as soft as a breeze, yet it struck Tian Ergeng like a thunderbolt.

His gaze was fixed on that page. The register contained names, official titles, and amounts of money—everything was listed!
The emperor's voice rang out above him once more:

"The households along the Grand Canal have all become honored guests. Minister Tian, ​​your Andu Prefecture has a Discipline Inspection Commission, which is responsible for investigating internal violations. I would like to ask you, is this Discipline Inspection Commission planning to start its investigation from here?"

Tian Ergeng was truly furious; this was the most direct slap in the face to him, the governor of Andu Prefecture!
He was cheated!

They were completely fooled by this group of audacious and cunning rats in the canal transport industry!
Even more seriously, he disappointed the emperor!
What an irony! What a dereliction of duty!
An indescribable sense of humiliation and fear overwhelmed him instantly, like a flood bursting its banks.

Tian Ergeng kowtowed heavily, his hard forehead striking the gold brick with a dull thud.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty is guilty of negligence and deserves to die ten thousand times!"

His voice trembled violently with extreme shame and indignation, almost becoming incoherent.

"Your Majesty, I have failed in your grace! I have failed in my duty to manage Andu Prefecture, which has led my subordinates to collude with traitors. I deserve to die! I beg Your Majesty to punish me!"

Zhu Youjian did not let him get up.

Time flowed on in the stillness.

Inside the main hall, only Tian Ergeng's heavy, panting breaths, like those of a broken bellows, and the frantic pounding of his own heart could be heard.

Fear, shame, despair... countless emotions intertwined, binding him tightly like a boundless net, almost suffocating him.

I don't know how much time passed; it might have been just a moment, or it might have felt like a year or two.

Just as Tian Ergeng felt his mind was about to be swallowed up by this boundless fear, that calm and undisturbed voice finally rang out again.

"Minister Tian, ​​I entrust this matter to you."

Tian Ergeng suddenly looked up, and his pupils, which had been dilated with fear, regained a glimmer of light the moment he heard those words.

He met the emperor's calm, unwavering eyes.

"Your Majesty, I beg to be your sharp blade and wipe this case clean! I swear to uproot all the rebels involved, regardless of their relationship to you, and to dig up their ancestral graves and extinguish their incense offerings!"
"I decree that the term 'faction' shall henceforth become a taboo in the Grand Canal transport! For the next hundred years, throughout the Grand Canal, there shall be only the Emperor's grace, and no more factions!"

(End of this chapter)