Starting with his deathbed remonstrance to Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperors were brought to their knees.

In a short while, Li Qing slowly walked into the Fengtian Hall:

"Greetings, Your Majesty!"

Zhu Yuanzhang picked up the ginseng tea beside him, slowly took a sip to suppress his exhaustion, and said in a deep voice:

No need for formalities.

We've heard you have important matters to discuss regarding the stability of the capital. If your points are valid, we'll be generous with our rewards."

Li Qing smiled slightly, his tone humble:

"Your Majesty, what are you saying? I am an imperial censor, it is my job to keep an eye on the officials and say what is on their minds, there is no need for reward."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly, finally feeling a little relieved.

It's rare to encounter such a law-abiding and reasonable censor.

Those previous ones, just thinking about them gives me a headache.

They were like rocks in a latrine, smelly and stubborn. They would jump up and curse after only a few words, and dare to talk back to the entire court of officials.

Who can stand this?

If all the censors in the court were like this man, so proper and polite,

Why would he resort to such brutal methods as skinning people alive and killing entire families? He wouldn't have earned the reputation of a tyrant.

"I've discovered that someone is using the Lantern Festival inspection as a pretext to disrupt the court and treat the safety of the capital as a joke!"

As Li Qing spoke, his tone shifted, and his words became sharp.

"Who dares to be so audacious!"

Zhu Yuanzhang slammed the ginseng tea in his hand onto the table with a bang, his eagle-like eyes radiating murderous intent, making the entire Fengtian Hall feel chilly.

"That man is none other than Zhan Hui, the Left Censor-in-Chief whom you personally promoted, the one in charge of surveillance in the capital region!"

"Zhan Hui?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned at first, his face full of disbelief, then his face fell, and he stared at Li Qing with a gloomy expression.

"You are an imperial censor of the Censorate, and Zhan Hui is your superior."

Instead of working diligently, you're here suing him? What are you up to?!

"Your Majesty, if there isn't solid evidence, and each and every case can be investigated thoroughly, how could I dare to sue my own superior? Wouldn't that be just asking for trouble?"

Li Qing showed no fear whatsoever. Zhu Yuanzhang's face, that of a devil, was nothing to be afraid of after a while. Who was he trying to scare here?

Isn't it just wiping out nine generations of a family?

Anyway, he was related to nine generations of his family, so let them be wiped out. He actually hoped that Zhu Yuanzhang would wipe out his entire family.

Zhu Yuanzhang's face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and he said sternly:

"Where's the evidence? Bring it up right now!"

Li Qing chuckled and said:

"Your Majesty, the Lantern Festival is a statutory holiday in the Ming Dynasty. It is a time for universal celebration, family reunions, and even officials are entitled to a day off. This is stipulated by the laws of the Ming Dynasty..."

"Stop with the nonsense, get to the point!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely annoyed and waved his hand, saying...

"Okay."

Li Qing responded with a sound of agreement, and without beating around the bush, her voice was urgent and rapid, cutting straight to the point.

"What I mean is that during the Lantern Festival, Zhan Hui used national affairs as a ladder to his own promotion in order to curry favor with you and gain some recognition."

He forced all the censors in the Censorate to forgo their holidays and work through the night for him!

The censors were so exhausted that their eyes were bloodshot and they were staggering as they walked. There must have been omissions in their inspections and mistakes in their oversights!

"What if this oversight causes a major blunder and leads to disaster? Should Zhan Hui bear the blame alone, or should you also be included to give the world an explanation?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's face immediately darkened. He liked diligent people, but he disliked sycophantic and flattering officials.

"Is this true?"

"Your Majesty, every word is true. May I be struck by lightning if I utter even half a lie!"

Li Qing raised his head and spoke even louder.

"Zhan Hui is doing this, treating the safety of the capital like a joke and the lives of his colleagues like dirt, all for his own selfish reasons, to curry favor with you."

National affairs? Safety? Bullshit!

In his eyes, there is no you, no Ming Dynasty, no people of the world!

"Great! Great! That's wonderful!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was truly enraged this time. He slammed his hand on the table, stood up abruptly, and the oppressive aura emanating from the dragon throne pressed down like a mountain.

He rose through the ranks from begging and military service, and he knows best that a single grain of rice or a moment of carelessness can cost a life and shake the very foundations of an empire.

Zhan Hui's actions are like stepping on his neck to defecate, playing with the fate of the Ming Dynasty!

"Guards! Go! Tie that bastard Zhan Hui up and bring him here! I trusted him so much that I gave him the power of oversight, and this is how he fools me?"

He treats the censors like monkeys and national affairs like child's play; I think he's tired of living!

The eunuch serving nearby was so frightened that his legs went weak. He quickly responded and ran out to find Zhan Hui.

Taking advantage of the lull, Li Qing pulled out a pre-written petition from his sleeve and shouted:

"Your Majesty, Zhan Hui's actions go far beyond this."

Since he took office, he has either scolded or beaten his subordinates. What is most unbearable is that he does not allow everyone to take a vacation.

I have a colleague whose parents have passed away. He wanted to ask for leave to go back for the funeral, but Zhan Hui refused, using official business to pressure him and forcing him to cry in the yamen!

Another colleague, who is in his thirties, wanted to take leave to get married and have children, but he refused. Isn't that forcing someone to have no descendants?

By doing this, Zhan Hui was forcing the officials of the Ming Dynasty to act inhumanely!

The common people don't know what's going on inside; they just curse the emperor, saying that while he talks about loyalty and filial piety, his subordinates do all sorts of beastly things.

Forbidding officials from returning home after their parents die, and forbidding them from getting married and starting a family, won't all the blame fall on you in the end?

I wrote down every single one of those trivial matters, big and small, with all my might, and I'm not afraid of being investigated!

If this continues, the Censorate will fall into the hands of the Zhan family. Then no one will dare to speak the truth, good people will lose heart, and the country will truly be in danger!

As Li Qing had expected, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression immediately darkened.

He knew better than anyone that Zhu Yuanzhang hated people who said one thing to his face and another behind his back, and that people who ruined the reputation of the Ming Dynasty and violated the rules he had set behind his back were the ones who were most disgusted by him.

With such a mountain of accusations, Zhan Hui would have been dead eight hundred times over.

"Excellent! Excellent! Your memorial is filled with details, every single thing, with the time and the people involved all accounted for. I have no choice but to believe it!"

Zhu Yuanzhang took the folded document, and upon reading it, he was filled with rage, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.

He never expected that someone would be so audacious and reckless right under his nose, mistreating officials, trampling on filial piety, and turning the Censorate upside down!

The rule that colleagues were not allowed to attend the funeral of their mothers, in particular, ignited his anger.

Who in this world doesn't have parents?

Who in this world is not made of flesh and blood?

In this life, life and death are of utmost importance, and filial piety is paramount!

Zhan Hui dared to deprive even a son of his right to be filial; it was utterly inhumane and depraved!

"Zhan Hui! Where is he?! Why hasn't he arrived yet?! How long are we going to have to wait?!"

Zhu Yuanzhang roared to the sky, his voice shaking the palace. All the attendants in the hall fell silent, none daring to respond.

Outside the hall, a young eunuch stumbled into the hall, fell to his knees with a thud, trembling and incoherent:

"Your Majesty, the entire Censorate...all the censors of the Censorate are kneeling outside the palace gates, petitioning the emperor to plead their case!"

They said... they said they could no longer endure the tyranny and mistreatment of Zhan Hui, the Left Censor-in-Chief. They were forced to work through the night during the Lantern Festival, suffering day and night, and could no longer bear it!