SFL Chapter 5

While Mu Yunfeng was in the Ministry of Justice, he had no worries about his safety.

In this world, there were Emperors who had killed their sons, but such actions were usually taken when the sons posed a threat to the Emperor’s own safety by trying to seize the throne. Emperors who would kill their sons simply because of a group of courtiers did not exist.

So Mu Yunfeng felt quite at ease. The Ministers of Intelligence knew that it was impossible to bring down Mu Yunfeng based on these allegations.

Due to Mu Yunfeng’s actions, even those Princes secretly supported by themselves and others reduced their activities.

When Mu Yunfeng returned home, he carried a strong smell of blood. Seeing him safely back, Su Qianluo immediately had the kitchen staff prepare hot water for him to wash up.

“Did you face any difficulties in the palace?” Mu Yunfeng asked.

Su Qianluo raised a faint smile and replied, “What could make me suffer if I have a mother at the Palace? It’s you that worries me more.”

Perhaps due to the increasing external pressure, Su Qianluo and the Empress quickly became a harmonious mother-in-law and daughter-in-law pair.

The more this was the case, the less they wanted anything to happen to Mu Yunfeng.

There was no doubt that Mu Yunfeng had affected the interests of many people, and it would be strange if they let him go.

“Don’t worry, it’s not yet the point where they can control everything. The most crucial thing is the Emperor’s attitude. If he wants me to live, no one can kill me. If he wants to kill me, then no matter what I do, I won’t be able to escape it,” Mu Yunfeng told Su Qianluo, discussing court matters with her without hesitation.

“I’ll talk to the Empress about it,” Su Qianluo said. The Empress and the Emperor, though not completely united, had a deep understanding of each other. At the very least, the Empress could to some extent calm the Emperor down.

During this time, Mu Yunfeng had made many enemies, but he still hadn’t crossed the Emperor’s bottom line. Moreover, everything Mu Yunfeng had done was more beneficial than harmful to the court. The minor flaws in his actions were well within the Emperor’s tolerance.

What the Emperor could tolerate did not necessarily mean that the Royal family and relatives could tolerate it. Although their status was not as high as that of the Imperial family, they still considered themselves superior due to their common ancestors. They usually abused their power and harmed the common people. Now that retribution had come to them, they couldn’t bear it.

In such a short time, more than ten members of the royal family had died at Mu Yunfeng’s hands. Mu Yunfeng’s merciless actions had truly shocked them, causing intense panic to rise in their hearts.

Those who had guilty consciences were eager to avoid Mu Yunfeng at all costs.

The attitude of the Royal family members was like this, and the court officials who didn’t match their status couldn’t help but feel anxious.

It can be said that apart from a very few individuals, the officials in the court were not fond of Mu Yunfeng’s uncompromising style of doing things, even though many of the things they did were just as uncompromising.

No official was willing to serve under such an Emperor, and if Mu Yunfeng really became the next Emperor, many officials could foresee a bleak career in the government because they couldn’t maintain a clear conscience.

For this reason, both the Royal family members and the court officials unconsciously started to distance themselves from Mu Yunfeng.

Even those subordinates who had initially joined him because Mu Yunfeng was the Legitimate Prince distanced themselves from him due to his ruthlessness in dealing with matters.

The reason they followed Mu Yunfeng was to secure high-ranking positions and enjoy a life of luxury in the future, not to experience the hardships of imprisonment due to irrefutable evidence against them.

Before entering the Ministry of Justice, Mu Yunfeng had warned those who followed him. Some heeded the warning, but others didn’t take his words to heart and continued with their own ways.

In their view, since they had chosen to follow Mu Yunfeng, why would he send his own people to prison and harm himself?

But they couldn’t have imagined that Mu Yunfeng would actually do just that. It wasn’t until they were locked up in prison that they realized the reality.

Mu Yunfeng didn’t show any mercy even to those who had followed him, and he dealt with them as he saw fit.

When this happened, not only did the court officials fail to understand, but even a few Princes who were vying for the throne with Mu Yunfeng couldn’t comprehend the purpose behind his actions.

It was only after some careful consideration with their advisers, that the princes finally realized that while they saw Mu Yunfeng punishing his own people, they had forgotten that he could also punish the officials who had allied with them. People knew their own secrets, and none of them were entirely clean. Now, they were all starting to feel anxious.

However, Mu Yunfeng convicted people in accordance with the Laws of the Empire. His actions were swift, but he didn’t show any favoritism or bend the Law in any way, so they couldn’t find any leverage against Mu Yunfeng in the Ministry of Justice.

The Eldest Prince couldn’t help but sneer and said, “Since the Third Prince is so capable, let’s see how he handles his own maternal relatives.”

However, before the Eldest Prince could even begin to implement his plan, his maternal relatives had already fallen into the hands of Mu Yunfeng.

The Eldest Prince’s maternal family had a significant social standing, with many members serving in the Imperial court. This time, it was one of the Eldest Prince’s close uncles who had fallen into Mu Yunfeng’s grasp, accused of embezzling disaster relief funds.

The accusation left not only the Eldest Prince but also the officials involved in the embezzlement case bewildered. There had been no recent natural disasters in the capital, and the last relief effort dated back to the previous year. Those relief funds had long been squandered and divided among corrupt officials, and no one had expected these old accounts to resurface.

Recently, officials in the capital had been cautious due to Mu Yunfeng’s influence, but they never anticipated that he would bring them such a surprising twist. Cases from many years ago were being unearthed, leaving everyone to wonder just how idle the Ministry of Justice had become.

Even the Emperor, who had been monitoring Mu Yunfeng’s actions, was perplexed by this development. Therefore, when the Eldest Prince came to him in tears, the Emperor didn’t refuse as he usually did. Instead, he summoned Mu Yunfeng to the palace.

When Mu Yunfeng arrived, there was a faint scent of blood about him, a scent that had lingered since his first day at the Ministry of Justice.

Upon seeing Mu Yunfeng, the Emperor rubbed his temples, realizing that he had seriously underestimated his son. How had he not seen that this son was, in fact, a harbinger of death?

“Father, Eldest Brother,” Mu Yunfeng greeted the Emperor with a bow and then nodded in acknowledgment to the Eldest Prince.

Seeing that Mu Yunfeng could greet the Eldest Prince calmly as if nothing had happened, the Eldest Prince’s cheek muscles twitch involuntarily. If it weren’t for their father’s presence, he would have slapped his brother right across the face.

“Little Brother, if Uncle has done something wrong, can’t he make amends? Is it appropriate to directly punish court officials in this way?” The Eldest Prince took a deep breath and said to Mu Yunfeng, preparing to ‘reason’ with him.

Mu Yunfeng replied in surprise, “Father, is a person who has solid evidence of a crime still worthy of holding an official position? No, from the moment he violated the law, he was no longer fit to be an official. Is there anything wrong with my actions? Does Eldest Brother want me to bend the law for personal gain? If Eldest Brother can admit it in front of Father, then even if I don’t acknowledge it, I will.”

The Eldest Prince couldn’t possibly admit it in front of the Emperor. Even if he was furious, he knew that doing so would diminish his standing in the Emperor’s eyes. The Eldest Prince felt a sense of despair and closed his eyes, saying, “Third Brother, today, you are punishing my uncle. Perhaps you don’t feel anything about this for now, but what if one day your uncle also violates the law? Would you treat him the same way?”

The Eldest Prince felt that Mu Yunfeng was doing this because he didn’t personally experience the pain of it. Since his uncle had already been punished and couldn’t be saved, he decided to drag Mu Yunfeng’s maternal relatives into this mess.

“If it were my uncle, I would definitely not punish him…”

The Eldest Prince burst into laughter upon hearing this. He was about to scold Mu Yunfeng when he heard the second half of his sentence.

“…I’m afraid I would be too lenient, so I’ll let the Ministry of Justice handle it. I’d rather not see it with my own eyes.”

The Eldest Prince was left speechless and choked on his own words. He never expected Mu Yunfeng to say this in front of the Emperor. It meant that if Mu Yunfeng didn’t perform well in the future, his reputation with the Emperor would be severely affected.

It was only at this moment that the Eldest Prince fully understood the ruthlessness in Mu Yunfeng’s heart. Mu Yunfeng didn’t care about his own uncle, let alone the uncle of an outsider like the Eldest Prince. He pointed at Mu Yunfeng but couldn’t say a word.

“Why? Yunfeng, why are you doing this?” Not to mention the Eldest Prince’s astonishment, even the Emperor was having trouble understanding.

Mu Yunfeng’s behaviour was undoubtedly self-destructive. If this were to spread, it would undoubtedly chill the hearts of the Empress’ maternal relatives.

“Father, Eldest Brother, this world belongs to the people and the Imperial family. As a prince who has grown up receiving grace, now that I’m capable, I naturally want to give back to the world.”

“I know that Father and Eldest Brother both think I’m ruthless and that I’ve become indifferent to the family. But I haven’t forgotten my identity. I am a Prince, below only a few and above tens of thousands. What I need to take care of isn’t the handful of officials who choose to follow me because of my status, nor the few relatives I have. It’s the millions of people in the world. That’s why I can’t act from a personal perspective, but have to act from my position.”

“If there’s a conflict between those two, what’s important is to determine who is right or wrong, rather than the closeness of relationships. Do you think those people that I executed were innocent? That’s why, even if my hands are stained with blood, I won’t regret doing so.” Mu Yunfeng said with a resounding voice.

The Eldest Prince opened his mouth but found himself speechless.

The Emperor spoke solemnly, “Mu Yunfeng, raise your head and say that again while looking at me.”

Mu Yunfeng lifted his head, met the Emperor’s gaze with unwavering determination, and repeated his words.

The Emperor stared at Mu Yunfeng for a long time, as if trying to see into his son’s heart.

Mu Yunfeng remained open and unafraid of scrutiny.

Finally, the Emperor closed his eyes and asked his eldest son, “Eldest, after hearing your Third Brother’s words, what are your thoughts? Speak.”

“Father, I… I don’t have anything to say,” the Eldest Prince replied with a somewhat dejected tone, feeling that he had been outshone by Mu Yunfeng. In the past, even when Mu Yunfeng was the Legitimate Prince, he had the courage to vie for the throne. But now, he clearly felt that he had lost, that he was not as good as Mu Yunfeng.

While his vision was still limited to the capital, Mu Yunfeng was already considering the well-being of the people in the world. It left the Eldest Prince with little to say because he couldn’t be as ruthless as Mu Yunfeng, especially towards those close to him.

The Emperor, however, understood that the Eldest Prince’s way of thinking was more typical and that it was Mu Yunfeng who was extraordinary. He wondered why he hadn’t seen this side of his son before. A wise ruler with a heart for the people.

Everything seems to have changed after his son got married.

Could it be that he had truly grown up? The change seemed so drastic.