Translator – Xiao He Lian
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Chapter 55.1
The morning court was full of silence.
Eunuch Xu handed over a booklet. In less than a moment, Emperor Cheng Yuan raised his hand and threw it to the ground.
With a “pop” sound, the Minister of Justice, who was already kneeling, couldn’t help but bang his forehead on the ground.
“You were originally a minister of the Ministry of Justice yet you broke the law and accepted bribes from public officials for personal gain.” Emperor Cheng Yuan paused and then said in a dark voice: “Who gave you the courage!”
“Your Majesty, please forgive me. I deserve death and my crime is unforgivable. But I just drank too much that day. I definitely did not accept money from the Li1(The 李 Li character is the same as Li Di’s surname Li. But maybe they are mentioning another Li fam?? ) family on purpose! I swear to heaven and earth!”
The crying person, whose surname is Zhu and whose given name is Mao, was originally a fifth-grade official at the Ministry of Justice. He was in charge of internal and external taxes, funds, salaries, honors, military funds, equipment, and other income. In the past two years, he has been working for the Sixth Prince.
Wen Yuan, the former Minister of the Ministry of Justice, was demoted from the capital because of detrimental morals after keeping an outside mistress was revealed, so the Sixth Prince took the opportunity to promote Zhu Mao to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Justice.
Unexpectedly, Zhu Mao was not as honest and upright as he appeared. He openly accepted bribes just a few days after taking office. As soon as the Sixth Prince heard the news and had yet to take action before he was caught by the Imperial Censorate.
“What does Prince Wei think about this matter?” Emperor Cheng Yuan glanced at the sixth prince.
The Sixth Prince said: “Zhu Mao was corrupt and accepted bribes and he was caught with evidence. His official position should be taken back, his property confiscated and punished by peeling off his skin, to serve as a warning to others.”
For a moment, the surrounding temperature seemed to have entered the winter of the twelfth lunar month, without even half of the warmth of spring.
Emperor Cheng Yuan said “Hmm”, with no trace of happiness or anger in his eyes. He turned to the Crown Prince and said, “Crown Prince.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“You should try this case yourself.”
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone secretly glanced at the favored Sixth Prince and didn’t dare to express any opinion.
The Emperor had clearly asked the sixth prince what he thought but he turned around and handed the case over to the Crown Prince. This was tantamount to slapping the sixth prince’s face.
However, Emperor Cheng Yuan’s technique of checks and balances has always been the Fisherman’s profit2(Fisherman’s profit (yú rén dé lì) is an idiom, which first came from “Warring States Policy·Yan Ce II”. The fisherman’s gain is a metaphor for a dispute between two parties, which results in a third party benefiting. This idiom often serves as subject and object in the sentence, as well as predicate and attributive.). With just a few words, he can turn the court into a pot of muddy water.
Most of the Jin Dynasty’s court ministers are now in the pocket of the sixth prince. Who would have thought that just when everyone thought that the sixth prince would soon become the next Crown Prince, the Emperor actually sent a miracle doctor to the East Palace.
Although the Crown Prince’s power is somewhat inferior to that of the sixth prince, he is still the Crown Prince. Once he firmly establishes himself in the, the people who support him may not be less.
Back to the morning court.
The Jin Dynasty has been plagued by disasters recently. Last year, the Chunxi Canal collapsed, causing water transportation to be blocked resulting in a loss of revenue. Immediately after, Maquis Changping died on the battlefield and lost two battles in a row.
Everyone was aware that, if the Jin Dynasty continued to struggle with Goguryeo3 (an ancient country spanning today’s Korea , Northeast China and Russia. https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hans/%E9%AB%98%E5%8F%A5%E4%B8%BD) and Liang states, the treasury would be exhausted. Otherwise, Emperor Cheng Yuan would not be investigating corruption all day long. Obviously, he was short of money.
The more he listened, the darker Emperor Cheng Yuan’s face became.
At this moment, a scout knocked on the door of the main hall, holding up the battle report.
Emperor Cheng Yuan looked at him, guessing that there was news coming from the front and said hurriedly: “Quickly tell us!”
Everyone looked over, fearing that it would be the same news as the previous times.
The scout knelt down and said in tears: “Your Majesty, we have won! Maquis Changping forced Liang State and Goguryeo back to the Jiasu Pass and also cut off the head of General Wuling. Currently, he is following orders to return to the capital.”
As he spoke, his voice became louder and more excited.
After the scout said this, everyone had different expressions.
Some people showed joy on their faces, secretly sighing that this heir apparent of the Su family was really amazing. In just a few months, he had personally avenged his father.
From now on, he will be the pillar of the country.
Some people looked solemn, such as the sixth prince. The relationship between the Su family and the Crown Prince was not shallow…
Now that Su Heng came back with military merit, it would do him no good at all.
There were also people whose expressions suddenly darkened, like Lu Yan, the moment he heard the words Su Heng and returning to the capital…his right eyelid twitched inexplicably.
…
After morning court, Lu Yan and Sui Yu walked out of the Daming Hall side by side. As soon as they reached the carriage, they heard a rush of footsteps behind them.
“Lord Lu.”
Lu Yan turned around and took a closer look.
It was Li Di.
Li Di took a step forward and said, “Lord Lu, can you lend me a moment to talk to you?”
Sui Yu smiled and patted Lu Yan on the shoulder, “My wife suffered from a cold yesterday. Shi Yan, I’m leaving first.”
Lu Yan nodded, then turned around and said, “Lord Li, what is the matter?”
“The other day, did my wife go to Jingzhao Prefecture?” Li Di probed.
To be honest, Li Di didn’t believe Shen Shu when she said she went to Jingzhao Prefecture to file a petition for divorce. He always felt that Shen Shu was hiding something from him.
But such probing was really useless on Lu Yan.
Lu Yan asked back: “Isn’t Lord Li the one who should know the best about Madam Li’s affairs?”
Upon hearing this tone, Li Di’s heart sank.
Could it be possible that Shen Shu really went to Jingzhao Prefecture?!
Lu Yan frowned slightly and said, “Lord Li, is there anything else?” The impatient tone greatly shortened Li Di’s thinking time.
Li Di rubbed the center of his brow with his index finger and smiled helplessly: “A few days ago, my wife and I had a quarrel and had some misunderstandings. I didn’t expect her to go to Jingzhao Prefecture.”
Li Di’s tone really sounds like a husband who loves his wife dearly, there is no trace of falsehood between the words.
Lu Yan pondered over Li Di’s words and understood, his words seemed to be explaining, but in fact his words were empty and he was still testing.
This also shows that Li Di has no idea what Shen Shu did in Jingzhao Prefecture.
Lu Yan’s intuition told him that Shen Shu was using him as a shield.
