This time, a considerable amount of porcelain was presented as tribute, some of which was a return gift to Xiliang and Donglie.

The emperor wouldn't let the envoys from Xiliang and Donglie return empty-handed from afar to offer their birthday greetings to the Great Chu. The porcelain of the Great Chu was exceptional, and the court would usually present them with several pairs of porcelain vases. Of course, the envoys from the Great Chu who went to Xiliang or Donglie to offer their birthday greetings would not return empty-handed either.

The porcelain filled two carriages, but the startled horse nearly destroyed all the porcelain on one carriage.

The horse that caused the trouble was caught, but no one claims it.

Who would dare to claim it?

Are you going to offer your head to a horse to clean its ass?

No one would do something so stupid unless they were completely out of their mind.

Because it was an accident, the emperor did not pursue the dereliction of duty by the team escorting the tribute to the capital, but only ordered the Ministry of Rites to prepare return gifts for Xiliang and Donglie.

Everyone treated the destruction of the tribute as an accident, and Shen Wan and Xie Jingyan also thought that the matter was over. However, after a day of calm, a huge uproar suddenly broke out.

That day, Chef Li created a new pastry, which Shen Wan sent to Xie Jingyan to taste. Just as she brought the pastry to Xie Jingyan's lips, a guard jumped in through the window.

Chen Wan is to neither continue feeding nor stop feeding.

Suddenly, all three of them were embarrassed.

Xie Jingyan coughed lightly and asked, "What is it?"

The guard snapped out of his daze and hurriedly said, "I don't know what happened, but the Duke of Mao and the Minister of Justice have surrounded the Left Prime Minister's residence with their men."

Shen Wan, “…???”

Xie Jingyan, “…???”

Surround the Left Prime Minister's residence?

It was Duke Maoguo and the Minister of Justice who went together.

What major incident has occurred?

Shen Wan subconsciously looked at Xie Jingyan, "What did the Left Prime Minister do wrong?"

Xie Jingyan shook his head. It was strange that he hadn't heard a word about this beforehand.

He looked at the guard and said, "Go and find out."

The guards obeyed the order and jumped out the window just as they had entered the room.

Shen Wan thought the guards would take a long time to find out, but they returned in less than half an hour.

Shen Wan and Xie Jingyan were having lunch when a guard knocked on the window and entered the room, reporting, "The Duke of Maoguo, on the Empress Dowager's orders, summoned the Ministry of Justice to search the Left Prime Minister's residence, and they found the batch of porcelain that was smashed in the street..."

Shen Wan was stunned. "The horse knocking over the carriage carrying the tribute porcelain wasn't an accident?"

The guard shook his head. "It wasn't an accident. That batch of porcelain was defective. The real tribute was sent to the Left Prime Minister's residence."

Shen Wan gasped. She knew that few officials in the court were not corrupt, but for the Left Prime Minister to dare to embezzle even tribute was far too audacious.

Xie Jingyan then asked, "How did the Empress Dowager find out?"

Shen Wan also wanted to know, so she looked at the guards.

The guard said, "At the beginning of next month, Princess Huyang will celebrate her birthday. The Empress Dowager secretly ordered people to make a pair of tribute porcelain pieces to give to Princess Huyang as a birthday gift. They were sent to the capital along with this batch of tribute. After the tribute was damaged on the street, the Empress Dowager sent people to retrieve the porcelain bottle, saying that if the bottle was broken, the broken pieces should also be brought back. However, when the Empress Dowager's people went, they were told that the bottle was broken, but no matter how much the Empress Dowager's people asked, they refused to let them take the broken pieces of porcelain."

"To complete their task, the Empress Dowager's men had the person arrested and brought before her. The Empress Dowager interrogated the person, who stammered and couldn't even clearly state where the porcelain was thrown. Enraged, the Empress Dowager tortured the person, only to discover that the birthday gifts she had prepared for Princess Huyang had been sent to the Left Prime Minister's residence. Not only that pair, but many other tributes had also been given to the Left Prime Minister..."

"In a fit of anger, the Empress Dowager ordered the Duke of Mao to search the Prime Minister's residence. However, the Duke of Mao did not have the authority to search the Prime Minister's residence, so the Empress Dowager ordered the Ministry of Justice to search the Prime Minister's residence on charges of embezzling tribute."

After the guard finished reporting, Shen Wan felt completely relieved.

The Left Prime Minister's residence is the maternal family of Empress Song and Xie Jingyin's biggest ally in his struggle for the throne. Now, tribute porcelain has been found in the Left Prime Minister's residence, and the evidence is conclusive, enough to give the Left Prime Minister a hard time.

The Emperor will surely punish him severely. If the Emperor is lenient with the Left Chancellor, he himself will likely be reprimanded by the Empress Dowager.

Shen Wan was in a great mood, but when she glanced at Xie Jingyan, she saw that his brows were furrowed and he didn't seem happy at all. Shen Wan asked curiously, "What are you thinking about?"

Xie Jingyan said, "The investigation into the Left Prime Minister's embezzlement of tribute was handled far too smoothly."

Xie Jingyan didn't say anything, and Shen Wan didn't think much of it either. It was indeed too smooth. She said, "When people are unlucky, even drinking water can cause problems. Maybe the Left Prime Minister is just too unlucky."

The only one who thought the struggle for the throne was so simple was probably his princess.

Xie Jingyan said, "This matter was not only handled smoothly, but there were also too many coincidences."

One coincidence is one thing, but this is a whole string of coincidences; how can one not be suspicious?

Shen Wan looked at Xie Jingyan and realized what was going on, saying, "You suspect that this was a trap deliberately set by the Empress Dowager for the Left Prime Minister?"

“Not too stupid,” Xie Jingyan said.

"..."

Xie Jingyan called her stupid, and she couldn't even refute it. She could only comfort herself by comparing herself to Xie Jingyan, thinking that there were very few people in the world who weren't stupid.

Thinking about it, there are indeed many suspicious points. The first is that the empress dowager is not allowed to interfere in politics. Even the empress dowager cannot issue an imperial edict to the Ministry of Justice to search the residence of the Left Chancellor based on the confession of one person.

If they can't find it, how will the Empress Dowager explain it to the Left Chancellor and Empress Song?

The Empress Dowager cares most about the royal family's reputation. Given her personality, she wouldn't do something so rash unless... there were absolutely no unexpected circumstances.

In other words, the Empress Dowager was certain that she could find tribute porcelain in the Left Prime Minister's residence, and no one could impeach her for interfering in politics within the inner palace.

Shen Wan said, "Even if the Empress Dowager set a trap for the Left Prime Minister, no one forced him to accept those tribute porcelain vases."

Flies don't land on eggs without cracks. If the Left Prime Minister is to respect imperial power, he will not only refuse to allow tribute porcelain into his residence, but will also bring the person who sent the tribute to him to justice.

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!