Chapter 285: If you want to accuse someone, you can always find a pretext.

Censor Guo grew increasingly agitated, his mouth spitting. "Your Majesty, after the battle in the southwest, who doesn't know that He Zhaojun, the daughter of the He family, led an army that was unmatched? Tens of thousands of men were commanded by her alone. How could this be possible? Moreover, maintaining these troops costs a fortune. If the He family hadn't been corrupt, how could they have afforded the military expenses?"

"This is embezzlement! The thief is crying 'stop thief!' He Shan is a gang member who is against those who are dissidents, and He Zhaojun is a hen that crows at dawn. The entire He family is guilty of this crime!"

He enumerated many clauses in detail, most of which were guesses based on common sense and sounded very reasonable, but he could not provide any strong evidence. Otherwise, he would not have reported them so many times in vain and now faced off in the De Zheng Hall.

Emperor Wen listened calmly for a moment, then, after waiting for Censor Guo to finish, he mused, "Censor Guo, if it's really as you say, then you must have gathered a lot of evidence. Why don't you present it all?"

Censor Guo stiffened his neck and presented the memorial in his hand. "Your Majesty, this is what I have learned from my investigation: a small number of members of the He family's retinue frequently enter and leave official residences under the pretext of repairing houses. These are the confessions of the adults!"

He Zhaojun was completely relieved upon hearing this. If this was their so-called trump card, then they were underestimating both her and Wen Ziduan. Although these troops bore the name of the He family, they were personally trained by Wen Ziduan at the behest of Emperor Wen, precisely for this day.

Without the help of these people, how could He Shan dare to arbitrarily confiscate the family's property and arrest people? Now Censor Guo has brought this matter to light. He is making an impassioned speech, enumerating the He family's crimes, and in fact he is trying to pull Emperor Wen's hair out and report them to him.

The more Emperor Wen listened, the angrier he became. Why were these censors so clueless these days? Previously, Censor Zuo would always come to the emperor with solid evidence, but now Censor Guo was just relying on one side of the story to launch a scathing attack on important officials and the Third Prince's wife.

"Imperial Censor Guo, is this the evidence you provided? You can use this kind of thing to fool yourself, but you must never present it in the court and embarrass yourself." Emperor Wen casually threw the memorial beside him. He Zhaojun took two steps forward, picked up the memorial, and read it carefully.

Censor Guo was still struggling: "Your Majesty, I am willing to guarantee with my life that the He family must have been corrupt in the matter of military funds. A thorough investigation will definitely find evidence!"

"Nonsense! You want me to search the house of a general who is fighting on the northwest front without any evidence? Or do you want to send the future wife of the third prince to the Ministry of Justice?" Emperor Wen always had a good temper and was willing to give young officials opportunities, but this Censor Guo was really stupid.

He Zhaojun knew that Censor Guo had made up his mind. No matter what, he was determined to catch He Zhaojun off guard today and thoroughly investigate the He Mansion. If the stalemate continued, Emperor Wen would have no choice but to say that these troops belonged to the royal family.

Once this secret is revealed, his status as an emperor in the hearts of his ministers will plummet.

He Zhaojun smiled. "It seems that Censor Guo has calculated that there are loopholes in my house today. This money must have come from corruption. Is that right?"

"Yes! The military expenditure required to support and train these troops is enormous. Moreover, the He family's troops are well-equipped, and many of them even have weapons that far exceed the quality of our army. If there were no corruption, the He family would have to serve as officials since the Qin Dynasty and not eat or drink for two hundred years to save such wealth!"