At this time, Yao Zongwen's clothes were soaked with cold sweat. He no longer had the calmness and composure he had when he was just arrested. He only made one or two barely audible hums from time to time.

Walking up to Yao Zongwen, Wei Zhongxian smiled, then sat down on the chair his men had brought and ordered coldly, "Help Master Yao over here, and prepare a stool for the clerk."

After saying this, Wei Zhongxian deliberately paused for a moment before continuing, "Master Yao, if you had known this would happen, why would you have done it in the first place? But it's not too late now. Confess obediently and wait for His Majesty's judgment."

Yao Zongwen raised his head and looked at Wei Zhongxian. His expression was slightly ferocious, as if his wound was hurt. He cried out in pain, "Eunuch Wei, those who do evil will eventually perish. I'm afraid you won't have a good ending if you act like this."

"Don't bother Lord Yao with this." Wei Zhongxian looked at Yao Zongwen with a sullen face and said playfully, "Lord Yao, we are here to investigate Xiong Tingbi's case under the order of His Majesty. Now let's talk about it!"

The clerk next to him had already prepared everything. After hearing what Wei Zhongxian said, he did not dare to delay and quickly picked up the pen and started writing on the paper. He was taking notes.

Yao Zongwen was in so much pain that he was speechless. After panting for a long while, he finally spoke: "Xiong Tingbi and I have a deep grudge. I was working as a clerk in the Household Department, but I left my post to return home due to mourning. After returning to the court, I wanted to be appointed as an official, but the Ministry of Personnel's several applications were put on hold for several years without approval. I submitted several letters of recommendation, but still could not be appointed. I was really at my wit's end, so I wrote to Xiong Tingbi, asking him to request an official position for me. Xiong Tingbi did not agree, and I became resentful of him because of this."

"Later, I finally became a clerk in the Ministry of Personnel. I went to Liaodong to review the troops and discussed matters with Xiong Tingbi. Naturally, we had many disagreements. Coupled with the fact that I failed to get bribes several times, my resentment towards Xiong Tingbi deepened."

Seeing Yao Zongwen speak, Wei Zhongxian's heart was filled with joy. It was really great. This was like confirming Yao Zongwen's guilt.

In this way, the prerequisites for making this case bigger are met. Moreover, the emperor will definitely be very satisfied, and my position will be consolidated. How can I not be happy?

"After returning from Liaodong, I began to contact others and slander Xiong Tingbi in the court, hoping to teach him a lesson."

Wei Zhongxian also became excited and asked quickly, "Who are the accomplices?"

This is the key issue.

"It was Liu Guojin, a native of Liaodong. He had previously served as an imperial censor, but was demoted during the six-yearly imperial inspection. When war broke out in Liao territory, the court decided to recruit Liao people, so Liu Guojin became the head of the Ministry of War and participated in military affairs. Liu Guojin advocated recruiting Liao people as soldiers, and the court followed his plan, recruiting over 17,000 Liao soldiers. However, more than half of them deserted. Xiong Tingbi reported this to the court, and Liu Guojin began to resent Xiong Tingbi."

"Liu Guojin and I hit it off immediately. We spread rumors attacking Xiong Tingbi, saying that Liao's territory was shrinking day by day, and accusing Xiong Tingbi of abandoning everyone's plan. The soldiers and horses there were not trained, the generals were not deployed, and the people were not loyal. Punishments were sometimes ineffective, but the labor of the soldiers and civilians never stopped."

"The Imperial Censor Gu Xu was the first to rise up, impeaching Xiong Tingbi for having been out of retreat for over a year without a plan; for concealing the loss of Puhe River and not reporting it; for using his soldiers with weapons instead of fighting, and for using them only to dig trenches; and for using the imperial sword in his hand not to benefit the state but to abuse his power."

Wei Zhongxian frowned and his expression darkened when he heard what Yao Zongwen said. He really wanted to take revenge on some of the censors, and these people were indeed impeaching him.

But Yu Fengwen was reporting the matter, and this matter itself was their job. Yao Zongwen would be punished, but the others were afraid that it would be difficult to deal with them. Besides, they wanted a big shot, so what would these small shrimps do with them?

Looking at Yao Zongwen, Wei Zhongxian lowered his voice and said, "Master Yao, I don't like being treated as a fool. How could you, with just a few of you, frame Xiong Tingbi as the Liaodong governor? Who ordered this?"

Wei Zhongxian looked at Yao Zongwen and shouted, "You really won't cry until you see the coffin."

Yao Zongwen groaned in pain several times, his expression changing constantly. After a while, he looked up at Wei Zhongxian and said with a smile, "Eunuch Wei, I admit my guilt, but I have no one behind me. No matter how you ask, I have no one behind me."

"Drag him away and beat him!" Wei Zhongxian was also very ruthless. He was determined to pry open Yao Zongwen's mouth. There could be no mistakes in this matter.

In early February, heavy snow fell once again in the capital. The red walls and white snow were covered with snow, which moved people from the bottom of their hearts. This heavy snow showed no sign of stopping. Instead, it got heavier and heavier, and the entire capital was covered with snow.

It was freezing cold and few people were traveling, but countless memorials flew into the Qianqing Palace along with snowflakes.

Emperor Tianqi seemed to have disappeared and ignored these memorials. He left all matters to the cabinet and the Imperial Household Department.

The ministers outside the palace were extremely anxious about Yao Zongwen's arrest and wanted to enter the palace to investigate, but they were all blocked. This led to many rumors outside, such as Wei Zhongxian's rule and the emperor's debauchery. There were all kinds of rumors.

At this time, in the carpenter's workshop of the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Youxiao was tinkering with the wooden block in his hand, and not far away, the prototype of a wheelchair had already taken shape.

"Your Majesty, I've heard the news." Chen Hong reported softly at the door.

Zhu Youxiao carefully picked up a wooden wheel, looked at it for a few seconds, nodded with satisfaction, put it aside, stood up and stretched, then said, "Then tell me about it!"

"Yao Zongwen has confessed, but Wei Dugong is still torturing him, saying that there is someone behind Yao Zongwen." After saying this, Chen Hong stood aside with a serious expression on his face.

Zhu Youxiao smiled casually and said, "Of course there are others. What can Yao Zongwen and Liu Guojin accomplish?"

After saying this, Zhu Youxiao laughed and said, "When Xiong Tingbi was the Imperial Censor, he was in charge of making suggestions together with Liu Guojin and Yao Zongwen. They were on good terms with each other and shared the same mission of rejecting the Donglin School and attacking Daoism."

"Liu Guojin and others had high hopes for Xiong Tingbi, which is why Yao Zongwen sought to become his disciple. However, Xiong Tingbi didn't dare agree, or perhaps he looked down on them, which further disappointed them. Yao Zongwen was originally a disciple of Liu Guojin, and from then on, the two of them colluded even more to oppress Xiong Tingbi."

"But Xiong Tingbi isn't that easy to deal with. It's just that sometimes, with some things, you just have to wait for the right opportunity."