Chapter 86 Undermining

Not long after, Liu Qi, the Grand Minister of Justice of the Court of Justice with a goatee, whom Mu Xi had met some time ago, entered the hall to pay his respects.

Mu Ji, still aloof and arrogant, said the same thing: "Minister Liu, please explain the situation as well."

Liu Qi reported to His Majesty: "Your Majesty, according to the investigation by the Court of Justice, the remains of the late King were stolen from the Western Mountain Royal Mausoleum a month ago. This was the work of remnants of the previous dynasty. That night, these remnants not only destroyed the late King's mausoleum and stole his remains, but also colluded with the criminal slaves who were building the Great King's mausoleum, setting fire and causing explosions in a deliberate act of sabotage. Afterwards, the remnants of the previous dynasty also helped the criminal slaves escape and hide in the Zhilan Terrace, a remnant of the previous dynasty. After the Zhilan Terrace collapsed, various rumors spread."

Mu Xi was completely bewildered. She knew nothing about it, and none of it was related to her.

Then Mu Ji asked, "How is the search for the late king's remains going?"

Liu Qi replied, "Forgive my incompetence, but the Court of Justice has only managed to find a few clues so far. After the remnants of the previous dynasty stole the late king's remains, they did not flee far away, but instead entered Moyang City. However, once they entered the city, they have not been heard from since."

"Why did they come into the city?" Mu asked, puzzled.

"This..." Liu Qi seemed to find it difficult to speak.

"I, the King, forgive your crime. Speak freely." Mu Ji was more agreeable than rumored.

Liu Qi subtly smoothed his goatee and replied, "According to the Court of Justice's request to Guanlan Palace to calculate the whereabouts of the late king's remains, they are still in Moyang City. I have discussed with the Imperial Observatory and speculated that this may be a remnant of the previous dynasty trying to disrupt the feng shui of our Great Yu."

"How dare you!" Mu Ji was furious.

Liu Qi was so frightened that his goatee trembled: "Your Majesty, I dare not speak recklessly. You may summon the Imperial Astrologer to inquire. Furthermore, the remnants of the previous dynasty deliberately destroyed Your Majesty's royal tomb because Your Majesty's royal tomb was built on the dragon vein of my Great Yu."

Mu Ji's face darkened with anger, and a murderous aura emanated from him, though he managed to suppress it. He continued to ask, "The remains of the late emperor and the destruction of the royal tombs can be attributed to the remnants of the previous dynasty trying to disrupt the feng shui of this dynasty. But what about Zhilan Terrace? And what about those rumors?"

"This..." Liu Qi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, seemingly trying to cover something up, and finally replied, "Zhilan Terrace was originally the site of the previous dynasty. This time, the people should naturally blame the current dynasty for its collapse."

Mu Xi still didn't know what the rumors about Zhilan Terrace were.

Mu Ji turned to Lu Cao and the others kneeling to the side with a cold expression: "You all heard it, are you still going to deny it?"

Lu Cao, fearless and head held high, said, “Your Majesty, please forgive me. When the late Emperor’s remains were stolen, we, his sinful servants, were still working through the night on the Western Hills to build the royal mausoleum. In the latter half of the night, the eastern side of the mausoleum was bombed and caught fire. We, his sinful servants, had already been driven down the mountain to rest in the work sheds and were not present. The reason we, his sinful servants, escaped was that three days later, when the higher-ups could not catch anyone, they wanted to use us as scapegoats. We heard the news and were unwilling to die, so we had no choice but to run away. We fled to Zhilan Terrace for temporary refuge. As for the collapse of Zhilan Terrace… that was because the main beam used in the construction of the royal mausoleum was stolen from Zhilan Terrace, which caused the collapse of Zhilan Terrace. It had nothing to do with us.”

"How dare you! It is you sinners who spread heresies and mislead the masses! My Great Yu is blessed by Heaven, and everything is prosperous under my rule. Why would I demolish the Zhilan Terrace when building a royal mausoleum?" Mu Ji's suppressed anger erupted again.

After observing the gossip for a while, Mu Xi finally understood what the rumors were.

Zhilan Terrace was originally built by the previous dynasty at the confluence of the Bin River and the Cui River in the eastern suburbs of Moyang. It is said to be an altar project built by the former Crown Prince Yan to pray to the Dragon King of the Sea God, hoping that the heavens would not send down floods.

Unfortunately, the altar was not completed before the Yan Kingdom was destroyed, so the Zhilan Terrace was abandoned.

It may be abandoned, but is the new king's tomb made from timber stolen from the old kingdom, or from the altar of the former crown prince?

Would you call this a real case of "sabotaging"?

It's easy to do, but it doesn't sound good.

No wonder Mu Ji got angry.

But this still has absolutely nothing to do with her, the Prince of Jinfang.

If we have to talk about a connection, the only one we can get in touch with is Cao Pan'er.

Thinking of Cao Pan'er, Mu Xi couldn't help but look over again, only to see that although Cao Pan'er was being held at the back, she was craning her neck and looking at Lu Cao's back with worry at the front.

These two must have a relationship, but what kind of relationship?

Just as Mu Xi was pondering this, Lu Cao added, "If Your Majesty does not believe me, you can inquire with the Sikong Mansion. We, the sinners, all heard that this was an order issued by the Sikong Mansion when we were in Xishan. We sinners were even sent to dismantle the sleepers of Zhilan Terrace. There is no doubt about it."

"Summon Grand Minister Tao Jin." Mu Ji's deep eyes were filled with turbulent emotions. Although he summoned the Grand Minister, he turned back and said, "Even so, you criminal slaves cannot escape the crimes of colluding with the remnants of the previous dynasty, destroying the royal tombs, and fleeing to avoid punishment."

Lu Cao was quite resolute: "It is true that we, the criminal slaves, fled, but it was out of necessity. The royal tombs were damaged, but they have not been able to catch the culprits and have no way to explain themselves. So someone wanted to frame us, the criminal slaves. Whether we fled or not, we would die. I, Lu Cao, am not afraid to die, but Cao Pan'er has nothing to do with this matter. I beg Your Majesty to have mercy and let her go."

"Is it irrelevant? Liu Qing, what do you say?" Mu Ji asked Liu Qi to speak again.

Liu Qi bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, according to the investigation by the Court of Justice, Lu Cao was the adopted son of Cao Ren, the former Grand Master of Works. He was adopted by Cao Ren at a young age and began apprenticing under him at the age of seven. The kingdom fell when Lu Cao was ten. Cao Ren, as the former Grand Master of Works, secretly colluded with the remnants of the previous dynasty after the fall of the kingdom. After being discovered, he was sentenced to death. His family, wife, and daughters were all enslaved. Lu Cao, being an adopted son at the time, was not considered a family member but was punished as a subordinate and demoted to slavery. Although he was young, he was sent to the royal mausoleum as a slave because of the imminent construction and the lack of manpower. Furthermore, it was found that during the more than ten years that Lu Cao was enslaved at the royal mausoleum, Cao Ren's wife, Cao Qin, visited him at the royal mausoleum many times. In recent years, Cao Ren's daughter, Cao Pan'er, has also frequently visited to bring him clothes and food, showing great care."

Now Mu Xi finally understood what the whole matter had to do with the Jin Fangjun Mansion.

On the other side, Mu Ji shifted his gaze to Lu Cao's face: "Can you still say that there is no connection?"

Lu Cao replied, “The Western Hills are bitterly cold. My master’s wife took care of me out of old friendship, after learning of my whereabouts; otherwise, I would have died long ago at the foot of the Western Hills. As for my junior sister… when Master Cao Ren died, she was not even a year old. I had never even met her, so we were truly strangers. It’s just that in recent years, my master’s wife has grown old and is no longer able to travel. When she is busy, she asks my junior sister to bring some clothes and food. But I and my fellow disciples have absolutely no connection to the destruction of the royal tombs, and we, as orphans and widows, have no relation to the remnants of the previous dynasty.”

"If there is no connection, why was Cao Pan'er among those arrested at Zhilan Terrace?" Gao Quan suddenly interjected, clearly because Cao Pan'er was arrested by the Imperial Guards at Zhilan Terrace.