Chapter 48: Shen Chu succeeded in stripping Sun Jingli of his official robes.

Shen Chu took the search catalog, opened the first page, and said loudly, "Your Majesty, there is nothing wrong with the contents on the page, but there is actually a hidden secret inside the paper."

These papers have been treated with a special solution that can hide the actual content written on them. However, when heated with fire, the writing will become visible.

Please allow me to demonstrate this to Your Majesty.

The Longqing Emperor nodded.

Shen Chu took out a small tinderbox from his pocket and looked at Sun Jingli with a half-smile.

"Lord Sun, would you consider confessing your crimes to His Majesty now?"

Sun Jingli felt a little flustered, gritted his teeth and knelt down, saying, "Your Majesty, I have always been loyal to you. Even if you gave me ten lives, I would not dare to curse Your Majesty or slander the government."

Shen Chu sneered, "It seems Lord Sun won't shed tears until he sees the coffin."

She lit the tinderbox and gently brought the first page of the search catalog close to the flame to heat it.

In a short while, a corner of the pattern began to appear faintly on the paper.

Officials nearby saw it and exclaimed in surprise, "It's coming out! It looks like a pattern?"

"Wait, what does this look like to me?"

"No way? Lord Sun actually used such a secretive method to curse His Majesty?"

The hushed whispers around him made Sun Jingli increasingly uneasy.

He tried to get closer to Shen Chu to see what was going on, but was afraid of revealing his guilty conscience, and instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

Zhao Dewen lowered his voice and asked angrily, "What exactly happened? Did you tamper with it inside?"

Slandering the government and cursing His Majesty is a capital offense.

Sun shook his head frantically, "No, I really didn't do anything. Didn't the adults check it?"

Zhao Dewen frowned. He had indeed looked at the search catalog and hadn't found anything wrong.

Was Shen Chu bluffing them?

Zhao Dewen looked up at Shen Chu with suspicion.

Shen Chu gently heated the paper with a tinderbox, and seemed to notice her gaze, turning her head to look at him.

His eyes curved into a smile, a hint of smugness in them. His lips moved slightly, silently uttering four words.

Zhao Dewen understood Shen Chu's lip movements, and his expression changed drastically.

He meant, "You're finished."

"Damn it, Shen Chu must have tampered with it. He's deliberately framing us."

"What?" Sun Jingli turned pale with fright, completely panicked. "Then...what do we do?"

Zhao Dewen clenched his fist. "What did Shen Chu say to you yesterday? Tell me quickly."

Sun Jingli's voice trembled slightly, "He...he said he would personally strip me of my official robes today, and...right, someone heard him talking to Old Man He about how one bad apple spoils the whole bunch, and he wanted to start over."

The clerk told him what he had overheard, and he cursed Shen Chu in his heart because Shen Chu mocked him for being a rotten apple.

"Old Man He?" Zhao Dewen's brows furrowed tightly, and several thoughts raced through his mind.

He turned to look at He Zhengxiang.

He Zhengxiang held up a walnut with a patina and shook it at him, laughing heartily.

"Oh no, we've been tricked. Shen Chu must have colluded with Old Man He to deliberately frame us with this search catalog."

The search directory must have been tampered with by Shen Chu.

Sun Jingli was so frightened that his legs were trembling. "My...my lord, you must save me! I don't want to die!"

Zhao Dewen glared at him fiercely, "Idiot, the search directory belongs to Chen Chu, not you. What are you afraid of?"

Sun was dumbfounded. "Does the official want me to admit that I stole the search catalog?"

"Otherwise what? Are you going to wait to be accused of cursing His Majesty and slandering the government?"

Sun was anxious, fearful, and regretful.

Just then, Shen Chu was heard shouting, "Your Majesty, please look..."

There was no time to lose! Terrified, Sun Jingli's legs went weak, and he immediately knelt down and shouted:

"Your Majesty, I have no idea that there are any treasonous words in the document."

It was Shen Chu who deliberately slandered the court, cursed His Majesty, and then framed me.

"I am innocent! Your Majesty, please investigate!"

Shen Chu put away the tinderbox, a half-smile on his face: "Lord Sun, are you trying to frame me for slandering the court and cursing His Majesty?"

Sun, his face full of anger, said, "Nonsense! You're clearly framing me! You compiled this search catalog; who knows what you secretly wrote in it?"

"Oh? Since it was a search catalog I compiled, why was it presented to His Majesty under the name of Lord Sun?"

The entire square suddenly fell silent.

All eyes were on Sun Jingli.

Sun Jingli's face turned pale, and he felt as if he were being roasted over a fire.

If you don't admit to stealing Shen Chu's things, you will be guilty of cursing His Majesty.

If you admit it, you'll have to bear the guilt of theft.

Between two evils, choose the lesser. Sun Jingli closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, saying, "Your Majesty, I found the search catalog compiled by Shen Chu to be truly ingenious, and I became greedy and wanted to take it for myself."

But I did not tamper with it in any way. I swear that every word on it was written by Shen Chu.

The entire file management system was devised by Shen Chu; I had no idea that there were any treasonous remarks from above.

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire square erupted in an uproar.

"The file management regulations were actually drafted by Shen Chu."

"Sun Hong has gone too far by stealing other people's hard work and appropriating it for himself!"

"Such a person with such depraved private morality should be severely punished."

Hearing the surrounding whispers, Sun Jingli looked at Zhao Dewen in a panic, "My lord..."

"Who do you think you are!" Zhao Dewen kicked him with a dark face and knelt down to beg for forgiveness.

"Your Majesty, I was misled by Sun Hong and failed to notice in time, which is why I presented the search catalog to Your Majesty in Sun Hong's name. I beg Your Majesty to punish me."

Sun Jingli was struck dumb. "Sir, you clearly knew, and..."

Zhao Dewen interrupted him loudly, "Nonsense! I had no idea that you stole Lord Shen's things first, and then you deceived me."

Such moral depravity and lack of moral cultivation are utterly heinous crimes.

Sun Jingli's face turned deathly pale. "You! Lord Zhao, how dare you betray me after using me?"

Zhao Dewen glared at him coldly, but when he turned to Emperor Longqing, his face was full of shame.

"I caught a cold a few days ago and have been taking leave to recuperate at home. I never expected that such a thing would happen in the Censorate. I was negligent and beg Your Majesty to punish me severely."

The Longqing Emperor frowned. "Was it just a momentary oversight?"

Zhao Dewen's forehead instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

"Upon returning, I will immediately conduct a thorough investigation within the Censorate. If any such criminals are found again, I will punish them severely without leniency."

Emperor Longqing snorted coldly, "Indeed, a thorough investigation is necessary. If it weren't for today's events, I wouldn't have known that my censors and supervisors would have such despicable individuals."

"Guards! Immediately strip Sun Hong of his official robes, flog him fifty times, send him back to his hometown, and never let him hold office again!"

Sun Jingli's body went limp, and he collapsed to the ground.

He was demoted back to his hometown and would never be employed again.

His political career was completely over.

When the Imperial Guards came forward and stripped him of his fifth-rank official robes, and pressed him onto the torture bench, he finally came to his senses.

"Your Majesty, I know I was wrong. Please forgive me. I will never do it again."

All that responded to him was the heavy blows of the cane.

The pain was so intense that he wished he could die immediately. As Sun was in a daze from the pain, he seemed to hear Shen Chu's words again.

Shen Chu did it; he really took off his official robes.

He only wore the fifth-rank official's robes for half a day.

He shouldn't have provoked Chen Chu; he regretted it!

Unfortunately, it was too late. Sun Jingli, who was beaten to the point of near death, was dragged away like a dead dog.

Emperor Longqing's gaze fell on Zhao Dewen, who was still kneeling on the ground.

Zhao Dewen's heart trembled and his liver quivered.

At this moment, someone stepped forward and asked, "Young Master Shen has been playing tricks by heating the paper with fire for so long, what exactly appeared on it?"