Chapter 231 Tit for Tat
The news that the Song family's ancestral tomb had been disturbed overnight spread. There were many people guarding the city gate. Xiao Yan went in and out with the black-armored guards. The coffin that was carried into the city was not covered. During the morning court the next day, many people had already heard about what happened last night.
Knowing that Song Xi's lineage had been expelled from the Song clan and that his coffin had been moved to the back mountain of the unfinished academy, many people were discussing the matter in low voices.
Some said that the Song family deserved it, some naturally scolded Tang Ning for being disobedient and unfilial, and of course there were even more people who scolded Xiao Yan for taking advantage of his power to bully others.
As was customary at the morning court, just as the official business was over and they were discussing whether it was time to leave, someone suddenly came out to impeach Xiao Yan for abusing his power as a member of the Black Armor Guard and oppressing the Song family.
Qian Baokun was the first to speak up: "What do you mean by abusing your power?"
"The Yiyang County Princess had long ago received His Majesty's approval to sever ties with the Song family. Furthermore, this matter involves Prince Cheng and Song Hong's conspiracy to treason, so relocating the tomb is only a matter of time. Governor Xiao was merely exercising his authority and doing his job. How could he be bullying others by abusing his power?"
Cao Dejiang also stood aside, holding the white jade tablet in his hand and said calmly: "Have the Black Armor Guards ever trespassed into the Song family?"
The court official who spoke said hurriedly, "In front of everyone, the Black Armored Guards have entered the Song family..."
"Whose eyes?"
After Cao Dejiang said this, everyone subconsciously looked at Xiao Yan who was standing in the front. Seeing that he was looking at them with a cold and light expression, those people suddenly realized how familiar this scene was.
Once upon a time, the phrase "in public view" meant that those who impeached Xiao Yan were whipped in front of the palace every day. Thinking of Censor He, who had injured his knees from kneeling two days ago and voluntarily resigned from his post and returned home with his entire family, and was only reluctantly allowed to be dismissed by the emperor for "endorsing" him in front of the palace, everyone bowed their heads in unison.
Song Hong was not the only one from the Song family who served in the court. There was also another person who served as the Shaofu. Although his official position was not high, he still had the right to attend the court.
Seeing Emperor An yawning listlessly, Xiao Yan looked at the Song official and said, "Since Du Siye is using this as an excuse to impeach me, why not ask the Song family?"
"Minister Song, I was in a hurry on duty last night. Did I disturb anyone in your house?"
The Song official's face paled when he was named. He stepped forward, holding his tablet, lowered his head, and whispered, "You gentlemen have misunderstood. Although Governor Xiao led his men to the clan last night, he did not harm any of the Song family members. He also visited the Yiyang County Lady and did not offend her."
"The Yiyang County Lady informed the clan a few days ago about the removal. After consulting with someone about the time, they chose last night to carry it out. The Song family approved this matter. As for moving the coffin, it was simply to facilitate the County Lady's future worship."
"Song Rong, you!!" The man who had previously impeached Xiao Yan suddenly widened his eyes. "Last night, the Black Armored Guards surrounded the Song family and were so aggressive that they almost destroyed the Song Ancestral Hall. Why should you be afraid of them in front of His Majesty..."
"Master Du has misunderstood."
The Song family official spoke quickly and urgently, "The Black Armored Guards were only guarding the Song family gate and never approached the ancestral hall. Furthermore, opening the ancestral hall and moving graves is a major event for the clan. It's not appropriate for outsiders to know about the clan elders discussing this matter with the county lord. Governor Xiao was worried that someone might take the opportunity to spy and fuel speculation, leading to misunderstandings between the Song family and the county lord, so he kindly ordered them to guard the gate."
Although Xiao Yan had kept silent about what happened at the ancestral tomb last night and no one outside knew about it, he, his father, and several elders of the Song family knew it clearly.
The coffins of Song Xi and his wife were dug up, their bodies were scattered and damaged, and even the graves were full of unclean things. It was a good thing that Song Tangning didn't bring people to destroy the entire Song family.
They were originally angry about Xiao Yan forcing the Song family to open a clan temple, and they also thought about making Tang Ning know the consequences of betraying the clan. However, after the incident with the ancestral tomb, they were left with only a guilty conscience.
At this time, they hoped that Tang Ning and Xiao Yanbie would vent their anger on the entire Song family because of this matter, so how could they dare to make trouble by expelling them from the family?
Xiao Yan had a bad reputation, and Censor He had suffered the consequences first. Song Rong lowered his head and said:
"Your Majesty, Governor Xiao has good intentions, and is definitely not what Lord Du has speculated. Moreover, although Princess Yiyang has left the Song family, the Song clan still treats her like a member of the family. It was the Song clan that mistreated her in the past. I, your humble servant, and the entire clan only hope that she will be well in the future."
Lord Du's face turned pale.
Qian Baokun snorted coldly and said, "No one from the Song family said anything, but Lord Du was very attentive. If someone didn't know, they would think it was your Du family's ancestral grave that was being dug up."
"I only gave advice for the sake of clarity in the court..." Lord Du said anxiously.
Cao Dejiang stood aside upon hearing this, glancing at the courtiers from the aristocratic families. He said coldly, "Since it's just advice, you should be cautious. As an important official in the court, you wantonly impeach without clarifying the facts. Is Du Siye trying to do the same to our Censorate?"
"How about I give this position to you?"
"Lord Cao..." Lord Du's face turned even paler. He turned his head to look at Emperor An, who looked impatient. He knelt down and said, "I have absolutely no such intention. I am just worried that someone in the court is abusing their power. The arbitrary deployment of the Black Armor Guards will lead to speculation from outsiders and harm Your Majesty's reputation..."
"Since Your Majesty has placed the Black Armor Guard under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council, there is no need for others to interfere. Everyone in the court has performed their duties and has never overstepped their authority. However, Du Siye, as a civil official, you have overstepped your bounds by monitoring the Privy Council's investigation."
Cao Dejiang was a man of few words, but when he did, he was always sharp and pointed. "Also, instead of keeping an eye on the Privy Council, Du Siye should have taken better care of the Imperial College students and prevent them from getting involved in scandals. This might have saved the imperial court some face."
Emperor An knocked on the dragon throne impatiently, and paused when he heard this: "What scandal?"
Cao Dejiang said calmly, "Half a month ago, Imperial College student Teng Jianping frequented brothels. He and another student fought over the newly listed courtesan, and a fight ensued in the brothel. It also affected the people who were in the brothel that day."
"Because the injuries were so severe, the matter was reported to the Jingzhao government office. It's said that Teng Jianping still owed the brothel hundreds of dollars on credit, causing several prostitutes to cry and complain before the government office. Later, it was Du Siye who went to the Jingzhao government to redeem the man. I don't know if Du Siye paid the debt back."
Qian Baokun said, "This is truly the biggest joke in the world. The emperor's gatekeepers, the students of the Imperial Academy, carefully selected to become future court officials, even have to buy on credit to visit a brothel..."
He made a "tsk" sound, and Emperor An's face had turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
The director of the Imperial College was on the verge of collapse and fell to his knees with a thud.
Xiao Yan barely spoke a word from beginning to end. Lord Du's impeachment attempt failed, and he was instead impeached by the Censorate for misconduct and was dragged away.
Seeing that one person was killed but Xiao Yan didn't get into any trouble at all, the court officials from the aristocratic families turned pale and secretly cursed Cao Dejiang and Qian Baokun for getting involved with that eunuch.
Xiao Yan looked at the court officials who were furious but helpless, and calmly stepped forward and said, "I was going to report to Your Majesty about what happened last night, but Du Siye was too anxious."
"Prince Cheng was imprisoned for many days, refusing to speak. I had to resort to some trickery to get him to confess. This matter is somehow connected to the Song Xi couple, so I led my men to the Song family that night."
Emperor An was more energetic: "He confessed?"
Xiao Yan hummed, and handed Prince Cheng's confession, as well as the confessions of those from the Ministry of War and the Arsenal, to the eunuch Feng who came forward, and asked him to hold them and pass them to Emperor An.
Seeing Emperor An looking down, Xiao Yan said, "According to Prince Cheng, he, the Minister of War Hou Rui, and the Military Equipment Supervisor Gong Jinghao were all introduced by the Lu family. The minerals and other materials he used to refine the iron were also obtained from the Lu family."
"When Song Xi was alive, he discovered that the noble families were colluding with the prince for personal gain. He and Madam Rong's deaths were not accidents, but were murdered."
The others in the court immediately erupted in an uproar. One official from a prominent family angrily said, "This is clearly slander. Prince Cheng had no dealings with the Lu family in the past, and Song Xi has been dead for ages..."
"No matter how many years have passed since his death, as long as he did it, there will be traces left behind. It is not unheard of for a case to be overturned many years later." Xiao Yan looked at the person who spoke indifferently: "As for Prince Cheng and the Lu family, although there has been no dealings, it does not mean that there has been no collusion."
"Prince Cheng confessed personally that he had already been in contact with the Lu family before the late emperor passed away. After Your Majesty ascended the throne, the Lu family distanced themselves from him on the surface to avoid suspicion, but they secretly maintained contact."
"Regarding the grain tax embezzlement case, Recorder Song once reported that the Lu family helped people in Beijing transport goods on the southern grain transport. The account book also stated this. Prince Cheng had a cloth shop under someone else's name, and they had used the Lu family's merchant ships to transport iron ore into Beijing several times, thus avoiding searches at various checkpoints in the capital."
The faces of those people from the aristocratic families changed drastically. The Lu family had never mentioned this matter before, and even those who were involved in the grain tax case had never known about the Lucky Iron Mine.
They subconsciously looked at Emperor An, and sure enough, they saw that the previously listless Emperor An now had a gloomy face.
Before the late emperor passed away, Crown Prince Li got into trouble, and Prince Cheng became the most popular candidate for the Eastern Palace. At that time, the Lu family chose to support Emperor An, who was still a prince at the time, without hesitation, and even pulled other families in. For this reason, after Emperor An ascended the throne, the daughter of the Lu family became the queen.
The affection for assisting the noble families back then was their greatest reliance. Even though Emperor An repeatedly targeted the noble families, he did not dare to go too far openly. He could not afford the reputation of being ungrateful. Therefore, even when Lu Zhao got into trouble and Lu Chongyuan was under house arrest, Emperor An never touched Queen Lu.
But now the so-called assistance has been mixed with water. The Lu family has been secretly colluding with King Cheng and has always been eating the food of two families. This is more deadly than their corruption.
Emperor An flipped through the things in his hand and said coldly, "What else did Xie Tianyu say?"
Xiao Yan said, "That's all for now. He didn't want to reveal anything about the Lu family, but he opened up because he couldn't stand the torture. Now he's unconscious, so it's difficult to interrogate him again. However, Hou Rui and the other two have confessed a lot, and their confessions are all here. This is enough to charge Prince Cheng with treason."
"Enough for what?"
Emperor An was filled with coldness and a sinister look. "Since he dared to collude with the Lu family, who knows if he has committed other evil deeds. Let me continue to interrogate him. I must thoroughly investigate him."
He was talking about a case of treason, but anyone could tell that his target was the Lu family.
Xiao Yan had long anticipated Emperor An's intentions, and knew that if the matter of Prince Cheng was linked to the Lu family, Emperor An would not let it go. He lowered his eyes respectfully, "Your Majesty, I will obey your will. However, Prince Cheng's case happened a long time ago. If the trial continues, I am afraid that many people will be implicated..."
"So what? Daring to collude with Prince Cheng and attempting treason is a grave crime. You must conduct a thorough investigation for me. Anyone involved in this case, whether in the past or now, will be shown no mercy!"
With Emperor An's words, Xiao Yan achieved his goal today.
He lowered his head and raised his lips silently: "I obey your command."
…
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