Wen Zhixuan was impeached.
Last time, Emperor Hongde wanted to teach the aristocratic families a lesson and intended to promote Jiang Yiqing. Although he failed, he still dismissed the Grand Censor Xu Jun. The current Grand Censor is still from an aristocratic family, the Zhang family of Qinghe, Zhang Yunjian.
Wen Zhixuan worked for the emperor, and all his ruthless methods were tacitly approved by the emperor.
The aristocratic families were targeting his origins.
As everyone knows, Wen Zhixuan was promoted to Imperial Preceptor five years ago after killing a tiger demon and saving the Emperor in the hunting grounds, thus becoming a favorite of Emperor Hongde.
But nobody knows where he came from.
Although the records of his case in Chang'an County have long been destroyed, the traces of his existence go far beyond that.
Zhang Yunjian impeached him for deceiving the emperor.
As soon as he finished speaking, Qiu Ye, the Prefect of Jingzhao, stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, I recently received a report on a poisoning case. During my investigation, I came across the famous Sanshengtang clinic in the capital and learned that five years ago, the Imperial Preceptor Wen Zhixuan was beaten to death. He was rescued by Princess Yongle and his current wife, who took him to the clinic. It seems that the Imperial Preceptor and his wife met through this incident."
Wen Zhixuan raised an eyebrow slightly.
Emperor Hongde said coldly, "I already knew that the Imperial Preceptor had once fallen on hard times, so why do you say he deceived the emperor?"
Qiu continued, "Your Majesty, the apprentices at Sansheng Hall said that the Imperial Preceptor was once a slave in the Duke of E's mansion."
That was Wen Zhixuan's dark history. Although many years have passed, it is still embarrassing to have his veil torn off in public.
Wen Zhixuan's gaze turned cold.
Qiu also looked at the Duke of E, "May I ask, Duke of E, is it true or not?"
The Duke of E said calmly, “Heroes are not judged by their origins. His Majesty just said that the Imperial Preceptor did indeed fall on hard times. It’s an old story, why bring it up again?”
Wen Zhixuan's previous petty thoughts seem insignificant in the face of his political stance.
The Duke of E was not given the position of the Duke's father-in-law for nothing.
Wen Zhixuan was Emperor Hongde's right-hand man. The powerful families wanted to bring him down, not only because of the Equal Fields Decree, but also because of the imperial examination system.
This year's imperial examination results showed that many students from poor families ranked highly.
This created a crisis for the powerful clans that held real power. They had foreseen how sharp the imperial examination system would become, so they wanted to nip it in the bud.
So the various families joined forces to put Wen Zhixuan to death.
The Gu family has always been a royalist, so naturally they can't take advantage of the situation now.
Qiu also said, "Then may I ask, how did the Imperial Preceptor end up as a slave in your household? And why was he beaten by your household servants? His Majesty once said that the Imperial Preceptor is highly capable and of noble character. Surely he couldn't have committed some grave mistake to suffer this calamity?"
Emperor Hongde's expression darkened slightly.
As expected, they were well-prepared.
Just as E Guogong was about to speak, Wen Zhixuan stepped forward and said, "If Lord Qiu has any doubts, he can just ask me, the person involved, directly. There's no need to make things difficult for others."
The Duke of E glanced at him unexpectedly.
Qiu remained expressionless. "Then please enlighten me, Grand Preceptor."
Wen Zhixuan was of equal rank to him, and without an imperial decree, he naturally could not barge into Wen's residence to arrest him. He could only take the matter to the emperor and confront him in court.
Wen Zhixuan roughly guessed their plan, but there was no way to avoid it; he could only deal with it as it came.
"Your Majesty, I told you back then that I am a person from a secluded sect, without a registered household, which is why I became a slave."
Emperor Hongde nodded.
He knew about it.
Wen Zhixuan continued, "This humble servant is new to the world and does not understand human customs. I offended the young master, which led to the disagreement. As for nearly losing my life, that is nonsense. Lord Qiu has already questioned the manager and apprentices of Sansheng Hall, so he should know that I only stayed at the clinic for one day before leaving. Why would a dying person do that?"
Qiu didn't care about the twists and turns; all he wanted was the result.
"The Imperial Preceptor is a cultivator, capable of exorcising demons and summoning rain. Even if he is seriously injured, what difficulty would it be for him to recover in a day? However, speaking of this, I, Qiu, would also like to ask, how could someone as powerful as the Imperial Preceptor be beaten to such an extent by a few mere servants?"
Wen Zhixuan remained unfazed. “On the day I descended the mountain, the goddess descended to earth. Lord Qiu may not know this, but whenever a deity is reincarnated, there are always extraordinary phenomena that attract the covetous eyes of demons, who want to devour them and ascend to heaven. Therefore, auspicious clouds of five colors covered the sky, and the spiritual energy within a thousand miles was depleted to ensure the goddess’s safe birth. It was because of this that I lost all my power.”
Qiu then added, "The Imperial Preceptor must be referring to the day of the Fifth Princess's birth, right?"
Wen Zhixuan: "Yes."
"That's strange."
Qiu smiled, but his gaze was sharp. "Isn't the Goddess Princess Fule? How did she become the Fifth Princess?"
Emperor Hongde's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.
Wen Zhixuan remained calm. "The Fifth Princess was born on the same day that the Goddess was born into the womb of the Princess of Huyang. The Fifth Princess was born with the auspiciousness of the Goddess, which is a very lucky omen. As a result, the Fifth Princess and the Goddess were very close and like sisters."
Emperor Hongde's expression softened.
"That's true."
The Fifth Princess is practically Jiang Shumiao's little follower, even closer than a sister.
Qiu continued, "But as far as I know, the Imperial Preceptor didn't enter the Duke of E's mansion on the day the Fifth Princess was born, but a month later. So where did the Imperial Preceptor go during that month? Since he has no household registration, he shouldn't be able to make a living, right?"
That month that was erased, that month of shame.
In order to bring down Jiang Qi, Wen Zhixuan leaked information to the Censorate, and more than two years later, it was brought up again.
Even Emperor Hongde was unaware of this matter.
But he sensed that Wen Zhixuan had something difficult to say, so he asked, "What does this have to do with what Minister Zhang reported?"
"His Majesty."
Zhang Yunjian bowed and said, "It is not that your humble servant and Lord Qiu intend to make things difficult, but the Imperial Preceptor's background is indeed questionable. He claims to be a hermit cultivator, but when the immortal from Penglai in the East Sea visited last year, he did not mention this person. Therefore, it seems that he is not a member of the immortal sect."
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