Chapter 48, 048: "In my opinion, the Crown Prince is cruel and inhumane, and should be deposed..."
Xiao Yu was busy organizing the last batch of confessions at the Censorate's outer office until the wee hours of the morning before finally returning to the Marquis's residence in the dark.
During his stay in the capital, he returned home late every night. On the first night, Xiao Rong and his wife, Xiao Hu, and Xiao Lin were all waiting for him at Wanhe Hall. However, Xiao Yu refused to reveal a single word before the case was closed. Xiao Rong clenched his fists and ultimately decided not to ask. Asking was useless; apart from his third son, everyone in his family was a martial artist. Since they couldn't interfere with the case, ignorance was sometimes a blessing. At least if outsiders inquired with them, they could honestly say they didn't know, and even if they used torture to interrogate them, they wouldn't get anything out of them.
Xiao Rong didn't ask, nor did he allow his second son, Xiao Lin, to bother his youngest son. The men of the Duke of Dingguo's mansion remained as steady as Mount Tai, so why should his second son-in-law worry about such things?
So when Xiao Yu returned, Xiao Rong and the others didn't wait for him. After all, Xiao Yu had been busy all day, and it was so cold in the dead of winter. Rather than saying a few empty words of concern, it was better to let him go back to Shensi Hall to rest as soon as possible.
At Shensi Hall, Luo Fu would definitely wait for Xiao Yu, because she couldn't sleep if she didn't.
The maid brought in two basins of hot water and then left. Xiao Yu first used one basin to wash his face, hands, and neck, then took the other basin to the chair and sat down to wash his feet.
"Are you hungry at this hour? I had wontons for dinner, and I asked the kitchen to make extra to keep on hand. They'll be cooked in a little boiling water."
Luo Fu, wrapped in a blanket, sat on the canopy bed where she could see him, and looked him over as she asked.
Xiao Yu shook his head. Perhaps his stomach needed to eat, but he had no appetite.
After washing his feet and then his hands, Xiao Yu turned off the light and went to bed wearing his undergarments.
Luo Fu nestled into his arms as usual and asked in a low voice, "Any progress today?"
While other couples might just jokingly promise to share hardships, Luo Fu didn't want to share hardships with Xiao Yu, and Xiao Yu didn't want his wife to suffer either. However, because of his position as an imperial censor and his personality, trouble could easily befall both of them at the same time. Therefore, Xiao Yu would tell his wife everything he could to avoid making her worry all the time.
If his father were reliable, Xiao Yu would tell him the truth. But his father wasn't, so Xiao Yu had to keep it a secret from his mother, who was often fooled by his father.
Embracing his warm wife, Xiao Yu began his story by recounting the discovery by the Three Departments of the estate under Song Liangxue's daughter's name.
"According to the testimonies of Song Liangxue and his daughter, eight years ago, when the Crown Prince visited the Song residence during his regency, Song deliberately seduced him. Because it was inconvenient for the Crown Prince to take her back to the palace, he placed Song in a farm outside the city. Occasionally, the Crown Prince would visit her when he had free time. Because of this relationship, over the past eight years, Song Liangxue, under the guise of the Crown Prince, accepted more than 200,000 taels of gold, silver and precious trinkets as bribes, and to avoid being noticed, he sent them all to Song's farm for her safekeeping."
"Song Liangxue said that during this disaster relief effort, he embezzled 400,000 taels of silver by withholding the grain and silver that should have been given to the disaster victims, buying rotten rice and wood that had been flooded at low prices to replace new rice and good wood, exchanging new rice and good wood for old rice and inferior wood from merchants to make a profit, and exaggerating the number of disaster victims. Fearing that transporting it into the capital would arouse suspicion, he hid the rest of the silver except for 50,000 taels of silver notes in that estate."
"Song Liangxue also said that the seven disaster victims were chosen by him to pretend to be homeless orphans and presented to the Crown Prince. According to him, apart from unknowingly taking in these seven kidnapped women during the disaster relief, the Crown Prince was only guilty of negligence and had no other crimes. However, the seven women all said that they had told the Crown Prince about their origins and the suffering of the disaster victims, but the Crown Prince simply ignored them."
Luo Fu laughed in anger: "The Crown Prince is truly innocent. How could Song Liangxue dare to send all the money he embezzled and bribed to the Crown Prince's women? Even if it were his own daughter, a normal person would find a place only he knows to hide it. In fact, he embezzled it for the Crown Prince, but it was inconvenient to send it to the Eastern Palace, so he left it outside the palace."
Xiao Yu: "That is the truth, but as long as Song Liangxue and his daughter refuse to confess to the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince also insists on not confessing, the Three Judicial Offices will be unable to convict the Crown Prince of corruption."
When the Three Judicial Offices tried cases, they could use some methods on ordinary officials, such as intimidation, deception, or even interrogation all night long, but these could not be used on the Crown Prince. It was still unknown whether the Emperor was willing to continue to investigate the Crown Prince's crimes.
"The three judicial departments will present all the confessions to the Emperor tomorrow morning. Let's see how the Emperor decides."
Luo Fu nodded, feeling sorry for Xiao Yu who had been busy until midnight. She patted his chest and prepared to let him sleep, but after closing her eyes for a while, she suddenly couldn't help but ask, "I can understand that the Crown Prince accepts those women because he is lustful, but as the Crown Prince, why would he embezzle? Does he lack money? Even if he does, the whole world will be his in the future, so why is he in such a hurry?"
Xiao Yu grasped his wife's hand again and said, "Everyone has worldly desires. Ordinary people want fine clothes and sumptuous meals; merchants want a large and prosperous business; officials want high positions and power to bring glory to their ancestors; wise rulers want peace and prosperity and lasting fame; foolish rulers want magnificent palaces and luxurious feasts. The national treasury is empty. The emperor once increased taxes on the people for the sake of conquering Yin. What's so strange about the crown prince accumulating wealth for his own selfish desires? Moreover, there is another type of royal family member. They don't lack money and have no desires for the time being, but they believe that the money in the national treasury belongs to the royal family and should not be used for the common people. So rather than spending money on the people, it would be better to deduct some and give it to them."
Luo Fu immediately understood. The wealthier a person is, the more expensive the things they covet are. Just like Emperor Yongcheng's ambition to unify the world, which not only cost money and supplies but also lives. She felt that the Crown Prince shouldn't be short of money, but perhaps he thought the Eastern Palace wasn't grand enough and was secretly saving money to build an even more magnificent palace after he ascended the throne?
.
Ever since the three judicial departments began to jointly investigate the case of embezzlement in disaster relief in the four prefectures, especially after the three judicial departments returned to the capital to continue interrogating Song Liangxue and other officials in the capital, the Crown Prince no longer cared about any material possessions. He even wanted to hand over all the money he had embezzled to completely clean himself up!
The Eastern Palace was guarded by the Imperial Guards, preventing the Crown Prince from leaving and his cronies from entering. The Crown Prince was annoyed by everyone, ignoring his concubines and children, and simply wandering back and forth between his bedchamber and study, feeling restless and agitated.
Emperor Yongcheng was much calmer than his son. On the morning of the 22nd of the twelfth lunar month, Fan Yan, Zou Dong, and Lin Bangzhen came to the Imperial Study to report their findings. After personally reading the testimonies of Song Liangxue and his daughter, as well as the seven female disaster victims, Emperor Yongcheng only frowned slightly. He then ordered the three officials to continue interrogating everyone in the Eastern Palace, from the Crown Prince and Crown Princess down to all the eunuchs and palace maids.
The interrogation of the Crown Prince took a day. Apart from the Crown Prince and his chief eunuch Xu Wan and bodyguard Shi Xing, the Crown Princess and others knew nothing about the Song family and their estate outside the palace. Then, as Xiao Yu had expected, the Crown Prince only admitted that he had accepted the seven orphaned beauties sent to him by Song Liangxue. During the day, he was preoccupied with disaster relief and had no time to spare. Occasionally, he would favor the seven women at night, but he never listened to what they had to say. After he finished with them, he would have them taken away to sleep in the inner quarters.
The chief eunuch Xu Wan and the imperial guard Shi Xing admitted that they knew about the relationship between the crown prince and Song Shi, and that the crown prince had taken in seven women during the disaster relief efforts in the four prefectures, but knew nothing else.
As night fell, Emperor Yongcheng obtained the testimonies of the people in the Eastern Palace and allowed Fan Yan and the other two, who had been working continuously for more than twenty days, to return to their residences to rest. He then sent someone to summon the Crown Prince.
When the Crown Prince arrived, Emperor Yongcheng was soaking his feet in his bedchamber.
With a wink, Emperor Yongcheng signaled Eunuch Ma to take away all the palace servants, leaving only the father and son in the bedchamber. Only then did Emperor Yongcheng look at the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince knelt before the gilded foot basin, helping his father wash his feet while looking up at his father with tears in his eyes: "Father, I was foolish. I shouldn't have been lustful and accepted those seven women. I shouldn't have neglected my inspection because the four prefectures were so desolate that I couldn't bear to look at them. But I really didn't know anything else. I beg you, Father, to see the truth!"
Emperor Yongcheng looked at the not-so-young face before him, and at the fine lines around the Crown Prince's eyes, and said with disappointment, "What did I tell you before you left the palace? The hearts of the people, the hearts of the people. I sent you to win back the hearts of the people, but your one word, 'muddled,' has only hurt the hearts of the people once again. Now the people of the four prefectures are all cursing me as a tyrant. Anyway, it's me they're cursing, it has nothing to do with you, right?"
The Crown Prince was filled with remorse: "No, it's all my fault. I've implicated Father Emperor! If Father Emperor still trusts me, I'm willing to send relief grain and silver to the four prefectures again. I'll personally cook and distribute porridge, and I'll personally visit every house of the disaster victims to ensure that every disaster victim has enough to eat and wear, and win back the hearts of the people for Father Emperor!"
Emperor Yongcheng poked his forehead hard: "I'm about to die, what use is the people's hearts? These hearts are reserved for you. I want the people of the Great Zhou to know that I have left them a new ruler who values the people's livelihood and loves them! The reason why that brat from Yin could make the officials and people of Liaozhou loyal to him is because he has mastered the art of a benevolent ruler. If you don't learn from this lesson and disappoint the people time and time again, they will abandon you. At that time, you won't even need Yin to attack you; the rebel kings from all over the country will be able to storm the capital and make you a king of a fallen kingdom!"
The crown prince froze, then, as if struck by a sudden realization, shuddered with fear. He raised his hands, still wet with foot-washing water, and slapped himself several times across the face: "Your subject was foolish, almost ruining the Great Zhou dynasty that Father Emperor had worked so hard to build! Your subject is incompetent, your subject is incompetent..."
Emperor Yongcheng's eyes twitched as he watched. Only when the Crown Prince's face was swollen did he stop him, saying, "Alright, alright. Remember this lesson. Otherwise, while I'm alive, I can clean up your mess, but once I'm dead, you can expect the downfall of your country!"
The prince kowtowed repeatedly, tears streaming down his face, promising that he would remember the mistake and never repeat it.
Emperor Yongcheng closed his eyes and told him to leave.
The crown prince glanced at the foot basin beside him and said dutifully, "Your subject will wash Father's feet before leaving..."
"Need not."
"Very well, then I shall take my leave. Your Majesty, please calm your anger; your health is of utmost importance."
After the Crown Prince left, Eunuch Ma entered with a bowed back. Seeing that the Emperor's feet were still soaking in the basin, he knelt down and continued to serve the Emperor until the Emperor fell asleep.
But Emperor Yongcheng simply lay down and barely slept all night.
The following day, the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, was the day Emperor Yongcheng held court to discuss state affairs.
All the officials and the disaster victims from the four prefectures were waiting for a result. When Emperor Yongcheng sat on the dragon throne, his first act was to convict the officials involved. Song Liangxue, the Prefect of Jingzhao, was found guilty of heinous crimes and was sentenced to have his property confiscated and his entire family beheaded. The remaining corrupt officials were punished according to the amount they had embezzled, with some being beheaded, others having their property confiscated, and still others being exiled. None of them were pardoned.
Finally, there was the Crown Prince.
"The Crown Prince, as the imperial envoy for disaster relief, has seriously neglected his duties, failing both my trust and the people of the four prefectures. He is hereby punished with a year of confinement in the Eastern Palace to reflect on his mistakes. In addition, the Prince of Qi and the Prince of Fu are dispatched to the four prefectures to provide disaster relief and comfort to the people."
The crown prince knelt down in shame to confess his guilt, and the Prince of Qi and the Prince of Fu stepped forward to receive the imperial decree.
Emperor Yongcheng scanned the civil and military officials: "If none of you have any objections, the case of the four prefectures is now closed. Let's begin today's court meeting."
Standing in the back row, Xiao Yu saw that none of the civil and military officials in front stepped forward. He gripped his tablet, took a few steps to stand in the middle, directly opposite the dragon throne, raised his head and chest, and said loudly, "Your Majesty, I have an objection."
Emperor Yongcheng pursed his lips, the Crown Prince frowned, and Xiao Rong was terrified!
Xiao Rong wanted to run over and shut his son up, or stand there and yell at him to shut up, but this was the Qian Yuan Palace, in front of the Emperor, and he couldn't be presumptuous.
Just then, Emperor Yongcheng spoke up, asking Xiao Yu, "Do you have any objections?"
Xiao Yu looked at the Crown Prince, who was kneeling in front of him with his back to him: "I believe that Your Majesty's punishment of the Crown Prince is too lenient."
A buzz of whispers immediately arose among the officials.
Emperor Yongcheng seemed not to hear him, and only looked at Xiao Yu: "Is that so? Then what punishment do you think the Crown Prince should receive?"
Xiao Yu paused, lowered his eyes for a few moments, then raised them again, looking directly at the emperor on the dragon throne, and said: "I believe that the Crown Prince is cruel and inhumane, and should be deposed!"
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Author's Note: Xiao Rong: You'd better cripple me first. [melting emoji]
100 little red envelopes, see you tomorrow~
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