Chapter 178: Caught in the Net (2)
Prince Chun was furious: "Zheng Mian! What grudge do I have against you that you would frame me like this?!"
Zheng Mian looked at him with indescribable disappointment and disgust in his eyes. Emperor Jian'an was suspicious and distrustful by nature. Because of his father and uncle, he had always been unwilling to stay in the court, so he had been serving as an official outside the capital for many years. Because of his outstanding political achievements, he was quickly promoted to the second-rank provincial governor. However, he had always been grateful to Prince Chun, who had secretly sent the imperial physician to save his deceased father. He never expected that Prince Chun's kindness and benevolence were just an act. Kindness was just his mask. His selfishness was even heavier and more vicious than Emperor Jian'an's.
Zheng Mian coughed again and said coldly, "Prince Chun, you don't need to struggle anymore. I have told His Highness the Crown Prince everything we have been planning all these years. Now that he has captured you, how difficult is it for him to investigate your activities of forming cliques, secretly contacting local officials, raising private soldiers, and illegally operating iron mines all these years?"
Prince Chun's face turned deathly pale as he stared at Zheng Mian in disbelief: "Zheng Mian, have you gone mad?" How dare he truthfully report their plot to the Crown Prince? Was he planning to drag the entire Zheng family down with him?
Zheng Mian's face was pale: "Over the years, the Zheng family has helped you a lot, giving you money and people when needed. But you know how important Uncle Jingwen is to my family, yet you have no sympathy or pity for him. You even despise me, your ally. It's clear that you are nothing but a hypocrite who betrays his benefactor. You betrayed me first, so how can you blame me for standing up to testify against you now?"
He lifted his robe and kowtowed respectfully to the Crown Prince: "Prince Chun was arrested rashly, and he certainly did not have time to move the evidence. Please order a search of his princely residence. You will surely find something unexpected. Please do not hesitate."
He straightened his back and said calmly, "This sinful subject knows he has committed a capital crime and dares not ask Your Highness for a pardon. He only wishes not to implicate his family. If he does, he will die without regret."
He wasn't even afraid of death! He told the Crown Prince everything!
Prince Chun felt cold sweat pouring down his forehead. No, he couldn't search. He thought about the things stored in the mansion; if they were searched, everything would be ruined. He had to stop this from happening.
Prince Chun stood up and said sternly, "Nonsense! What evidence do you have for all these claims? As a member of the imperial family, how can you presume to claim me as your own!"
He quickly turned to the Crown Prince, his face contorted with grief and indignation: "Chengming, he's spewing lies and trying to sow discord between you and me without any evidence. I don't know what his intentions are. Your Imperial Uncle watched you grow up. Don't you know what kind of person he is? When has he ever harmed you brothers in the slightest? You mustn't let an outsider's instigation cause you to develop a grudge against your Imperial Uncle. If your father finds out, and if your deceased grandparents find out, how heartbroken they will be!"
Meng Guanqi and Li Xiaoxiao felt a chill in their hearts. They had brought up their deceased ancestors; would the Crown Prince buy into this?
Zheng Mian also stood up: "I am no nobody, so why would I attach myself to you without any evidence? I came to the capital in a hurry this time and indeed did not bring our usual correspondence. But it would be very simple for Your Highness to verify this. You can send someone to Shanxi to retrieve it immediately. However, the journey is long, and it will probably take more than a month for a round trip. What Your Highness lacks most right now is time. If too much time passes and people find out that Prince Chun's mansion is besieged, the hidden evidence will probably be moved, and the search will be of little use..."
Prince Chun was furious: "Nonsense! I was personally appointed a prince by the late emperor. Even if I am guilty, I should be tried by the three judicial departments and convicted by the Imperial Clan Court. How can you easily search my residence just because of your words? Where is the late emperor's dignity? Where is the dignity of the royal family? If the Crown Prince really listens to your instigation, will he also be able to enter other people's private residences without any evidence and search them arbitrarily to frame them? If this gets out, how will the world believe that the Crown Prince will uphold justice and not act arbitrarily?"
He sneered repeatedly, then suddenly flicked his sleeve and pointed in the direction of his own palace: "Chengming, if you really listen to this treacherous villain's wild words and want to search my palace, go ahead, go ahead. But if you can't find any evidence that he framed me, don't blame me for turning against you and exposing what you've done today to the public. Consider the consequences yourself!"
His anger and composure didn't seem feigned, and his confident and fearless demeanor was indeed somewhat deceptive. For a moment, the Crown Prince was unsure whether Zheng Mian was lying.
Seeing the Crown Prince begin to hesitate, Prince Chun pressed his advantage, lamenting, "A man who has been plotting revenge for his father for decades, and your own uncle—how could you choose to believe him instead of me? Chengming, today is supposed to be your coronation ceremony. Are you going to commit such a grave mistake before you have even officially become emperor, making the entire court and the world a laughingstock?"
The Crown Prince's hesitation deepened. Prince Chun, adept at reading people, was about to add fuel to the fire and completely dissuade the Crown Prince from searching his house when a gust of wind suddenly came from behind him. A hand chops landed on his shoulder, and Prince Chun's eyes rolled back as he fainted.
Li Xiaoxiao, who was taking action, complained, "You talk too much nonsense!"
The entire hall was shocked, and the Crown Prince was dumbfounded: "Li Xiaoxiao, what are you doing?"
How could she knock out Prince Chun without orders?
Li Xiaoxiao said, "Your Highness, Prince Chun keeps telling you to investigate as you please, but he's actually terrified. He's even brought up ancestral laws to stop you and threatened you with the court and the people. It's clear he's very guilty and is just stalling for time. Once his family notices something's wrong, they'll definitely try to hide his things, and then it'll be hard to find them. Instead of just talking here, we should hurry up and search his residence to see if we can find any evidence."
She just knocked him out so simply and brutally, without even making an excuse?!
This was the first time Zheng Mian had witnessed Li Xiaoxiao's abilities; she was determined, decisive, and her moves were clean and efficient!
Zheng Mian stepped forward: "Your Highness, the enthronement ceremony has been cancelled, and officials are not allowed to enter the palace. However, Prince Chun has not returned home. The Imperial Guards are still surrounding Prince Chun's residence. If we do not search the residence as soon as possible, the people inside will soon notice something amiss and begin to move or destroy evidence. I guarantee with my life that everything I say is true. Prince Chun has been plotting to usurp the throne for a long time, and it is absolutely impossible for him to do so without leaving any trace. I urge Your Highness to send people to search for evidence as soon as possible."
The man has already been knocked unconscious. If we don't take this opportunity to search the Prince's mansion, wouldn't it be a waste of the good situation that Li Xiaoxiao created?
Meng Guanqi also stepped forward: "Xiaoxiao is absolutely right. Prince Chun is threatening Your Highness not to search his mansion because he is guilty of something. He is very eloquent, and I'm afraid that if he says a few more words, Your Highness will let him go home. Your Highness should not be fooled by these big words. You should know that although he has denied all the accusations, the seven explosive charges on the altar are real, and Chief Steward Wei's accusations are real. He has not been able to provide any evidence to prove that these things have nothing to do with him."
The Crown Prince felt somewhat relieved and looked at Li Xiaoxiao: "Since you are so sure that Prince Chun is guilty and stubborn, then you can go. I will have Prince Chun locked up. Remember, if you don't find any evidence, you can expect to be dismissed and investigated."
Li Xiaoxiao clasped her hands in a fist and said, "Then this subordinate needs to borrow someone from Your Highness."
The prince asked, "Who?"
Li smiled and said, "Of course it's perfect."
When it comes to confiscating property, who is more adept than this future head eunuch?
The Crown Prince waved his hand and said, "Wan Quan, take your capable men with you and go with her. You must find the important evidence and bring it back."
Wan Quan accepted the order: "This servant obeys."
Li Xiaoxiao and Wan Quan were gone for two hours and had not returned. The Crown Prince locked up Vice Minister Wang and Prince Chun together, with heavy guards stationed at the gate. He neither saw them nor allowed them to come out.
Wang Shilang's face was still swollen, with a clear handprint on it, but his complexion was almost like that of a dead man. He watched as Prince Chun went from being shocked to furious to cursing loudly when he first regained consciousness, but no one paid any attention to him after he cursed for a long time, and as the sweat on his body increased, Wang Shilang closed his eyes. It was over, everything was over. Prince Chun was completely unprepared and was being searched. He was doomed to be caught.
Even he knew that after Li Chengyao escaped, he quickly destroyed or hid the relevant evidence. Was Prince Chun too confident that he would leave such a deadly thing in his residence?
Meanwhile, in the main hall of the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince and Meng Guanqi were also very anxious. Why had it taken so long? Had they encountered some kind of obstacle, or had they found nothing?
The two weren't worried about encountering obstacles; with Li Xiaoxiao's brute strength, who could stop her? Their only fear was the latter scenario—that they wouldn't find anything at all.
The Crown Prince couldn't help but send people out to find out what was going on, but none of them returned. When he sent out the fifth person, Pang Shi couldn't sit still any longer: "Your Highness, why don't I go myself? So many people have gone and none of them have returned. Could they have encountered danger?"
Could there be some secret passage or mechanism in Prince Chun's mansion that has trapped everyone inside? The Crown Prince's heart skipped a beat. He was about to agree when he saw someone rushing over, panting: "Your Highness, Your Highness, Guard Li... Guard Li requests that Your Highness send another hundred Imperial Guards to help..."
The crown prince asked curiously, "What do you need help with?"
The guard said, "Help us carry the stolen goods."
Help carry the stolen goods? The Crown Prince frowned: "What kind of things are so numerous that they require a hundred people to carry them?"
The guard said, "The secret passage under the artificial hill in Prince Chun's mansion contains over a million taels of silver, as well as weapons and armor. The treasury also holds countless rare treasures, more than you could ever carry away..."
Millions of taels of silver?! And weapons and armor too? The Crown Prince breathed a sigh of relief. With just these two items, Prince Chun's charge of treason would be impossible to clear.
The Crown Prince looked at Zheng Mian: "Did your family provide the millions of taels of silver?"
Zheng Mian shook his head: "Over the years, the Zheng family has only given about 200,000 taels of silver, not a huge sum of over a million taels." Even for the entire Zheng family, it would be very difficult to come up with a million taels of silver, requiring the entire family's assets. Although Zheng Mian is an ally of Prince Chun, it is impossible for him to really hand over all his wealth to Prince Chun.
The Crown Prince snorted coldly. Two hundred thousand taels was no small sum. In other words, besides Zheng Mian, there were other people who gave Prince Chun money. Then he couldn't escape the charges of forming cliques and colluding with ministers in private.
He felt more relaxed than ever before. It seemed that most of the crimes Zheng Mian accused Prince Chun of were true. Since these huge sums of embezzled money had been recovered and Prince Chun could not explain their source, they should naturally be put into the national treasury. He never expected that Prince Chun would present him with such a great gift before he even ascended the throne. It was truly a cause for celebration.
The Crown Prince no longer has back pain, leg pain, or restlessness. His temper has improved, and he even finds Zheng Mian more agreeable. He has even developed a strong appetite and wants to eat.
That's right. They started making noise in the middle of the night, and by the time the sun was high in the sky and it was almost noon, they were starving. He ordered the Crown Princess to serve the dishes, as he wanted to dine with Meng Guanqi.
As for Zheng Mian, he pondered for a moment: "Send an imperial physician to examine him. This case has a long way to go..." Seeing him cough after a few breaths, he really regretted kicking him too hard. What if he accidentally died, just as Li Xiaoxiao was worried about?
This man became the top scholar at the age of sixteen, and by the time he was over thirty, he was already a second-rank official. If it weren't for the feud with his family, after he ascended the throne, he would have Zheng Mian on the left, Meng Guanqi on the right, Gu Henian in the middle, Li Xiaoxiao and Pang Shi behind him, and the court would have been able to rest easy.
But how should his crime be determined? He still needs to think about it carefully.
The Crown Prince enjoyed a hearty meal with Meng Guanqi in high spirits. Meanwhile, the imperial physician examined Zheng Mian and reported back to the Crown Prince with his head bowed: "Lord Zheng has two broken ribs, and his heart and lungs are also injured. In addition, his health is not very good to begin with, and he has been overly worried. I'm afraid he will need to rest and recuperate properly to recover..."
The Crown Prince paused for a moment, holding his teacup, and instructed his wife: "Give him a room in the side hall, assign two people to watch over him, and bring him medicine on time. Don't let him die."
The Crown Princess responded and went to make arrangements, assigning two attentive palace maids and eunuchs to attend to Zheng Mian as he recovered.
The Crown Prince smiled and personally poured Meng Guanqi a cup of tea: "The successful resolution of this case is entirely due to the hard work of you two..."
Meng Guanqi said with shame, "This humble subject dares not accept such praise. This humble subject only investigated Lord Zheng Mian, but did not know that Prince Chun was behind him. I almost wronged an innocent person..."
The Crown Prince stopped him, saying, "Hey, how can you say he's been wronged? He colluded with Prince Chun and provided him with assistance. Although he never actively harmed the Crown Prince, an unintentional mistake is still a mistake. If we're really talking about it, his crime is not light. You've already done a great job by digging him out from among all the clues."
He smiled and said, "However, your contribution is not small, but Li Xiaoxiao's contribution is even greater. I have long decided to let her succeed Pang Shi after I ascend the throne and officially serve as the commander of the Eastern Palace Guard, specifically to protect Ke'er's safety. Your position can also be moved up. You can be promoted to the position of lecturer in the Hanlin Academy, serving in front of the emperor, and in the future, you will help me draft edicts and convey my will... Don't be afraid of others laughing at you. It is normal for you to be behind Li Xiaoxiao for the time being. Although her military rank is set at the third grade, it is extremely difficult for her to be promoted. On the contrary, if you have merit after entering politics, it will be easy for you to rise step by step."
Li Xiaoxiao has extremely high aspirations, but it will be very difficult for her to get promoted. Meng Guanqi, on the other hand, is a Jinshi who passed the imperial examinations through proper means. He takes things one step at a time, and his future prospects are much brighter.
Meng Guanqi had long anticipated that the Crown Prince would appoint Li Xiaoxiao to succeed Pang Shi. Aze practically treated their home as his own, and the Crown Prince would likely be uneasy about transferring another guard commander. Therefore, although he was somewhat jealous that his wife held a higher rank than him, he accepted it well: "Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness. I will thank you on behalf of Xiaoxiao."
The emperor and his minister chatted happily in the Eastern Palace, while on the other side, the stolen goods seized from Prince Chun's residence were finally loaded onto the carriage box by box.
Dozens of carriages lined up and stopped in front of Prince Chun's mansion. Inside, heavy boxes were being carried out one after another. Soon, the carriages started moving, pulling the heavy carriages toward the palace. With the addition of the hundreds of imperial guards surrounding the mansion, the news of Prince Chun's mansion being raided spread throughout the capital in less than half a day.
Without a word, the Crown Prince ransacked Prince Chun's house and pulled out hundreds of large boxes. The person most concerned was naturally He Yuchang, the Minister of Revenue. He disregarded the Crown Prince's order and immediately went to the Yang family to bring Yang Shimin to Prince Chun's residence.
With Grand Secretary Yang watching from the side, He Yuchang, acting rather arrogantly, stepped forward and lifted the curtain of the carriage. Immediately, an imperial guard came to stop him: "Sir! These are stolen goods that have been sealed. We have already counted them. We need to hand over the receipts after entering the palace. You cannot open the box!"
He Yuchang was so angry his beard bristled: "I already said it's stolen goods, how could I let you handle it? Can you even count it correctly? What if you miscounted? By the way, what's inside?"
The imperial guards stared blankly and said, "Silver? What else could it be?"
He Yuchang's eyes lit up: "So much, all of it is silver?"
The Imperial Guard replied, "Of course, this is nothing. We don't even know if this line of carriages will be enough to hold them all..."
He Yuchang's eyes lit up even more: "How many?"
The Imperial Guard replied, "I don't know about that, but it should be no less than a million... However, many of the boxes also contain swords, bows, arrows, and armor. You'll know if you look at the warrants, sir."
Yang Shimin and He Yuchang were alarmed. With so much silver and weapons, even without a trial, Prince Chun would undoubtedly be guilty.
Why so suddenly? Even their cabinet hadn't received any news. Was the Crown Prince keeping it a secret for too long?
Yang Shimin held out his hand: "Let me see your note."
When the Grand Secretary reached out, the Imperial Guards dared not refuse and hurriedly handed it over respectfully. Yang Shimin unfolded the slip of paper and saw that it read "1,576 ingots of silver, 10 taels per ingot". A carriage with the seats still in place could fit four boxes, so the carriage in front of him was carrying more than 10,000 taels of silver.
He Yuchang didn't care what Prince Chun had done or whether the Crown Prince had acted in accordance with the rules. All he cared about was the money. Moreover, this money couldn't go into the Eastern Palace or the Crown Prince's treasury; it had to go into the national treasury. The Eastern Palace's imperial guards could confiscate the property, but the Ministry of Revenue had to be the ones to receive the stolen goods!
He quickly looked around, he refused to believe that he couldn't see any acquaintances from the Ministry of Revenue in such a lively place!
Sure enough, he spotted one of his subordinates, a secretary from the Ministry of Revenue. He yelled at the top of his lungs, "Qi Fengyu! What are you doing hiding there? Hurry up and call someone to take over!"
The people from the Ministry of Revenue always treated money like their lives. Seeing that their old minister was about to tear his throat apart, he quickly squeezed out of the crowd and ordered his attendants to quickly call over his colleagues who were still watching the commotion outside: "Sir, what do you want to see me about?"
He Yuchang patted his head and pulled Yang Shimin along, saying, "Come on, let's go into the Prince's Mansion."
Wan Quan was registering the quantity of each box in a booklet when he looked up and found three people had entered through the door. He rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was seeing things. How could he see Chief Minister Yang, Minister He, and someone else coming in together?
He Yuchang smiled when he saw Wan Quan and strode forward to take the booklet from his hand: "Eunuch Wan, you've worked hard. How can we let you do such rough work? Qi Fengyu, hurry up and come over to work."
Wan Quan was shocked; the Ministry of Revenue was trying to rob him!
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