042 [诛心]

Just as he stepped into the Imperial Study, Xue Huai was greeted by a scene reminiscent of a raging storm.

"Xue Minglun, oh Xue Minglun, listen to me well!"

"Back then, I praised you for handling affairs with stability and caution, for exercising self-restraint. Today, you have made a laughingstock of me before all the civil and military officials!"

"Did you really think I was unaware that the Ministry of Works wasn't entirely clean? But I endured it! Why? Simply because you, Xue Minglun, were able to generate silver for me!"

"Yet look at you! You condoned the Waterways Department for stuffing dikes with reeds instead of stones, and allowed the Land Reclamation Department to sell tens of thousands of mu of fertile farmland as wasteland!"

"I turned a blind eye so that you could squeeze out silver to accomplish practical matters for me, not so that you could turn the entire Ministry of Works into a nest of worms!"

"In your eyes, what is my empire? Fat meat on the chopping block of your Ministry of Works?"

"Struck dumb? Speak!"

Behind the dragon-carved desk, the Emperor of Great Yan wore a livid expression, a torrent of roaring rebukes pouring from his lips.

Present in the Imperial Study at that moment were Crown Prince Jiang Xuan, five senior Grand Secretaries including Ning Hengzhi, five Ministers excluding Xue Minglun, as well as Cai Zhang, the Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate; Lin Miao, an Academician of the Hanlin Academy; and Lü Si, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.

These high-ranking officials clad in purple robes all kept their eyes fixed on the tips of their noses, acting as though they had nothing whatsoever to do with the matter at hand.

The sole exception was Xue Minglun. The Minister of Works stood in the center, his face deeply ashamed, his body hunched like a dying old man.

Hearing the enraged interrogation of the Son of Heaven, Xue Minglun raised his head with immense difficulty, then said with a trembling voice, "This subject deserves ten thousand deaths for failing to shirk the blame! I beg Your Majesty to strip me of my post and place me in chains..."

"You wish to get off that easily!"

The Emperor raised his tone, castigating angrily, "You turned the Ministry of Works into such a烂摊子 [mess], and now you want to wash your hands and walk away? Let me tell you, if the Ministry of Works cannot purge its internal ailments, I will have your entire Hedong Xue family executed to the last man!"

At these words, the assembled officials felt a profound shock rippling through their hearts.

Even Xue Huai felt a slight start. Although the Xue of his lineage and the Xue Minglun of that lineage had long since branched out beyond the fifth degree of mourning, tracing back to their ancestors, they both originated from the Xue clan of Hedong.

Xue Minglun was equally speechless. His previous actions were twofold: first, to submit and acknowledge his guilt, and second, to advance by retreating. The Emperor's response indicated that he was not yet willing to completely discard the Minister of Works, yet the murderous intent in those words chilled Xue Minglun to the bone.

Having served at the center of power for so many years, this was the first time he had heard such phrases as "execute your entire family" from the lips of the Son of Heaven, which was enough to show how terrifying the Emperor's wrath currently was.

At this thought, Xue Minglun dared not play any more tricks. He honestly replied, "Your Majesty, this subject is willing to resign from the post of Minister of Works, yet not to leave the ministry, but rather to continue fulfilling the duties expected of me until this case is fully resolved, and only then await Your Majesty's judgment."

Upon hearing this statement, the Emperor let out a cold snort, grinding his teeth as he said, "Starting today, Xue Minglun is demoted to Senior Vice Minister of Works, acting temporarily with the authority of the Minister. You shall cooperate with the Investigation Commission to thoroughly purge the crimes of each department within the Ministry of Works. Remember this: if you dare to feign compliance while secretly obstructing the Imperial Envoy in investigating this case, I will certainly not spare you! When this case reaches its conclusion, I will settle this account with you properly!"

The heavy stone suspended in Xue Minglun's chest finally landed. At present, this was likely the best possible outcome.

Overwhelmed with gratitude, he performed a deep, formal bow and said, "This subject receives the decree, and thanks the Emperor for his boundless grace!"

Ignoring him further, the Emperor turned his gaze toward the young figure and said in a deep voice, "Xue Huai."

"This subject is here."

Xue Huai stepped forward and bowed deeply.

At that moment, he had concentrated his attention to the absolute limit.

Before stepping into this Imperial Study, he had only laid eyes on the Emperor twice in total: once during that grand court assembly where he had upended the table, and the second time just moments earlier in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

From those two distant observations, the Emperor's impression generally matched the identity of a sovereign wielding supreme authority. Yet the scene of the Emperor berating Xue Minglun just now revealed another side of him to Xue Huai. He did not know which side truly reflected the Emperor's genuine visage, or perhaps neither did, and the Emperor merely made different choices on different occasions.

Xue Huai constantly kept in mind Shen Wang's warning: the Emperor's intentions were unfathomable; one must never be deceived by his outward appearance, but rather ponder deeply upon the hidden truths behind his every word and action.

Gazing at Xue Huai's handsome features, the Emperor slowly said, "You have done well."

He did not specify precisely *what* was done well.

Growing even more cautious, Xue Huai lowered his gaze slightly and said, "Thank you for Your Majesty's praise."

"That you could stand forth without fear of hardship to testify against the Prince of Dai is sufficient proof that your late father has a worthy successor. I find myself quite gratified by this."

The Emperor's tone remained even, and immediately following a sharp pivot in his discourse, he asked, "Tell me, what did the Prince of Dai say to you that day at the Taihu Pavilion?"

A sudden tightness gripped Xue Huai's heart.

Thanks to Jiang Li's prior hint, he was not surprised that the Emperor knew of this matter, but he had not anticipated that the Emperor would bring it up directly before more than a dozen high-ranking ministers.

How was he to answer?

Should he speak the truth and deal the Prince of Dai yet another blow? Or should he respond vaguely and brush it past?

This was a very difficult choice.

Judging by the Emperor's previous handling of the Prince of Dai, this sovereign clearly would not truly deal harshly with his own son. Therefore, if Xue Huai openly declared before the crowd that the Prince of Dai's private acquisition of official farmland was not merely the unauthorized doing of Xu Hui, but the direct decision of the Prince of Dai himself, would the Emperor fly into a rage out of embarrassment?

Yet if this was a test set for him by the Emperor, and he chose to smooth things over for the Prince of Dai, would the Emperor seize the opportunity to strike and deal with a small figure like him?

Though the Imperial Study was as warm as spring, Xue Huai felt a creeping chill permeate his heart.

Even as mere fractions of a second passed, the Emperor offered a faint, mocking remark: "My personally appointed top scholar cannot even answer such a simple question?"

At that moment, Senior Grand Secretary Ning Hengzhi stood with a pensive expression, while Junior Grand Secretary Ouyang Hui turned to glance at Shen Wang, as if to say: your fine disciple is in such a difficult spot, aren't you, his eloquent mentor, going to step forward and offer some assistance?

Shen Wang lowered his head and cast his gaze downward, clearly resolved not to make any move.

"Your Majesty, forgive me. This subject is not unable to answer, but was merely recalling the details of that day, for one must not speak recklessly before the imperial presence."

Xue Huai's calm and clear voice rang out, seemingly instilling a touch of youthful vigor into the Imperial Study.

Noncommittal, the Emperor stated, "Then speak in detail."

"This subject obeys the decree."

Xue Huai had already made his decision and spoke at a measured, unhurried pace: "On that day, while on my way back to the offices of the Investigation Commission, I was intercepted in the street by Xu Rong, the proprietor of the Taihu Pavilion. He invited me to the pavilion for a conversation. As I was entirely unacquainted with him and burdened with official duties, I naturally declined his invitation. However, Xu Rong immediately clarified that it was Xu Hui, the Chief史 [Chief Administrator / Steward] of the Prince of Dai's estate, who extended the invitation, and that he wished to provide evidence concerning the Ministry of Works corruption case. Only then did I agree to proceed to the Taihu Pavilion."

"Upon entering the pavilion and meeting Xu Hui, he first informed me of the Ministry of Land Reclamation selling official farmland, and then claimed that the Prince of Dai's estate had purchased a considerable amount of wasteland, with reasons for the purchase identical to the public stance of the Prince of Dai. Following this, Xu Hui expressed a request: as long as I advised Minister Shen to omit the existence of the Prince of Dai's estate from this investigation, he would hand over the evidence implicating the officials of the Land Reclamation Department."

"Furthermore, Xu Hui offered to present me with a storefront worth a thousand pieces of gold in the Pingkang Ward of the West City."

Xue Huai's narrative was clear and orderly, explaining the details of that day in just a few words.

With feigned ignorance, the Emperor asked, "You did not agree?"

Xue Huai replied, "Indeed, Your Majesty. At the time, I perceived something strange about the matter. If, as Xu Hui claimed, the Prince of Dai's estate had purchased those lands without prior knowledge, they bore no responsibility; why then were they in such a rush to approach me? Why resort to bribing me with wealth? I sternly refused on the spot. Unexpectedly, the Prince of Dai appeared shortly thereafter. Perhaps my refusal of Xu Hui caused the Prince of Dai to feel he had lost face, leading him to hold a very poor opinion of me."

Narrowing his eyes slightly, the Emperor continued to probe: "Then, in your estimation, did the Prince of Dai know the inside story at the time?"

This question was equally thorny.

Xue Huai raised his head to meet the Emperor's gaze, his expression pure and untroubled: "Replying to Your Majesty, this subject does not know. Judging solely from the conversation of that day, the Prince of Dai appeared unaware of the truth behind the estate's land acquisitions; from beginning to end, it was Chief Administrator Xu Hui who hinted at things to me, and the Prince of Dai grew angry only because I showed no respect to the estate. Of course, one cannot entirely rule out the possibility that the Prince of Dai knew beforehand, but simply chose not to reveal it before me."

Hearing this reply, a flash of pleased amusement crossed Shen Wang's eyes.

Junior Grand Secretary Ouyang Hui twitched the corner of his mouth slightly, muttering inwardly: *Hmph, another little fox.*

Senior Grand Secretary Ning Hengzhi finally turned to cast a glance at Xue Huai, his normally placid eyes carrying two additional parts of scrutiny.

The Emperor was fairly satisfied in his heart with the answer Xue Huai provided.

As the saying goes, no one knows a son better than his father. Whether the Prince of Dai had truly intervened in the land purchases—could he, the father, possibly be unaware?

The reason he questioned Xue Huai was because he felt this blade was sharp, yet suspected the young man was merely putting on airs under Shen Wang's tutelage. Thus, he wished to personally inspect the youth's inner thoughts.

The Emperor disliked stubborn, wooden-headed officials—much like Xue Huai before he fell into the water—but he disliked crafty schemers brimming with machinations at a tender age even more, such as Cui Yanqing, the second-place metropolitan graduate of Xue Huai's cohort, who had now been relegated to the margins of the court.

Generally speaking, although Xue Huai's answer was not extraordinarily clever, it could be considered quite honest, and this was precisely the reply the Emperor wished to hear.

Maintaining his calm and upright posture, Xue Huai thought to himself that this hurdle should now be considered safely cleared, right?

He had neither deliberately slandered the Prince of Dai nor spoken up on his behalf. While upholding his own stance, he had not acted like a petty villain spreading malicious gossip.

Just as his spirits relaxed slightly, however, the Emperor's stern voice suddenly reached his ears.

"Then tell me further: why did you return to the Xue residence that day? According to my knowledge, the Xue residence has been calm and uneventful recently, with no major occurrences. As a clerk of the Investigation Commission, rather than applying yourself diligently within the offices, you instead wasted the better part of a day for no reason. How do you explain this?"

Silently, Xue Huai tightened his hands within his sleeves, forcing himself to calm down rapidly.

A few drops of cold sweat slid down his spine.