Chapter 147: Yang Lian's Worldview Collapses

Zhu Youxiao hadn't expected Zhao Nanxing to answer him like that, and a smile immediately spread across his face.

These people really were stubborn enough. But that was fine for now — it meant he could finally wield the knife.

Come to think of it, he hadn't killed anyone in quite a long time. That was rather a failure. As a fatuous ruler, how could he not execute a few loyal ministers?

Just as Zhu Youxiao was about to speak, Zhao Nanxing spoke first.

Zhao Nanxing stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "Your servant believes there must be something suspicious about this matter."

Glancing at Zhao Nanxing, Zhu Youxiao suddenly felt a bit dazed, and the murderous intent he'd just mustered faded away.

He even wanted to ask, "Yuanfang, is that you?"

But in the end, he held it back.

Clearing his throat, Zhu Youxiao put on a puzzled expression and asked, "What does Your Excellency mean by that?"

"Your Majesty, there must be more parties involved in this case. But your servant is only Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works — I cannot arbitrarily exercise criminal authority, and trying cases is not my strength. I request that this case be handed to the Court of Judicial Review for trial, so that the truth may be thoroughly uncovered. There must be others behind this case — such a large-scale corruption affair must be investigated to the very end."

Zhao Nanxing's meaning was clear: the case needed to be investigated to the very end, and he was willing to do it — only, he had no men under his command, and doing it alone would not be easy, so he wanted to bring the Court of Judicial Review in as well.

Glancing at Zhao Nanxing, Zhu Youxiao kept his face expressionless, but inwardly he felt some sympathy for the Court of Judicial Review.

Ever since he'd transmigrated here, if the Great Ming were to pick the most miserable government office, it would unquestionably be the Court of Judicial Review.

The Court of Judicial Review had nothing to do with anything, yet every incident dragged them in. They never got any benefits on ordinary days — all the hard, thankless work fell to the Court of Judicial Review.

Worst of all, the Court of Judicial Review did plenty of work but got no credit, and was always the scapegoat.

"Can Your Excellency not investigate this case?" Zhu Youxiao asked with a beaming smile.

"Your servant can investigate it," Zhao Nanxing said with resolute force.

He knew that at this moment he absolutely could not retreat, and absolutely could not shove the blame off onto someone else.

If he really did that, his official career would be over — no, his very life would be finished. So he had to shoulder this matter himself. After all, it had already begun.

"Only, your servant believes this case involves grave matters and complex circumstances, so it requires the cooperation of the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice — ideally a joint trial by all three courts."

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Zhao Nanxing and nodded.

From Zhao Nanxing's words, he could tell the man wasn't trying to shirk responsibility — he genuinely wanted to investigate the case. Coming to see him today was simply to ask for manpower, and also to ask for authority.

In one sentence: I want to do something big with this, but I don't have enough people — you need to give me sufficient manpower.

"In that case, this case shall be given to Your Excellency. I will have the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice cooperate with you, and the Censorate will also provide men. Your Excellency shall be the chief judge — you must investigate this case thoroughly."

"Rest assured, Your Majesty. Your servant understands." Zhao Nanxing quickly said, "If there is nothing else, your servant will take his leave."

Zhu Youxiao nodded, and Zhao Nanxing bowed and withdrew.

A smile appeared on Zhu Youxiao's face. His approach was working.

Zhao Nanxing was about to make a move against the Ministry of Works, and Han Kuang was making a move against the Donglin Faction. Everything was progressing smoothly, and most importantly, the court itself was unaffected.

A great abscess had been lanced, and the officials at court were all still there. Of course, that wasn't the key point — the key point was the things he was quietly doing in the shadows.

Glancing at Chen Hong, who stood silently to one side, Zhu Youxiao stood up and stretched his body, then said with a smile, "I have a good appetite today. Have the imperial kitchen prepare a few extra dishes, and warm up a jar of fine wine — I want to have a few drinks."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong replied respectfully.

While Zhu Youxiao was preparing to enjoy his meal, the interrogations at the Embroidered Uniform Guard were still ongoing.

After Yuan Yingtai was taken away, Wang Huazhen was brought up.

Wang Huazhen's confession was even more thorough — he sold out the Donglin Faction completely, down to the very last detail.

After all the prisoners had been interrogated, Han Kuang let out a sigh of relief, then picked up his slightly cooled tea and took a gentle sip.

Wei Zhongxian had been watching Han Kuang conduct the interrogations from the side, and from start to finish he hadn't said a single word.

Wei Zhongxian had originally come to supervise Han Kuang, even arriving with the mindset of finding fault. But now, forget finding fault — he had begun to genuinely admire the man.

Still, there were two tough bones left to crack: one was Zou Yuanbiao, and the other was Yang Lian. For now, let's see how this Han Kuang handles them.

Setting down his teacup, Han Kuang cleared his throat and said in a deep voice, "Bring Yang Lian up."

Soon, Yang Lian was brought in.

Han Kuang glanced at Yang Lian, his face devoid of expression.

This rising star of the Donglin Faction looked somewhat disheveled at the moment, but his eyes were bright in his gaunt frame — clearly his spirits were still intact.

"Yang Lian, I ask you this: did you collude with others to submit memorials impeaching Xiong Tingbi?" Han Kuang asked with an expressionless face.

"I did not." Yang Lian stood ramrod straight and shook his head directly. "I impeached Xiong Tingbi not out of personal grievance, but for Liaodong, for the Great Ming, for the realm! Xiong Tingbi is arrogant and unruly, disregards propriety, and lacks both talent and virtue — how could he be entrusted with guarding Liaodong? That is why I impeached him, and for no other reason."

Han Kuang nodded, then said to the clerk beside him, "Show him the confessions of Yao Zongwen, Feng Sanyuan, and Liu Guojin."

The moment these words were spoken, Wei Zhongxian abruptly stood up and objected, "Grand Secretary Han, letting a prisoner view the case files — is that not improper? Not only does it violate procedure, it also carries the suspicion of colluding on testimony. I ask Grand Secretary Han to reconsider."

"If anything goes wrong, I will take responsibility. Afterwards, I will explain myself to Your Majesty." Han Kuang said expressionlessly, not even glancing at Wei Zhongxian again.

Although Han Kuang had chosen to move against the Donglin Faction this time, that didn't mean he thought well of Wei Zhongxian. Such a eunuch ought to be dragged out and executed by slow slicing.

This gelded dog had presented Daoist priests to His Majesty, and for his own selfish interests he disregarded the state and the realm, blinding the sacred wisdom of the throne — even death by slow slicing wouldn't be excessive.

Rebuffed by Han Kuang, Wei Zhongxian felt helpless and could only glare hatefully at the man. The goodwill he'd just developed vanished in an instant.

All he could do was offer a word of warning. If he tried to forcibly obstruct, His Majesty would deal with him directly.

After all, Han Kuang had been appointed chief judge by His Majesty himself — no matter what happened, his authority had to be upheld.

This wasn't just about preserving Han Kuang's authority; it was also about protecting His Majesty's authority. If he himself didn't respect the man His Majesty had appointed, that would mean he didn't respect the imperial authority — and for whatever reason, he would deserve to die.

Han Kuang turned to look at Yang Lian and said, "Take a look."

Yang Lian's expression remained calm, without the slightest change. He showed no gratitude toward Han Kuang either, his emotions neither stirred nor concealed.

After taking the documents and glancing through them, a bitter smile spread across Yang Lian's face. Finally, he handed the documents back.

"I entrusted the wrong people, I trusted the wrong people. I, Yang Lian, had lofty aspirations but poor judgment of character, and landing in today's situation, I have only myself to blame. Grand Secretary Han, I have some words I wish to say — would you be willing to present them to His Majesty on my behalf?"

"I am here to interrogate you, and whatever you say, I will present to His Majesty." Han Kuang said expressionlessly. "As for whether to let you speak — since I am interrogating you, of course I will let you speak. I will not silence you. Go ahead."

"In impeaching Xiong Tingbi, my conscience is clear; toward His Majesty, my loyalty is unwavering; toward the Great Ming, I am willing to die to prove my conviction. I only wish to present to His Majesty this: Xiong Tingbi is not a good general. If Liaodong is entrusted to him, great calamity will surely befall it. Our Great Ming cannot afford to lose Liaodong — I beg His Majesty to investigate thoroughly."

After saying these words, Yang Lian knelt and kowtowed to the ground, remaining silent for a long while.

Looking at Yang Lian prostrating himself on the ground, a trace of sorrow flickered in Han Kuang's eyes as he spoke: "Someone, show him the confessions of Li Ruzhen, Yuan Yingtai, and Wang Huazhen."

Wei Zhongxian seemed about to speak but held himself back.

Yang Lian raised his head to look at Han Kuang, hesitation written across his face—at a time like this, he was still being shown confessions?

Still, he reached out and took them. After reading through the documents, he stood there dumbstruck.

If the earlier documents had made Yang Lian's heart ache, they were still within what he could bear. Those people had merely accepted bribes and impeached others.

Though he had never witnessed such things in the Censorate, he had heard of them—nothing out of the ordinary. So even if it dealt him a blow, he could still speak the words that followed.

Because he was devoted wholly to the public good—no matter what those people did, his conscience was clear.

But these documents were different. On them was clearly written how they had accepted bribes, how they had framed Xiong Tingbi.

Driving out Xiong Tingbi was not for the sake of Liaodong, not for the sake of the Great Ming, and certainly not for the sake of the realm.

It was simply for silver—that was the only place in the Great Ming suitable for raking in money.

It was precisely for this reason that they framed Xiong Tingbi—because he had become a stumbling block to their greed. They embezzled funds and squeezed the soldiers, leaving Liaodong short of troops, the soldiers without any will to fight, and every battle ending in defeat.

This was completely at odds with Yang Lian's understanding. His entire worldview came crashing down.

In Yang Lian's eyes, the people of the Donglin Faction were all gentlemen. Though they gathered together, they had never formed a clique for private gain—all they did was for the Great Ming, for the realm.

They shared the same aspirations, and what they wanted to accomplish was the restoration of the Great Ming. On ordinary days, those people stood before him speaking eloquently, devoted to country and people, criticizing the ills of the times and admonishing the sovereign.

But what was this before his eyes?

This was what those people who spoke such words to him on ordinary days had done?

Standing before him, they were sanctimonious and eloquent—but afterward?

It was actually for this?

Yang Lian raised his head to look at Han Kuang, tears filling his eyes.

His body trembled violently, his eyes full of pleading. The meaning was clear—he was asking Han Kuang to tell him this was not true.

Han Kuang cast a helpless glance at Yang Lian and let out a sigh. "I can tell you that all of this is true. I used no torture, no coercion, yet they all confessed. Because the witnesses and evidence are all present—they could not deny it."

"Among it, the late emperor allocated one million taels of military pay. Once the silver left the capital, only seven hundred thousand remained. After reaching Liaodong, another hundred thousand vanished. When handed to the various generals, only six hundred thousand was left. The officers at every level skimmed off their share in turn, and what was truly used for its intended purpose was less than two hundred thousand taels. All of it can be verified."