Chapter 148: Zou Yuanbiao Is Dead

Han Kuang stared silently at Yang Lian, his face betraying no expression.

He had known Yang Lian for quite some time and understood roughly the man's character and background.

That Yang Lian was greedy for money—Han Kuang did not believe that. But calling him naive—that was truly the case. A man who read himself into foolishness—that was Yang Lian. Whether that was a tragedy or a blessing, Han Kuang could not say.

Wei Zhongxian sat to one side, his face likewise unchanged. He could see it now—Han Kuang was trying to pull Yang Lian out of this.

Wei Zhongxian mulled over what he should do: finish Yang Lian off, or quietly tend to his own affairs. If he did not act, Yang Lian probably would not go down this time.

Although Yang Lian had impeached Xiong Tingbi, he had nothing to do with those matters. Yang Lian had not colluded with Li Ruzhen in Liaodong, nor had he accepted bribes from Liu Guojin.

In fact, on the matter of bribery, Wei Zhongxian had put great effort into investigating. But the whole affair did not implicate Yang Lian in any way. From the moment Wang Huazhen had spoken, Wei Zhongxian had followed the trail, yet no matter how he traced it, he found that Yang Lian was not involved.

Perhaps it was also because of the Censorate—it was a clean-slate office. Aside from impeaching people while extorting a bit of silver, or doing others a favor by impeaching someone in exchange for a little bribe, there was truly no other source of income.

Yao Zongwen and the others had taken three thousand taels of silver—sounded like a lot, but Wei Zhongxian knew it was far less than what departments with real power could pull in. For those, three thousand taels would not even fill the gaps between their teeth.

Yang Lian could not collect money—not because he did not want to, but because he could not. Wei Zhongxian made this malicious speculation in his heart.

But Wei Zhongxian also knew this was merely wishful thinking—he had no evidence. Otherwise he would have dealt with the mere Yang Lian long ago, and why let Han Kuang steal the spotlight?

In fact, in the original course of history, Wei Zhongxian had never managed to squeeze much money out of Yang Lian's household, nor had he found solid evidence of Yang Lian's corruption.

The evidence Wei Zhongxian used to topple the Donglin Faction's corruption had actually been produced by Wang Huazhen, and even then not much money had been recovered. How much less at this moment?

Yang Lian had never received any money at all—which was rather stifling in itself.

Lifting his head to cast a casual glance at Han Kuang, Wei Zhongxian spoke slowly: "Grand Secretary Han, is this not rather improper of you?"

Han Kuang glanced at Wei Zhongxian and said with utter indifference: "If Eunuch Wei is dissatisfied, you may report it to Your Majesty."

With that, Han Kuang no longer looked at Wei Zhongxian, but turned to Yang Lian. "On the case of accepting bribes and impeaching Xiong Tingbi, there is no solid evidence proving Yang Lian's involvement."

Looking at the clerk, Han Kuang said solemnly: "Record this Grand Secretary's words in the file."

At these words, everyone was stunned. No one had expected Han Kuang to do such a thing.

Han Kuang was effectively vouching for Yang Lian. Though Han Kuang had only spoken a truth, that was precisely the situation.

Yang Lian also raised his head, looking at Han Kuang with some hesitation.

In truth, Yang Lian's impression of Han Kuang was not particularly good—or rather, the entire Donglin Faction disliked Han Kuang.

But now Yang Lian felt a strange sensation, especially after Han Kuang had shown him those things—he found it even harder to understand.

Han Kuang paid no heed to the shocked and bewildered gazes of the crowd. Instead, he slapped the gavel and continued: "Let us take up the next case."

"Yang Lian, this Grand Secretary asks you: when His Majesty ordered you to investigate the case of slandering Xiong Tingbi, why did you reach such a conclusion? Was it to shield Yao Zongwen and the others? Were their recantations instigated by you?"

"No." Yang Lian said with firm conviction: "This was not my doing. I did not support their recantations, nor did I send the jailer Zhang San to find them, nor did I have Zhang San relay those words, nor did I kill Zhang San to silence him. None of these things were done by me. I did not do them."

Han Kuang nodded and looked at the clerk, saying: "Record it in the file."

Hearing Yang Lian's answer, Wei Zhongxian sat as if on a bed of needles, unable to bear it any longer. "None of these things were done by you?"

Was everything to be pinned on me?

The recantation business was indeed my doing, but I knew nothing of the Zhang San affair afterward, let alone killing him to silence him.

Yang Lian cast a disdainful glance at Wei Zhongxian, seemingly with no intention of addressing him—because Yang Lian had no evidence that these things were Wei Zhongxian's doing either.

Nodding, Han Kuang continued to ask: "Then let me ask you—what happened with the earlier trial? Did you act on your own authority, or were you directed by someone else?"

After saying this, Han Kuang stared hard at Yang Lian.

If Yang Lian admitted it was his own doing, then the charge would be firmly laid upon him.

Yang Lian had not participated in the case of framing Xiong Tingbi—this I have just concluded: no evidence found. That is to say, from the very beginning to now, Yang Lian bore no charge whatsoever.

If Yang Lian now admitted this charge, it would be equivalent to confessing that he had indeed deliberately shielded Yao Zongwen's people.

As the chief judge of a case, to invert right and wrong and shield criminals—such conduct could absolutely not be tolerated and absolutely demanded severe punishment.

Exile to the frontier would be lenient; worse, he might lose his head outright. This was a case personally designated by His Majesty—how dare you pull such tricks?

Yang Lian raised his head. He knew what choice lay before him.

If he named his superiors, then he had been coerced by them, even forced into it against his will. Though he would not be entirely free of guilt, his punishment would be greatly reduced—he would likely be stripped of office. As for whether he would never be employed again, that would depend on His Majesty's judgment.

If he were not permanently barred, there might still be a chance of reinstatement in the future.

The question was—whom should he name?

Two people flashed through Yang Lian's mind: one was Zou Yuanbiao, the other Gao Panlong.

If not for these two fellows, he would not have fallen into his present predicament.

He had originally planned to get to the bottom of the case, to have both Feng Sanyuan and Yao Zongwen removed and severely punished for all of this—but in the end, he had failed to do so.

Zou Yuanbiao disagreed, Gao Panlong disagreed—the entire Donglin Faction was pressing down on him, refusing to let him blow this matter up, allowing it to implicate at most Li Ruzhen.

And what was the result? Someone stirred things up, those people recanted, and he could not even produce the most basic outcome. In the end, all he could do was memorialize to His Majesty, saying that Wei Zhongxian was behind it all and that those people had been wronged.

The result was that he himself was thrown into prison.

Yang Lian felt he had very likely been used—that jailer Zhang San had probably been their doing.

Wronged tears instantly streamed from his eyes, searing Yang Lian's heart. He did not know whether he should open his mouth.

If he opened his mouth, his reputation would be ruined. If he did not open his mouth, what would happen?

Yang Lian did not know what would happen to him, but he decided not to open his mouth—because he could not bring himself to speak. He could not continue saying anything at all.

Raising his head to look at Han Kuang, Yang Lian spoke: "I merely judged according to the facts. Those people recanted—they all said Wei Zhongxian had instigated them, that they had been framed."

"If I judged this case wrongly, then I am incompetent. But there was no corruption or concealment in it—I did not shield them. I investigated earnestly and thoroughly; I simply did not uncover anything."

Hearing Yang Lian's words, a flicker of disappointment crossed Han Kuang's face, and he nodded lightly.

He knew he had failed again. Yang Lian had not accepted his goodwill. He had hoped Yang Lian would speak, hoped Yang Lian would follow his lead.

Had he achieved that goal, the public condemnation outside would have lessened somewhat. Yang Lian would have shared some of the pressure with him, and at the same time, more people could have been dragged up.

But Yang Lian still had not done so.

Han Kuang knew Yang Lian would say no more. As for applying torture—Han Kuang had never considered it. The Eastern Depot had already used those methods, which proved they were useless; using them himself would be equally futile.

"Record it in the file." Han Kuang could only ask with a blank expression: "You and Zou Yuanbiao and the others—did you form a clique for private gain?"

"No. I, Yang Lian, have been devoted to the public good from first to last. I have never wronged Your Majesty, never wronged the Great Ming. I merely met with unworthy associates and lacked the ability to match my intentions, but I too hope for the Great Ming to see a resurgence of prosperity." Yang Lian spoke as hot tears streamed down his face, his voice trembling throughout.

Han Kuang felt the same pain. He knew Yang Lian was not weeping over the punishment he himself would receive, but because Yang Lian truly had met with unworthy associates, and also because his ideals could find no outlet.

Yang Lian had sought benevolence and obtained it. This time, there was no way he would be let off lightly.

"Enough. Record it in the files." Han Kuang spoke again. Then he waved his hand, signaling his subordinates to take Yang Lian away.

There was a hint of gloom in Han Kuang's eyes. He picked up his teacup and took a sip, showing no sign of calling in the next person.

Wei Zhongxian watched this scene and curled his lip. These literati always loved pulling this kind of nonsense.

Wei Zhongxian knew that Han Kuang had just wanted to protect Yang Lian, and that he could most likely manage it. Han Kuang had handled this case in such a way that His Majesty would surely be grateful to him, and any request he made would certainly be granted. As long as Yang Lian spoke up, he could definitely be saved.

Unfortunately, Yang Lian chose not to speak. Wei Zhongxian was relieved by this — these people were just stubborn-headed, and it suited him fine that Yang Lian kept his mouth shut.

The expression on Han Kuang's face finally settled. He set down his teacup and said, "Bring Zou Yuanbiao up."

But just at that moment, an Embroidered Uniform Guard ran frantically in through the door, his face full of anxiety.

The moment this guard entered the room, he dropped to his knees with a thud and said in a voice full of terror: "Gentlemen, Zou Yuanbiao is dead!"

At these words, everyone in the room stood up in shock.

Even Wei Zhongxian was greatly alarmed, let alone everyone else.

He wouldn't dare kill Zou Yuanbiao himself — that man was the esteemed Left Censor-in-Chief. If he were to cause that man's death, he would be in serious trouble.

In the original course of history, Wei Zhongxian dared to kill Yang Lian, the Left Censor-in-Chief, in the Eastern Depot because at that time Wei Zhongxian's power had already reached across the realm. But now it was different — now Wei Zhongxian did not have that kind of ability.

Hearing his subordinate's report, Luo Sigong, the Regional Military Commissioner of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, turned pale as earth. How could he have died just like that?

If the man had died in the Eastern Depot, then naturally it would have nothing to do with him. But the man had died in the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Imperial Prison — who would believe he had nothing to do with it?

Even if he truly had nothing to do with it, he would still have to bear this blame. He might well end up as the scapegoat.

Luo Sigong was on the verge of tears. Who have I offended? What does this have to do with me?