Chapter 75: The Stirrer of Trouble

For a moment, the entire hall fell silent.

No one spoke. Everyone knew this had blown up into something huge.

Feng Sanyuan's accusation was far too serious!

Once this great case of forming cliques for private gain was opened, the number of those implicated would be incalculable—even many of those present would not escape.

Quite a few people looked toward Wei Zhongxian, especially those from the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice.

This matter had nothing to do with them; they were purely here to watch the show. Now that something like this had happened, they had no idea what to do for the moment.

Wei Zhongxian glanced at Zou Yuanbiao and Yang Lian. He too knew he could not continue the questioning.

Feng Sanyuan's confession was too devastating.

Forming cliques for private gain—this was a major case. Wei Zhongxian knew he needed to report to His Majesty rather than continue interrogating on his own authority.

Because what he had been charged with investigating was only the case of framing Xiong Tingbi, and now new circumstances had arisen. He could not act on his own initiative; naturally, he had to report to His Majesty.

But before that, there was one matter that still needed to be clarified. That was the cause of Zhang Laosan's death.

"Gentlemen," Wei Zhongxian's gaze swept across everyone's faces as he spoke slowly, "this humble one believes this case should be suspended. After I submit it to His Majesty, it will be tried anew."

Hearing these words, everyone hurriedly nodded. This was the best choice.

Zou Yuanbiao and Yang Lian exchanged a glance, both letting out a sigh of relief.

In truth, they had been genuinely afraid—afraid that Wei Zhongxian would press on with the interrogation no matter what, directly nailing this case shut as a great case of forming cliques for private gain. If that truly happened, things would become troublesome.

But they also felt Wei Zhongxian would not dare. Because if Wei Zhongxian did that, he would be forcing His Majesty to choose between two options.

Either believe Wei Zhongxian and directly rule it a great case of forming cliques for private gain;

Or not believe Wei Zhongxian—and in that case, Wei Zhongxian himself would be finished.

There was no other choice, not the slightest room left for His Majesty to maneuver.

Wei Zhongxian naturally would not be so foolish. Although he very much wanted to eliminate Yang Lian, Zou Yuanbiao, and the others, making himself the price was not worth it.

Wei Zhongxian had no desire to perish together with them. He currently held the advantage—why play at mutual destruction?

After all, Yang Lian could not explain Zhang Laosan's death clearly right now. Even Feng Sanyuan's accusation alone was enough to give them a bitter drink.

"Since everyone has no objections, court is adjourned for now." Having said this, Wei Zhongxian ignored everyone's reactions, stood up directly, and strode straight out. He needed to enter the palace to report to His Majesty.

He had not walked far when he saw Sun Yunhe standing not far away. He stopped in place and waited for Sun Yunhe to come over.

Seeing Wei Zhongxian waiting for him, Sun Yunhe did not dare be negligent. He quickly ran to Wei Zhongxian's side and said respectfully, "Lord Director, our people have already examined the corpse. Zhang Laosan has no external wounds, and from his complexion it can be seen he was not poisoned either. There is only one ligature mark slanting upward on his neck. From its shape, it should not be the case that he was strangled by someone."

"Our people can also determine that the ligature mark on Zhang Laosan's neck was an injury sustained before death, not one inflicted after death."

Hearing Sun Yunhe's words, Wei Zhongxian asked impatiently, "So you mean this Zhang Laosan hanged himself, rather than being strangled by someone or poisoned by someone?"

Sun Yunhe was suddenly somewhat embarrassed and quickly said, "From the current situation, this is the only conclusion that can be drawn."

Wei Zhongxian nodded. "This humble one must enter the palace to submit to His Majesty. Matters here are left to you. Keep the living ones under close watch, and have your men search Zhang Laosan's home to see if there is any gain. During the time this humble one is away, absolutely no incidents are permitted. If anything happens, Sun Yunhe, you can forget about keeping your head!"

"Rest assured, Lord Director. Your subordinate understands and will certainly not disappoint you." Sun Yunhe said solemnly.

Wei Zhongxian left the Court of Judicial Review.

Zou Yuanbiao and Yang Lian did not continue to stay either. They needed to return and think of a way forward.

Now that something like this had happened, their previous plans would likely no longer work. Originally they had wanted to use Feng Sanyuan and the others' recantations and accusations to drag Wei Zhongxian down from his position. But as things stood now, everyone had fallen into Wei Zhongxian's trap.

As they walked out, Zou Yuanbiao quietly asked Yang Lian, "Wenru, let me ask you—was the Zhang Laosan matter instigated by you? In the current situation, there's no need for you to keep it from me. If you did it, the two of us will stand together through thick and thin; if you didn't, we need to think of other measures. Wei Zhongxian has now entered the palace, and he will certainly not speak well of either of us before His Majesty."

Hearing Zou Yuanbiao's question, Yang Lian frowned and said, "How could I do such a thing? How utterly unwise would that be?"

Letting out a soft sigh, Zou Yuanbiao did not know whether he should believe Yang Lian.

If he did not believe him, then he would have to sell Yang Lian out;

If he believed him…

Zou Yuanbiao had no confidence in his heart either, after all, he had previously believed Feng Sanyuan and the others. Yet Feng Sanyuan had directly slapped a charge of forming cliques for private gain on him.

Indeed, betrayers were the most ruthless.

Wei Zhongxian had previously wanted to use Xiong Tingbi's case to implicate them. But now it was different—Feng Sanyuan had directly produced a charge of forming cliques for private gain.

This great basket of forming cliques for private gain could hold all of them inside.

The Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Youxiao leaned askew against the daybed, expressionlessly eating the dried fruits and candied preserves before him. These little snacks seemed even tastier than those from certain famous shops in later generations.

Glancing at Chen Hong standing diagonally below him, Zhu Youxiao asked, "Are all matters settled?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, all is settled." Chen Hong did not dare be negligent and quickly said, "Zhang San is dead. This servant's man personally watched him hang himself. This man has already been sent away by this servant—he will never return for the rest of his life."

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Chen Hong and said with a smile, "There's no need to tell me about such matters. As long as you handle them well yourself, that's fine."

Zhu Youxiao naturally would not ask about such things. If he knew the details clearly in his own heart, it would be inconvenient to deal with Chen Hong later.

Moreover, if the matter were ever exposed, there would be no need for him to have Chen Hong killed—he could simply send him to Nanjing to serve in the eunuch corps.

Zhu Youxiao believed Chen Hong would be satisfied with such an outcome.

As for that Zhang Laosan, he was in fact Chen Hong's man.

How Chen Hong's people had managed to infiltrate—Zhu Youxiao knew this as well.

At this time, collusion between court ministers and inner palace eunuchs was no longer anything new.

Whether it was the Donglin Faction, the Qi-Zhe-Chu Faction, or other military officers and nobles, colluding with eunuchs to probe for information was something they frequently did.

Wei Zhongxian had people on the outside, Wang An had people on the outside, and Chen Hong naturally had people on the outside as well.

During this period, Wei Zhongxian had been favored, his status rising like water with the tide. But Chen Hong was the same—although he had not become Director of the Eastern Depot, he had still become a brush-holding eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

Anyone with discerning eyes could see that these days it had always been Chen Hong attending to the Tianqi Emperor's side.

What did this indicate?

It indicated that the Emperor was grooming Chen Hong.

Perhaps after Wang An was gone, Chen Hong would become the seal-holding eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

As for the seal-holding eunuch, in terms of status, he outranked even Wei Zhongxian, who was both a brush-holding eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial and Director of the Eastern Depot.