Chapter 95: It's All Dug Up

Wei Zhongxian hurriedly stepped forward and spoke directly: "Your Majesty, Zou Yuanbiao, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, is implicated in the case."

Hearing Wei Zhongxian's words, Zhu Youxiao's expression changed drastically. He quickly stood up, looked at Wei Zhongxian with a grave face, and lowered his voice: "Wei Zhongxian, do you know what you are saying? Zou Yuanbiao, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, is a high-ranking minister of the court. He has always had an excellent official reputation, and among the literati, his clean name is known throughout the realm. If you say such a thing, you must have solid evidence. If you are slandering an innocent man with empty words, I will not forgive you."

Wei Zhongxian hurriedly stepped forward, fell to his knees with a thud, and gestured wildly as he spoke: "Your Majesty, this slave would not dare deceive you!"

"Although this slave is reluctant to say so, Zou Yuanbiao, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, is truly implicated in the case."

Chen Hong, standing to one side, felt rather like he was witnessing something eye-opening.

Chen Hong had some idea of what His Majesty was thinking.

His Majesty wanted to deal with these people—that was as certain as nails driven into a board. It was just that right now His Majesty was pretending to know nothing, creating the illusion that everything was Wei Zhongxian's doing.

This kind of maneuver was not the first time. That Daoist Han Li from the Azure Cloud Sect—His Majesty had used the exact same approach with him.

That was nothing surprising. What shocked Chen Hong was Wei Zhongxian's performance.

That old fellow truly knew how to handle things, taking all the responsibility onto his own shoulders. No wonder His Majesty was willing to use the old man. Just this sense of responsibility alone was something ordinary people could not possess.

But in truth, did Wei Zhongxian want this responsibility?

He did not, but he had no choice.

If he did not tough it out, then death would not be far off for him.

At this moment, Zhu Youxiao looked at Wei Zhongxian angrily and said in a stern voice: "Fine, I will listen to what you have to say today. Let me see what evidence you have!"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wei Zhongxian acknowledged, pondered for a moment, then spoke: "After this slave interrogated Liu Guojin, I directly interrogated Li Ruzhen as well. According to Li Ruzhen's confession, over the years he has been bribing court officials with large amounts of wealth and goods, all for the sake of his power and influence in Liaodong. At the same time, he colluded with high-ranking ministers in the capital, embezzling Liaodong's grain and military pay."

Zhu Youxiao looked at Wei Zhongxian, sighing inwardly.

Worthy of the infamous treacherous eunuch Wei Zhongxian of history—he truly worked with flawless thoroughness and struck ruthlessly. He seemed afraid of failing to topple his targets; this case was growing bigger and bigger.

It started with framing Xiong Tingbi, then produced the matter of the Donglin Faction forming cliques for private gain, and now there was a case of border generals colluding with court ministers to embezzle Liaodong's military funds. If all these cases were opened up for investigation, who knew how many people would be dragged in?

"There is such a thing!" Zhu Youxiao looked at Wei Zhongxian in shock and demanded sternly: "Do you have evidence?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, this slave has evidence." Wei Zhongxian quickly said: "According to Li Ruzhen's confession, he has a ledger that records in detail when, where, and to whom he delivered various bribes."

Wei Zhongxian said unhurriedly: "Whether this ledger is real or fake, as long as Li Ruzhen says it is real and Your Majesty believes it is real, then this ledger is real. Following the clues in this ledger, one can find many people."

"You have already obtained this ledger?" Zhu Youxiao looked at Wei Zhongxian and asked slowly.

Wei Zhongxian quickly replied: "Reporting to Your Majesty, this slave has not yet obtained the ledger. Li Ruzhen has not yet revealed where the ledger is. But this slave will go back and continue the interrogation, and I believe the ledger will be found soon."

Zhu Youxiao nodded. Wei Zhongxian truly knew how to handle matters.

Wei Zhongxian had mentioned that this ledger existed, but he had not yet found it. He could find it immediately, or he could never find it.

As for whether it could be found—that was a matter of a single word from himself.

If he wanted it found, then it would be found; if he did not want it found, then it would absolutely never be found.

The reason for doing it this way was also very simple. It depended on whether he wanted to launch the Liaodong corruption case.

If he wanted to launch it, then the ledger could be found; if he did not want to launch it, then the ledger would not be found.

The reason it was said that Wei Zhongxian knew how to conduct himself was precisely because of this behavior.

If he had directly produced the ledger, that would mean he was making decisions on his master's behalf.

A servant making decisions for his master—that was an act of seeking death. Regardless of the nature and outcome of the matter, doing so would simply be wrong.

Wei Zhongxian had clearly deeply grasped this principle, which was why he spoke this way.

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Wei Zhongxian and said directly: "Interrogate thoroughly. Find this ledger for me."

Hearing Zhu Youxiao's words, Wei Zhongxian was overjoyed, his body trembling slightly. He hurriedly bowed and said: "Rest assured, Your Majesty. This slave will surely handle the matter well."

Nodding, Zhu Youxiao continued to ask: "Regarding Zou Yuanbiao's involvement in the case, do you have anything else to say?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, according to Li Ruzhen's confession, in this instance of framing Xiong Tingbi, the people Li Ruzhen contacted were Zou Yuanbiao and Yang Lian. The entire affair was planned by Li Ruzhen and Zou Yuanbiao. Li Ruzhen provided the money and dispatched Liu Guojin to contact Feng Sanyuan and others."

"These people also received Zou Yuanbiao's hints, and working together from inside and outside, they jointly framed Xiong Tingbi."

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Wei Zhongxian. He truly intended to seal this case shut.

But Zhu Youxiao did not mind. Matters had reached this point; there was no room for turning back anyway.

After a long silence, Zhu Youxiao lightly tapped the table and slowly asked: "Anything else?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, there is also Yuan Yingtai, the Governor of Liaodong." Wei Zhongxian said with his head lowered.

Zhu Youxiao was taken aback. He had not expected Wei Zhongxian to drag Yuan Yingtai into this as well.

Clearly, this was a probe directed at him.

The final outcome of this matter represented his own attitude.

Yuan Yingtai had already been recalled to the capital by him and was now awaiting appointment. He had not expected Wei Zhongxian to set his sights on him.

Clearly, Wei Zhongxian's vision was sharp enough to know that he intended to make a move on Yuan Yingtai.

In fact, Zhu Youxiao had not yet decided how exactly he should arrange Yuan Yingtai's fate.

Now that Wei Zhongxian had dragged him into the case, Zhu Youxiao suddenly wanted to hear what Wei Zhongxian had to say. He asked directly: "What is his situation?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, Yuan Yingtai, the Governor of Liaodong, was at odds with Xiong Tingbi, the Military Commissioner of Liaodong. Li Ruzhen bribed Yuan Yingtai, asking him to help bring down Xiong Tingbi. Thus Yuan Yingtai and Li Ruzhen hit it off immediately, and the two colluded together."

"In fact, even before this matter, the two had already been colluding. They joined hands to embezzle Liaodong's grain and military pay. Xiong Tingbi's arrival obstructed their path to wealth. Since they could not make Xiong Tingbi join in their corruption, they could only frame him."

"Yuan Yingtai wrote a letter to Yang Lian, asking for his help. They were already forming cliques for private gain, and Yang Lian readily agreed."

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