Chapter 1465: Epilogue

Chuigong Hall returned to its usual calm, but perhaps because of Emperor Liu, the atmosphere carried a subtle tension. With a loud clatter that seemed jarring in the silent hall and startled everyone present, Emperor Liu swept the conspicuous pile of memorials off the imperial desk with one motion.

The air in the hall seemed to freeze, time itself appearing to stand still. After a moment of silence, Yan Tuo cautiously glanced at Emperor Liu, only to see him with an unchanged expression, calm and composed, holding a memorial of unknown content and reading it.

After a moment's hesitation, Yan Tuo beckoned two palace eunuchs and carefully gathered up the memorials scattered on the floor, handling them gently and tidily stacking them away.

Over where Li Fang stood, he silently exchanged for a blank edict scroll and began writing anew according to Emperor Liu's wishes. This time, he had no small number of edicts to draft.

Soon, a neatly written, fluently composed edict was prepared. Li Fang personally presented it to Emperor Liu for review. Emperor Liu only glanced through it briefly before returning it, his gaze falling on the seal box. Li Fang understood and solemnly carried the jade imperial seal to the edge of the imperial desk.

Seeing Li Fang, this chancellor of the current court, reverently and with utmost care affixing the imperial seal to the edict, Emperor Liu's mood inexplicably improved somewhat.

The long silence was finally broken. Emperor Liu asked Li Fang, "Just now you barely spoke at all. Wang Qiwu and Zhao Pu both had their opinions—you, a Grand Academician of the inner court, have no suggestions to offer?"

Carefully placing the jade seal, symbol of the Son of Heaven's authority, back into its brocade box, Li Fang replied respectfully, "As your servant is a court minister, all matters must follow Your Majesty's will and obey Your Majesty's instructions. On this matter, Your Majesty has already reached a decision—your servant has no objections."

Hearing this, Emperor Liu smiled slightly and said, "My court ministers must be capable and competent, possessing insight and talent—not wooden puppets. You are not a man without opinions of your own."

"In the hall just now, Wang Qiwu's stance was quite clear. Though I suppressed him, I know his concerns have not diminished in the slightest—if anything, they've grown heavier!

Zhao Pu, though he didn't take the same attitude as Wang Qiwu of simply awaiting orders, I also understand that he has his own ideas, only for some reason he hasn't voiced them.

You've spent so many years moving between posts, inside and outside the court, serving in many positions. On this matter, I refuse to believe you have no thoughts of your own!"

As he spoke, Emperor Liu's gaze toward Li Fang grew more intimidating and forceful. He said sternly, "Though you haven't spoken, do you also believe that my decision this time was too forceful, too arrogant?"

"Do you also disapprove of my decision?"

Emperor Liu poured out these words like beans spilling from a sack, but Li Fang's reaction was muted. He lowered his head slightly, pondered for a long while, and finally squeezed out one sentence: "Your servant dares not!"

This reaction clearly left Emperor Liu frustrated. He rose and paced angrily a few steps, then berated, "You ministers—whenever something happens, all you can say is 'dare not'? What attitudes, what opinions—what's so hard to say? What does 'dare not' even mean? Hm?"

Facing Emperor Liu's interrogation, a trace of helplessness finally appeared on Li Fang's stern face. He cautiously glanced at Emperor Liu, sighing inwardly. Dare not was dare not—and as for why he dared not, that was even less something he could say.

"'Dare not!'" Emperor Liu, as if determined to vent all the pent-up frustration in his chest, pointed at the imperial desk and said harshly, "You meritorious nobles, dukes and ministers—every one of you lowers your head and obeys before me, saying 'dare not' with your mouths, but once you leave Chuigong Hall, once you leave the court, is there anything you don't dare to do?

Breaking the law knowingly, engaging in graft and corruption—case after case, I find them shocking to behold. All that humility and deference is nothing but a show put on for my benefit!"

"Your servant is guilty!" Perhaps unable to bear the full force of Emperor Liu's indiscriminate barrage, Li Fang bowed a little lower and said in a low voice.

Seeing this, Emperor Liu laughed in exasperation and pointed at Li Fang, saying, "Ha! Now it's 'guilty'? That guilt you speak of—it wouldn't happen to be something I forced out of you, would it!"

The Emperor's tone carried a sharp sarcasm, but Li Fang remained unmoved, wearing an expression of respectfully receiving imperial instruction. Emperor Liu's rebukes came like a sudden storm, and Li Fang was not entirely unafraid—it was simply that he knew clearly in his heart that Emperor Liu was not targeting him personally.

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger!"

At this moment, Li Fang was a ball of cotton, a pool of water—no matter how sharp Emperor Liu's words were, they could hardly wound him. Seeing this, Emperor Liu smiled again. After this bout of venting, his anger seemed to have smoothed out, and his mood gradually settled. He was, after all, not truly targeting Li Fang.

"I was somewhat undignified!" Waving his hand, Emperor Liu let out this one sentence.

Hearing this, Li Fang secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said with a cupped-fist salute, "Your Majesty has always cared for your subjects. This thunderous anger today is only born of deep love and stern expectation. Some people truly went too far and betrayed Your Majesty's trust!"

Emperor Liu's reaction to Li Fang's words was rather indifferent—he made no statement and no longer erupted.

Returning to his seat, he considered for a while, then asked, "Any news of Liu Yang? Where has he reached? The Huazhou case was something he uncovered, and now the fallout is spreading ever wider, stirring up the entire court—yet he doesn't even inquire about it!"

"According to the earlier dispatch from the Crown Prince's field headquarters, His Highness the Crown Prince should have already toured to Qizhou!" Li Fang reported. After a pause, he asked, "Does Your Majesty intend to recall the Crown Prince?"

Hearing this, Emperor Liu visibly hesitated. After thinking it over, he shook his head: "Never mind! Let him travel and observe more in the localities—that's no bad thing. Here's what: draft an edict and send it to the field headquarters, telling Liu Yang to return to the capital before the Lantern Festival!"

"Yes!"

Li Fang cautiously glanced at Emperor Liu, and a feeling of gratification suddenly arose in his heart. From the Emperor's calm instruction, he sensed a hint of concern.

For the Crown Prince, uncovering the Huazhou case could serve to establish his authority. However, the subsequent wave of turmoil and court upheaval triggered by the case was not necessarily a good thing for the Crown Prince. The Western Capital was now a whirlpool, with a great number of nobles and officials dragged into it—it was easy to imagine that many would be prosecuted or suffer losses of interest because of it.

Emperor Liu—no one would likely dare to resent him. But if some attributed all these troubles to the Crown Prince's lack of mercy, then it would inevitably have some adverse effects on the Crown Prince.

Li Fang was, after all, Liu Yang's teacher. When matters concerned him, it was natural to be more cautious and caring in consideration. In Li Fang's eyes, having the Crown Prince return to the capital before the Lantern Festival was a form of protection. By that time, this court upheaval would have basically subsided—and even if not, it would be in its closing stages.

Emperor Liu naturally had no idea of Li Fang's wandering thoughts. He sat behind the imperial desk, took out a document, and read it with furrowed brows and a cold expression, his vermilion brush occasionally circling and marking on it.

This was a list—a list of all criminals and their offenses who had surrendered themselves or been investigated and interrogated by the relevant authorities up to the present. Quietly, Emperor Liu had already received a compiled summary of these matters.

At this moment, Emperor Liu's emotions were unreadable, but with every circle his vermilion brush made, the chill in Chuigong Hall seemed to deepen. The light strokes of the brush were as sharp as daggers.

As the ninth year of Kaibao drew to a close, with Emperor Liu's edicts issued one after another, the political storm triggered by the Zhang Jin case in Huazhou also came to an end. This meant that the nearly month-long upheaval in the court and among the populace had finally subsided.

In fact, once Emperor Liu's stance was made clear, all the criticism, clamor, struggle, and frantic activity ceased. Everyone fell silent, shifting from active engagement to waiting.

A single word from him silenced the Western Capital—such was Emperor Liu's authority now.

Of course, accompanying this were more than two hundred law enforcement officers from the three judicial agencies, conducting trials and sentencing across dozens of cases of varying scale involving nearly a thousand implicated officials and others. This process lasted a full ten days.

After final review by the Court of Judicial Review, a full seventy-three sons of nobles and officials, both internal and external, were sentenced to death. As for the rest, they were either demoted or exiled—and having their property confiscated and offices stripped might even be considered a lenient punishment.