Chapter 446

After finishing one book, Xia Shouzhong took another and continued to recite aloud:

Hanlin scholar Peng Peng. From the second to the eighth year of Jing Sheng's reign, Peng Peng purchased farmland totaling over 8,600 mu in his native Putian, Fujian, and the three surrounding counties, establishing seventeen estates.

He also opened twelve shops in Fuzhou, Quanzhou, and Xiamen, dealing in silk, tea, and medicinal herbs, with total assets valued at about 450,000 taels of silver.

Although Peng Peng was originally a respectable Hanlin official, his total salary over the years amounted to only a few thousand taels; the source of his wealth is recorded in detail in the accounts, every entry bearing traces of corruption.

Moreover, Peng Peng bought a three‑section residence in Quanzhou, containing gold, jade, bronze porcelain, and antique calligraphy and paintings worth over 100,000 taels. Elders from his hometown clan once advised him, "As an official, one should cherish oneself," but Peng Peng convened a clan meeting and expelled them from the genealogy.

Censor Li Ruyue. In the fifth year of Jing Sheng's reign, while serving as the Shandong Circuit Censor, Li Ruyue kept a concubine in Jinan Prefecture who was sixteen years old.

That same winter, his principal wife discovered the affair; Li Ruyue locked her in the rear quarters and forbade her from leaving. When she tried to return to her natal home to complain, Li Ruyue had her sent back, but on the way she "accidentally" fell from the carriage, breaking her left arm and leaving her permanently disabled.

In the sixth year of Jing Sheng's reign, Li Ruyue again, under the pretext of taking on a "door‑side student," took an unmarried niece from his clan as a concubine; when clan elders came to question him, he falsely accused the niece of violating feminine virtue and expelled her from the household.

This matter became a scandal in Shandong official circles, yet no one dared to impeach him, for at the time he held the post of Censorate Investigating Censor, wielding the authority to submit reports based on rumors; offending him was tantamount to offending the Censorate itself…

……

The ministers below listened as each name and each instance of corruption and malfeasance were read out by Xia Shouzhong, beads of cold sweat breaking out on their foreheads, unaware where the emperor had obtained this information.

Although the Imperial City Guard has the authority to surveil officials, isn't it already largely abolished, far inferior to what it was during the eras of Taizu and Chengzu?

How could the situation in distant Shandong, Fujian, and other places be so clear to him?

After Xia Shouzhong finished reading, he closed the ledger, stepped back to the side of the imperial desk, stood with hands clasped, and the hall fell into such silence that even a dropped pin could be heard.

Kong Ying stood among the civil officials, his face as white as paper, sweat beading on his forehead and trickling down his nose to drip onto the gold‑brick floor, spreading a small dark stain; his lips trembled, yet he could not utter a word.

Peng Peng lowered his head, his hands clasped in front of him, his knuckles whitening as if he wanted to break his own fingers one by one.

Li Ruyue stood in the Censorate rank, his complexion ashen, lips pressed into a thin line, his gaze fixed on the ledger in Xia Shouzhong's hand, as if he wished to burn it with his stare.

Jing Sheng Di sat upon the throne, expressionless, his gaze sweeping slowly over everyone in the hall like a dull blade, scraping inch by inch across each face.

Immediately he darkened his face and spoke in a cold voice:

"Why aren't you continuing to speak?"

"Just now, when you offered counsel, weren't you each more righteous than the last, each more solemn in appearance, mouths full of sage's words, the Way of benevolence and righteousness, even denouncing the current vice‑premier with solemn righteousness as a traitor to the state?"

Jing Sheng Di suddenly rose to his feet, slapped the imperial desk before him, and shouted sternly:

"Despicable! You lot of scoundrels still claim to be the pure stream, yet here you plead for men like Fang Congzhe! Is the sage's forgiving Way meant only for corrupt officials like you?"

As Jing Sheng Di's stern rebuke rang out, the officials whose names had been read fell to their knees like bereaved children, trembling with anxiety.

And Kong Ying even more so, nearly prostrating himself with both hands on the ground, no longer bearing his former spirited demeanor, he cried out loudly:

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! This subject is wronged! I once impeached Xia Shouzhong as a power‑wielding eunuch, and we have longstanding grudges."

"This is his scheme to entrap me, seeking to put me to death; the records in this ledger must be his forgeries, false, false!"

Even now, Kong Ying still believes the ledger came from the Imperial City Guard's surveillance of officials!

Xia Shouzhong's pale face showed no expression, and he ignored Kong Ying's slander, for such sophistry was utterly feeble at this moment.

First, these matters are all noted in the Officials' Conduct Records with witness references and original documents, making it easy to discern truth from falsehood!

Second, last night the emperor, upon first receiving the Officials' Conduct Records, actually selected several cases of implicated officials in the capital for verification.

He ordered the Imperial City Guard to divide and verify each entry in the Officials' Conduct Records, checking year, location, amount, and witnesses; the results were all true!

Therefore, the records in the Officials' Conduct Records are most likely genuine!

Kong Ying's protest will only earn him more tortures should he ever enter the Imperial City Guard's great prison; it serves no other purpose!

Surely, all that was heard was Jing Sheng Di's cold shout:

"Hold your tongue before me!"

This middle‑aged emperor, who has reigned for ten years, surely cannot lack the ability to discern truth from falsehood; seeing other officials already ashen‑faced and kneeling in confession, he knows they are not wronged.

Moreover, regarding the Kong family's affairs, he had long ago received a secret report from the Imperial City Guard detailing crimes so heinous they could fill bamboo slips; forgery is utterly implausible.

Jing Sheng Di's face was like iron, his eyes flashing with anger and disappointment, and he spoke in a cold tone:

"Before me, you still dare to slander and deny, refusing to speak the truth! As a descendant of the Yan Sheng Gong, you have long enjoyed the sage's grace; you ought to establish yourself by virtue and serve as a model for the world."

"Let me ask you: when you seized 4,300 mu of civilian land, which chapter of the sage's books were you reading? When you drove people to death, which sentence of the sage's teachings were you reciting? When you colluded with bandits to forcibly take land, did you ever remember that your surname is Kong?"

"You have repeatedly colluded in court; the previous palace‑forcing incident I already pardoned once, yet yesterday you went to Zhang Tingyu's mansion to block the door and protest, and today you have spoken even more recklessly in the great hall."

"I have spared you once out of respect for your ancestors' residual grace; I have spared you a second time to give you a chance to reform. Yet you not only fail to amend, but worsen your conduct—do you think my leniency has no limit?"

Even if Kong Ying were to kneel and beg for mercy, Jing Sheng Di would not be this angry.

Now that his deeds have been exposed, he still slanders and denies, trying to smear the Imperial City Guard, showing not a shred of remorse and failing to regard this sovereign father at all!

Beside him, Zhang Tingyu's normally cold face flashed with an unusual blush; the emperor's thunderous wrath in rebuking Kong Ying surely also served to vent his own frustration!

"I am enjoying the treatment reserved for Jia Zi Jie!"