Chapter 47: The Frame-Up

My lord, we truly cannot speak!

You’d better not ask either—anyone who has offended the Seven Great Families has lost their family and perished.

Even the former Salt Inspection Censor was…

The green-robed scholar’s trembling words further stoked Li Mu’s curiosity.

The previous Salt Inspection Censor died of smallpox, which caused quite a stir; the court even issued a formal reiteration banning officials from visiting brothels and taverns.

Now it seems the death of the former Salt Inspection Censor also concealed hidden truths.

Enough. I’ll take you to meet Marquis Wuyang.

As an imperial envoy and the emperor’s own uncle, I believe he has the authority to handle this matter!

Merit is good, but so is the risk.

A lowly soldier does a lowly soldier’s work—once he’s traced the Seven Great Families, his task is done.

How exactly to convict these families should be left to those above.

…

Zhou Mansion.

An elderly white-haired man scattered grain into the pond, tossing it again and again.

Master, disaster has struck!

Something has happened in Yangzhou!

The steward’s truncated words shattered the old man’s good mood; instinct told him trouble was coming.

In fact, since the salt merchants were arrested, he had sensed danger.

But he hadn’t taken it to heart—those salt merchants had grown far too arrogant these past few years; it was only natural the court had taken notice.

Similar incidents had happened before.

When the court arrested them, it was the perfect chance to replace them with more obedient agents.

Allowing these salt merchants to continue expanding their networks would have been the true disaster.

What has happened in Yangzhou?

Has the court convicted those salt merchants?

The white-haired man sneered.

He hadn’t wasted his time these past days.

He had mobilized every connection within the clan to compile a full summary of recent court affairs.

Factional strife in the court was fierce, the emperor was investigating military lands, and every faction was too busy to care about anything else!

Master, Yangzhou has suddenly sealed its gates—no one is allowed to leave, only enter.

Our inside source risked sending word: the court has dispatched Marquis Wuyang as imperial envoy, who arrived in Yangzhou yesterday.

He didn’t come alone—he brought a large contingent of soldiers.

Last night, while Yangzhou’s officials hosted a banquet, they were suddenly attacked by rebels.

Details are unknown, but afterward, Marquis Wuyang’s men took control of the city’s defenses, and all Yangzhou officials were detained in the yamen!

When the steward finished speaking, the white-haired man’s brow instantly knotted.

Smuggling salt was rampant among the people; the court couldn’t collect salt taxes, so sending an imperial envoy to handle it was normal.

They were reasonable people—they wouldn’t push things too far.

When an imperial envoy came to inspect, a generous gift would be presented, and salt tax revenues would rebound slightly.

Once the storm passed, everything would return to normal.

But an imperial envoy arriving with an army? That had never happened since the founding of Great Duyu.

Things are going to turn bad!

Zhou Qi, immediately send word to summon the clan’s managers—they must come tonight for a meeting.

The white-haired man gave the order at once.

For some reason, his heart suddenly grew restless.

Our family’s involvement in smuggling had always been behind the scenes, manipulating puppets, with multiple layers of risk isolation.

Under normal circumstances, no matter how hard the court investigated, they could never trace it back to us.

On the surface, the Zhou family of Huainan were exemplary gentry, law-abiding and virtuous.

They donated generously for disaster relief, built bridges and repaired roads—public reputation was excellent!

Since the founding of the dynasty, the Zhou family had never lacked juren or jinshi candidates; the highest among them had even served as Minister of one of the Six Ministries.

Across all of Great Duyu, they were a renowned aristocratic clan.

Their network of connections stretched throughout the Jiangnan region, forming the backbone of the Pure Stream faction.

Yet they had received no prior warning about such a critical event as an imperial envoy arriving with troops—it was clearly abnormal.

Similar scenes unfolded across the major clans of the Two Huai regions.

Sensing danger, each family hastily summoned their senior members to discuss countermeasures.

…

Yangzhou Yamen.

After a round of interrogations, the identities of the Seven Great Families were finally confirmed by eyewitnesses.

Immediately, a heavily embellished transcript appeared before them, leaving Li Mu stunned.

No wonder he was an imperial relative—he handled such matters with effortless skill.

The witnesses had merely mentioned the Seven Great Families of the Two Huai; the transcript now listed them as members of the “Rebel Seven-Family Alliance.”

Watching the scholars tremble as they signed and stamped their confessions, Li Mu felt like the villain.

Excellent—the rebels have finally been uncovered.

Captain Li, you deserve first credit for solving this case in time.

When we return to the capital, I shall personally report to the emperor!

Marquis Wuyang said cheerfully.

The rebellion of last night had been solved the very next day—this astonishing efficiency would shame all officials.

As for flaws in the evidence, those were minor issues.

Once the suspects were captured, the evidence would quickly be solidified.

At worst, there were plenty of eyewitnesses.

The witnesses and survivors from last night could testify that the Seven Great Families had plotted the ambush on the imperial envoy, resulting in the deaths of several noble youths.

Your Lordship overstates it—these are merely duties I must fulfill.

As for merit, it is unquestionably yours, Your Lordship.

Without your meticulous planning, I could never have found the clues or identified the masterminds so quickly.

Li Mu immediately demurred.

First or second merit didn’t matter—what mattered was that he truly didn’t want to stand out in such a case.

The Seven Great Families hadn’t even been captured yet!

No one could guarantee these deeply entrenched clans would be completely wiped out.

If any survived and escaped, they would surely seek revenge.

They might lack the power to strike back at the court, but targeting individuals with assassinations was still possible.

Enough—do you think I’d steal your merit?

By now, the Eastern Depot and Embroidered Uniform Guard should be arriving—hand over everything we’ve uncovered to them.

The capital garrison will assist them in raiding the Seven Great Families.

From now on, we only need to secure Yangzhou city.

Marquis Wuyang snapped irritably.

Raiding the Seven Great Families was a rare golden opportunity—he could only watch from the sidelines, and it was maddening.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to claim it; it was simply that such a task was utterly unsuitable for the Five City Military Command.

A den of rats—if even mountains of gold passed through their hands, they’d shrink drastically.

And these men were all connected—either imperial relatives or descendants of meritorious officers.

They were the foundation of imperial power, the pillars of the empire.

If corruption became too public, even the emperor would struggle to handle it.

After all, imperial authority always extended ten paces out, yet stretched a thousand li in.

One must show sufficient leniency toward close associates to win their loyalty.

The best approach was to avoid testing human nature with temptation, and to give them no chance to commit grave errors.

(End of Chapter)