Chapter 160: Ye Xianggao Retires from Office

The storm inside and outside the court might be a blur to others, murky and unclear, but Zhu Xu understood it perfectly.

This was a "Battle of Sarhu" between the eunuch faction and the Donglin Faction — a duel, in effect, and whoever won would seize complete initiative!

The Donglin Faction might not understand that, but it did not stop their habitual intent to "drive out the wicked and employ the righteous." Yang Lian, out of the Imperial Prison, quickened his networking. At court, Donglin still held sway, with the pure stream dominant. Beyond the court, public opinion seethed, almost unanimously backing the Donglin Faction.

Every Censor on every circuit, every official in every region — anyone qualified to submit a personal memorial — denounced Wei Zhongxian without restraint, pleading and arguing for Wang Wenyan, Zuo Guangdou, and others. Memorials flew in like snowflakes to the Office of Transmission.

The Office of Transmission sorted them slightly and sent them to the Grand Secretariat; the Grand Secretariat's draft rescripts went to the Directorate of Ceremonial; after making that full circle, they would land on Zhu Youxiao's desk.

Wei Zhongxian, having managed the Directorate of Ceremonial for years, used his connections to delete words unfavorable to him, culled out passages that would enrage Zhu Youxiao and wrote them in, and only then sent them to Jingyang Palace.

Zhu Youxiao was distrustful of outside officials to begin with. Seeing so many memorials, though he did not suspect the outside officials of plotting treason, he flew into a rage, cursing the court ministers for being "utterly devoid of thought for the state or loyalty to the sovereign" and the like.

Zhu Youxiao's anger and displeasure would soon become Wei Zhongxian's "imperial sword." By forged edict he confiscated the homes of Zuo Guangdou and others, and cast back into prison a host of those who had associated closely with Zuo Guangdou, accusing them of "forming cliques and harboring corruption."

With this, Yang Lian grew all the more shocked and furious, declaring outright that the eunuch faction "no longer recognized the law of the realm" and that one should "hold the sword on Heaven's behalf to excise them." At the court deliberation he spoke with impassioned eloquence, bitterly denouncing Wei Zhongxian and the eunuch faction's Gu Bingqian, Cui Chengxiu, and others. The rest, including 【censored】 Xing and his ilk, followed suit — the court had already tipped entirely to one side.

Gu Bingqian and the others knelt in panic, begging forgiveness and crying that they were wronged.

Chief Grand Secretary Ye Xianggao struggled to maintain order, hoping to steady the court situation, yet felt increasingly powerless.

At the court deliberation, Zhu Youxiao flew into a great rage and had three men beaten with the staff in succession. Had a crowd not desperately shielded Yang Lian, he too might have had his trousers stripped and been caned.

Inside Kunning Palace, Zhu Xu held the little Princess Yongning in his arms, a small lollipop in his hand as he coaxed her.

The little Princess's cheeks were soft and pink, her big black eyes wide open, as she sat on Zhu Xu's lap babbling away.

"How many is this?"

"Ah."

"Oh my, correct! Come, have a bite."

"Ah ah."

"How many is this?"

"Ah ah."

"Oh my, so clever! Come, another bite."

Little Yongning was thrilled, waving her small hands with happy cries, her big eyes brimming with laughter.

Empress Zhang emerged from the inner chamber, took little Yongning from Zhu Xu's arms, and casually took the lollipop from his hand as well. She sat down across from him, put the lollipop into little Yongning's mouth, and tilted her head with a gentle, warm smile to gaze at the little girl's face.

Zhu Xu watched Empress Zhang. Since giving birth, her body had not only recovered but grown thinner; she looked to be in decent spirits, yet within a mere half month she had caught cold and coughed for over ten days.

Zhu Xu did not dare go inquire of the imperial physicians. Empress Zhang had originally been unable to bear children; having barely managed a safe delivery, there were likely unforeseeable aftereffects. The little Princess had been born at full term, and no discomfort had been observed in her.

After amusing little Yongning for a while, Empress Zhang looked up at Zhu Xu and sighed softly: "I chose the wrong teacher for you."

Yang Lian was making a frantic stir outside the palace, striking the pose of a leader of the remonstrance officials, throwing the entire capital into unrest — Empress Zhang naturally could not be unaware.

Zhu Xu chuckled and said: "If the teacher has skill, I, his student, bask in the reflected glory too. Right, right."

Empress Zhang looked at Zhu Xu's lazy, nonchalant manner, furrowed her brow slightly, and explained seriously: "You don't understand yet. If Yang Dahong keeps making trouble like this, he won't last long in the capital — he'll likely have to resign. That will do you no good in the future. I should find you a more proper one anew."

Zhu Xu blinked, putting on a look of half-understanding.

Empress Zhang knew that Zhu Xu truly did not grasp court affairs deeply, so she did not say more: "All right, you needn't worry about these things. Yang Lian probably won't have time to come to the palace these days anyway. I'll have my father search for you."

Zhu Xu did not stop Empress Zhang. In truth, he had long since made up his mind — this teacher of his, Zhu Xu would not casually let him resign and return to his hometown.

Several more days passed in a flash. What awaited Zuo Guangdou and the others in prison was not transfer to the judicial authorities, but — stripping of rank and banishment home!

In simple terms, their crimes were confirmed, and in an extremely disgraceful manner they were stripped of their official registries and sent back to their native places.

In a single night, a lifetime of clean reputation was destroyed, and infamy was heaped upon them.

Though they were furious beyond measure and regretted their miscalculation, nothing could be undone. The mounted constables allowed no resistance, forcibly pressing them to leave the capital swiftly and sending them back to their respective villages.

And the most crucial figure among them, Wang Wenyan, still had no verdict rendered.

This man was famed within the Donglin Faction, yet his position was very low. The Donglin Faction relied on him to connect the Six Ministries, the Grand Secretariat, and even the inner court, along with numerous like-minded allies inside and outside the court. He was a figure of exquisite versatility with an extremely complex web of connections!

Wei Zhongxian had no intention of letting him off so easily. Soon he transferred him from the Northern Provost Prison to the newly built Eastern Depot prison.

Zuo Guangdou and the others being forcibly expelled from the capital by Wei Zhongxian caused tremendous shock within the Donglin Faction. They finally realized with clarity that Wei Zhongxian was no longer that inner-court eunuch — his hand had reached into the court itself, and he could contend with them, becoming a new "wicked faction."

Yang Lian, 【censored】 Xing, and other Donglin members conferred and deliberated ceaselessly, seeking means to utterly crush Wei Zhongxian.

But Wei Zhongxian was not like their previous opponents. Those "wicked factions" had their roots in the court, where they could use various methods to force them out — either they resigned of their own accord or waited to be dismissed and purged.

But Wei Zhongxian had little power in the court as yet. Even if they drove out everyone at court who might belong to the eunuch faction, Wei Zhongxian would not be harmed in the slightest. The one they ultimately had to deal with was still Wei Zhongxian himself!

The method they conceived was still at court — to force the Emperor to remove Wei Zhongxian from office.

A surging tide of impeachment unfolded inside and outside the court, this time sweeping nearly the entire civil official system of the Great Ming into its wake. Yang Lian and 【censored】 Xing charged at the front, with countless Donglin members or Donglin supporters behind them.

Wei Zhongxian's counterattack differed from the Donglin Faction's reliance on mere memorials of impeachment. He ordered the Eastern Depot to spread informants far and wide, launching extensive investigations into Yang Lian, 【censored】 Xing, and other Donglin members. Before long, evidence of various misdeeds by 【censored】 Xing — expelling the "wicked faction" during the capital evaluation, involvement in Donglin appointments, and flaws in personal conduct — was gathered.

After holding back for half a month, at a major court deliberation, Wei Zhongxian's partisans exposed it all publicly.

Though the Donglin Faction all upheld the notion of "driving out the wicked and employing the righteous," having their unsavory methods exposed still left 【censored】 Xing deeply embarrassed.

Thereafter, members of the eunuch faction and those within Donglin who were dissatisfied with 【censored】 Xing submitted memorials of impeachment one after another.

Unexpectedly, the first to crack was not 【censored】 Xing, but Chief Grand Secretary Ye Xianggao!

Lin Ruzhu, the Censor of the Capital Patrol, was a fellow townsman of Ye Xianggao. He had once punished an inner attendant, and Liu Chao and others implicated him through the Wan Jing case. In his terror he fled, whereupon Wei Zhongxian directly had Ye Xianggao's private residence surrounded, pointing the spear straight at him!

Ye Xianggao was already sixty-seven years old. He had submitted more than twenty memorials of resignation to Zhu Youxiao.

Zhu Youxiao knew well that Ye Xianggao was someone who could steady the overall situation, but after repeated attempts to retain him, he also perceived that this time Ye Xianggao was not playing at empty "coercion" of him. Left with no choice, he could only consent.