Chapter 68: The Decision

"I will convey your words for you."

Zhu Xu looked at Zhang Heming, the disgust in his heart growing, and shouted: "Men, strip off Zhang Heming's official robes and drag him out!"

Zhang Heming's face changed drastically, and he said angrily: "Prince Hui, I am a dignified second-rank official. You cannot arbitrarily detain me."

Zhu Xu stepped forward and said: "Minister Zhang, you are mistaken. You privately detained a Duke of the realm and attempted to frame the Empress Mother. With both witnesses and evidence in hand, I am sending you to the authorities for judgment."

"Whether I am guilty or not is not for you to decide," Zhang Heming refused to admit anything, looking at Zhu Xu with a resolute expression: "Today I will go see His Majesty and surely file an impeachment against you!"

Zhu Xu did not want to say more to him. He waved his hand, and the palace guards stepped forward, grabbing Zhang Heming and directly stripping off his upper garments and official hat.

"Prince Hui, do you know you have committed a great crime!" Zhang Heming roared, struggling desperately. "No feudal prince in this dynasty has ever dared to interfere in governance, let alone detain a second-rank official!"

Zhu Xu curled his lips. He hated these shameless literati the most, especially ones of such advanced age.

Ever since Prince Yan Zhu Di successfully rebelled and took the throne, he had set an extremely towering example for the Ming dynasty's feudal princes. Thus the Emperor and even court officials were extremely wary of the princes. Likewise, the princes never ceased to dream of recreating the glory of Emperor Taizong—from Prince Chang to Prince Ning, all were examples.

"Old Cao." Zhu Xu watched Zhang Heming struggle and spoke to Cao Wenzhao.

Cao Wenzhao immediately understood and leaned in close.

Zhu Xu whispered for a moment. Cao Wenzhao's expression shifted slightly, and he said: "Yes, Your Highness."

"Men, take him away!" Cao Wenzhao strode straight out of the Ministry of War's main hall, with Zhang Heming dragged along behind him.

"Prince Hui, you will regret this! I will definitely unite my colleagues and impeach you!" Zhang Heming shouted at Zhu Xu from afar.

Zhu Xu stood in the main hall, eyes closed, taking a deep breath, and said with a look of intoxication: "Ah, the air in a place without the stench of corruption is truly wonderful."

The group of guards naturally would not disturb His Highness Prince Hui. But Zhang Guoji, who had witnessed everything, walked over with lingering fear and said: "Your Highness Prince Hui, this matter..."

"Duke, rest assured," Zhu Xu naturally knew what he was about to say, and said with a smile: "These people acted covertly; my imperial sister-in-law probably doesn't know yet. Well then, Duke, I will send men to escort you back."

Zhang Guoji's heart relaxed slightly. Hearing this, he quickly said: "Good, good."

"Men, escort the Duke back to his residence." Zhu Xu said.

"Your Highness, I take my leave."

Zhang Guoji observed full propriety and followed two guards out of the Ministry of War's main hall. But no sooner had he walked a short distance than he turned directly toward the direction of the imperial palace.

Zhu Xu stood in the Ministry of War's main hall, waiting all the while. He had thought someone would come out to deal with him, but after a long while, not a single figure appeared.

Zhu Xu narrowed his eyes and muttered to himself: "Since you won't come to find me, I'll go find you instead."

"Take me to the Ministry of War's storehouse."

Zhu Xu said as he walked outward.

The guards had already searched the Ministry of War thoroughly before, so they naturally knew the place. Hearing this, they immediately answered: "Yes!"

Several dozen guards clustered around Zhu Xu in the middle, marching toward the storehouse in quite a grand procession.

By now everyone knew that the Minister had already been taken down by Prince Hui, so no one dared to make a move. Along the way, doors and windows were tightly shut, and not a single person could be seen.

"Your Highness, it's here."

The guards brought Zhu Xu to a door. The gate was tightly locked, presenting an appearance of strict defense.

Zhu Xu waved his hand and said: "Men, break open the door and find the things that were seized from the Duke."

"Yes!" Four or five guards stepped forward and, after some effort, forced the door open.

"This lowly one... this lowly one pays respects to His Highness Prince Hui."

As soon as the door opened, a fat middle-aged man appeared in the center of the doorway, his face looking like he was constipated as he clasped his fists and bowed to Zhu Xu.

Zhu Xu chuckled and walked in, saying: "I thought the people of the Ministry of War had all died off."

The fat man's expression turned even more constipated and sorrowful. He looked at Zhu Xu with a fawning, careful smile and said: "Your Highness, this lowly one has already registered and catalogued Duke Zhang's property. I will have it transported back right away."

"Oh, is that so?" Zhu Xu walked in and looked around.

This room was piled high with goods—from chests of silver, paintings, and antiques to silks and satins, nearly everything imaginable. Clearly these were all the Ministry of War's spoils, and there were also several accountants standing far off, evidently having been busy with calculations.

"Bring me the ledger." Zhu Xu said.

The fat man hurriedly handed it over, clearly having been prepared: "Your Highness, it's all here."

Zhu Xu took it and flipped through it. Item after item, the total came to no more than thirty thousand taels. He looked at the fat man with a slight frown and said: "That's all?"

"Yes, that's all." The fat man said even more carefully.

Zhu Xu gave a low cough and, looking at the fine goods filling the room, said: "Really only this much?"

The fat man's small eyes blinked. Understanding perfectly, he said: "Your Highness, this lowly one made a mistake. I will re-register the ledger at once."

Saying this, he took the ledger from Zhu Xu's hands and went to a table not far away. While gauging Zhu Xu's gaze, he added items to it—whatever Zhu Xu's eyes fell upon, he unhesitatingly added.

Before long, he ran over with a fawning smile and said: "Your Highness, it's done this time."

Zhu Xu flipped through and looked—it had instantly increased to two hundred thousand taels.

He was quite satisfied and said to the fat man: "En, very good. What rank official are you?"

Hearing Zhu Xu's words, the fat man's heart settled slightly, but he still said carefully: "Reporting to Your Highness, this lowly one has no rank yet."

Zhu Xu nodded. A temporary worker, then.

He then changed his expression, leaned in close, and said in a low voice: "How was the harvest this time? Don't worry, I won't concern myself with anything else."

The fat man's body trembled. His eyes darted around, and he said in a low voice: "Reporting to Your Highness, the tally is not yet complete. I estimate it's under five hundred thousand taels."

Zhu Xu's face immediately turned stern, and he snorted coldly: "Do you think that just because I speak pleasantly, I'm actually easy to deal with?"

The fat man's face twisted again, his constipation seeming even worse, and he said: "Reporting to Your Highness, it might be a bit higher."

Zhu Xu's expression turned indifferent. Looking at the several accountants not far away, he said flatly: "Men, go take all the account books back with us. I'll go find my imperial brother and do the counting together."

"Yes!" The palace guards behind him acknowledged and were about to step forward.

"Wait, wait!"

The fat man hastily blocked their way, wiping sweat while his small eyes darted rapidly.

Zhu Xu waved his hand and changed his expression again, saying: "Enough, I was just taking a look. It's not as if I'm going to move your entire warehouse away, am I?"

The fat man was frightened out of his wits by Zhu Xu. He looked at the men behind him and thought to himself that it was true. Gritting his teeth, he brought out the master ledger from behind and said: "Your Highness, this is the rough draft ledger."

Zhu Xu glanced at him, flipped it open for a look, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

This rough, hastily calculated ledger actually amounted to as much as five million taels. One had to know that the Ministry of War had participated very little this time—the main forces were the Ministry of Revenue, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Eastern Depot, and the Shuntian Prefecture!

"Alright, move the things out."

Zhu Xu tossed the ledger to the guard behind him, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked out.