Chapter 86: Hidden Intentions

Chen Qiyu said gently, "Rise and speak. Everything will be decided by the laws of the court. As long as the facts are all present, I and Lord Chen will never bend the law for personal gain!"

Chen Liangmo also said in a deep voice, "Explain the whole matter clearly at once. His Excellency the Governor and I will distinguish right from wrong!"

Li Shiqun rose, wiped his tears with his sleeve, and returned to his seat. He then recounted everything that had happened that day from beginning to end, and pulled a written complaint from his bosom. A servant took it and presented it to Chen Qiyu. On it was not only the account of the incident, but also the thumbprints of several shop clerks including Zhang Er as evidence.

When Hou Dingguo had ordered his attendants to beat Manager Xu to death, apart from their own group, the most direct witnesses were only the shop's clerks. Although quite a few people had gathered outside to watch, they dared not come close, and with their view obstructed, they had not seen exactly what happened.

Afterwards, the Fengyang prefectural office received a report from a passerby that a murder had occurred at the Li family trading house. When Prefect Li Qimei sent men over, the trading house's main gate was already shut. The constables climbed over the wall and entered through the rear courtyard. They saw only a pool of undried blood on the floor and destroyed furniture — the scene was in complete disarray — but there was no evidence to prove a murder had taken place.

The constables then questioned the shops around the trading house. Several proprietors of neighboring establishments who had entered the shop all insisted that someone had indeed been beaten to death — the trading house's old manager — and that they had all personally seen the body. As for why the corpse had disappeared and why not a single owner or clerk was to be found, everyone agreed that the owner had gone into hiding.

The constables also went to a nearby coffin shop to investigate. The coffin shop owner confirmed that someone from the Li family trading house had indeed bought a coffin, but as to where it had been taken, he did not know.

By this time the constables knew that someone really had been beaten to death, but the culprit was someone they dared not provoke. Who would dare go to the Imperial Tomb Office to make an arrest?

So they hurried back to the prefectural office to report the details to the Prefect. When Li Qimei heard that there truly had been a murder and that it involved someone from the Imperial Tomb Office, he did not dare make a decision on his own. He quickly drafted a document and reported the matter to Chen Qiyu.

Because Fengyang's jurisdiction was small, no Provincial Surveillance Commission had been established there; civil and criminal cases were all handled by the Fengyang prefectural office.

But murder cases were the key factor in whether local officials were promoted or demoted. Since this case had such a complicated background, Li Qimei naturally wanted to shift the responsibility. As long as he reported it to the Governor, the final outcome of the case would have nothing to do with him.

Chen Qiyu saw through Li Qimei's little trick as clearly as fire. After all, he was a capable minister who had seen great scenes and held great vision in his heart; he held such petty tactics in utter contempt.

After reading the case documents, Chen Qiyu's heart suddenly stirred.

Regarding the deeds of Yang Ze, the eunuch guarding the imperial tomb, Chen Qiyu had long since investigated everything clearly, with the help of certain interested parties.

Those so-called interested parties were naturally the officials represented by Li Qimei, along with the local gentry.

The natural opposition between literati and eunuchs gave the gentry an instinctive loathing for Yang Ze. Moreover, Yang Ze's daily arrogance and greed — especially the misdeeds of his adopted son Hou Dingguo among the common people and the soldiers of the guard stations — deepened the disgust of the civil officials and the gentry. But since they were powerless to oppose him, they had endured in silence until now. When the gentry noticed that Chen Qiyu and Chen Liangmo had sent men to secretly investigate the Fengyang guard stations, they made full use of the opportunity, steering the direction of the investigation, whether intentionally or not, straight toward Yang Ze and the several high-ranking guard station officers who obeyed him.

The murder made Li Qimei keenly sense that this was an opportunity — a golden chance to topple Yang Ze and his lackeys in one stroke lay right before him, and there was even a ready-made blade placed in front of him: the Governor.

When Li Qimei and the others conversed privately, they had also discussed Chen Qiyu, and from his résumé and his conduct since taking office, they had drawn a conclusion: Lord Chen was not content with his current position and harbored ambitions to rise, but he lacked the foundation for achieving great deeds — namely, money and grain. Although His Majesty had reinstated him, seemingly granting him renewed favor, if he could not produce notable achievements in Fengyang, advancing further would be very difficult. What His Majesty valued most was, of course, capable ministers who governed well — without achievements, how could one be promoted?

A place like Fengyang, where nine years out of ten brought famine, was a trap on a capable minister's career path. No Governor of Fengyang in history had ever entered the Grand Secretariat — that fact spoke volumes. How many civil officials had come to Fengyang full of grand ambitions, only to leave in defeat? You think you're so capable? Then why can't you get into the Grand Secretariat?

Li Qimei knew this well, so he did not think highly of Chen Qiyu. Even if you had served as Governor-General of the Five Provinces, so what? This post was less a test from His Majesty than a chicken-rib position meant to make you give up hope.

But even scrap iron can be hammered into three pounds of nails. Since the Governor wanted His Majesty to look upon him with new eyes, let him go tear into Yang Ze. If Chen Qiyu lost, he would slink away in disgrace; if Yang Ze lost, the same. If both were wounded, then both could leave together. Whichever outcome occurred, it would not harm the interests of Li Qimei and his kind in the slightest.

Chen Qiyu knew that to win a greater reputation, one had to chew on hard bones, and Yang Ze was undoubtedly the best target.

As long as he toppled Yang Ze, he would establish before the eyes of the courtiers and the civil official class the lofty image of an upright, unyielding man who bravely fought wicked eunuchs. This would lay a solid foundation for a brighter official future. After all, he could not rely solely on imperial favor — Chen Qiyu had no desire to be a lone minister.

Moreover, from the intelligence gathered these past days, this Yang Ze had indeed incurred the wrath of heaven and man alike: fabricating all sorts of pretexts to extort the common people and soldiers under the banner of repairing the imperial tomb; forcing merchants to contribute money and silver, then pocketing it himself; padding the rolls of the imperial tomb guards and conspiring with guard station officers to embezzle military pay and provisions; and one crime sufficient to send Yang Ze to his death: embezzling the silver that the Emperor had taken from the privy purse for repairing the imperial tomb! Surely the Emperor would fly into a rage upon seeing that.

Chen Qiyu had already drafted a personal memorial to Chongzhen. After seeing Li Qimei's report, he added another crime to Yang Ze's list in his heart: allowing his underlings to kill innocent commoners without cause. But the one shortcoming was that the witnesses and evidence were somewhat insufficient.

Today, the details of the murder as recounted by Li Shiqun, along with the complaint bearing the thumbprints of several witnesses, made the case perfectly clear. Chen Qiyu decided to write a secret letter to Chongzhen immediately, attaching a memorial impeaching Yang Ze — impeaching the tomb-guarding eunuch for all manner of illegal acts: wreaking havoc on the locality, extorting the gentry, colluding with military officers, and cruelly abusing soldiers. Once the Emperor entrusted him with handling the matter, he would take the opportunity to reorganize the guard stations, employing both kindness and severity, promoting worthy talents, and building a new army to resist the roving bandits — that would be the political capital he could rely on. He had confidence that with his own judgment and planning, he could command this new army and shine brilliantly in the campaigns against the bandits.

After reading it, Chen Qiyu placed the complaint on the desk and said with a grave expression, "For such evil deeds to occur in broad daylight is truly outrageous! Using the pretext of repairing the imperial tomb to seize the property of law-abiding merchants — this is no different from banditry! And when their forcible seizure was refused, they flew into a rage and killed innocent people — this is the conduct of beasts!"

Chen Liangmo had heard rumors of the murder before but did not know the details. Today, hearing the victim's family recount the cause, and learning that the instigator was a eunuch he deeply detested, he too was now burning with righteous indignation.

He said loudly, "It is precisely such treacherous villains wreaking havoc among the people that keep the realm unsettled! I shall immediately submit a memorial to demand justice for the dead!"

Before Li Shiqun could offer his thanks, Chen Qiyu continued, "Rest assured, Squire Li. I will never allow vicious criminals who harm the people to roam free. Go home for now — I and Lord Chen will memorialize the court, and no matter what, we will give you a satisfactory answer! Return and await word!"

Seeing that both lords had expressed their positions in turn, Li Shiqun felt secretly gratified. He had spent nearly half his family fortune, but now there was hope of avenging his grievance.

He rose, knelt, and kowtowed in thanks, then slowly withdrew from the inner hall. Chen Qiyu instructed a servant to notify Chen Qizhi, who would arrange the journey to Nanjing to escort the silver.

Chen Liangmo declared in a clear voice, "Your Excellency the Governor, now that a vile eunuch runs rampant through Fengyang Prefecture, the repair of the imperial tomb has become nothing but a means for Yang Ze to amass wealth. The people of Fengyang, already living in destitution, are now being pushed further into misery! How can we who have studied the books of the sages allow such wicked villains to continue their depredations! I shall immediately submit a memorial to His Majesty, begging him to severely punish this wretch! I ask that Your Excellency add your name to the memorial!"

Chen Qiyu glanced at him, finding it rather amusing. He pulled a memorial from a stack of official documents on the desk, tapped it in his hand, and said, "Shiliang, do you think I have been sitting here in idle despair all these days? I never fight a battle I am not sure of winning. Without sufficient evidence, do you think your mere fervor could convince His Majesty? What I hold in my hand is the ironclad proof that can send Yang Ze to his death!"

Chen Liangmo quickly rose and came over, taking the memorial from his hand to examine it closely. After a moment he closed it, his face brimming with excitement, and laughed, "Your Excellency is indeed several moves ahead! I investigated for days and never got to the heart of the matter. I never imagined that Your Excellency, without a sound, had ferreted out the entire background of that villain Yang and his gang in such detail! I am full of admiration! Haha!"

Chen Qiyu secretly curled his lip. We agreed to investigate separately — I sent men down with silver to buy information; but you, instead of doing anything useful besides changing out of your official robes, just wore that deadpan face and went around asking anyone you met about eunuchs and guard station commanders. Who's that stupid? Isn't this the kind of thing that brings disaster on your head, something to be asked about quietly? You acted as if you wanted the whole world to know.

He said with a smile, "I merely happened to encounter someone who knew the inside story. Lord Shiliang conducts himself with openness and integrity, and I can only admire that!"

Chen Liangmo, to his credit, knew himself well. He shook his head and said, "I am not skilled at dealing with people, and I know little of civil governance. My ambitions do not lie there. The man I admire most is Hai Rui, Hai Gangfeng! In this life I wish to emulate Hai Bijiia! To be a sharp sword! To cut down all the demons and monsters in the court, to sweep clean the corrupt winds of the Great Ming officialdom — for that, I would die without regret!"

Hearing this, Chen Qiyu felt a surge of profound respect. He stood up, straightened his robes and cap, and bowed solemnly to Chen Liangmo, saying, "Shiliang, your integrity is so lofty that I, Chen, cannot match it!"