Chapter 255: Seizing Wang Gongbi

Li Ruolian, who was handling official business at the Northern Provost Office, was also pleased to hear of this. Since a candidate had been found, what needed to be done next was very simple.

By normal reasoning, this was the time for the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot to act, investigating Wang Gongbi's ancestors back eighteen generations.

No matter what great good deeds he had done in this life, as long as any ancestor had ever done the slightest thing to harm others for personal gain, the Guard and Depot could use that as a pretext to ruin his reputation, then casually pin some crime on him and reel in this fish to dispose of.

Don't be surprised—the Guard and Depot, once empowered, were just that formidable. No wonder it had reached the point in the capital region where people trembled at the very mention of their names; elsewhere, the Guard and Depot agents had long been synonymous with fearsome menace.

But now word came from the Eastern Depot that Wang Gongbi had actually done a rather poor job as Governor of Shandong—there was no need to deliberately sabotage him; his reputation was already thoroughly rotten. That being the case, they could proceed directly to the next step.

Wang Gongbi was Governor of Shandong, after all a major provincial official, and having served in Shandong for many years, he had long established his own partisans and factions. To seize him directly without some enormous crime pinned on his head would be hard to justify even for the Guard and Depot.

If they grabbed Wang Gongbi without any justification whatsoever, his partisans would certainly not let the matter rest. If some indignant Censors and local officials submitted the matter to the Office of Transmission, that would be extremely bad.

One must understand that although Wang Cheng'en was now the chief brush-holding eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, the Directorate's power was not what it once had been. The Chongzhen Emperor hated most of all the deceiving of superiors and concealing of truth from below. A small number of memorials Wang Cheng'en could still quietly suppress.

But once the memorials piled up, even Wang Cheng'en could not hold them all back, for his suppression could not be too obvious—if discovered by the Emperor, he would find himself in a situation where a hundred mouths could not explain away the matter.

If this affair grew too large, it would draw the Chongzhen Emperor's attention. Once he ordered a thorough investigation, even the combined forces of the Guard and Depot could not protect Gong Yonggu. Li Ruolian and Wang Cheng'en conferred and concluded that since this matter had not gone through the Emperor, unlike previous occasions, they had to proceed step by step.

If it had gone through the Emperor, things would have been very simple—no need to pin any crime, no need to ruin the other's reputation, just seize the man directly. After all, the Emperor cared nothing for such reputational matters.

The difficulty now lay precisely here: Wang Cheng'en and Li Ruolian were this time jointly protecting Imperial Son-in-law Gong Yonggu behind the Chongzhen Emperor's back. Before the matter could ferment and escalate, they had to pin the crimes on someone else and settle it, and to facilitate subsequent investigation of guilt, they had to do it without the slightest leak.

Wang Gongbi had far too many stains on his record, and he himself showed no inclination to hide them. When Wang Cheng'en and Li Ruolian joined forces, it was equivalent to the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard joining forces, working in the shadows to pin on Wang Gongbi a host of crimes including private salt dealing and encroachment on military farmland.

By Wang Cheng'en and Li Ruolian's estimate, these crimes laid upon a single man's head were enough for Wang Gongbi to die a hundred times over.

But when they later investigated, the two could not help but laugh. This Wang Gongbi truly was audacious beyond measure—nearly half of the crimes the Eastern Depot and Embroidered Uniform Guard had planned to fabricate against him, he had actually committed for real.

What came next was very simple indeed, for this Wang Gongbi had brought disaster upon himself and was beyond redemption.

Both the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard held evidence of Wang Gongbi's crimes, and because of the special nature of the Guard and Depot, they did not need to request permission from the Chongzhen Emperor before directly moving to seize him.

That day at noon, an urgent order was sent from the Northern Provost Office headquarters in the capital to the Shandong Chiliarch Office of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. The letter bore only a single line of blood-red characters:

"Seize Wang Gongbi, escort him to the capital under guard immediately. No delays permitted."

At the Shandong Governor's yamen, two yamen runners were dutifully guarding the gate when suddenly one of them widened his eyes and pointed ahead, saying:

"Who are those people?"

"I don't know. You keep watch—I'll go report to His Excellency the Governor!"

The runner who stayed had barely acknowledged this when, seeing the attire of the approaching men, he immediately groaned inwardly.

This group was uniformly shod in black leather boots, wearing red-sleeved uniforms with square-topped caps atop their heads. The Centurion at the lead even wore a flying-fish robe with an embroidered steel saber at his waist, swaggering along as though he held this governor's office in utter contempt.

Not until this group reached them did the gatekeeping runner dare utter a single word. The leading Embroidered Uniform Guard Centurion turned to look at the small characters reading "Office of the Governor of Shandong, Superintendent of Military Farming, Concurrent Overseer of Waterways, and Commander of Military Affairs" on one side, nodded, stepped forward, and said with a smile and clasped fists:

"Little brother, might I ask if this is the Shandong Governor's yamen?"

The newcomers' imposing bearing formed a stark contrast with this humble and courteous attitude. The runner naturally knew these were the notoriously fearsome Embroidered Uniform Guard, yet dared not presume upon familiarity, and could only respond with an ingratiating smile and a nod.

The Centurion glanced back once, then turned and said with a smile:

"Excellent. We come from the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Shandong Chiliarch Office. I am called Tian Guang, a mere Centurion. We are under orders to arrest your Governor—please be so good as to announce us."

"!!!"

The runner's eyes went wide at these words. When the Embroidered Uniform Guard Centurion said this, it was as though he were under orders to arrest some ordinary commoner. Not only did Centurion Tian Guang's expression show not the slightest ripple, even the Guardsmen behind him were extraordinarily calm.

The runner knew full well this was not a matter he could involve himself in. Without a second word, he nodded and went inside to announce them. Before long, the runner came running back out with a bitter face, spreading his hands and saying:

"My master is receiving guests and says he will not see you today."

At this, Tian Guang's spring-breeze countenance tightened and turned expressionless. Gripping his saber hilt, he said again: "That won't do. Please, little brother, go announce us once more—tell him we are the Embroidered Uniform Guard, here to take a man."

The words were spoken lightly, but to the runner's ears they were the very synonym of arrogance backed by power.

Not every one of these Embroidered Uniform Guard officers wore the flying-fish robe, nor did everyone have the qualification to bear the embroidered steel saber. Those who enjoyed such honor were extremely rare even within the Guard itself.

Some even said that an Embroidered Uniform Guard officer walking abroad in a flying-fish robe with an embroidered steel saber was no different from constantly carrying the imperial sword bestowed by the Son of Heaven—local petty officials who disobeyed could be executed on the spot, with no recourse to appeal anywhere.

This claim was not without reason, and it also illustrated from the side how immense the Embroidered Uniform Guard's power had become. Naturally, the Guard could only possess such power because the Chongzhen Emperor had deliberately indulged and cultivated it.

First, to suppress the equally notorious Eastern Depot; second, to better supervise the realm.

"This... I'll go back and ask again." The runner naturally dared not obstruct the Embroidered Uniform Guard and could only go back to inquire once more.

Tian Guang and the Guardsmen behind him waited and waited, but no word came from within the gates. Moreover, they heard the sound of sundry objects being piled up to block the doors. At once they knew something was wrong.

Seizing the moment before the doors were completely blocked, Tian Guang exchanged a glance with a nearby officer, abruptly drew the embroidered steel saber from his waist, mounted the steps in a few strides and kicked the yamen gate wide open. Pulling out his badge, he shouted at the top of his lungs:

"I am of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, here by imperial order to take a man. Any who obstruct shall share his crime!"