mtl008 Chapter 51 Haha! Door-to-door delivery? We're doomed!
Chapter 51 Haha! Door-to-door delivery? We're doomed!
The Eastern Palace was a scene of vibrant spring, while the Prince An's residence was shrouded in gloom and despair.
Since being punished with caning by Lin Shiming, Prince An has been recuperating in his residence, and it has taken him half a month to finally be able to get out of bed. As for Princess An, she has been feeling unwell ever since she fainted from anger last time, and has been resting in her own courtyard.
Furthermore, because of Mu Xiaoguang's downfall, Prince An completely revealed his snobbish nature to Princess An and became indifferent to the main courtyard. Therefore, the entire Prince An's mansion has recently been managed by the concubine.
However, the concubine was a woman from a merchant family and was not skilled in this area. In addition, everyone knew that Prince An's faction had suffered a huge blow, so they were somewhat dismissive of them. Therefore, for the past two weeks, Prince An's residence had been in complete chaos and leaks everywhere.
Prince An was already losing clumps of hair from all these troubles, and then today at 5 PM, several staunch officials from Prince An's faction brought him a huge piece of bad news.
"What did you say? The matter of the Southern Region's tax revenue has been exposed?"
Prince An was so panicked that he didn't even care about his injuries. He immediately got out of bed, walking unsteadily to the officials who had brought the news.
"Your Highness, that's right. Today, Qian Jiangqiu, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, suddenly launched an attack in court, pointing out that the tax reports from the Southern Regions were incorrect and requesting His Majesty to investigate thoroughly. Some suggested summoning Governor-General Du back to the capital to defend himself. However, His Majesty said that Governor-General Du had already returned to the capital a few days ago."
"More importantly, His Majesty has appointed the Crown Princess to temporarily assume the position of Minister of Justice, and this case will be handled by her."
Prince An's vision went black for a moment, and he was about to collapse onto the bed.
The servant beside him widened his eyes in shock and reached out to catch it, "Your Highness, be careful of your injury!"
Unfortunately, I didn't receive it.
"Ow—"
My ass! My ass! My ass!
Prince An immediately jumped up, clutching his buttocks, then groped for the bedpost to hold onto, too afraid to move, his vision blurring with pain.
"Quickly, quickly call the imperial physician—"
Several servants hurriedly tried to rush out.
"return!"
Prince An gasped for breath in pain, trying to lean against the bedpost. He supported his wound with one hand and raised the other hand, which trembled as he called out to the servants.
"Why call the imperial physician? I just bumped into something; there's no need to call the physician. The important thing is to summon those officials to discuss important matters first!"
Lin Shiming! It's him again. How many times have I stumbled on him since he returned to Beijing? What bad luck!
I will tear him to pieces sooner or later!
Seeing that Prince An was in so much pain that he was grimacing, but still insisted on not calling a doctor, the servants had no choice but to obey and leave.
A few quarters of an hour later, several key figures from Prince An's faction quietly gathered in the study of Prince An's residence.
A group of people were having a secret talk in the study until midnight, and every now and then the sound of porcelain shattering could be heard from inside the room.
It wasn't until well past midnight that the group of people in the study gradually emerged, looking exhausted. Under the arrangement of the Prince An's residence, they boarded carriages and prepared to secretly go home.
Half an hour later, these ministers, who were supposed to be quietly sent home by the concubine, were quietly taken to another place.
As soon as they lifted the carriage curtain, they saw heavily guarded soldiers in Tingyun Army armor, and the "Bingma Si" sign above their heads.
Haha! Door-to-door delivery? Oh no!
*
The Eastern Palace, at the hour of Mao (5-7 AM).
Lin Shiming was dragged out of bed by Lu Yuxi.
Last night, things got a little too outrageous, and Lin Shiming's internal energy, which he had been circulating for a long time, was still a bit sore and uncomfortable. He could only lean loosely against Lu Yuxi and let him help him get dressed and comb his hair.
If General Lin hadn't wanted to save face, Lu Yuxi would probably have been very considerate and fed him breakfast.
The golden hourglass in the corner jingled softly. After Lin Shiming forced himself to finish breakfast, Yu Sheng, with Lu Yuxi's permission, entered the hall.
"Your Highness, news has come from Li Yi that Prince An secretly summoned officials to his residence last night. Our people, who were in Prince An's residence, took the opportunity to take all these ministers away as planned, and they are currently being held in the Military Affairs Bureau prison."
Lin Shiming picked up his teacup and rinsed his mouth. "Didn't you leave any evidence against me?"
"Your Highness, rest assured. Last night, the Military Command conducted its routine night patrol and unexpectedly apprehended a group of thieves who had ventured out after curfew, and they were subsequently imprisoned. The Military Command kept a record of the entire process during its official duties."
Lin Shiming nodded in satisfaction, took the handkerchief handed to him by the eunuch and wiped his mouth, "Did you find the content of their conversation last night?"
“Yes.” Yu Sheng took out a few thin sheets of paper from his pocket and handed them to Lin Shiming. “This is what our people, disguised as servants, overheard outside the study.”
The contents of a secret conversation between more than a dozen people, lasting over two hours, were recorded in special language on these few sheets of paper. Lin Shiming only glanced through them once before understanding the outcome of Prince An's discussion the previous night.
"Hearing all this, it's clear that Prince An's concubine has absolutely no sense of vigilance, far inferior to the principal wife, Lady Mu."
When the principal wife was in charge of the household, she knew to protect the study in the front courtyard and not allow strangers to approach it casually. Now that the concubine is in power, the front courtyard of Prince An is almost surrounded by people sent by Lin Shiming.
Lu Yuxi's gentle voice came from behind, "How many people did you send into the Prince An's residence? They were eavesdropping and arresting people."
Lin Shiming turned around triumphantly and gestured with his chin toward Lu Yuxi, who was sitting at the table waiting for him. "I released them before the wedding, a whole squad of them!" A total of twenty people!
Lu Yuxi couldn't help but laugh, got up and walked over, casually picking up a piece of paper to look at.
The paper was ordinary paper, but it had some special, wavy symbols and concise sentences drawn on it. These were just shorthand techniques commonly used by Ting Yunjun, with no confidentiality requirements, so Lu Yuxi had also come into contact with them and could understand most of them.
"They're preparing for a drastic, painful decision!"
It was the same old trick of silencing witnesses. However, they probably knew that the Southern Region Governor Du Duan was currently in Emperor Longyun's hands, making it difficult to act against him. So this time, they planned to kill the person responsible for exchanging messages between Prince An and Du Duan.
Even if Du Duan implicates Prince An, Prince An can still use unsubstantiated grounds to accuse him of framing him.
That's quite a decisive decision, Lin Shiming scoffed. "He's certainly willing to make that sacrifice."
Over the years, Prince An has tried his best to obtain money through various channels to bribe officials and develop his own power. He has indeed won over many ministers in the court, including several who have real power.
But he himself should also know that even though these people have some real power, they are not favored by Emperor Longyun. Therefore, in the past two years, the officials in the court have been promoted and demoted. His greatest influence in the court is only the grandfather of the princess, who is the Minister of Justice, a first-rank official.
Therefore, Du Duan, the governor of the Southern Region, a second-rank local official who held real power over the military and political affairs of the three provinces, was of great importance to Prince An.
“He has no choice but to let go.” Lu Yuxi led Lin Shiming out. “Although Prince An is stupid, he always has smart ones under him. Father’s behavior yesterday clearly showed that he was prepared for the Southern Region Governor’s interception of tax revenue, and the evidence should be almost ready.”
"Everyone knows that Du Duan will never be exonerated. So all Prince An can do is clear himself of the blame. As for the loss of a great general, he can find another one later."
Should we look again later?
Lin Shiming held his head high, chest puffed out, and said with a calm smile, "He won't have a future!"