The Ministry of Justice was bustling with activity as officials hurried around, barely touching the ground. A large number of Ministry constables sward out as the matter was grave. Minister of Ministry of Justice Feng Tingji even directly requested the Heavenly Patrol Departnt and the Imperial Guard Yan to assist in the investigation.
At the sa ti, the Minister of Ministry of Justice was swiftly preparing a morial. Such a major incident had to be reported to the emperor; thirty-one Prince Mansions were robbed, and their small Ministry of Justice could not handle it alone.
As the crowd was busy rushing around, the Grand Steward of the Duke of the Secret Kingdom’s Mansion, Xio Quanzhong, arrogantly stepped into the Ministry of Justice. Just as he shouted, he noticed that sothing was amiss.
Those Princes and nobles gazed at him with quite unfriendly eyes.
Given his status as the Grand Steward of the Duke of the Secret Kingdom, eting most of the Dukes here didn’t even require a greeting; it was already good enough that he didn’t trouble them.
But being stared at so unkindly by so many Princes and nobles made the Grand Steward Xio Quanzhong sowhat timid. He cautiously stepped forward to pay respect to the Heir of the Prince Xun Manor and then greeted each Duke and Prince present.
With so many nobles present, if he dared to be arrogant, so many people would surround him and accuse him of disrespecting the Princes and nobles, beating him to death. The West Patrol’s Xio Qiangu would definitely not co to his aid.
After greeting them all, Xio Quanzhong finally saw the Minister of Ministry of Justice and quickly reported, "Under the order of my master, I have co to the Ministry of Justice to report that half an hour ago, our Mansion of the Duke of the Secret Kingdom was burglarized by a great thief, causing heavy losses..."
"Hmph, I spit! The thief cries thief, your Xio Family’s ans are impressive!"
"You Xio Family have calculated well. By reporting the theft yourselves, you try to dissociate yourselves. How splendid a thought!"
"Now, I’m starting to believe that this must be the work of the West Patrol’s Xio Qiangu..."
.....
Before Xio Quanzhong could finish speaking, the various Princes and nobles in attendance were already accusing him with a flurry of spittle, drowning out the Grand Steward Xio Quanzhong of the Duke of the Secret Kingdom’s Mansion.
This Xio Quanzhong had seen the world and knew that he couldn’t show weakness at this mont. Seeing the situation, he stiffened his neck, "Can’t you see this simple framing and false accusation? How dare you implicate my master?
If you have the guts, say it in front of my master’s face. Hmph, each one of you, we’ve kept track of you all!" Xio Quanzhong pointed wildly, instantly intimidating the Princes and nobles here, but angering the Prince Xun Heir.
Flying up, he kicked Xio Quanzhong away.
"Bold slave, even Xio Qiangu wouldn’t dare to arrogantly threaten Princes and nobles like this. How dare you?"
It didn’t take long before the Grand Steward Xio Quanzhong of the Duke of the Secret Kingdom’s Mansion, besieged by the crowd, left dejectedly.
In fact, it wasn’t that the Prince Xun Heir was impulsive. Ye Zhen had actually planned ticulously before acting.
Ye Zhen’s theft of thirty-one Prince Mansions in one night had a purpose.
Currently, Ye Zhen serves as the Second Wind Patrol Envoy under the West Patrol of the Heavenly Patrol Departnt. His mission was to act as a nail, firmly embedded into the otherwise impervious West Patrol. In such a situation, he had the support of Central Patrol’s Jings Zhan and Grand Celestial Official Wu Yu, allowing him to acquire so very sensitive information.
For example, the internal relations of the Great Zhou’s ministers.
There are many factions within the ministerial court, each with their own backers, but the biggest factions are divided into two: the Heaven Temple System and the Imperial Faction.
Many ministers have the shadow of the Heaven Temple behind them, or secret dealings with it. However, the court was not sothing that Ren Venerate Emperor Ji Long could control alone.
Especially troubling was that among the Eight Council Princes, at least three were extrely close to the Heaven Temple, such as Prince Lik Ji Yuan.
However, Prince Xun Ji Zong was unwaveringly part of the Imperial Faction, anti-Temple, having many feuds with the Heaven Temple, let alone an irreconcilable hatred with the West Patrol Xio Qiangu, specifically the Xio Family.
Over a thousand years ago, when Prince Xun was stationed at the Demon Battlefield before his ascension, he suffered a major defeat. That defeat caused heavy losses under Prince Xun, including a lost son. Moreover, that defeat lowered Prince Xun’s ranking among the Eight Council Princes and delayed his ascension by three hundred years.
According to secret archives of the Heavenly Patrol Departnt, Prince Xun’s major defeat was related to intelligence. Afterward, Prince Xun repeatedly troubled the Xio Family but to no avail.
Because of this reason, Ye Zhen dared to risk robbing the Prince Xun Manor.
With the old feud between Prince Xun and the West Patrol, they wouldn’t miss any opportunity to deal with the Xio Family.
Not just Prince Xun, but the other thirty Princes and nobles who were robbed, all belonged to the sa Imperial system and typically had no interactions with the Heaven Temple system like the West Patrol.
In this situation, after Ye Zhen stirred things up, a catalyst was needed to deal with Xio Qiangu.
However, this catalyst wasn’t sothing Ye Zhen could control.
But in Ye Zhen’s view, since even Ren Venerate Emperor Ji Long was looking to trouble Xio Qiangu of the West Patrol, those with power wouldn’t have reason to miss such a good opportunity.
If the insult to the Junior Director of Security Departnt by the noble slave at the door of the Duke of the Secret Kingdom’s Mansion was rely a trigger, then the attitude of the Holy Son of Heaven, Great Zhou Ren Venerate Emperor Ji Long during the court assembly was a weather vane.
During the court assembly, after the Minister of Ministry of Justice presented the morial and reported the incident, Ren Venerate Emperor Ji Long’s gaze beca flickering.
"Since this thief in the Shadow Capture Jade Slips of so many beloved ministers is the West Patrol’s Xio Qiangu, it seems we must summon Minister Xio for a confrontation to clear the suspicion."
(Note: West Patrol Xio Qiangu is a regional minister and generally does not need to attend court assemblies unless summoned or reporting duties.)
These were the words of Ren Venerate Emperor Ji Long, but to the ministers, it signaled sothing.
The thief openly impersonated West Patrol Xio Qiangu to commit theft. Basically, it’s certain that soone is framing him. Despite the seriousness, it should be turned over for investigation first.
However, the Ren Venerate Emperor affird Xio Qiangu’s suspicion on the court and wants to summon him for confrontation, turning this from a theft into a political incident.
For the Ren Venerate Emperor, creating enemies for Xio Qiangu and the Xio family is his favorite thing to do; otherwise, how could the Heir of Marquis Haiyuan succeed to the title and establish a nation?
Regarding Ren Venerate Emperor Ji Long’s summons, Xio Qiangu wasn’t surprised. After the Mansion of the Duke of the Secret Kingdom’s Grand Steward Xio Quanzhong provoked public anger and was sent back, he realized sothing was wrong.
With his keen eyes, he listed out the shocking theft case and found it was a huge trap aid at the Xio family.
Especially the one that stole from the Xio family’s Mansion of the Duke of the Secret Kingdom. They foolishly reported it to the Ministry of Justice, only to be scolded for the thief crying thief, becoming superfluous exoneration.
Xio Qiangu even felt this major case might have been orchestrated by the Ren Venerate Emperor’s own hands against the Xio family.
With their current strength, and backing from the Heavenly Temple, without a proper excuse, the Ren Venerate Emperor couldn’t even impose minor penalties.
The key to this case lies with those disgruntled princes and nobles!
As the saying goes, robbing people of their wealth is akin to killing their parents!
Once those over thirty princes and nobles unite, he’d be in serious trouble.
Despite understanding this, West Patrol Xio Qiangu still had to attend court and defend himself.
Before the court, he prepared proofs of his alibi with witnesses from his residence, even learning that a tributor from Prince Xun Manor injured that thief, while he himself was unhard.
These were sufficient to clear his suspicion.
However, upon arriving at Universe Hall, Ren Venerate Emperor Ji Long’s first words caught him off guard.
"Minister Xio, I know this ti a thief impersonated your na intending to fra you! Not to ntion, with your ans, if you were to steal, how could you leave such a glaring flaw?"
"But so say that you did the opposite, thinking that since everyone believes you would not be so foolish, you’ve committed this shocking cri instead. Minister Xio, is that the case?" Ren Venerate Emperor asked with a smile.
Though Ren Venerate Emperor was smiling, West Patrol Xio Qiangu broke into a cold sweat, seeing the thirty-one victimized princes glaring at him with red eyes.
Under Ren Venerate Emperor’s guidance, those thirty-one princes likely all believed this was the work of Xio Qiangu.
What’s worse, each of those thirty-one victimized princes had so grievances with the Xio family.
"Your Majesty, please investigate clearly; I’ve always abided by law—how could I commit such foolish acts?" Xio Qiangu hurriedly said.
"Don’t be anxious, Minister Xio; I trust your character! But this matter started because of you—though it wasn’t your doing, the thief did it to retaliate against you, causing this shocking incident.
Thus, Minister Xio, you must account for this to the courtier, so they won’t suffer because of you.
Take Marquis Xiang Cheng for instance; his treasure vault was emptied. Not to ntion, with a million High Grade Spiritual Stones inside, it’s been the Xiang family’s wealth accumulated over nearly a millennium; truly pitiful!" Ren Venerate Emperor sighed.
These words nearly infuriated Xio Qiangu.
Instead of catching the thief, he’s being asked to account as a victim!
Claiming trust in him yet demanding an account—this is deliberately setting him up.
Ren Venerate Emperor Ji Long’s way of handling this is utterly shaless, and from a distance, it’s simply the Emperor’s sches—a portrayal of politics.
Almost simultaneously, the thirty-one victimized princes, including Prince Xun Ji Zong, knelt in unison and asked, "Please, Your Majesty, help us!"
So elder princes even started wailing, claiming that due to this loss, their family is impoverished.
With such a beginning and guidance, victimized princes leapt out demanding Xio Qiangu to account.
Seeing this, Ren Venerate Emperor Ji Long looked at Xio Qiangu with a smile and asked, "Minister Xio, what say you?"
Xio Qiangu’s deanor had turned exceedingly unpleasant, kneeling down with a steely face and saying, "Your Majesty rest assured; I will certainly provide an account to the Duke and nobles to prove my innocence!
However, I need cooperation from the Imperial Guard, Ministry of Justice, and Heavenly Patrol Departnt Central Patrol!"
Ren Venerate Emperor once again smiled and waved, saying, "Minister Xio, rest easy; I have ordered the Imperial Guard, Ministry of Justice, and Heavenly Patrol Departnt Central Patrol to fully investigate this matter, allowing Minister Xio to cooperate with their actions."
The difference between actively cooperating and being asked to cooperate is significant.
With the Imperial Guard, Ministry of Justice, and Heavenly Patrol Departnt Central Patrol cooperating with Xio Qiangu, he would lead the investigation. Conversely, if Xio Qiangu is asked to cooperate, then the Imperial Guard, Ministry of Justice, and Heavenly Patrol Departnt Central Patrol departnts would lead the investigation.
What a joke! If the Imperial Guard, Ministry of Justice, and Heavenly Patrol Departnt Central Patrol cooperated with Xio Qiangu on the investigation, it would an Ren Venerate Emperor Ji Long feels Xio Qiangu’s influence isn’t potent enough?
Naturally, Xio Qiangu was to cooperate with the Imperial Guard, Ministry of Justice, and Heavenly Patrol Departnt Central Patrol in the investigation.
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