Hu Maoshen entered the Imperial Study Room, glanced at Kuang Zhao Ying kneeling on the ground, and hurriedly knelt down to pay respects, "Your subject Hu Maoshen humbly greets Your Majesty!"
"What brings you to the palace, Hu Aiqing?"
The Emperor had previously ordered Hu Maoshen to investigate the mountain bandit case, which had seen no progress. Now the case surfaced on its own, but its authenticity was unclear.
Hu Maoshen knew the Emperor had reservations about him, so he hastily ca to the palace.
"Your humble subject has sothing for Your Majesty to review." Hu Maoshen took out Guo Shi’s confession from his pocket.
The Emperor looked at Hu Maoshen with suspicion and personally took the confession to read.
Upon seeing Guo Shi’s signature and seal, the Emperor was greatly shocked.
"Guo Shi didn’t attend court today, so he was with you? Is this confession genuine? Why has Guo Shi overturned his previous testimony?"
Kuang Zhao Ying, kneeling and not daring to lift his head, suddenly felt a foreboding in his heart; he sensed that Guo Shi’s confession must be related to these two cases.
Sure enough, Hu Maoshen’s subsequent words confird his thoughts.
"Your Majesty, Lord Wan and Mr. Song have truly been wronged! The corruption case is completely unfounded, and soone is framing Lord Wan in the mountain bandit case. Lord Wan and Mr. Song are loyal to you!"
Kuang Zhao Ying, upon hearing this, nearly collapsed. He felt dizzy, thinking that if Wan Xue Nian were still alive, there might be a turning point. Who would have thought Wan Xue Nian would prove his innocence with his death?
Would the Emperor demand retribution in the autumn? Would the Wan Family let him go? He could imagine that in tomorrow’s court eting, those Imperial Censors would definitely impeach him for torturing confessions, forcing Lord Wan to his death.
He had seen the Emperor’s regret earlier, perhaps still having so affection for Lord Wan. Now knowing that Lord Wan was wronged, wouldn’t the Emperor feel even more remorse?
Kuang Zhao Ying was expelled from the Imperial Study Room and punished to kneel outside.
"What? Lord Wan committed suicide?" Hu Maoshen was truly surprised upon hearing this news; he suddenly thought of Gu Chengyu. Could it be that Gu Chengyu devised a plan to make Wan Xue Nian commit suicide? But what about Song Shuqing? Why didn’t he die?
Gu Chengyu had told him there was no need to worry about the two lords, he had a way. Could this be his way? Hu Maoshen felt a chill, shocked by Gu Chengyu’s decisiveness and ruthlessness.
Gu Chengyu was unaware that Hu Maoshen misunderstood him. He had no news in jail and didn’t know that Wan Xue Nian was already dead. He had waited for half a day, and no official had co over. He was pondering in his heart about what had happened that left them stranded in the cell.
Sun Xian had just left He Mansion, and Chengyu’s senior brother Yin Kun said he would find a way for Chengyu, having even arranged so matters in Dali Temple, so it shouldn’t be too harsh. Sun Xian hadn’t gone to where the second senior brother, Wu An, was, as Yin Kun said Wu An had gone to pull strings for Gu Chengyu.
As for He Jisheng, Yin Kun didn’t know. He went to He Mansion but was stopped outside, the doorkeeper inford him that He Jisheng was not in the residence and his whereabouts were unknown.
The silver note in Sun Xian’s embrace was not delivered, even though Ming Mo and the others said that as long as they waited at the mansion, it would be fine. However, Sun Xian thought that sitting at ho doing nothing in such a huge crisis was certainly not right, and both he and Gu Wan were anxiously worried.
That’s why he took the silver note and began to run around for Gu Chengyu. He didn’t know how Ye Zhiqiu was doing. Ye Zhiqiu went to Zhu Pang and Zheng Lun’s residences, even though they knew those two couldn’t do much. They intended to seek help from their elders, so Ye Zhiqiu brought a considerable amount of silver taels.
The Emperor’s eyes, like those of an eagle, gazed at Hu Maoshen, and his expression darkened, staring at Hu Maoshen without speaking. Hu Maoshen crouched on the ground, not daring to raise his head, cold sweat dripping from his forehead, feeling those eyes piercing into his spine, making him involuntarily shiver.
"Are you saying that the mountain bandit case was the doing of the Eldest Prince, and even the framing of court officials was his doing?"
The Emperor’s voice was steady without fluctuation, but Hu Maoshen felt it was the prelude to a coming storm.
"Yes! A leader nad Liu Dong from the Eldest Prince’s mansion was involved in this matter, and as the mastermind of the mountain bandit case, he led people through various prefectures, committing cris. There were a total of sixteen instances of intercepting and killing rchants and caravans, amassing illicit silver of no less than one million eight hundred thousand taels."
Facing the Emperor’s icy gaze, Hu Maoshen steeled himself to explain the matter in detail.
"During the Fengding Prefecture incident, a token was even left there."
After speaking, Hu Maoshen took out a bronze token from his pocket, and the Emperor imdiately stepped forward to take it, carefully inspecting it.
"The token indeed resembles that of a Standard Fourth-Rank Official Position, but there is no official na on it, this token is fake." The Emperor snorted coldly and tossed the token in front of Hu Maoshen.
Hu Maoshen was greatly shocked, that was impossible, the token had always been kept by him personally, with Liu Dong’s na on it, how could it be fake? He hurriedly picked up the token to look at it and found that this one was indeed sowhat different from the previous one, as it also lacked the official na.
Hu Maoshen bit his lip, fearing that he had been played by the Eldest Prince and his n. How could Liu Dong be so reckless as to return the token to him? Liu Dong, skilled in martial arts, with this token, no matter where they committed cris, no official dared to besiege them.
At the very end, a token was left in Yingnan Mansion. He had thought Liu Dong had carelessly left it behind. After retrieving it, he personally kept it, never letting others handle it. Only today did he take it out from the secret chamber, only to find out it had long been swapped.
Suddenly, he thought of a possibility. This Liu Dong, deserved a thousand cuts, as he had been fooled by the Eldest Prince and his n. He had been following Liu Dong and his group, hoping to find evidence. Liu Dong and his n might have gotten annoyed by his tracking and decided to toy with him.
They deliberately left the token in Yingnan Mansion, then found an opportunity to retrieve it, causing him to end up with nothing. His mansion must have had insiders from the Eldest Prince’s side, as he pondered, suspecting everyone, even beginning to suspect Hui An.
"Hu Maoshen, do you know what it ans to slander a prince?" The Emperor’s voice suddenly bood like thunder, turning Hu Maoshen’s face pale.
"Your Majesty, every word from your humble subject is true, this token has been swapped. Even without this token, other witnesses and confessions are genuine, Guo Shi and several other witnesses are in my mansion, awaiting Your Majesty’s summons."
"Why did Guo Shi go to your mansion? Why did he overturn his previous testimony? Did you capture him and try to force a confession?" The Emperor squinted his eyes; capturing and interrogating people was a matter for the Dali Temple, and Hu Maoshen daringly bypassed them.
Moreover, Guo Shi had previously confidently testified that Wan Xue Nian and Song Shuqing cheated in the imperial examinations, and now, within a day, he reversed his confession, truly perplexing.
"Your Majesty, Guo Shi was attacked soon after leaving the palace gates yesterday. Fortunately, your humble subject saved him, leading to these confessions."
The Emperor sat back in his chair, from the current point of view, Hu Maoshen’s evidence was quite substantial, except for that token. The other matters would need verification through investigation.
"Kuang Zhao Ying!"
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