Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 541 Stripping the Empress's Imperial Decree

The Dali Temple conducted trials for two days and nights in succession. During this time, the constables who were ordered to investigate the case in Yuzhou also escorted the five core members of the Jiang family back to the capital.

That night, the Empress, dressed in plain palace attire, walked to the gate of Renming Hall and insisted on meeting the Emperor.

Seeing the bloodshot eyes of the woman, Wei Ying dared not delay and immediately took a lantern and rushed to the Funing Palace to report. Inside the palace, the candlelight flickered, and the emperor was reviewing memorials. Upon hearing the news, his vermilion brush paused slightly. "Tell her," the emperor's voice was devoid of emotion, "that it is late at night, and I am tired."

Upon hearing the reply outside the palace gates, the Empress swayed violently, then knelt directly on the cold bluestone slabs, saying nothing more.

Upon seeing this, Wei Ying and the guards quickly retreated to the sides, cupped their hands, and said, "We are on duty as ordered, please do not make things difficult for Your Majesty."

Zhi Xue, Lu Wei, and Chen Ling also knelt down behind the Empress. Chen Ling crawled to the palace gate, banged his forehead heavily on the ground, and said in a tearful voice, "Commander Wei, Her Majesty the Empress has not slept or eaten for several days. Please do us a favor and ask Eunuch Jing to come and see her."

Wei Ying was caught in a dilemma, torn between the Empress and the Emperor's decree. After a moment's thought, he finally sighed and sent a junior guard to the Funing Palace to deliver the message.

About half an hour later,

Jingming rushed over with a palace lantern and saw the Empress kneeling on the ground. He quickly stepped forward to help her up. The Empress, however, raised her hand to stop him and took out a silk booklet from her bosom. "Eunuch Jing, please present this booklet to His Majesty and say that I... am willing to accept the punishment on behalf of the Marquis's family."

Jingming took the booklet and saw the two small characters "Please forgive me" embroidered on the cover. He dared not delay and turned to walk quickly toward Funing Palace.

Inside the Funing Hall, the emperor was still reviewing memorials. Jingming quietly reported and handed over the booklet.

"A letter of apology?" The Emperor glanced at it out of the corner of his eye, then chuckled softly, pressing his fingertips heavily on the booklet: "Tell the Empress that what I want is not a letter of apology, but an admission of guilt."

The following day, a court assembly was held in the Taiji Hall.

After being confined to his residence for seven days, Marquis Zhenbei was also escorted to court.

Xu Shou, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, dressed in a scarlet official robe and holding a tablet, stepped forward. His voice was slightly deep in the empty hall: "Your Majesty, I have a memorial to present."

"Granted."

The voice emanating from the throne was unreadable, yet it caused all the civil and military officials in the hall to hold their breath in unison.

Xu Shou took a deep breath and kowtowed: "The Dali Temple has found that the twelve major properties under the name of the Jiang family in Yuzhou are actually secretly controlled by the nephew of the wife of the Marquis of Zhenbei. In addition, of the 300,000 taels of disaster relief funds allocated by the Ministry of Revenue to Yanzhou and Yuzhou in February of this year, 240,000 taels were transferred through the Jiang family's properties, with falsified accounts, and ultimately all flowed into the private treasury of the Marquis of Zhenbei."

He paused briefly, then took out a thick memorial from his sleeve and held it high above his head: "Your Majesty, I have obtained the testimonies of Madam Jiang, the Jiang family accountant, the grain commissioner of Yuzhou, and the managers of the money shops, all of which have been signed. Also attached are thirty-seven pages of receipts for money transactions. Please review them, Your Majesty."

“There is one more thing.” Xu Shou looked up and added, “Xu Yizhao, the Left Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, discovered that pawnshops under the Jiang family’s name had sold tribute items on multiple occasions, including a gold plaque with a double camel pattern, a lapis lazuli ornament, and a glass cup that were presented as tribute by the Xiongnu three years ago. This case is still under investigation.”

The hall fell silent. All the officials lowered their eyes, none daring to raise their heads or utter a word of protest. The evidence against Marquis Zhenbei for embezzling disaster relief funds and intercepting tribute was irrefutable and irrefutable.

Jingming hurriedly descended the steps, took the memorial and evidence with both hands, and presented them to the emperor's desk.

On the throne, the emperor's gaze slowly swept over the assembled officials, finally settling on the Marquis of Zhenbei, who stood silently with his head bowed to the side.

“I remember,” the Emperor’s voice was chillingly calm, “that three days ago, Marquis Zhenbei defended himself in the Imperial Study, claiming that the accusations of embezzlement and interception of tribute were both fabricated by the Jiang family.”

He tapped the dragon throne lightly with his fingertips, then suddenly looked up and asked, "Imperial Censor Zhang, according to the 'Criminal Code of the Great Zhou Dynasty,' what is the punishment for embezzling disaster relief funds and intercepting tribute?"

Imperial Censor Zhang Chengyan stepped forward, holding his tablet, and reported to the Emperor: "According to the 'Great Zhou Criminal Code - General Principles Law': If a custodian steals fifty taels of official silver, he shall be exiled. Embezzling disaster relief funds or intercepting tribute shall be punished three degrees more severely. If the amount exceeds ten thousand taels, the principal offender shall be sentenced to... hanging, and the accomplices shall be exiled three thousand li, and their property shall be confiscated."

"Your subject has something to report."

No sooner had the words been spoken than a request suddenly rang out in the hall.

The Emperor looked up and saw that the speaker was Shen Mingjun, a fourth-rank Xuanwei General. This man was one of the old subordinates who had been promoted by the Marquis of Zhenbei after the war in the Northwest.

"allow."

Shen Mingjun stepped forward and knelt on the ground, his forehead pressed against the gold brick: "Your Majesty, a month ago, a member of my clan from Yuzhou came to the capital to seek refuge. He said that he was robbed by bandits on the border of Yuzhou and almost lost his life. My good-for-nothing son, young and impetuous, heard about this and secretly left the capital to go to Yuzhou to investigate. After returning, he told me that he had caught a glimpse of the bandit leader's face from afar, and it looked exactly like the captain Han Qing, who had been reported dead in the army."

He took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind: "At first, I didn't believe it, thinking that the child had made a mistake. So I ordered people to investigate secretly, but they found that dozens of people among the bandits in Yuzhou matched the appearance of soldiers on the list of those who died in the Northwest Army. If this is true, then the bandits in Yuzhou are probably not ordinary bandits, but someone... deliberately raising a private army, using the name of bandits to plot something sinister!"

These words were like a thunderclap, instantly causing an uproar among the civil and military officials in the hall.

Raising a private army is tantamount to treason, which is a hundred times more serious than embezzling tribute!

Marquis Jiang Wei of Zhenbei stiffened abruptly, his heart skipped a beat, and he looked at Shen Mingjun in disbelief. This was his most trusted subordinate, who had shielded him from arrows and shed blood on the Northwest battlefield. He had never imagined that today, in this Taiji Hall, the one who would be the first to point a blade at him would be this very man.

The emperor's gaze sharpened as he stared directly at Marquis Zhenbei: "You were ordered to suppress the bandits, and your memorial stated that 'more than a thousand bandits have all surrendered,' yet you made no mention that these 'bandits' were all dead soldiers of the Northwest Army! Marquis Zhenbei, what else do you have to say?"

With a loud bang, the jade paperweight slammed heavily onto the imperial desk, causing the teacups to rattle and clatter.

Before the ashen-faced Marquis of Zhenbei could utter a rebuttal, the emperor had already risen, the hem of his dragon robe sweeping across the imperial desk.

"By imperial decree, Marquis Jiang Wei of Zhenbei is stripped of his title and immediately imprisoned in the Dali Temple! The three judicial departments are to conduct a joint trial and thoroughly investigate the case of his private army!"

All those involved, regardless of rank, will be thoroughly investigated!

"Keeping private armies and concealing fallen soldiers—is this an attempt to emulate the disastrous fate of regional warlords in the previous dynasty?!"

"Your Majesty, we obey!" All the civil and military officials in the hall knelt down.

Two guards rushed forward. Jiang Wei trembled and struggled violently, crying out, "Your Majesty! I am innocent!"

He staggered, trying to lunge towards the throne, but a guard held him down by the shoulder, his knees slamming heavily to the ground. Jiang Wei roared in frustration, his voice hoarse: "I have fought in the Northwest for over ten years, guarding the borders of the Great Zhou. The blood I shed could stain half the moat! Those so-called 'private soldiers' are all brothers who fought alongside me through thick and thin. I only took them in temporarily because they had nowhere to go after the war. It was not 'keeping a private army'!"

The Emperor looked down at him, his eyes devoid of any emotion, and said indifferently, "Loyalty? Your loyalty is to let the names of fallen soldiers be tarnished and to let the people's life-saving money flow into your private coffers? Jiang Wei, there is evidence for every single thing you have done. Stop trying to deny it."

Having said that, the emperor stopped looking at him, turned around, and swept his sleeves as he entered the inner palace.

Marquis Zhenbei opened his mouth as if to speak, his gaze sweeping over the familiar civil and military officials in the hall. Some lowered their heads to avoid suspicion, while others showed disdain. Only a few of his former subordinates looked at him with complicated expressions, but none of them dared to say a word for him.

On the same day, Jingming went to Renming Hall to deliver an imperial edict.

Empress Jiang has been disloyal to her relatives and has failed to live up to the Emperor's favor. Effective immediately, she is stripped of her imperial seal and edict and is to be moved to the Changchun Garden Palace to reflect on her mistakes. She is not to leave the palace without an imperial decree.