Chapter 131: Cousin, Save Me!
Madam Mu would never believe that the guards she sent out would be so indiscreet as to go make trouble at the Imperial City Temple. This was clearly falling into Yan Bei’s trap!
Yan Bei took advantage of the fire to rob and acted shamelessly, seizing the Mu Family’s weakness and making a big fuss out of it!
That was one thing, but the key was, what about the key witness who was supposed to be brought into the palace?
Shouldn’t Yan Bei have personally escorted the key witness into the palace from the Imperial City Department?
Since he took the Mu Family guards to the Censorate to make an accusation, and the one Wei Zhang brought into the palace was not the missing eunuch, then who escorted that key witness into the palace?
What conspiracy was Yue Tang playing at?
Madam Mu felt uncertain in her heart, turned around and returned to the hall, leaning close to Mu Chang to inform him of what had happened.
During the time Mu Chang was waiting, he repeatedly put himself in Yue Tang’s position to calculate his own odds of winning in this confrontation.
First, he was certain that if the key witness was in Yue Tang’s hands, it absolutely needed to be produced to be effective.
With the premise that the witness must appear, the key witness then had the opportunity to be silenced.
He was very sure his line of thinking was correct, so next, it was how Yue Tang would ensure this step was accomplished.
Given her meticulous mind, she would most likely guess that he would trip her up on the road, so to ensure success, without a doubt, having Yan Bei handle this errand was the safest option.
Beyond that, Mu Chang could not think of anyone else who could carry out this step for her.
Once it was confirmed that the witness was in Yan Bei’s hands, Mu Chang would not overreach and make a move. He was very clear that no matter how meticulously they planned, with Yan Bei having accompanying guards and weapons on him, there was absolutely no chance to kill the key witness.
So targeting this step, he had set up a hidden “knife” in the palace—a poison that could kill one eunuch could likewise kill a second.
In the situation where Yan Bei had no guards accompanying him and could not carry weapons, silently striking at the key witness, based on these years of operations at the Emperor’s side, he dared not claim ten parts assurance, but he had seven or eight.
Even if it truly came down to the last two or three parts, he was not completely without ways to cope.
Moreover, the Emperor ultimately had to rely on him—how could he be so foolish as to heed Yue Tang’s manipulations and fall out with him at this time?
But when Madam Mu finished whispering the intelligence she had gathered into his ear, he could not help but turn his face away!
Yan Bei had dragged the person tailing him to the Imperial City Department to the Censorate on the charge of colliding with the imperial guards, while the key witness who should have been personally escorted by him had instead vanished without a trace—this was something that had never been in his predictions!
After holding his breath for a moment, he turned his gaze to Yue Tang opposite him and asked, “What about the person Wei Zhang escorted?”
“Liu Ping said they had already arrived under the palace gate, and the maid by that girl’s side and the eunuch sent by His Majesty were already waiting there to lead them in.”
“Do you know who it is?”
“Unclear.”
Mu Chang said slowly, “That eunuch absolutely must be brought in. Under the four palace gates, were there any other people entering just now?”
The man might also be one of the witnesses, but for now it was impossible to attend to everything; they must first find the eunuch’s whereabouts to cut off Yue Tang’s retreat.
Since he was not with Wei Zhang, nor in Yan Bei’s hands, then he would absolutely find another way to enter the palace!
Madam Mu shook her head: “No.”
Mu Chang frowned. Sure enough, he said: “Have the arranged people approach the passageway leading into Zichen Hall. Once the target appears, strike immediately.”
The one hour since Yue Tang had spoken was almost up.
Even without signs of evidence, he was certain that the real key witness was about to appear soon.
They still had one last chance to strike.
“But the palace is full of eyes everywhere. Even if we are fully prepared, what if? Madam Mu’s heart was already uneasy; they had completely failed to anticipate Yue Tang’s moves. Even though they still had countermeasures hidden in the dark, could those countermeasures absolutely succeed?
“No matter.” Mu Chang glanced at Yue Tang opposite him. “If she brings the person in, I still have ways to cope.”
The eunuch was a palace servant; how was a palace servant abducted by her? Even if he could clear his suspicion with the witness, she likewise could not explain how she silently abducted someone from the palace.
Conversely, since she could abduct someone from the palace, wouldn’t her ability to bribe Ruan Fu be admitting it herself?
The girl’s schemes were indeed deep enough, but she could not attend to both ends!
What’s more, since she abducted a palace servant and then used him as a witness against him, Mu Chang could likewise accuse her of colluding with the witness! The witness’s words were fundamentally unreliable!
And how would she defend herself then?
Having weathered the ups and downs of officialdom, how could he possibly let her easily pin him down!
Seeing his confident demeanor, Madam Mu steadied herself.
Leaving aside the past, just in the three years since entering the capital, facing the overt and covert attacks from the Shen Family in contending for imperial power, how many had they coped with?
Indeed, how could they be led into a ditch by a mere girl!
She exhaled, picked up the cup.
“Your Majesty, the head of the Imperial Guard Department from Prince Duan’s Mansion has brought the Princess’s key witness!”
The eunuch’s announcement rang out just as Madam Mu raised her cup.
“Announce!”
The guard outside the door heard the imperial decree and immediately let Wei Zhang in.
A short-bearded man following beside him arrived under the hall and knelt with a thud: “This lowly clerk, lowly clerk Li Zhong, kowtows to the Son of Heaven!”
“Elder Cousin, what is this man’s background?” The Emperor turned to Yue Tang.
“In response to Your Majesty, he is a yamen runner guarding the gate at the Court of Diplomatic Relations outside Anmen Gate. Yesterday at the hour of the sheep, he and several colleagues personally saw a Mu Family horse carriage parked outside Anmen Gate for a long time. Around the second quarter of the hour of the monkey, Miss Mu got off the carriage, bringing two maids, and hurriedly entered the palace.
“At the end of the hour of the monkey, Miss Mu only then exited the palace gate.”
After Yue Tang finished answering, everyone’s gazes in the hall turned to Mu Shuyun.
Mu Shuyun was only stunned for a moment before saying, “This is framing me. When have I ever entered the palace? If I had, wouldn’t the Supreme Court people go to the Imperial Guard Camp to obtain evidence?”
After speaking, she sneered again: “So the Princess made such a big show, making the Empress Dowager and Your Majesty wait so long, just to produce such a person to fob us off?”
“Why are you in such a hurry?” Yue Tang said leisurely. “As long as it’s a witness, it’s useful. The reason I brought him here is merely to directly bypass the Three Judicial Offices’ inquiries, making my subsequent presentation of evidence more complete.”
After speaking, she faced upward: “Empress Dowager, Your Majesty, with this witness here, I believe the Mu Family, who claim to care deeply for Your Majesty, has even more convenience in acting from a position of proximity. Do you two agree?”
The Emperor stared straight at her, waves surging in his eyes, not knowing how long he had been looking, and did not speak.
Empress Dowager Shen had waited until now precisely for a solid piece of evidence pointing to the Mu Family—how could she not approve? “Since it’s an eyewitness, if Yong Jia dared to bring him up, she will naturally take responsibility. How can it be dismissed just because you say so?”
She added: “Li Zhong, were the Princess’s words just now true? Did the Princess coerce you in any way?”
“In response to Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, everything the Princess said is true… All seen with this lowly clerk’s own eyes. The Princess did not coerce me!”
Empress Dowager Shen then cast her cold gaze toward the Mu Family side.
Madam Mu said, “Even if this is the so-called witness from the Princess’s mouth, what can he prove alone? The Imperial Guard Camp has no evidence of my daughter entering the palace—why should this person’s words be credible?”
“I will make you convinced in both heart and mouth.” Yue Tang said, “Wei Zhang, bring Zhao Si in as well to report face-to-face to the Empress Dowager and Your Majesty!”
Thus, another person was brought in from outside the hall door. This man was even more inexperienced than that yamen runner; his legs trembled as he entered, and before reaching the front of the hall, his legs gave out and he knelt: “Grass, grass civilian Zhao Si, a hunter from the city outskirts, lives by hunting…”
Madam Mu’s expression suddenly tightened. The only connection this case had to a hunter was those two snakes!…
“Reporting to the Empress Dowager and Your Majesty, this Zhao Si usually delivers game to wine houses in the city for silver money and knows some people from all walks of life.
“The afternoon before last, a man around thirty years old, about five feet tall, was brought to him by someone to buy two poison snakes.
“According to him, the snakes were emerald green in body, less than two feet long. I wonder if this matches the two snakes caught in Yongfu Palace yesterday?”
While Yue Tang was still narrating on his behalf, Shen Yizhu at her lower side and Empress Dowager Shen above had already leaned forward!
“Yes!” Shen Yizhu stood up. “Princess, I went to see those two snakes, and they completely match what you described!”
Yue Tang glanced at the ashen-faced Mu Shuyun, then looked at the Emperor whose expression was still grave: “Your Majesty, do you need to personally interrogate this Zhao Si?”
The Emperor said, “Zhao Si, confess truthfully. The person who came to you to buy the snakes—who exactly is he? What is his name? What does he look like?”
Zhao Si prostrated on the ground: “This grass civilian does not know his name, but if I can see him with my own eyes, I could recognize him at a glance!”
Waves surged in the Emperor’s eyes, still showing no clear emotion.
Yue Tang said loudly: “Your Majesty, I propose immediately sending someone to investigate—who in the palace left the palace restrictions the afternoon before last? This can also confirm if the person in Zhao Si’s mouth is from the palace!”
The Emperor held his breath, finally saying: “Investigate!”
Madam Mu was furious inside. At this point, Yue Tang was openly targeting the Mu Family. Even if these pieces of evidence were not yet enough to do anything to the Mu Family, facing such targeting, the Emperor actually agreed without a word?
Had those ten years in the Mu Family been wasted?
“Your Majesty!” Mu Chang stood up: “The two witnesses provided by the Princess cannot prove that she did not bribe palace servants!”
“But their existence can prove that within these palace walls, how the true culprit disregarded the law, disregarded Your Majesty!”
Yue Tang’s voice was too clear and crisp, causing even Mu Chang to pause.
He had only wanted to frame her for borrowing a knife to kill, but she instead accused him word by word of trampling imperial authority and giving the Emperor eye drops!
“Your Majesty,” Before he could recover, a guard came from the doorway again: “When the Imperial Household Department’s procurement horse carriage passed by the street outside the Imperial City Department, it encountered the eunuch He Shou on duty under Anmen Gate!
“According to He Shou, he has important matters to report to Your Majesty and the Empress Dowager!”
Mu Chang’s expression suddenly changed.
He Shou was precisely the eunuch bribed by Mu Shuyun to release the snakes!
Only eunuchs under the palace gate could possibly buy and bring outside poison snakes into the palace, and only such people had the chance to be contacted by Mu Shuyun!
He Shou, who should have been personally escorted in by someone from Prince Duan’s Mansion or Prince Jingyang’s Mansion, actually appeared in the Imperial Household Department’s procurement team entering the palace?
Mu Chang looked at Yue Tang directly opposite him. Even he, who had weathered great storms, could not remain calm at this moment!
So it was the Imperial Household Department!
Wei Zhang and Yan Bei were all decoys; the Imperial Household Department’s procurement vehicles were her real move! She had actually used such a way to cover ears and eyes to bring the person into the palace!
Imperial Household Department vehicles going out for procurement numbered over ten at a time—hiding a person was effortless!
The key was that those were imperial palace procurement vehicles, free to come and go—who would dare check their horse carriages, who would dare make a move against them?!
Even the assassins he had arranged in ambush outside the palace gate absolutely would not dare act against a palace team!
Even if they had preparations inside the palace, those escorting He Shou were imperial guards—killing someone in their hands was completely different in meaning from striking at someone by Yan Bei’s side!
—Her mind was actually so meticulous!
“This servant kowtows to the Empress Dowager, kowtows to Your Majesty!”
The doorway shadow darkened, the person brought by the guard had already stepped through the door, thudding down on the ground with several great kowtows.
The instant he raised his head, Mu Shuyun had already weakly leaned back on her chair, her tightly closed mouth’s teeth beginning to chatter!
Mu Chang suddenly gripped her hand under the table!
“It’s him!”
The kneeling Zhao Si abruptly straightened up, excitedly pointing his finger at his face! “It’s him who bought the snakes from this grass civilian!”
“Who is that under the hall?!”
The Emperor slammed the table.
He Shou cried: “This servant is, is the eunuch He Shou on duty inside Anmen Gate. This servant deserves death, deserves death!”
Before his words finished, he was already slapping his own face.
“Miss Mu found this servant two days ago, stuffed two ingots of silver into this servant’s hands, had this servant buy two poison snakes for her, then take advantage of Miss Shen being trapped in the garden of Yongfu Palace to throw them inside!
“When Miss Shen was trapped in the garden, Ruan—Ruan Fu then used the pretext of leading craftsmen to inspect doors and windows to plant evidence in Miss Shen’s room…”
“You spout blood!” Madam Mu endured her dizziness and pointed at him, cursing.
“Outrageous!” Yue Tang shouted angrily. “You dare interrupt when Your Majesty is questioning— is this how the Mu Family treats the Former Emperor and Former Empress’s entrustment, how they have served Your Majesty these past dozen years?!”
Madam Mu was stunned back by her one sentence.
Yue Tang sneered at Mu Chang: “Grand Tutor, take a good look—this is a key witness brought in by the Imperial Household Department, never passed through my hands. I shouldn’t have suspicions of colluding or threatening him, right?”
Mu Chang’s hands at his sides clenched into iron fists.
How He Shou had infiltrated the Imperial Household Department team—he could guess without being told.
But now conversely, he had no evidence to prove she colluded! Even less reason to accuse her of reaching into the palace walls to bring He Shou out of the palace!
In this way, the rhetoric prepared earlier was completely useless!
He said slowly: “With the Princess’s such methods, who would dare question you like this?
“Since the key witness has arrived, we can summon people from the Three Judicial Offices to take them down for interrogation! See exactly who bribed them to frame my daughter. Once the true culprit is thoroughly investigated, I will certainly fulfill the agreement and personally apologize at your door.”
Yue Tang laughed: “The incident happened in Yongfu Palace, and the Empress Dowager has not yet spoken— isn’t the Grand Tutor too hasty?
“Miss Mu, why don’t you step forward and say a few words first?”
Mu Shuyun was already distraught, throwing herself at the Emperor’s feet and shedding tears: “Cousin! I’m innocent, Cousin!”
Yue Tang sneered: “Earlier you kept saying I was highly suspicious, pressing me step by step to prove my innocence. Now you’ve got what you wished for, the witnesses are here, yet you don’t even have the ability to stand up and say a word?”
While speaking, she had already stopped in front of Mu Shuyun, her gaze meeting hers at arm’s length: “A minister’s daughter with no power in hand can actually command palace servants in Zichen Hall to commit murder, kill in the palace at will, and even dare beg the Emperor for mercy!
“I really want to know, who gave her the power? Who gave her the guts?
“Yesterday she dared kill a eunuch in the palace, today she dares frame and entrap me in this hall—tomorrow will she wield a knife and charge into Zichen Hall to act as mistress?
“—Empress Dowager, don’t you think so?”
Empress Dowager Shen at the head had already darkened her face.
Yue Tang had already produced the evidence—how could she endure it any longer?
She sternly ordered the eunuch behind her: “Since Mu Shuyun has been accused, the Grand Tutor must recuse himself from this matter!
“Immediately summon Lord Shen into the palace, have him personally supervise the interrogation, take Mu Shuyun and the three witnesses down together, and ensure this matter is investigated to the bottom to convince Grand Tutor Mu!”
