Chapter 90: Break Them Down!
What was handed in front of Du Minghuan was a document densely packed with handwriting detailing the entire case from beginning to end.
To be precise, it was also a confession for that murder case from three years ago.
Starting from when the Chu Family issued the order and found the Du Family, Chu Yan leaked the secret, the Du Family found He Jianzhong and Zhang Shaode, ultimately forcing Yue Tang to jump off the cliff, until the Du Family got the reward and the Imperial City Department Envoy position as they wished.
The paper was not thick, only a dozen or so pages.
But its weight carried even more pressure than Yan Bei’s earlier outburst of anger.
Du Minghuan took it tremblingly in his hands, a wave of dizziness surging before his eyes.
Those clear and vigorous words, every time a sentence came into view, the related scenes would appear.
“I know that the ones who actually did the killing were the He and Zhang Families, but you were also at the scene afterward. You saw with your own eyes the corpses strewn all over the ground. My wet nurse’s body was severed, my child’s wet nurse was struck with four swords in the abdomen and back while chasing after the child and fell to the ground.”
Yue Tang looked at him, appearing as calm as before, but now flames surged in her gaze. “So, you are very clear about the entire process. Write down the parts related to the Chu Family that are still incomplete, and for the sake of your cooperation in handling the case, I can refrain from pursuing your crimes further.”
Hope rose in Du Minghuan’s eyes: “Does the Princess mean that as long as I help the Princess accuse the Chu Family, you will let the Du Family off?”
Yue Tang smiled. “Even on the verge of death, you still want to negotiate terms with me.
“Back then, you were just a low-level official in the Imperial City Department. It was Father King who promoted you single-handedly. Don’t tell me you were just a hatchet man—why did they come to you?
“And why were you able to carry out their conspiracy so successfully?
“Because you are greedy.
“Among the subordinates promoted by Father King, there are more than a dozen just in the Imperial City Department alone.
“Why were the others able to hold firm to their principles?
“While only you not only bit the hand that fed you, but also raised a knife against me?
“Because you are rotten to the core.
“Only you, Du Minghuan, knowing full well that was your benefactor, still laid out a scheme without hesitation to harm his daughter, his grandson.
“You don’t have to step forward to accuse them; you could even continue helping the Chu Family cover it up, as long as you can bear the crime of being the mastermind. I think the Chu Family would be delighted to have you as a scapegoat.”
Cold sweat poured down Du Minghuan.
At this point, how could he still think of playing both sides?
The Chu Family had long wanted to kill him, and they were probably still plotting in the shadows to kill him now, since one less witness meant one less risk.
He had no other choice but to surrender to Yue Tang.
But he hadn’t expected that this “mere Princess” whom the Chu Family had schemed so painstakingly to kill would be so ruthless. His survival back then could be called luck, but in just two short months, she had advanced her revenge to this extent. These lightly spoken words now—how were they any weaker than Yan Bei’s unyielding fiery temper?
Forget it, he was already meat on the chopping block, it was all the same blade either way.
He looked panic-stricken at the ground: “Please grant me some pen and ink, and this lowly one will rewrite it.”
When Yan Bei saw this, he had already raised his chin toward the little eunuch under the door.
Although the confession given by Yue Tang was almost identical to the facts, the process written in Du Minghuan’s own hand would naturally be more convincing.
After the little eunuch brought over the Four Treasures of the Study, Yue Tang lit an incense stick from the side.
When the incense ash had completely fallen, Du Minghuan put down his pen.
He took each written page in hand to look it over, then made changes in two places with his pen, before presenting it with both hands tremblingly.
Yue Tang examined it carefully, handed it to Yan Bei, then looked downward. “Apart from those banknotes and properties they gave you which can be traced, is there anything else that can serve as evidence?”
“They wore masks every time the father and son met me, dressed in loose robes that hid their figures, and before the incident three years ago, the meeting places were not fixed.
“Only after the conspiracy succeeded and they let their guard down did they choose to meet in that house beside the moat.
“The first two or three times it should have been Chu Ying, because the voice revealed a slightly older age. Later it was Chu Xin.
“The most recent meetings, starting from when they wanted to win over Xu He, they gave me a token in order to get timely information from me.”
At this point, Du Minghuan pulled out that token from his waist.
There was nothing particularly special about the token. But as evidence of the connection between the Du Family and the Chu Family, it was more than qualified. Because such a token must have been made in multiples.
Yue Tang took it in hand and looked at it, then handed it to Yan Bei as well.
“Anything else?”
Du Minghuan gripped his knees tightly, racking his brains, but in the end still shook his head.
The Chu Family could not have left too much direct evidence behind.
But with him as a witness, it was already enough even without evidence. Because every testimony that came from Du Minghuan’s mouth, the Supreme Court would be able to verify as true.
Yue Tang looked at Yan Bei: “Does Your Highness have any more questions?”
Yan Bei, who had no intention of speaking at all, paused, then said: “You are the victim in this matter; you can decide it.”
Yue Tang then looked at Du Minghuan: “You go back first.”
Du Minghuan could not believe it.
“When it’s time to send you to prison, you will be sent naturally.” After Yue Tang finished speaking, she looked outside the door. “Wei Zhang, go back with him.”
Wei Zhang from outside the door walked in, nodded in acknowledgment of the order, then turned to Du Minghuan.
The latter rose tremblingly and walked out.
Yan Bei looked at the empty space under the door, turned his head to ask Yue Tang: “Why did you let him go?”
“Because I want the Imperial City Department back in my hands.” Yue Tang gazed at him. “The Chu Family still has hidden forces. If we take down Du Minghuan now, they will surely intercept it, find a suitable pretext to take over the Imperial City Department again.
“After all, the Chu Family’s goal is the Imperial City Department. Now that the Du Family has defected, the situation has spiraled out of their control.
“Right now, they must be thinking of ways to quickly replace this Imperial City Department Envoy Du Minghuan and legitimately hand it over to one of their own.
“So the Chu Family staying put now might just be waiting for us to make the first move.
“At this time, we absolutely cannot let things get more complicated.
“For me, the Du Family is no longer an obstacle.
“On the contrary, with us propping up Du Minghuan in the Imperial City Department Envoy position, the Chu Family cannot topple him and will be helpless, while the Du Family can become a knife to strike at the Chu Family.
“This way, I can free up my hands to arrange other matters.”
Yan Bei came to a realization: “No wonder, with the man already pinned to the chopping block, you still let him go—you had already thought of the next step.”
Now that Yue Tang’s return to Prince Duan’s Mansion was no longer an issue, there was also no worry about her identity being exposed.
But there was no precedent in the Imperial Court for appointing female officials, so naturally, she could not directly seize back the Imperial City Department.
This required a roundabout method.
“Exactly.” Yue Tang nodded. “The person must be killed eventually.
“But since there are still secrets behind it, we cannot rush to kill him.
“Brother’s death still has mysteries. There is also no clear explanation yet for how Father King died in the Palace.
“The people behind it absolutely had to eliminate me back then, but I didn’t die. If I cannot take power and have returned to Prince Duan’s Mansion, I become a target in the open.
“Even killing off all the Du Family members would not solve the problem.
“So, I need someone to replace Du Minghuan. And until that person is confirmed, the Du Family cannot fall.”
At this point, she walked to the window and pushed it open with both hands. Winter sunlight poured in, bringing warmth with it.
Yan Bei walked behind her, bathing in the sunlight together with her, stealing a glance at her delicate profile, and said: “By my temper, there would have been no need to even summon him—I’d have sent him straight to the Supreme Court for trial.
“I thought of you, so I specially summoned him here and deliberately waited for you to return to handle it.”
As an ally, he’d done pretty well with this, right?
Yue Tang hummed in acknowledgment and nodded: “Well done. Let me treat you to a drink.”
“Drinking again?”
“I’m going out on the street tomorrow—want to come?” Yue Tang turned back under the corridor.
“Yes.”
Yan Bei strode out with his long legs. “Then where are you going now?”
“Of course, to see the ‘fragrant’ room that A Li prepared for me.”
Gao An followed behind, one hand holding A Li and the other holding two sheets of paper as he walked out. Seeing the two of them walking shoulder to shoulder out of the courtyard, the call he had on the tip of his tongue was swallowed back down.
A Li looked up: “Grandpa Gao, where are Father King and Mother going tomorrow? Will they take A Li along?”
Gao An smiled and lowered his head: “They must be going to handle important matters.” As he spoke, he picked up A Li: “Come on, let’s continue preparing offerings for Uncle.”
“Okay—”
A Li clapped his little hands.
……
The almanac on the table was opened to the twenty-first day of the ninth month.
Even in the bright afternoon slant of sunlight, the study was utterly silent.
Chu Ying stood in front of the table, behind him were his younger brothers Chu Rui and Chu Xuan.
There were many servants standing outside the room door, but they too held their breath, not daring to make a sound, making even the wind outside the door seem exceptionally loud.
Until a string of hurried footsteps approached from afar to under the door, then Chu Rui and the others in the room simultaneously turned their bodies to look at the newcomer. “What news?!”
The person who arrived stopped in front of the three upon entering, quickly caught his breath, and said: “Eldest Young Master has been thrown into the imperial prison, personally guarded by men sent by Prince Jingyang.
“Du Minghuan was just summoned to the Prince’s Mansion, but not immediately taken down; he returned to his mansion afterward.
“On Xu He’s side, this morning he and his wife He Shi went to the government offices to complete the divorce procedures, but this Xu fellow actually used that as a pretext to go to the Three Judicial Offices to accuse the Young Master, claiming their divorce was caused by the Eldest Young Master’s assassination!
“He even submitted a petition to the Palace, accusing right to the Emperor.”
“This Xu He is purely a running dog!” Chu Rui could no longer listen at this point. “A mere new Jinshi with no foundation in the court at all—who knows how he latched onto Prince Jingyang’s Mansion. Now he’s wielding a chicken feather as if it were an imperial edict, utterly arrogant!”
Third brother Chu Xuan glanced at him: “Talking so much now is pointless. The Du Family and Xu Family defecting and Prince Jingyang’s Mansion becoming fact.
“Xu He’s accusation is no big deal; it’s just a pretext Yan Bei and the others found to interrogate Xin’er. Because only by throwing him into prison can they possibly extract the truth of that year from his mouth.”
At this point, he glanced at his two older brothers: “Xin’er naturally won’t easily confess; he’ll just have to endure some hardship.
“Right now, it’s all about Yan-jie’er’s side—”
Mentioning Chu Yan, the atmosphere in the room instantly grew heavy.
Chu Rui instinctively looked toward Chu Ying. Chu Ying, with his back to them, remained silently still until the two behind him simultaneously took deep breaths, before he slowly turned his body around.
“She is no longer one of us in the Chu Family.” He looked at the two before him. “From the moment she struck at our Chu Family, she no longer deserves to be a Miss of this family.”
Chu Rui came back to himself and nodded: “Huan’er has already been cruelly killed by her; she truly serves no purpose anymore. Abandoning her is no loss.”
“But right now, she has us roasting over the fire; this matter must be handled properly.” Chu Xuan looked at the two of them. “If it were anything else, it would be fine, but this concerns the imperial clan and has landed in Empress Dowager Shen’s hands. With the Shen Family piling on, if we can’t come up with a countermeasure, we’ll suffer heavy losses.”
“In the end, the root of it all is Yue Tang.” Chu Rui spat hatefully again. “Didn’t Xin’er suspect that Yue Tang had already gone to see Chu Yan?
“The idea for Chu Yan to kill her son was most likely suggested by Yue Tang behind the scenes. What a venomous heart this girl has—to provoke discord between you father and daughter is one thing, but she even refuses to spare an innocent child!”
In his agitation, Chu Rui slammed a fist on the table, making the cups and bowls jump.
Chu Ying said: “Yue Tang left the Xu Family—where did she go next? Have we found out?”
Chu Xuan said: “The Du Family and Xu Family both have Prince’s Mansion guards watching around the clock; our people can’t get close enough to scout. We only know she’s no longer there.
“However, given how closely allied she is with Yan Bei, she’s probably under his protection now. Attempting assassination at this point would have no chance of success.”
Chu Ying paced: “The household registration file wasn’t destroyed, so killing her would be pointless now. But if she really is with Yan Bei, that means Yan Bei is also our enemy.”
The two brothers below exchanged a glance, then looked at him simultaneously: “Big Brother means we should turn our target toward Prince Jingyang’s Mansion? This, this Yan Bei—will he give us an opportunity?”
Chu Ying said slowly: “What is called a cornered beast’s fight means there is no room for choice. Since Yan Bei has allied with her and become her force, we have only one path: to dismantle the two of them.”
He fixed his gaze on Chu Rui: “No matter how capable Yue Tang is, Prince Duan’s Mansion is now almost an empty shell, offering limited value to Yan Bei.
“But if she really returns to the mansion and holds the Imperial City Department promised by the Former Emperor, for Yan Bei fighting alone in the Capital City, it would indeed be considerable support.
“Yan Bei being persuaded by her is probably because of this condition.
“Go quickly and find out the reason for Yan Bei’s alliance with her—see how they came to form this friendship?”
Chu Rui acknowledged and quickly departed.
The remaining Chu Xuan said: “Since Yue Tang has already shown herself, why not simply return to Prince Duan’s Mansion right then?
“She has pursued revenge this far and found the real culprits; Huan’er has already been killed by her. What scheme is she plotting by not going back now?”
Chu Ying turned back to look at the almanac on the table and after a moment said: “Do you think she believes Father King truly died by suicide?”
Chu Xuan froze.
