Chapter 96: Joint Impeachment Arrives at Sheng'an |
Right Monitor Ji Ming of the Court of Judicial Review was processing a petition submitted from outside the capital.
The Court of Judicial Review served as the nation's highest court and prosecutorial office combined. The former Minister Chen Ling had been appointed Regional Inspector of Liang Prefecture, taking up a position as a regional governor. Now the position was being filled by Acting Minister Wang Chen, who held the Senior Second Rank.
Below the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, the executive officials were divided into Left and Right Monitors, both holding Fourth Rank from the Bottom. However, left was considered superior, with priority for promotion over the Right Monitor.
The Left Monitor handled petitions within the capital, while the Right Monitor processed petitions from across the realm that were "appealed" to the capital.
Just then, a subordinate official entered to report: "Ji-daren, there's an impeachment petition from Liang Prefecture. It was delivered by someone sent by Zhang Wen, a prominent family from Northern Liang."
Hearing this name, Ji Ming felt unfamiliar with it and asked: "Who is this person?"
"He's the maternal uncle-in-law of the Regional Inspector of Liang Prefecture," the official answered.
"I seem to have a vague impression of him." After pondering, Ji Ming asked, "Where is he from?"
"Shuofeng."
"Inside Shuofeng city."
"What?!" Ji Ming was dumbfounded. "Hasn't Shuofeng already sealed its gates and entered a state of military preparedness? How could an impeachment letter be sent out from inside?"
The eight hundred li emergency courier had transmitted news of Langya's seizure back to Sheng'an. Initially, only the Emperor had known about it.
But there are no walls in this world that don't leak. The other ministers also had their intelligence networks.
So after a few days, the Emperor had disclosed this matter to select officials and discussed it with them.
Among Sheng'an's upper echelons, they basically all understood what the situation at the front was like.
To still have an "impeachment" at this time—could it be impeaching the Sixth Prince?
Regarding this, the subordinate official explained: "That person is called Sanming. He escaped from the city and desperately made his way to Sheng'an. He says he has an impeachment letter, but hasn't said who it impeaches. He insists on speaking only in your presence."
"Fine, let him come."
Though filled with confusion, Ji Ming made a decisive decision.
Next, the dust-covered Sanming arrived outside the hall. Looking at the gleaming floors of the capital's Court of Judicial Review, he carefully asked a nearby official: "Daren, should this humble one remove his shoes?"
The official looked at this man whose body reeked with a sour odor, covered his nose with his hand, and waved dismissively with disgust: "No need, just go in."
Then Sanming entered the hall.
Seeing this official, he immediately kowtowed: "This humble one Sanming pays respects to daren."
Leaning back in his seat and observing him, Ji Ming asked curiously: "How did you manage to get out of Shuofeng city?"
Hearing this, Sanming, still kneeling on the ground, raised both hands to present an impeachment document made of silk cloth and bound with red string.
"In answer to daren, it's all in this impeachment letter!" Sanming said with a trembling voice.
This statement gave Ji Ming an ominous feeling.
The city was controlled by the Sixth Prince. This person had escaped from inside the city alone, and he brought a joint impeachment—could it really be to impeach a prince?
Though as an oversight and judicial institution, if they encountered difficult matters to handle, they could just report them up to the Emperor and serve a forwarding function.
But if it was impeaching a prince, and based on mere speculation, submitting such a thing would cause more or less trouble...
"I asked you a question—why are you evading it?" Ji Ming warned sternly. "Say now who you're impeaching."
Sanming dared not act presumptuously. The reason he'd been so secretive all along was fear of being silenced during the complaint process.
After all, the Sheng'an Magistrate of this capital city was Song Shi'an's father.
Seeing him ask this way, he gathered his courage, raised his head and said: "In answer to daren, the prominent families of Shuofeng have used their finger blood as seals and signed their names. The person being impeached is the Shuofeng County Magistrate, Song Shi'an!"
The moment these three words came out, Ji Ming was greatly shocked.
Was this that jieyuan?
How impressive—just taking office not long ago and already receiving a joint impeachment.
But as long as it wasn't a prince, it didn't matter.
"Bring it over," Ji Ming said.
Next, a clerk took the letter from his hands and presented it to him.
While reading the impeachment document, he kept shaking his head, his heart filled with deep emotion.
How remarkable—how could anyone at twenty years old commit so many capital crimes worthy of exterminating nine generations...
This time, Sheng'an was truly going to descend into chaos.
After finishing reading, he put down the letter and looked at the man before him who was trembling with nervousness: "Arrange for him to stay in the Court of Judicial Review. Don't go anywhere these next few days."
"..." Hearing this, Sanming immediately panicked. "Daren? Will I be safe here... no one will want to kill me, will they?"
"What nonsense are you speaking?" Ji Ming scolded. "If you could be killed in the Court of Judicial Review, what would you take the Court to be? What would you take the imperial court to be?"
If a witness died under suspicious circumstances in the Court of Judicial Review, the Emperor would personally dispatch people from the palace to investigate.
Being able to enter here was a guarantee of safety.
No one could kill arbitrarily.
Moreover, killing a witness was tantamount to confirming all charges and pleading guilty.
"Thank you, daren, thank you, daren!"
Just like that, Sanming was led away.
Holding this blood-sealed document from Shuofeng's prominent families, Ji Ming got up and headed to the Minister's chambers.
"Ji-daren." As he entered, the official standing guard at the door saluted him.
Ji Ming nodded slightly, then walked directly inside.
At this moment, Sun Heng was reporting to Wang Chen, who was temporarily acting as Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, seated in a chair to the side.
"Jiexiu, what matter brings you?" Wang Chen looked toward Ji Ming and asked.
"Wang-daren, this is a joint impeachment letter from Shuofeng's prominent families." Ji Ming walked over and handed it to him.
Hearing this place name, Sun Heng's gaze sharpened, becoming alert.
"Who are they impeaching?" Wang Chen asked with great vigilance as he looked at it.
"Song Shi'an."
The moment this name came out, Sun Heng immediately stood up and walked over, gathering around Wang Chen's side to observe the impeachment document.
The contents shocked him beyond what words could describe.
But very quickly, all his excited emotions transformed into overwhelming elation.
This guy was finished!
"Is this truly what happened?" Wang Chen frowned.
"It's not yet confirmed," Ji Ming said. "But since it's a joint impeachment letter, those people must also bear the consequences of impeaching court officials."
"True, the prominent families of Northern Liang aren't ordinary commoners. This must be taken seriously." Wang Chen nodded.
"Then does this matter have any connection to the Regional Inspector of Liang Prefecture?" Ji Ming speculated aloud.
"What do you mean?" Wang Chen asked.
Ji Ming said: "This Zhang Wen is the maternal uncle-in-law of the Regional Inspector of Liang Prefecture."
Hearing this, Sun Heng immediately said: "Since he's an uncle-in-law, he couldn't be completely ignorant, could he?"
"No, no, we can't speculate casually about this."
Wang Chen waved his hand, quickly stopping this speculation, and said: "The former Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Chen Ling-daren, hasn't yet reached Liang Prefecture. The Regional Inspector shouldn't have been officially demoted yet either. For an official of this rank, without His Majesty's directive, we have no authority to investigate privately. Even inquiring would be improper."
"Then Wang-daren, how should this be handled?" Ji Ming asked.
After thinking, Wang Chen said: "We haven't yet verified the impeachment letter's claims, nor confirmed whether it was truly jointly signed by those people... What do you two think?"
"Military intelligence is urgent, time is of the essence," Sun Heng said. "We should leave everything to His Majesty's judgment and send it to the palace immediately."
"What do you think?" Wang Chen asked Ji Ming again.
Sun Heng just stared at Ji Ming.
After considering, Ji Ming said: "Indeed, this matter involves the front lines, so we should report it to His Majesty. But we should also indicate that we haven't had time to verify it yet."
"Good, we'll do that."
The three quickly reached a decision.
.........
"Father, good news!"
Returning to the Sun Estate, Sun Heng immediately sought out Minister Sun.
Sun Yan, who was feeding fish by the pond, glanced at him with some displeasure: "Calm yourself. Don't make such a fuss."
After being scolded like this, his smile diminished somewhat. Walking over, he slowly bowed to Sun Yan: "Father."
"Speak, what has happened?" Sun Yan said lightly.
Still unable to hide his excitement, Sun Heng said: "Father, that Song Shi'an has been jointly impeached by numerous prominent families in Northern Liang."
"!" Sun Yan's hand clenched, instantly crushing the fish food in his palm.
Forcibly maintaining composure, Sun Yan looked at him and said: "Start from the beginning."
"Song Shi'an has been acting with unchecked authority in Shuofeng, completely offending all the prominent families in the city," Sun Heng explained. "He accepted bribes and promised to let the prominent families leave the city, but once they left, soldiers captured them all and brought them back. Fortunately, the prominent families kept a contingency plan—when they went out, they dispatched people to send a letter here."
"What are the impeachment charges?"
"Song Shi'an incited the Sixth Prince and was the mastermind behind the Langya military coup. After entering Shuofeng city, he's also the one holding real power, using methods of enticement and seizure to plunder all the wealth of the prominent families in the city," Sun Heng said.
"Excellent! He's truly finished now!"
Sun Yan scattered all the fish food in his hand into the pond. Turning around, he clapped his palms together: "Setting aside everything else, at minimum Song Jing must step down."
"Then for this matter, do we need to apply pressure?" Sun Heng asked.
"Even without us, the hundred officials will apply pressure to impeach. But this matter must be led by us," Sun Yan said. "We cannot impeach a prince, but someone must take responsibility for this affair. Even His Majesty cannot forcibly protect him. Moreover, I observe that His Majesty has no intention of protecting him at all."
"Father is wise," Sun Heng nodded, then asked again, "Should I go 'report' this to the Prince of Jin?"
"No, no, don't go."
Sun Yan waved his hand and said: "The Prince of Jin has continuously shown me favor and hinted several times that he wants you to become his man. Though we've been courteous and thorough in our etiquette, we haven't clearly become part of the Jin Prince faction."
"Father, we value the Prince of Jin—why not become part of the Jin Prince faction?" Sun Heng didn't understand.
"Though His Majesty has tacitly permitted the Jin-Wu factional struggle, he doesn't want to see people like me and the Duke of Li entering the fray. So I've repeatedly declined because I don't want to be remembered by the Emperor," Sun Yan explained.
Stroking his graying beard and considering the current situation, Sun Yan felt the opportunity had arrived: "Tomorrow there will certainly be a court assembly. In the imperial court, we'll simply lead the hundred officials in impeaching Song Shi'an."
"Father means?"
Sun Yan revealed a composed smile: "We won't become the Jin Prince faction. Instead, we'll let His Majesty see that the Prince of Jin is becoming the Jiangnan gentry faction."