The Seventh Prince and Eighth Princess exchanged a knowing glance and said, "Father Emperor, may we also go with Grand Tutor to see her estate?"
Yue Fuguang thought to herself: At this season, the estate is still bare, there's really nothing much to see.
However, after much pestering from the two, Emperor Mingxi, who doted on his children, reluctantly agreed to take them along.
As a master of balancing acts, what difference did it make for the imperial father to take two or a whole crowd?
Yue Fuguang watched helplessly as her entourage slowly grew larger and larger. With so many people going, wouldn't they trample her land flat?
Before Yue Fuguang could even begin her one-day rural getaway, she first welcomed the procession of prison carts carrying the four major families.
The escorting procession stretched for miles. It was said this wasn't only because these four families had numerous clansmen, but also because the items confiscated from their homes were even more voluminous.
The system also mysteriously added, [Host, to throw people off the scent, the emperor has mixed many treasures excavated from the Tong family's secret hoard into those chests.]
'They moved so fast?' Yue Fuguang was genuinely surprised. She had only provided a general location, yet they not only dug up the treasure so quickly but also secretly transported it to the capital.
[Of course, otherwise what do you think the emperor has been grinning from ear to ear about these past few days? Just you wait, your estate of over a hundred mu will likely expand to over a thousand mu. The surrounding lands belong to court officials. The emperor has already purchased them from them, just waiting for the right moment to gift them to you!]
Yue Fuguang smacked her lips, 'Don't just give land, I can't take it with me.'
[Don't worry, not to mention the Tong family's treasure, these several families themselves have plenty of good things. They'll surely find reasons to send you a batch when the time comes.]
The entire court officials were watching. Such great merit must be properly rewarded, or who would strive for the Great Yan in the future?
Although the two of them were 'kept in the dark,' the due recognition could not be lacking in the slightest.
The entire capital, following the marriage of Princess Pingning, was once again buzzing from top to bottom because of one event.
The happiest were undoubtedly Emperor Mingxi and the Minister of Revenue, Dong Qianli. Watching wealth flow like water into the private and state treasuries, they grinned so widely their teeth were nearly exposed.
Even Second Uncle Yu drank two extra cups with the old master at a family banquet. With the state treasury flush, officials from the Ministry of Revenue, whether dealing with internal or external affairs, could stand a little taller.
Take warfare, for instance. What does it cost the most?
Money!
As Huo Ying put it, he had never fought a war with such abundant resources!
Everyone silently thanked the Little Immortal Lord and the Divine Artifact countless times in their hearts. If the two could see the faith value, they would certainly find it soaring during this period.
Naturally, the favorability value was too.
All prisoners from the four major families were escorted to the dungeons, followed by the three judicial departments proceeding with intense and meticulous trials.
The evidence was all there. The purpose was to secure confessions to solidify the evidence while seeing if they would implicate each other and reveal more hidden accomplices.
This was also a lengthy process; with thousands of people, it couldn't be finished in less than two or three months. But the Great Yan monarch and his ministers clearly had other plans.
Sure enough, during the morning court session that day, the one who stepped forward first to report on the case progress was no longer the veteran performer Wei Ping, but the Censor-in-Chief of the Court of Censors, Feng Tang.
He bowed before speaking, "Your Majesty, I impeach Prince Qi for colluding with outside officials with the intent to rebel."
Yue Fuguang, who had been dozing off, instantly became wide awake upon hearing Feng Tang impeach Prince Qi!
She had been wondering how Emperor Mingxi would expose Prince Qi's rebellious intentions. So, this was the plan.
A good idea, using the mouths of the four families to implicate Prince Qi. It both diverted hatred and made subsequent investigations proceed logically.
Emperor Mingxi said calmly, "Minister Feng, Prince Qi is Our brother. Although he occasionally oversteps, he has always been honest and dutiful, not forming cliques or pursuing private gain. Recently, he even painfully sent his beloved daughter far away for a marriage alliance for the sake of our Great Yan. Now you say he intends to rebel. Do you have solid evidence? Otherwise, falsely accusing a prince is a crime We cannot lightly pardon. The dignity of a prince cannot be slighted, or how shall We explain Ourself to the people and to the faraway Pingning?"
Feng Tang was not intimidated by Emperor Mingxi's words. He bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I have solid evidence. Here are the testimonies and correspondence documenting Prince Qi's collusion with the four major families."
As he spoke, he presented a stack of documents with both hands. Eunuch Qian Gui quickly took them, checked for issues, and then presented them to Emperor Mingxi.
After reading them, Emperor Mingxi's face turned ashen. The officials in the grand hall instantly lowered their heads slightly, not daring to look directly at the emperor's countenance.
They only heard the emperor's cold voice, "Qian Gui, pass these for the ministers to review. Let Our esteemed ministers see what good deeds Our well-behaved younger brother has been doing behind Our back and behind the back of the people!"
"As you command."
Qian Gui swiftly distributed the materials. For a moment, the only sounds in the grand hall were the rustling of papers being passed and the shocked gasps of those reading.
Some ministers were even shaking with anger. They never imagined that the struggle for the throne between the two imperial brothers could burn its way into their own inner households.
Setting other matters aside, what concerned them most directly were their own favorite concubines, who turned out to be spies planted by Prince Qi's mansion.
Even their trusted stewards, their wives' favored maids, their eldest sons' attendants—all were Prince Qi's people.
An elderly minister who enjoyed gardening—even his gardener was Prince Qi's man. Prince Qi had gone to great lengths for them, it could be said to have left no stone unturned.
Beyond surveillance and intelligence gathering, there was even an intent to corrupt them. Would His Majesty now think they were in league with Prince Qi?
Those unaware couldn't help but feel immense fear. Those who were aware... well, they had to blend in. Their originally ruddy complexions instantly changed, forcibly paled to a sickly white.
They were all veteran performers; who didn't have their signature act?
Yue Fuguang watched these people showcase their acting skills from above and suddenly felt utterly outclassed, completely overshadowed by the senior officials.
'Little Pearl, do you think the emperor and the others will execute all those spies?'
[They probably will. Otherwise, why keep them locked up wasting food?]
Emperor Mingxi nodded inwardly. Exactly, even though he was now exceedingly wealthy, he wouldn't waste resources on such people.
'I always feel it's a bit of a pity. Prince Qi's mansion invested considerable manpower and resources to train these people. Killing them just like that is so wasteful!'
[Repurposing the waste? That could work too. Kill those loyal to Prince Qi, but those willing to serve the court can be kept. Having a royal stipend and an official position is much better than following Prince Qi in rebellion. I see many were selected by Prince Qi's mansion from orphanages, among beggars, or from child traffickers—clever children trained from a young age. In Ling Yinghua's original timeline, her two grandchildren who were kidnapped—the boy was sold to a childless family, and the girl was sent into such an organization. Unfortunately, that child didn't survive the brutal training and died along the way.]
Although Ling Yinghua knew such things wouldn't happen in this life, hearing about the children's fates again still made her heart ache. She also felt a slightly different sentiment towards the spies described in the materials.
