In a dim, quiet study
“Is everything really arranged? It won’t be traced back to me, will it?” Jiang Xingbang asked, eyes narrowed, looking at Jiang Hu.
Jiang Hu kept his head lowered, staring at the tips of his own shoes as he replied, “Rest assured, my lord, everything is arranged. Even if Prince Jing and that newly appointed Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review dig something up, all the evidence will only point to the young master.
Once we pin these charges on the young master, Her Highness the Grand Princess can go weep before the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, and you can follow behind her to beg forgiveness. That way, we can at least save the young master’s life.”
Xiao Jinyi and Shen Shixu were hiding outside the door, eavesdropping on the conversation. When he heard Jiang Hu’s words, Shen Shixu couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. He asked Xiao Jinyi with a look, “If you and I hadn’t gotten involved, wouldn’t things have ended exactly as Jiang Hu said, big trouble reduced to small, and small trouble to nothing?”
Xiao Jinyi wanted to tell him with a look that that was impossible, but after thinking it over, if he hadn’t gotten involved and dragged Shen Shixu in with him, anyone else investigating might never have gotten this far. They would have been misled halfway by the men Jiang Xingbang sent out, and judged the case wrongly.
In that scenario, Jiang Xingbang’s shadow wouldn’t even have appeared.
Seeing that Xiao Jinyi gave no response at all, Shen Shixu understood what he meant and said nothing more, continuing to listen to the conversation inside.
Jiang Xingbang felt reassured. “Good. Go tidy up. We’ll head back to the residence shortly. Presumably tomorrow Prince Jing will bring this matter up at morning court, so I need to go back and prepare.”
Shen Shixu decided this was the perfect moment to catch them red-handed, evidence and all. He winked at Xiao Jinyi, signaling him to go in and seize the men.
Xiao Jinyi straightened up, smoothed the wrinkles from his clothes, then kicked the study door open. Jiang Xingbang was about to berate the insolent servant, only to find himself face to face with a cold-faced Xiao Jinyi. The shock sent him sprawling into the chair behind him.
At the sight of Xiao Jinyi, Jiang Xingbang couldn’t muster the slightest thought of resistance, let alone any notion of trying to subdue him.
As the uncle-in-law who had once been close to him, he had seen with his own eyes just how formidable Xiao Jinyi’s martial arts were.
So far from ordering anyone to seize Xiao Jinyi, he didn’t even have the thought of fleeing.
Jiang Xingbang followed dejectedly behind Xiao Jinyi. Seeing that the two seemed to have forgotten about him, Jiang Hu tried to sneak out through the back door.
The moment he turned, a kick struck his knee, and he crashed down onto the ground with a thud.
Jiang Hu gritted his teeth against the pain and stood up, half-bent over and clutching his knee, lifting his head to see who had kicked him.
Shen Shixu watched him coldly, arms crossed. Though it was Jiang Hu’s first time seeing Shen Shixu, considering that he had arrived together with Xiao Jinyi, and that face, so stunning one could forget the world upon seeing it, he guessed his identity: the newly appointed Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Shen Shixu.
Now there was no escaping for him either.
Jiang Xingbang’s arrest was not reported to Grand Princess Kangning or Jiang Bin. Xiao Jinyi merely sent word for them to attend morning court at the Qianqing Hall the next day.
Shen Shixu returned to the Court of Judicial Review, took out some memorials written by the previous Vice Minister of the court, and studied them for reference. Once he understood how to write a memorial, he ground his ink, picked up a purple bamboo wolf-hair brush, and found a blank memorial book, writing at great length and with flourish.
The next morning at court, Shen Shixu put on the light red court robes that had been delivered just the night before, and carrying the memorial he had stayed up all night writing, he arrived at the Qianqing Hall.
When Quanxi announced the start of the morning court and invited the ministers to present their matters, he stepped forward holding his memorial.
“Your Majesty, I have a matter to report. Minister of Personnel Jiang Xingbang, to satisfy his own selfish desires, built an underground palace to imprison young women, forcing them to work as secret prostitutes for his personal profit. A few days ago, one woman escaped with all her strength, only to die from her grave injuries.
Several other women were left permanently disabled, and more than a dozen others suffered mental breakdowns and this doesn’t even count the women who died or were harmed over all the years he profited from this scheme.
Furthermore, when I and Prince Jing were investigating the truth, he deliberately planted evidence to frame Prince Jing and the Grand Princess’s son, Jiang Bin. His crimes are monstrous and outrageous. I beg Your Majesty to pass judgment.”
Shen Shixu’s words instantly threw the previously silent court into an uproar. Everyone voiced their opinions on what he had said, and most of them refused to believe that Jiang Xingbang could truly have done such a thing.
But remembering the inner thoughts of Shen Shixu they had overheard two days earlier, none of them dared to voice their doubts.
As for Jiang Xingbang’s affairs, Xiao Jinyi had already gone to the palace the previous afternoon and told Emperor Wu’an everything. Yet hearing Shen Shixu repeat it now still left his anger unabated.
“This matter shall be handled according to the laws of Great Qian. Trafficking in human beings, forcing the virtuous into prostitution, framing a member of the imperial family, all these crimes combined warrant his execution after autumn!”
Princess Kangning and Jiang Bin were also present in the great hall at that moment, and the mother and son had still not recovered their senses. It was only when Emperor Wu’an declared that Jiang Xingbang would be sentenced to death that they finally came back to themselves.
Princess Kangning cried out, her face full of disbelief. “That’s impossible! How could Xingbang do such a thing? And to frame Bin’er, is his own child! Even a vicious tiger does not devour its cubs. How could he do this?”
Shen Shixu had no way to answer the Princess’s question. When Xiao Jinyi had interrogated Jiang Xingbang the day before, he had asked him this very question, but the man refused to speak even under threat of death.
He had confessed everything else clearly, even the details of how he had someone position themselves near Jiang Bin to lure him into buying the house on Qiuyuan Lane.
Only on the matter of framing Jiang Bin did he hold firm, saying that since Jiang Bin had Princess Kangning to protect him, his life would not be in danger, which was why he had conceived the idea of letting Jiang Bin take the blame.
This was completely inconsistent with Jiang Xingbang’s image as a man who doted on his son. Moreover, Jiang Bin was his only son. Even if Jiang Bin ultimately escaped death, he would certainly face exile three thousand li away, how could Jiang Xingbang bear that? So there had to be another secret hidden in Jiang Xingbang’s past.
Just as everyone found this strange, 011 suddenly popped up. [Big Brother, I know what’s going on. Jiang Xingbang betrayed the Princess long ago, and Jiang Bin isn’t his only child at all. He also has a daughter and another son and the Princess has met both of these children before.]
Princess Kangning knew nothing about Shen Shixu’s ability to hear inner thoughts. Suddenly hearing a voice she had never heard before, saying something so explosive, she couldn’t bear it and collapsed into Jiang Bin’s arms.
Jiang Bin was also stunned. He warily scanned the surroundings of the great hall but found no suspicious figures. However, he noticed that the ministers all wore expressions of “here we go again,” as if they had heard this voice before.
Before he could figure it out, 011’s voice continued, 【This Jiang Xingbang had long been sneaking around behind Grand Princess Kangning’s back, and he even had the audacity to bring the woman he was cheating with and the child that woman had borne him, right in front of the Grand Princess.】