When news of Li Zhaode's exile to Lingnan spread, the list of selected officials was finally made public. This was all thanks to Li Zhaode's efficiency. He already knew who to use and who not to use. As soon as the list of candidates for Yang Fan's position was announced, he immediately circled out his preferred candidate …
As a result, he was charged with yet another crime. As soon as the list of selected officials was announced, Imperial Censor Gao Wen accused the Heavenly Magistrate of abusing his authority for personal gain. He formed cliques and divided up the public resources in an unscrupulous manner. This time, the spearhead was directed at Yang Fan.
When Li Zhaode was around, he was the tallest and largest tree. The tallest tree attracted the most wind, so all the storms were directed at him. With Li Zhaode gone, the smaller tree, Yang Fan, was exposed. He became the new target of attack.
However, Yang Fan was a smaller tree, not a monkey on Li Zhaode's tree. His roots were still connected to Wu Sansi. That was why all the officials saw Gao Wen's accusation of Yang Fan as a test from Wu Chengsi. Was the battle between the two of them about to begin again?
Because of this worry, the officials did not immediately pick a side. They wanted to see what was going on, to see which of King Liang and King Wei the emperor would side with.
King Wei was also puzzled by this, because Gao Wen was not one of his people.
Yang Fan had brought down both Li Zhaode and Wu Sansi. That was why Wu Chengsi was in no hurry to deal with him. Li Zhaode had already fallen, but even though Li Zhaode was harsh by nature, he still had a few trusted aides. Wu Sansi was busy gathering his forces to clean up Li Zhaode's remaining cliques in one fell swoop. Yang Fan was not yet in the position to do so. However, Gao Wen's actions had brought the entire process forward.
Yang Fan was a doctor and did not have the right to participate in the court. Therefore, when Gawain impeached him, he was not in the court. He only heard the news after the court meeting, and it was Chen Dong from the Ministry of Justice who sent him the news. He did not hear the direct accusation because Wu Zetian accepted the memorial but did not make any comments in court.
Young Master Jiang had received news from his informant that after Yang Fan learned that he was being impeached, his expression remained the same and his behavior was calm, without any abnormal movements.
However, another of his informants sent him news that before noon, Yang Fan left the Heavenly Official Residence. He first went to the Liang Residence before going to the Gentleness Square alone. In the Gentleness Square's oldest brothel, the Gentleness Square, he invited the current top hostess of the brothel, Lady Gentleness, to play the zither and serve him wine. He only left drunkenly at dusk.
Young Master Jiang combined all of Yang Fan's previous strange actions and did not believe that Yang Fan was pretending to be calm, but was actually panicking. Instead, he was even more certain that Yang Fan was up to something. He had no choice but to be more cautious, but he still did not know what Yang Fan's goal was and what he wanted to do.
Yang Fan did this not for him to see, but for the other civil and military officials to see.
What would they think after hearing this news?
Zhao Gan did not expect that someone would beat him to the punch and impeach Yang Fan. He was quite anxious when he heard the news. Fortunately, Imperial Censor Gao Wen's impeachment didn't seem to have any effect. The Emperor's attitude was ambiguous and he had no intention of punishing Yang Fan. Only then did Zhao Gan calm down.
On the evening of the second day, Clan Lord Dugu's men finally delivered the last batch of information he needed. It was great to have the backing of such a powerful clan. If not for the Dugus, he would not have been able to gather so much evidence on his own. If he wanted to impeach him, he could only use some superficial words like Gao Wen. However, he was not an imperial censor and did not have the privilege of hearing reports. Now that he had the irrefutable evidence in hand, Zhao Gan was finally at ease.
Zhao Gan did not sleep for the whole night. The lamp in his study was lit until the rooster crowed. The bell on the Heavenly Gate rang throughout the city.
When he finally came out of the study, his eyes were bloodshot, but he was in high spirits. He did not even have the appetite for breakfast and went to court in high spirits.
When the court session was halfway through and most of the main topics had come to an end, Wu Zetian, who had been sitting in the court for too long, was exhausted. She was about to fall asleep. At this moment, the eunuch standing in the hall heard a few words from a servant and immediately walked to her side. He bowed and said, "Zhao Gan, the Minister of Seal of the Heavenly Official Court, begs Your Majesty to allow him to go to the palace hall and show his name to impeach him!"
"Oh?"
Wu Zetian's spirits rose. She had spent most of her life fighting with concubines, foreign officials, and the world. It was as if she had developed a hobby for snitching. She immediately ordered, "Summon him to court!"
The eunuch spun around and announced in a clear voice, "His Majesty has decreed that Minister Zhao Gan of the Heavenly Official Residence shall present himself to the Emperor to be impeached!"
The officials who had been standing for half a day felt their hearts skip a beat. In a feudal dynasty, only the Emperor was not to be offended. He could only be remonstrated but not impeached. Anyone below the Crown Prince could be impeached. Who was going to be unlucky this time?
Zhao Gan, who was waiting outside the court, heard the voice that seemed to come from the highest heavens. He immediately walked into the court, his heart about to jump out of his throat.
Although he had long practiced the etiquette of having an audience with the Emperor, this was the first time he stepped into the Divine Palace of Wanxiang and this was the first time he was so close to the Empress!
As soon as Zhao Gan spoke, the officials heaved a sigh of relief. "It's not me!"
Then, their spirits rose. "The second round of the battle between the two generals has begun!"
But in the next moment, they were on tenterhooks again. Zhao Gan was accusing Yang Fan, but the crimes and scandals he brought up were those of the courtiers and their families.
Zhao Gan's accusation of impeaching Yang Fan was not as serious as Gao Wen made it out to be, nor was it as blatant. He did not accuse Gao Wen of forming cliques and stealing public resources, but of neglecting his duties and neglecting his duties. To put it lightly, it was a problem of the official's attitude or even ability.
However, Zhao Gan was not as eloquent as Gao Wen. He spoke passionately but did not have much evidence. Zhao Gan did not speak empty words, only evidence.
To prove that Yang Fan was neglecting his duties, Zhao Gan commented on the candidates one by one with examples. Of course, not all of the officials had a handle on them, and not all of them had a handle that could be used against them. However, the problem was that Yang Fan first checked whether they had a handle on them, and then stuffed those who had a handle on them into the candidate list. What else could be said?
In an instant, Zhao Gan, who had always kept a low profile, was in the limelight in the imperial court. The ministers and assistant ministers of the Imperial Censorate were dumbfounded. The officials of the Imperial Censorate were ashamed that Zhao Gan's evidence was more professional than theirs.
"The former Provincial Governor of Ezhou, Yang Jinxuan, was removed from his post due to corruption and should not have been rehired. Furthermore, I found that Yang Jinxuan was not content after his retirement. His nephew, Yang Qi, fought with a neighbor over a trivial matter and injured someone. He should have been sentenced to death by hanging, but Yang Jinxuan interfered with the justice system and was only sentenced to exile. But just a year later, Yang Qi, who should have been exiled to Yaozhou, swaggered on the streets of Luoyang. How can such a person be an official? "
When Zhao Gan entered the hall, his hands and legs were weak and his heart was beating like thunder. But now that he spoke, his expression was firm and his voice was powerful. If one did not stand out, how could one rise to the top? This was a political speculation, a gamble. If one did not have the guts, one might as well not enter the game. Zhao Gan was born poor and had no connections. He was a loner and had few friends. But he had the guts!
"Lin Manshuang, the Secretary of the Secretariat, had two sons. They were stubborn and mischievous and did not strive to improve themselves. They only liked to fight and run dogs. Their talents were mediocre and everyone knew this when they were studying in the Imperial College. But both of his sons actually passed the examination and became a Jinshi. The court and the public have long criticized him. And now, both of Lin Manshuang's sons have been selected as officials of the Southern Border. I request Your Majesty to look at their examination papers and personally test their talents. If their names do not match up, not only can they not be officials, Lin Manshuang will also be severely punished! "
These people had the qualifications to be officials but there had never been a vacancy for them to be appointed as candidates or officials who had always been in idle positions. It was not easy to find fault with their achievements. But everything that Zhao Gan said had a great deal to do with them being officials. It was enough to be used as evidence that they were not fit to be officials.
Zhao Gan pointed out the faults of seven or eight officials in one breath and let out a long sigh, calming down his excited mood. The court officials were still in suspense. Everyone could see that he had not finished speaking but no one knew who he was going to point to next.
Finally, Zhao Gan's clear voice sounded again, "The Minister of Taichang, Pei Zhen, in the seventh month of the third year of Chuigong, his father passed away. He was removed from his post and returned to the court in the tenth month of the first year of Yong Chang."
Zhao Gan's voice paused and a mocking smile appeared on his face, "In the third month of the first year of Zai Chu, Pei Zhen gave birth to a son!"
These two sentences were simply inexplicable. All the civil and military officials in the court were puzzled and did not understand what was going on. Thanks to Wu Zetian's good habit of changing the year title every few days, sometimes even two or three times a year, the court officials put their hands in their sleeves and started counting the days with their fingers. The court suddenly became extremely quiet.
After a while, someone exclaimed softly as if he had a sudden realization. Then, more and more people came to their senses.
From the seventh month of the third year of Chuigong to the tenth month of the first year of Yong Chang, it was exactly twenty-seven months. This was the time when the officials had to return to their ancestral home to mourn after their parents passed away. From the tenth month of the first year of Yong Chang to the third month of the first year of Zai Chu, this was a period of five months. In other words, Pei Zhen gave birth to a son five months after his mourning ended.
What was the problem here?
The Ding You Ceremony stipulated that during the period of Ding You, one was not allowed to leave the house, eat meat or fish, drink alcohol, sleep with his wife or concubines, listen to music, or even bathe or change clothes. It was best to live in a hut beside a grave and stay there for twenty-seven months. But Pei Shaoqing had only ended Ding You for five months, and his son was born. When was his son conceived?
This was not a small matter at that time. Filial piety was the most important of all virtues. If a person could not even be filial to his birth parents, how could one expect him to be loyal to the emperor and love the people?
Pei Zhen was dejected and his face was pale.
How could he not know that this child was a scourge? However, he only had a few daughters and not a son. At that time, his concubine was pregnant and he could not bear to use medicine to abort the pregnancy. He only hoped to have a son. Heaven had eyes and the Pei family's descendants did not die out. Unexpectedly, the retribution for sleeping with his wife and concubine during the mourning period came today.
Taichang Temple's Shaoqing was on the same level as the provincial governor. If he did not covet the real power of the provincial governor, he would not have begged King Liang to curry favor with him. Who knew that his future would be ruined by his greed. Today, even if he wanted to regret it, there was nothing he could do.
The Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Wang Lei, looked at him sympathetically and thought to himself, "Old Pei is finished! Yang Fan, that slippery little loach, will not be able to escape this time! "
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