Chapter 292: The Seven Deadly Sins
Heavy snow.
Prime Minister Lu’s little court.
It was especially bustling on the day off.
Some people truly took the day off when they were on holiday.
Those who were truly ambitious, however, found their business activities increased during the holidays.
Even more people reported to Prime Minister Lu’s little court on the day off.
It could basically be considered the base of Prime Minister Lu’s little court.
Some officials had never gone to the imperial palace alone.
But they had certainly been to Prime Minister Lu’s little court.
Prime Minister Lu usually wouldn’t receive so many people personally.
Unless there was a pressing matter.
On this day off, Prime Minister Lu really didn’t rest; he personally sat in command of the little court.
For the past few days, he had felt that something was off.
Supporting a certain prince—that kind of major matter could only be discussed in secret.
Only by keeping things confidential could one accomplish great things.
Anyone who knew and wasn’t reliable had to die; for instance, that servant who was massaging his shoulders.
What displeased him was the new Attendant of the Yellow Gate.
The Emperor held court once every ten days.
If there was something important, it meant they could only see the Emperor once every ten days.
Even he, Prime Minister Lu, at most only had one or two extra opportunities in between.
The Emperor would summon him into the palace, or he would request an audience.
But Vice Minister Jiang, in those ten days, went to the palace five, six, no, seven or eight times.
It was said the Emperor had been in a very good mood recently.
Prime Minister Lu could tolerate eunuchs currying favor with the Emperor; those Eunuch Yan, Eunuch Duan, and Eunuch Liu didn’t matter. After all, those castrated men couldn’t do anything else besides pleasing the Emperor.
They couldn’t possibly rebel, and even if they did, they had no heirs to inherit it.
But Jiang the Second was different.
Jiang the Second was an outside official.
For an outside official to be so favored by the Emperor…
He was very displeased.
Because, if one examined it closely, Prime Minister Lu had also started as an insignificant official, and it was only by using some unorthodox methods to please the Emperor that he had attained his current position.
Although Prime Minister Lu was corpulent, when he curried favor with the Emperor, he would sing and dance before him, do splits, lift his legs high, play the fool, and be incredibly agile.
The more lowly and humble he was before the Emperor, the more ruthless he was before other officials; this was what he deserved, he was worthy of it!
But now, he discovered that a minor official was actually replicating his path to success.
He could imagine that no matter how aloof and sanctimonious Vice Minister Jiang appeared on the outside, in the palace, he must be performing all sorts of acts, like a little maidservant, to please the Emperor.
He had succeeded on this path, so he was particularly worried that others would succeed too.
Anyone who showed such signs, he had killed.
This Jiang the Second came from Jingzhou.
And he held the status of a surrendered Rebels.
He didn’t know when to quit; instead of keeping his head down, he dared to make waves.
He had allowed him to make waves for a while.
Prime Minister Lu felt it was time to arrange his death.
He knew that everyone had been shelling out money to buy the main points.
Even he had paid.
Real gold and silver.
Jiang the Second actually dared to take Prime Minister Lu’s money.
He was tired of living.
Prime Minister Lu had even fueled the fire, and the show had been running for a while.
It was time for the curtain to fall and for him to exit.
On this day, the little court was busy fabricating charges against the newly appointed Attendant of the Yellow Gate, Vice Minister Jiang.
If one wants to condemn someone, one can always find a pretext.
It was also time for the people in the capital’s imperial court to properly teach that country bumpkin, Jiang the Second, the rules of being an official.
First crime: Corruption. They even had ledgers more detailed than Jiang the Second’s, claiming that when Jiang the Second received the imperial decree to organize the inspection of laws and regulations, he had taken the opportunity to embezzle.
He had embezzled tens of thousands of taels of silver in total; such a high amount was enough to warrant the death penalty.
Moreover, they dug up old memorials that had impeached Jiang the Second.
Claiming he had accepted gifts on the birthdays of his family members.
They added it all up together.
Second crime: Treason. Jiang the Second harbored rebellious intentions; he had set up a longevity tablet for the Rebel leader, Great Marshal Zi, and even invited high-ranking monks to perform a Dharma Ritual to commemorate the Rebel leader. His heart was set on rebellion, and his traitorous intent was unextinguished. A capital offense.
Third crime: Permitting his children to bully men and oppress women. Jiang the Second’s daughter had extorted money from Minister Liu’s son in the street, with several witnesses.
Fourth crime: Unfilial and unbrotherly conduct. Fairy Liu’s grandmother was actually Jiang the Second’s own mother. Jiang the Second lived right next door yet failed to support his elderly mother, leaving her to suffer from serious illness and stroke; he was unworthy of being a son…
Fifth crime: Colluding with court officials. Jiang the Second had married his daughter to Meng Shaoxia, and had also attempted to collude with Minister Dong of the Ministry of Works, and had sent gifts to Censor He…
Sixth crime: Disrespecting the Imperial Clan. Jiang the Second had once beaten Heir Han…
Seventh crime…
In short, item by item, case by case—Jiang the Second himself probably didn’t even remember doing so many things, nor that they could be interpreted in such a way.
In short.
Prime Minister Lu had mobilized the court officials, as if accessing a massive database, digging out the person’s entire life history.
They pinned every possible charge they could on him.
If he didn’t die from this, even if the Emperor fancied him for a moment, the Emperor wouldn’t go against all the court officials.
If more time passed, it would be hard to say.
Taking advantage of the fact that the Emperor only found him fresh and amusing for now, they had to swiftly cut down Jiang the Second.
They could not let him have another chance to rise.
On this day off, Prime Minister Lu’s little court was busy, ever so busy.
The snow on the ground had been trampled away, leaving it wet, slushy, and covered in black mud.
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