Chapter 426
"Obtained through righteous means? All accidents?" This was another great joke Yue Fuguang had heard this year!
As the day grew late, she didn’t want to waste time with Sun Min. She looked him straight in the eyes and said, "Was Hao Ren’s actions carried out on your orders?" An invisible pressure bore down on him, her voice coldly echoing in his ears. "Think carefully before you answer!"
Sun Min couldn’t lift his head under the invisible weight. His official robe was covered in dust, his forehead nearly pressed into the dirt. His voice was choked with suppressed emotion, filled with deep remorse. "Reporting to you, my lord, it was I who ordered Magistrate Hao to refuse to take up this matter.
But I did not know that Magistrate Hao had locked Cao Dajun in death row. I only wanted the Cao family to back down, not to kill him!"
"Little Bead, how much of what Sun Min says is true?"
[Master, Sun Min did indeed order Hao Ren to detain the man. Their original plan was to send Cao Dajun to the black mine as forced labor.
However, Hao Ren has another master behind his back. He hid this from Sun Min and arranged a new fate for Cao Dajun, which is why he was locked in death row. If we hadn’t shown up today, he would have been beheaded this autumn in someone else’s place!]
Huang Xie heard this voice again, and with such precise knowledge, his guesses about the young master’s origins grew deeper.
A flicker of inner conflict crossed his eyes. He didn’t know if he should report his discovery to this mysterious and seemingly godlike young master.
His men had just informed him that as the young master’s party passed by the Yingchuan River, torrential rain had fallen, restoring the river to seventy percent of its original flow.
Such power—could this woman truly be a celestial goddess descended to earth?
Yue Fuguang was unaware of Huang Xie’s inner turmoil. She only looked down at Sun Min, who knelt before her, and said word by word, "I heard you originally planned to send the man to the black mine as forced labor?"
"Sun Min, tell me, where is that black mine? As a court official, you knowingly concealed the illegal mining of a national vein without reporting it. Sun Min, do you know your crime?"
Her voice was not loud, but every word struck Sun Min’s heart like a thousand-pound hammer. He felt momentarily dizzy, sensing that a great calamity was upon him.
If his nephew’s matter jeopardized his career, ordering Hao Ren would at most cost him his post. But now, this black mine business could genuinely cost him his life!
He just couldn’t understand—only he and Hao Ren had plotted this. How did this woman know? Could it be that Hao Ren had grown tired of living and betrayed them both?
Regardless of Sun Min’s guesses, Yue Fuguang’s hammer fell heavily. "Sun Min, how much benefit have you taken from privately digging these mines? In such a dire situation, why not confess everything now?"
At this question, Sun Min’s kneeling body involuntarily leaned backward. His eyes opened wide in terror as he stared at Yue Fuguang in disbelief.
He had a stake in the black mine, and even Hao Ren didn’t know that. How had Yue Fuguang found out?
The black mine couldn’t have been raided. Yue Fuguang had only entered Yingchuan Prefecture today, and it was nearly a hundred miles to the mine’s location.
Besides, he had received last month’s dividend only yesterday. The messenger said everything was fine there and the mine would never be compromised. Clinging to this belief, Sun Min waved his hands repeatedly and defended himself. "My lord, please be clear! On the matter of Cao Dajun, I am indeed guilty, and I am willing to accept the law’s punishment.
But as for the black mine you mentioned, there is absolutely no such thing. I truly know nothing about it!"
He turned his face, full of entreaty, toward Huang Xie, who stood by with a scrutinizing gaze, and said mournfully, "Lord Huang, you know me.
My Sun family’s only male descendant is that boy Jizu, and the whole household has indeed spoiled him too much.
I only make mistakes in matters concerning that child. But aside from that, I would never, and dare not, be involved with a black mine!"
Huang Xie, hearing this excuse, couldn’t help but twitch his lips. If he hadn’t heard that mysterious voice’s revelation, he might actually have believed Sun Min’s sophistry.
He had only today seen through this self-righteous Sun Min, discovering that his brazenness was even thicker than his own.
Was making a small mistake with your own nephew the only issue? Don’t you realize you broke the law?
And that black mine—Sun Min was too greedy and too bold. How could he not see the changing winds in officialdom over the past two years?
The rampant practice of oppressing the people, extorting bribes, and skimming a layer off every penny had diminished greatly—all starting from the very official sitting before him.
Instead of lying low, he had committed a crime. He had not only brought ruin upon his own family but also saddled Huang Xie with a dereliction of duty. What bad luck to be his colleague!
Huang Xie, because of Sun Min, had already accumulated several charges of oversight in a short time, leaving him numb inside.
He grumbled inwardly, but said aloud, "Lord Sun, with the young master present, you’d better honestly confess all your crimes. Otherwise, once you’re sent to the capital, the ministers of the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Punishments won’t be as easygoing as the young master."
It could only be said that no wonder Huang Xie had risen to the post of Prefect of Yingchuan—he knew how to speak. Even at this moment, he didn’t forget to flatter Yue Fuguang.
He cupped his hands toward her and said, "I believe the young master will neither wrong an innocent person nor let a guilty one off.
Young master, if the Yingchu Zhou Prefecture needs assistance in any matter, please do not hesitate to ask."
He glanced back at the dense ranks of the Imperial Guard and the Right Guard New Army, and especially when he spotted Shen Jian in the crowd, his pupils involuntarily contracted.
He had met this man when reporting to the capital at the Crown Prince’s residence. As the eldest son of the princess and the emperor’s own nephew, such a person serving as the young master’s guard showed how favored she was by the royal family!
His friend Ziling had indeed spoken truly!
Yue Fuguang did not stand on ceremony and replied directly, "There happens to be a matter here that requires your men, Lord Huang."
She waved over Shen Jian. "General Shen, select five hundred soldiers to accompany Lord Huang’s men to Tiger Ridge at Ten Mile Slope. Someone is privately mining iron ore there."
As she spoke, Yue Fuguang feared they might waste time finding the place, so she had the system produce a map for her.
Shen Jian took the map, bowed respectfully, and left to carry out the order. Meanwhile, Huang Xie on the side was utterly stunned. That black mine was actually an iron mine!
What could iron be used for? Besides making farming tools like sickles and hoes, it could also be used to forge weapons, armor, and swords for rebellion. This was a grave crime!
Could there be someone under his jurisdiction harboring rebellious intentions?
Huang Xie’s legs went weak. He felt like kneeling on the ground alongside Sun Min for a rest!
Yue Fuguang settled into the garden prepared by Huang Xie. After dinner, she asked He Jin, who had just returned from outside, "Are Cao Xiwang and his son properly settled?"
"Rest assured, my lord. Lord Feng has arranged for the Cao father and son in the outer courtyard’s side rooms. To guard against any mishap, General Wei Shouyi has specially assigned four soldiers to protect them."
He wondered if someone would truly try to silence the two men tonight.
If anyone did come, the faction behind Hao Ren would indeed be no simple matter.