After court adjourned, in the Duty Room of the Hall of Literary Depths.
Four Grand Tutor's Chairs stood on either side of a long table, each occupied by a grand secretary.
Steam curled from the tea cups on the table, but no one lifted a cup.
Shen Duan sat at the head, his face as dark and still as water.
At court that day, Wang Kan's three impeachment memorials had caught him utterly off guard.
But what infuriated him even more was...
Kou Yuan had suppressed Wei Nisheng. That was a fact.
Wang Kan had cited the Revenue and Expenditure Bureau's Underlying Accounts. That, too, was a fact.
The two facts contradicted each other. With too little information and too little time, he could not judge what was happening.
Without a judgment, he could not act.
Unable to act, he could only... strike first.
"Minister Kou." Shen Duan opened the attack, his words cold.
"The figures listed in that impeachment memorial Wang Kan presented at court today all came from the Revenue and Expenditure Bureau's Underlying Accounts.
The Revenue and Expenditure Bureau belongs to the Ministry of Revenue.
Wang Kan belongs to the Upright Officials.
With those two things coming together, surely you will not tell me this was another coincidence?"
"I cannot accept that accusation, Chief Grand Secretary Shen."
Kou Yuan sat upright behind the table, his expression unchanged. He lifted his cup, took a leisurely sip, then slowly set it down.
"Wang Kan is the Censorate Secretary of the Censorate's Records Office, not an official under the Ministry of Revenue.
He submitted his impeachment memorial in accordance with the Censorate's regulations, acting on the orders of Left Vice Censor-in-Chief Song Jing.
I neither drafted his memorial for him, submitted it on his behalf, nor spoke in his defense