Although the Imperial Guards and Factories no longer had the overbearing arrogance of their founding days, they still took orders directly from the emperor. People had to curry favor with them all the same.
These two men were fawned over outside the palace and counted among the emperor's trusted confidants. They were rarely left standing like this during an audience. After so many hours, their legs ached and tingled. Cao Huachun was getting on in years, and the pain in his back was so unbearable that he wished he could lie face down right there in the hall.
Now that the emperor had finally spoken, they both feared the storm about to break and hoped the audience would end quickly so they could leave the palace and rest.
Zhu Youjian lifted the teacup beside him, glanced casually at the two men from the corners of his eyes, and asked mildly, "What have you been busy with lately?"
The question sounded like idle conversation, but neither man dared let down his guard. Luo Yangxing answered cautiously, "Your Majesty, many refugees have entered the city recently. To guard against Jurchen spies, I have been leading men to investigate them!"
"Yes, this servant has been interrogating them!" Cao Huachun hastily added.
"What, have these refugees gotten in someone's way?"
Zhu Youjian's tone was neither stern nor angry. His words sounded almost weightless, yet Luo Yangxing and Cao Huachun shuddered from head to toe.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot were intelligence agencies of the court-no, of His Majesty-and answered directly to him. His Majesty's words meant he was questioning their loyalty!
With the Jurchen raiding through the passes, large numbers of refugees from the capital region had fled toward the capital for shelter. And what sort of place was the capital? If a falling shop sign struck ten people, five would be officials. Even those who were not had countless threads tying them to the court.
Now filthy beggars huddled beneath the walls, penniless and starving. With nothing to lose, the barefoot feared no one in shoes and caused trouble every day. Some of the bolder ones even climbed over walls to steal from grand residences!
The thefts were a small matter. If they intruded upon the women of a household, even beating those wretches to death would not be enough to pay for the offense!
Those ministers had approached the Five City Military Command, then the offices of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Why turn down money when there was money to be made? Were they fools?
But none of that could be said aloud. Feigning terror, Luo Yangxing dropped to his knees and kowtowed. "Your Majesty, I feared that if spies truly slipped into the city, they might endanger Your Majesty!"
"Then should I thank you? How about an inscribed plaque? 'Serve the country with utmost devotion,' or 'Unwavering loyalty'?" Zhu Youjian's expression turned cold. He slammed his teacup onto the desk with a crack, splashing tea over several memorials and blurring the words "refugees."
"Please calm your anger, Your Majesty! Please calm your anger!"
Seeing the emperor's anger, Cao Huachun hurriedly knelt as well. Glancing at the memorials on the desk, he wondered whether someone had reported this matter to His Majesty.
They had done the same thing before, yet His Majesty had never flown into such a rage. Could there be something else?
"You are officials of the court. It is bad enough that you show no compassion for the common people, but now, with the nation facing calamity, you neglect your duties and turn your scheming abacuses on the refugees! What use do I have for you? If you think those official robes are too heavy on your shoulders and unworthy of you, you are welcome to take them off!"
Zhu Youjian's voice grew louder as he spoke, until it thundered through the hall. Every palace maid and eunuch trembled, trying to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible.
Wang Cheng'en could not help grumbling inwardly. I thought His Majesty's temper had improved earlier. It seems he simply hadn't recovered his strength yet. Now he's shouting again!
"I have been wronged! Wronged!" Luo Yangxing dared not argue and could only plead his innocence over and over.
Zhu Youjian snorted coldly. "How have I wronged you? By accusing you of colluding with court officials? Or by accusing you of conspiring with the enemy and betraying the country?"
Luo Yangxing's vision went black, and he nearly fainted from fright. Colluding with court officials, conspiring with the enemy and betraying the country-either charge meant not merely death, but the extermination of his clan!
Even if he had done those things, he could not admit to them under pain of death, let alone when he had not!
Both men's legs trembled. With their heads bowed, they could see only His Majesty's black boots before them. The dragons embroidered in gold thread on the boots had their eyes wide open, and those furious stares subjected them to a crushing pressure unlike anything they had ever felt.
"You haven't? Then why is there not a single intelligence report from you among this deskful of memorials? The Jurchen in Liaodong should be the Embroidered Uniform Guard's primary target now. Yet they have breached the passes time and again, and your Embroidered Uniform Guard has never sent a warning! Are you incompetent, or have you become the Jurchen's Embroidered Uniform Guard?"
Sweat dripped from Luo Yangxing's forehead, but he dared not raise a hand to wipe it away.
He did not understand why His Majesty was dredging up old accounts now. This was not the Jurchen's first incursion through the passes, but their fourth. Why had His Majesty not reprimanded him over the first three?
Ignoring the two men, Zhu Youjian continued, "Furthermore, why do the Jurchen breach the passes every time the court's campaign to wipe out the Rebel Bandits reaches a critical stage, forcing the court to divert troops to defend against them? Once or twice might be coincidence. But this is the fourth time. Is it still coincidence?"
Each question from Zhu Youjian struck Luo Yangxing's heart like a heavy hammer. He did not know the reason either, but he absolutely could not accept an accusation that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had conspired with the enemy. Panic drenched him in cold sweat, yet he had no idea how to explain. He could only prostrate himself and beg forgiveness again and again.
Although Zhu Youjian was reprimanding Luo Yangxing, Cao Huachun, kneeling beside him, dared not let his attention wander, much less take pleasure in the other man's misfortune.
The Eastern Depot was responsible for overseeing the Embroidered Uniform Guard. If the Embroidered Uniform Guard was guilty, the Eastern Depot was guilty as well!
Zhu Youjian snorted and looked at the two men kneeling on the floor, his tone cold and severe. "One of you entered the Prince of Xin's Residence as a child. The other had a steadfastly loyal father, yet the son he raised amounts to little. I put you in these positions, yet you collude with court officials and blind my eyes and stop my ears. Tell me yourselves: what punishment do you deserve?"
"We have been wronged!" they cried in unison. They dared not admit to conspiring with the enemy, nor could they accept the charge of colluding with court officials!
The Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard could obey only the emperor. If that charge stuck, it would amount to treason, and even exterminating their nine degrees of kin would not be excessive.
"How have you been wronged?" Zhu Youjian pressed.
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