My Wife is Unbeatable in the Whole World, Touch Me If You Dare!-Chapter 413 - 277: Dual Breakthrough【Combined】_2
After a long while, he finally snapped back to reality, slowly picking up the "Art of War" from the ground, his heart still racing as he said, "Reading is good, one should indeed read more..."
At this moment,
Secretariat.
Both Prime Ministers had already learned about the incident at Li Mansion.
Shocked by the old case of the Eastern Palace, the Right Prime Minister glanced at the Left Prime Minister and said, "He must have planned all this long ago, your actions were superfluous, old man. Now, I suspect that Wang Heng was killed deliberately for the Wang family to see..."
Speaking of the Wang family, a rare sharpness flashed through the usually gentle gaze of the Left Prime Minister.
The Right Prime Minister took a breath and said, "What a ruthless move, using himself as bait to maximize the effect of the Eastern Palace case. The Ministry of Justice has detained hundreds of people, this time, Chang'an is likely to flow with blood again..."
His gaze turned to the Left Prime Minister, and he asked, "Is this truly a disciple you taught?"
Li Xuanjing had been at the court for twenty years, watching Xuanjing's ascension to his current position step by step.
The Left Prime Minister was a man of integrity, never stooping to engage in machinations; all courtiers held him in high regard.
His disciple, Li Xuanjing, on the other hand, was filled with a wicked energy.
In everything he did, he did not concern himself with the means; to achieve his goals, he would go to any lengths, ensuring that even the smallest matter exerted its maximum value.
Let alone such a major conspiracy case; based on what the Right Prime Minister knew of him, he probably had sufficient evidence long ago.
But merely implicating King Han and King You was clearly not enough for him.
And indeed, he achieved more: five princes, dozens of nobles, and over a hundred officials were now detained in the Ministry of Justice, at his disposal.
The Wang family suffered the most.
In every key position within the court, there were officials cultivated by the Wang family.
This could not be accomplished overnight; it required nurturing from an early age, ensuring they became Advanced Scholars, and after they entered the court, using various means and resources to guarantee their promotion to important positions.
This required at least decades of management and centuries of influence.
And now, the Wang family's influence in the court, built up over hundreds of years, their decades of management—nearly without exception, all ended up in the lock-up at the Ministry of Justice.
The Right Prime Minister's gaze flickered slightly as he said, "Nearly twenty years have passed, the grudge from back then, he hasn't forgotten a bit of it. Back then, more than a dozen of his classmates died, and now he aims to uproot the Wang family..."
His words fell, and several eunuchs walked in from the outside.
The leading eunuch, holding a whisk, firstly paid respects to both Prime Ministers, then announced, "His Majesty decrees: King Han and King You have committed great treason, plotting against the Crown Prince, stripping them of their princely titles, demoting them to commoners… King Xin, King Xuan, King Ji, as Princes Regent, ignorant and incompetent, are relieved of their regency, the case of the Crown Prince is to be fully investigated by the Ministry of Justice, and all departments of the three provinces must provide full cooperation..."
The Right Prime Minister stretched out his hand to receive the imperial decree, and the eunuch, looking at them, said, "My lords, His Majesty is very angry about this matter. When the Ministry of Justice investigates, the three provinces had better cooperate, otherwise, there might be more severe consequences..."
After speaking, he waved his whisk and turned to leave.
The officials of the Secretariat standing outside were all overwhelmingly shocked.
No one had expected today's events to take such a drastic turn, resulting in such severe consequences.
Of the eight Prince Regents, two were demoted, three stripped of their power, leaving only King Chun, King Gong, and King Rui.
The fate of those noble officials locked up in the Ministry of Justice was still uncertain.
It was heard that His Majesty said that officials involved in today's purging of the court need not return to their duties at the government office.
Though it was only a casually uttered sentence, it determined the fates of countless officials.
The officials of Zongzheng Si and the Capital Prefecture, being the most involved, meant that nearly all the officials in these two government offices would be replaced.
Officials from the Three Provinces, Six Ministries, Nine Si were set to be unlucky.
For the Secretariat, two Scheeren were now in the Ministry of Justice, likely never to return.
Of course, with some falling out of favor, others would rise.
On this occasion, hundreds of official positions opened up, including many fourth-rank and even third-rank posts, certainly leading to numerous promotions.
As many officials were dismissed, so were there promotions.
Such an opportunity might not present itself again for decades.
Thinking they might be the ones to be promoted, the officials at the Secretariat could hardly focus on their work.
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As unrest pervaded all government offices, several figures entered the Secretariat.
Seeing that the newcomers were officials from the Ministry of Justice, the two Secretariat Assistant Ministers personally came out to greet them.
With His Majesty's recent order for the Secretariat to collaborate with the Ministry of Justice, they naturally had to be cautious in dealing with its officials.
The Left Assistant Minister cupped his hands together and asked, "What brings my colleagues to the Secretariat today?"
The Assistant Minister from the Ministry of Justice did not exchange pleasantries, bluntly stating, "We need all the petitions condemning Lord Li from the past few days."
The two Secretariat Assistant Ministers exchanged a glance, their eyelids involuntarily twitching. The petitions, according to protocol, were to be kept strictly confidential. Such overt disruption of protocol would deter anyone from daring to lodge accusations so freely in the future.
The Assistant Minister from the Ministry of Justice said, "His Majesty commands the Ministry of Justice to thoroughly investigate the case of the Crown Prince's demise, not sparing anyone involved. These officials might be accomplices of King Han and King You in the plot against the Crown Prince, so we ask for the Secretariat's cooperation..."
The officials from the Ministry of Justice quickly left.
Upon leaving, they took several hundred petitions with them.
Their reason was solid: the Crown Prince is the heir apparent, plotting against the heir is equivalent to treason, and in the face of such reasoning, the rules of the Secretariat had to give way.
