Heavy snow.
Minister Lu's small court.
It was especially bustling on the rest day.
Some people truly took time off on their day off.
But the truly ambitious were even more active in their affairs on rest days.
More people reported to Minister Lu's small court on rest days.
It basically reflected the core group of Minister Lu's small court.
Some officials had never been to the imperial palace alone.
But they had certainly been to Minister Lu's small court.
Minister Lu generally wouldn't personally receive so many people.
Unless there was urgent business.
On this rest day, Minister Lu truly didn't rest, personally presiding over his small court.
He had felt something was off these past few days.
It wasn't about supporting which prince - that kind of major issue could only be discussed in secret.
To accomplish great things, one must keep secrets.
Those who knew and weren't reliable had to die, like that servant who massaged his shoulders.
What displeased him was the newly appointed Imperial Secretary.
The Emperor held court once every ten days.
For any important matters, it meant they could only have an audience once every ten days.
Even Minister Lu himself only had one or two extra opportunities in between.
The Emperor would summon him to the palace, or he would request an audience.
But Vice Minister Jiang had gone to the palace five or six, even seven or eight days out of ten.
It was said the Emperor's mood and state had been quite good lately.
Minister Lu could tolerate the eunuchs currying favor with the Emperor - Eunuch Yan, Eunuch Duan, Eunuch Liu, it didn't matter. After all, those castrated men couldn't do anything besides pleasing the Emperor.
It's not like they could rebel - who would inherit if they did?
But Jiang Er was different.
Jiang Er was an external official.
For an external official to be so favored by the Emperor.
It greatly displeased him.
Because upon closer examination, Minister Lu had also started as a low-ranking official, and had also used some unorthodox methods to please the Emperor, which led to his current position.
Though Minister Lu was corpulent, when he pleased the Emperor, he would sing and dance before him, even doing splits and high kicks, acting the fool in various ways, showing great flexibility.
The more lowly and humble he was before the Emperor, the more ruthless he was towards other officials. He felt this was what he deserved, what he was worthy of!
But now he discovered a minor official was apparently copying his path to success.
He could imagine that no matter how noble and righteous Vice Minister Jiang appeared on the outside, he must be putting on all sorts of performances in the palace, like a little maid, to please the Emperor.
This path had worked for him, so he was especially worried about others succeeding the same way.
He had eliminated anyone who showed such signs.
This Jiang Er had come from Jingzhou.
He even had the status of a pardoned rebel.
Not knowing what was good for him, not content to lie low, he actually wanted to make waves.
He had let him stir things up for a while.
Minister Lu felt it was time to arrange his death.
He knew everyone had paid money to buy the key points.
Including himself - he had paid real silver.
Jiang Er even dared to take Minister Lu's money.
Tired of living.
Minister Lu had even added fuel to the fire, and the show had gone on for a while.
It was time for the curtain to fall.
On this day, the small court was fabricating crimes to pin on the newly appointed Imperial Secretary Jiang.
When you want to condemn someone, you can always find a pretext.
They also wanted the officials of the capital to teach that country bumpkin Jiang Er a lesson about how to be an official.
First crime, corruption. Their accounts were even more detailed than Jiang Er's, claiming he had embezzled funds while carrying out the imperial order to organize and inspect laws and regulations.
He had embezzled tens of thousands of taels of silver, an amount sufficient for the death penalty.
They also dug up old memorials accusing Jiang Er.
Saying he had accepted gifts for his family members' birthdays.
Adding it all up together.
Second crime, rebellion. Jiang Er harbored treasonous intentions. He had set up a longevity tablet for the rebel leader Zi Lu and even invited high monks to perform rituals, showing he still remembered the rebel leader. His rebellious heart had not died. A capital offense.
Third crime, allowing his child to bully others. Jiang Er's daughter had extorted money from Minister Liu's son on the street, with multiple witnesses.
Fourth crime, lack of filial piety. Immortal Liu's grandmother was actually Jiang Er's birth mother. Jiang Er lived next door but didn't support his elderly mother, allowing her to suffer a severe stroke. He was unworthy of being called a son...
Fifth crime, colluding with court officials. Jiang Er had married his daughter to Meng Shaoxia, and even attempted to connect with Minister Dong of the Ministry of Works, and had sent gifts to Inspector He...
Sixth crime, disrespecting the imperial clan. Jiang Er had once beaten Heir Apparent Han...
Seventh crime...
And so on and so forth, one charge after another. Jiang Er himself probably didn't remember doing so many things, or that they could be interpreted this way.
In short.
Minister Lu had mobilized the court officials, like activating a huge database, digging up all of a person's life details.
They pinned on him every crime they could.
If this didn't kill him, even if the Emperor was momentarily fond of him, he wouldn't go against all the court officials.
But if more time passed, it was hard to say.
While the Emperor only found him novel and amusing at first, they had to swiftly cut down Jiang Er.
They couldn't let him have another day in the spotlight.
On the rest day, Minister Lu's small court was busy, very busy indeed.
The snow on the ground had been trampled until there was no snow left, just wet, black mud everywhere.
