"I never expected that a scholar and officials from the Ministry of Justice would share such a peculiar predilection."
"The locations of their tattoos are uncannily coordinated."
Xiao Yunzhou frowned as he looked at the two pale-faced elders and the trembling young officials from the Ministry of Justice in the prison cell.
"Will you confess in the Ministry of Justice's prison, or in the Imperial Censors' interrogation chambers?"
Xiao Yunzhou turned and sat down on a chair brought over by the guards.
The four men froze, their gazes crisscrossing.
Everyone could see it clearly - the character "rebel" tattooed in a similar size on the lower right shoulder blade of each of them.
Such a damning coincidence, coupled with the ominous word "rebel," could hardly occur simultaneously on officials and commoners.
If it did, it was bound to arouse suspicion!
"I... I'll confess!" Zhao Yunlei, the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice, was the first to buckle.
"Nonsense, do not implicate me! I don't know you!" The imprisoned elder tried to deny it.
But the young Zhao Yunlei, unable to withstand the pressure, trembled as his gaze met the calm Emperor Xiao Yunzhou and the Imperial Censors.
"Your Majesty, I confess, I belong to the Earth and Moon Sect!"
"!"
"??"
"!!"
All the officials in the Ministry of Justice's prison were stunned.
What... what sect?
It didn't sound like a legitimate Taoist sect.
Zhang Wei, the Minister of Justice, turned ghastly pale.
"But I was coerced. I'm an orphan, raised by them. If I didn't obey them, they wouldn't feed me and would beat me. Many have been beaten or starved to death."
"Because I was literate and attained an official rank, they valued me. They threatened my wife and children, forcing me to get tattooed and use the tattoo to blackmail me into continuing to work for the Earth and Moon Sect, passing messages! Otherwise, they could use the tattoo to accuse me before the court at any time!"
Zhao Yunlei instantly betrayed the Earth and Moon Sect, confessing everything.
The tattoo was not only a pledge of loyalty but also a means of coercion.
The officials from the Ministry of Justice were appalled.
A heretical sect, this was a heretical sect!
Xiao Yunzhou snorted coldly, "Tell us how many of their bases you know. The Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Justice will conduct a joint investigation!"
The lamps in the Ministry of Justice burned through the night.
The interrogation lasted the entire night.
Finally, at the crack of dawn, the sweat-drenched Minister Zhang Wei and Minister Yin Moqiao of Justice ran to the Emperor with a thick stack of confessions.
"Your Majesty, those two elders... turned out to be elders of the Earth and Moon Sect!"
"One of them was even the Deputy Sect Leader."
"They... they intended to overthrow your reign and restore the previous dynasty."
"They are remnants of the former imperial family."
Zhang Wei, the Minister of Justice, had a flushed face.
The Minister of Justice, Yin Moqiao, kept wiping his sweat, nervously glancing at Xiao Yunzhou.
Xiao Yunzhou didn't even glance at the confessions, calmly acknowledging with a nod, his expression suggesting, 'I knew all along.'
Yin Moqiao was stunned by the Emperor's composure.
So the Emperor had known beforehand?
Terrifying.
The Emperor sat in the palace daily, yet his knowledge of intelligence far surpassed the Six Ministries.
This wasn't the first time.
Yin Moqiao had been rattled before, but now he felt a sense of... reassurance?
That members of this heretical sect, remnants of the former dynasty plotting rebellion, had infiltrated his Ministry of Justice as a trusted sixth-rank official - the thought made Yin Moqiao shudder in hindsight!
A remnant of the former dynasty had worked alongside him daily, attending court sessions together, even discussing official matters one-on-one.
What if they had taken the opportunity to assassinate him when they were alone?
If not for the Emperor's perspicacity last night, his life could have been in jeopardy!
"I have failed in my duties, unforgivable."
"Thanks to Your Majesty's wisdom!"
Yin Moqiao's face fell as he kowtowed in apology.
Beside him, Zhang Wei, the Minister of Justice, also looked embarrassed as he knelt down, "The two elders arrested at the teahouse, one of them has confessed that they were waiting for..."
Zhang Wei paused, then prostrated himself.
"Waiting for the outcome of the assassination attempt on Your Majesty during the Lantern Festival."
Wei Zheng, the Imperial Attendant by Xiao Yunzhou's side, widened his eyes in shock, "What? Audacious!"
Wei Zheng was the Supervisor of the Palace Household. He couldn't help but berate Zhang Wei.
"Such a grave matter, and the Ministry of Justice only uncovered it now, after repeatedly obstructing His Majesty from imprisoning those two elders!"
"Minister Zhang, you have some nerve! Are you trying to rebel?"
"If not for His Majesty's wisdom in sending the Imperial Army to make the arrests, wouldn't we be in danger now?"
"Ah, you scoundrel, have you identified the assassin?"
Had this been in the past, if a eunuch had scolded Zhang Wei like this, he would have rolled up his sleeves and traded insults with the eunuch.
But now, he could not refute a single word of Wei Zheng's accusations, his face flushed red.
It was true.
He had nearly let an elder of a heretical sect plotting to assassinate the Emperor go free!
"I am ashamed, Lord Wei speaks the truth."
Xiao Yunzhou was delighted.
Although Wei Zheng was only good at flattery, he was useful at critical moments like this.
Wei Zheng would put on a stern face, allowing Xiao Yunzhou to play the benevolent Emperor.
"Enough, I haven't spoken yet, and Wei Zheng, why are you being so impatient?" Xiao Yunzhou waved his hand dismissively.
"How can you address a high-ranking court official with such disrespect?"
Zhang Wei felt embarrassed yet touched.
"Your Majesty, that elder has revealed the identity of the assassin. His name is Jiu Xiao—"
But before he could finish, Xiao Yunzhou slammed the table, cutting him off.
Xiao Yunzhou's expression changed, "There's no need to mention that assassin! I am well aware of him!"
Ha, the assassin Jiu Xiao, the little tea-serving eunuch with a martial arts skill of 99, was the subject of Xiao Yunzhou's reform efforts for over half a month.
It wasn't easy to successfully reform Jiu Xiao and gain approval from the immortal realm, allowing him to become one of the 108 elite talents in the 'Jing Country Talent Atlas.'
If the Ministry of Justice continued investigating and angered Jiu Xiao, causing his allegiance to waver, wouldn't Xiao Yunzhou's efforts have been in vain?
Xiao Yunzhou put down his tea cup resolutely, his expression grave, "You will all act as if you are unaware of the assassin Jiu Xiao's identity, and never mention it again."
"!"
"?"
Zhang Wei, the Minister of Justice, and Yin Moqiao, the Minister of Justice, were stunned once more.
Even Wei Zheng looked puzzled and concerned, "Your Majesty, this concerns your safety..."
Before he could finish, Zhang Wei and Yin Moqiao gave him disdainful looks.
Wei Zheng was being foolish.
Didn't the Emperor's meaning seem clear?
This assassin, the Earth and Moon Sect thought he was one of their own, but in reality, he was Xiao Yunzhou's man!
Zhang Wei, the Minister of Justice, was stunned by Xiao Yunzhou's tactics at this point.
"No wonder Your Majesty knew the Earth and Moon Sect elders were in the tea house, it turns out you had planted a mole in the Earth and Moon Sect!"
Xiao Yunzhou was taken aback.
Huh?
"It's no wonder Your Majesty knows their every move inside out, including the backstabbing, it turns out our court had people within the Earth and Moon Sect."
Ah.
That's really not the case.
There was only one little princess.
Xiao Yunzhou cleared his throat softly, his ears slightly flushed, "Those Earth and Moon Sect bases—"
"Your Majesty, rest assured, we can launch an attack on them at daybreak. Would you like to review the locations they confessed to, to make sure there are no omissions?"
"..."
Ah.
What did he know?
Xiao Yunzhou's lips twitched, and he looked at the Minister of Justice who made such a suggestion with deep sorrow, "Minister Yin, you're no longer a three-year-old child."
Minister Yin Moqiao: "...?"
"It's time for you to grow up and handle cases independently."
"!"
"Alas, with you all acting like this, it's really difficult for me."
Xiao Yunzhou clicked his tongue and shook his head.
"If word gets out that I'm better than the Minister of Justice and the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, how would that look?"
"..."
