"He has come at just the right time. Have him brought in!"
Zhao Ji sneered and said in a mocking tone.
"Yes!"
The little eunuch attending him quickly turned and ran out of the hall to invite Cai You in.
"Your servant, Cai You, Grand Academician of Baohe Hall, greets Your Majesty!"
As Cai You stepped into the hall, he saw Bai Shizhong kneeling on the ground. His heart immediately trembled.
Taking advantage of the moment to bow, he exchanged a quick glance with Bai Shizhong. Seeing Bai Shizhong subtly shake his head, he let out a long sigh of relief. Fortunately, he had arrived in time.
"My dear minister, you have come at the perfect time. I happen to have a tangled case today, and I would like you to help me ponder it!"
Hearing the emperor's sarcastic tone, Cai You immediately understood. It seemed that the matter was far from as simple as it appeared on the surface.
If his guess was correct, the emperor's anger must be due to something he was unaware of. But what exactly was it?
"Reporting to Your Majesty, your servant is not skilled in judicial matters. If it concerns sentencing, why doesn't Your Majesty consult Minister Fan?"
Although he didn't know what had happened specifically, from the current situation, he understood it clearly.
Bai Shizhong must have been caught in some trouble, making it impossible for him to extricate himself at this moment.
Once Bai Shizhong fell, Li Bangyan would be the biggest beneficiary. Therefore, at this moment, Li Bangyan must be the one kicking him while he was down.
As for Wang Fu, Cai You was a little unsure of his current state of mind.
Under such circumstances, it was rather difficult for him to turn black into white on his own.
Therefore, without thinking twice, he directly spoke, intending to bring in the newly appointed Minister of Justice, Fan Zhixu.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, your servant believes that the Prime Minister is the teacher of all officials. Since this matter concerns the Prime Minister's dignity, it is best not to let too many irrelevant people know before the case is investigated!"
Li Bangyan, seeing that he had the upper hand, naturally did not want too many irrelevant people to appear at this time.
After all, too much talk leads to mistakes, and he did not want the duck that was already cooked to fly away due to a careless argument among them.
Ever since his father-in-law got into trouble, he had been suppressed to death by Bai Shizhong and Wang Fu.
Now that he finally had a chance to turn the tables, he was unwilling to let it go easily.
"If you truly cared about the Prime Minister's dignity, you should not have allowed a Grand Councilor of the nation to be so humiliated!"
"Scholar Cai, are you questioning His Majesty?"
"Enough!"
Hearing their argument, Zhao Ji felt a headache. This matter was indeed becoming more and more troublesome.
Having reached this point, he understood that although this matter seemed trivial, if not handled properly, it could cause unnecessary misunderstandings.
After all, Zhong Shidao was no ordinary general. His prestige in the Western Army was truly unmatched.
Especially with the imminent war, he should have retired long ago.
It was the emperor who forcibly retained him, allowing him to remain in his post until now. At his advanced age, he still had to fight for the country.
Such a person, if he were to be ostracized over some financial matters, would not that chill the hearts of all the soldiers in the empire?
Even if he were extremely foolish, he would not dare to take this risk at this juncture.
After pondering for a moment, Zhao Ji spoke again, "Minister Bai, don't say that I don't give you a chance to defend yourself. You say you did not frame or trouble Zhong Shidao. I ask you, where is the document for Zhong Shidao's transfer?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, a minor clerk accidentally smudged ink on it. I have already sent someone to re-process it..."
Upon hearing the emperor ask about this matter again, Bai Shizhong, as if grabbing a life-saving straw, quickly replied.
"Who handled this matter, and where is the document now?"
"It was handled by Xin Zhuo, the Deputy Director of the Department of Personnel Affairs in the Ministry of Personnel. For such an important document, according to regulations, it would have been registered and then burned by now..."
Bai Shizhong said in a low voice.
"Guards, order Gao Qiu, the Commander of the Palace Guard, to immediately send people to the Ministry of Personnel and bring all those involved in this matter to the palace! And let him personally go to Prime Minister Bai's residence and bring these five paintings to the palace!"
"Yes!"
Just by looking at Bai Shizhong's pale face, Cai You knew that things had become troublesome.
However, based on the information he had, the other party had put a lot of effort into this matter.
With this series of interlocking stratagems launched all at once, even Cai You, who considered himself exceptionally intelligent, was now helpless.
The eunuch who delivered the decree left, and silence fell over the hall again.
Bai Shizhong knelt silently on the ground. Beside him was Cai You, the wronged party. Wang Fu stood before and behind on the left. Li Bangyan stood proudly on the right.
And the emperor Zhao Ji sat on the dragon throne in the center of the hall, his right hand resting on the back of the throne, his slender fingers tapping rhythmically on the armrest.
Everyone was silent. The atmosphere in the hall was so oppressive that Bai Shizhong could barely breathe.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, Xin Zhuo, Deputy Director of the Department of Personnel Affairs in the Ministry of Personnel, and thirteen others have all been brought!"
In just half an hour, it felt like a century to Bai Shizhong.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the five famous paintings from Prime Minister Bai's residence have all been brought!"
It was only when Gao Qiu returned to report that the strange atmosphere was broken again.
"Let's talk about these paintings first, Minister Bai. Where did you get these things?"
Zhao Ji himself was a connoisseur of calligraphy and painting, so he could naturally distinguish their authenticity.
Among these items, the "Court Ladies Adorned in Hairpins" alone was worth no less than thirty thousand strings of cash!
Adding the remaining ones, their value was even more inestimable.
"Your servant..."
Bai Shizhong was truly in a pickle. The origin of these items was not proper.
Now, he really had no way to explain. He had a bad habit.
He would basically add his private seal to every painting he collected.
These paintings were no exception. If he hadn't seen them, he might have had an explanation.
But now, with his seal on them, even if he claimed they were sent to him for authentication as a lie, who would believe him?
"Reporting to Your Majesty, these paintings were all bought by your servant from a traveling merchant!"
There was no other way. He truly had no way to explain these things, so he could only try to stick to his story.
"Prime Minister Bai, what you're saying is quite interesting. You won't be saying that you don't know the merchant's whereabouts or name, will you?"