"Minister Wang, you live in a high-walled mansion, feast on delicacies, but have you contributed even an ounce of silver for the cityâs development?"
"Minister Wang, you speak of benevolence and morality, but what have you done for those suffering citizens?"
"Not to mention past wars, but take the present. Minister Wang, you claim knowing a bit of medical skills is nothing remarkable, so why didnât you step in when the Crown Prince was critically ill? Arenât you also skilled in medicine?"
"Minister Wang often submits memos accusing this or that person, but what about yourself? Your mistress is quite beautiful, I hear she is just twenty and already three months pregnant. Minister Wang, you are indeed quite energetic for your age..."
"You..." Wang Minxueâs face turned grim.
"Yang Ruxin, youâre too presumptuous, to dare attack a Court official in public..." Another tall, thin man stood up, full of righteous indignation.
"And who might you be?"
"Cao Zhan."
"Ah, so itâs the Assistant Minister of the Court of Judicial." Yang Ruxin nodded slightly. "Did I say anything wrong? Is speaking the truth considered an attack?"
Since Gu Qingheng entered the capital, he had begun gathering information about certain ministers, and the capabilities of the Shadow Guards were not to be underestimated; now was the time they came in handy.
Of course, it also helped that Yang Ruxin had a good memory and remembered everything she read.
"Who doesnât know Minister Wang is fair and just, yet you falsely accuse him." Cao Zhan spoke, bowing to the Emperor, "Emperor, such a woman should be expelled."
"How does Minister Cao know itâs false?" Yang Ruxin laughed. "Without evidence, itâs called slander. What if thereâs evidence? Canât the Emperor send someone to Gourd Alley to find the girl with a red beauty mark between her brows and ask her? Wouldnât then the truth be revealed?"
Wang Minxueâs face turned even grimmer, yet he didnât know how to refute, for everything Yang Ruxin said was true. But how did she find out?
"You... you dare to spy on Court officials?" Cao Zhanâs tone became severe.
"Spy?" Yang Ruxin sneered. "Minister Cao thinks too highly of me. With so many civil and military officials, never mind my lack of ability, even if I had it, could I spy on everyone? Havenât you heard of the saying âtruth is stranger than fictionâ?"
"What?"
"Not far from Gourd Alley, thereâs an old man selling crispy pastries. They say his pastries are made using a secret family recipe and taste exceptionally good. Every day, many people queue up to buy them..."
"Indeed." At this moment, someone nodded. "That old Suâs pastries are truly delicious. My old man loves them and has to buy a couple every few days."
"Sorry, but I also love them, so I saw Minister Wang coming out of Gourd Alley. At first, I thought nothing of it, but neighbors around were gossiping, saying a girl lives in the deepest house of the alley, kept as a mistress..." Yang Ruxin spoke, looking at Wang Minxue, "Just now in Court, I thought you looked familiar..."
Wang Minxueâs lips were slightly trembling. Keeping a mistress may not be a crime, but it severely tarnishes his reputation, especially as an Imperial Censor, one who oversees others, but now...
"Emperor, if Minister Wang truly has..." Another old man stood up slowly, "then he is unfit to be an Imperial Censor."
Yang Ruxinâs eyes flickered, she recognized this old man as Lan Bingcen, the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial.