Chapter 122

Chapter 122: Punishment for Others, Reward for Her

Yu Zhi Yi bowed to each person and said: “Greetings to Your Majesty, to Your Majesty the Empress, and to the Princess.”

Princess Feng Xiang widened her bright eyes, then pointed at Yu Zhi Yi and complained: “Emperor Father, Empress Mother, look: I told you I was right. She clearly knew who I am, so she refused to give me face on purpose. If she gives me no face, she gives you no face.”

The emperor frowned at Yu Zhi Yi and asked: “Minister Yu, is what the princess says true?”

Yu Zhi Yi sighed and said: “To report to Your Majesty, the princess shouted ‘Emperor Father and Empress Mother’ so loudly that I heard it outside the hall. It would be hard not to guess her identity. In the Great Sheng Empire, there is only one adult princess, Princess Feng Xiang. I also heard Princess Feng Xiang likes bright red.”

The emperor and the empress fell silent, and Princess Feng Xiang also glanced at Yu Zhi Yi in surprise.

Princess Feng Xiang glared and said: “Do not change the subject. I asked if you knew who I was when we were outside the palace.”

Yu Zhi Yi paused, then said: “Monks do not tell lies. I truly did not know.” [But I am not a monk.]

Princess Feng Xiang choked on her words, then said with clear disbelief: “You are lying. You knew. Otherwise why did you say those things to me? You were sure I understood Emperor Father’s temper.”

Yu Zhi Yi asked in return: “Are you not the princess? If you knew His Majesty would be angry, would you still go there to make trouble?”

Princess Feng Xiang stalled again, then burst out: “Who said I would make trouble? I am the eldest princess. I am not rude and wild.”

Yu Zhi Yi looked at her calmly and asked: “Then please tell me, if you knew there was a kidnapper gang in the city that hurts the children they steal and forces them to beg, what would you do?”

Princess Feng Xiang drew a sharp breath and said: “You mean them? Of course I would take people to strike first and cut them down before they could react.”

Yu Zhi Yi turned to the emperor and said: “Your Majesty, this is why I did not want the princess to go. The princess is kind, but her status is high and she would not take my orders. She grew up deep in the palace with a pure heart. She is not a match for cruel and crafty people. Today our people caught those bandits in the act as they tried to kill and silence witnesses, yet they still denied everything. They even colluded with the deputy county magistrate. If we did not have many witnesses to prove they truly meant to kill, they would have already destroyed the evidence. If the princess saw their vicious faces, she would be very angry. I only wanted to keep the princess from getting angry, so I persuaded her to return. I never looked down on the princess.”

The emperor thought: [Listen to how sweetly she talks. She keeps calling my princess pure and kind, so much that I am starting to mix it up with foolish and rash.]

The emperor said to his daughter: “Did you hear that? Minister Yu did not look down on you, and she did not look down on me. Go back first.”

Princess Feng Xiang had just been praised, yet something felt off. The praise sounded strange. She did not want to leave, so she tugged the emperor’s sleeve and said: “No, Emperor Father, I want to hear how she keeps arguing.”

The emperor sighed and said to Yu Zhi Yi: “This child is spoiled by me. Minister Yu, do not laugh at her.”

Yu Zhi Yi, who was one year younger than Princess Feng Xiang, said: “I would not dare. About the last two days, I was going to report the situation to Your Majesty.”

The emperor raised a brow and asked: “What situation?”

Yu Zhi Yi chose her words, then began with Yiluan Charity. After she explained its setup and its goal, she said: “Old Man Zhang was our first person to help. I did not expect he would be tied to so much trouble. These two days I used my Ministry of Justice authority more than once to handle private matters. That went beyond my bounds. I know my fault. I am willing to hand over my seal and Ministry of Justice token and demote myself to a commoner.”

The emperor raised a brow and said: “Oh? So you know you were wrong?”

Yu Zhi Yi said: “I have been reading the Sheng Statutes. What I did counts as abusing power. But the matter was urgent. Both Wu Liang and the gang in Gaoliang County were cunning. If we released them, we would not know where to find them next time. I had no choice but to use that authority. Still, merits cannot cancel faults. Wrong is wrong. If every official acted outside the rules as I did, the realm would fall into disorder. So there must be no leniency.”

The emperor thought: [She has already said everything herself. She even thought up dismissal as the penalty.] For a moment he did not know whether to praise or scold. At last he shook his head and said with a half-smile: “Do not think I do not know you. You are a lazy slick one. You never wanted to serve in the Ministry of Justice. This time you are just going with the flow. Dismissal is a punishment to others, but a reward to you. Do you think I will fall for it?”

A fine crack finally showed on Yu Zhi Yi’s blank face. [Was I that obvious?]

Seeing her expression, the emperor almost rolled his eyes and said, annoyed: “Do not even think about it. Starting tomorrow, except on your rest days, you must solve one case every day. If you fail, then you will sit in the Ministry of Justice and read case files every day.”

Yu Zhi Yi froze. [What, now I am being forced to solve cases?] She had read storybooks where high officials ordered magistrates and constables to solve crimes in a few days, and she always thought that was ridiculous. She never expected real life to be even more ridiculous.

She tried to fight for herself and said: “But Your Majesty, even if I can infer cause and effect in most things, cases in the Ministry of Justice are different. Solving a case needs evidence.”

Before the emperor could speak, Princess Feng Xiang said: “Didn’t the matter of Wu Liang have no evidence?”

Yu Zhi Yi sighed and said: “Yes, the Wu Liang case had no solid evidence. But by chance, two people related to him and Ma Bo Cai happened to be in the capital. Also, he did not know every detail of Ma Bo Cai’s life. I could bluff him. How many such coincidences can there be in the world? Those old Ministry of Justice cases were cut off because there were no clues or proof. Even if I can infer the truth from signs, for places far away or for hidden evidence, we still need time to find it. One case a day really will not work.”

The emperor made the final call and said: “A grand State Preceptor of the Sheng Kingdom can do it.”

Yu Zhi Yi stared and thought: [What?! Where did State Preceptor come from? I came to resign. How did I become a State Preceptor?]