Son-in-law Heaven Emperor Xiao Yi

The imperial palace, the imperial study.

Li Shengtian was filled with righteous indignation, "Your Majesty, Xiao Yi has gone too far. He has the audacity to drive Mr. Chen out of the Xiaoshanhe Institute; this is already undermining the very foundation of the institution!"

At his side, Tian Xiao added fuel to the fire, "Your Majesty is unaware, when Chen Shuiwen left, nearly all the instructors and over two-thirds of the disciples at the Xiaoshanhe Institute voluntarily followed him. One can imagine how unpopular Xiao Yi is. To monopolize power, he actually drove the hardworking and meritorious Chen Shuiwen away, it is truly disheartening!"

On one side of them.

Chen Shuiwen was kneeling on the ground, his face filled with grief and despair, his shoulders twitching, unable to cry out, "Your Majesty, this subordinate is not coveting the position of deputy director. It is truly because over the years, I have devoted myself wholeheartedly to the Xiaoshanhe Institute. I have come to regard it as my own home. Xiao Yi expelled me from the Xiaoshanhe Institute for no reason, my heart aches..."

Li Shengtian spoke with righteous indignation, "How can such a person be in charge of the Xiaoshanhe Institute? I implore Your Majesty to rescind the order, and let Chen Shuiwen continue to manage the Xiaoshanhe Institute!"

Tian Xiao declared loudly, "I implore Your Majesty to rescind the order!"

Emperor Qian sat upright behind the desk.

Squinting his eyes.

Listening quietly as the three of them argued back and forth, he remained silent and showed no sign of any emotional change.

After hesitating for a moment, Li Shengtian said gravely, "Your Majesty, I have heard that Xiao Yi even crippled His Highness Yang Jin. This man is simply lawless, showing absolutely no regard for Your Majesty!"

"Exactly, he even dared to cripple a prince, isn't this an act of rebellion?" Tian Xiao said.

"Rebellion? The two of you are placing a heavy accusation upon me; I really can't bear such a charge!"

Xiao Yi's voice came from outside the door, "Your Majesty, Xiao Yi seeks an audience!"

Emperor Qian raised an eyebrow, his squinted eyes opening slightly, and said, "Enter!"

"Yes!"

Xiao Yi entered the imperial study with his head held high and chest out.

Head held high, chest out.

His stature as upright as pine and cypress, his backbone like a piercing heavenly sword.

Xiao Yi bowed to Emperor Qian, "Xiao Yi pays respects to Your Majesty!"

"Hmm!"

Emperor Qian, neither joyous nor sad, with an unreadable expression, said indifferently, "Xiao Yi, Mr. Li and Tian, along with Chen Shuiwen, accuse you of clinging to power for your own personal gain, forcing Chen Shuiwen to leave the Xiaoshanhe Institute. Is there truth to this?"

Xiao Yi, with a detached gaze, glanced at the three men and said, "There is!"

"Your Majesty, see, he has admitted it!" Li Shengtian said.

Tian Xiao followed up, "How brazen, Xiao Yi! Chen Shuiwen is the deputy director appointed by Your Majesty. Who gave you the authority to dismiss him?"

Emperor Qian remained silent.

Xiao Yi, calm and composed, looked at the two men and spoke neither humbly nor haughtily, "The authority granted to me by Your Majesty, is that sufficient?"

"The authority given to you by His Majesty?"

Li Shengtian scoffed, "Xiao Yi, oh Xiao Yi, do you dare spout nonsense in front of His Majesty? His Majesty is a wise ruler, how could He grant you such authority?"

Xiao Yi raised an eyebrow, "Are you suggesting, Mr. Li, that if this authority really were granted by His Majesty, He would be a negligent ruler?"

"Of course..."

Li Shengtian nodded subconsciously, immediately regretting his words as soon as they left his mouth. Continue reading at My Virtual Library Empire

"How audacious!"

Xiao Yi already had raised his voice to rebuke, his roar like thunder, causing Li Shengtian's complexion to suddenly turn stark white, "Li Shengtian, what are you worth? How dare you insult His Majesty by calling him a negligent ruler?"

Li Shengtian's face turned pale, and he quickly denied, "You, you, you're farting, when did I ever say that His Majesty is a muddle-headed ruler?"

Xiao Yi bowed respectfully towards Emperor Qian and said, "When His Majesty initially appointed me as head of the Xiaoshanhe Institute, he mentioned that the institute would be under my full responsibility. Since it is full responsibility, then not to mention expelling the institute's parasites, even if I decided to kill them, outsiders could not fault me. You say His Majesty is a wise ruler, and wouldn't endow me with such power. Now that I have been granted this power by His Majesty, are you not implying that His Majesty is a muddle-headed ruler?"

"I, I..."

Li Shengtian, sweating profusely, quickly turned to Emperor Qian.

Emperor Qian spoke solemnly, "Indeed, it is a power I gave him."

Thump!

Li Shengtian fell to his knees, his head banging against the floor, "Your Majesty, forgive me, your servant... your servant never had such intentions, this is all Xiao Yi's misinterpretation of your servant..."

"Enough, Li, there is no need for this, you are my trusted official, and I naturally trust you," said Emperor Qian.

Emperor Qian waved his hand, signaling Li Shengtian to stand up. He turned to Xiao Yi and said, "Xiao Yi, although I have given you the authority, you are in charge of the Xiaoshanhe Institute. I should not intervene, but since Mr. Li and Mr. Tian have filed a complaint against you, you should tell them why you expelled Chen Shuiwen from the Xiaoshanhe Institute."

"Yes!"

Xiao Yi nodded and said, "The royal family allocates ten billion silver to the Xiaoshanhe Institute every year, but according to my investigations, the institute's monthly expenditure is merely three hundred million silver. There should be a surplus of over sixty billion silver each year. Chen Shuiwen has been in charge of the Xiaoshanhe Institute for over a decade, which by reasoning should have resulted in a fund of no less than one hundred billion silver, yet now the treasury only holds a few million silver..."

"What?"

"A few million silver?"

Even Li Shengtian and Tian Xiao were taken aback, glaring at Chen Shuiwen.

This information was something Chen Shuiwen had not told them!

But Chen Shuiwen was prepared, and with a sinister smile, he drew out from his bosom a thick account book that appeared aged. He thought to himself with silent glee: Thank goodness I was clever enough to prepare a true and a false set of account books.

The true account book had already been burned away.

The false account book was the one in his hands.@@novelbin@@

Xiao Yi's eyebrows tightened.

Chen Shuiwen gave him a provocative look.

Emperor Qian flipped through the account book. Indeed, inside were detailed records of all expenses, including nearly seventy billion spent on just one ancestral worship ceremony. Emperor Qian frowned and said, "An ancestral worship ceremony requires seventy billion?"

"Your Majesty may not know, the ceremonial standards for the ancestral worship are the highest and naturally the expenses are a bit more!" Chen Shuiwen cried out with an anguished face, "Oh, Your Majesty, I have been wholeheartedly loyal to you! Not only have I not embezzled a single penny, the yearly allocation isn't even sufficient to support the institute's expenses. I have been dipping into my own pockets to cover them. But as a servant of the emperor, it is my duty to relieve Your Majesty's worries, and I have never complained to Your Majesty about my hardships. Yet Xiao Yi uses this as a threat, even so far as to burn the treasury to destroy the account books and to wrongly incriminate me. I am truly wronged!"

Li Shengtian said harshly, "Your Majesty, how can such a loyal official be defamed and framed by others? Please, Your Majesty, stand up for Chen Shuiwen!"

"Please, Your Majesty, stand up for justice!"

Tian Xiao also said.

Emperor Qian frowned slightly and looked towards Xiao Yi, "Xiao Yi, what is your view?"

Gazing at the united front presented by Chen Shuiwen and the others, Xiao Yi's eyes narrowed slightly and the corners of his mouth lifted up subtly. He said, "Your Majesty, I have a way to prove innocence!"