Gu Chengyin's words completely blocked his retreat of trying to smooth things over.
Either resolve the missing accounts issue immediately, or prepare to face a political storm that would reach the ears of the Emperor.
This made him feel incredibly troubled, especially since the other Grand Secretaries remained silent.
Cui Shifan knew he had to adjust his strategy, so he turned his gaze to the other party involved in this storm.
"Minister Shangguan."
Cui Shifan used his formal official title: "You heard what the Marquis of Bingjian just said. Since this matter has been brought before the Grand Secretariat and concerns His Highness's vital affairs, what do you have to say?"
He kicked the ball to Shangguan Yuan, both to give him a chance to defend himself and to hear the Ministry of Revenue's official stance, hoping to find a breakthrough to resolve the deadlock.
Shangguan Yuan had been holding in a bellyful of grievances and was just waiting for this opportunity.
Hearing Cui Shifan's question, he immediately exploded like a lit firecracker, slamming his hand on the table.
With his other hand still covering his bruised right eye, he indignantly complained:
"Grand Secretary Xiao! Grand Secretary Cui! Grand Secretary Hu! Grand Secretary Yuan! You are all here, so please judge this for me!"
He pointed at Gu Chengyin, his finger trembling. "I say this Gu Chengyin is simply being unreasonable! Making a scene out of nothing! Seizing on a pretext to make a fuss! Relying on His Highness's trust to act lawlessly!"
A string of derogatory terms burst forth, venting his anger.
"Yes! The Ministry of Revenue does have some old accounts. Due to the limited conditions of the storehouses and the passage of time, some attachments are indeed missing, and the paper is damaged!"
"But so what?! Is this some heinous, unforgivable crime?!"
"Those old accounts are ancient history! Times have changed, personnel have rotated, and the people who handled them back then might not even be around anymore."
"The relevant receipts and vouchers might have been lost or destroyed long ago! Where am I supposed to find complete data for him now?! Is that realistic?!"
"Oh! According to him, as long as we can't find those trivial old accounts, our entire Ministry of Revenue, hundreds of people, can't do any real work for a single day?!"
"We all have to drop all pressing official duties, ignore the money, grain, and taxes of the two capitals and thirteen commanderies, and go dig through moldy piles of old paper for him?!"
"This is simply absurd! Nonsense!"
Finally, Shangguan Yuan threw out what he considered his most powerful counterargument, his tone carrying a sense of grievance and injustice:
"Grand Secretaries, please see clearly! Our Ministry of Revenue's accounts for this year! The core revenue and expenditure summaries from past years! They are all complete, clearly organized, and available for inspection at any time!"
"We are already too busy with this year's proper business, so why must he cling to those old accounts that are bound to have some flaws due to their age?!"
"Isn't this neglecting the essentials for the trivial, and deliberately finding fault?!"
Having been immersed in the imperial court for decades, Cui Shifan instantly grasped the core of Shangguan Yuan's rhetoric.
Shifting the focus, dodging the heavy to take the light.
The fact that the old accounts were incomplete was an objective reality, but this did not directly equate to there being a problem with the contents of the accounts themselves.
In this way, even if the Grand Secretariat ultimately determined that the Ministry of Revenue was negligent in its safekeeping and needed to be held accountable.
Compared to the major crime of unclear accounts and suspected embezzlement, poor safekeeping was much lighter; at most, it would result in a fine, a reprimand, and an order to rectify.
This old fox shifted the blame cleanly and neatly, even cloaking himself in the guise of a victim.
However, the problem was that Gu Chengyin was not here to pursue the secondary responsibility of poor safekeeping.
Shangguan Yuan's defense seemed reasonable but actually completely bypassed Gu Chengyin's core demand.
It merely tangled endlessly over a minor issue.
How could Gu Chengyin possibly accept such an evasive explanation?
The arguments of both sides were like two parallel lines; they seemed to be arguing about the same thing, but in reality, they were not on the same wavelength at all.
Cui Shifan saw this clearly, and his heart grew increasingly irritable.
So he cast his gaze toward Xiao Song, who was sitting opposite him.
"Grand Secretary Xiao."
Cui Shifan weighed his words and probed, "In your view, how should this matter be handled?"
He needed the opinion of Xiao Song, the Senior Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat, even if it was just to provide a line of thought, it would relieve a lot of pressure.
Hearing Cui Shifan's inquiry, Xiao Song, whose eyes had been half-closed as if his mind was wandering beyond the heavens, slowly opened a slit in his eyes.
In those cloudy old eyes, a sharp light that saw through the ways of the world flashed, as if he had long seen through the essence of this dispute.
He did not answer immediately; his gaze lingered for a moment on the Crown Prince's token in front of Gu Chengyin.
It then slowly swept over Shangguan Yuan's bruised eye socket, before finally landing on Cui Shifan's face.
"This matter..."
"It's not up to me to decide."
"It's not up to you, either."
"Only His Majesty has the final say."
After saying these few short words, Xiao Song closed his eyelids again, returning to his drowsy appearance.
However, these words plunged everyone present into deep thought.
Only His Majesty has the final say.
What did this mean?!
Was it implying that this matter had exceeded the scope of the Grand Secretariat and required His Majesty's personal ruling?
Or did Xiao Song see that this matter could not be resolved peacefully, and simply kicked the ball to Emperor Luo, letting the highest decision-maker bear the responsibility and potential consequences?
Cui Shifan's brows furrowed even tighter.
Reaching the ears of the Emperor.
This meant that the Grand Secretariat's initiative would be greatly weakened, and it also meant that the matter would be completely publicized, leaving no room for maneuvering.
This ran entirely counter to his initial idea of trying to smooth things over.
But he also had to admit that, facing someone like Gu Chengyin, who was impervious to reason and held high the banner of the Crown Prince.
And Shangguan Yuan's evasive defense, the conventional methods of the Grand Secretariat had indeed failed.
Did they really have to disturb His Majesty?
Just as the council hall fell into an even deeper silence.
Tap, tap, tap.
The sound of unhurried footsteps approached from the corridor outside the door.
Everyone in the hall unanimously turned their gazes toward the door.
A subordinate official of the Grand Secretariat rushed in first, reporting urgently and rapidly:
"R-reporting to all Your Excellencies... Eunuch Lyu Fang has arrived!"
Before his voice had faded, a crimson figure had already appeared at the door of the council hall.
Lyu Fang.
He was still wearing his signature crimson python robe. His pale, beardless face bore his customary gentle smile, and his eyes were calm and placid, as if he were just dropping by for a visit.
But just standing there, he naturally brought an aura of imperial authority into this already solemn council hall.
Lyu Fang stepped slowly into the hall. His gaze first lingered for a moment on Gu Chengyin and the Crown Prince's token.
Then it swept over the Grand Secretaries present, before finally landing on Shangguan Yuan, his eyes devoid of any ripples.
Standing still and facing the crowd, he skipped any unnecessary pleasantries and spoke directly:
"An imperial edict."
These few simple words exploded like thunder.
Clatter.
Aside from Gu Chengyin, the three Grand Secretaries all sprang up from their seats as if by reflex!
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
agon king storylines. At the start, I obtained the "Ultimate Lackey System" - the more I act as a lackey, the stronger I become. What else could I do? I chose to become the personal henchman of the ultimate villain, Su Muwan. I provoke all sorts of chosen ones, snatch away their opportunities, and commit every evil deed imaginable. You ask who's behind me? Hmph! You're not worthy of knowing my lady's name! ...... ....... I am Su Muwan, the eldest daughter of the Su family. Since childhood, I've possessed extraordinary talent in martial arts, which led to my arrogant and domineering personality in my past life. I was even foolish enough to repeatedly challenge those favored by heaven, ultimately resulting in a tragic death. In this life, I must behave and absolutely cannot walk the same path again!! However... SLAP!! "So you're the Dragon King, huh?!" When I saw my little lackey swagger over and viciously slap the Dragon King who was hiding his identity, I felt my heart sink. Su Muwan's suspended heart finally died as she watched Qin Luo, her utterly loyal lackey, standing before her. She fainted on the spot from shock. Heaven is determined to destroy me!! (Pure love 1v1, light-hearted, no angst, single female lead, villain, reincarnation, lackey)
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
