The Qing Kingdom's Emperor was actually waiting for Fan Xian's self-defense memorial. He originally intended to casually gloss over it, as any emperor of a prosperous age is adept at "muddying the waters."

But he didn't expect Fan Xian to completely ignore it, acting as if he was guiltless and wandering around, throwing the problem back to him. He thought rather maliciously - aren't you trying to make me bite? You, as the emperor, should be protecting me. If I lose face over such a small matter now, wouldn't you throw me to the Empress Dowager as a side dish when it comes to dealing with Xin Yang and cleaning up the Eldest Princess?

An ordinary favored minister, a civil official, wouldn't have Fan Xian's sharp edges and willingness to gamble. The imperial heart is unpredictable, and imperial power is fickle. If a minister becomes arrogant, who knows when the Emperor might remember you rode in his carriage and have you executed without any recourse.

But Fan Xian knew he wasn't an ordinary minister, and the Emperor didn't know that he knew, so things became interesting. He was testing how far the Emperor was willing to go for him.

...

...

On the seventh day after the censors collectively submitted their memorial, Fan Xian arrived outside the palace gates in a carriage. As soon as he stepped out, the officials from the Qi Nian group surrounded him in the center, their black and grey clothing, indifferent expressions, and upright postures all declaring his identity.

The officials gathered at the palace gates naturally knew that this was the person everyone was discussing during tea breaks these days. If nothing else, Fan Xian was the number one person in the Supervisory Council for openly using secret agents to protect himself.

Today was court assembly day, and His Majesty had specially summoned Fan Xian to attend. All the officials knew what would be discussed today, and they couldn't help but feel excited. Some civil officials who were friendly with the Fan family came over to exchange a few polite words with Fan Xian, using the excuse of the cold weather to retreat to the side of the palace gate.

At this time, on both sides of the square imperial road, there were only five or six officials wearing crimson robes, standing in opposition to Fan Xian's group of Supervisory Council officials wearing black robes. Their gazes seemed to pierce through each other's ranks, reaching towards the distant city walls, ignoring each other's presence.

Those officials wearing crimson robes were precisely the censors from the Censorate who had submitted memorials impeaching Fan Xian. Fan Xian coldly looked at them, lowering his voice and saying, "Each one looks like a pig, yet they're supposedly incorruptible officials?"

Deng Ziyue said in a low voice beside him, "The First Bureau has been investigating for several days, and they haven't found anything. My Lord, these censors from the Censorate mostly come from humble backgrounds and value their reputation the most. It's their only asset. They are extremely careful even when accepting a gift cake from the doorman, making it extremely difficult to find anything."

Fan Xian frowned and sighed, "When officials aren't corrupt, the world suffers."

Deng Ziyue smiled wryly, thinking that Chief Supervisor's "witty remark" was a bit absurd.

The censors of the Censorate coldly looked at Fan Xian, without a trace of fear in their eyes. Fan Xian knew that they were truly not afraid of him. He thought with a wry smile, if the officials were all incorruptible, what use would he, the Chief Supervisor of the Supervisory Council, be? The other party were officials of the speech, he couldn't possibly send a few subordinates to assassinate them; even if the emperor wanted, he would only banish himself back to Danzhou.

Fan Xian understood that the most precious thing in this world was an incorruptible official, and he also believed in the First Bureau's investigative abilities. The few people in front of him must be truly incorruptible officials. But he also understood that the most terrifying thing in this world was for incorruptible officials to swarm up and become your enemies! - Thinking of this, he couldn't help but admire his young and beautiful mother-in-law, who was able to mobilize these incorruptible officials. She really had some tricks up her sleeve.

While Fan Xian was secretly sighing on this side, little did he know that the censors of the Censorate were also sighing inwardly as they looked at this Chief Supervisor.

Fan Xian's actions in the past month or so had revealed his true nature hidden beneath the facade of a poetic genius. He was a corrupt official, and even a budding and skillful courtier. They had gathered enough evidence, but why hadn't His Majesty said anything? They weren't worried that His Majesty would punish them severely for protecting Fan Xian. On the one hand, they firmly believed that His Majesty was an enlightened ruler. On the other hand, what did the Censor-in-Chief do? He shouldered moral responsibility and offered advice to the Emperor even if he died! They only sought for a legacy of integrity!

But the censors of the Censorate had not had a good time these past few days. First of all, their attempts to connect with other officials in the court had been ineffective. No matter which ministry's officials they approached, they remained polite but refused to co-sign their memorial. Secondly, they had failed to stir up public opinion among the scholars. Those talented individuals who used to openly criticize the court in the marketplace shook their heads when they heard that they were impeaching Fan Xian, simply refusing to believe it.

And what frustrated the censors the most was the attitude of the young people in the Imperial College. The censor who went to the Imperial College to mobilize the students was eventually driven out - no one believed that the esteemed poetic genius, the designated successor of the great Zhuang Mohan, the son of the Minister of Revenue, the idol of a generation of young scholars, and the dream lover of countless young women, would be so morally bankrupt as to covet such a small amount of money!

"Thirteen thousand four hundred taels, is just a little bit of money?"

Perhaps the censors of the Censorate were truly used to being poor, so this was the thing they couldn't understand the most.

At this moment, a gust of morning wind suddenly swept through, invigorating the officials waiting outside the palace. Immediately after, their expressions changed as they looked at the rain cloud floating over with the morning light and retreated into the palace gate. The imperial guards and eunuchs didn't dare let these high-ranking officials get wet, so they didn't stop them.

Kyoto often changed faces in autumn. After the wind came the rain. An autumn rain fell down, transforming from fine drizzle to heavy downpour in a few breaths. The large expanse of bluestone pavement between the royal palaces was immediately soaked, revealing a thick, dark black color.

At this time, only Fan Xian's group and the censors of the Censorate were standing outside the palace gate. The rain poured down on them, but they didn't react at all. Fan Xian narrowed his eyes, looked at the other party, and suddenly said, "Censor Lai, let's take shelter from the rain."

He was addressing Lai Mingcheng, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, a high-ranking official of the third rank. Censor Lai coldly looked at him and said, "Does Lord Fan think that standing in this rain will wash away the sins on your body?"

Censor Lai cupped his fist and said, "Today, when I face the Emperor, this official will definitely impeach Lord Fan to the end!"

Fan Xian raised his eyebrows slightly, thinking that this censor was also cleverly evil. He smiled, cupped his fist in return and said, "Is that so? I wonder if Lord Lai would have such heroic spirit if a member of the imperial family broke the law."

The Left Censor-in-Chief was so angry that he didn't want to speak. He flicked his sleeves and walked towards the palace gate. The few censors behind him actually knelt directly in the rain!

"Playing the trick of kneeling at the palace gate?" Fan Xian felt both pity and amusement towards these people. He sighed, "In life, one only seeks fame. I really don't know what the court is raising you people for."

The few censors kneeling in the rain glared back angrily!

Fan Xian ignored them, raised the rain hat behind him to cover his head, smiled slightly and said, "This official is black, and no matter how you wash it, it will still be black. Although you gentlemen are red, once you're washed by the rain, you'll turn black."

Rainwater slid down the Supervisory Council uniform on his body. The lotus-cloth was smooth and waterproof, and the black was still that gloomy black.

And the colors of the censors' official uniforms gradually darkened after being soaked by the heavy rain, gradually approaching black.

The censors looked down at the clothes on their bodies, allowing the rain to wash over their faces, but stubbornly remained silent.

—————————————————————

After all the important court matters had been discussed, His Majesty the Emperor seemed to have just noticed Left Censor-in-Chief Lai Mingcheng and Supervisory Council Chief Supervisor Fan Xian. He frowned in annoyance, had the eunuch summon the two of them forward, and said coldly, "Speak in front of all the officials in the court."

The Left Censor-in-Chief adjusted his official uniform and said loudly, "What this official has to say is already in the memorial. I implore Your Majesty to quickly investigate this case in order to purify the court and quell the people's grievances!"

The Emperor turned to look at Fan Xian: "Why has your self-defense memorial not been submitted to the Secretariat?"

Fan Xian bowed respectfully and said, "This official has not written a memorial."

The Emperor reprimanded: "How arrogant! The Censorate impeaches all officials, and you are the first to be so arrogant and dismissive! Don't think that because your family has been loyal for generations, and you have contributed to the country and gained fame in the past year, that I will be reluctant to punish you!"

Fan Xian knew that the Emperor was angry because he had remained silent, and because he had thrown the problem back to him. He pleaded guilty, "This official truly does not know how to write a memorial of defense... This official is guilty."

His Majesty's expression softened slightly, and he said, "Considering that you are new to officialdom, Fan Jian is also busy with official duties, and that old thing Chen Pingping wouldn't teach you these things, I will spare you this time. Today, I summoned you to the palace to hear how you will defend yourself, and how you will explain to all the civil and military officials."

Fan Xian showed a troubled expression, and after a long while, he hesitantly opened his mouth and said, "This official... truly does not know how to defend himself."

His Majesty's face immediately turned gloomy, and he said, word by word, "Then you admit your guilt?"

Fan Xian suddenly raised his head, his face showing a bitter expression, and said, "Your Majesty, this official does not admit guilt! The reason why this official does not defend himself is because the accusations made by the Censorate are truly absurd and baseless. This official is completely unaware of the situation, and does not know who is involved in the so-called bribery and perversion of justice, so I simply do not know where to start defending myself."