CH 43

Chapter 43: You said I embezzled money from the students? Where did their money come from?

At this moment, someone finally couldn’t help but stand up. It was Lin Beifan’s old rival, the censor Yao Zheng.

He spoke loudly, “Your Majesty, I want to impeach someone!”

“Sir Yao, who do you want to impeach?” the empress asked.

“I want to impeach the new top scholar and director of the Imperial Academy, Lin Beifan!” Yao Zheng glared at Lin Beifan and spoke loudly.

Lin Beifan shook his head inwardly. This old guy couldn’t resist causing trouble again!

Did I fuck his wife or kidnap his daughter-in-law? Why does he always keep an eye on me?

The empress, sitting high on her dragon throne, was also very displeased.

I just rewarded Lin Beifan, and you come out to impeach him. You’re too short-sighted! It’s obvious that you don’t take me seriously!

Moreover, there are so many corrupt officials and flatterers in the court. You don’t impeach them, but instead you impeach a truly honest and loyal official, my trusted confidant. What kind of reasoning is this?

Are you deliberately causing trouble with me?

As she thought about it, the empress’s face darkened.

Under the empress’s deadly gaze, Yao Zheng began to sweat, and his face turned pale.

In fact, he was also very helpless.

At this point, Lin Beifan hadn’t achieved any notable accomplishments yet, but the empress was already favoring him. When he is promoted and has more power and influence, it will be even harder to bring him down!

Therefore, he had to stand up at this time.

“Sir Yao, what mistake has Lin Aiqing made that you want to impeach him? If you can’t give a concrete reason, I will punish you for your crime!” the empress said with authority.

This was already a very serious warning!

Generally, when a censor makes an accusation, even if they are wrong, they are not punished.

This is a power granted to censors by the court, to allow them to speak boldly and exercise their supervisory power without constraint or interference from anyone.

Now, the empress said she wanted to punish him if he had no evidence, which meant she was very angry.

Yao Zheng, trembling with fear, said, “Your Majesty, I accuse Lin Beifan of embezzlement and abuse of power for personal gain! Since he took office as the Director of the Imperial Academy, he has used his power to extort over two million taels of silver from students through threats, intimidation, and robbery, corrupting the academic atmosphere and undermining education! Therefore, I have come to report this to Your Majesty and ask you to investigate!”

“Sir Lin, is there such a thing?” asked the empress.

Lin Beifan calmly saluted and said, “In response to Your Majesty’s question, there is absolutely no such thing! Sir Yao’s words are completely groundless!”

Yao Zheng angrily pointed at Lin Beifan and said, “Lin Beifan, do you dare deny it?”

Lin Beifan remained composed and said, “I have not done anything wrong. How can I admit to something that I haven’t done?”

Yao Zheng grew even more furious and said, “You dare to quibble?”

Lin Beifan countered, “Mr. Yao, you keep accusing me of embezzling money from students. Let me ask you, whose money did I embezzle?”

Yao Zheng shouted, “The son of the Minister of Personnel, Gao Tianyu, and the son of the Deputy Minister of Personnel, Bai Yulang…”

He listed their names one by one, speaking with conviction. Lin Beifan then asked, “How much did I embezzle?”

“I don’t know the exact amount, but it definitely exceeds two million taels!” Yao Zheng shouted loudly.

Lin Beifan chuckled and said, “Sir Yao, you accused me of embezzling money from these students, and the amount reached 2 million! The question is, 2 million is not a small amount, where did their money come from?”

“Their money is, of course, from…”

Yao choked and his face turned paler, sweat dripping down.

Looking up, he saw all the high-ranking officials staring at him with very unfriendly and warning eyes.

Looking up again, he saw the empress looking at him with a playful gaze.

This was a hot potato!

A hot potato that no one could touch!

Once it was revealed, either everyone would be doomed or they would just have to drink three cups and let the matter pass!

But no matter what the outcome, the person who personally revealed this hot potato would definitely end up dead!

“Sir Yao, please speak up, where did their money come from? They are all good students who don’t produce anything and are busy studying every day. Where did they get so much money from?”

Yao’s face turned even paler.

“And their fathers are all here, all honest and upright officials, with not much money in their hands. How much money could their children possibly have?”

Yao’s face turned even paler.

“I believe that all the gentlemen here today will lead by example and educate their own children well! They will definitely not let their children do anything wrong, so they cannot possibly have any money on them! Since they have no money, how could I have embezzled anything?”

Lin Beifan spread his hands and said, “Gentlemen, am I right?”

At this point, even if they didn’t want to, everyone had to speak up for Lin Beifan.

“What Director Lin said is true! How could my son have money?”

“Usually, I lead by example and educate my descendants carefully, never neglecting even a bit!”

“I know my son well, he is not that kind of person and would never do anything wrong!”

“So…” Lin Beifan took advantage of the situation, pointed at Yao Zheng, and said loudly, “Lord Yao is just talking nonsense, trying to confuse right and wrong!”

Yao Zheng was already paralyzed on the ground.