After hearing of the accident of Lord Duan, Ming Lan immediately left Gu Yunjin behind. Following the eunuch who reported the incident, Ming Lan led the people of the Western Depot to the Imperial Ceremony Office.

On the way, Ming Lan heard the little eunuch's explanation of the incident.

A few days ago, in the middle of the night, a maid suddenly jumped into the lotus pond of Xianghe Garden in the Palace.

When internal officials pulled her from the bottom of the lake with difficulty, they found she had been out of breath. Via attestation, it was learned that the body was Caiping of Shanggong Bureau.

People from Shanggong Bureau found a suicide note under her pillow when they sorted the relics for her.

It was stated that Caiping was taken a fancy to by Duan Shaochun, the Supervisor of the service center, and was drugged and insulted after Duan Shaochun failed to threaten her.

Before or after the incident, it was the time when the maids were meeting with their family. Caiping's elder brother stood under the gate of Shenwu for a few days without seeing his sister.

In the end, he waited for Caiping's death from the epidemic, a bag of her relics, and a bone-made jar containing her ashes.

Then, it was unknown who told Caiping's brother the truth and gave him the suicide note.

The man was born a butcher, and he was a rough fellow. In the early morning of the second day after learning the truth, he started to riot outside Shenwu Gate.

Leng Qingtang had just reappointed as the Seal Keeper of the Imperial Ceremony Office. When he learned of this, he launched a large-scale inspection operation in the twelve departments of the Palace.

The purpose was to wipe out all those eunuchs and palace attendants who had misbehaved themselves and ruined the palace rules in the Palace in previous days to rectify the rules of the imperial palace.

The twelve departments of the Palace of Da Yi, namely, the Imperial Ceremony Office, the service center, the Imperial Exclusive Office, the Imperial Horse Office, the Shrine Supervisor, and so on, were in charge of serving the emperor and his family.

When Ming Lan entered the Weiyan Chamber, the Imperial Ceremony Office was arresting people on a large scale.

After that, they escorted a group of offenders and took them all to the backyard of the Imperial Ceremony Office, waiting for the Seal Keeper Leng Qingtang's arrangement.

Ming Lan and his subordinates rushed into the main hall of the Imperial Ceremony Office.

It was, as usual, strangely quiet.

It was the weird silence that made Ming Lan and the crowd feel enveloped by the extremely suppressed cold and murderous aura as soon as they stepped into the door.

In this terrifying atmosphere like a ghostly hell, Ming Lan couldn't move his feet.

While standing still, he could only feel his temples pulsing in panic, and then the skin all over his body became tight, and the hairs stood up suddenly.

The person who stayed in the main hall of the Imperial Ceremony Office was the newly appointed Pen Keeper Liu, and he was also a close friend of the Seal Keeper Leng Qingtang in the palace.

Seeing Ming Lan's too edgy look, Pen Keeper Liu got up from his chair to meet him. His purple lips pulled up a smile line, and the attitude of lowering his eyes showed a three-point chill as if he had been waiting for the arrival of Ming Lan.

Ming Lan ignored Pen Keeper Liu and did not snort at him. He swarmed back to the hall with his subordinates, like driving wolves.

The Violent Room of the Imperial Ceremony Office was in the back hall. The Violent Room was a separate room in the Palace to punish eunuchs and maids who committed crimes.

The twelve departments of the Palace and the residences of the concubines in the imperial harem were all equipped with Violent Rooms.

The Violent Room was small. It was a room with a door but no windows. The inside had been impenetrable for many years, and it was dark, with various cruel and bloody punishments.

When Ming Lan arrived in the backyard, he saw that the outer area of the courtyard, which was more than twenty feet square, was surrounded by the guards of the Imperial Ceremony Office and the Eastern Depot. The dark circle was full of people so that his sight could not reach the inside of it.

However, when arriving here, they could also hear the cry coming from the circle.

Ming Lan signaled to the subordinates, and the young eunuchs who followed immediately stepped forward, separated the encircled crowd, and protected their Master to walk in.

In the middle of the courtyard, there were nearly a hundred criminals taken down by the Imperial Ceremony Office. Most of them were eunuchs and a few maids.

Among them, more than a dozen of them were lying on their backs on the opposite long chairs. The eunuchs of the Imperial Ceremony Office in charge stood aside with a solemn expression, holding the red-painted wooden sticks as thick as bowls in their hands, waiting for the Seal Keeper to give the order.

It was noon, and the sun was in full bloom. The burning fire was hot, and it burnt the black brick floor without an inch of shade and shelter. The white sunlight dazzled people so that they did not want to open their eyes.

"Godfather! Godfather, I'm here—"

Smelling the familiar fragrance of apricot blossom powder, a man on the bench shouted. He tried to straighten his slender neck and stretched his head to look around. His frightened eyes widened, searching for someone in the crowd.

Ming Lan immediately became furious and rushed to the person in three steps at once.

The eunuch on the bench was in his early twenties, with fair skin and delicate features. He had been stripped off his robe, his official cap, and his trousers for punishment.

This person was the godson Ming Lan recognized in the palace and the fuse, which caused the inspection of the twelve departments. He was also the perpetrator mentioned in the suicide note of the maid, Duan Shaochun.

Seeing the life-saving straw figure right in front of him, the sweaty Lord Duan's pupils shone brightly, and he grabbed Ming Lan with both hands, his expression excited.

"Godfather, godfather, help me! Don't let Lord Leng beat me, and he'll kill me."

The eunuch in charge next to him came over and hit Lord Duan's hand fluttering in the air.

Ming Lan looked gloomy when he saw it, and his healthy right hand clenched into an iron fist in his wide sleeve. He bent over and approached Lord Duan, and then he lowered her voice and asked.

"Duan, what's going on? You are always careful, but this time you were so careless!"

Lord Duan's lips trembled, and he grinned in half startle and half scared. He sobbed.

"Caiping, as you know, she and I have been on good terms, and I have been approved to make love with her."

"But I don't know why she suddenly takes things too hard and wants to frame me after death! Godfather, you have to save me! Godfather, I don't want to be beaten to death!"

When Lord Duan cried, the other eunuchs and maids waiting to be sentenced, kneeling on the ground or chair, followed his example and wept loudly to plead with Ming Lan.

For a while, the scream and the miserable sound from the expansive backyard made Ming Lan's heart tremble, and his body stiffened. His powder-filled porcelain white face became whiter.

Although the Master of the Western Depot was a eunuch, he accepted many disciples in the Palace.

Now, if those servants had really been executed by Leng Qingtang, the casualties would have been massive.

So that was it!

Ming Lan suddenly understood that the inspection operation of the twelve departments, on the surface, seemed to be the act of the Imperial Ceremony Office to take the lead in rectifying the rules and regulations of the Palace. But it was actually to clear the eyes of the Western Depot that hid in the Palace!

Ming Lan came from the service center, then was promoted from the rank-third eunuch in charge of Yongning Palace to the rank-second Commander-in-chief, and went out of the Palace to serve in the Western Depot.

If he didn't put his eyes on the supervisors of the Palace, he would not be able to maintain the exchange of information between the Western Depot and the Palace.

If no one timely had provided the information in the Palace, so he, the Commander-in-chief of the Western Depot outside the Palace, would not accurately figure out the emperor's intention and grasp the latest information of the concubines in the Palace.

It was not hard to imagine that Leng Qingtang took many eyes of the Western Depot by inspection just after he regained power. He wanted to turn the Commander-in-chief of the Western Depot into a living blind!

As for Duan Shaochun's affair, it was not difficult to understand.

As long as Leng Qingtang ordered, someone would capture Caiping for him and sink her directly into the lotus pond after drugging her.

But that maid was also one of Ming Lan's eyes. So, they forged suicide note and then sent someone to inform Caiping's family members, secretly helping her family make trouble. Leng Qingtang, the Seal Keeper of the Imperial Ceremony Office, made use of an opportunity to calm the situation, which elicited the cause of purging of the Palace.

If they wanted to do such things as fabricating a charge against them, wasn't it easy?

The deeper to think, the angrier Ming Lan was. Angrily, he straightened up and swept across the northern hip with long strides and halted on the porch.

On the left and right sides of the porch, the Seal Keepers and Supervisors of the other eleven departments were set up, and all of them nodded and lowered their eyebrows as if they had been deterred by the imposing manner of the Imperial Ceremony Office. They were so scared that they did not dare to breathe deeply.

Leng Qingtang leaned against the red sandalwood grandmaster chair in the middle, and placed his five plain white fingers on the smooth curved Kylin head armrest and tapped lightly.

He had the air of elegant leisure of a man who, after a meal, was waiting for an impromptu entertainment.

He was in a blue Commander-in-chief's robe, and the twisting snake on his chest stretched its teeth and danced its claws. His awe-inspiring power seemed to be incompatible with his leisurely and casual appearance at this time.

Seeing Ming Lan approaching with a depressed face, Leng Qingtang leaned forward slightly, tilting the end of his narrow eyes, and his thin lips pulled out a thin smile.

Ming Lan stopped under the cloud steps and stood upright. There were a number of imposing eunuchs on both sides and behind him, watching the surroundings coldly, guarding their Master astutely.

All of a sudden, their eyes met. The clear and bright slanted eyes met the evil and charming amorous eyes.

Two men on the cloud platform, the Commanders-in-chief of two depots, one grinned, and the other glared.

One looked handsome and elegant, but the other looked exquisite and enchanting.

The surrounding atmosphere became fierce because of the confrontation, which made all the people around the corridor silent.

After the Spring Banquet in March, the Commanders-in-chief of the Eastern and Western Depots did not see each other again. Now that they met again, it was on such occasions.

It was well known that there had been a disagreement between the two Commanders-in-chief, and it appeared that they held very different attitudes towards the offending eunuch.

One wanted to punish him, but the other wanted to stop it. These two men were at a stalemate.

As a result, there were bystanders among the leaders of the twelve departments standing under the porch.

They did not say it, but they longed for something to happen and wanted to see what the two estranged Masters would be able to do later on.

Ming Lan stood in front of the porch for a long time. Seeing Leng Qingtang's silence and a faint smile on his face, he suddenly got angry. He clenched his fist and asked in a stern voice.

"What do you mean, Master Leng?"

Leng Qingtang smiled lightly and raised his eyebrows.

"Didn't Master Ming ask Duan Shaochun what I mean? The crime of this person is even more severe than that of gathering people in the duty room to gamble and steal palace articles for sale in the market. He is even more guilty of disordering the palace and forcing the maid to jump into the lake."

"In order to comfort the spirits of the dead in heaven and appease their families and relatives, I'm going to deal with him according to law."

"According to law?"

Ming Lan snorted and squinted his eyes evilly.

Leng Qingtang's words were high-sounding, and his hidden purpose was to inform others. Did he really think others don't know?

He was going to be mad, but his godson was still in the hands of others. If Ming Lan wanted to save him, he had to lower his posture temporarily.

Duan Shaochun and Ming Lan were about the same age. The reason why he recognized Ming Lan as a godfather at that time was that he was the messenger in the palace of Noble Concubine Wan and wanted to flatter him.

And he was smart and all things to all men. He and his subordinates, more than a dozen people, were the most powerful backbone of the Western Depot in the Palace.

If he could not save the other dozens of people, he had to keep Duan Shaochun and his men!

Ming Lan was in danger, and he secretly figured out that he would have nothing left in the Palace without the favor of Noble Concubine Wan and his most crucial informant and if he had lost Duan and his men.

Ming Lan's face was slightly relaxed. He chose to endure for a while. His eyes were dark, and looked at Leng Qingtang above the cloud platform. He spoke slowly.

"There are still some doubts about the maid throwing into the lake. I hope you can check it carefully. During this period, can the perpetrators be banned until the incident is cleared up?"

Leng Qingtang said faintly.

"What else? The suicide note of the maid was written. As far as I can tell, I'm afraid that this kind of incident may happen again in the Palace, so I launched a big inspection in the twelve departments."

A total of ninety-four violators were arrested, and more than 100 pickled articles were found in this inspection.

"Now Master Ming stands in front of me and talks about a detailed investigation. I really don't know what Master Ming wants to investigate again?"

Ming Lan frowned and became dumb.

The words of Leng Qingtang's light and slow words were like a slap in the face of Ming Lan.

Ming Lan's fingertips moved and repeatedly suppressed the manic depression in the heart. Without beating around the Bush, he said frankly in a consultative tone.

"Master Leng, can you give me a face and let go of Duan Shaochun and the thirteen servants of the service center?"

Leng Qingtang withdrew half of his body and leaned back on the half-high fauteuil.

"Face? By yourself?"

A rickety smile was hidden in the mouth, and Leng Qingtang looked at the hidden anxious eyes of the Ming Lan. The cool words such as sharp cold wind, instantly blew into Ming Lan's body, mercilessly through his heart.

"I don't know how big a face you have."

Ming Lan was choked by the sarcastic words of Leng Qingtang, and his amorous eyes were widened.

How could he forget?

The words he just said was that he said to the Chiliarch Cheng Wanli when he created the disturbance in the Eastern Depot several days ago.

Now Leng Qingtang had given him back every word he said. His intention was very obvious.

Leng Qingtang, who had regained the power of the chief eunuch of the Palace, was going to take revenge on him and his Western Depot.