Chapter 711 - Questioning Fu Delun
King Hong looked at the minister of law in front of him and so did advisor Liu.
Both of them were a bit upset at the time Fu Delun had taken to approach them. Usually, any minister that was within the city would be able to reach them in less than twenty minutes, as for the ones that were in the central district would be able to do the same in less than ten minutes.
As far as King Hong was concerned, Fu Delun was supposed to be in the ministry of Law and thus it should have taken him at most ten minutes, if not even less.
"Was Minister Fu Delun busy? It is uncommon for you to take this long." Adviser Liu took the lead this time.
Lin Mu accusing on their people had already put a bad taste in his mouth and now seeing that very same accused delaying royal summons only made him that much upset. It instead made it seem like it was the King who was actually incompetent and allowed his official to be lacking.
While Lin Mu didn't really think about them like this, to adviser Liu and King Hong, this would be the norm. If one of the court officials acts in a manner that is ill of their position, it reflects the situation of the royalty.
"Ah, indeed adviser Liu. Work has just been more and more hectic these few days. With the autumn festival on our heels and his majesty taking time due to his imminent breakthrough, the work is just even more intense.
I am working to ensure that his majesty is not troubled; not now and not after his successful breakthroughs." Fu Delun skillfully spoke.
He knew he was at fault here. He had not spent years in the royal court for nothing and knew how to read people. That minute change in the tone of the adviser was enough for him to know that the king had asked him here for something important.
'And who are these three? Their cultivation bases… that one is at the… NASCENT SOUL REALM? And the other two… I can't even sense them.' Fu Delun thought to himself.
While he didn't get fully nervous, he still became a bit more cautious. Right now he was in a situation where he didn't know why he was called here and there were even unknown people here.
"I see… I have called you here to meet three very respected cultivators. Meet Disciples Hua San and Hua Wu. Their master is the sect master of the Noon Grass Sect. And finally, we have brother Lin Mu, he is also someone of a standing equal to the previous too." King Hong introduced.
Fu Delun raised his brows upon hearing this as the gears within his brain started to move.
"Ah, did the Noon Grass sect decide to help his majesty?" Minster Fu Delun asked.
"Indeed." King Hong nodded his head.
"Good, good, good." Fu Delun nodded his head. "But what is it that respected seniors need of me?" he asked again.
"I am the one that asked King Hong to call in Minister Fu Delun today. It's just that I had certain questions to ask of you regarding some incidences and policies." Lin Mu replied.
Hearing this, Fu Delun became even more confused.
"Incidences and policies? What does senior need specifically? Did something happen to cause trouble for senior?" Fu Delun asked, thinking that this might be the only reason why he would be summoned.
It was obvious to him that Lin Mu was a strong and influential cultivator. And thus he was offended somehow and ended up contacting King Hong who then ended up summoning him to give the answer.
Fu Delun now started to sweat and wondered what could have been the problem.
"You see… I found minister Fu Delun's previous words to be a bit confusing. A few days earlier I visited the law enforcement department and saw quite a bit of disarray there. Most of the officials there seemed to be inept and the only qualified official, the head of the department, seemed to be handling all of the work.
He not only seemed overworked, but also troubled by the others working in the department.
In addition to this, I also found some past actions of minister Du Delun that interested me; such as the fact that you personally went ahead and arrested a certain group of suspects that go by the name of Hei corps." Lin Mu laid down the facts.
Fu Delun was confused at first but the more he heard, the more he sweated. And when he heard the name of Hei corps, he became alert instead.
"As I said before, work is piling on due to unavoidable circumstances that have led to all of us officials becoming very busy. As for the matter with the Hei corps, it was of utmost importance, after all, it was according to a decree sent by the empire itself." Fu Delun stated as a matter of fact.
"Hmm… is that so… they may I ask adviser Liu what are the policies on keeping official documents related to law enforcement? I mean the specific protocol of storage and records keeping?" Lin Mu questioned.
Adviser Liu was also a bit confused by Lin Mu's question, but answered it nevertheless.
"For any ministries, including the law ministry, all official records are to be stored in their designated records departments." Adviser Liu replied.
"I see. Then what if someone higher in power gives an order to shift certain records to a different location not officially designated?" Lin Mu asked further.
"That will be a gross misuse of power and will be met with swift punishment. Records are only to be withdrawn when needed for official work and the official designation for storage cannot be changed unless the king approves of it." Adviser Liu stated.
"Then I must ask King Hong a question… Did you permit Minister Fu Delun to shift records to the royal repository?" Lin Mu asked.