When he walked out of the Secretariat, Li Mu sighed softly.
Half a month ago, Liu Yi was so warm to him, calling him "Brother Li". Just now, in the Secretariat, Liu Yi's attitude towards him had changed dramatically. Warmth became politeness, politeness with alienation, and within the alienation with vigilance ….
Obviously, after the incident with Cui Ming, the straight man image he had painstakingly built had collapsed.
Before today, the courtiers at most thought that he was a bootlicker of the Empress.
After today, they would guard against him as a cunning fox.
Although a bootlicker would bite, a dog's brain was not as scheming.
Foxes were different. In the eyes of most people, foxes were cunning, sinister, and treacherous.
This was actually a stereotype of this race. There were foxes who were stupid. Xiao Bai almost had the words "stupid, white, and sweet" written on his face.
Once everyone's impression of him changed, no matter what he did, they would probably guess whether he had a deeper motive.
When he walked out of the Secretariat and passed by the palace gate, a sedan chair came from outside the palace.
"Out of the way, out of the way!"
The few sedan bearers who were carrying the palanquin berated Li Mu from afar to move aside. Li Mu looked left and right. The palace gate could allow at least four palanquins to pass through at the same time. He wondered who was inside the palanquin.
When he walked out of the palace gate, he happened to hear a few guards talking.
"It's Princess Yunyang's sedan chair."
"The prince consort is in prison. The Princess can't sit still anymore!"
"The prince consort's character is so bad. The Princess should just kick him away and let him fend for himself …"
Hearing Princess Yunyang's name, Li Mu looked back. The sedan chair had disappeared at the end of his line of sight. Judging from the direction, it should be going to the West Palace.
The West Palace was occupied by the previous Emperor's concubines. Although the Great Zhou Emperor had changed his surname, after the Empress ascended the throne, she did not purge the Xiao Royal Family. She also did not make things difficult for the concubines left behind by the previous Emperor. They were still allowed to live in the West Palace and were treated according to the etiquette of imperial concubines.
When Mr. Mei mentioned Cui Ming and Princess Yunyang, his face was full of disdain. He looked down on the couple and thought that they were probably jackals of the same tribe.
Regardless of whether it was Princess Yunyang, the Xiao Royal Family, or the officials of the old party, they would certainly not watch Cui Ming fall from power. Princess Yunyang had entered the palace in such a hurry, she must have gone to the West Palace to plead for leniency.
Li Mu left the palace and walked on the streets. The people on the streets were all talking about Cui Ming.
Madam Chu had caused a huge commotion in the Hall of Punishments earlier, and those who saw the phenomenon couldn't help but ask about the reason behind it.
"You can't judge a book by its cover. Who would have thought that Prince Consort Cui, who looks like a dog, is actually a beast?"
"I already knew that he wasn't a good person. Look at his face. His cheekbones are sunken, and his eyebrows are high. One look and I can tell that he's a hypocritical and ruthless person!"
"All the ladies in Fairy's Capital are captivated by him. There must be something strange about him."
"The imperial court should just kill a beast like him. Don't let him harm the women of Fairy's Capital anymore. He's always loitering on the streets. It's so annoying!"
"None of these good-looking people are good!"
"That's not all of them. Constable Li is also good-looking. Cui Ming isn't even fit to carry his shoes …"
"Constable Li has sword-like eyebrows, starry eyes, and a round nose. One look and you can tell that he's an upright person. It's just that he's fated to be in love …"
"What's so strange about that? If I were a woman, I'd want to marry him too …"
…
On the streets of Fairy's Capital, butchers, waiters, and peddlers gathered in twos and threes. They all expressed their disdain for a beast like Cui Ming. They wanted nothing more than to tear him into pieces and send his soul to the eighteenth level of hell …
In a rouge shop by the street, a few women who were choosing rouge were also discussing this matter.
"You can't judge a book by its cover. I didn't expect Prince Consort Cui to be this kind of person."
"To think that I like him so much. I even dreamt of him the day before yesterday. I didn't expect him to be such a beast …"
Two young women sighed while choosing rouge.
Their last companion snorted and said, "No matter what Prince Consort Cui does, I'll still like him. He'll always be the prince consort in my heart!"
A woman frowned and said, "How can you be like this? He killed his wife and dozens of her family for his future. How can you like someone like this? Do you still have any sense of right and wrong?"
The woman pouted and said, "I just like him. So what? Is it against the law to like someone? I just saw the princess's sedan enter the palace. Princess, you must think of a way to save the prince consort …"
"Save save save save your grandma's leg!" The owner of the rouge shop took the rouge she was looking at from her hand. He was so angry that the muscles on his face twitched and the veins on his forehead popped. He shouted, "Get out! You're not welcome here. Get out!"
The woman was stunned for a moment. When she came back to her senses, she said angrily, "You dare to scold me!"
The shopkeeper grabbed her arm and chased her out of the shop. He said angrily, "Not only do I dare to scold you, I also dare to hit you. I'll remember your donkey face. From now on, you're not allowed to step into my shop. Otherwise, I'll hit you every time I see you!"
Seeing the shopkeeper raise his hand, the woman ran away. The other two women glanced at her and did not chase after her.
Li Mu looked at the woman running away and sighed in his heart.
There was no lack of people like this woman. Fortunately, there were only a few people like her. In the hearts of most people, justice still existed.
The shopkeeper of this rouge shop was a kind person. Li Mu went into the shop and bought two boxes of rouge. It could be considered as taking care of his business.
Xiao Bai was a natural beauty. Even without makeup, she was still a peerless beauty. However, Li Mu felt that it was better for her to dress up. This way, she could reduce her charm and prevent him from having some messy dreams at night.
Ever since the Empress had discovered that they slept together in the dream, she had never visited Li Mu's dream again.
Li Mu had once asked Li Si this question. Of course, this was under the premise of concealing the Empress's identity.
Li Si said that if a woman disregarded her identity and often went to meet a man at night, it was not because of love, but because of loneliness.
Between Li Mu and the Empress, there was naturally no such thing as the former.
But how could the Empress be lonely?
Li Mu initially thought that Li Si was talking nonsense. However, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that what he said made sense.
As the ruler of a country, the Empress was above millions of people. Because of her identity, status, and strength, the ruler of a country was often alone.
They had no relatives or friends. The world only respected and feared them. In the long run, it was easy for their mentality to be suppressed to the point of perversion.
Li Mu felt that the Empress was already a little inclined in this direction.
In front of others, she was the noble Empress. She had to put on airs when she spoke. However, in Li Mu's dream, she was not polite at all to him.
As someone who aspired to be the Empress's intimate little jacket, it was not enough to just help her solve her problems in the imperial court. He had to help her open her heart. There must be other ways besides letting her vent her feelings on him.
Li Mu walked on the street, thinking about the Empress. He inadvertently glanced and saw a figure in front of him.
It was a middle-aged man. He was not burly, but he was very tall and upright. His appearance was not as good as Cui Ming, but at least he was comparable to two Zhang Chuns.
Li Mu had investigated the Assistant Minister of Justice, Zhou Zhong, through Wang Wu.
He did not have a wife or children. He lived in a house with five courtyards in the North Court. This house was bestowed by the previous Emperor. Other than Zhou Zhong himself, there was only an old servant in the house. There were no other maids or servants.
Li Mu did not understand why Zhou Zhong would join the old faction.
His life was tight. Although the mansion he lived in was big, there were no maids or servants. Li Mu was sure that if Zhang Chun had that mansion, he would have to hire at least eight maids, and all of them would have to be beautiful.
The dragon slayer turned into an evil dragon because he coveted treasures and the princess. Zhou Zhong was not greedy for money, nor was he lustful. He did not use his power to oppress the common people. What was he after?
Zhou Zhong suddenly turned around and asked, "Lord Li, you have followed me for so long. Could it be that you want to show off to me that you have captured Assistant Minister Cui?"
Li Mu sneered. "Lord Zhou, don't you know why Cui Ming was captured?"
Since Zhou Zhong's strength could control Madam Chu and affect her mind, he could also make Madam Chu go crazy in the court of the Ministry of Justice and use Cui Ming to get rid of her.
However, he did not do so. Instead, he forced Madam Chu to break through. If Zhou Zhong did not have a grudge against Cui Ming, then there was a mole in the old faction.
Zhou Zhong glanced at him and said, "The affairs of the court are not as you imagine. It is too early to talk about victory or defeat."
Li Mu asked, "What do you mean?"
Zhou Zhong said, "You will know by tomorrow at the latest."
After saying this, he turned to leave. After taking two steps, he paused and turned back to say, "The Chu family's matter can be considered a wake-up call for the court. If you really want to serve the people wholeheartedly, you should propose to His Majesty to take back the right to kill the people in each county …"
Li Mu said, "Lord Zhou, you don't have to worry about this. I have just reported this matter to His Majesty. In the future, after the counties review the cases, the case files will be submitted to the Ministry of Justice for review. His Majesty will approve it and distribute it to the counties."
Zhou Zhong nodded and said, "That is good."
Li Mu thought of something. He looked at Zhou Zhong and asked, "If I remember correctly, Lord Zhou pushed for this law reform more than ten years ago. Why was it abolished later?"
Zhou Zhong said indifferently, "Because His Majesty found it troublesome."
Li Mu cursed inwardly. Many of the decrees and laws of His Majesty's time were left to this day. The good Great Zhou was ruined by His Majesty. Now that the world was taken over by His Majesty, His Majesty could only blame His Majesty.
Thinking of His Majesty, Li Mu could not help but think of the Empress. He sighed and said, "Her Majesty is still the most brilliant."
Zhou Zhong nodded in agreement and said, "Although loyal dogs are hard to come by, they must meet a wise ruler."
Li Mu rejoiced and said, "Fortunately, I met Her Majesty …"
Then he realized something. He raised his head and said angrily, "Who are you calling a dog!"
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