Ministry of Justice.
When Zhou Zhong walked out of the prison, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, who was waiting outside, whispered into his ear, "Lord Chen from the Ministry of Personnel is here."
The Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Justice were the pillars of the Old Party in the imperial court. Zhou Zhong walked into the yamen and saw a figure standing there. He asked, "Lord Chen, are you here for something important?"
The assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel turned around and looked at Zhou Zhong. He asked, "The higher-ups say that the assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites must be punished severely. This is a big blow to the Zhou family and the New Party. We can't let go of this opportunity."
Zhou Zhong said calmly, "Just the assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites is not enough."
The assistant minister's eyes flashed. He asked, "Lord Zhou, you mean …"
Zhou Zhong said, "The source of this matter is Zhou Ting's wife, not the assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites. If we can drag her down, the Zhou family will protect her for the sake of their reputation or for other reasons. My goal is the Zhou family's two death-exemption medallions. Without them, it will be much easier for us to fight the Zhou family in the future."
The assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel nodded. "The late emperor's death-exemption medallions were actually given to a thief who stole the country. It is indeed a disgrace to us. It would be best if we can make them use the medallions. However, I don't think the assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites will rat out his mother-in-law. The Zhou family will not use the medallions for a mere assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites …"
Zhou Zhong looked at him and asked, "Does Lord Chen not believe me?"
The assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel was stunned. He asked, "Could it be …"
Zhou Zhong said, "The assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites has already confessed that it was his mother-in-law, Zhou Ting's wife, who instigated him to frame Li Mu. She is the mastermind behind the scenes. This time, I will make the Zhou family pay the price."
The assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel was shocked. "The assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites actually ratted her out …"
Then, he came to his senses and praised, "Lord Zhou is always full of surprises. If we can make the Zhou family hand over the two death-exemption medallions, Lord Zhou will have done a great service …"
Zhou Zhong said calmly, "This is what I should do in order to support the legal wife …"
…
An uninvited guest arrived at the entrance of Zhou Residence.
The Assistant Minister of Justice, Zhou Zhong, also had the surname Zhou, but he was different from the Zhou family. When he was in the imperial court, he sided with the old party. Over the years, the officials of the new party had suffered many losses in his hands.
Zhou Zhong came to the Zhou Clan alone. Even though there were no officials from the Ministry of Justice following him, the First Missy's husband was still in the Ministry of Justice's prison. Nothing good could come from Zhou Zhong's visit to the Zhou Clan at this moment.
Even so, the Zhou Clan's gatekeeper did not dare to slight him. After inviting him into the Zhou Clan's residence, he went to report it as quickly as possible.
Zhou Zhong sat in the front hall, sipping his tea. After a while, someone stepped into the hall.
Censor Zhou Xiong walked to the main seat and sat down. Only then did he look at Zhou Zhong and ask, "Assistant Minister Zhou, what business do you have with my Zhou Residence?"
Zhou Zhong put down his teacup and said, "I'm here on official business, so I won't beat around the bush. The assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites hired assassins to frame an important official of the court …"
Before he could finish, he was interrupted by Zhou Xiong, "The assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites has committed a serious crime. The Ministry of Justice will punish him accordingly. The Zhou Clan will abide by the law and will not interfere."
Zhou Zhong nodded and said, "That's good. In that case, I'll have to trouble Censor Zhou to invite Madam Zhou out so that I can bring her back to the Ministry of Justice for interrogation."
Zhou Xiong's expression changed when he heard this.
He forced himself to calm down and glared at Zhou Zhong. He asked, "What does the case of the assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites have to do with Madam Zhou? She's the wife of the court. How can you interrogate her just because you want to?"
Zhou Zhong's expression was calm as he said slowly, "His Majesty has decreed that the Ministry of Justice will handle the case of Lord Li being framed. Anyone involved in the case, regardless of identity or status, will be punished severely. The assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites has already confessed that Madam Zhou is the mastermind behind the case of Lord Li. If the Zhou Clan does not hand her over, it will be considered as defying the decree. Is the Zhou Clan going to defy the decree?"
The veins on Zhou Xiong's forehead throbbed. He quickly regained his composure and said, "Assistant Minister, please don't cross the line."
Zhou Zhong said calmly, "If I didn't cross the line, the person who came to the Zhou Residence today would be the constable of the Ministry of Justice."
Zhou Zhong's words were very clear. As the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, he did not have to arrest criminals personally. However, he had shown enough respect to the Zhou Clan by coming here alone. If the Zhou Clan still insisted on being stubborn, they would be asking for it.
This also meant that the Ministry of Justice was determined to take Madam Zhou. There was no room for negotiation.
Even though Zhou Xiong wanted to kill the assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, he had to admit that this matter had blown up.
After he calmed down, he looked at Zhou Zhong and said, "Sir Zhou, please go back first. I'll personally go to the Ministry of Justice to deal with this matter in two hours."
Zhou Zhong stood up and said, "I'll be waiting at the Ministry of Justice."
A moment later, in a courtyard of the Zhou Residence. A woman grabbed her messy hair and gritted her teeth as she yelled, "Bastard, bastard! I didn't agree to Qianqian marrying him back then, but you insisted. Do you see his face now?"
Zhou Ting slapped her face and said angrily, "Shut up! If it wasn't for you, things wouldn't have turned out this way!"
The woman covered her face. After being stunned for a moment, she completely exploded.
She grabbed Zhou Ting's neck and said crazily, "How dare you hit me! How dare you hit me!"
Zhou Ting knocked her out with a slap and ordered the maids in the courtyard, "Take Madam back to her room to rest. Without my orders, don't let her out of her room."
The two maids helped the woman back to her room. Zhou Xiong looked at Zhou Ting and asked, "Fourth Brother, about this …"
Zhou Ting closed his eyes and said, "Go and ask Big Brother. No matter what Big Brother decides, I'll agree."
Zhou Xiong walked out of the courtyard and crushed a jade talisman. Soon, a figure suddenly appeared in the courtyard.
It was the minister, Zhou Jing.
Zhou Xiong walked forward and said, "Big Brother, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites at the Ministry of Justice sold out sister-in-law … Earlier, Zhou Zhong came to the residence to ask for her. I told him to go back and wait. How should we deal with this matter?"
Zhou Jing's eyelids drooped slightly. He said, "As expected, the old party won't let go of this opportunity."
Zhou Xiong sighed and said, "We have to answer to the Ministry of Justice. We can't really hand sister-in-law over …"
Zhou Jing said, "I'm afraid they don't want her."
Zhou Xiong was stunned for a moment. He quickly reacted and asked, "Big Brother, are you saying that their goal is the Zhou family's death-exemption medallion?"
Zhou Jing extended his hand. There was a flash of golden light and two medallions appeared. He handed the medallions to Zhou Xiong and said, "Send these two medallions to the Ministry of Justice."
Zhou Xiong took the medallions and said doubtfully, "Two?"
Zhou Jing said, "Either send them two or none. Sister-in-law is a member of the Zhou family. Isn't Qian 'er's husband one too?"
The death-exemption medallion was too important. Zhou Xiong was reluctant to part with it and did not understand. After Zhou Jing's reminder, he quickly understood the matter.
They could either save both of them or not save both of them.
The Zhou family only had these two choices.
As for saving one and giving up the other, as one of the Nine Families of the Great Zhou, the Zhou family would be ridiculed if they did such a thing.
The Zhou family could not afford to lose face.
To them, they could lose benefits but they could not afford to lose face.
He kept the medallion and sighed. He left the Zhou family and headed to the Ministry of Justice.
A moment later, at the Ministry of Justice's assistant minister's office.
Zhou Xiong slammed a medallion on the table and asked Zhou Zhong, "The death-exemption medallion is here. Can I take the assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites away?"
Zhou Zhong picked up the medallion and looked at it. He said, "The late Emperor gave you the death-exemption medallion. It can even exempt you from the death penalty. Men, take Lord Zhou to the prison and release the assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites."
Zhou Xiong turned to leave. Zhou Zhong said, "Wait."
Zhou Xiong's eyelids twitched. He asked, "Is there anything else?"
Zhou Zhong said, "The assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites can be exonerated. However, in this case, Madam Zhou is the mastermind. If the Zhou family does not send her to the Ministry of Justice by today, I will send someone to take her away."
Smack!
Zhou Xiong took out another death-exemption medallion and slammed it on the table. He said, "Is this okay now?"
Zhou Zhong nodded and said, "Please go ahead."
Zhou Xiong snorted and turned to leave.
Not long after, he walked out of the Ministry of Justice with the former assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites. He looked at him angrily and said, "Remember, the Zhou family wasted a death-exemption medallion for you. Treat Qianqian better in the future. Don't be ungrateful …"
The assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites nodded. Zhou Xiong, who had already turned around, did not notice that there was no gratitude in his eyes. There was only hatred.
This matter had nothing to do with him, but in the end, he was implicated and almost lost his life. First, the Zhou family gave up on him. Now, they made such a face. Who were they trying to impress?
Ministry of Justice.
In the assistant minister's office, Zhou Zhong flipped open a book on the table.
He flipped to a certain page, picked up a pen, and gently crossed off the two 'Zhou family' on the list.
Then, he closed the book and said slowly, "There are seven more …"
…
Li Mu walked on the streets. The people of Fairy's Capital greeted him warmly.
"Hello, Constable Li."
"Constable Li, you're still single. My daughter is also of age. Constable Li, do you want to consider my daughter …"
"Constable Li, I have two daughters. One is prettier than the other …"
"Constable Li, don't go …"
…
Li Mu could not resist the people's enthusiasm. He did not even bother to collect his telekinesis and fled.
The case was cleared. It was very thorough. The people even knew the details of the case.
Now, all the people of Fairy's Capital knew that he was a virgin.
Along the way, there were countless people who wanted to marry their daughters to Li Mu. Although Li Mu usually got along well with them, he did not have any thoughts about their daughters.
It was all Zhou Zhong's fault. Because of this, he became famous in Fairy's Capital again. Sooner or later, Li Mu would find him and settle the score.
When he finally reached his house, he saw a few carriages parked at the entrance.
Beside the carriages, Mr. Mei was instructing a few people to move the things inside.
Li Mu walked over and asked, "What's all this for?"
Lord Mei smiled and said, "This is His Majesty's reward to you. There are precious fabrics, rare flowers, and some rare items that were offered as tributes from various places. Later, His Majesty will have people rearrange the array formation in your residence …"
The carriages were parked in a row outside Li Mu's residence. If not for Mr. Mei's explanation, Li Mu would have thought that the Empress was moving into his house.
He really didn't expect that Li Si would be right about this.
Li Si said that the Empress would warm up to him again after a short period of coldness. Looking at the boxes of rewards, Li Mu even suspected that the Empress was trying to flirt with him.
Li Mu did not know whether she had met her inner demons or not, but it was true that she was inexplicably cold and hot to him.
Li Si had said that this was a routine between men and women. Only by being both hot and cold, and being neither friendly nor distant could they arouse the other party's nervousness and sense of danger. Now that Li Mu thought about it, during that period of time when he had been ignored, he had indeed been worried about his gains and losses. He had not been able to eat or sleep well, and his mind had been filled with thoughts of the Empress.
But thinking about it carefully, it was impossible for the Empress to know such a sophisticated trick.
Her EQ was not much better than Xiao Bai's. How could she come up with such a sophisticated trick?
He shook his head, threw this bold and unrealistic thought out of his mind, and walked into the residence.
The Empress had rewarded many things. Li Mu planned to pick some and send them to Zhang Chun.
Old Zhang's protection of him in the imperial court was no less than Li Mu's protection of the Empress.
Li Mu was very touched by this. He specially asked the Empress to reward Zhang Chun with a three-sectioned residence. It was located in the North Court, not far from the Li Residence. Although they were not neighbors, it was just a matter of walking a few steps.
At this time, in a residence not far from the Li Residence in the North Court.
Zhang Chun stood at the door and ordered two palace guards. He said, "Move slowly, move slowly. Don't break the things …"
Today, he finally fulfilled his wish of moving to a new residence.
Although the residence was only changed from a two-sectioned one to a three-sectioned one, the location was worlds apart. This was the North Court, where the real high-ranking officials and dignitaries lived. If he lived here, he would not be embarrassed to say that he was an official in the imperial court.
Zhang Chun pulled Madam Zhang around the new residence and asked, "How is it?"
Madam Zhang said, "It's big enough, but the furniture is a bit old. Why don't we order some new ones?"
Zhang Chun shook his head and said, "There's no need to waste money. It won't be too late to change after a few days when we get a bigger residence …"
Madam Zhang was shocked. She said, "This is already big enough. You want a bigger one?"
Zhang Chun nodded firmly and said, "Three-sectioned is nothing. At this rate, it's not impossible for us to get a five-sectioned one. You can just wait to enjoy your life … Tidy up the room first. When you're done, I'll take you to Lord Li's residence for a walk …"
Madam Zhang sighed and said, "I knew that Constable Li had a bright future. I asked you to set him up with Yiyi, but you were unwilling. Now, there are so many girls in the Immortal's Capital who want to marry him …"
"Shh …"
Zhang Chun covered her mouth and said, "Didn't I tell you not to mention this in the future? You must remember this. Otherwise, there won't even be a two-sectioned or three-sectioned residence, let alone a five-sectioned one. You don't want us to bring our daughter back to the small courtyard of the yamen, do you?"
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