At the Ministry of Personnel.
An official walked out of the watchroom and looked at the person standing in the courtyard. He asked, "Manager Wei, what brings you to the Ministry of Personnel today?"
Wei Peng went straight to the point. "There are two cases in the Ministry of Justice and I need to investigate the details of two officials. May I trouble you to help me check their files?"
The official asked, "Which county are they from? Please have a seat, Manager Wei. I'll arrange for someone to help you."
Wei Peng passed him a piece of paper and said, "Danyang County's Anyi County Magistrate Ding Yun. Hanyang County's Tianhe County's Minister Hou Bai."
The manager of the Ministry of Personnel arranged for his subordinate to check the files of the people Wei Peng wanted. He sat in the watchroom and started chatting with Wei Peng.
The Wei family used to belong to the old party. However, Wei Peng's father was demoted because he was involved in the case of the assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites framing Li Mu. He was never hired again. Wei Peng thought that the Wei family would disappear from Luoyang. He did not expect that after the imperial examinations, Wei Peng would be specially recruited by the Ministry of Justice. Although his rank was not high and he was a manager like him, it was said that Assistant Minister Zhou appreciated him. His future was naturally brighter than his.
Wei Peng was preoccupied with the case and was not in the mood to chat with the manager of the Ministry of Personnel. Fortunately, the subordinate soon brought over the files of the two officials.
The files used by the Ministry of Justice could be copied. However, a lot of the content would be omitted when they were taken back. Wei Peng decided to just read them in the Ministry of Personnel.
The files in the Ministry of Personnel were obviously much more detailed.
Not only did it record their birthplace, family, and other information, but it also recorded every assessment, promotion, and transfer after they became officials in detail.
After looking through it carefully, Wei Peng found more suspicious points.
There were many similarities between the two. They were both students of Baichuan Academy and left the academy in the same year to become officials. They were both managers of the Ministry of Personnel. They were promoted at the same time and were assassinated at the same time. Even the way they died was very similar. It was difficult to explain this with the word "coincidence".
After returning to the Ministry of Justice, Wei Peng told Zhou Zhong about his findings.
Zhou Zhong's index finger gently tapped on the table as he asked, "So, you suspect that these two cases were done by the same person, and that the mastermind has a grudge with these two people?"
Wei Peng nodded and said, "It's impossible for two cases to have so many coincidences. The possibility of a vendetta is very high, but without more clues, finding the murderer is like finding a needle in a haystack."
Zhou Zhong said, "The Ministry of Justice is only in charge of investigating the case. Pursuing the culprit is the Imperial Court's business. The Ministry of Justice has already investigated up to this point. Let's leave the rest to the Imperial Court."
Wei Peng bowed. "Yes."
Wei Peng actually wanted to investigate further, but since the assistant minister had spoken, he didn't insist.
It was better to hand over the case as soon as possible, lest he lose all his hair at such a young age.
After Wei Peng left, Zhou Zhong stood up several times before slowly sitting down again. He seemed a little anxious.
In the Hall of Governmental Affairs, Li Mu unhurriedly took out the new report from the Ministry of Justice. These yamen still needed to be beaten up from time to time so that they would know how to do things properly. After he had urged the Ministry of Justice the last time, the Ministry of Justice had given a reply regarding the assassination of the two officials in just a few days.
Li Mu hadn't thought that these two unrelated cases would have such a connection. In this way, when the Imperial Court sent people to pursue the culprit, they would have a clear direction.
The matter of pursuing the culprit was the responsibility of the Ministry of Worship.
The Ministry of Worship was an organization independent of the Imperial Court.
There were experts recruited by the Imperial Court from all over the world, and they specialized in dealing with important cases that the local government couldn't handle. After the incident in Yang County, the people who went to capture Xiao Yu were the Ministry of Worship.
Li Mu handed the report from the Ministry of Justice to the Hall of Governmental Affairs' Assistant Minister Liu Yi. Liu Yi quickly gave an order for someone to send it to the Ministry of Worship.
At this point, Li Mu had fulfilled his duty.
He returned to his own yamen. Not long after sitting down, he felt a familiar aura coming from outside the Hall of Governmental Affairs. He walked out of the Hall of Governmental Affairs' yamen and saw Mr. Mei standing at the door. He asked, "Sister Mei, what's the matter?"
Mr. Mei glanced at him and said, "Nothing. I just haven't seen you in a few days, so I came to see you."
Li Mu scratched his head. "How many days has it been?"
Mr. Mei said, "You really do have a wife. You forgot about His Majesty. You haven't been to Changle Palace for five days."
Li Mu corrected her. "What do you mean I forgot about His Majesty because I have a wife? I'm just worried about irritating His Majesty."
Mr. Mei asked, "Why would you irritate His Majesty?"
Li Mu said in a low voice, "You also know that His Majesty's marriage is not that happy. My wife is so beautiful, and her marriage is so happy. If she appeared in front of His Majesty every day, His Majesty might feel bad …"
Mr. Mei hit him on the head angrily and said, "If His Majesty hears this, be careful of your butt …"
Li Mu glanced at her and said, "Didn't you say that His Majesty's heart is broader than the sea?"
Mr. Mei's eyes wandered and said, "Even if His Majesty is broad-minded, it is not a reason for you to talk about His Majesty behind his back …"
What nonsense was this? The Empress' marriage was not happy to begin with. Li Mu was just stating the truth.
He was taking care of the Empress' emotions. As long as the Empress was reasonable, she would not blame him.
Among all the women that Li Mu was familiar with, there was no one who was more reasonable than the Empress. Merely the fact that she had taken the initiative to admit her mistakes and change after realizing her mistakes had already defeated the majority of women.
Not only that, ever since Liu Hanyan came to Shen 'du, she never entered Li Mu's dream again, nor did she come to the Li Mansion.
It seemed that even the Empress knew that she should not disturb the couple's private time.
Mr. Mei shook his head and looked at Li Mu. He said, "Regardless of whether His Majesty is broad-minded or not, you can't neglect His Majesty just because you have a wife. Did you forget how you felt when His Majesty neglected you last time?"
Li Mu thought about it carefully. After Liu Hanyan came back to Shen 'du, he did seem to neglect the Empress.
The Empress's heart was not as broad as it seemed. Maybe she was already holding a grudge against Li Mu.
When they passed by the market, Li Mu bought a crucian carp and a piece of tofu. He was going to make crucian carp and tofu soup the next morning.
When they got home, Liu Hanyan looked at the fish in his hand and said in surprise, "We already have one fish at home. Why did you buy another one?"
Li Mu said, "I'm saving this one to make soup for tomorrow. I'll give it to His Majesty during the morning court."
Liu Hanyan asked in confusion, "Why are you making soup for His Majesty?"
Li Mu put the fresh fish in a small water tank and explained, "It's a long story. The real His Majesty is not like what you see …"
Li Mu told Liu Hanyan about the Empress. After hearing the story, Liu Hanyan held Li Mu's arm and said in shock and sympathy, "If that's the case, His Majesty is too pitiful …"
Liu Hanyan and the Empress had similar experiences, but they were also different.
She was abandoned by her parents because of her Pure Yin Body. She had not seen her family since she was a child.
The Empress was used by her family more than once. Even now, the Zhou Family was still using her to achieve their goal of stealing the country.
The similar experiences made Liu Hanyan feel pity for her. In her opinion, the Empress was more pitiful than herself.
Li Mu continued, "When you were not in Luoyang, His Majesty treated me very well. If it were not for His Majesty's protection, I would not have been able to deal with the old and new parties, as well as the Academy. The house we are living in now is a gift from His Majesty. His Majesty often teaches me cultivation and has rewarded me with many things. Therefore, I want to do more for His Majesty …"
Liu Hanyan nodded and said, "That's what I should do. Sleep a little more tomorrow morning. I'll make the soup for His Majesty …"
Li Mu said, "Let's do it together."
The two of them had to wake up together tomorrow morning, so it was natural for them to sleep together at night.
Liu Hanyan seemed to have forgotten what she had said a few days ago. At night, she climbed into Li Mu's bed again. In her sleep, she still held his hand tightly.
Li Mu kissed her gently on the forehead and closed his eyes.
Late at night.
The space in the courtyard fluctuated and a figure slowly appeared.
She took a step forward and suddenly stopped. She did not enter the room as usual.
The space in the courtyard fluctuated again and the figure slowly faded away.
In the room, Li Mu and Liu Hanyan were sleeping in each other's arms.
Thousands of miles away, in Baiyu County of Yushan Commandery, the county magistrate of Baiyu County suddenly woke up from his sleep. He looked at the figure in his room and said in shock, "Who are you? How dare you trespass into the county office. Leave immediately!"
What answered him was an incomparably sharp sword-light.
Under the sword, the county magistrate of Baiyu County was beheaded.
A shadow flew out from his corpse. His Primordial Spirit looked at the figure in the room in horror and said in a shrill voice, "I am an official of the imperial court. If you dare to kill me, the imperial court will not let you go. No matter where you run to, you can't escape death …"
Boom!
Before he could finish his sentence, a purple thunderbolt suddenly exploded in the room.
The county magistrate's Primordial Spirit was struck by the thunderbolt and completely disappeared.
A moment later, several constables rushed into the room. Soon, voices came from the room.
"Someone, someone come quickly!"
"Sir, there was an assassination attempt!"
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