Li Mu had originally thought that these cases were the work of the Demon Sect.
However, when he followed the clues to this point, he was shocked to find that things were not as simple as they seemed.
Three counties and four counties, four cases, all pointed to the Ministry of Personnel.
If these four cases were all done by the same person, then the severity and viciousness of these cases would be raised by several levels.
Li Mu immediately made a decision and said, "Someone, come with me to the Ministry of Personnel!"
The director of the Ministry of Justice glanced at Wei Peng and said, "Why aren't you following Lord Li …"
After analyzing the clues of these cases, Li Mu believed that the final answer lay in the Ministry of Personnel.
The Ministry of Personnel was not far from the Ministry of Justice, so they arrived quickly.
Wei Peng was already a frequent visitor to the Ministry of Personnel, so he quickly sent for detailed information on the four assassinated officials. Managers of the Ministry of Personnel at the same time, promoted at the same time, and assassinated at the same time …
Li Mu looked at the four sets of information and said, "There should be another one. Check, who else was promoted at the Ministry of Personnel during that time?"
After the minor official flipped through the files, he said, "There's one more person, Lord Yu, who was the minister counsellor at the time. After the four managers were promoted, he was quickly transferred to Yantai County and promoted to Yantai County Lieutenant …"
Li Mu could already guess that the reason for these people's promotions more than ten years ago was probably the reason for their deaths more than ten years later.
Obviously, as long as he found out why they were promoted more than ten years ago, he would be able to find out the identity of the mastermind behind these cases.
Li Mu continued to ask, "Do you know the reason for their promotions?"
The minor official shook his head and said, "I've only been in the Ministry of Personnel for three years, so I don't know what happened more than ten years ago."
"If Lord Li wants to know what happened more than ten years ago, you can ask me directly."
Seeing a middle-aged man walk in, the minor official immediately bowed and said, "Lord Assistant Minister."
Li Mu looked at the man, his eyes slightly focused, and said calmly, "Assistant Minister Chen."
Li Mu and this Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Personnel had quite a bit of enmity between them.
The wife of the County Magistrate of Yang County, who was killed by Xiao Yu, was this person's sister.
At that time, the enmity between him and Li Mu had already been formed.
After that, Li Mu came to the Divine Capital and scolded this person in the imperial court. He didn't leave him any face and this caused the enmity between them to deepen.
The assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel said slowly, "More than ten years ago, there was an official in the Ministry of Personnel who colluded with the enemy and committed treason. He was exposed by the other officials in the Ministry of Personnel. Later, that official's entire family was executed. The other officials in the Ministry of Personnel were all promoted and placed in important positions. The officials who died were all promoted during that period. It was obvious that they were retaliated against by the remnants of the guilty official's party. However, the Honoured Masters of the Department of Offerings have already gone to Yantai County. I believe that the culprit will be arrested very soon …"
He didn't expect the Ministry of Personnel to have already found out about this. Li Mu didn't need to make this trip.
He was about to leave when the assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel suddenly smiled and said, "Lord Li, you may not know this, but the Li Residence you're living in now is the residence of that guilty official. The day before your wedding is the anniversary of the death of that guilty official's family. I wonder if you heard the screams of their ghosts on your wedding night …"
Before the assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel finished speaking, his expression changed abruptly.
A beam of golden light flew out of Li Mu's ear and shot toward him.
The golden light was initially the size of a grain of rice, but it quickly turned into a giant bell. It crashed into him like a speeding carriage.
White light flashed on the assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel and instantly formed a shield.
However, the protective barrier was like a piece of paper when it was struck by the enormous bell. It was directly shattered.
The giant bell didn't slow down and crashed into the assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
Puff!
He spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying. He crashed heavily into the wall of the Ministry of Personnel and spat out another mouthful of blood. He fell to the ground and pointed at Li Mu. He said furiously, "You, you dare …"
The Law Bell floated above Li Mu's shoulder. Li Mu walked to the assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel and said calmly, "Watch your mouth. If there's a next time, it won't just be a few broken ribs."
He took one last look at the assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel and turned to leave.
Seeing this, the other officials of the Ministry of Personnel all returned to their duty rooms. They didn't dare to watch.
Although beating up an official of the imperial court was punishable, the assistant minister had brought this upon himself. Anyone who had just gotten married wouldn't be in a good mood after hearing his words.
If it were someone else, they might be in trouble.
However, Lord Li was His Majesty's favorite official. If the assistant minister dared to make a big deal out of this, he would be the one to suffer in the end.
The assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel got up from the ground and fixed his ribs with a solemn expression. He patted the dust off his body and walked out of the Ministry of Personnel.
He was just trying to show off. He didn't expect that Li Mu would dare to beat him up in the Ministry of Personnel. Under the Empress' favor, this person was lawless. However, he could only endure today's humiliation for the time being.
With how much the Empress doted on Li Mu, it wouldn't do him any good if this matter reached the imperial court.
He walked out of the Ministry of Personnel and quickly arrived at the Ministry of Justice.
In the assistant minister's office, Zhou Zhong looked at his sorry state and asked, "Lord Chen, what happened?"
The assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel didn't speak. Instead, he asked, "Are you sure no one from the Li family escaped?"
Zhou Zhong glanced at him and said, "You should know better than me."
The assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel said, "I just remembered that he has a daughter. She wasn't in the Divine Capital at the time and couldn't be found. The four managers of the Ministry of Personnel back then all died in the past half a year. I'm afraid she's the one behind this."
Zhou Zhong asked, "Are you afraid that she'll come after you for revenge?"
"Aren't you afraid? Don't forget that you stood on our side in the end." The assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel glanced at him and said, "However, she won't have the chance to come after us. The people from the Department of Worship have already set up an ambush in Yantai County. They should be able to capture her and bring her back to the Divine Capital soon. When that time comes, don't let her have the chance to say anything. Although this won't cause us much trouble, the higher-ups still don't want to hear any rumors …"
Zhou Zhong nodded and said, "Don't worry, I know."
The assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel looked at him and said, "I'm worried that you'll remember our old friendship. Lord Zhou, you're a smart man. I believe that you'll make the right choice. You should know that we weren't the only ones who wanted him dead back then. Those who make everyone their enemy won't have a good ending …"
Zhou Zhong leaned back in his chair and said, "That's not necessarily the case …"
The assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel seemed to have thought of something. His chest where the giant bell hit him started to hurt again. His face immediately darkened and he said, "If it wasn't for the Empress' protection, he would have died a thousand times over. Just wait and see. No matter who wins in the end, between us and the Zhou family, he'll be the first to die. After he dies, the Divine Capital will remain the same as it was before …"
The assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel gloomily said a few more words and left the Ministry of Justice.
The door to the assistant minister's office closed. Zhou Zhong slowly stood up from his chair. He clenched and unclenched his fists. His expression was conflicted and pained. He seemed to be making a difficult choice in his heart.
When his gaze swept across the Law of the Great Zhou on the table, he stared at the three words for a long time before finally sitting down slowly.
"I'm sorry …"
He closed his eyes and muttered softly. Then, he curled up his body in the chair …
…
Li Mu left the Ministry of Personnel and returned home.
He vented all his anger from Zhou Zhong on the assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel. Sure enough, he felt much better.
Liu Hanyan had already finished cooking. She asked, "Why did you come back so late today?"
Li Mu explained, "I helped the Empress approve some memorials. Then, I went to the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Personnel. I was delayed for a while …"
Liu Hanyan asked in surprise, "Why did you help the Empress approve memorials? That's going against the rules. Won't you be impeached?"
Although Li Mu also approved some memorials, the ones that were sent to the Empress were all important matters. Not even the Prime Minister had the right to approve them, let alone a minister from the Secretariat.
Li Mu waved his hand and said, "Don't worry. If she doesn't say anything, and I don't say anything, no one will know."
Liu Hanyan was still confused. She asked, "Why didn't Her Majesty approve them herself …"
Li Mu said, "You don't know Her Majesty. She's actually very lazy when it comes to politics. You'll know when you get to know her in the future. But she hasn't been coming to our house recently. Maybe she's afraid of being upset …"
Liu Hanyan asked, "Upset by what?"
Li Mu explained, "Seeing us being so lovey-dovey, and thinking about how she's all alone, she's upset …"
"Uh-huh!"
Mr. Mei stood at the door of the Li Manor with a box of food in his hand. He snorted loudly.
Li Mu's expression changed instantly. He smiled and said, "Sister Mei, you're just in time. Do you want to sit down and eat together?"
Mr. Mei was here to deliver the box of food. He handed it to Li Mu and glared at him. "No need. I still have things to do in the palace."
She was about to leave when Li Mu remembered something. He ran out of the door and said, "Sister Mei, wait."
Mr. Mei turned around and asked, "What's the matter?"
Li Mu asked, "Sister Mei, do you know who the previous owner of the Li Manor is?"
Mr. Mei was surprised. "Why are you suddenly asking this?"
Li Mu said, "I'm just curious."
Mr. Mei looked around and nodded. "I know. It's the former assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Li Yi."
Li Mu said, "I heard from the Ministry of Justice that he betrayed the country and his family was exterminated by the imperial court …"
Mr. Mei thought for a while and said, "Lord Li is a really good official. He pushed for the reform of the law and proposed to abolish the Silver Act. He tried his best to stop the previous Emperor from granting the death exemption. He did a lot of good things for the people …"
She suddenly looked at Li Mu and said, "Actually, you're very similar to Lord Li. You're in a high position, but what you do is for the people."
Li Mu said in surprise, "How could such a person betray the country?"
Mr. Mei shook his head and didn't explain further.
Li Mu understood what she meant.
What Li Mu and he did affected the interests of the privileged class in Luoyang. Their enemy wasn't one party in the imperial court, but all the parties combined.
Without a reliable backer, this kind of reformer usually didn't have a good ending.
He was lucky to have met the Empress. Otherwise, his ending wouldn't be much better than Lord Li's.
Li Mu had the Empress, but Lord Li didn't.
Li Mu asked, "Did the previous Emperor just watch this kind of loyal official be persecuted?"
Mr. Mei shook his head. "He tried his best to stop the previous Emperor from granting the death exemption. The previous Emperor was also very dissatisfied with him. The previous Emperor tacitly agreed to those people persecuting him."
When Li Mu heard this, he was furious and cursed, "This bastard!"
Mr. Mei knocked on his head and said, "Mind your status. Is this something you can say?"
After that, she touched Li Mu's head and said, "Let's not talk about that bastard. I forgot to tell you that starting tomorrow, you don't have to bring food to Her Majesty anymore."
Li Mu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I can finally sleep more in the future …"
Mr. Mei said, "You can cook in the imperial kitchen from now on."
Li Mu was shocked. "What?"
Mr. Mei glanced at him and asked, "What? You don't want to? Did you forget what you said to Her Majesty before? You're willing to go through fire and water for her. Now you don't want to cook a few dishes for her? Were you lying to Her Majesty before?"
Li Mu looked at Mr. Mei blankly. Mr. Mei stared at him and asked, "Why are you looking at me?"
Li Mu murmured, "Why do you speak so much like Her Majesty? As a friend, I have to remind you that Her Majesty is different from you. At your age, you should be down-to-earth, considerate, and sensible. If you still play the little girl game, you might not be able to get married in this lifetime …"
Mr. Mei asked, "What's different about Her Majesty?"
Li Mu looked around and whispered, "You still have a chance to get married, but Her Majesty doesn't. Even if she wants to marry, no one dares to marry her. It's more likely that she marries someone else …"
For Mr. Mei, Li Mu felt like a younger brother who had a family and saw that no one wanted his older sister. She wasn't in a hurry, and Li Mu was worried for her too.
He had to let her know her place. Her age was comparable to two 18-year-old girls. If she couldn't recognize herself, she might still be alone when she was 80 …
For this reason, Li Mu even criticized the Empress behind her back again.
However, he trusted Mr. Mei a lot. At most, she would give Li Mu a slap on the head, but she wouldn't complain to the Empress.
Li Mu's trust in Mr. Mei completely collapsed when he slept next to Liu Hanyan at night and saw the Empress waiting for him with a whip in her dream …
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