Under the curious gazes of several officials from the Ministry of Personnel, Wang Lun strode into the Ministry of Justice.
He met Yang Lin at the Assistant Minister's Office.
Wang Lun looked at Yang Lin and frowned. "Lord Yang, what's going on?"
Yang Lin said helplessly, "You'll have to ask Young Master Wang. Three years ago, he pursued a married woman. In order to force the woman to submit, he beat her husband until he was severely injured. In the end, he even used his power to fabricate a crime and sent her husband to prison. Today, the Ministry of Justice has ordered the Ministry of Justice to reopen the case. After the Ministry of Justice investigated, they found that it was true …"
Wang Lun gritted his teeth. "Wasn't the case from three years ago already closed?"
Yang Lin said, "Although the case from three years ago was closed, the Ministry of Justice felt that the Ministry of Justice had handled the case unfairly and requested a retrial. I couldn't do anything about it."
Wang Lun asked, "Can't the original verdict be upheld?"
Yang Lin shook his head. "No. The Ministry of Justice was dissatisfied with the original verdict, so they decided to reopen the case. If the Ministry of Justice still doesn't change it, then I'll be the unlucky one."
Wang Lun said angrily, "Why do you have to reopen the case from three years ago?"
Yang Lin looked at him. "You'll have to ask Lord Wang about this?"
Wang Lun was stunned. "Ask me? What's wrong with me?"
Yang Lin sighed and said, "That day, I told you not to meddle in that matter, but you sent several memorials in a row, insisting that Li Yi's daughter be killed. Now, that woman has become one of Li Mu's lovers. If he doesn't take revenge on you, who else can he take revenge on?"
Wang Lun said, "I didn't follow the Royal Prince's orders …"
Yang Lin said, "That's why your son is here today."
Wang Lun took a deep breath and asked, "Then what will happen to my son?"
Yang Lin shook his head. "It's hard to say. He caused serious injuries, slandered and framed innocent people, and sent them to prison. He'll be punished for several crimes. Your Wang family might have to pay a lot of money. You won't be able to avoid prison …"
Wang Lun said, "I know that the law can be bent. Lord Yang, with our relationship, you have to help me."
Yang Lin thought for a moment and said, "You can ask Manager Wei to defend your son. He is the most familiar with the law in the Ministry of Justice. Perhaps he can help your son fight for a reduced sentence..."
A moment later, in a certain office of the Ministry of Justice, Wang Lun held Wei Peng's hand and said, "Manager Wei, I'll leave my son to you. After the matter is completed, I will definitely reward you handsomely."
Wei Peng nodded and said, "I'll try my best."
With that, he slowly walked into the courtroom.
Wang Lun asked Yang Lin, "How will the Ministry of Justice judge him this time?"
Yang Lin thought for a moment, then said, "Inflicting serious injuries and setting someone up to be imprisoned for three years. The fine is at least two hundred taels of silver, and this is under the condition that the other party is willing to forgive you. In addition, at least five years of imprisonment is unavoidable. As for how much you can reduce, it will depend on Manager Wei's performance..."
About fifteen minutes later, Wei Peng slowly walked out of the court.
Wang Lun asked, "What were the results?"
Wei Peng said, "Forget it."
Wang Lun was pleasantly surprised. "His sentence has been waived?"
Wei Peng said, "The fine is waived. He was only sentenced to twenty years of imprisonment..."
Wang Lun was stunned for a moment. When he came to his senses, he grabbed Wei Peng's collar and said through clenched teeth, "What did you say? Just how did you argue..."
Yang Lin hurriedly said, "Lord Wang, watch your actions. Your actions..."
He had just finished speaking when several figures walked into the Ministry of Justice. They looked at Wang Lun and asked, "Are you the Director of the Ministry of Personnel, Wang Lun?"
Wang Lun was furious. He said unhappily, "I am. Who are you people?"
Crack!
Two of them pressed down on Wang Lun's arms. Another person put shackles on his wrists and said, "The Imperial Clan Temple has investigated. In the past few years, you have abused your power for personal gain many times. When evaluating officials, you were severely unfair. In addition, in order to get your son off the hook, you used your position as the Director of the Ministry of Personnel to put pressure on the Ministry of Justice. This is also a serious violation of the law. Come with us to the Imperial Clan Temple..."
Wang Lun said in horror, "What are you saying? I am an official of the imperial court. You have no right to do this..."
"You still know that you are an official of the imperial court?" The official from the Imperial Clan Temple glanced at him. He waved his hand and said, "Knowingly breaking the law. This is an additional charge. Take him away!"
Seeing Wang Lun being taken away, Yang Lin sighed and said, "I told you long ago not to stand up for others when you shouldn't. You just wouldn't listen..."
Outside the Ministry of Justice, the officials from the Ministry of Personnel were dumbfounded.
Everything was fine in the morning. They had just come out for lunch and the Director was taken away...
The onlooking commoners were also discussing.
"This family, both the father and son were arrested. What a sin."
"The father committed a sin, and the son committed an even greater sin. They could have been released after a few years as compensation. Now, they have been locked up for twenty years. When will they be released...?"
"Manager Wei's defense is really amazing..."
"This is nothing. Just last month, there was a murderer who was sentenced to be banished to the army. His family spent a lot of money to hire Manager Wei to defend him. Guess what happened?"
"What happened?"
"He was just executed yesterday..."
...
In a room on duty in the Ministry of Justice, Wei Peng was writing a file. Yang Lin stood in front of the table and asked, "You have a grudge with Wang Lun's son, right?"
Wei Peng nodded and said, "We had a conflict before."
Yang Lin said, "Be careful in the future. It's best not to bring personal grudges into official matters."
Wei Peng said, "This official understands."
Yang Lin shook his head and left. Because of the delay just now, the brush in Wei Peng's hand had been suspended in the air for too long. A drop of ink fell onto the half-finished file and quickly dyed it red, leaving behind a blob of ink.
Wei Peng looked at the blob of ink and said in a low voice, "Come back..."
The blob of ink on the file quickly shrank and formed a blob of ink. It floated in the air and landed back on the brush. The paper was as clean as new.
...
Compared to the demotion of the Minister of Personnel and the Left and Right Assistant Ministers, the imprisonment of a mere Director of the Ministry of Personnel did not attract much attention.
However, to the officials of the old party, this matter was worth paying attention to.
Times had changed. In the past, they were in charge of the Ministry of Personnel. However, the Director of the Ministry of Personnel was now the highest-ranking official in the Ministry of Personnel. Losing one of the two Directors of the Ministry of Personnel was a great loss to them.
In a certain residence in the southern courtyard, a secret meeting was taking place.
"Why did something suddenly happen to Wang Lun?"
"I've asked Yang Lin. He's under the orders of the Secretariat. It should be Li Mu who's behind this."
"Wang Lun once received my order to persuade the imperial court to execute Li Mu's daughter. Now, I heard that Li Yi's daughter is living in Li Mu's house and is very close to him. Perhaps she has already become his woman. He's taking revenge."
After a long silence, someone sighed and said in an unwilling tone, "In my opinion, we shouldn't provoke Li Mu for the time being. He has the Empress' protection and doesn't reveal any flaws. We can't do anything to him and there's no need to fight to the death with him. Don't forget that we only have one opponent. As long as we defeat the Zhou family, no one will be a threat to us."
Someone sighed and said, "Now, I'm afraid it's not about whether we should provoke Li Mu or not, but whether he should provoke us. If Li Yi's daughter is already his woman, then Li Yi is his father-in-law. It's very likely that he wants to avenge Li Yi."
"Hasn't he already overturned the verdict for Li Yi?"
"Overturning the verdict is not revenge. Judging from Wang Lun's case, this person will seek revenge for the smallest grievance. Since he took action against Wang Lun so quickly, I'm afraid he won't let the others off easily …"
As soon as he finished speaking, someone knocked on the door from outside.
He walked over and opened the door. A servant whispered a few words to him. When he walked into the room, his face was very gloomy. He said, "In addition to the Left Physician of the Ministry of Personnel, Wang Lun, the Right Physician of the Ministry of Personnel, Xue Yan, was also taken away by the people of the Imperial Clan Temple …"
Pa!
"Preposterous!" Commandery Prince Nanyang slapped the table and stood up abruptly. He said angrily, "What is he trying to do?!"
In the Li Residence, Li Mu held Li Qing's hand and said, "Those people from back then, don't even think about escaping …"
Liu Hanyan glanced at Li Mu and coughed softly.
Li Qing let go of Li Mu's hand in a panic. Although the three of them had reached a tacit understanding on some matters, she was much more thin-skinned. In a situation where there was a third person present, she was still not used to being intimate with Li Mu.
Li Mu held Li Qing's hand in his left hand and Liu Hanyan's hand in his right. It was not easy to enjoy the happiness of having two wives. If they could not be impartial, it was only a matter of time before the harem caught fire.
Liu Hanyan looked at Li Qing and asked Li Mu, "When do you plan to officially welcome her into the Li Residence? We have to prepare in advance."
Li Qing shook her head and said, "There's no need to go through so much trouble."
Although Liu Hanyan and Li Qing were both women, their understanding of marriage was completely different.
Liu Hanyan's heart was still that of a secular woman. She hoped to have a romantic and ritualistic wedding.
Li Qing entered the Fu-lu School when she was very young. She had the carefree and casual nature of a cultivator. When cultivators practiced Dual Cultivation, as long as the two of them were willing, they could enter the bridal chamber at that time and skip all the tedious procedures.
Liu Hanyan shook her head and said, "That won't do. If others know, they will think that I have mistreated you …"
Li Qing insisted, "There's really no need. As long as the three of us can be together forever, that's enough …"
"Three?" Liu Hanyan looked at Li Qing and seemed to realize something. She looked at her with a strange expression and asked, "Junior Sister, you don't think that Wanwan and Xiao Bai are just our maids, do you?"
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