As though he hadn't expected the princess and the crown prince to be present, Ceng Shichun lowered his head and drank his tea without saying a word.
Li Xuan glanced at him and raised his brows. "Sir, is there something you need?"
Li Yi waved his hand and said, "Ignore Lord Ceng for now. Speak your mind."
Li Xuan looked at him before looking at Ceng Shichun. He seemed to understand something before he frowned and asked, "You actually asked me what I need? Don't you know why we're here?"
Li Yi shook his head. "Why? Let me make this clear. If the Academy of Sciences runs out of funds, don't look for me. Look for MIngzhu to borrow it. My family has high expenses. She can't even spend her money."
"Purge the emperor's side!"
Li Xuan slapped the table and said, "That Old Man Chu has taken the lead to purge the emperor's side on behalf of Uncle Huang. He wants to get rid of the sycophants, but you're still sitting here drinking tea?"
He said angrily, "Although Old Man Chu is respected and the Chu family has an extraordinary influence in the world of officials, making it nearly impossible to find any flaws, you can't just sit here and wait for death …"
"It's not like I can't find any flaws." Ceng Shichun put down his teacup, looked at Li Xuan, and said, "Your Highness, you may not know this, but in the case of the missing woman case that was solved a few days ago, Grand Tutor Chu's grandson was captured on the spot at the Peng Residence. It was only because someone exerted some influence that the case was left unsettled …"
Li Yi and MIngzhu didn't look surprised. Instead, it was Li Xuan who was taken aback. He stood up abruptly and asked, "Something like that happened?"
Ceng Shichun nodded. When he saw Li Yi and the princess's expressions, he knew that the Cui family had been too naive the previous time. Even if he didn't say anything, he wouldn't be able to hide it from them.
Li Xuan frowned as he paced around the hall. He muttered, "But this alone isn't enough to topple the Chu family. It won't be a good thing if we anger Old Man Chu … That old fellow even said something about 'scholarly bones'. What bullsh * t scholarly bones!"
"What if we add a murder case?" Ceng Shichun stood up and said, "Unfortunately, the murder at the Miaoyin Pavilion on the night of the Lantern Festival is also related to that Young Master Zhu."
That murder case had caused an uproar in the capital, but it had still not been solved. Li Xuan also had some impression of it. He asked, "What do you mean? Didn't you say that the criminal originally wanted to harm the grandson of Grand Tutor Chu as well … You mean that the case was originally done by that person surnamed Chu?"
Li Xuan walked up to him and asked, "If that's the case, why hasn't there been any news at all?"
"That's because the capital governor, Ceng Shichun, with the tacit approval of Grand Tutor Chu, concealed the truth of the case and framed a fugitive who was on the run. In addition, that woman's older sister felt that there was something fishy about the case and went to the capital governor's yamen to seek justice. To this day, she is still imprisoned in the yamen."
Li Xuan was startled. Confusion and shock appeared on his face. He pointed at him and said, "You, aren't you Ceng Shichun?"
Ceng Shichun straightened his clothes and knelt down in the direction of the Eldest Princess. In a loud voice, he said, "I have sinned!"
"You …" Li Xuan pointed at him and was so shocked that he couldn't say anything. In the end, he could only choke out, "You traitor — you betrayed me well!"
"So that's why you locked that woman up." Li Yi stood up as well. He looked at him and asked, "Why didn't you tell me about this before?"
Ceng Shichun raised his head and slowly said, "The time has not come."
MIngzhu gazed at him and asked, "Do you know what the crime is?"
Ceng Shichun lowered his head and said, "No matter what the crime is, it's still much better than following the Cui family down a dead end."
MIngzhu looked at him and waved her hand. "Stand up and talk."
…
After listening to Ceng Shichun's words, Her Highness shook her head and said, "No wonder. No wonder he was so radical. Grand Tutor Chu had no other way to protect the Chu family's reputation."
Li Xuan slammed the table and said angrily, "The Cui family actually used such despicable methods. Why didn't they tell Old Chu about this …"
Ceng Shichun shook his head and said, "The Chu family can no longer turn back. Whether it was the Cui family's scheme or not, the case was committed by Chu Ping. The Cui family has been uninvolved from the beginning. It's impossible to topple such a powerful family with just one side of the story. Moreover, the capital is deep. The Cui family is not as simple as the Crown Prince appears to be."
"Qin He …" A trace of doubt appeared on Li Yi's face. His lips moved slightly before he looked at Ceng Shichun and asked, "How is the victim's sister now?"
Ceng Shichun said, "In order to prevent the Cui family from silencing her, I have kept her in prison. But this time, if she is released, she can no longer sound the grievance drum of the capital yamen."
"Young Master, Liu Yizhong from the Ministry of Justice is here." Fang came in from outside, feeling puzzled. What was going on today? It wasn't a holiday, but everyone was running home …
Ceng Shichun looked back and said, "I'll go back first."
"If anything happens, I'll get someone to contact you." Li Yi nodded and waved at Fang. He said, "Send Lord Ceng out through the back door."
"Lord Li." After Liu Yizhong entered, he first bowed to Li Yi. Just as he was about to speak, a voice rang in his ear.
"Do you only have eyes for Lord Li?"
Liu Yizhong was startled. When he saw the two people behind Li Yi, he immediately bowed and said, "Greetings, Your Highness, Crown Prince!"
When he looked up again, his mouth opened, but he didn't know if he should speak.
Li Yi waved his hand and said, "It's fine. The Princess and Crown Prince are on the same side. Tell me, how's the investigation of the case?"
Liu Yizhong nodded and said, "The two missing women have been confirmed to have nothing to do with the Peng family. In the process of investigating the case, I unexpectedly found that the number of missing women in the capital region in the past two years has far exceeded the previous years. But the places where they went missing before were relatively scattered, involving more than a dozen counties. The number of missing people in each county is not large, but if you add them up, it is an extremely terrifying number …"
Li Yi frowned slightly. "There are so many people, but there's no clue at all?"
Liu Yizhong shook his head and said, "All the clues were inexplicably cut off after extending to the capital. Until now, there has been no useful discovery, and there is no direct evidence that these are related to the Cui family."
Li Xuan looked at him in surprise and asked, "You suspect that the Cui family is also involved in the business of abducting women and selling women?"
"I don't know …" Li Yi shook his head and said, "Whether or not it has anything to do with the Cui family, we should always try our best to find the two missing women. Otherwise, this case will not be over."
He turned his head to look at Liu Yizhong and said, "You continue to follow up on this case."
"Then this subordinate will go back first." Liu Yizhong nodded. After a few steps, a trace of hesitation appeared on his face. He then turned his head and said, "Milord, you can deal with those rotten scholars with all your strength. There is no need to pay attention to the Cui family …"
Li Xuan looked at Liu Yizhong's back as he left, then turned his head and said, "Why do I feel that there is a hidden meaning in his words?"
Li Yi looked at him in surprise. "You can hear the hidden meaning in his words?"
Without waiting for Li Xuan to reply, Fang walked in with a surprised expression. He looked at Li Yi and said, "Young master, someone has come again. It is the old man called Prime Minister Qin who came last time."
Li Xuan and MIngzhu looked at each other. The Regent Eldest Princess was together with the country's traitor, which was rumored to be the talk of the outside world. It was not good for the Prime Minister to see it. MIngzhu looked at him and walked behind a screen with Li Xuan.
The white-haired old man stepped into the hall and said, "Young people are indeed fearless. The outside world is like a tide of rumors, yet you are still able to sit still …"
Li Yi stood up and cupped his hands. "Prime Minister Qin, please sit."
"Alright, I won't be sitting. I've only come here today to bring a message to you." Prime Minister Qin stood at the door and looked at him calmly. He said, "Stick to what you think is right. There are still many discerning people in the court. They will not watch everything you and Her Highness have done for these countries be destroyed in the hands of those with ulterior motives. Although I am old, with my old bones, I can still block them for you young people …"
He said one sentence, and only one sentence. After that, he turned around and left.
It had to be said that Li Yi used to have some misunderstandings about the old man in front of him. However, some things that happened later changed his impression of Prime Minister Qin.
Regardless of the Qin family, Prime Minister Qin was an old man who lived a pure life. He was an old man worthy of admiration.
He watched Prime Minister Qin's figure disappear and Fang's big face appeared in front of him again.
Fang's face showed an extremely puzzled expression. "Young master, what festival is it today?"
Li Yi looked at him and asked, "Who is here?"
"Old Liu of the county government."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
