When Xia Zhengqi heard Debao's words, his face immediately darkened.

"Lord Cui, the Minister of Justice, is waiting in the imperial study." Eunuch Debao reported with his head lowered.

Xia Zhengqi frowned and said, "Ruoyu, I won't eat anymore. Let Madam change Miao'er's clothes. I'll take her to the imperial study to play for a while."

The queen nodded sensibly and immediately went to instruct the nanny.

[What! Take me to the Imperial Study to work?]

Xia Miaoyuan had a mouthful of fruit puree in her mouth. Before she could swallow it, she heard Xia Zhengqi was going to carry her to the imperial study, and she started to babble in dissatisfaction.

The fruit puree in his mouth instantly spurted out, getting all over the front of his clothes.

"Oh Miao'er, look at what you've eaten." The queen took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped Xia Miaoyuan's mouth.

"Hurry up and wash the little princess's hands and face, and change her clothes. Be quick." the queen ordered.

"Hey, Emperor Daddy, take a look at this. Look at yourself. Is this reasonable?"

[I'm just a little baby of three months old. I haven't even finished my fruit puree yet, and you're taking me to work in the Imperial Study!]

Several maids were busy cleaning up Xia Miaoyuan, but Xia Miaoyuan's little mouth never stopped mumbling.

In the imperial study, Minister of Justice Cui Lie was waiting anxiously, pacing back and forth.

"Your Majesty, you are here." Seeing Xia Zhengqi hurriedly walking in with the little princess in his arms, Cui Lie hurriedly saluted.

Xia Zhengqi sat down, his expression serious: "Tell me quickly, what's going on."

"This morning, when the jailer served food to the prisoners, he found Jiang Zhiyuan lying on the ground, unconscious." Cui Lie's face was solemn.

"The jailer asked Jiang Zhishan, who lived with him, and also asked the next-door Taishi Jiang, but they both said they knew nothing."

"The jailer dared not be careless and asked a doctor to diagnose him."

Xia Zhengqi's eyes widened: "What did the doctor say?"

"The doctor didn't find out what the symptoms were. He only said that Jiang Zhiyuan was still alive, but unconscious." Cui Lie's tone was a little nervous.

"Later, the imperial physician was called in to see him, and he said he might have had a stroke. He said Jiang Zhiyuan might never wake up again."

"How could he become like this out of nowhere?" Xia Zhengqi said in a gloomy tone.

"Cui Lie, tell me the truth, did you torture him severely to make him confess? Did you beat him to death?"

Cui Lie fell to his knees and said, "Your Majesty, I believe in harsh punishments, but I have never used torture to extract a confession."

[Dad, you really have been prejudiced against Mr. Cui from the beginning to the end.]

Xia Miaoyuan stretched out his two chubby little hands, pulled Xia Zhengqi's beard, and complained.

[In the book, you look down on Cui Lie and think he is a cruel official.]

[In fact, his ability to judge cases is much better than those muddleheaded adults who only care about money.]

Xia Zhengqi recalled what his daughter had said before: in the book, Cui Lie was retaliated by the Jiang family because he refused to go along with Grand Tutor Jiang, and he felt guilty.

"Okay, my dear Cui, please get up. I'm just asking you something." Xia Zhengqi said lightly.

"Go check if Jiang Zhiyuan met any suspicious people or ate any suspicious food before he became ill."

"Okay, let's put Jiang Zhiyuan's matter aside for now, and go on."

Cui Lie wiped the sweat from his forehead and continued, "After Jiang Zhiyuan lost consciousness, Grand Tutor Jiang's behavior was very strange."

"He doesn't seem to care much about Jiang Zhiyuan, but is anxious to find me to change my confession."

[Haha, the eldest brother isn't his biological son, so naturally he wouldn't care.]

When Xia Miaoyuan heard this, he had an expression of gossiping.

What? Jiang Zhiyuan isn't Grand Tutor Jiang's biological son?

Xia Zhengqi was shocked, but he pretended to be calm.

"Go on, what confession does he want to retract?"

Cui Lie's expression was solemn. "Originally, after His Royal Highness the Crown Prince found the correspondence, Grand Tutor Jiang had no way to argue. But today, he actually changed his statement, saying that those corrupt and lawless acts were not his doing."

"He pinned all the blame on Jiang Zhiyuan for corruption, abuse of power, and collusion with court officials."

"He said that it was Jiang Zhiyuan who was greedy for money and profit. He used his name to collect money everywhere and embezzled public funds. He also forged his notes and wrote letters to those ministers to collude with them."

Xia Zhengqi felt a tightness in his chest: "What! How dare Jiang Rong say that!"

[Wow! Old man Jiang is amazing! Even at the end of his rope, he still managed to use Jiang Zhiyuan to take the blame for himself.]

[Oh my, this old man Jiang is really hard to kill.]

Xia Miaoyuan clasped his two chubby hands together nervously, frowning slightly, as if he was thinking about something.

[It's not surprising, after all, in the book, he is also a ruthless man who successfully usurped the throne and was the founding emperor who completed the change of dynasty with his own hands.]

[Although he's not the protagonist and doesn't have the protagonist's aura, he's still a key figure after all, so it's not likely that he'll be eliminated early.]

[It seems that there is still no rush to get rid of Old Man Jiang.]

After hearing his daughter's words, Xia Zhengqi's excitement actually eased a little.

He then asked, "How are the trials of those people going?"

"The interrogation of the others went smoothly."

"Those officials who were escorted back from Jiangxia Province, including Sun Chaogui, have confessed to colluding with the Jiang family father and son to embezzle disaster relief funds."

"As for those gentlemen who caused such a disturbance in the imperial court a few days ago, I interrogated them based on the correspondence between them and Grand Tutor Jiang, and also seized the stolen money from their homes."

"When they saw the overwhelming evidence, they all confessed."

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