Seeing Du Laihua's tough attitude, Xiao Luofeng also got angry and said, "This is the Central Government Office, not the Marquis's Mansion!"

"Are you implying that my word is not law?"

Du Laihua put his hands on his hips and said loudly, "Even if Prefect Huang were here, I would still have the power to supervise the administration of the central government offices! Now that Prefect Huang is on sick leave and has handed over all the affairs to Commander Xiao, if you do a good job, I can enjoy some peace and quiet. But with your current way of handling things, I don't trust you!"

"From this moment forward, until Prefect Huang is reinstated, the Central Office will be under my control!"

"You want to seize power?" Xiao Luofeng said coldly.

"Don't try to pin any accusations on me." Du Laihua looked at Zhao Cheng and said, "In the words of the young prime minister, the power I am currently exercising is in accordance with the laws of our Great Jing Dynasty, and there is absolutely no problem with it."

Du Laihua turned his head and asked the people behind him, "Don't you agree?"

"You're right, my lord!"

"no problem……"

Xiao Luofeng looked at the familiar faces behind Du Laihua, and exclaimed in surprise when he saw one of them: "He Shun, even you!"

Xiao Luofeng choked, not wanting to ask any more questions.

The man was wearing a full set of Yasukuni-style armor; he was the same adjutant who led the garrison to rescue Huang Hua during the Huang Hua incident.

The adjutant clasped his hands and said, "Commander Xiao, before the old Marquis passed away, Prefect Huang would consult him on everything. There is nothing wrong with what the Marquis is doing now."

Du Laihua continued, "Commander Xiao is highly suspected of covering up a crime. Not only is he unsuitable to participate in this case, but he is also temporarily unable to continue serving as the city's garrison commander. General He, I'll trouble you to relieve Commander Xiao of his duties!"

"yes!!"

He Shun led his men up to Xiao Luofeng and said, "Forgive us!"

It's understandable that the other officials in the central government office favored Du Laihua, given his high rank and prestige; they were probably coerced.

However, He Shun also sided with Du Laihua, which made Xiao Luofeng wary.

You should know that He Shun is Huang Zhen's confidant.

Xiao Luofeng and Zhao Cheng exchanged a glance, their eyes meeting, and they understood each other's thoughts.

At first, they couldn't understand why Du Laihua had set up such a flawed scheme, but now they all understood.

Whether the case is of good quality or not is not important at all. The key is to get Xiao Luofeng to take over the case and then bring Zhao Cheng to the Central Office.

Whether or not Zhao Cheng can be convicted is completely unimportant to Du Laihua; all he wants is to seize the opportunity to take down Xiao Luofeng!

You are the living Yama in the eyes of the pirates, and the guardian deity praised by the people of Qingdong City. Now I will make sure you can't even be the garrison commander of a city!

If you always outperform me, then I will make you a prisoner for bending the law for personal gain and knowingly breaking the law!

Seeing Du Laihua's jealous gaze, Zhao Cheng took a deep breath and suddenly remembered a book he had read in his previous life.

That book uses a murder case to illustrate human malice.

The boundless malice is unfathomable, like a bottomless abyss, too deep to be looked at.

No hatred or grudge, yet people kill each other out of pure malice!

Wasn't Du Laihua's relationship with Xiao Luofeng the same?

In this matter, Zhao Cheng was merely a supporting character.

Of course, this was just Zhao Cheng's initial thought. After seeing He Shun also side with Du Laihua, he began to think more deeply.

Before Fu's mother died, Huang Zhen had already taken sick leave, which was understandable because Huang Hua was injured.

But when a murder occurred, even the young prime minister was brought to the central government office, yet Huang Zhen never showed his face from beginning to end, as if he were terminally ill.

His confidants, however, sided with Du Laihua on this matter.

This inevitably led Zhao Cheng to make a connection: although Huang Zhen appeared righteous and awe-inspiring in public, he actually harbored deep resentment towards Zhao Cheng for the loss of his son. He was using Du Laihua as a pawn to take revenge.

It would be best if it worked out, but it doesn't matter if it doesn't, since he has already distanced himself from the situation.

Zhao Cheng's lips curled up, thinking to himself that things were indeed not that simple, and no one was a fool.

Seeing that Xiao Luofeng's armor was almost completely removed, Zhao Cheng suddenly laughed and said, "You're all in such a hurry to remove Xiao Shouwei's armor, have you ever thought that one day you'll have to put it back on him by your own hands?"

"There's no need for the young prime minister to worry about that!"

Du Laihua gave Zhao Cheng a malicious smile and said, "I'm going to interrogate Yan Lan now. Young Prime Minister, you should worry about yourself!"

Seeing Du Laihua's swaggering back, Zhao Wu said angrily, "I really want to kill him with one blow!"

Zhao Cheng shook his head and said, "Keep calm."

Zhao Wu asked, "How do we break this deadlock now?"

"They're all on their way."

"Master...you know I'm not very bright, what do you mean?"

Zhao Cheng laughed and said, "Let the bullets fly for a while."

Zhao Wu scratched his head, even more confused.

In the courtroom.

Du Laihua sat behind the magistrate's desk, while the officials of the central government office each had their own seats, and the cruel officials stood on both sides holding their execution sticks.

Yan Lan was the only one kneeling in the entire courtroom.

The frail woman, all alone, looked extremely pitiful.

"Yan Lan, confessing as soon as possible will only benefit you. I fear you cannot bear the consequences of concealing the truth!"

Yan Lan lowered her head; although her small frame lacked any imposing presence, her words were filled with determination.

“I already told you when Commander Xiao interrogated me that Madam Fu suddenly collapsed and died. The young prime minister was right next to me at the time, and I didn’t see him lay a hand on her.”

Yan Lan looked up at Du Laihua and said, "My lord, even if you ask me ten times, a hundred times, or a thousand times, it will be the same. I have never lied since I was a child!"

*Smack!*

Du Laihua slammed his gavel down with a loud thud and shouted, "How dare you speak so arrogantly! I advise you to think carefully before you speak!"

"This is the truth, I am speaking the truth, there is no need for me to think!"

"Is that so?" Du Laihua sneered, "Since you say Zhao Cheng isn't the murderer, does that mean you're actually the murderer?"

Yan Lan exclaimed in surprise, "I didn't say that!"

Du Laihua said, "Besides Mama Fu, there are only you and Zhao Cheng in the room. It's either him or you! Tell me, is it you or him?!"

"Neither!"

Under Du Laihua's questioning, Yan Lan calmed down considerably and said sternly, "We weren't the murderers. Mama Fu was hit by the hidden weapon when she turned to leave. The weapon hit her throat. Neither the young master nor I were in that direction!"

Although Zhao Cheng was not in the courtroom at this time, he was listening outside the courtroom.

Hearing Yan Lan say this, I immediately thought more highly of her. Although she was young, she was quite intelligent.

The issue she raised was actually a very important detail in the case. It was impossible that the people in the Central Secretariat hadn't noticed it; it was just that Du Laihua deliberately concealed it.

Snap!

Upon hearing this, Du Laihua slammed his gavel again and roared, "You wicked woman, spouting nonsense! It seems you won't know how harsh the laws of Dajing are until I teach you a lesson!"

"Someone come here!"

"Initiate torture!!"

"First, give her thirty lashes as a warning, spread her buttocks wide open!!!"