Is Chapter 163 really a coincidence?

"Same official position, same assignment to the military supply depot, and you even took office earlier than Jiang Yu. Look at him, the military supply embezzlement case was thoroughly investigated. And what about you? What have you been doing all day? Sleeping in the government office or something?"

Li Zhengze kept his head down and didn't say anything, thinking to himself that he really does sleep all the time.

Seeing his stubborn and unyielding demeanor, the Marquis of Jinyang wanted nothing more than to slap him twice. He asked, "What does Jiang Yu usually do in the storeroom?"

Li Zheng muttered under his breath, "What can he do? He just looks at case files all day."

“She looks at the case files every day, so why don’t you look at them too?” said the Marquis of Jinyang.

Li Zhengze: "You know perfectly well that I feel sleepy as soon as my eyes touch a book."

"You..." Marquis Jinyang raised his hand to slap him, just then the steward came running over and reported, "My lord, someone from the palace has arrived."

Marquis Jinyang was taken aback, then straightened his robes and said to Li Zhengze, "Why aren't you coming with me to the front hall?"

Li Zheng secretly pursed his lips and followed the Marquis of Jinyang to the front hall. The eunuch who came to deliver the imperial decree saw the two of them and said, "His Majesty orders the Marquis and the Heir Apparent to come to the palace immediately."

Marquis Jinyang was taken aback again. He hadn't expected the emperor to summon Li Zhengze to the palace as well, so he smiled and asked the young eunuch, "May I ask, sir, what business does His Majesty have with me in the palace?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the steward immediately handed a small eunuch a purse. The small eunuch stuffed the purse into his sleeve and said with a smile, "It seems that Lord Jiang said that the matter of investigating Minister of Revenue Tang Boyang has been handed over to the Crown Prince, and the Emperor wants to inquire about it."

Upon hearing this, the Marquis of Jinyang turned to look at Li Zhengze and, seeing his bewildered expression, knew what was going on. He said to the young eunuch, "Please wait a moment, sir, I'll be right back."

"My lord, hurry up," the little eunuch said.

Marquis Jinyang took Li Zhengze out, and Li Zhengze immediately said anxiously, "Jiang Yu didn't tell me anything, I don't know anything!"

Marquis Jinyang knew this was not the time to be angry, so he suppressed his temper and said, "I know. When we get to the Imperial Study, watch Jiang Yu and my expressions. If the Emperor asks you how your investigation is going, just say that Jiang Yu told you yesterday that you are working on it."

Li Zheng felt a chill run down his spine. He asked, "Father, did Jiang Yu really find out about Prince Kang? Is Tang Boyang also involved?"

Marquis Jinyang wanted to say that Tang Boyang was the father-in-law of Prince Kang and the Minister of Revenue, so how could he not be involved? But now was not the time to reprimand his son. He said, "I'm afraid Tang Boyang let Jiang Yu into the cabinet storehouse with the intention of letting Jiang Yu investigate embezzlement of military supplies."

He snorted and said sarcastically, "He used Jiang Yu as a knife, but he didn't expect that Jiang Yu would also turn on him."

Li Zhengze seemed to understand but not quite, and the Marquis of Jinyang didn't explain it to him. He quickly went back to his room to change his clothes, and then took his son and followed the little eunuch into the palace.

Upon arriving at the Imperial Study, he saw Prince Kang bound hand and foot, and Tang Boyang kneeling on the ground, realizing that things were more complicated than he had imagined. He knelt down to pay his respects to the Emperor, with Li Zheng kneeling behind him.

"Rise," the emperor said, gesturing for the two to rise. Then, looking at Li Zhengze, he asked, "Were you with Jiang Yu organizing files in the archives earlier?"

Li Zhengze turned to look at Jiang Yu, but Jiang Yu's expression remained calm, offering no hint whatsoever. Li Zhengze mentally organized his thoughts before speaking, "Your Majesty... Your Majesty is usually quite lazy. Before Jiang Yu came to the archives, he... he didn't organize them much. After Jiang Yu arrived at the archives, Your Majesty... Your Majesty followed him and looked through the files for two days."

Having just learned about Li Zhengze's character, the emperor wasn't angry at his words. Instead, he said, "You're quite honest. What did Jiang Yu entrust to you?"

Li Zhengze looked at Jiang Yu again. This time, Jiang Yu nodded at him. Li Zhengze didn't know what her nod meant, so he braced himself and said, "Jiang Yu... asked me to investigate the matter of embezzlement of military supplies. Did the Minister... did he participate in it?"

The emperor hummed in agreement. "How's your investigation going?"

Li Zhengze: "I have investigated the bombing case at the Ironware Bureau and found that the Tang family was involved, but there is no concrete evidence yet."

On the way from the Marquis of Jinyang's residence to the palace, Li Zhengze recalled what Jiang Yu had done after entering the imperial storehouse. He wasn't truly dull-witted; he simply usually focused his attention on eating, drinking, and having fun. Now, upon closer reflection, he realized that when Jiang Yu had him take him to the Ironware Department, he had already discovered the embezzlement of military supplies.

Based on all the circumstances surrounding the Ironworks, he deduced that the explosion at the Ironworks that year, which killed several blacksmiths, was suspicious, so he spoke up. As for whether Tang Boyang was truly involved, he also said that Tang Boyang was involved in the incident, but no evidence was found.

If it is later found that the Ironware Bureau explosion had nothing to do with Tang Boyang, he can say that the investigation was misguided at the time.

At that moment, Tang Boyang roared at him, "You're spouting nonsense!"

Tang Boyang kowtowed to the emperor again, "Your Majesty, I am innocent! I am innocent!"

However, the Emperor seemed not to hear his cries of injustice, and instead told Li Zhengze, "Investigate as soon as possible."

"Your subject obeys the decree," Li Zhengze replied immediately.

The emperor looked at Prince Kang, gritted his teeth, and said, "Prince Kang is guilty of treason. Throw him into prison first."

The words "treason" caused Prince Kang to collapse to the ground. For someone outside the royal family, treason was a capital offense, punishable by the extermination of nine generations of their family. For members of the royal family, it was a death sentence.

"Take him away." The emperor stopped looking at Prince Kang. Hearing his voice, the guards outside came in and escorted Prince Kang out.

"Your Majesty, I am truly innocent!" Tang Boyang kowtowed again. He thought that by cleaning up his mess, he could completely extricate himself from the situation. He did not expect that Jiang Yu would continue to pursue him even without evidence.

He regretted it; he regretted using Jiang Yu to investigate the embezzlement case involving military supplies. He hadn't expected Jiang Yu to be so vindictive; he had only used her once, and she was now trying to kill him.

“Put him in jail too,” the emperor said, looking at him. “If it is found that you have nothing to do with Prince Kang’s rebellion, I will naturally release you.”

If it's discovered that he was involved, he certainly won't be let off easily. He might forgive his own son, but he will absolutely not let Tang Boyang go.

"Your Majesty, I am innocent! I am innocent..."

Tang Boyang cried out his innocence again, and two guards entered the imperial study and dragged him away. The emperor looked at Jiang Yu and Li Zhengze, "Quickly investigate this matter thoroughly."

"I obey the order."

"I obey the order."

The two hurriedly replied, but the emperor waved for them to return, leaving only Prince An behind. Once only the father and son remained in the imperial study, the emperor looked at Prince An and asked, "You didn't know about your eldest son's treasonous plot before?"

He always felt that the two events—the Prince of An besieging the Prince of Kang's residence, taking the Prince of Kang into the palace, and the Prince of An joining forces with Jiang Yu and the Marquis of Chengen to wipe out the people on Niujiao Mountain—seemed to be very well coordinated.

Is it really a coincidence?

P.S.: Happy New Year! Wishing everyone a prosperous and wealthy Year of the Snake!