For a time, impeachments came one after another and reached the emperor.

Next, according to political rules, Hu Yin should submit a petition to defend himself and at the same time request to resign to prove his innocence.

This was the situation that Zhao Jiu was most worried about at the beginning... No one had done anything wrong, and there was no major political conspiracy. On the contrary, it seemed that almost everyone involved in this matter was performing their duties according to political and moral rules, and even those who had come forward to file a complaint seemed blameless. However, Hu Yin, who was equally innocent, had to pay a political price for it, even though it might affect the court's preparations for the Northern Expedition.

This has nothing to do with political confrontation. It is the confrontation between the ethical laws of the feudal era and human nature.

However, Hu Yin did not resign or defend himself, but just kept working.

But this caused even more anger among the court, scholars and even the common people, because lingering on was the most taboo thing for scholar-officials in those days, and it was itself a moral dilemma second only to unfilial piety.

For a time, even the students of the Imperial College, who had only discussed the matter privately before, began to widely accuse the imperial gazette of shielding senior officials and not publishing relevant memorials publicly. They even began to post notices in the Imperial College, directly questioning Professor Hu Anguo... But at the same time, Emperor Zhao still maintained an extremely strange silence.

This seems to explain why Hu Yin was so fearless.

In the next few days, perhaps because they sensed Emperor Zhao's attitude, and because the horse head was still being passed around from gate to gate for public display even though it had already gone stinky, people at court were somewhat cautious.

The impeachment letters gradually became scattered.

It seemed as if things would end there.

"This matter should have ended long ago!"

In mid-May, south of Xuande Tower, because the government moved the capital and the Privy Council into the palace, the original two east and west offices actually became the public pavilion and the six ministries. At noon that day, the weather was unbearably hot. Under the corridor of the Ministry of Works, the left assistant minister Gou Longruyuan was still sweating profusely after drinking a bowl of takeout ice porridge, but suddenly slammed the table in public, his expression anxious and angry. "Ethics are nothing more than human feelings. These people are not unaware of the beginning and end of Minister Hu's matter... It must not be them who almost drowned that day, but they are just talking nonsense! It's like sitting in the shade, but you presumptuously despise the takeout deliveryman who spilled the soup under the sun!"

This is the Ministry of Industry, so once these words were spoken, there was naturally a lot of agreement.

However, although everyone agreed with him, they couldn't help but despise him in their hearts... The ability of this Minister Gou Long was impeccable. He was the one who learned the new numbers and large tables assigned by the government the fastest and promoted them the most effectively. But his character was also famous.

Not to mention the two times he flattered the emperor before, but now he is actually flattering the chief of the Ministry of Works?

Just take the photos, everyone takes the photos, but the problem is, looking at his expression, it seems that he really treats Minister Hu’s affairs as his own... To put it bluntly, you will feel better only after Minister Hu is gone, right?

What are you pretending for?

It looks just like the real thing.

On the other hand, Gou Longruyuan saw that the officials around him were so perfunctory. He knew what they were thinking, but he had so much on his mind that he couldn't tell them at all. He just shook his head, stomped his feet, and prepared to go back to work.

However, just as Gou Longruyuan turned to enter the public house, there was a commotion on the Imperial Street ahead, which startled the Minister Gou Long so much that he shuddered and quickly turned back:

"What happened?!"

The clerks on both sides had already rushed out to see what was happening. A moment later, one of them came back sweating profusely. As soon as he entered the courtyard of the Ministry of Works, he hurriedly announced, "Something big has happened! A group of Fujian students went to Xuande Tower to surrender. The provincial government is asking for severe punishment for our Minister Hu!"

Gou Longruyuan's face turned pale, he was stunned on the spot, then he staggered and almost fell down in the corridor of the public housing...which also made everyone in the surrounding Ministry of Works stunned for a moment.

They really didn't know whether the Left Vice Minister was really worried about Minister Hu, or whether he was just acting so well.

Gou Longruyuan came to his senses, stood up straight, sighed, and shook his head repeatedly. Without saying a word, he hurried into his public housing, closed the door and went to work.

At the same time, in the Ministry of Industry compound, although the door of the public housing in the middle was wide open, there was no movement at all.

The other officials of the Ministry of Works, including the newly appointed Right Vice Minister of Works He Zhu, looked at the main door of the public housing where Minister Hu was, and then looked at the door of the room where Left Vice Minister Gou Long was imprisoned, and felt bored. They could only look at each other, then quickly finished their snacks and went back to work with their own thoughts.

Originally, Emperor Zhao almost wanted to rely on his prestige as the emperor for seven years to deal with the matter coldly. However, the group of students was very lively. Once they became dissatisfied, they directly submitted petitions to the palace, making it impossible to avoid the matter... Even Emperor Zhao had to take the matter very seriously after experiencing the injustice of Chen Dong.

The effect of the Imperial College students' kneeling in front of the emperor was indeed immediate. On the second day, Hu Yin formally issued a statement of self-defense in two copies, which he submitted to the provincial capital and the Privy Council at the same time. The former was for his superiors and for officials to see, while the latter was routine and needed to be forwarded to the emperor by the Privy Council.

At the same time, Hu Anguo also posted his own signed reply behind the screen wall of the Imperial College, but he explained the matter from his own perspective.

However, even the responses from the father and son seemed very intense, and there was no intention of compromise at all.

According to Hu Yin, his fellow countryman, the great scholar Liu Mianzhi, accused him of not being able to be "harmonious" with his "stepmother" at home, which was true. But the problem was that "harmonious" was something that should only happen between mother and son. He was abandoned at a young age and had his own parents and brothers (referring to Hu Anguo's family). How could he be harmonious with his "stepmother", that is, the third sister-in-law of his father Hu Anguo?

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