Just a few steps after Zhang Rang walked out, Cao Song suddenly cried out in surprise and chased after him.

"This old bastard, is he really that difficult to deal with?"

Seeing Cao Song catch up and grin at him, Zhang Rang cursed inwardly, feeling utterly frustrated.

"Alright then... Minister of Agriculture, please go first!"

Zhang Rang dared not delay reporting to the emperor, so he had no choice but to enter the palace with Cao Song and head towards Deyang Hall.

Inside the Deyang Palace, Liu Hong was holding a memorial jointly submitted by Xun Shuang and Yang Qiu.

In their memorial to Liu Hong, Xun Shuang and Yang Qiu reported on the situation of Zhong Yao, Chen Qun, and Sima Fang's inspection of various regions.

"Good! Have the local officials of my great Han Dynasty really degenerated to this extent??"

Looking at the densely packed list of convicted officials on the memorial, Liu Hong couldn't help but show his anger. Yang Qiu had already killed so many of these corrupt officials, yet they still couldn't be intimidated.

Immediately, Liu Hong handed the memorial to Zhao Zhong, who was standing beside him, and said coldly, "Immediately order the Commandant of the Imperial Guards, the Commandant of the Capital Region, and the Court of Justice to launch a joint operation to arrest all the officials on the list and bring them back to the capital!"

"promise!!"

Seeing the emperor's anger, Zhao Zhong dared not delay and quickly took the memorial, running towards the outside of the palace.

After Zhao Zhong left, Liu Hong picked up a secret letter that Zhong Yao had sent from the table.

In the secret letter, Zhong Yao arrested a large number of officials from Shandong aristocratic families in the Sanfu region and southern Bingzhou. Their crimes were roughly the same as those of Li Ru and the poor scholars promoted by Liu Hong: they were all involved in smuggling and selling fine iron.

Therefore, Zhong Yao found this matter quite strange. He believed that someone was deliberately framing the emperor and the Shandong gentry.

After reading the secret letter, Liu Hong pondered for a moment, then replied to Zhong Yao's secret letter: Just do things according to the law!

This matter involves far too many people, including many former disciples and officials of the Zhong, Yuan, and Xun families. It would be best for Zhong Yao to know as little as possible.