Soon Yang Qiu arrived at Deyang Palace. After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings and took their seats, Liu Hong spoke first:

"Yang Qing, that murderer must have been sent by the scholars to frame the General, right?"

"Your Majesty is quite right. I will certainly investigate thoroughly..."

Liu Hong said in a deep voice, "That's good... There are always people who want to take advantage of the situation to cause trouble, and Yang Qing needs to give them a warning from time to time."

Yang Qiu nodded: "Your Majesty, please rest assured, those with ulterior motives will certainly not escape the punishment of the law!"

Regarding Dou Ji's matter, both the emperor and his minister had a tacit understanding and did not say much.

Yang Qiu then continued, "Your Majesty, I have received the demands of powerful landowners. They are willing to donate one billion coins, one million shi of grain, and five hundred thousand mu of land."

"Oh? So you finally couldn't hold on any longer?" Liu Hong smiled.

"Indeed, the winds are rising now; we are just waiting for the right moment to set the fire ablaze!"

Yang Qiu also grinned, revealing an ugly smile, which was not surprising. It seemed that Yang Qiu had forgotten how to smile. If it weren't for the fact that the elimination of the eunuchs was imminent, he probably wouldn't be in such a good mood.

"After all this time, they've finally gotten it. Yang Qing, tell those powerful families and landlords to send out the three people who donated the most, and I will personally summon them."

"promise!"

As Yang Qiu departed, an imperial edict instantly resounded throughout the court.

First, the emperor revoked the title of Marquis of Weiyang from Dou Wu's son, Dou Ji, and temporarily appointed Li Ying as the Tiger-General of the Central Army.

Then Liu Hong dispatched Ma Teng, Gongsun Du, and a dozen or so young guards who had come from Hejian to serve as mid-level officers in the Tiger Guard.

Liu Hong regained control of the Tiger Guard and the palace guards without bloodshed, thus putting the entire palace under his complete control.

Immediately afterwards, Yang Qiu discovered new clues. The murderer suddenly recanted his confession, identifying himself as a eunuch under Wang Fu who instructed him to assassinate the scholar and frame Dou Wu.

Yang Qiu immediately arrested the eunuch, who confessed without hesitation.

When the news spread, the scholars immediately turned their anger towards the eunuchs.

This sudden turn of events terrified Wang Fu and the others; they never imagined things would develop in such a way.

Inside Wangfu's residence, the group gathered again, but Cao Jie was unusually absent.

"Attendant Zhang, what exactly has His Majesty been doing lately?"

Even though Wang Fu was slow to react, he understood that the emperor must have done something behind their backs, otherwise why would the emperor suddenly become the biggest winner?

However, he was completely unaware of this, which is why Wang Fushuang's gaze towards Zhang Rang was extremely cold.

Zhang Rang said respectfully, "Your Highness, His Majesty has been busy with the examinations for the students recently and hasn't done anything else, as you know."

"but...."

"But what?"

Seeing Zhang Rang hesitate to speak, Wang Fu asked urgently.

"His Majesty summoned the Commandant of the Capital Region yesterday. I vaguely heard Yang Qiu say outside the door that he had obtained evidence and that it was time to close the net."

Zhang Rang pretended to recall for a moment, and then relayed Liu Hong's instructions to Wang Fu and the others verbatim.

"Close the net? Evidence?"

Wang Fu was puzzled. "What does this mean?"

Zhang Rang shook his head. "I don't understand either."

"Did the Emperor say anything that day?" Hou Lan asked from the side.

"I didn't hear you clearly." Zhang Rang shook his head again.

After pondering for a long time, Wang Fu looked around at the group with a gloomy expression and slowly said, "Gentlemen, the situation has taken a sharp turn for the worse. There is a great deal of discussion in the court. I don't know how many people are eager to kill me."

Xiang Rang, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but speak up: "We raised so much money for His Majesty before, so I think His Majesty will protect us!"

Wang Fu shook his head uncertainly, "His Majesty may not do anything to us, but if all the officials join forces to make trouble, I'm afraid His Majesty will find it difficult to cope."

"Then what should we do?"

It concerns their lives and fortunes, so no one can afford to be in a hurry.

Wang Fu's eyes flashed. "We must be prepared. If anything goes wrong, we must act immediately. The emperor is young and has been deceived by those hypocritical scholars. We must also stand up and clean up those treacherous officials for the emperor."

“What the prince said is right. The emperor is too young and has been bewitched by them. We cannot let His Majesty be manipulated by those hypocritical villains any longer.”

Hou Lan, Xiang Rang, and several others also expressed their agreement, saying that it was now a matter of life or death.

"Alright, everyone, disperse immediately and make your own preparations."

"What about Lord Cao?" Hou Lan asked cautiously.

Wang Fu narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "Send people to keep an eye on his movements. If anything unusual is found, take him into custody immediately."

"Zhang Changshi, I'm entrusting His Majesty's affairs to you. Be sure to inform us of any developments immediately."

Wang Fu looked at Zhang Rang, his words full of warning.

"Rest assured, Your Highness, we are now bound together by honor and disgrace, and I will naturally treat you with utmost care."

Seeing that Zhang Rang seemed to be doing nothing wrong, Wang Fu nodded.

Upon returning to Deyang Palace, Zhang Rang reported Wang Fu and the others' secret plot to Liu Hong in detail.

Wang Yue and Zhong Yao, who were serving Liu Hong, were also shocked and furious. They never expected that these eunuchs would actually do such a treasonous thing.

Liu Hong, on the other hand, didn't seem to care much. Instead, he looked at Zhao Zhong and said, "Go and tell Lü Changshi to be careful and not let them take advantage of him."

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