Li Chengfeng had no idea what Sun Wuchu had done.

He is now fully focused on the corruption case in Jiangnan, hoping to catch a few more corrupt officials in the court and fill his own treasury.

After breakfast, he arranged for the yamen runners to send the bought girls home.

Dazhu and his sister kowtowed to him and said, "Long live Your Majesty. We are so grateful to Your Majesty that we do not know how to repay you. Please allow us, my brother and I, to remain by your side and be at your service."

"Your Majesty already has me by his side, so he doesn't need you."

After hearing this, Li Chengfeng turned to look at Tiezhu, who was glaring at the two siblings.

"This..." Dazhu and his sister were stunned for a moment and didn't know what to say.

"I will return to Beijing after I finish dealing with things here. You might as well ask County Magistrate Gao and let him arrange a place for you." Li Chengfeng said.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." The two men kowtowed to express their gratitude, then stood up and went to find County Magistrate Gao.

Sitting in the court in high spirits, Li Chengfeng continued the case that he had not finished yesterday.

"Come on, bring the prisoner."

Those corrupt officials were brought to court again.

After a night of physical and mental torture, these pampered people were already exhausted.

At this time, someone came from outside to report, "Your Majesty, Zhao Gui has been brought here."

The bailiff escorted Zhao Gui to the front of the hall. He was still wearing his official uniform, and there was a hint of disdain between his brows, as if he didn't take this solemn court seriously at all.

"How dare you, Zhao Gui, not kneel before His Majesty!"

The yamen runner beside him shouted harshly.

With a cold snort, Zhao Gui glanced at Li Chengfeng, then knelt down reluctantly.

He muttered, "He's just a greenhorn..." His voice was so low, but it was just loud enough for the people in the hall to hear.

Li Chengfeng observed Zhao Gui's actions calmly, a slight sneer curling up at the corner of his mouth. After a moment, he slowly spoke, "Zhao Gui, do you admit your guilt?"

"What crime have I committed? Your Majesty, please do not listen to slanderous words and wrongly accuse a loyal and honest person!"

He secretly glanced at Li Chengfeng, and seeing that the other party was not angry, he felt a little relieved.

"Oh, really?" Li Chengfeng did not refute, but just waved his hand.

A guard immediately stepped forward and presented a stack of account books and letters.

"Do you recognize these?" Li Chengfeng pointed at the evidences with a sharp gaze.

Zhao Gui's expression changed.

He picked up the account book and flipped through it, pretending to be calm and saying, "These are all forged! If you want to accuse someone, you can always find a pretext."

"Forgery?" Li Chengfeng sneered. "The seals and handwriting on these account books are all from you. And the letters you exchanged with your accomplices, as well as the joint complaint filed by the people of Jiangnan, are they all forgeries as well?"

He paused, his tone becoming more serious, "Zhao Gui, how long are you going to keep quibbling?"

"I am wronged, Your Majesty. As the governor of Yangzhou, I work so hard every day that I don't have time to do such evil things."

"Come here, bring up the gift I gave to Lord Zhao."

At this time, several people came up holding several boxes.

They simply opened the box, revealing the human head inside.

"Ahhh!" Zhao Gui was so scared that he stepped back quickly.

"My dear, take a closer look. Do you recognize these people?"

Zhao Gui broke out in a cold sweat and no longer had any arrogance in his heart.

"Your Majesty, spare my life! Your Majesty, spare my life! I confess, I confess!"

"My dear, please speak kindly, those girls who died unjustly are watching you.

"I'll tell you, I'll tell you." Zhao Gui trembled as he confessed his crimes of corruption and bribery, but he kept silent about his accomplices.

He cried and pushed all the blame onto himself in an attempt to get away with it.

Seeing that he was still not telling the whole story, Li Chengfeng signaled the bailiffs to use the torture instruments.

"Ah..." A shrill scream echoed in the courtroom. Zhao Gui rolled on the ground in pain, sweat pouring down.

"I'll give you one last chance. Who are your accomplices?" Li Chengfeng's voice was like a judgment from hell.

Zhao Gui gritted his teeth, endured the severe pain, and refused to speak.

He knew in his heart that if he gave away his accomplices, he would be completely finished.

Seeing that Zhao Gui was so stubborn, Li Chengfeng increased the punishment.

"Ah..." Zhao Gui couldn't bear it anymore and finally collapsed.

He shouted at the top of his lungs and confessed the details of bribing court officials, including the names of the officials, the amount of the bribes, and even the time and place.

"If you had said no earlier, you wouldn't have to suffer this."

As he spoke, Li Chengfeng ordered his men to record Zhao Gui's confession, word for word, without fail.

Then he waved his hand, signaling that Zhao Gui be taken into custody pending further trial.

As for the other officials in the hall, they were already frightened into silence.

They didn't expect the emperor to be so cruel.

"Come here, drag them away and give each of them fifty lashes."

"Zhao Desheng is sentenced to immediate execution."

Their stomachs have been completely emptied and are no longer of any use.

The people were only happy about such a severe punishment. They had been oppressed by corrupt officials for a long time, but they had no place to seek justice.

After Zhao Desheng was executed, Li Chengfeng left the court.

The people also dispersed in groups of three or four.

"Tiezhu, General Xuanjiang is here to see me."

"Yes." Tiezhu clasped his fists and saluted, then turned and left.

Soon, Jiang Long arrived.

"Attend Your Majesty."

"Please stand up. Is the distribution of money and grain going smoothly?"

"all the best."

"Zhao Gui has confessed everything. Take a group of soldiers and go find the dirty silver he hid."

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!