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"Did crickets eat your brain? I'll arrest you without evidence."

Qingyang didn't like Zhang Su hiding from her, but the Zhang Su she had known since childhood was just this kind of old-fashioned and polite person. As her father praised, he had good manners and was as gentlemanly as jade.

Qingyang thought that instead of making things difficult for Zhang Su, it would be better to give Zhang Su more time. Once he forgot the embarrassment of being seen by her while changing clothes, he should be able to get along with her like before.

After leaving the official residence, when the brother and sister were about to pass by the main gate of the government office, three people suddenly came quickly from the outer palace gate on the south side. One was the guard leading the way, and the other two were wearing official robes of the Censorate. The one wearing the light crimson robe was Liu Hui, the fifth-rank Censor-in-Chief who was supposed to stay in the capital. The other one was wearing the dark blue eighth-rank robe, whom Qingyang did not recognize.

"Greetings to the two princes." Liu Hui hurriedly stopped and said.

Qin Rendao excused himself.

Seeing beads of sweat still rolling down Liu Hui's forehead, Qingyang guessed that something urgent was going on, so he asked the two of them to go in quickly.

After returning to the inner palace, the little princess went to Hanyuan Hall to find her father. Qin Ren, who had embarrassed himself in the morning, was very self-aware and said goodbye to his sister and left.

In Hanyuan Hall, Emperor Xingwu was reading the history books of the previous dynasty compiled and submitted by the historians. It took eight years to compile the eighteen volumes of the Annals of the Emperors of the Previous Dynasty. Emperor Xingwu often took it to read when he had free time.

Seeing his daughter, Emperor Xingwu beckoned her to sit beside him. He read her a ridiculous story he had just witnessed: "This emperor, because of a personal grudge between a favorite concubine and a concubine in the harem, forced the prime minister to kneel down and apologize to the concubine in front of all the ministers, and forced the old prime minister to hang himself to correct his character. It was fortunate that the previous dynasty did not fall in his hands."

Qingyang: "Most of these incompetent rulers were well-versed in classics and history when they were young. There are so many examples of incompetent rulers in history books, so why did they follow in their footsteps?"

Emperor Xingwu: "Rationality is rationality. Humans have seven emotions and six desires. Sages must restrain themselves and cultivate themselves. Self-control means to control oneself, that is, to use ropes to tie up the various selfish desires that constantly emerge and go against the way of sages. Then think about it, Lin'er, is it comfortable to be tied up with ropes? The powerless fear the ropes in the hands of the powerful and must restrain themselves, but no one dares to tie up the emperor. If the emperor himself cannot tolerate being wronged, he will become a tyrant if he acts arbitrarily for a long time."

As Qingyang listened to his father's words, his second and third brothers suddenly popped up in his mind. His father had known that his second brother was gambling on cricket fighting. If his second brother had known how to restrain himself and stop playing after a few rounds, he wouldn't have been punished by his father. If his third brother could have curbed his laziness, he wouldn't have been ranked last in all his subjects, both civil and military.

Emperor Xingwu put down the book and asked his daughter with a smile, "Why are you here at this time?"

Qingyang: "Just now, my third brother and I went to visit Zhang Su. When we came back, we saw Lord Liu Hui from the Censorate. He seemed to have something urgent to do."

Emperor Xingwu: "...So you hurried over to inform Father?"

Qingyang: "No, I also want to know what happened, so I came to my father to wait for news."

Emperor Xingwu picked up the golden waist badge on his daughter's waist and said with a smile, "If you want to know, just follow Liu Hui to see Nie Ao. They won't dare to stop you."

Qingyang: "...Lord Nie doesn't like me going to the Censorate. If I go, I'll definitely be glared at by him. What if he doesn't allow me to listen and insists on sending me away? It will also delay him from listening to Lord Liu's report."

Both were strict. Yan Xizheng was the prime minister, assisting his father in managing all affairs of the country, while Nie Ao, the chief censor, was in charge of supervising all officials and enforcing discipline. The little princess was even more afraid of Nie Ao, and even when she went to the Censorate, she seldom went to Nie Ao's public housing.

Emperor Xingwu first thought his daughter's aggrieved expression, fearing Nie Ao's glare, was endearing. He was also pleased that she had the tact to avoid interrupting Nie Ao's official duties. Just as he was about to praise his daughter, He Yuanjing entered, bowed at the door, and said, "Your Majesty, Lord Nie, Chief Censor Liu Hui, and Supervisory Censor Zhou Xiangqing request an audience."

The little princess looked up and Emperor Xingwu lowered his head. The father and daughter looked at each other. Emperor Xingwu rubbed his daughter's head and pointed towards the curtain in the inner room of the study.

Qingyang slipped over lightly and hid behind the curtain, holding the shaking curtain from inside to stabilize it more quickly.

Emperor Xingwu smiled and looked at He Yuanjing.

He Yuanjing went and led the three officials in as if nothing had happened.

After the ceremony, Nie Ao angrily declared, "Your Majesty, in April I impeached the Marquis of Pingliang for falsely reporting military personnel and embezzling military pay, colluding with the supervisor of the Shazhou Mountain gold mine to underreport gold production for personal gain, and accepting bribes from merchants to shield smuggling. Your Majesty approved my dispatch of personnel to investigate. Out of caution, I dispatched two supervisory officials, Song Zixiao and Zhou Xiangqing, one openly and one covertly, to Wuwei. Unexpectedly, the Marquis of Pingliang, unable to win over the emperor personally, actually sent people pretending to be bandits to injure Song Zixiao, forcing him to cooperate in deceiving the court."

"Song Zixiao pretended to be friendly with him while secretly collecting evidence and trying to get it to Zhou Xiangqing."

Censor Zhou Xiangqing presented the secret letter in his hand again.

Emperor Xingwu opened the letter and read it, then slammed it onto the desk with a loud bang. "That's a jerk like Yuan Zhaoxiong! I forgave him six years ago, hoping he would repent and become a virtuous general. But instead, he became even more greedy, even bribing and assaulting the imperial censor!"

"Come, summon the Crown Prince and his entourage to the Xuanzheng Hall for a discussion!"

After saying that, Emperor Xingwu took Nie Ao and the other two directly to the Xuanzheng Hall.

After the footsteps disappeared, Qingyang came out from the inner room. After thinking for a while, the little princess picked up the history book of the previous dynasty that her father had put down and began to read it carefully.

He Yuanjing followed Emperor Xingwu away. Seeing that the little princess had no intention of leaving, Eunuch Zhao Cai did not say anything to persuade her. He stood quietly by the side, waiting to serve the little princess.

Emperor Xingwu was gone for more than an hour and returned only when it was almost dark.

"Lin'er, why don't you eat dinner?" Emperor Xingwu asked with concern when he saw his daughter reading obediently.

Qingyang raised his head and said, "Father hasn't eaten yet either. I'm waiting to eat with him."

Emperor Xingwu took the towel handed to him by He Yuanjing and wiped his hands while saying, "Lin'er is still young. Next time something like this happens, you should eat first. Don't wait for your father on an empty stomach. Your father is used to being hungry in his early years. It's okay to eat less once."

The little princess nodded, her eyes following her father's figure as he moved around. When Emperor Xingwu finished his work and turned around, he met his daughter's black eyes that wanted to ask but were willing to wait.

Emperor Xingwu sat back down beside his daughter and said, "Father has already issued an order to send people to Wuwei to escort Yuan Zhaoxiong back to the capital for trial."

Qingyang said worriedly, "Isn't your Majesty worried that he will refuse to plead guilty and rebel this time?"

Emperor Xingwu smiled and said, "Father has never been afraid of him. Six years ago, I didn't touch him because I had to prioritize the peace of the country and the people, and didn't want to waste my energy on him. Furthermore, he was a founding hero, so I was willing to give him a chance to mend his ways. Now that the country is peaceful and the people are loyal, Father no longer has any worries. If he dares to rebel, I will lead my troops to attack him."

The emperor smiled confidently, but the little princess frowned. "Yuan Zhaoxiong commands a hundred thousand border troops, all elite warriors. If your Majesty really goes to attack him, even if you're sure of victory, your side will surely suffer heavy casualties. What if the Western Barbarians suddenly march south, intending to reap the benefits? Wouldn't your Majesty and Liang Province be in danger?"

Upon hearing this, Emperor Xingwu's smile deepened. He raised his hand to smooth his daughter's brows and whispered, "Don't worry. Father never fights a battle without confidence."

The next day, Emperor Xingwu issued an edict to end this year's summer vacation in the Western Garden early and return to Beijing immediately.

On the way back to the capital, the news that there was solid evidence of corruption against Pingliang Marquis Yuan Zhaoxiong and that the emperor had sent people to arrest him spread among officials of all ranks, soldiers, and the families of accompanying officials. Others could even walk around and whisper about the matter during meals and rest breaks, but the wife of Pingliang Marquis, Yuan Chongli, and Yuan Jie, a family of three, were strictly guarded by a team of guards and treated like prisoners.

As for the princes, Crown Prince Qin Hong had no personal relationship with the Yuan family and only hated Yuan Zhaoxiong for being a corrupt official. After Qin Ren heard about it from his sister, he felt sorry for Yuan Chongli who was tragically implicated by his corrupt official father, but didn't think much about anything else.

Qin Bing was different. Six years ago, he treated Yuan Chongli like a good brother. The first time he heard about Yuan Zhaoxiong's corruption, he beat him up without asking any questions, and often blamed himself for it afterwards. In the following six years, he treated Yuan Chongli even better. After the cricket fighting incident, he even went so far as to offend his mother in order to continue playing with Yuan Chongli. The result...

"Your Majesty, is there really evidence this time to prove that Marquis Pingliang is corrupt?" Qin Bing went to see his father with mixed feelings.

Emperor Xingwu gave him a cold look and said, "Did crickets eat your brain? Would I arrest you without evidence?"

Qin Bing lowered his head in frustration, thinking about his father's words again. "Hasn't this son of mine been treating the enemy as a friend these past few years? When did your Majesty start investigating the Marquis of Pingliang? If you had told me in advance, I would have ignored Yuan Chongli long ago, and I wouldn't have to be laughed at by everyone now."

Emperor Xingwu: "Marquis Pingliang is Marquis Pingliang. Just because he's greedy doesn't mean Yuan Chongli is greedy too. As long as I haven't decided to convict Marquis Pingliang, Yuan Chongli is entitled to be your study companion. But last month, I removed Yuan Chongli from his position as study companion. Any smart person could see that I was distancing myself from Marquis Pingliang. But you're so stupid that you can't see it and continue to treat Yuan Chongli as a brother."

Qin Bing immediately remembered his mother's reminder, but he still felt aggrieved: "Yuan Chongli was wrong to give me crickets. I thought my father was just angry with him for this..."

Emperor Xingwu said, "When beating a dog, one must first consider the owner. If it weren't for the Marquis of Pingliang's wrongdoing, why would I punish his son so severely for such a minor offense, accidentally chilling the heart of a great general on the frontier? Cause leads to effect, effect leads to cause. You've grown up thinking, so you need to use your brain more. You're about to get married, and yet you still want me to chew on every little detail and feed it to you?"

The more aggrieved he felt, the more fiercely Qin Bing was scolded by his father: "..."

Not daring to ask more questions, Qin Bing awkwardly bowed and took his leave. He was almost out when something occurred to him. He suddenly stopped and asked with a pale face, "Father, what will happen to Yuan Chongli after the Marquis of Pingliang is convicted?"

Emperor Xingwu picked up a new memorial and said nonchalantly, "That depends on what crime his father will ultimately convict him of."

Corruption and rebellion are two completely different things.

【Author’s words】

Here they come, 100 little red envelopes, see you tonight!

The writer's block these days is all because of Lao Xiong, but I finally finished writing it [poor]