Chapter 309 Evidence

Pei Luoshu walked out from behind the desk, pretended to casually stand in front of Chen Shiyi, and spoke softly.

"You step down."

After Chen Shiyi heard this, he hunched over and quickly walked out of Yu's study.

Master Zhang glanced at him meaningfully, a sneer on his face.

"Your Majesty, once a person has a weakness, no matter how strong he is, he will be vulnerable."

Pei Luoshu glanced at him coldly.

"Master, everyone has weaknesses, but those who are too arrogant and conceited will never have a good ending."

Zhang Taifu bowed to Pei Luoshu and smiled contemptuously.

"Your Majesty, I hope you will think carefully about the suggestion I just made. I hope Your Majesty will give me a definite answer in three days."

When Chen Shiyi returned to Yu's study, Master Zhang had already left. Pei Luoshu was holding his forehead with his elbows resting on the dragon table, his brows furrowed.

Chen Shiyi picked up the broken pieces of the tea bowl on the ground, feeling very upset.

She walked over and held his head, making him feel more relaxed.

He took Chen Shiyi's hand, and when she came forward, he leaned on her waist, put his arms around her waist, hugged her tightly, and closed his eyes slightly.

"Let me lean on you for a moment."

Chen Shiyi asked motionlessly.

"Does he usually treat you like this?"

"Once or twice."

"You are the king of a country. How dare he, as a subject?"

Pei Luoshu gently comforted her temper.

"Okay, I'm used to it. I'll just have to bear with it and it will pass. I can't offend him now, so forget it."

Chen Shiyi took a deep breath.

"When you were the prefect, no one dared to give you the cold shoulder. Now that you are the emperor, he dares to embarrass you in person. Before, when you were in the harem, I just thought that you were too busy with government affairs and couldn't handle it. Now, I know that you have suffered such a great injustice."

Pei Luoshu chuckled.

"With different political views, it is inevitable that we will clash with each other. Well, let's not talk about this. After lunch, have a nap. When I'm done with my work, I'll go back with you."

Chen Shiyi nodded.

She was angry now, but there was nothing she could do. She could only endure it like Pei Luoshu.

After returning to the house, Pei Luoshu was called away by Yue Zhi before he could even rest for a while.

Chen Shiyi looked at his back in the distance. When he first met him, he was very thin. Later, his shoulders became broad and strong, and he felt solid and safe when he leaned on him. But now, no matter how broad and strong his shoulders were, he was burdened with the heavy responsibility of the court, which had squeezed his shoulders hard, leaving several deep bloody marks.

People are always selfish. She has always thought about how good it would be if she didn't have this damn identity. She has always promised to take him out to sea to have a look, but it has not been realized yet.

Fukuda came to Kyoto to find her.

They had dinner at a nearby restaurant, and Chen Shiyi was shocked by the way Fu Da wolfed down his food.

"How long have you not eaten? Do you have no money?"

Fu Da didn't say anything. He took out a package from his pocket and handed it directly to Chen Shiyi.

"What?"

Chen Shiyi wanted to open it, but Fu Da stopped him.

"Go back and look again."

Fu Da took a breath.

"Let's go back and have a look. It's inconvenient now because there are so many people around."

Chen Shiyi put away the package and asked again.

"Where's Qi Lan?"

"Dead."

"You are still more powerful."

Fu Da's expression was a little regretful.

"He committed suicide. He felt sorry for Situ, so he died."

Chen Shiyi sneered.

"He clearly knew it, but he regretted it afterwards. Now that he's dead, what's the point of repenting?"

Fu Da was silent for a while.

"Qi Lan was originally Zhang Taifu's assassin. He lurked beside Situ Yu and framed Situ Yu. This was his duty as an assassin. However, people are all made of flesh and blood. He admired Situ Yu and wanted you to do your best to help Situ Yu out. That package contained ironclad evidence that Zhang had disrupted the government. It was all collected by Qi Lan. He found me, stuffed the package into my hand, and then committed suicide."

Chen Shiyi looked at the black package that she was holding tightly in her hand, and suddenly felt as if it weighed a thousand pounds.

Fu Da took a sip of wine.

"I don't know how to put it. People in this world are all contradictory. They just want too much. Qi Lan wants his loyalty and his admiration. He has destroyed his faith and lost his conscience. I am in a dilemma. I want to blame him, but I also feel sorry for him."

Chen Shiyi said quietly.

“Everyone wants to fulfill themselves.”

Fu Da raised his eyes and glanced at her.

"Please prepare a fast horse for me. I am going back to Wonju."

Chen Shiyi nodded.

"Do you have enough money?"

Fu Da suddenly laughed.

"It should be enough. I had too much money before and didn't know where to spend it, so I gave it all to Bo Yuan. He is a thrifty person and helped me deposit it in a bank."

"Boyuan has changed so much. I never thought that the shy person before could now hold up half the sky in Yuanzhou."

Fu Da leaned lazily on the chair.

"People's fate is really predetermined. Bo Yuan is a lucky person. He was thrown down from the second floor and hit you. If it were someone else, he would have become a pile of bones. But I don't know what your fate is. You have traveled all over Daye, but you are imprisoned in the golden cage of Kyoto. You are going around in circles. I don't know whether this is your destination or your disaster..."

He glanced out the window disinterestedly.

"I am leaving. If you need my place in the future, please send a message to Yuanzhou. I will do anything for you, no matter what it takes."

Chen Shiyi returned to the house with the package in his arms. He opened the contents and found a bunch of old yellowed letters and some old poems written on them...

All these crimes were stated one by one. The Zhang family was engaged in land grabbing, disregarding human life, using various means to coerce and bribe civil and military officials to make them surrender, and they embezzled money and taxes. Even the people’s disaster relief funds were all embezzled. When she was nine years old, there was a famine, bones were exposed in the wild, and no chickens were heard for thousands of miles.

The aristocratic families that had been competing with the imperial court for more than a hundred years were like a brand of shame, occupying half of the Daye Dynasty.

When she handed all the evidence to Pei Luoshu, he was silent for a long time.

"Eleven, I have a mountain of stuff like the ones in your hand."

Chen Shiyi was very surprised.

"What? You already have evidence of their crimes, why don't you punish Master Zhang and let him do this?"

On the early winter night, the charcoal fire flickered, and Pei Luoshu added another thin blanket to Chen Shiyi.

He sat beside the charcoal fire and used a pair of tongs to stir the silver-thread charcoal in the charcoal basin.

"In the court, there is no right or wrong, only the importance of the matter. Every time I make a decision, I have to think for a long time. After all, a small move affects the whole body. My few words will be passed down from the court to various prefectures, and then to various counties, towns, and even villages. They will cause a huge wave. Some will benefit the country and the people, while some will gradually change color and perhaps become the misfortune of the lower-class people."