Chapter 238 This is a decisive move

The emperor was shocked by the empress dowager's subconscious action, and his previous desire to torture and interrogate her to vent his anger instantly faded.

The emperor narrowed his eyes, stood up, and said to the Minister of Justice and the Minister of War beside him: "I leave it to you."

The Minister of Justice and the Minister of War looked at each other, and the Minister of Justice bowed and said, "Your Majesty, when will I tell you about the Tai..."

"After the case is closed." The emperor walked out uninterested. "Now it's just like catching a rat in the gutter. It's not worth mentioning."

The Minister of Justice and the Minister of War understood the situation and respectfully saw the emperor off.

Then the Minister of Justice held the criminal warrant in his hand, and the Minister of War held the relevant information of the Chen State delegation in his hand. The two of them walked towards the empress dowager who was still lying on the ground, with a huge shadow behind them.

…

The court officials who returned home early did not sleep the whole night and almost stayed awake until dawn.

The next day, they got up with big dark circles under their eyes, without even having breakfast, and rushed to the palace in a hurry, all wanting to get the first-hand gossip.

However, when they were halfway through their rush, they suddenly heard a hurried sound on the road.

"Fire! Fire!" "There's a big fire in the eastern suburbs!"

In ancient times, a fire was a big deal. The founding emperor of the Xia Dynasty once issued an edict that whenever a fire broke out, court officials did not have to attend court meetings and had to immediately take people to put out the fire.

The Daxia officials immediately turned their cars around and ordered their servants to go and put out the fire.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they arrived at their destination, they saw that the people who came to put out the fire were stopped outside by government officials.

The doctor from the Ministry of War, whose personality was similar to that of his own Shangshu, was about to rush in with his fists clenched, but was stopped by the doctor from the Ministry of Revenue next to him.

The military doctor was furious: "Fire! Fire!"

"Calm down! Look at where the fire is!" The doctor from the Ministry of Revenue added in a low voice, "There are so many mansions in the suburbs, and only a few houses of the Empress Dowager's relatives were burned. The Minister of Justice also led people in for a while just now, wait a moment."

The military officer also responded.

Just at this moment, the yamen runners who were in charge of intercepting the people suddenly moved and opened a passage.

The Minister of Justice and other officials dragged a group of men in middle-aged clothes, with disheveled hair and handcuffs out of the passage. These men kept shouting, "They will report to the Queen Mother," "This is treason, you will regret it" and so on.

But the Minister of Justice was unmoved and directly ordered his men to read out loud the crimes of the relatives of the emperor's wife, which aroused the anger of the common people, who smashed whatever they could find at the prisoners.

The military officer quickly retreated to the side of the finance officer and whispered, "So that's how it is. It seems that your majesty and the adults are very decisive."

Ministry of Revenue Doctor: "Yes, I just didn't expect that the Minister of Revenue would be willing to do so."

The military official was surprised. He thought that the Minister of Revenue was also connected to the Empress Dowager's power. He whispered, "What is the Minister of Revenue willing to give up?"

"Houses!" The Minister of Revenue looked at the fire with a distressed look on his face. "It will cost so much to rebuild them. If we don't burn them down, we can just reward the generals when they come back from the battles and save a lot of money."

The military doctor put away his gossipy smile and said:...

At this moment, a strange voice suddenly sounded beside him: "My Lords, do you know what crime the Queen Mother has committed?"

The doctor of the Ministry of War and the doctor of the Ministry of Revenue looked over at the same time and happened to meet the eyes of four well-dressed young men.

They were none other than Prince Jing, Prince Yan, Prince Linjiang and the Crown Prince of Xiping.

Seeing them, the doctor from the Ministry of War recalled their features after taking off their clothes, and he clapped his hands subconsciously and said, "Ah. This is not just a mole, two scars, but also..."

The doctor from the Ministry of Revenue kicked the doctor from the Ministry of War hard. They were hiding secretly in the attic at the back to control the overall situation. How could they so carelessly reveal the characteristics of the naked buttocks of the princes?

The expressions of the four handsome princes were somewhat suspicious and confused.

The military doctor then gasped for breath, greeted the four princes, and then said, "Well, we just got here, and we don't know what we have done. But with such a big fuss, it might be a serious crime like selling out the country."

The military official said this just to leave a foreshadowing for the announcement of the Queen Mother's death later.

As a result, the four princes became nervous instantly.

They all thought at the same time: Selling out the country?! Confiscating the property? Isn't this also a secret warning to the princes?

Seeing that the four princes were silent, the Ministry of Revenue doctor added: "Do the princes have anything to ask the Queen Mother? Do you need..."

"No, no, no."

"Nothing."

"We're just here to watch the fun."

The four princes waved their hands one after another, and Prince Jing handed over the breakfast he had just bought: "My lords, this is the Xianxianglou pastry that I waited in line for an hour to buy. It's still hot, so eat it while it's hot. My lords are busy, so we'll go ahead."

Upon hearing that the cakes were from Xianxianglou, the doctor from the Ministry of Revenue chose to take them and swallowed his words of refusal.

The four princes said a few words with a smile, and after turning around, their expressions changed at the same time.

The Prince of Yan, who had a red mole on his forehead, had a serious expression on his face: "Everyone, there must be something fishy about what the Queen Mother did. I suggest that you all report it back to my father. In order to avoid being implicated and getting into trouble."

"It should be fine." The tall Prince of Linjiang waved his folding fan, his face full of relief, "We have been concentrating on studying the ways of the Crown Prince and the Imperial Master recently, and have not had time to look for other people."

The Prince of Xiping rolled his eyes and said, "You should be more careful. We didn't look for anyone else, but someone came to look for us! Have you forgotten that Envoy Li from Chen State invited you to drink?"

The prince of Linjiang was stunned and said, "It's bad. I'm going to refuse it now. I can't get involved in this recently."

Several other princes had the same expression.

…

The authorities did not directly say what the Queen Mother and her subordinates had done, but this half-hidden state of mind can arouse the imagination of smart people below.

The officials of Daxia collectively began to "examine themselves three times a day". The Chen State delegation, who loved the drinking culture, were numb after their invitations were rejected again.

Huitong Hall.

Envoy Zhou, Envoy Li, and Envoy Liu sat opposite each other, one on the left and one on the right.

The envoys below reported the situation with their heads down, most of which were bad news that the officials of the Xia State were unwilling to drink and socialize with them anymore.

Envoy Li said in disbelief: "No one comes to drink?"

The people below said sadly: "No, the officials of Daxia are avoiding us as much as possible now."

Envoy Li frowned and asked, "How is the Queen Mother of Xia?"

The servant then perked up a little and said, "There is still news, but the Queen Mother said that she can still provide information, but..." After a pause, the servant whispered, "It will cost more money."

Envoy Li was so angry that he wanted to say in a tough tone, "You wicked queen mother, the State of Chu requires so many things from us and you are still asking for more money."

But due to the tense situation, he turned his head and looked at Envoy Zhou: "Master Zhou, what do you think?"

Envoy Zhou pinched his fingers and said, "Give it to her! Our goal is the city of Chen State. Money is not important. Give it all to her."

The other envoys looked at each other. Although they felt it was a bit of a waste, they also thought it made sense.

At this time, Envoy Liu suddenly said, "My Lords, this seems a little strange. Now that the Queen Mother's relatives have been eliminated, won't the Xia Kingdom make moves against the Queen Mother?"

Envoy Li looked at Envoy Liu in shock and said with contempt, "How did you learn benevolence, righteousness and propriety? Which royal family would criticize their own queen mother? Aren't you afraid of being laughed at by the world for being unfilial and immoral?"

Envoy Zhou also looked at Envoy Liu sarcastically: "Besides, the Queen Mother was born a princess of the State of Chu. Isn't Xia afraid of being held accountable by the State of Chu for doing this? Even if the Queen Mother has done many wrong things, I think the most they can do is to confiscate the property of the Queen Mother's relatives and shock them a little."

Envoy Liu still felt that something was wrong and argued with reason. However, the other envoys disagreed and a fierce argument ensued. Finally, Envoys Li and Zhou stood up in anger and invited their colleagues to leave together, leaving Envoy Liu alone in Huitong Hall.

Envoy Liu was not annoyed. He took a sip of tea and thought carefully.

Just at this moment, a strange and unfamiliar voice suddenly came from outside the door.

"Lord Liu, rather than being excluded, why not return to your roots as soon as possible?"

Envoy Liu turned around and found that it was the official from the Xia State with whom she had communicated once before.