The emperor had an extremely glorious birthday.
For the next few days, he was all smiles and amiable during the morning court sessions.
Until that day, Sun Yan, the commander of the Imperial Guard, told him a story, a story that the people of the capital had been talking about with great interest these past few days.
The protagonist of the story is named Zhu Yannan.
This Zhu Yannan was a real person, the youngest Vice Minister of Revenue in Dayuan, and the most suitable successor to the Minister of Revenue favored by the emperor.
Two months ago, the emperor sent him with officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Justice to Jizhou County to verify the Jiang family's crimes of forcibly seizing farmland, forcing people into slavery, falsely reporting land ownership, and abusing their power.
But this story is not about how Zhu Yannan, the Vice Minister, was dutiful after arriving in Jizhou and how he outwitted and outmaneuvered the Jiang family to find evidence of their crimes. It is a love story!
A love story of love at first sight, infatuation at second sight, and commitment to each other at third sight.
The story's female protagonist, Zhu Shilang's beloved, is the seventh illegitimate daughter of the current head of the Jiang family, and also the daughter-in-law of the governor of Jizhou.
Yes, the girl Jiang Qi whom Minister Zhu liked was already married, but she and her husband had a strained relationship, which is why she lived alone.
Vice Minister Zhu was deeply in love with Miss Jiang, disregarding her status as a married woman. He wanted to help Miss Jiang divorce the Prefect's son so that they could elope together.
However, the prefect's son insisted on not divorcing her and tried to forcibly take the seventh girl back. The seventh girl did not want to be separated from Minister Zhu, so she committed suicide by hitting her head against a pillar.
Minister Zhu was heartbroken. In order to avenge his beloved girl, he used his status as an imperial envoy to fabricate many charges against the prefect, intending to present them to the emperor.
In the storyteller's eyes, this is a poignant and moving love story.
The storyteller used countless beautiful, gentle, or sorrowful words to describe a sincere love that was not accepted by the world.
Sun Yan couldn't possibly retell the entire story in front of the emperor, so she only gave a rough outline.
This story instantly ruined all of the emperor's recent good mood.
There's no smoke without fire. The fact that this story appeared in the capital and spread far and wide proves that it's not just a rumor and is very likely true!
Although he had not received Zhu Yannan's memorial, he was more worried that he would first receive a memorial from the governor of Jizhou accusing Zhu Yannan.
If this is true, not only will Zhu Yannan become a laughing stock among the officials and people of Dayuan, but he, as the emperor, will also lose face.
After all, Zhu Yannan was a promising minister of his, and he entrusted him with this important task in the hope that Zhu Yannan could gain political achievements through this matter and accumulate qualifications for future promotion to Minister of Revenue.
Who would have thought that after Zhu Yannan arrived in Jizhou, instead of sharing the emperor's burdens, he became deeply entangled in a world of pleasure, only knowing how to talk about love and not doing anything of importance!
No wonder he hadn't received any memorials from Zhu Yannan even after two months!
Previously, when a censor impeached Zhu Yannan for inaction, he even reprimanded the censor who impeached him, showing consideration for the other party.
Looking back now, the emperor only felt embarrassed.
However, what angered him even more was what followed.
Because Sun Yan told him that there were actually three versions of this story, and the one he mentioned was just the first one to appear and the one that received the least attention.
The second version says that Zhu Shilang and Jiang Qi were not mutually in love, but that Zhu Shilang was lustful and forcibly took her. Jiang Qi, unable to bear the humiliation, committed suicide by hitting her head against a pillar.
In this version, Vice Minister Zhu is a scumbag despised by everyone.
In contrast, the prefect's son and the head of the Jiang family, one having lost his beloved wife and the other his beloved daughter, are both pitiful people who deserve our sympathy.
The third version is even more bizarre.
In the third version, Zhu Shilang's love at first sight, love at second sight, and commitment to each other at third sight were all just a scheme set up by Jiang Qi Gu Niang.
The Seventh Sister deliberately approached Minister Zhu and seduced him into falling in love with her. When Minister Zhu could no longer control his feelings, the Seventh Sister instead accused him of forcing her and then committed suicide by hitting her head against a pillar in front of everyone.
The Seventh Sister did not actually die; she merely faked her death to escape.
She did this to exacerbate the conflict between the people of Jizhou and the emperor's envoy, and at the same time, to use this incident to control Vice Minister Zhu and prevent him from finding out anything in Jizhou.
Then the most exciting part of the story comes.
The Seventh Sister planned to fake her death, but her husband and father-in-law, the governor of Jizhou and his son, as well as her family, the Jiang family, all felt that faking her death would bring endless troubles, and it would be better to actually die.
As long as the emperor's close ministers can be implicated, the sacrifice of an illegitimate daughter by the Jiang family is nothing. After all, the Jiang family has plenty of daughters, and they can easily find another wife for the prefect's son.
But just as they were about to turn Seventh Sister's fake death into a real one, a kind person stepped in to save her. They used a substitution trick, finding a corpse to impersonate Seventh Sister, while the real Seventh Sister was hidden away.
The death of the Seventh Sister, orchestrated by the Jiang family and the prefect and his son, caused widespread resentment in Ji Province. The prefect and his son carried the coffin south to the capital, hoping to seek justice for themselves.
Meanwhile, the real Seventh Sister, with the help of kind-hearted people, arrived in the capital ahead of schedule, ready to expose the conspiracy of the Jizhou Prefect and his son.
Of the three versions, the third version has the most intricate and exciting story, which is why it is the most widely sung.
The people of the capital were very curious: did the daughter-in-law of the governor of Jizhou really have a deeply moving love story with Vice Minister Zhu?
Was she really dead or did she fake it?
If she faked her death, has she really arrived in the capital by now?
Would the prefect and his son really carry a coffin to the capital to file a complaint with the emperor?
In short, one story, three completely different versions, left countless mysteries unanswered, causing the people of the capital to rack their brains every day.
And then there are those busybodies who specifically wait near the four entrances to the imperial city, just to be the first to see the latest and hottest excitement!
Unrelated people might only care about the spectacle, but for the emperor, these three stories revealed far too much.
In these three stories, there is only one person who, from beginning to end, is consistent inside and out—stupid!
"I think Zhu Yannan shouldn't be surnamed Zhu, but should be surnamed 'Zhu'! The 'Zhu' in 'pig's head'!" the emperor said through gritted teeth.
If Zhu Yannan were in front of the emperor at this moment, the emperor would definitely have him dragged away and beheaded.
Because he deserves to die!
As an imperial envoy traveling outside the capital, he represented the emperor's face, but he was too foolish and was led by the nose at every turn!
He deserves to die, and the Jiang family and the prefect of Jizhou and his son deserve to die even more!
They not only disregarded Zhu Yannan, the imperial envoy, but also the emperor, and actually tried to use such an absurd scheme to force him to turn a blind eye to the matter in Jizhou!
"Send people to Jizhou to investigate. Find out everything for me!" the emperor ordered.
Sun Yan accepted the order and left.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
