The day after the emperor's birthday, during his morning exercise, Xie Chang'an showed Ye Jingchen the message that had been sent back from Jizhou.
Two months ago, when the emperor sent Zhu Yannan to Jizhou to investigate the Jiang family's encroachment on farmland and forced people into slavery, Ye Jingchen had already foreseen that the matter would not go smoothly.
After all, Jizhou was the Jiang family's stronghold, and they had been operating there for hundreds of years, making them the undisputed local tyrants of Jizhou.
The saying goes, "Even a mighty dragon can't suppress a local snake." Unless the emperor sends his army to Jizhou to intimidate them with force, or uses other powerful families to make them fight amongst themselves, it will be difficult to find out anything.
However, given Ye Jingchen's current status, he absolutely cannot get involved in such matters.
Fortunately, he has an ally.
Xie Chang'an did not disappoint him; even from a thousand miles away, his information was still very readily available.
After reading the contents recorded on the silk cloth, Ye Jingchen's first thought was that Zhu Yannan, the Vice Minister, needed an anti-fraud app.
It was obvious that he had been scammed.
The method used by the other party is a very typical honey trap.
He was completely outmaneuvered, but he probably still can't see through the trickery and is still heartbroken over his abruptly ended love!
"What does Young Master Xie plan to do?" Ye Jingchen asked as he ran.
"By having a storyteller speak, the whole story will be spread," Xie Chang'an said.
When the emperor learns of this story, he will surely be furious, and the Jiang family will certainly not sit idly by. The conflict between the two sides will only become more and more acute, until they are locked in a life-or-death struggle.
To deal with the Jiang family, we must use the emperor as a weapon.
Just like before, the Jiang family wanted to use the emperor to put the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion to death.
Xie Chang'an is a very petty person; an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is his style of doing things.
Ye Jingchen could easily see what Xie Chang'an was planning, but he shared Xie Chang'an's views on the matter.
The Jiang family dominated the region, competed with the people for profit, disregarded imperial power and the law, and even attempted to undermine the foundation of the nation. Their crimes were so egregious that even the execution of their entire clan would not be an exaggeration.
Ye Jingchen really hoped that the emperor could be decisive and deal with the Jiang family directly.
To deal with honey traps, without considering the victim's interests or reputation, Ye Jingchen quickly came up with a good idea.
"Indeed, we can use storytellers to spread this story, but this is not one story, but three stories."
"On the first day, the story will be told primarily from Zhu Yannan's perspective, highlighting a deeply moving love story."
From the perspective of Zhu Yannan, who is obsessed with love, this is a case of him meeting a woman in Jizhou with whom he wanted to spend his life. Although the woman was already married, she and her husband had a bad relationship and were living apart. So why not just get a divorce and let the lovers be together in the end?
Given that he and the Seventh Sister were mutually in love, forcibly separating the Jiang family and the Prefectural Governor's Mansion would be considered villainous acts of breaking up a loving couple, and would be condemned by everyone. (The values expressed by this love-struck individual do not represent the author's values; please refrain from criticism.)
Starting with such a melodramatic love story, and with the protagonist being a well-known young talent, it's bound to pique the interest of the people in the capital.
"On the third day, let the Jiang family and the prefectural governor's mansion have their way and tell this story according to their pre-ordained script: the imperial envoy who seizes by force and the pitiful man who loses his beloved daughter/wife!"
This version is what the Jiang family and the prefectural governor's office wanted the world to see: the emperor's envoy, taking advantage of his position, lusted after a beautiful woman and forcibly took her away.
The frail woman was powerless to resist and did not want to implicate the prefect's office and the Jiang family, so she chose to die to prove her innocence.
Her family was devastated and decided to carry her coffin south to the capital to petition the emperor for justice.
The second story takes a dramatic turn from the first, transforming the poignant love story into one of forceful abduction and plunder, and turning the young hero in everyone's eyes into a despicable lustful demon.
Such a reversal is sure to generate enough buzz and attract more attention to the matter.
Although this version of the story will have a significant impact on Zhu Yannan's reputation, and may even affect the emperor, the development of this matter will take time. It is possible that someone with ulterior motives has just begun to guide public opinion when the third version of the story has already been released.
"On the fifth day, we will thoroughly analyze this matter from the perspective of our female protagonist, and expose all the conspiracies to the public, including the next steps of the Jiang family and the prefect's mansion."
Even the most ordinary thing can become fascinating after it goes through twists and turns.
Moreover, this conspiracy involves human lives and tarnishes the reputation of the imperial envoy appointed by the emperor. It will definitely become a topic of conversation among the people of the capital.
There is no shortage of smart people in this world, and even more so, no shortage of people who consider themselves smart.
The same protagonist and the same events, interpreted from different angles, result in three completely different versions.
Everyone will ponder which version is the truth.
Simply exposing the Jiang family's conspiracy to the public would indeed have some effect, but it wouldn't cause enough of a sensation and would fall far short of the effect Ye Jingchen wanted.
The most brilliant way to break the deadlock is to follow the enemy's path and leave them with nowhere to go!
According to the message Xie Chang'an received, Jiang Qi's coffin has left Jizhou County and is heading towards the capital.
Every time the Jiang family and the governor of Jizhou passed through a city, they would stay there for a few days, spreading rumors that the imperial envoy coveted other men's wives and forcibly took them, causing the poor and weak women to commit suicide. This certainly attracted a lot of attention and garnered a lot of sympathy.
It's likely that before they even reach the capital, the news will spread throughout the entire Great Abyss and become common knowledge.
At that time, how will the people of Da Yuan view Zhu Yannan, and how will they view the emperor who appointed Zhu Yannan as imperial commissioner?
Therefore, the Jiang family's scheme with the governor of Jizhou was extremely insidious. Even if the emperor eventually exposed their conspiracy, the lost public support and reputation would be difficult to recover.
Of course, this was based on the premise that the emperor was completely unaware of their conspiracy; now—
Anyone can wage a war of public opinion.
There are also members of the Jiang family in the capital. They will definitely exchange information with their main family. Once the main family knows about the situation in the capital, will they still dare to bring a coffin to the capital?
But even if they hadn't come, given the grand scheme they'd orchestrated, would the emperor have let them off the hook?
At that time, they will definitely find themselves in a dilemma.
However, now that these three stories of the Imperial City are widely known, will they simply stop there?
It's only a matter of time before the news spreads throughout the entire Great Abyss.
And this time will definitely not be too long.
By then, the people of Dayuan will all know that the Jiang family and the governor of Jizhou have ulterior motives and rebellious intentions.
Even if the emperor were to take action against them, he would already be on the moral high ground, and no one would dare to object.
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