"Why are you here?" Lu Wan couldn't help but ask Shen Yan.
"I'm worried about you." Shen Yan actually said it so bluntly, which made Lu Wan stunned for a moment.
"Since you're okay, I'm relieved." After saying that, Shen Yan had Du Zheng tied up and taken away. Now the only evidence missing was the clear account book. They only needed to take Du Zheng back and torture him severely to interrogate him, and they would be able to find the whereabouts of the account book.
The two of them escorted Du Zheng to prison together, and went to meet the Emperor and the Empress Dowager with Lu Changxin.
When the emperor heard that Du Zheng had embezzled the relief grain, he was heartbroken and said bitterly, "I thought Du Zheng was a well-respected official. I wanted to promote him to a higher position on his 60th birthday and even sent people to organize a birthday banquet for him. But this is what he reported to me. It really chills my heart."
Lu Changxin said, "Your Majesty, what Du Zheng did was extremely evil. He made the people suffer for his own selfish interests. I'm afraid the people have long been angry about the disaster relief grain. As the saying goes, the people are the foundation of the country. When the people are angry, the country is unstable. Fortunately, this termite was pulled out in time to prevent it from causing disasters in the future."
"You are right." The emperor said angrily, "If that is the case, I must punish him severely, remove all his official positions, demote him to a commoner, and execute him on a certain day."
"No." The Queen Mother suddenly said, "We should consider this matter in the long run. We should just detain Du Zheng first."
The young emperor was very puzzled. Why should he sympathize with a person like Du Zheng? And his mother actually wanted to spare his life.
"Mother, why don't you kill him?"
The little emperor asked in a puzzled tone.
"Just listen to me."
The little emperor didn't dare to say anything, and the three of them naturally didn't say anything either. The empress dowager didn't even listen to the little emperor, so how could she consider their opinions, not to mention that she had always been dissatisfied with them because of Song Ping.
They had made such great contributions, but the Queen Mother did not express any appreciation or reward them. The young emperor could not stand it any more and asked, "Why don't you reward us, Mother?"
The Queen Mother sneered: "They are doing good deeds to atone for their sins. Why should I reward them?"
Lu Changxin said: "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. As the Queen Mother said, we are indeed redeeming our sins with merits and do not ask for any reward."
The Queen Mother was satisfied and her expression relaxed a little.
The Queen Mother suddenly asked, "Chen Yan, are you engaged? I think you are very handsome."
Lu Wan was stunned. What did the Queen Mother mean? Could it be that she wanted to grant him a marriage?
Lu Wan's heart was lifted up.
"I don't have any." Shen Yan said truthfully.
"Well, all of you should leave."
The Queen Mother asked them and then let them leave.
On the way back, Lu Wan was very uneasy. She knew that Shen Yan had a misunderstanding of her and there was a gap between them.
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