Chapter 772 Expelling the Lakians
The disappearance of the girl caused great panic in the capital. For a time, no young girls could be seen on the streets, and everyone was on edge.
More than a month has passed since the first girl went missing, yet the Prefect of the Capital has not found a single clue and has been directly punished by the Emperor.
After the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review took over the case, he mobilized all available resources to conduct a thorough investigation and finally uncovered something different.
Inside the Imperial Study, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review was reporting on the progress of the case.
“The whereabouts of the missing girls were found three days ago. In the past seven or eight years, a total of forty-nine girls have gone missing. They are all hidden in the underground of the manor in the suburbs of Beijing. The official of the Ministry of Justice confessed to his crimes without reservation and explained all the details clearly. However, his motive is very questionable. Seven or eight years of planning, not for fame, not for profit, not for power, then what was he after?”
"After Lady Ruan and Lady Sui talked, they gave me some inspiration. So I specifically investigated his life twelve years ago before he entered the court as an official. He was an ordinary person born on the coastal border. He had gone out to sea with fishing boats many times. Records show that he was quite proficient in the language of Laki Kingdom... When I interrogated him, he denied all his connections with Laki Kingdom."
"The more he denies it, the more suspicious this matter becomes. Your humble servant continued to unravel the mystery and finally found out that his mother is from the Kingdom of Laqi... In other words, half of his blood comes from Laqi. He is very likely a spy sent by Laqi to our Great Yu Kingdom... Twelve years ago, he entered the court as an official and, after gaining a foothold, began to use respectable young women to build a powerful network of connections. If Laqi wants to do anything to our Great Yu Kingdom in the future, these connections will be a fatal blow to our Great Yu Kingdom..."
The emperor's face suddenly darkened.
Over the past four or five years, the Kingdom of Laki has been constantly causing trouble along the coast and borders, constantly provoking the bottom line of the Kingdom of Dayu, which has aroused his great dissatisfaction. However, since the Kingdom of Laki has been a vassal state of the Kingdom of Dayu for hundreds of years, if he were to take action openly, it would discourage the other vassal states. Therefore, he has been holding back.
But now it has been discovered that more than ten years ago, the Kingdom of Laki planted spies in the Kingdom of Dayu, and even in the court.
With such a meticulously constructed network of relationships, countless secrets of the Great Yu Kingdom have been unknowingly stolen over the past seven or eight years...
His empire was being coveted right under his nose, yet he remained completely unaware.
It seems he was too lenient with the Kingdom of Laki.
"Issue my order: all the wealthy merchants and officials on the list, regardless of their status or background, shall be imprisoned separately and interrogated one by one." The emperor's voice was exceptionally cold and deep. "In addition, expel all Laki people from within the territory of the Great Yu Kingdom. If any member of their ancestors for three generations was a Laki person, they shall also be expelled. This matter must be completed within seven days without any delay."
"yes!"
The people below immediately went to do it.
The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review had just left when the King of Qin entered.
“Your Majesty…” The King of Qin lifted his robe and knelt down. “I was wrong, I was really wrong. I only went there once, three years ago, the only time… I can swear, I just went to have some fun. I drank some wine, listened to some music, slept with a girl, and did nothing else… If I had known earlier that he was a spy from the Kingdom of Laji, I would have smashed up his dilapidated manor before Your Majesty even had to speak. I really didn’t know anything. Please, Your Majesty, investigate!”
The emperor coldly glanced at him: "You did nothing, but all the things you said unintentionally were recorded and sent to the emperor of Laqi Kingdom by fast horse. Every careless word you uttered could become a weapon for Laqi Kingdom to attack the Great Yu Kingdom."
The King of Qin opened his lips, but didn't know what to say.
He's the kind of person who loves to have fun and has been to all sorts of interesting places in Beijing. Who would have thought that there was such a big shady deal going on there?
He believed that many people like him who went there for fun had no idea what the place was, and that they had been tricked without their knowledge.
"You are my own flesh and blood, and I can trust you. But others must be investigated by the Dali Temple. If they are found not guilty, they can be released. If they have even the slightest connection with the Kingdom of Laji, then I can only be a tyrant." The emperor waved his hand impatiently. "That damn school you founded is about to open. Go and do your own thing. Don't get in my way."
The King of Qin bowed and said, "If the school is ruined, I will bring my head to face you!"
He can only atone for his sins through the school, and he hopes that these students will not disappoint him.
That afternoon, an imperial edict was issued throughout the capital, ordering all citizens of Laki Kingdom to leave Dayu Kingdom immediately, with a seven-day deadline. Those who disobeyed the order would be forcibly repatriated.
The imperial court dispatched the Imperial Guards to deliver an imperial edict to other provincial capitals of the Great Yu Kingdom, ordering that all citizens of the Laqi Kingdom must leave the country without exception...
Cheng Wanwan really didn't expect that Donghua's disappearance would lead to such a big incident.
The Kingdom of Laji truly lives up to its name. It actually started planting spies in the Great Yu Dynasty more than ten years ago. There is a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Justice. Could there be other spies among them?
Two or three hundred years after the founding of the Great Yu Dynasty, it established contact with the Kingdom of Laqi two hundred years ago. After the Kingdom of Laqi became a vassal state of the Great Yu Dynasty, the two countries' trade relations became increasingly close. Later, Laqi merchants would settle in the Great Yu Dynasty and intermarry with the Great Yu people, giving birth to children with blood from both countries.
After the emperor's edict was issued, these intermarried families were the first to be driven away.
Some families, considering the greater good of the nation, will force their children to divorce, while some couples with deep affection will choose to leave the country with their children.
Fortunately, there weren't many people in the capital who intermarried with other ethnic groups, and after two or three days of chaos in the streets, things gradually calmed down.
Cheng Wanwan went to the palace to thank the emperor for his leniency, which allowed her to find her niece in time.
"Lady Sui truly is a lucky star for our Great Yu Kingdom." The emperor said with emotion, "If Lady Sui's niece had not gone missing, this matter would not have reached the court, and I would not have known that the Laqi Kingdom had such great ambitions... Now that this matter has caused such a stir, if the Great Yu Kingdom were to take military action against the Laqi Kingdom in the future, the surrounding small countries would not dare to say anything. This is all thanks to Lady Sui."
"Your Majesty flatters me." Cheng Wanwan looked apprehensive. "Several years ago, when the Laji Kingdom presented new species as tribute, it already revealed its ambition. I heard from Lord Zhang that the Laji Kingdom now has close ties with the Yuezhi tribe in the north of our country. If the Laji Kingdom establishes its power in the Yuezhi territory, it may cause trouble for the people of our Great Yu Kingdom in the north."
"I have already ordered an investigation into this matter," the Emperor said slowly. "The palace examination is in a few days. Has Consort Sui's son made any preparations?"
Cheng Wanwan lowered her head and replied, "He stays in his study reading every day. I wouldn't say he's made perfect preparations, but he will definitely do his best."
"Lady Sui's son is outstanding. He was the top scholar in the provincial examination and the metropolitan examination. If he can also achieve first place, he will be the top scholar in the imperial examination, achieving the highest honors in all three categories." The emperor tapped the table with his finger, paused for a moment, and then said, "A few days ago, I issued an edict to forcibly expel the people of Laki, which has caused resentment in many places. If the palace examination were to be based on this topic, what does Lady Sui think?"
Cheng Wanwan looked up in surprise.
The questions for the palace examination were usually set by the emperor himself, and no one could fathom his intentions. Therefore, many scholars who performed exceptionally well on ordinary days would suffer a major setback in the palace examination.
But now, the emperor has directly told her the direction of the questions. Does this mean he's leaking the questions to her?
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