Chapter 493: The Tragic Death of a Southern Official, Rumors of a Wronged Ghost Seeking Revenge
Cui Lin originally wanted to bring Prince Zan along and have him force Emperor An to try Xiao Yan. What's more, he wanted him to be the first to take action and take the lead in adding insult to injury to block his "edge" today. But who could have thought that this waste would actually bite him back.
He had never known that Prince Zan was so good at talking, and he actually helped Xiao Yan. Was he crazy?
Xiao Yan had set him up to receive such a disgusting title, and they were in cahoots. Wasn't he afraid of offending him and the Cui family, or that the aristocratic families would reject him and choose another prince?!
The partial hatred prince still felt that it was not enough and continued, "Minister Cui has always been stingy and has made things difficult for Governor Xiao several times. However, he is an official in the court after all, so he should not use the emperor and everyone else for his own selfish interests."
"you!"
Cui Lin was almost irritated by the Hateful Prince.
Grand Tutor Liang frowned as he looked at Cui Lin, who was shaking with anger after just a few words from Prince Zeng. Prince Zeng, who had always lowered his status to them in the past, was particularly strong today. He suddenly felt that something was wrong, and when he was about to speak, he heard Prince Zeng change the tone.
"And Father, I have something I want to report to you tonight."
Emperor An watched his son come forward to rescue him, and he scolded Cui Lin, whose face turned pale. He also laid out Xiao Yan's affairs so that he would not be forced to be interrogated in public, giving him time to deal with Xiao Yan privately.
It was rare for him to find his second son pleasing to the eye. The pain in his head eased a little. Emperor An thought that Prince Zan was trying to change the subject and help him out. He forced a kind look on his face and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Some time ago, I was reckless and was reprimanded by my father. I fell seriously ill. To recuperate and avoid offending my father in the capital, I left the city and rested for a while at my farm outside the capital."
"While I was staying at the manor to reflect on myself, my guards accidentally rescued two people who were traveling from Zhaohui to the capital to visit their relatives. They were nearly killed by bandits on their way. Because they were seriously injured, they were brought back to the manor to stay temporarily."
Emperor An looked at Prince Zeng in confusion, not knowing what he wanted to say.
The other people in the hall also looked puzzled.
The fact that Prince Hate mentioned that he saved someone wasn't meant for people to praise him for being kind, right?
The Zang Prince ignored the others' gazes and continued, "Those two were merchants from Zhaohui, with considerable wealth. Unaware of my identity, they wanted to offer me generous gifts. I saw that they were well-spoken, and I didn't want to cause trouble as a prince, so I simply befriended them as an ordinary wealthy family..."
"Hate the Prince!"
Seeing that the topic at the table had gone off track, Cui Lin interrupted Prince Hate with a cold face.
"We are currently discussing Xiao Yan's collusion with the deposed Empress. No one wants to hear about your personal connections. Even if Prince Hate has a close relationship with Governor Xiao, he shouldn't talk about other matters in front of His Majesty!"
The Hateful Prince said, "I'm not saying anything else. I have my own intentions. Minister Cui is trying to frame me for having a personal relationship with Governor Xiao. What are you afraid of?"
Cui Lin: "What do I have to be afraid of?!"
"If you're not afraid, why don't you let me finish what I'm saying? What are you so anxious about?"
"you……"
Cui Lin was angry and wanted to speak.
"Alright!" Emperor An frowned and stopped him, looking at Prince Zeng: "Go on!"
After Prince Zeng bowed and thanked Emperor An, he snorted coldly at Cui Lin and continued:
"Those two have lived in Zhaohui for a long time and are very familiar with the customs and people of the Northwest. They have also traveled extensively as merchants, so they have a wealth of experience. I have never left the capital, so naturally I enjoyed chatting with them. They were also grateful to me for saving their lives, so they shared everything they knew with me."
"I originally just wanted to learn about the local scenery from them, but who knew that during the casual conversation, I unexpectedly heard a very shocking rumor."
Seeing that everyone in the hall was looking at him, obviously attracted by his words, even Cui Lin and the others were frowning at him.
Prince Zeng said, "According to what those two said, a few days ago, a rumor suddenly spread in Zhaohui, saying that dozens of officials in Shezhou, Langzhou, and Raozhou had died one after another. All of them died in horrible ways, some were drained of blood and hung from the beams of houses, while others had their limbs torn apart as if they had been tortured to death."
"When I heard this, I was shocked and hurriedly asked for details. The two said they didn't know the details. They only said that the people in the south had offended the gods and ghosts, and that the officials were all being pursued by the ghosts of the wronged dead. That's why they died in secret, and their tragic deaths were all due to repaying old debts."
Emperor An was stunned for a moment, feeling that something was wrong with Prince Zan's words. Liang Guangyi also frowned suddenly.
Among the aristocratic families in Beijing, the Lu family has the closest relationship with the officialdom in the south. The Lu family's ancestral home is in Jiangnan. Although they later moved to Beijing, the Lu family's control over the officialdom in the south is still extremely astonishing. After Lu Chongyuan took over the Lu family, he regarded Jiangnan as his own.
Although Liang Guangyi had sent people to follow the news in the South before, ever since the grain tax case broke out, the Lu family was implicated and he was afraid of dragging the Liang family into the water. In addition, the Privy Council sent people into the South to investigate many times, so he withdrew the Liang family members, and also withdrew the other families.
Later, the Lu family encountered a series of disasters until Lu Chongyuan died in prison. They had not paid attention to the news in the South for a long time, but suddenly heard Prince Zeng talk about the "tragic deaths" of officials in the South.
Not to mention Liang Guangyi, even Cui Lin and others noticed something was wrong.
Cao Dejiang, who had remained silent until then, frowned and said, "Prince Zan is saying that officials in Shezhou, Langzhou, and Raozhou have suddenly died tragically, and there are more than one or two of them. Then why is there no news in the capital?"
“That’s what surprised me.”
Prince Zang replied in a deep voice, "The rumors say that there are more than just one or two officials who died. Among them are important officials such as the Chief Secretary of the Governor's Office and the Minister of War of She Prefecture. However, there has been no news from the capital, and the three prefectures have not reported the matter to the Ministry of Personnel or the Emperor."
"I originally thought someone was spreading rumors to mislead the people, but because the incident was so shocking, I was afraid someone was trying to disrupt the government, so I sent someone to Shezhou. But who knew..."
"In Shezhou and the other three areas, the rumors are even more rampant, and everyone knows about the tragic deaths of officials."
Prince Zan had arrived in front of the palace without anyone noticing, and his voice was tense and stern when he spoke.
"My men have visited various places and learned that more than two months ago, Shezhou Sima Lou Yong'an and his family suddenly fell off a cliff and died, their bodies being devoured by wild wolves. A few days later, the Governor's Office Chief Clerk Zhou Jungui drowned. Within a month, several more officials in Shezhou died in quick succession. Officials in Langzhou and Raozhou also began to die tragically."
"Those people all died in horrible ways, and most of their families were killed. The few officials' families who managed to survive were frightened to death, staying in their houses all day, crying out that retribution had come and that wronged spirits were seeking their lives."
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