However, this matter could not be reported to the Emperor immediately; it required careful consideration. At this time, the governor could not determine whether the one in the palace was the real princess or the one before him was the real princess.
He certainly wouldn't believe anything Zhu Lin said just because he was the great-grandfather's young master, or blindly believe who the other party said was the real princess.
This matter needs to be investigated slowly. If the one in the palace is fake, he will bring the real princess to the emperor. If the one in the palace is real, then the one in front of us is fake, which will make things even more complicated.
These people are all highly skilled and difficult to deal with. Their sudden attempt to remove the real princess with a fake one indicates malicious intent and that they are plotting some grand conspiracy.
"It's understandable that you doubt me. This matter does need to be investigated. We're not in a hurry. You can investigate it thoroughly when you have some free time," Zhu Lin said casually.
He just didn't want anyone to take Xingxing's identity and benefit those with ulterior motives. As for whether she was a princess or not, it didn't matter. It was fine not to go back to the palace. He could take Xingxing back to Xianwu Island and still spoil the little girl like a princess. It would definitely be more free and happy than living in a place like the palace.
The governor breathed a sigh of relief. He was really worried that the young master would be unreasonable and insist on him acknowledging the princess. If he didn't agree, his great-grandfather would use his status to pressure him, and he wouldn't know how to handle the situation.
"You take your men to Shanquan Village and exchange my senior brothers for them. Even Prince Gong was able to discover a silver mine. What are your court officials doing?" The subtext here is that he's criticizing the court officials for being useless.
The governor paused for a moment, but ultimately dared not lash out. He patiently explained, "In recent years, there have been frequent natural disasters in various parts of our country. Local officials have been busy with disaster relief, and the imperial court has been overwhelmed by the disasters. Furthermore, there are often foreign tribes on the border who want to take the opportunity to attack the Great Jin. There are just too many things to deal with."
Zhu Lin wasn't interested in the rest, so he sent the governor away. After leaving the Gu residence, the governor subconsciously wiped his forehead and found that he was indeed covered in sweat.
Strangely enough, the other party was just a boy in his early teens, with a handsome appearance and fair skin, but he had a very powerful aura and spoke with an inexplicable sense of oppression as a high-ranking person who had been in power for a long time.
"I pride myself on my high status. Having served as an official for over twenty years, I have never feared anyone except for the Emperor and my great-grandfather. Yet today, I am utterly humbled before that young boy. This child is no ordinary man," the governor muttered to himself, causing the officers beside him to prick up their ears, eager to hear what their superior was saying.
In the Imperial Palace of the capital, the Emperor read the urgent letter delivered by express messenger and was immediately invigorated. "Well, Prince Gong is still up to his old tricks and has fled to the south. He almost stole a silver mine, but fortunately, Minister Zhu saw through his scheme in time and recovered the mine."
The emperor was overjoyed and subsequently issued two imperial edicts: one ordering the governor to quickly capture Prince Gong and his remaining associates, and the other ordering the removal of the prefect of Quanshui Prefecture from his post, the confiscation of his property, the extermination of his entire family, and execution in the autumn.
"Your Majesty, the prefect of Quanshui Prefecture has been dismissed. Someone needs to take his place," the chief eunuch said.
"I understand, but this matter still needs to be discussed with several ministers. Let's discuss it again at the morning court tomorrow."
During the morning court session, the officials engaged in a heated debate over the silver mine and the collusion between the prefect of Quanshui Prefecture and Prince Gong. Taking advantage of the situation, Tie Yusheng proposed that Zheng Qingshu be appointed as the prefect of Quanshui Prefecture.
An imperial censor immediately stepped forward to object, saying, "Although Zheng Qingshu has some achievements, he is too inexperienced and too young; he is not suitable for being promoted too quickly..."
After listening to the censor's long speech, Minister Tie did not even blink, and said only: "Zheng Qingshu's trip to the south this time was meritorious in disaster relief. He provided enough medicinal herbs to the north to prevent the spread of epidemics and saved at least 70% of the people. Afterwards, he discovered pumpkins, which gave our Great Jin another food to fill our stomachs. Aren't all these achievements enough?"
The court was filled with debate and was quite noisy. The emperor closed his eyes and said in a deep voice, "That's enough for today. Court is adjourned."
The position of the new prefect of Quanshui Prefecture has not yet been decided, and the officials are vying fiercely for it, all wanting to put their own people in the position. Quanshui Prefecture has silver mines, and whoever becomes the prefect will be able to make a name for themselves, and the political achievements will be a free gift.
The emperor was naturally aware of this, but he had to send someone he trusted to take over. In fact, Zheng Qingshu was one of his confidants, but few people knew it. He was relatively at ease promoting Zheng Qingshu to be the prefect of Quanshui Prefecture.
However, this matter needs to be delayed for a while longer. Let those old guys in the court argue about it first, and then he will issue an imperial edict.
"Your Majesty, the princess requests an audience," the head eunuch announced as he entered, bowing low.
The emperor subconsciously frowned. For some reason, ever since the princess disappeared for two years and was found again, he felt that something was different, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was different.
They had the same appearance and similar personalities, and there was no problem with their birthmarks, but the emperor always felt that he couldn't get close to the princess. No matter how close they pretended to be on the surface, he always felt that there was something between them.
Sometimes he would wonder if he had changed, because after the princess returned, disasters were still happening in some places, so he was dissatisfied with the princess and felt that she had not brought good fortune to the Great Jin Dynasty.
But good fortune is inherently ethereal and mysterious; how can such luck be forcibly tied to a young girl?
The princess did nothing wrong.
Speaking of which, some people outside are saying that he is not worthy to be emperor, that he has bad fate, and even more outrageous ones say that he committed serious sins in his previous life, which is why he is being punished by heaven in this life, and that he is not worthy to be emperor.
He did not believe these words and was unwilling to accept them. He believed that he had a clear conscience and had not wronged the people except for bad luck. Therefore, he was unwilling to abdicate. He believed that human will could overcome fate and that he would definitely turn the situation around in his lifetime.
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
