Chapter 161 She had some doubts that Prince Rui's disappearance was a hoax.
"Hahahaha..." Du Tianlei burst into laughter. He took off his mask, revealing a fairly handsome face.
He looked at Marquis Chengen and said, "You know perfectly well that the woman in the brothel is my cousin. I visit her every day because I'm afraid she'll be bullied."
After seeing Jiang Yu stand up from the ground and appear uninjured, Marquis Chengen turned to Du Tianlei and said, "As the commander-in-chief of the army, I'm here to see if you've completed your mission."
"Hehe..." Du Tianlei laughed again, "A bet is a bet, but I never expected to lose to a woman."
He looked at Jiang Yu, his eyes filled with complex emotions. Jiang Yu looked down at her scraped wrist, not even glancing at him.
"Take him away," Marquis Chengen said coldly.
Several soldiers came over, tied Du Tianlei up, and took him away. Jiang Yu, hearing the fighting subside, said to Marquis Chengen, "We must capture Xing Hui."
Knowing that Xing Hui was a key figure, the Marquis of Chengen whispered to his heir, "Capture him alive."
"yes."
The heir of the Marquis of Chengen left with his men, and a little over fifteen minutes later they returned with a man, who was none other than Xing Hui. The sounds of fighting had completely ceased.
"Of the 1,235 people on Niujiao Mountain, 300 have died, and the rest have all been imprisoned," reported the heir of the Marquis of Chengen.
Marquis Chengen nodded, "You stay here with your men to guard the place, while Lord Jiang and I will escort the people back to the city."
He turned and mounted his horse. Jiang Yu's horse was injured, so Li Zhong gave his horse to Jiang Yu, and the group followed Marquis Chengen back to the city. By the time they reached the city gate, it was already dawn.
Jiang Yu bid farewell to Marquis Chengen at the city gate, saying, "Thank you for your help, Uncle."
Marquis Chengen nodded. "I'll go straight to the palace. I expect to see you and the Duke of Chu soon."
Jiang Yu nodded, knowing that the matter needed to be reported to the Emperor immediately. At that moment, Steward Hu rode up at full speed, bowed, and reported to Jiang Yu, "Prince An has surrounded Prince Kang's residence."
Jiang Yu and Marquis Chengen were both stunned; neither of them had expected Prince An to come up with such a brilliant idea. Jiang Yu asked, "What is the reason?"
Steward Hu: "It is said that Prince Rui's disappearance was orchestrated by Prince Kang."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yu lowered her eyes slightly. She suspected that Prince Rui's disappearance was a ruse, and that the real reason for luring Prince Kang into action was to use this information.
But Marquis Chengen said, "King Kang doesn't seem like such a stupid person!"
Jiang Yu wanted to say that he wasn't stupid; he was just arrogant and thought everyone else was a fool. However, she wasn't close enough with the Marquis of Chengen to discuss the Prince of Kang's character, so she bowed to him and took her leave, then rode off to the Duke of Chu's residence.
Marquis Chengen glanced at her retreating figure for a moment, then led his men straight to the palace.
When Jiang Yu arrived at the Duke of Chu's mansion, she saw Lu Yifang and her husband Jiang Jiamu, as well as Jiang Chengye. They all seemed to be waiting for her.
"You're finally back." Lu Yifang walked to Jiang Yu's side with concern and immediately noticed the abrasions on her wrist. She quickly pulled her over to take a look.
“Mother, I’m fine.” Jiang Yu said quickly, “I have something to discuss with Grandfather. I’ll talk to you later.”
She quickly left, followed by Li Zhong and Steward Hu. Lu Yifang watched her retreating figure with a worried expression, as did Jiang Jiamu and his wife.
"It doesn't look too serious," Jiang Chengye whispered to Lu Yifang.
He meant to comfort Lu Yifang, but his words were a real blow to her heart.
She looked at Jiang Chengye and said, "What do you mean by 'serious'? Why would a woman like her have to go out and risk her life in the middle of the night? Isn't it because you're incompetent?"
She didn't say what she was going to say, but everyone present understood. Jiang Chengye's face was bruised and purple. He looked at Lu Yifang with a gloomy expression, but ultimately said nothing and turned to leave.
Jiang Yu entered the study of the Duke of Chu and saw him dressed in his ducal robes, holding a memorial in his hand; everything was ready.
Jiang Yu walked to his side, took his arm and said, "The Marquis of Chengen has already entered the palace, let's go too."
Duke Chu nodded, and Jiang Yu and he got into the sedan chair and left the mansion for the palace. Upon arrival, Duke Chu's sedan chair went directly into the palace. Jiang Yu got out of the sedan chair and walked beside it, recounting the events of the previous night to Duke Chu.
Upon arriving at the entrance to the Imperial Study, she saw many people standing in the corridor, including eunuchs and palace maids. Jiang Yu recognized two of the palace maids; they were from the Empress Dowager's entourage.
The eunuchs guarding outside immediately came over and bowed to the Duke of Chu, saying, "His Majesty is waiting for you. The Empress Dowager, Prince Rui, Prince An, and Marquis Chengen are all here."
The Duke of Chu nodded and followed the eunuch into the imperial study. Jiang Yu saw Prince Kang kneeling on the ground, bound hand and foot, with Xing Hui and Du Tianlei kneeling beside him. The Empress Dowager, Prince An, Marquis Chengen, and a handsome man with dust on his robes and face sat to one side. This must be the legendary Prince Rui.
The emperor sat behind his desk, his face contorted with anger.
Jiang Yu and the Duke of Chu quickly bowed. The Emperor gave Jiang Yu a deep look, then instructed Zhao Fuquan to help the Duke of Chu to his feet. The Duke of Chu presented the memorial, which the Emperor took and examined carefully. The more he read, the paler his face became. Finally, he tossed the memorial onto the table and looked at Jiang Yu, saying, "Tell me about it."
"Yes." Jiang Yu stood in the middle of the imperial study, his tone steady, and said, "After I arrived at the Ministry of Revenue, the Minister instructed me to organize the archives. I started by organizing and reading the household registers, and when I got to the military supplies, I discovered a problem..."
She recounted the discrepancies in military supply data over the past few years, the problems she had discovered, and then described the investigation process. Of course, she omitted her cooperation with Prince An.
After she finished speaking, the room fell into a deathly silence, while King Kang, bound and kneeling on the ground, stared at her in shock. King Kang never imagined that the cause of his defeat was Jiang Yu.
"You are a very perceptive child," the Empress Dowager said, then looked at Prince Kang with disappointment and said, "You have ambition and want to do things, I won't say anything. But your uncle never participates in court affairs and has no grudge against you, why do you want to harm him?"
This statement is somewhat laughable and pathetic. The Empress Dowager doesn't seem to care much about Prince Kang embezzling military supplies and plotting a palace coup. What she does care about is the harm done to Prince Rui.
Prince Rui touched his nose and whispered to the Empress Dowager, "Mother, I'm fine, I just fell into a trap."
"You fell into a trap and nothing happened?" the Empress Dowager said with displeasure. "The Funiu Mountains are covered in snow. If Jingwei hadn't found you, you don't know if you would have been able to come back."
The Empress Dowager wiped away her tears with a handkerchief, then looked at the Emperor and said, "I don't care about matters of the court, but He'an almost lost his life, and you have to give me an explanation."
She stood up and walked out, and Prince Rui also stood up, saying, "Your subject will go with Mother."
The emperor waved for him to leave, and Prince Rui took the empress dowager's arm, and the two left the imperial study.
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