Chapter 265 The Queen Mother and the Regent Who Became a Cat 27
The young emperor was humiliated and became angry: "Regent, are you going to rebel against me?"
Zong Yue threw away the broken sword, with a hint of fear in his eyes: "Your Majesty, why don't you listen to Zhixian's explanation?"
Only then did the county magistrate realize that the noble and arrogant young man in front of him was the current emperor.
But he didn't feel happy at all.
Just because the young emperor was close to corrupt officials, his reputation for being lustful and stupid had spread throughout the entire Sheng State. Even if he reported that the Dongzhou patrol and Lin Minfeng were colluding to withhold relief grain, I am afraid that the other party would try their best to cover up for him.
Seeing that Zhixian was hesitant to speak, Cha Jiu knew that he must have been wronged, so he said, "Since the Regent wants to hear your explanation, just tell me."
She deliberately emphasized the "Regent".
Because she knew that Zong Yue had always held a high position in the hearts of the people.
Sure enough, the county magistrate looked at Zong Yue and mustered up the courage to say, "There is not much food left in the granary now. If we still cook thick porridge that can be inserted with chopsticks without floating, then in three days, there will be no rice left in the porridge shed. But if we cook this thin porridge, it can still support the people to eat rice soup for more than ten days. Although it can't fill their stomachs, so many people will not starve to death."
Cha Jiu frowned: "The imperial court has just distributed relief silver and relief grain, why is there not enough food in the granary?"
The county magistrate smiled bitterly and said, "I am in charge of the granary of Chen County, and I have not received any relief grain or silver from the court. The rice for the porridge is the old rice stored last year. It has supported the porridge for three months, but now it is almost gone."
Lin Minfeng winked at his followers, who understood and did it immediately.
The inspector bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, the silver and food for disaster relief have already been delivered to Chen County. This person is not telling the truth!"
Lin Minfeng pretended to be fair and said, "If you want to know who is lying, just send someone to the granary and the county magistrate's home to check and you will find out."
Half an hour later, the reconnaissance guards returned.
They found government silver used for disaster relief in the county magistrate's home, and mountains of grain in the granary. It was not as the county magistrate said that the grain had run out.
The system said, "These things were just placed in the home of the county magistrate by someone sent by Lin Minfeng. This person is really vicious and dirty."
Cha Jiu also guessed it.
Political achievements can be faked, but people’s hearts cannot.
The attitude of the people around him towards the county magistrate was gratitude and love, which showed that the county magistrate was not a corrupt official and that the money was a false accusation by others.
But the little emperor couldn't see this layer clearly.
He gave Zong Yue, who was defending the "corrupt official", a mocking look, and then looked down at the county magistrate: "The evidence is conclusive, what else do you have to say?"
The county magistrate shook his head and stood up calmly: "Although I am a lowly official, I have lived a clean life. I have never committed corruption and I will not admit it."
"I am willing to use my life to prove my innocence. I also earnestly request Your Majesty and Your Highness the Prince Regent to investigate the case of corruption in disaster relief and save the people of Dongzhou!"
Having said that, he rushed towards the broken knife in the little emperor's hand, and the blade pierced his abdomen, killing himself in front of him.
The people screamed.
The little emperor was frightened.
All this happened too suddenly. Zong Yue had no time to stop it. He could only cover the county magistrate's wound and shout for the imperial physician.
It was too late, Zhixian was dead.
Faint sobbing sounds began to be heard from the originally silent crowd.
A stone was thrown from somewhere and hit the little emperor on the forehead.
"The county magistrate is not a bad person, you are!"
A tender child's voice with a crying tone rang out, and the woman next to the little girl quickly covered her mouth, her face turning pale.
The little emperor touched his forehead, his hands were stained with blood, and was about to get angry, but a voice came from the crowd again.
This time it was a white-haired old man who sighed: "Whether it was corrupt officials or not, the court has no say, and the emperor has no say either. Only the people themselves know. At the beginning of the drought, it was the county magistrate who risked his head and took the lead in opening the warehouse to release grain to save everyone. That’s why not so many people died of starvation."
"Nowadays we can still drink rice porridge, but the county officials always drink water to fill their stomachs or chew dry grass to save food. Which corrupt official can do this?"
These words were like a pebble thrown into a lake, quickly creating thousands of ripples.
There began to be many voices echoing.
"Yes, you nobles, wearing fox furs and eating the best food, you are so indiscriminate to find out who is truly doing what we want, and you are killing good officials!"
"Once the county magistrate dies, I'm afraid we won't even have rice soup to drink! Rather than waiting to starve to death, it's better to grab this batch of food and have a full meal!"
"That's right!"
At this time, the crowd was furious. The people who had been tortured by hunger and despair for a long time finally exploded. They picked up their weapons, swung their fists, and rushed towards the food and silver that Lin Minfeng had searched out with green eyes.
In an instant, the little emperor and several others standing next to the food were in trouble.
"Guard! Guard!"
“Go!”
The anger of the hungry people was as powerful as a mountain torrent. They rushed towards the swords of the guards, not even caring about their own lives, just to get a bite of food for their children.
Zong Yue was quick to pull Cha Jiu into his arms and hide aside.
Cha Jiu looked at the chaotic scene in front of him and was shocked: "They don't want to live anymore..."
Zong Yue patted her head to comfort her: "As soon as we leave, the patrol and Lin Minfeng will move all the food in the granary away, and these people will still starve to death. A trapped beast will still fight, let alone a human being."
There were too many hungry people, and the guards were powerless. Lin Minfeng and the patrol had already hidden far away to save their lives, while the little emperor was squeezed to the ground, holding his head and shouting for help.
The heavy wooden cart loaded with grain was overturned, and the wheels fell heavily on the little emperor.
"ah--"
By the time the soldiers arrived to suppress the riot, the little emperor had already passed out from the pain.
The wooden cart was moved away and everyone gasped.
Because the little emperor's knees were smashed to pieces and his bones were broken.
…
Cha Jiu brought the seriously injured little emperor to Xun's mansion and asked the imperial physician to treat him.
Zong Yue stayed to take care of the remaining matters.
The imperial physician treated the patient for more than ten hours, but in the end he was unable to save the patient.
The little emperor's legs were completely useless, and he would not be able to stand or walk for the rest of his life.
When the little emperor woke up and heard the bad news, he was shocked as if struck by lightning. He was first in disbelief and then went crazy.
He used whatever he had at hand to beat the doctors until their heads were covered in blood, and then he beat his own legs madly, not stopping until the blood was dripping.
When Cha Jiu came in, he raised his red eyes and said impatiently: "My legs still hurt! Queen Mother, I can still be saved!"
The smell of blood spread in the room, with a faint stench of incontinence.
Cha Jiu covered his nose with a handkerchief and said calmly, "Your Majesty, your legs are broken and you can't walk. What you feel now is just the pain of the cut surface."
These words eradicated the last trace of self-deception in the little emperor's heart.
He looked at his crippled leg, his face gradually becoming gloomy: "My leg is broken, does that give the Regent a reason to usurp the throne?"
Cha Jiu didn't say anything.
The little emperor raised his head and stared at her fiercely: "Lu Zhaoyu, you have to help me secure the throne. You and the Lu family owe me this!"
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