Chapter 119 Clues Gradually Emerge
Anhe continued, "Did you hear that? Send some people to investigate according to what Zhao Liangxu said."
"in addition......"
An He coughed twice and asked, "As for the collusion between Zhao Chengxin's subordinates and civil officials, have you sent someone to keep an eye on those civil officials?"
Zhang Sheng replied, "Godfather is wise. This is another matter I wanted to report."
Zhang Sheng took out the scroll from his sleeve and presented it to An He. An He unrolled the scroll, attracting Zhao Liangxu to come over and take a look as well.
Anhe recalled that Zhao Liangxu was unaware of his previous order to search the civil officials, but now he realized that Zhao Liangxu was very interested in it.
"You can get excited about anything."
An He said this, but he moved the scroll to the side so that Zhao Liangxu could see it more easily.
Zhang Sheng lowered his head and said, "Most of these civil officials hold sinecure positions with low salaries. They only do some shady things to make money, and they are all careful and discreet. It's just the usual practice of people in the court, and they are not particularly outstanding. There is not much interaction between the civil officials, and on the surface, they are almost without any mistakes."
"But... my men discovered that most of these men had committed the disgraceful acts of accepting bribes and raping women. Using these crimes as a pretext, they raided the homes of the civil officials and found some valuable items in their private treasuries. Even if they had some extra money to make, they could not possibly have bought those items. Upon investigation, these items all came from a treasure shop in the city, which belonged to the Zhou family."
Anhe narrowed his eyes: "Among the merchants in the capital, there are several families with the surname Zhou. Which one are you talking about?"
"It's the Zhou family from Bufang Street in the south of the city. They're just ordinary merchants, and their business isn't even that big."
"Oh?" Anhe raised an eyebrow, looking very curious.
Zhao Liangxu watched An He's focused expression as he dealt with important matters. The way he raised his eyebrows was just like when he first met Zhao Liangxu, revealing a hint of unfathomable cunning.
It's as if they're hiding some wicked plan.
Anhe noticed Zhao Liangxu's gaze, felt a little uncomfortable, and gave her a light glare.
Zhao Liangxu turned her head away, but the curve of her lips on her profile betrayed her.
Anhe had no choice but to look away and continue asking Zhang Sheng, "Go on, you can't just stop here and then tell us your story."
“Yes,” Zhang Sheng said, “This merchant family, the Zhou family, would have been easily overlooked if His Highness hadn’t asked us to investigate the relationship between Zhou Feng and the Empress Dowager. But… it wasn’t just through the civil officials that we found this Zhou family; those who investigated the Empress Dowager also followed the clues outside the palace and found this Zhou family.”
The Empress Dowager was originally from a family of disgraced officials. During her exile, almost half of her maternal family perished due to injuries and the perilous journey. The remaining men were exiled to the frontier, and most of the women were enslaved. The Empress Dowager was fortunate enough to be spared by the late Emperor. Now, nearly ten years have passed, and everyone in the capital except the Empress Dowager is gone. But this merchant… the shopkeeper among them has some connection to the Empress Dowager.
"He was a servant who was exiled after his family's property was confiscated. He found a way to escape exile, but he was too careless and didn't care. Since there were many people with the surname Zhou in the city, he only changed his name but not his surname. He started a business with the money he had saved up before."
An He chuckled lightly: "It seems the Empress Dowager's reach is truly extensive. What, is there some kind of master-servant relationship between this merchant and the Empress Dowager?"
Zhang Sheng continued, "It seems so. Some letters were delivered to the Empress Dowager without our knowledge." He glanced up at An He and, seeing that An He was not angry at his words but rather quite interested, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
It's a huge mistake that they failed to detect the correspondence.
"What about Zhou Feng? He has absolutely no connection with the disgraced Zhou family."
Zhou Feng rose through the ranks from a small town. As early as after An He took power, he carefully investigated Zhou Feng's relationship with the Empress Dowager. Because they shared the same surname, he had long been on guard.
No blood relation was found at first, but upon closer investigation, some collusion was discovered.
“Zhou Feng… His subordinates did go to the Treasure Shop, but the specific reasons have not yet been investigated. However, one thing is certain: Zhou Feng has no connection with the Empress Dowager’s background.”
Anhe snorted, "Do you think this is a script for your speech? Why are you hiding it from us?" Zhang Sheng deliberately paused, clearly having more to say.
Zhang Sheng hurriedly added, "But I suspect that Zhou Feng is famous for defeating the Northern Zhou army. There are Empress Dowager's family members in the border region that borders Northern Zhou. Perhaps that's the reason. But this is just my guess. The border region is too far away to confirm in a short time."
Anhe seemed to be deep in thought.
Zhang Sheng's guess was reasonable.
The investigators weren't just sitting around doing nothing; if the blood ties from back then weren't found, then they truly didn't exist.
so......
Zhou Feng was fighting on the frontier, yet he still had time to collude with the Empress Dowager's maternal family?
General Zhou is certainly very busy.
Anhe said, "Okay, you've been busy these past few days. The information you found is very useful."
"As for investigating further, don't we have someone ready to ask? The Empress Dowager is waiting for us in the palace."
*
Anhe can now only get up and walk around, but she can easily aggravate her wound if she is not careful.
Zhang Sheng had initially tried to dissuade An He from resting for a few more days, but An He refused.
“If that assassin was indeed sent by Zhou Feng, do you think he would have been able to sit still while our family is still alive and well? Sending an assassin is already a desperate act.”
Based on his confrontation with Zhou Feng, it would be difficult for this so-called General Zhou to remain calm.
Every time she gains an advantage, she jumps around in front of him.
It's likely that Zhou Feng knew at least some clues about the time Lu Ming impersonated someone.
Or even worse...
Zhao Chengxin colluded with idle civil officials in the court. These officials had visited the Zhou family, a merchant family whose members were originally servants of the Empress Dowager's mother's family. Zhou Feng had also sent people to Zhou Shang's treasure shop...
On the worst, this General Zhou might have used this connection to directly collude with Zhao Chengxin.
As for other matters, those were left to the eccentric Zhou Mingxi in the palace to answer.
Anhe asked Li Ying for leave for several days in a row. It was impossible to keep what happened on Chuiyue Lake a secret. People in the palace and the court were speculating whether Anhe was struggling to survive in Anfu.
Therefore, when the people in the palace saw that figure in a dark red python robe, they were so frightened that they trembled and could not speak.
Could this Nine Thousand Years Old really be some kind of monster that brings disaster to the country?
The news in the capital was already spreading like wildfire about how badly Anhe was injured.
Only a few days later, Anhe walked around the palace and was no different from before.
Apart from her slightly pale lips, there was almost nothing unusual about her.
The people in the palace gave way, carefully pressing themselves against the wall, watching Anhe and the others walk on the palace path.
That direction... leads to the Empress Dowager's Yu Yue Palace.
The Empress Dowager had been confined to the palace by Anhe, and her temper had become increasingly bad. It was common for her to throw tantrums and smash things. Apart from Fangshi, who had accompanied her for a long time, everyone else was scolded and reprimanded every day for some trivial matter.
But these past few days, the Empress Dowager's palace has been quiet.
I don't know what they're feeling guilty about.
Anhe entered Yu Yue Palace, and Zhou Mingxi, who was taking a nap, was suddenly awakened, only to see the culprit who had imprisoned her standing in her palace.
"What brings Eunuch An here? Are you imprisoning me just to laugh at me?"
Anhe looked around the palace and said with a sneer, "Oh, look at the things in the Empress Dowager's room, they've all been replaced. Did you enjoy breaking them?"
Zhou Mingxi glared at An He, her small mole trembling with anger. She couldn't contain her anger the moment she saw An He.
"Did Eunuch An come here just to say these things? Why did he come all this way, despite being covered in injuries, just to mock me?"
Anhe wasn't angry at this point; he seemed very easy to talk to.
Zhao Liangxu entered the palace with An He. An He looked around Yu Yue Palace and had a servant bring over a chair. He ignored Zhou Mingxi, who was glaring at him, and instead helped Zhao Liangxu sit down: "You are injured, don't stand and tire yourself out."
Zhou Mingxi then fixed his gaze on Zhao Liangxu, his chest heaving, and said sarcastically, "Eunuch An really has the air of a servant. Don't serve the wrong master."
This Zhao Liangxu... is still alive.
People in the palace all said she was Anhe's ideal partner.
She thought Zhao Liangxu would be killed by An He himself, but unexpectedly...
Looking at it now, it's not so much a perfect match as it seems like Anhe has found herself a patriarch to serve, treating her like an absolute jewel...
A eunuch can never change his servile nature.
At this moment, Zhou Mingxi's eyes were filled with mockery.
Anhe seems to have a lot of power, but how long can a eunuch be so domineering?
As long as it's possible outside the palace...
Before Zhou Mingxi could think too much, An He walked to the door with his hands behind his back, a strange smile on his face, and ordered, "Summon all the servants from Yu Yue's palace. Seeing that the Empress Dowager is so angry, it must be because the servants have not served her well. I need to interrogate them properly."
Zhou Mingxi was filled with doubt and uncertainty.
What underhanded trick is he planning to pull this time?
A row of trembling servants stood in the room, wondering what Anhe was going to do.
Anhe chose another chair and sat down, and the person next to him, who had sharp eyes, served him tea.
Anhe used the cup lid to pick at the tea foam, not even looking up, and asked, "Are you sure everyone has arrived?"
Zhou Mingxi felt uneasy: "There weren't many people in Yu Yue Palace to begin with, what is Eunuch An still thinking? Weren't these few people the ones you left for me?"
With so many people in the palace, Anhe shouldn't have noticed...
"Oh, then let these people roll up their sleeves and take a look."
The crowd was puzzled, but they had no choice but to obey orders.
Zhou Mingxi felt even more uneasy.
Anhe put down her teacup, glanced at the area, and suddenly laughed.
He hadn't worn makeup in a long time, but today's smile, coupled with his paler face than usual, gave him a somewhat eerie look.
"Your Majesty, you haven't changed your habit of punishing people at all."
The servants before me had bloody welts on their hands from being whipped with thorns, or burn marks on their hands; new and old wounds were intertwined.
The palace maids were in somewhat better condition, but the injuries of the other eunuchs were alarming.
"I thought that given the current situation, you should at least tone it down a bit."
Anhe clicked his tongue in amazement, but his eyes remained devoid of any emotion.
Zhou Mingxi forced a smile and adopted a gentle demeanor: "What is Eunuch An saying? I don't understand."
Anhe did not want to get entangled with Zhou Mingxi.
He said, "Look, the palace is missing someone, isn't it? Like... a little eunuch?"
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Author's Note: Eunuch An still maintains a respectable image in public.
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