Chapter 343 Case Details
Wen Zhiming often played with them when they were young, and several princes and princesses treated him quite well. Therefore, Wen Zhiming was somewhat sentimental in dealing with this matter.
But no matter how close their relationship was before, now that Wen Zhiming has killed their emperor and turned them from immense wealth into prisoners, even the closest relationship can only become enemies.
Even if they didn't have much affection for the former emperor, the hatred for killing their father was greater than anything else.
Wen Zhiming wanted to put himself in their shoes and be considerate of them, but he dared not think too deeply about their plans.
The former emperor was powerful and extremely suspicious. Any princes with even a little ambition were eliminated. Those who remained may have been genuinely afraid, which dulled their minds, or they may have been deliberately pretending to deceive others.
Whether it's true or false is extremely difficult to ascertain.
If any one of them is a fake, then no matter how Wen Zhiming treats him, he will not be satisfied. Instead, he is very likely to follow Wen Zhiming's example and embark on the path of rebellion and becoming emperor.
This truly has endless consequences.
But to kill them all out of fear of retaliation would be too ruthless.
Meng Lingge said, "No matter what, you are their father's killer. Even if you make them become regional lords, kings, and prime ministers, they will never forget this. On the contrary, they are very likely to use the resources you give them to stab you in the back. Their cowardice may be an act, and people change with their experiences. So even if we don't kill them, we still have to be on guard."
Wen Zhiming had not expected that the usually magnanimous Meng Lingge would have such a thought, and asked solemnly, "Does Madam mean to demote them all to commoners and expel them from the palace?"
Meng Lingge nodded, "Yes, and it's a lifetime ban from holding office or joining the army. Only in this way can we completely eliminate future troubles. You can pretend to be stupid to deceive the former emperor, and they can also feign weakness to deceive you. Only by preventing them from contacting the court and the military camp can we be truly safe."
“Actually, I’ve thought about that too,” Wen Zhiming said. “But they’ve lived in luxury all these years, relying entirely on others to serve them. If they were really demoted to commoners, I’m afraid they would have a hard time surviving.”
“No one is born knowing everything. The underage princes and princesses can be adopted, and the adults will be given a small allowance. The rest will be up to them to support themselves. Compared to being caged birds, their current freedom is more suitable for them. You may think this is heartless, but if you lose this battle, the former emperor will never let go of anyone close to you, including me and the children.”
Meng Lingge looked at him seriously and said, "Of course, since you've put me in charge, I'll give you my opinion. As for how to handle it, that's up to you."
Upon hearing her words, Wen Zhiming quickly grasped her hand and said, "This problem has troubled me for days, but my wife's few words have helped me understand it. I should have asked my wife for advice sooner."
Meng Lingge was pleased to receive his approval, but with a large pile of memorials still in front of her, she had no choice but to let go of his hand and urge him, "Alright, there are still many memorials to deal with. Let's continue processing them."
“Okay.” Wen Zhiming nodded obediently and began to process the memorials criticizing the former emperor’s relatives, as Meng Lingge had suggested.
Meng Lingge continued to peruse the two large piles of memorials, prioritizing them according to their importance and urgency.
Soon she saw a memorial from Lord Liu of the Censorate, which described the progress of the case concerning Princess Qiongxiao's residence. It stated that the capital had been thoroughly searched, but the whereabouts of the three people who had escaped from Princess Qiongxiao's residence were still unknown. However, another strange thing had been discovered.
In the two weeks leading up to Princess Qiongxiao's escape, four maids in her household, besides Hancui, all met with accidents. Some drowned, others died suddenly from illness. Strangely, their bodies were all mutilated. Because these maids either had no family or had received large sums of money for Princess Qiongxiao's funeral, no one investigated the matter. Lord Liu suspected that the deaths of these four maids were also related to Princess Qiongxiao. Given the seriousness of the case, he requested a joint investigation by the Dali Temple.
Meng Lingge told Wen Zhiming about the contents of the memorial, and also shared her views on the case and her suspicions about the mute man who saved Meng Qingyu.
"Now nearly ten people have died, and Princess Qiongxiao has most likely changed her face to someone else, making it extremely difficult to find her. In my opinion, even with the Dali Temple involved, it will still be very difficult to catch her. The most important thing now is the Guan Yi'an lead. I hope that Lushui will make progress soon and expose Guan Yi'an's true colors as soon as possible."
Wen Zhiming said, "I will support whatever you want to do, but you must take the guards I give you with you. You must not put yourself or the child in any danger."
“I know,” Meng Lingge replied obediently.
Even if the Dali Temple investigates the case, it will not be able to close it if Princess Qiongxiao cannot be captured. However, Wen Zhiming still agreed to Lord Liu's request and approved the memorial.
After all, this is a shocking and serious case involving the death of a person. Even if the case cannot be closed for the time being, officials and the public must be made aware of the importance he attaches to this matter.
By the time Meng Lingge had sorted through the two large piles of memorials, only a few important memorials remained in front of Wen Zhiming.
By this time, the sun had already moved westward, and the clouds on the horizon were as red as blood.
Meng Lingge moved the large pile of less important memorials aside, glanced at the corner, and noticed a few more memorials there. Curious, she picked them up and walked over to Wen Zhiming to ask him about them.
"Why are there a few books left here? You've already read them, haven't you?"
Wen Zhiming nodded and said, "These are all the impeachments against my third brother these past few days. I've suppressed them all, but now that more and more people know about them, it seems I can't suppress them anymore."
Wen Kehao led tens of thousands of bandits from Guandu Prefecture to the capital to help Wen Zhiming. However, the general sent by the former emperor to Guandu Prefecture to suppress the bandits found nothing. In a fit of anger, he burned down the headquarters of the Duan Tou Gang. After waiting for two days without seeing anyone, he had no choice but to lead his troops back to report.
Meanwhile, the capital had already changed dramatically. Not only had the former rebel become the emperor, but the general also discovered that the man who was close to the emperor was actually Blood Wolf, the leader of the Headless Gang.
In order to capture Blood Wolf, he had already had the locals draw a portrait of Blood Wolf, and Blood Wolf's face was so unique and different that there was no way to mistake him.
In a state of panic, the General of the Central Army assumed that Blood Wolf had used tricks to bewitch Wen Zhiming. He quickly gathered three or five officials and submitted several memorials pointing out Blood Wolf's identity and pleading with the Emperor to capture the bandits and annihilate Blood Wolf.
Meng Lingge opened the two memorials, glanced at them casually, and found that the officials used strong language and were very earnest, regarding the Blood Wolf as a monstrous threat and wishing they could kill it as soon as possible.
It is likely that the fear Wen Kehao instilled in them during his brutal killing of soldiers in Guandu Prefecture was so great that they regarded him as a tiger or wolf.
"So they all know that Third Brother is Blood Wolf, but they don't know about his relationship with you, and they didn't recognize that Third Brother is the young master of the Anshun Prince's Mansion?"
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