Chapter 236 Heroines
When Lord Liu heard Prince Cheng's voice, his expression changed. Everyone in the capital knew the relationship between Su Fengzhang and Prince Cheng. With his arrival, some of his things became difficult to do.
Prince Cheng walked in with a cold expression. When Su Huihui saw him, she relaxed a little.
Prince Cheng glanced at the people inside and saw that Su Zhaoshi and Su Huihui were unharmed, and only a few servants looked unwell. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Master Liu, what are you doing?"
Although Lord Liu was from the Ministry of Justice, he didn't dare to act presumptuously in front of this prince who commanded a large military force. He bowed and said, "Prince Cheng, Su Fengzhang has committed treason. I am only acting in accordance with the law."
Prince Cheng sneered, "What a joke! Lord Su is the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue of our Great Zhou. He holds a high position of power and influence, and is a native of the Great Zhou. How could he collaborate with the enemy and betray his country? What good would this do him?"
"Master Liu, you may as well listen to those rumors, but how dare you search the residence of an imperial official without authorization? This residence was bestowed by His Majesty, and not just anyone can do whatever they want."
Lord Liu groaned inwardly, secretly cursing himself for hesitating just now, which made him be blocked by a girl from the Su family. Now that Prince Cheng showed up, it would be impossible for him to conduct a forced search.
Lord Liu could only say, "Your Highness, it is not my decision on my own, but the Emperor has ordered a thorough investigation of this matter."
Prince Cheng asked in a cold voice, "Where is the imperial edict? Bring it to me for a look."
Lord Liu added, "This is an oral order from the palace, and I dare not disobey His Majesty."
He paused for a moment and reminded, "This is the oral order brought by the Fourth Prince himself."
Prince Cheng's eyes flashed with a hint of coldness. He glanced at the frightened Su family members and said, "This matter is unfounded. Su Fengzhang was appointed as the military supervisor by the emperor himself. This shows the trust the emperor has in him. He would never touch him just because of a few rumors."
Lord Liu bowed and said, "Your Highness, this is the Emperor's order. I am only following orders. Please don't make things difficult for me. Since Your Highness believes in Lord Su's innocence, what harm can there be in conducting a search?"
Prince Cheng's eyes flashed, and he nodded and said, "Master Liu, what you said makes some sense."
"In that case, let's search it." Prince Cheng said.
Lord Liu's face lit up with joy. Just as he was about to order the officers and soldiers to enter and search, he heard Su Huihui shout, "No, Your Majesty, I don't trust them. What if they frame my brother?"
To the Su family, Master Liu was not so polite: "Miss Su, are you going to disobey the imperial edict?"
Prince Cheng glanced at the officers and soldiers present, nodded, and said, "Miss Su, what you said does make sense. Throughout history, frame-ups are not uncommon."
Lord Liu asked with a grim expression, "This... Your Majesty, I am also from the Ministry of Justice, and I have never had any grudges against Lord Su. How could I knowingly break the law and deliberately frame him?"
"You shouldn't have the intention to harm others, but you must be on guard against them. Since Lord Liu said that the emperor has given a verbal order to search the Su family, it's not easy for me to stop him. But I'm willing to be a witness, and I'm sure Lord Liu won't object."
Lord Liu's expression was extremely grim, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Your Highness, this is against the rules."
"Which rule is violated?" Prince Cheng asked. "Which article in the Great Zhou law prohibits witnesses when searching the private residence of an imperial official? Or does Lord Liu not trust me?"
"Or maybe, Master Liu has something up his sleeve and really brought something in to frame me?"
Lord Liu's face changed, knowing that it was impossible for him to pass Prince Cheng's test today.
He tentatively asked, "Your Majesty, it is His Majesty and the Fourth Prince's wish to thoroughly investigate this matter. What do you think..."
"Even if Fourth Brother were here, he wouldn't object to this." Prince Cheng sneered.
After saying this, Prince Cheng gestured for permission, "Sir Liu, Sir Su holds a higher rank than you. It would be disrespectful to have someone below you do the work. Sir Liu, please take the trouble to search personally. Remember to search thoroughly and don't miss any place, so as to avoid having to go through this again after today."
Lord Liu had no choice but to search it himself. Prince Cheng was watching him from the side with extremely sharp eyes. How could he dare not make any small moves? In the end, he just searched through it honestly.
Naturally, there was nothing in Su Fengzhang's house, even in the study there were few letters. Lord Liu searched over and over again, almost tearing apart the bookshelves, but in the end he only found a few family letters and correspondence between friends.
Prince Cheng personally opened the letter and let him read it, and there was naturally no problem in it.
After a search, Lord Liu was filled with admiration. Lord Su was only in his early twenties and had been in the court for less than five years. How could he do things so flawlessly?
I originally thought that even if I couldn't frame someone, the officials from the Ministry of Revenue would not be able to withstand the investigation and would definitely be able to find some trivial problems. But who knew that in the end I would return empty-handed.
Seeing that Lord Liu still looked somewhat unwilling to give up, Prince Cheng asked in a cold voice, "Lord Liu, why don't you have someone dig three feet deep into this courtyard to see if there's anything hidden underground?"
Su Huihui sneered, "Master Liu, my mother and I have already searched our rooms. Now only this yard is left. We might as well dig it up, otherwise we won't be able to explain ourselves later."
After saying this, without waiting for Lord Liu to react, he ordered the servants to start digging, filling the entire yard with dust.
Su Zhaoshi felt distressed when she saw the beautiful courtyard being overturned and dug, but she also sneered, "If you are still not reassured, then keep digging until you feel you have dug enough."
Things had gotten to such an ugly point that Lord Liu was complaining bitterly in his heart. He had not gained any benefits today. If Su Fengzhang could come back alive, he would definitely hold a grudge against him.
This process lasted for most of the day, and finally Prince Cheng asked, "Lord Liu, please check again to see if there is anything you missed."
Lord Liu wiped the sweat from his forehead and said helplessly, "I have searched thoroughly and nothing was missed."
"So nothing was found?" Prince Cheng sneered.
Lord Liu turned his gaze towards the two women of the Su family. "Your Highness, the search is complete. Can I take the people away for questioning?"
Prince Cheng's face turned cold. "Lord Liu, you are confused. Since there is no evidence, Lord Su's crime of treason cannot be established. How can you take away the women of the Su family for questioning? What do you think of the women of the court?"
Lord Liu struggled desperately and said, "Your Majesty, this is His Majesty..."
"I will immediately go to the palace to meet the emperor and inform him of the details. I am sure that the emperor will never wrongly accuse a loyal minister." Prince Cheng no longer looked at Lord Liu, but only at the Su family. He said, "Old Madam, Miss Su, please move to Prince Cheng's residence."
"As long as I am here, no one can touch you."
"This..." Su Zhao couldn't help but hesitate.
Su Huihui grabbed her mother's hand and said, "Thank you, Your Highness."
Prince Cheng nodded and waved his hand to have the Su family women escorted to the palace. Before leaving, he glanced at Lord Liu and said, "Lord Liu, if you want to arrest someone, you can try going to Prince Cheng's palace."
How could Lord Liu dare to go to Prince Cheng's Mansion? He dared to come to the Su family because he knew that the Su family was poor and there was no one else to worry about except Su Fengzhang. But Prince Cheng's Mansion was a place, and he didn't want to lose his head.
"Your Highness, has something happened to my second brother?" Su Huihui couldn't help but ask before getting in the car.
Prince Cheng took a second look at Su Huihui, thinking that she was indeed the sister that Su Fengzhang had personally taught. He consoled her by saying, "We've lost contact, and the specific situation is still unknown."
The expressions of the two women in the Su family changed drastically. Su Zhaoshi said repeatedly: "Your Highness, please believe Feng'er. He has always been a loyal and patriotic person. He will never defect to the Xianbei people."
Prince Cheng naturally believed in Su Fengzhang and comforted her softly, "Don't worry, Madam. I believe in Lord Su."
"There's no need for you two to be frightened. Just relax and stay in the palace. I won't let anyone slander Lord Su."
Su Zhaoshi's eyes were red as she shouted, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Su Huihui helped Su Zhaoshi get on the carriage. This time, except for Su Arong, they brought everyone they could. The Su family simply locked the carriage with a lock. There was chaos inside and outside, and no one could live there anymore.
After getting in the car, Su Huihui comforted her, "Mom, with the prince's help, my second brother will be fine."
Su Zhao was shocked and frightened, and her whole body was limp. She had previously held some resentment towards Prince Cheng, but now she was filled with gratitude. She said, "Now I can only rely on Prince Cheng."
Now, she actually hopes that her son's relationship with Prince Cheng will be as close as possible, so that the prince can work hard for him.
After sending the two people to the carriage, a man hurried over and Prince Cheng asked hurriedly, "How are things going at the He family?"
Since someone is attacking Su Fengzhang, they will definitely not let go of the head coach He Jun. Compared with Su Fengzhang, He Jun is the real leader this time.
The subordinates hurriedly reported, "It was the Minister of Justice who personally went to the He family, but Madam He was holding a silver spear, and Princess Hejing was cracking a whip, so they dared not enter. Later, Prince Rong stepped forward and took Madam He and Princess Hejing back to Prince Rong's mansion. The people from the Ministry of Justice did not dare to offend Prince Rong and had to give up."
Hearing this, Prince Cheng was relieved. As expected, the He family had Old Madam He and Princess Hejing as their golden ticket of immunity from death. Even if others wanted to touch them, they would have to be cautious.
Compared with the He family, the Su family is the real soft persimmon. I'm afraid those people would never have thought that Su Huihui, a girl who has never left home, dared to let her servants confront the soldiers, but instead waited for reinforcements.
After sending the two women of the Su family back to Prince Cheng's mansion, Prince Cheng turned his horse around and headed towards the palace.
The news that He Jun and Su Fengzhang were defeated on the battlefield and had lost contact had just reached the capital, but someone was already rushing to take action. Could it be that they had forgotten his existence!
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The author has something to say: New article pre-collection recommendation~~~ Love me and collect me
Still following the imperial examination route, if you don't study, you will die [Imperial Examination]
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