She immediately asked Sanqiao to find Si De, but Si De was not at home, so Hua Fushu gave up the idea of dealing with Si De.
Side was indeed not at home. He had sent several of Ye Zelin's calligraphy works to Ling's house and was now at Ling's house.
Ling Zhiheng handed the calligraphy copy to the servant and asked him to take it to the study.
After the servant left, Ling Zhiheng looked at Si De with a smile. Si De started to panic and took a few steps back, staying away from Ling Zhiheng.
Ling Zhiheng strode towards Si De and said, "Si De, I want to ask you something."
Side said: "Master Ling, what do you want to ask?"
Ling Zhiheng said: "I want to ask about my sister-in-law."
Sister-in-law?
Si De quickly understood who Ling Zhiheng was referring to as the "little sister-in-law." "What does Master Ling want to ask?"
Ling Zhiheng asked, "When will my sister-in-law's injury heal?"
Si De couldn't help but become alert, "Why is Master Ling asking this?"
Ling Zhiheng said, "My sister-in-law is good at polo. Don't you want to play another round with her?"
Si De was relieved then and said, "The young lady's injury has not healed yet."
Ling Zhiheng continued, "Greet your young master first, then ask your sister-in-law what she thinks. When her foot is healed, come and tell me."
Si De agreed and returned to the General's Mansion.
Coincidentally, Ye Zelin also returned to the mansion, so he told Ye Zelin what Ling Zhiheng had said to him. Ye Zelin said that he had talked to Hua Fushu about this matter and let Side go about it.
After entering the house, Ye Zelin told Hua Fushu what happened and asked her what she thought. Thinking of Ling Zhiheng's annoying face, Hua Fushu immediately became unhappy and said, "No!"
Ye Zelin just smiled helplessly and followed the flowers to bloom.
In the evening, Ye Zelin returned to the room after washing up, took "Guiguzi" from the table, sat on the wooden couch, opened a page and read it.
Hua Fushu was studying the Ouyang family's needlework. She looked at Ye Zelin and said, "I'll take that phoenix-head hairpin."
Ye Zelin was immersed in the book and did not look up at her. He asked casually, "Do you like it?"
Hua Fushu was delighted and said, "I like it very much."
Her clear, round eyes rolled, "Did you give it to me specially? Why didn't you give it to me personally, but instead asked Lizhi to pass it on."
Looking into Ye Zelin's dark and deep eyes, a glimmer of hope was reflected in Hua Fushu's eyes.
However, he only said calmly: "Mother won't accept it, and my sister-in-law doesn't want it, so I can only give it to you."
These words were like a bucket of cold water poured on Hua Fushu, and that glimmer of hope was extinguished in an instant.
She glanced at Ye Zelin, rolled her eyes at him, and continued to study acupuncture.
Looking at Hua Fushu's back, Ye Zelin couldn't help but chuckle. He was just teasing her, but she took it seriously.
The next day, Ye Zelin was summoned to the palace, and the Minister of Justice Yu Xuanji also entered the palace at the same time. The two of them entered the Chuigong Hall together.
Chuigong Hall is located to the south of Xiangning Hall. It is where the king usually handles government affairs and summons his ministers.
Zhao Zixu, wearing a crimson-purple round-necked brocade robe, sat on the dragon throne, reviewing memorials. When he heard Luo Dajian report that the Minister of Justice and Ye Zelin had arrived, he put down his red pen.
Ye Zelin and Yu Xuanji greeted each other, and Zhao Zixu asked them to stand up and allowed them to sit down.
The two men thanked him before sitting down.
Zhao Zixu handed a memorial to Luo Dajian and said to Ye Zelin and Yu Xuanji, "This memorial was sent by the prefect of Yuezhou. Please take a look and tell us what you think."
Luo Dajian passed the memorial to Ye Zelin and Yu Xuanji. After reading it, they were so shocked that the memorial almost fell to the ground.
This memorial was sent by Cheng Wenbo, the prefect of Yuezhou, accusing Cai Yuanchang, the governor of Dongting County, of plundering the people's wealth, privately withholding funds for water conservancy construction, falsely convicting people of wrongful convictions, and human trafficking, etc.
Yu Xuanji clenched her fists, veins bulging. "Your Majesty, these criminals should be killed and shaved. If they are not killed or shaved, the people will be outraged and justice will not tolerate it!"
Zhao Zixu glanced at the furious Yu Xuanji calmly and said to Ye Zelin, "What do you think?"
Ye Zelin said, "If what Cheng Wenbo said is true, then Cai Yuanchang's crimes are innumerable. However, Cheng Wenbo's words alone are not credible. It is also possible that Cheng Wenbo framed Cai Yuanchang. This matter needs to be verified."
Zhao Zixu said, "Cheng Wenbo is already dead. Shortly after I received this memorial, I also received Cai Yuanchang's memorial."
Luo Dajian handed a memorial to Ye and Yu, who were also stunned after reading it.
Yu Xuanji was no longer as excited as before. He said, "Your Majesty, there must be something hidden in this matter. Cheng Wenbo died right after submitting the memorial. Cai Yuanchang is now turning the tables and pinning all his crimes on Cheng Wenbo."
Ye Zelin said, "Your Majesty, these two memorials are very contradictory. I believe that Cai Yuanchang was unaware that Cheng Wenbo had reported his crimes to the emperor. Cai Yuanchang was afraid that his crimes would be exposed, so he simply killed Cheng Wenbo and put the blame on him to clear himself."
Yu Xuanji said, "Young General, what you said makes sense."
Zhao Zixu said, "I summoned you two to the palace to investigate this matter in Yuezhou. Who has the 100,000 yuan in labor funds? Did Cheng Wenbo commit suicide out of fear of punishment or was he killed? Minister Yu, you will hand over all matters of the Ministry of Justice. In five days, you will go to Yuezhou with Ye Zelin. You will be the chief judge, and Ye Zelin will assist you and be responsible for your safety."
Ye and Yu stood up and bowed, saying that they obeyed the order.
Yu Xuanji said goodbye, left the Chuigong Hall and went to the Ministry of Justice, while Ye Zelin was kept by Zhao Zixu. There were some calligraphy works that he wanted to discuss with Ye Zelin, so the emperor and his minister moved to the Wende Hall.
When they arrived at the Wende Hall, Supervisor Luo kept all the palace ladies outside the hall and did not allow them to enter to disturb His Majesty and the Major General while they were enjoying books and discussing chess.
He was wearing a dark red round-collared palace uniform and gazing at the azure sky. A curious person approached him and asked him what he was looking at, but he scolded the curious person.
Zhao Zixu placed his black piece, capturing Ye Zelin's white chess piece. "I don't completely trust Yu Xuanji."
Ye Zelin picked up a few white pieces from the chessboard and put them back into the chess jar. "Of the six ministries, the Ministry of Households and the Ministry of Works are controlled by Fox. The Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel are used by His Majesty. The Ministry of War has pledged its allegiance to the Minister of the Chancellery. Only the Ministry of Justice's movements are unknown. The court is clearly divided into factions, full of intrigue. The slightest mistake can lead to disaster. Yu Xuanji refuses to play along with the factions and stays out of it. She thrives in the Ministry of Justice and maintains a firm grip on it. She must have some extraordinary qualities. To have Yu Xuanji is to control it. Fox has yet to recruit Yu Xuanji for his own use, which shows that Yu Xuanji is no ordinary person and not easy to tame."
He placed a white piece down, "Your Majesty, do you think Fox will take Yu Xuanji into his service?"
Seeing that Ye Zelin had strangled his chess piece, Zhao Zixu sought another solution. He placed a black piece and said with a smile, "Fox is in a high position and has great power. Nearly half of the officials in the court are his confidants. He commands a hundred thousand royal troops in Beiling, is praised by everyone as a wise king, and is trusted by the Queen Mother. He might not really take the Ministry of Justice seriously. Besides, there's really not much to gain from the Ministry of Justice. But I would like to recruit Yu Xuanji to serve me. It would be a great help in the future. After all, I don't have many ministers to use."
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