Yu Xuanji spoke frankly, "Before his death, Cheng Wenbo submitted a memorial to Your Majesty, accusing the Dongting Jiedushi, Cai Yuanchang, of human trafficking, corruption, and bribery, among other crimes. Cai Yuanchang also submitted a document alleging that Cheng Wenbo embezzled 100,000 yuan in water conservancy funds and committed suicide out of fear of punishment. The two documents contradict each other, and Cheng Wenbo is dead now. Tell me, which one do I believe more?"
Hang Yu said, "Impossible. I have already destroyed Cheng Wenbo's memorial. How could it possibly have been sent to the capital? Even if Cheng Wenbo submitted another copy, it would never have reached Your Majesty's desk."
Yu Xuanji smiled. "What if Cheng Wenbo submitted the memorial in someone else's name? Cheng Wenbo's cleverness lies in the fact that he knew you would harm him. He prepared two memorials in advance. One was sent through the official route in his name so that you could intercept it, and the other was submitted to His Majesty in the name of someone else. It was because of this tactic of diverting attention that Cai Yuanchang's evil deeds were exposed to the world. You are not the mastermind, but you are an accomplice. You knowingly broke the law and murdered someone. I will deal with it impartially according to the law."
Hang Yu laughed, "Master Yu, I underestimated you after all."
Yu Xuanji was generous with Hang Yu's 'praise'. "Thank you. I underestimated you, too. If it weren't for the Cheng family's persistence, if you hadn't turned a blind eye, if the 100,000 yuan water conservancy fund hadn't disappeared completely without a trace, I wouldn't have suspected anything, and I wouldn't have traced it back to you."
Ye Zelin seemed lost in thought and said, "Master Yu, I remember there was a law in the Song Dynasty that if any direct relative committed a serious crime, their sons and daughters would not be allowed to take the imperial examinations and become officials. Hang Yu murdered the prefect of Yuezhou and aided the tyrant in his cruelty. He knowingly broke the law, which is an even greater crime. His son should not be able to take the imperial examinations during his lifetime."
Yu Xuanji nodded, "There is indeed such a provision in the criminal law of the Song Dynasty."
He chuckled, "Hang Yu, I admire you. To repay Cai Yuanchang, you didn't hesitate to sacrifice your own son's future. His Majesty hates corrupt officials, and you aided and abetted them by killing your colleagues. His Majesty may ban your descendants from taking the imperial examinations to clean up the corruption in order to rectify the government.
Hang Yu felt a pang of sorrow in his heart. The Song Dynasty had this unwritten rule, which was also recorded in the Song Dynasty Law Code. When he did this, he had already thought that his son would never be able to take the imperial examination in his life, but he had to repay the kindness of the Jiedushi.
That year, he took part in the imperial examination and should have been on the list, but because the powerful replaced his essay, he failed the exam and had nowhere to turn to. When he was heartbroken, he met Cai Yuanchang, who appreciated his talent, recruited him as his aide, and has been supporting him step by step until now.
If it weren't for Cai Yuanchang, his talent might have been buried forever, and if it weren't for Cai Yuanchang, he wouldn't have been able to enter the official career.
In the eyes of others, Cai Yuanchang is a corrupt official, but in his eyes, Cai Yuanchang is a ray of light that lights up his life and illuminates his life.
Yu Xuanji asked, "Master Hang, do you regret becoming a prisoner for a small favor?"
Hang Yu smiled and said, "I have no regrets, and I have done nothing wrong."
He did not think that what he did was wrong. He was just repaying a favor. Even though he broke the law, he did not think he had done anything wrong.
Yu Xuanji replied, "There's nothing wrong with repaying a favor, but failing to distinguish right from wrong is wrong."
Hang Yu thought carefully about what Yu Xuanji said. Yes, there is nothing wrong in repaying a favor, but it is wrong to fail to distinguish right from wrong. But from his own point of view, he did not think he was wrong.
Looking at something from different angles will give you different ideas.
He committed a serious crime, which would inevitably implicate his son, who would not be able to take the imperial examination and would have no hope of a career in officialdom. But from another perspective, not becoming an official might not be a bad thing.
The ups and downs of officialdom and the complexity of officialdom, if you can live a simple and ordinary life, isn’t it a kind of happiness?
Yu Xuanji ordered, "Old Qiao, take him to Yuezhou Prison and send the Hang family mother and son back."
Old Qiao replied yes and ordered people to send the Hang mother and son back. He personally took people to send Hang Yu to Yuezhou Prison.
Yu Xuanji and Yu Chisu left separately.
Ye Zelin was also planning to go back to his room, and Hua Fushu followed him. Not long into the journey, Ye Zelin suddenly stopped. Hua Fushu walked up to him and asked, "You're not leaving? What are you doing?"
Ye Zelin took a look at her clothes and asked, "What do you think of your clothes?"
Hua Fushu turned around and blinked her moist almond eyes and asked, "Does it look good?"
Ye Zelin deliberately looked her up and down, and gave Hua Fushu a look of disdain, "You look neither fish nor fowl, so ugly."
After saying this, he walked past the flowers and left.
Hua Fushu was left with a bewildered look on her face. This was something she had carefully selected. As expected, her taste in matching clothes was not even half as good as Sanqiao's. Even someone as dignified and elegant as Ye Zelin disliked it. It seemed that she would have to ask Sanqiao for advice on how to match clothes in the future.
She hurried up and walked side by side with Ye Zelin. Ye Zelin asked her, "Just now you told Hang Yu that you have fair skin and beautiful face. It seems that the word you used was inappropriate."
Hua Fushu quickly changed a word, "She doesn't have fair skin and beautiful looks, but she does have fair skin and beautiful looks."
Snow-white skin and beautiful face, fair skin and beautiful appearance, Ye Zelin felt that these two words seemed similar, both describing a woman with fair skin and beautiful appearance.
Ye Zelin glanced at her and said, "You have fair skin. The word 'fair skin' really suits you."
Hua Fushu smiled proudly, "I told you I have fair skin and beautiful looks." She raised her head with a bit of pride, "Look at who I am, I am Ning Qidie's daughter."
Ye Zelin found her shamelessness quite thick. He remembered her saying that face was something that could be used when needed and discarded when not needed. When it came to boasting, she could give up face. He said, "But forget about her beauty. Don't tarnish it."
Hua Fushu complained: "How am I ugly? I am the most beautiful girl in the south of the city."
She is indeed a flower in the south of the city, but she is just Su Nian, a flower in the south of the city.
Su Nian is a small city and cannot be compared with Fengcheng. With Hua Fushu's beauty, she may not be able to make it into the top 100 of Fengcheng's beauty list.
Hua Fushu takes after her father Hua Mingqian in appearance, but her skin color is like her mother's, which is very fair. With two clear and lively almond-shaped eyes, her whole face is also very pretty.
If you say she is stunningly beautiful, she is not really that beautiful. If you say she is ugly, she is not at all that beautiful.
This was not the first time Ye Zelin had made fun of her appearance, and she didn't care what others thought.
Her appearance was not the worst either. Among the maids in the Ye Mansion, only Feiyuan's Yuzhi, Madam Ouyang's Cuizhi, Dugu Lanxi's Liuzhi and the other three Qiao were more outstanding in appearance. Compared with these four, she was still better.
She doesn't care about what others think, but she cares about Ye Zelin's opinion.
Seeing that she was angry, Ye Zelin realized that he had spoken without thinking. He disliked her at first, but later he liked her. He was thinking about how to apologize.
Over there, Hua Fushu's eyes rolled, and she had a bad idea in mind. She said in a delicate voice, "Husband."
Those eyes looked at Ye Zelin with infatuation and tenderness, how could one describe their deep affection.
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