After being rescued, Zhong Lingyun still looked like he didn't want to live.

Not only does he not want to live, but he also won't say anything.

Zhao Ji put his hand on Zhong Lingyun's head and said, "I just learned that your family is missing. Do you think it was taken away by me or by the person behind you?"

Zhong Lingyun, who was pretending to be dead, trembled all over.

[Xiuniang and the others were taken away? The Shangshu is so cruel! ]

[This is a naked threat, telling me to shut up. If I confess them, I'm afraid the severity of the case won't be as severe as it is now!]

[But now that I have revealed the truth, my family is truly doomed... I hope they can treat Xiuniang well after I die! ]

Zhao Ji frowned and keenly caught the word "Shangshu" from Zhong Lingyun's voice.

This was actually within Zhao Ji's guess. After all, as a minister, he had the courage to use the money for disaster relief, so the Shangshu must not be completely unaware of it.

However, although Zhao Ji knew from Zhong Lingyun's thoughts that the Minister of Revenue was not clean, he had no evidence at present.

Moreover, the Minister of Revenue certainly could not be kidnapped to Jingzhao Prefecture as easily as the Vice Minister of Revenue.

Zhao Ji was in a dilemma now: "How about thinking of a way to cheat again?"

Just when Zhao Ji was having a headache, something unexpected happened at the morning court the next day.

The prime minister actually led all the officials in impeachment.

The person who impeached was none other than the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Zhong Lingyun.

"I think Zhong Lingyun has lost all conscience for misappropriating disaster relief funds without authorization. I hope the emperor can severely punish Zhong Lingyun!"

“This will calm the anger of the refugees displaced by the floods!”

The Prime Minister is handsome and always speaks nicely.

The emperor dragged his sick body to court today, originally intending to use the fact that neither of them was Doctor Lingyun to test the attitudes of the officials in the court.

Now, even before the Emperor tests him, the Prime Minister has already brought people to prove his innocence and demonstrate his loyalty.

Zhao Ji, who was also attending the morning court, couldn't help but sneer when he saw this situation.

Prime Minister, this is a brilliant move.

He simply cut off his tail to survive and threw Zhong Lingyun out.

Originally, Zhong Lingyun had already been arrested, and with so many people at the scene, he could not deny it.

Now that all the charges have been directly put on Zhong Lingyun, the Prime Minister has cleared himself quite well.

Zhao Ji snorted coldly and stood up to the emperor and said, "I think there is something fishy going on here. No matter how well-connected Mr. Zhong is, he is just a small minister. How could he have swallowed up so much disaster relief money without anyone noticing?"

"So I think there may be some forces that have not been uncovered."

The emperor sitting on the dragon throne was very weak. Although his health had improved during the past few days, it was still very tiring for him to attend the morning court. Now the emperor could hardly bear it any longer.

The Prime Minister took another step forward and said, "This little minister has the courage to set up such an ingenious plan. He must have thought it through and considered all possible accidents. So it is not impossible that he could have deceived so many people."

"Besides, until now, the Minister has not confessed to anyone, which shows that there may be someone else behind the scenes. Is the Chief Seal using torture to force a confession? Otherwise, why would he insist on accusing others?"

As expected, the prime minister was worthy of being the prime minister. He cleared himself of the matter in a few words and even asked Zhao Ji whether he had abused lynching.

He is truly an old fox who has been struggling in the officialdom for so many years.

The emperor had already become impatient listening to the people below quarreling, and coupled with his poor health, he was already feeling a little impatient.

In fact, because the emperor was seriously ill during this period, he was wary of the prime minister's excessive power.

After all, the mind of an emperor is all about balance. If the prime minister has such a huge power, it is hard to say what the surname of the person sitting on the dragon throne will be.

So the Emperor originally intended to advocate a thorough investigation.

However, at this moment, a young eunuch suddenly came in with a message.

"Zhong Lingyun committed suicide. He is dead!"

Zhao Ji frowned slightly. He had clearly saved Zhong Lingyun once before, but he didn't expect that it was only delayed for a few days.

However, Zhao Ji subconsciously realized that something was wrong. Logically speaking, there shouldn't be any tools that could allow him to commit suicide!

Just at this moment, Zhao Ji and the prime minister's eyes met, and Zhao Ji saw the gloating that had not completely disappeared in the prime minister's eyes.

Now Zhao Ji understood everything.

Originally, I thought that pushing all the blame on Zhong Lingyun was the limit of what the Prime Minister and his men could do.

But I didn't expect that the prime minister and his men had no bottom line at all. They just killed him.

The emperor was already troubled by the quarrels among his ministers.

Now that they learned that the person who had caused their quarrel was dead, they didn't know what to say for a moment.

He looked at Zhao Ji. Zhao Ji indeed had no other evidence pointing to the prime minister, although Zhao Ji had heard Zhong Lingyun's thoughts and already knew who was the mastermind behind the scenes.

But there was no evidence, and Zhong Lingyun, the only witness, was dead...

The emperor thought about it carefully. When Zhao Ji reported to him, he did not clearly state who the thief who escaped and hid behind Zhong Lingyun was.

"Since the Minister has already died to apologize, let's leave this matter here. We will follow up on the recovery and distribution of the disaster relief money."

"If anyone obstructs..." Having said this, the emperor maintained his composure and glanced at all the court officials below.

"If you obstruct, I will regard it as treason and throw you directly into prison!"

Although the queen tried hard to act imposing, she was still in a very weak state. She spoke weakly, not to mention her eyes.

The emperor formed a sharp contrast with the prime minister who had a ruddy face and full of confidence.

Although the emperor wanted to achieve the effect of being intimidating without being angry, in fact, the prime minister was far more powerful than the emperor.

Soon the emperor was helped behind the screen and left the stage.

The other court officials who had nothing to report also walked away.

Only Zhao Ji had to go back to the Imperial Household Department to deal with some troublesome matters. Walking in the palace with red bricks and green tiles, the palace servants around him stopped to look when they saw Zhao Ji.

The person who is most difficult to offend in the palace now has gradually become Zhao Ji.

Firstly, the emperor has been very fond of Zhao Ji recently and often summons Zhao Ji to talk.

To the eunuchs and palace maids in the harem, this was a sign of great respect.

On the other hand, the Queen Mother seemed to appreciate Zhao Ji very much and would occasionally visit him.

A young eunuch took a quick look at Zhao Ji and found that Zhao Ji, who was about to go to the Imperial Household Department, seemed to be stopped by the prime minister.

In the eyes of the young eunuch, he felt that Zhao Ji had been favored by the prime minister again.

Only Zhao Ji himself knew why the Prime Minister stopped him.