Although the Emperor had spoken, Shen Qingque was not in a hurry to submit his article. He was very confident in his article and thought it would be better to let his colleagues show their work first, which would better highlight his talent.
Of course, there may be powerful figures who overshadow him, but he doesn't care.
A few days later, the Ministry of Revenue still hadn't received the answer it wanted. Just as Shen Qingque was about to submit his article, the Ministry of Revenue suddenly published an excellent article that promoted the military-agricultural system used at the founding of the Great Chen Dynasty in order to abolish the current equal-field system.
The entire article sharply criticized the drawbacks of the current equal-field system, denouncing the powerful families for seizing fertile land and forcing ordinary people to sell their land and houses, and even into slavery. This was a severe slap in the face to the powerful families, but it also garnered support from scholars from humble backgrounds for the article's author, Zhou Shiren.
It was the same colleague who had asked Shen Qingque to revise his writing, but was refused by Shen Qingque.
Shen Qingque glanced at only a few lines of text on the notice board before turning and leaving. This was simply his first draft.
Meanwhile, Zhou Shiren was surrounded by people, all of whom were colleagues praising his article as excellent.
The article won the emperor's favor. The emperor had always hated aristocratic families, and this article was exactly what the emperor wanted. The emperor even summoned Zhou Shiren and discussed it with him.
Zhou Shiren was flattered and overwhelmed. Although his performance was less than satisfactory, it was still considered passable. For a time, he was incredibly successful, only waiting for the Ministry of Personnel's appointment so he could go to Jiangzhou to take up his post. He was already happily imagining the glorious scene he would experience upon his return after completing his mission.
I might be able to secure a cabinet position through this opportunity, which would truly allow me to leapfrog my social class!
Zhou Shiren was already feeling quite pleased with himself. People kept congratulating him, and many invited him out for drinks, which he readily accepted.
These people who asked him to leave were all scions of powerful families who used to look down on him, but now they all humbled themselves and asked him if he had time.
Zhou Shiren was riding high, so he returned to the Hanlin Academy less often, and he also subconsciously avoided Shen Qingque.
He had seen the article in Shen Qingque's study. After being rejected that day, he was still unwilling to give up and prepared a gift to go to the Shen family. At that time, there were guests at the Shen family. Shen's father knew that he and his son were good friends, so he had someone take him to Shen Qingque's study.
Just then, his page was sorting through discarded drafts, so he had someone bring them to him to take a look, hoping they might give him some inspiration.
When he saw the article, he felt that he was no princess at all, and that he might be able to rise to the top because of this article.
He thought that since Shen Qingque had put the article in a pile of discarded drafts, it shouldn't be a big deal for him to take it and use it, since he had already thrown it away as a discarded draft.
Now that he had risen to prominence based on his discarded manuscript, he was a little afraid that Shen Qingque would come after him. Although the Shen family was nothing, his in-laws were the Xuan Prince's Mansion. Thinking about it now, Zhou Shiren broke out in a cold sweat, fearing that Shen Qingque would find him and make him confess to his crime of deceiving the emperor before the emperor.
He didn't want to at all!
After several days of anxious waiting, Shen Qingque made no move, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Brother Zhou, how about we have a few drinks at Hurricane Tower tonight?"
Zhou Shiren never refused any invitations he received. Ever since his articles were appreciated by the emperor, the number of people inviting him was so great that they could line up around the palace.
That day, he came out of the restaurant after a hearty meal, but as he passed through a dark alley, someone covered his head with a sack and beat him severely.
Zhou Shiren quickly sobered up and begged for mercy, wondering if this was Shen Qingque's revenge on him.
"I was wrong, Brother Shen, I was really wrong!"
"Heh, this kid has quite a few enemies!" The man who hit him sneered and added another kick.
Zhou Shiren trembled when he heard the voice; this man had been drinking with him that very night!
"Brother Wang, Brother Wang! Is there some misunderstanding between us? If there is, let's talk it out. How could you hit someone!"
The man addressed as "Brother Wang" sneered repeatedly, "You dare to speak to me!"
"This fellow is truly arrogant! He dares to write such treasonous articles; he simply doesn't respect us at all!"
"Hmph, just a lackey of the emperor! He thinks he can get promoted and ennobled by writing something to please the emperor. He doesn't even know his own worth. He thinks he can survive in the officialdom with a brain like that? He should prepare to have ten lives first!"
"Alright, have someone throw him into the moat later. Let's hurry up and leave, or we'll get into trouble!"
"Pah! Let's go!"
Two days later, everyone discovered that Zhou Shiren was missing and had not informed his superiors of his absence. Someone then went to the Jingzhao Prefecture to report the case. Two days later, a male corpse was retrieved from the moat. After an autopsy, the coroner confirmed that the deceased was indeed Zhou Shiren.
This matter alarmed the Emperor, who immediately ordered a thorough investigation.
"These people are going too far! They no longer respect me!" Yuwen Wuji cursed.
Zhou Shiren had just submitted an article to him on how to weaken the powerful families when he died a few days later.
The murderer doesn't even need to think to know who it is! But he has no concrete evidence.
The people of Jingzhao Prefecture investigated for half a month, but there were no witnesses or physical evidence. However, many people had heard Zhou Shiren say that he was going to urinate in the moat. The coroner did find traces of him struggling in the water on the body. Therefore, the people of Jingzhao Prefecture had no choice but to classify his case as an accidental death.
"He got drunk, urinated in the moat, and then accidentally fell in and drowned?" Yuwen Wuji sneered repeatedly upon hearing the report from the Prefect of Jingzhao.
He had been recuperating for half a year and was able to attend the grand court assembly with difficulty, but he still felt extremely weak.
"Yes..." The Prefect of Jingzhao knelt on the ground, his voice trembling uncontrollably.
"Ha!" Yuwen Wuji waved his hand, and the Prefect of Jingzhao hurriedly took his leave.
"These guys think I'm too unwell to deal with them, huh?"
"Your Majesty, please calm down!" Li Wei stepped forward to appease him. Yuwen Wuji coughed a few times. In such a hot summer, he dared not even put too many ice blocks in his palace, for fear that the cold air would cause his old injuries to flare up.
"Bring Chengcheng over here!"
Yuwen Wuji took a few deep breaths, finding Chengcheng increasingly useful. Although he hadn't performed well in investigating the backgrounds of Mr. Ju and Song Yaozhu, uncovering nothing, others couldn't discern any difference either, so Yuwen Wuji had no reason to blame him.
As soon as Chengcheng entered the palace gate, Yuwen Wuji had Li Wei give him a token.
"Select some people and form a new department that will only obey my orders!"
Cheng Cheng accepted the order, took the token, which had four characters written on it: "As if I were personally present."
Cheng Cheng's pupils dilated in shock. "Your Majesty, this token is of utmost importance. You must hand it over to me..."
"It's alright, I trust your loyalty."
Chengcheng was silent for a moment, unsure whether the emperor truly believed him or was testing him.
"Your Majesty, I will serve you with my life!" Cheng Cheng prostrated himself on the ground, his voice sincere yet trembling, as if he was overwhelmed with excitement by the Emperor's trust.
Yuwen Wuji was very satisfied with his performance and immediately ordered him to investigate a powerful family in the capital. If he found any illegal or disorderly conduct on their part, he was to arrest them with special privileges and not need to ask for permission.
This move prompted Li Wei, who was standing nearby, to sigh, fearing that it was time for everyone to feel insecure.
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