"Wh...what?" Yuan Yao was shocked.
The Minister of Revenue hanged himself at home?
My neck feels strangely cold.
The Ninth Prince said with a stern face, "Let's go in and take a look first."
A member of the Imperial Guard led the way into the residence of the Minister of Revenue...
Inside the mansion, all the servants were gathered in the front courtyard and were being questioned.
The backyard was filled with the sound of weeping.
The Minister of Revenue had a large number of wives and concubines, and many children, all of whom wept bitterly...
From afar, one could hear the Minister of Justice asking, "How is the person?"
"It's been about half an hour since he passed away..." a voice replied.
The Minister of Justice's face turned completely black.
The butler wiped away his tears and said, "Master was preoccupied last night. After eating a few bites of breakfast, he locked himself in his study."
To my surprise, when I came to bring him lunch, I found him hanging from the roof beam…
"Since you know something's wrong with him, why isn't anyone with him?" The Ninth Prince carried Yuan Yao and walked over slowly.
Immediately, everyone looked at him.
The Minister of Justice, his face dark, bowed and said, "Your Majesty."
The Ninth Prince gave a faint "hmm": "I happened to come across this matter when I left the palace, so I came to take a look."
"Ignore me, continue your questioning."
The Minister of Justice nodded, then said, "Someone, check the study!"
"Wait!" a voice rang out.
Yuan Yao turned around and saw that the person who came was Xu Changze, the eldest son of the Minister of Revenue.
Xu Changze, still wearing his official robes, disregarded etiquette and knelt down, crying out, "Father! Why did you think of doing this..."
Xu, who had fainted, slowly woke up upon hearing her son's voice: "Changze?"
Xu Changze wiped away his tears and went to help Xu Shi up: "Mother..."
Madam Xu seemed to have aged ten years in an instant, and cried, "Your father is gone, and you are the pillar of the Xu family. You must not do anything rash..."
After speaking, Madam Xu fainted again.
While crying, Xu Changze said, "Your Majesty, my father has just passed away. What is the meaning of you bringing so many Imperial Guards here?"
Yuan Yao: "?"
Before the Ninth Prince could speak, the Minister of Justice said, "President Xu, these Imperial Guards were brought by me."
Regarding the poisoning of the imperial guards at the imperial palace, I have discovered that the Xu family is involved. That's why I brought people here specifically for this purpose!
"Nonsense!" Xu Changze wiped away his tears, stood up, and said angrily, "Lord Zheng, my father's body is barely cold, and you're already slandering my Xu family?"
The Ninth Prince remained expressionless and coldly said, "Whether it's slander or not, you'll know once you investigate."
He waved his hand, and immediately a squad of imperial guards entered the study.
Xu Changze was both anxious and angry: "Stop! Don't touch my father's belongings..."
However, the Imperial Guards made an unusually loud commotion as they searched the study.
Soon, one of the Imperial Guards exclaimed, "Found it!"
The Minister of Justice ignored Xu Changze and stepped through the door.
Then, he appeared at the door, clutching a stack of Xuan paper, and announced loudly, "This is Minister Xu's confession."
A confession?
Yuan Yao opened her eyes wide with curiosity.
The Minister of Revenue actually left behind a suicide note confessing his guilt?
The Ninth Prince said calmly, "If the handwriting is confirmed to be correct, send it directly to the palace and present it to the Emperor."
The Minister of Justice nodded, grabbed a stack of Xuan paper, examined it, and said in a deep voice, "It is the handwriting of the Minister of Revenue. On the last page, there is his fingerprint."
"Please, Your Majesty." The Ninth Prince narrowed his long, narrow eyes.
The messenger rode directly into the palace on horseback.
The steward ordered chairs to be brought over, and invited the Grand Prince and the Minister of Justice to sit under the eaves outside the study.
The courtyard was filled with kneeling people.
The Minister of Revenue's body lay there on the floor beside the study door...
The Minister of Revenue had seven or eight concubines.
These concubines were mostly in their teens and twenties, young and beautiful, and when they cried, they had a delicate, pitiful appearance...
Yuan Yao looked at it and couldn't help but sigh.
Being a man in ancient times must have been wonderful!
Marry as many as you want!
As long as you have healthy kidneys, money, and power!
I wonder what's bothering this Minister of Revenue?
With so many beautiful concubines and a bunch of tiny children, how could he bear to abandon them...?
Half an hour later, the Ministry of Revenue was bustling with activity.
A shrill voice announced, "The Emperor has arrived..."
The emperor, dressed in a bright yellow dragon robe, with a gloomy expression and downcast eyes, slowly entered the room.
The people in the courtyard knelt down, saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty..."
"Rise," the emperor said, raising his hand.
Then, he looked at the Ninth Prince.
Upon seeing the Grand Eunuch present, he coughed lightly, straightened his posture considerably, and said, "Bring forth the Minister of Revenue's confession."
Li Deshan quickly bowed and presented a stack of Xuan paper.
The emperor said, "Give it to the Ninth Prince."
On the way here, someone had already informed the emperor that the Minister of Revenue's confession had been presented to him directly by the Emperor, who hadn't even glanced at it...
The emperor was unsure; what did A Yuan mean by this?
Li Deshan, holding the "confession," walked up to the Ninth Prince and said, "Your Majesty."
The Ninth Prince said calmly, "Read it."
read?
Immediately, everyone in the courtyard looked up and stared at him.
"What?" The Ninth Prince frowned. "Can't I recite it?"
"This old servant will read it now," Li Deshan said.
Unfurling the Xuan paper, Li Deshan, in a high-pitched voice, declared: "This guilty subject, Xu Changyin, served as Minister of Revenue for several years, yet I have failed the Emperor's grace above and let down my colleagues and the people below..."
The list of crimes was extensive, spanning several pages.
There were instances of accepting bribes in private, and embezzling military funds and grain payments...
When he read the most recent passage, Li Deshan lowered his voice: "The Emperor bestowed upon my beloved daughter, a sinner, in marriage to a lowly Imperial Guard, which has humiliated me..."
The disgraced official harbored resentment, so he bribed a cook at the imperial palace to poison Li Chang...
This was the work of a guilty minister alone, and he shall pay with his life. I beseech Your Majesty to be lenient with the family members of the household…
After reading it all in one breath, Li Deshan wiped away his sweat.
The emperor's eyelashes drooped, his eye bags hung low, and his expression was gloomy: "Handwriting, verified?"
The Minister of Justice stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, these are the notes of the Minister of Revenue; they cannot be faked."
Seeing this, the emperor asked in a hoarse voice, "A-Yuan, what do you think should be done about this?"
In an instant, the women in the courtyard stopped crying and looked at the Ninth Prince with tears in their eyes.
The Ninth Prince, holding his teacup, lifted his eyelids and looked at the Emperor: "Such an important matter is best left to Your Majesty to decide."
The emperor was taken aback upon hearing this.
What does A Yuan mean by this?
Did A Yuan dislike him?
Or do you doubt him?
The emperor frowned and said, "A-Yuan, come in with me."
The Ninth Prince raised an eyebrow.
The emperor steeled himself and looked at Yuan Yao: "Yuan Yao, your father and I have something to say. Go play by yourself for now."
"Okay." Yuan Yao obediently got down from the Ninth Prince's arms.
The Ninth Prince patted her head: "Be a good girl and wait, I'll be back soon."
"Mmm!" Yuan Yao smiled sweetly.
The emperor and the Grand Tutor entered the study one after the other.
Just then, a woman's voice rang out from outside the door: "Let me in! Anyone who dares to stop me, I'll die right here!"
That sound...
Is it Xu Yunzhi?
Yuan Yao looked up curiously.
Xu Yunzhi, dressed in a peach-pink brocade robe with a short knife across her neck, ran in with red eyes.
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