"Cousin, aren't you coming to the banquet with us?"
Liu Yunyan stood there stunned. She had obediently hidden behind the carriage at Jiang Shuwan's request, and then rushed over as soon as the battle subsided. Before she could even exchange a word with Pei Yanzhi, she heard the devastating news that Pei Yanzhi could not go to the banquet with her.
Throughout history, women who wished to gain fame had to excel in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
In these aspects, she has always been the best among the noble ladies of the capital.
Therefore, she was very much looking forward to today. Princess Nan'an had also invited Pei Yanzhi to go together. For her, it would be the best thing if her cousin could see her brilliance in person.
Now that Pei Yanzhi can't go, she is naturally very disappointed.
But she also knew that the most important thing right now was to find out the real culprit behind the assassination, so she didn't dare to say anything and just watched Pei Yanzhi and Fei Hong leave.
"Young Madam, we're leaving now."
As Fei Hong left, Jiang Shuwan felt his scrutinizing gaze linger on her for a moment.
She guessed that it might have been the sound he made when he recognized Fei Hong that aroused his suspicion.
However, based on this alone, Fei Hong certainly couldn't guess anything.
Thinking about all this, she turned around and led Liu Yunyan back to the carriage.
Jiang Yao timidly hid in the carriage, clearly terrified. Liu Yunyan also seemed shaken.
Ultimately, they were all delicate women who had never seen such a real, violent scene before, and they were all terrified.
Jiang Shuwan was also still shaken. Although she knew that things wouldn't be peaceful in the capital for the next two years, actually experiencing it firsthand and witnessing a knife go in and out was a completely different experience from what she had imagined.
Imagination is theory. The theory tells her that many things will happen and many people will die, so she plans carefully and meticulously. However, the scenes she imagines are certainly not as cruel as what she witnesses firsthand.
The visual and emotional impact is enormous.
The carriage had resumed its journey, but Jiang Shuwan's mind was still filled with images of the thirty-odd corpses lying in the snow.
There was also Pei Yanzhi's bloodstained arm.
Pei Yanzhi's assassination attempt was definitely due to the new commercial tax.
Since the source of commercial taxes lies with her, wouldn't she owe Pei Yanzhi yet again?
I haven't even paid off the previous debts, and now I've incurred another one. This is really...
Jiang Shuwan sighed inwardly, but she was never one to fight internal battles. So what if she owed debts? As the saying goes, "Many lice don't bite, and many debts don't worry you."
Furthermore, Pei Yanzhi was able to enter officialdom ahead of schedule thanks to her using silver to curry favor with the old emperor. How could the old emperor, who usually did not pay attention to commercial taxes, agree to commercial tax reform?
Therefore, Pei Yanzhi's medal of honor also owes some credit to her.
Thinking about these things, Jiang Shuwan gradually calmed down. She even lifted the sedan curtain and looked back.
The ground that had been littered with corpses was now surrounded by soldiers, and some civilians who had gathered to watch the spectacle were quickly driven away by the soldiers.
However, news of Pei Yanzhi's assassination attempt quickly spread throughout the city.
The governor of Kyoto, in particular, was in a terrible state, pacing anxiously around the room.
"I'm really unlucky. Last time, in the case of the murder at the Yongchang Marquis's residence while making ice, even the Empress and Consort Gao came to make a call. I didn't dare to offend either of them."
"After finally getting rid of that plague, the young master's wife, and enjoying a few days of peace, the heir of the Marquis's mansion, who is also the current Minister of Revenue, was assassinated in the street. Good heavens, I've only been promoted from an outside official position for a year, how come I keep encountering all sorts of bad things?"
The governor of Kyoto was on the verge of tears, feeling as if a thousand ants were consuming his heart, causing him immense pain.
He realized during Jiang Yao's case that anything related to the Pei family at this juncture would bring trouble.
Not to mention, this time it was Pei Yanzhi himself who was assassinated.
In this capital city, those who dare to kill Pei Yanzhi are nothing more than the Crown Prince's faction, the Crown Prince's faction, and the powerful families.
He couldn't afford to offend any of these three forces.
He couldn't afford to offend the Marquis's mansion either.
What if he turns hostile?
The prefect of Kyoto was so anxious that he paced back and forth in the room, even considering packing his bags and fleeing the capital.
Whoever wants to be this lousy prefect can have it; he should just go back to his hometown.
Seeing that her husband was in a panic, his wife pondered for a few moments and comforted him, "Husband, there is no need to worry. Lord Pei is the heir to the Marquis's mansion and is currently being highly valued by His Majesty. The fact that this person dared to commit violence in the street shows how heinous his actions are, and he is essentially impersonating the imperial power."
"The nature of this case is so egregious that a small government office in Kyoto might not be able to handle it."
Upon hearing this, the Prefect of Kyoto also came to his senses. He excitedly grasped his wife's hand, "Madam, you are absolutely right!"
Yes.
The problems he can think of, His Majesty can certainly think of as well.
The Imperial Palace.
Seeing Pei Yanzhi with his injured arm, and Wen Yuanhou, who was on duty today and rushed over upon hearing of his son's injury, the old emperor was so angry that he smashed his teacup.
"What audacity!"
"To assassinate a high-ranking official in the street, do they think I'm dead?"
"It's one thing to oppose commercial taxes in court, but to dare to assassinate the official in charge of commercial taxes in secret! Well done, very well done!"
The old emperor's chest heaved with rage, which frightened the eunuch Su who was serving him. Su tried to calm him down, but the old emperor's anger only grew stronger.
The first image that flashed through his mind was that of his son, Lee Seung-woo.
Li Chengyou was his eldest son. Before Pei Yanzhi started collecting commercial taxes, he first dealt with a group of corrupt officials. These corrupt officials were all from the Ministry of Revenue, and most of them were Li Chengyou's protégés.
Thus, the eldest son's motives are quite compelling.
However, we cannot rule out the possibility that the second son, the crown prince, used someone else to do the dirty work.
The Crown Prince also disagreed with the commercial tax. If Pei Yanzhi were killed, the collection of half of the commercial tax would naturally have to be stopped, and it would also allow him to scheme against the eldest son.
He believed that the Crown Prince was capable of such a thing.
There are also the various aristocratic families, especially those few that are extremely wealthy.
The wealth of aristocratic families mainly came from land and profits from business.
The new commercial tax is tantamount to cutting off one of their arms. The current apparent leader of the commercial tax is his sixth son.
However, the sixth brother knew nothing about commercial taxes, and being only fifteen years old, he usually followed Pei Yan around like a little follower.
They didn't dare do anything to Lao Liu, so they turned their attention to Pei Yanzhi.
By assassinating Pei Yanzhi in the street, they were not only killing him, but also his authority as emperor!
"Guards! Summon the Minister of Justice to the palace immediately. The case of Pei Yanzhi's assassination will be handled by the Ministry of Justice, with the Prefect of the Capital assisting in the investigation."
"Whoever dares to assassinate an official of the imperial court, I will make them pay the price!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
When the anxious Marquis Wen Yuan heard that the old emperor wanted to investigate the matter thoroughly, he was immediately moved to tears.
The old emperor quickly helped him up and offered a few words of comfort.
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