Chapter 8: By some strange coincidence, the young marquis stayed!
Du Hui said this in one breath and couldn't help but let out a deep breath of the depressed mood in his chest.
"The detailed records of all the years, originally calculated and settled by me, Du, are in the palace. If the governor and the others deem it necessary, I can take them out for you to review at any time."
Du Hui's words were spoken with great force, which was simply because he had suffered too much humiliation from the Xiguan Governor's Office over the years.
I finally got the chance, let it out first!
At first, Iberly was indeed shocked by the detailed data that Du Hui presented, but in the end he calmed down and smiled at Du Hui with an ambiguous meaning.
He didn't even need Du Hui's so-called account books, because he knew that what Du Hui said was absolutely true.
This was a deliberate act by him and the previous governor, who "understood the emperor's intentions." The former King of Xiguan was well aware of this, and as long as it was acceptable, he would not pursue any excuses the governor's office came up with.
However, the former prince, now the young marquis of Xiguan, has often made trouble because of this matter.
But in the end, they were no match for the memorial he sent, and in the end, the King of Xiguan, who was already maneuvering in various ways, had to bear all the emperor's reprimands and punishments.
So what if your Xiguan Palace has account books?
Is it possible that his governor's office has no account books, and the imperial court in Yanjing has no account books?
How could Du Hui not understand the contempt and disdain behind Iberly's smile?
Thinking about how the old prince was a prince of the royal family of the Great Zhou Dynasty when he was alive, he didn't even take the county governor of such a vassal state seriously.
Fourteen years have passed since the prince arrived in Xiguan County.
During these fourteen years, the King of Xiguan was able to live peacefully in the Xiguan Palace for less than two years.
Every year, whether it was the Spring or Autumn Festival, the anniversary of the death of the Emperor, or the birthday banquets of the current Emperor and the Empress Dowager, as soon as an imperial edict came, the Prince of Xiguan would set out from the most remote Xiguan Palace in the Great Zhou Dynasty, riding horses or driving carriages across two thousand miles to rush to Yanjing.
As soon as the celebration or sacrifice in Yanjing was over, the emperor ordered the Prince of Xiguan to travel another two thousand miles back to the Prince's Palace, on the grounds that the princes could not stay in the capital for long and could not stay with the governors of counties outside the vassal state.
For more than ten years, regardless of weather conditions or whether he was in good health or not, the Prince of Xiguan never got a chance to breathe.
Because of this, he was unable to discipline the prince personally. The prince had been subjected to the fickleness of people in the border areas since he was young, and even the deliberate ridicule and mockery of some people. Gradually, his temperament became more and more crooked.
The old prince felt guilty towards the young prince and could not bear to punish him severely, so he could only take responsibility for all the troubles caused by the prince.
The so-called Xiguan County Governor's Office was actually an institution sent by the emperor to Xiguan County to monitor the Xiguan Palace.
His calm and deep gaze swept across the faces of Iberly and every official present.
These people, of course, knew exactly what excuses they had used to withhold the royal title and fiefdom from the Xiguan Palace!
Will it be useful if I say it now?
Isn't this just another self-humiliation?
As expected, Iberly smiled and said, "I do admit what Mr. Du said about the governor's office withholding the food and fief of the King of Xiguan."
Then he changed the subject, "It's just that neither the previous governor nor I, Yiberi, acted recklessly without reason! The people of Xiguan County were suffering, and natural disasters were frequent. In order to help them, we simply couldn't spare the money to continue to pay tribute to the palace as required! Each time, we submitted a memorial to the capital to explain the reason, and the capital sent back a reply!"
"As the Chief Historian of the Royal Palace, Mr. Du must have personally reviewed all of these things!"
"Perhaps the young marquis doesn't care to meddle in these mundane matters. We've never brought these things up to bother him before. Today, since he's brought it up in person, I'm willing to explain everything that happened in detail to him."
Iberly waved his hand to the waiting yamen runners in the hall: "Come here..."
“No need.”
Iberi, who was about to ask someone to get the memorial, paused and turned to look at the Marquis of Xiguan who was sitting next to him.
Liu Ziye looked at him with a strange and gentle look: "This Lord said there is no need to look."
She said, "I don't need to read the exact way your memorial was written, or how your uncle and cousin responded to the petition with sympathy for the people. But even if I didn't read it, I know that what was written on those memorials was nothing but 'owed.'"
"Since it's owed, no matter what your reasons are, you must pay it back to me!"
"you……"
Iberi felt that Liu Ziye was determined to cause trouble. Although the young prince of Xiguan had often acted recklessly in the past, it was never as bad as today. He felt that things were getting a bit tricky, so he had no choice but to use his trump card: "If the young marquis insists on doing this, I will report it to you..."
"Is it right, His Majesty?"
Liu Ziye interrupted him, lowering his voice so only the two of them could hear, "Great! That just so happens that this Marquis has something to report to His Majesty and the Crown Prince. Regarding the relationship between the eight Rongdi tribes and our Xiguan Commandery, is there anyone who, despite knowing the imperial ban, is still secretly communicating? It's time to ask my uncle the Emperor and my cousin the Crown Prince to send someone to investigate!"
Snap——
The chopsticks in Iberly's hand were broken into two pieces by him.
The fingertips that were tightly gripping the broken chopsticks were trembling slightly, and the expression on his face changed several times, with blue and red mixed together.
Iberly knew that right now, everyone in Qingsong Hall was undoubtedly looking at him.
He must control himself and not reveal any clues.
I have hidden this secret so deeply that no one knows it except my closest confidants. How did this useless young marquis know it?
Or was it actually the Prince of Xiguan who discovered this? It's just that the Prince of Xiguan has always been patient and tolerant, and prefers to keep things to themselves, which is why he thought he was careful enough to keep it secret.
He forced himself to smile warmly and respectfully.
"Young Marquis, do you really want to do this?"
"Young Marquis, you are still young. I'm afraid no one has ever taught you some truths. A life-or-death struggle is never a way to survive. I, Yi, have been deeply involved in Xiguan for many years. I can say that I have a complete grasp of all matters, big and small, within Xiguan County."
"Oh? What do you know?"
Liu Ziye appeared calm on the surface, but he was actually very unsure.
After all, Iberi's biggest responsibility is to watch over every move of their Xiguan Palace for the emperor.
Over the years, he must have had spies throughout the palace, reporting everything to him. It was hard to say for sure, he might know something he shouldn't.
What if this is counterattacked?
Next, it would be difficult for her to take care of the whole family!
It has become difficult to earn enough points in a short period of time.
Seeing that Liu Ziye's momentum had weakened a little, Iberi couldn't help but feel contempt in his heart.
He lowered his voice, imitating the young Marquis of Xiguan, and moved closer to him. He said coldly, "May I ask, Marquis of Xiguan, since you first learned about human life at the age of twelve, how many innocent girls and boys have been stranded in Xiguan County and ruined by you, young Marquis?"
Liu Ziye was pretending to be calm while drinking the soup, but when he heard what Iberly said, he almost spit out the soup in his mouth!
What is this all about?
In Iberly's eyes, the fourteen-year-old original owner was already able to...eat both men and women?
What kind of coincidences happened that led to Iberly's misunderstanding?
She had a vague feeling that the reason might be related to the original owner's puberty development at the age of twelve, but now was not the time to further analyze the source.
Seeing Liu Ziye's reaction, Iberly thought he had pointed out his weakness.
Liu Ziye, who had calmed down, looked at Iberly as if he were a fool.
She actually thought that Iberly, who stirred up trouble in the court of Yanjing in the late Zhou Dynasty in the original world line, might really have some ability.
In the original world line information sent to her by the system, there was indeed a person named Iberly.
In the history of the original world line, after the death of the original owner, Iberly had been seeking a transfer for himself until a close official of the emperor in Yanjing whom he had gotten close to advised him to offer local auspiciousness on the emperor's birthday.
Iberly racked his brains and mobilized nearly a thousand households in Xiguan County to find a piece of raw jade in the Xilin Mine.
It was polished and aged to look like a saint and presented to the emperor.
The original owner's uncle, the emperor, was overjoyed and transferred Iberi from this desolate border county thousands of miles away to Yanjing.
From then on, the emperor's uncle's fondness for auspicious signs became an open secret. Under Iberi's instruction, auspicious signs and even wordless heavenly books emerged from all over the country.
Iberi found the right opportunity to praise the merits of his uncle the emperor and the unified and prosperous Zhou Dynasty. This made his uncle the emperor, who was already fond of ostentation, no longer doubt that he was the sage king appointed by heaven. He performed Fengshan and organized many grand activities to receive auspicious signs and read the heavenly book.
During this series of activities, Iberly recruited many people to join his gang.
They also took this opportunity to suppress and exclude their opponents.
It can be said that in the original world line, Iberly had a share of the military merit for the chaos that started from within the Great Zhou Dynasty.
If Liu Ziye had not learned from the information in the world line that Iberi had secretly colluded with the Western Rongdi in Xiguan County for personal gain in the past few years, she really would not have dared to come to his house and try to blackmail him.
If it succeeds, it succeeds. If it doesn’t, just go back home!
Anyway, with the glorious deeds of the original owner as an example, it wouldn't be too shameful even if I return empty-handed.
At the very least, everyone in the palace had a sumptuous banquet, and I also earned ten points!
She didn't expect that she was so on guard. She thought that Iberly had discovered that the original owner was actually a girl through years of surveillance and investigation.
But it turns out that...
She couldn't help but squint slightly.
Amidst the candlelight in the room, her narrow and long eyes emitted a flickering light that could make anyone who looked into her eyes become mesmerized and captivated.
Iberly was stunned.
An ominous premonition came over him, and in front of the young marquis in front of him, he couldn't help but feel a shiver rising from his tailbone.
Liu Ziye smiled and asked, "That's all? Governor Yi, do you have anything else to say besides this?"
Iberly's speech became less clear, and he asked, "Young... Young Marquis, what else do you want to hear?"
"What do I want to hear, Governor Yi? Don't you know?"
"If that's all you have to say, then I won't accompany you today. Don't you want to write a memorial? Okay, let's do it together tomorrow. Then we'll see whose head will fall to the ground first!"
Who is afraid of whom!
No matter what evidence Iberly could come up with today, Liu Ziye didn't believe that Iberly, who was so keen on and attached to power, would dare to fight to the death with him.
She stood up and was about to leave with an extremely determined attitude.
Iberly didn't care to hide it from others and stood up hurriedly: "Young Marquis, please stay!"
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