That night, Zhu Houbao looked at the memorial that Xiao Taozi brought from Xie Qian, and realized that he believed in the wrong person. He was disappointed and extremely angry, and wanted to arrest Liu Jin several times.

"…The local report reported peace, but he actually..."

Zhu Houzhao put down the memorial book and looked at the roof with no eyes.

Just when Xiao Guozi thought that the young emperor would order Liu Jin to be punished, Zhu Houzhao suddenly sighed, "You retreat first, I have to think about some things."

Although Xiao Tiaozi was surprised, he still honestly bowed.

Obviously, Zhu Houzhao did not mean to punish Liu Jin. As for why this was the case, it was impossible to understand the wisdom of Xiao Tiaozi.

Zhu Houzhao was extremely irritable, and her heart was depressed for a while and could not be relieved. She left the concubine Hua’s place unhappy. At this moment, he hoped that others would understand his helplessness and difficulties, and among the women around him, Hua’s concubine could gain his trust.

When Zhu Houzhao explained Liu Jin's greed for money and deceiving him to Concubine Hua, Concubine Hua was full of surprise.

"...Your Majesty, maybe Eunuch Liu has any last resort?"

Although Concubine Hua did not regard Liu Jin as an ally, she also knew that Liu Jin's fall would not be beneficial to her, so she could only try to stabilize Zhu Houzhao's emotions first and defend Liu Jin for a few words.

Zhu Houzhao said angrily: "What can he have? It's fine if he is greedy for money. Even the local people dare to make up random things in front of me. It is obvious that he doesn't want to live anymore!"

Concubine Hua said: "Your Majesty, although I don't know the specific situation, I think that with Eunuch Liu's identity and status, I will not deceive Your Majesty. Maybe it's because someone in the local area deceived him, and it may be that Eunuch Liu wants to leave some of the silver for Your Majesty to practice, and his loyalty is commendable!"

Zhu Houzhao shook her hand: "My beloved concubine, do you want to tell the dog's neck?"

"I don't dare!"

Concubine Hua quickly stood up and bowed and admitted her mistake.

Zhu Houzhao already had a big prejudice against Liu Jin. Now that Concubine Hua is talking to Liu Jin, she can't help but feel a little disgusted with Concubine Hua. She frowned and said, "I won't stay with you today. Go back and rest first, I still have something to do!"

After saying that, Zhu Houzhao waved her hand and asked Concubine Hua to leave on her own.

Although Concubine Hua was reluctant, she left after making a happy fortune.

When she left the door, Concubine Hua still heard Zhu Houzhao talking to herself: "I am always looking at the bright moon, but the bright moon shines on the ditches. You Liu Jin is actually playing tricks with me... If you are not kind, don't blame me for being unrighteous!"

Hearing this, Concubine Hua felt that Liu Jin was about to suffer a disaster.

She was in a dilemma and didn't know if she should tell Liu Jin about this.

After returning, after careful consideration, Concubine Hua decided to pass the news, but she was afraid that Zhu Houzhao would know that she had secretly interacted with Liu Jin, so she wrote a letter with her left hand. Anyway, Zhu Houzhao didn't know that she could read, and she knew it later, but she wrote with her right hand, and could not find out that she and Liu Jin secretly communicated with each other.

After writing the letter, Hua Fei summoned Liu Jin to her side to send important news and took the letter out.

After doing these things, Concubine Hua was anxious and began to find ways to avoid being involved as much as possible. However, she vaguely felt that she was facing a lot of trouble and didn't know how to face Zhu Houzhao.

"Jiang Liwei is not in the capital now, so no one discusses it... In short, I will never see Liu Jin now, I can only take one step at a time."

...

...

Liu Jin finally found out about the things that were originally airtight.

After reading the letter from Concubine Hua, Liu Jin was so scared that the letter fell to the ground that he didn't know it. His body was trembling and he was in a state of loss of consciousness.

After a long time, Liu Jin calmed down a little. The only thing he could do at this time was to call Zhang Cai and Sun Cong, explain the whole story to the two of them, and let them give advice for themselves.

Zhang Cai was also very shocked when he heard the news and asked: "How did Your Majesty know that there has not been any trouble in the local area?"

"Is this too much? It must be that Xie Yuqiao, the old guy, tried every means to send the memorial submitted by the Xuanfu local government to His Majesty, otherwise how could this happen..."

When Liu Jin said this, he suddenly remembered something and looked at Zhang Cai and Sun Cong and said, "You said that our private deduction of money was the one you told me?"

Zhang Cai aggrieved and said, "Eunuch Liu, I don't even know what to do about this, how can I tell you?" After saying that, he turned his head to look at Sun Cong, his eyes full of suspicion.

Sun Cong shook his head slightly: "It may be someone from the Inner Transport Trust, or someone sent by His Majesty to pursue the money... Those rich businessmen and gentry have explained what channels are used to send the money to His Majesty?"

Liu Jin said angrily: "Our family sent someone to ask before that those people from the Neichengyunku did receive the emperor's order to contact the wealthy businessmen and gentry on the ground in the capital, promising to raise money for fame and fortune, but they were all taken down by our family and killed two people on the spot, and the others bowed their heads. Our family doesn't believe it, who else in the Neichengyunku dares to make trouble under our noses?"

Now Zhang Cai and Sun Cong can't answer.

"For the sake of the present."

Zhang Cai said, "It's better to find a way to deal with Your Majesty. It's best to find a suitable reason to explain the deduction of silver and local people's chaos."

Liu Jin was so angry that he stamped his feet: "If our family can explain clearly, we don't have to call you two."

Seeing that Liu Jin had completely lost his room, Zhang Cai couldn't help but persuade: "Don't be anxious. Your Majesty has not called your father-in-law to ask questions yet, which means that your Majesty does not want to punish him for this... Don't panic!"

"It is related to our family's life and death. How can you keep our family from panic?" Liu Jin said angrily.

Sun Cong said: "Shangshu Zhang should mean that there is room for recovery... Your Majesty has not yet determined the purpose of the father-in-law doing this. The local people's chaos can be said to be falsely reported by the father-in-law, but it can also be said to be falsely reported by the local government to the father-in-law. The father-in-law is just a retelling."

“Yes!”

Zhang Cai echoed, "What we need to be sure now is to continue to insist that there is chaos in the local area and that the local people will report good news but not bad news, or to admit that the local false reports... The father-in-law should make a decision as soon as possible."

Liu Jin shouted, "If our family can decide everything by themselves, what should we do? Let me tell us what we should do!"

Zhang Cai and Sun Cong looked at each other and each had their own ideas.

Zhang Caixian said: "It is better to die directly. There is indeed chaos in the local area, but it is not reported by the governor of Xuanfu, but by the local report of Xuanda. Then he took out some of the reports to gain the trust of His Majesty. Even if His Majesty sent someone to investigate, this matter could be fooled..."

"What do you mean is to let our family continue to deceive the emperor?" Liu Jin looked at Zhang Cai in surprise.

"Um."

Zhang Cai seemed very confident, as if everything was in control. "As long as it was a local report, my father-in-law would just take it out, and my father-in-law didn't need to pay attention to the matters next to me. This time, there should be no more memorials that were reported to my father-in-law in the local area, right?"

Liu Jin thought for a while and said, "It shouldn't be. How could there be so many idiots like Yang Wu?"

Zhang Cai smiled and said, "That's good. As for the 100,000 taels of silver, my father-in-law can be said to be temporarily transferred to military supplies, and the donations from wealthy businessmen and gentry were divided into two parts. Some were built for His Majesty's palace, and some were moved to military supplies. The Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue came forward to prove it. My father-in-law can report to His Majesty first to make His Majesty believe..."

Liu Jin was a little calmer when he heard Zhang Cai's words and said, "Shang Qi, you still have a set of things. Why didn't our family expect it? But our family had separated the silver donated by the wealthy businessmen and gentry before, and most of the money was entered into the private warehouse... Do you want to tell Your Majesty that the part of the wealthy businessmen and gentry who disappeared on the list donated to military supplies?"

Zhang Cai said: "No matter what the reason is, it doesn't matter. The most important thing is to let the wealthy businessmen and gentry do things according to your father-in-law's wishes."

Sun Cong asked: "But... the silver was transported to my father-in-law's house, how should I explain it?"

Zhang Cai looked at Sun Cong, flattened his mouth disdainfully, and then respectfully said to Liu Jin: "Where is the difference? As long as your Majesty believes it, you can. Perhaps your Majesty would never have thought of this. As long as your father-in-law proves that he has not embezzled the silver, your Majesty will have nothing to say, right?"

Now even Sun Cong no longer refutes.

Liu Jin seemed very anxious: "What are you waiting for? Just do what Shangzhi said... Shangzhi, then you can contact the Ministry of Revenue Department. Keming, you can communicate with wealthy businessmen and gentry. Our family allows one or two children from each family to attend the Imperial College. You can directly take the exam next year, and the court will admit it as appropriate."

"Our family prepares for it, and then go to meet with His Majesty. Remember, the time must be arranged properly. By the way, everyone must fool His Majesty!"

...

...

After nightfall, Zhu Houzhao was still depressed and was not energetic in anything she did. She felt bland and boring when watching juggling and southern operas. She just felt uncomfortable when she remembered Liu Jin's affairs.

In the end, Zhu Houzhao actually started to drink a suffocating wine.

Just at this moment, a eunuch came in outside to report and said that Liu Jin was asking for a meeting.

"What is he here to do?"

Zhu Houzhao looked bad and waved her hand, "Let him come and see you!"

Zhu Houzhao was already drunk and was about to show off with Liu Jin.

Soon, Liu Jin appeared in front of Zhu Houzhao under the leadership of the eunuch. Liu Jin had no fear on his face and smiled. Zhu Houzhao saw Liu Jin's bright smile and thought it was a satirizing him for being ignorant, and he became even more angry.

"Your Majesty, I have something to report." Liu Jin said with politeness.

"What's wrong with you?" Zhu Houzhao looked cold and said!"

Liu Jin smiled and said, "In addition to the more than 50,000 taels of silver I sent to His Majesty before, I also mentioned to local wealthy businessmen and gentry about the chaos in the northwest. These people paid donations together and raised more than 100,000 taels of silver for His Majesty..."

"Um?"

When Zhu Houzhao heard this, her drunkenness was much lessened.

He looked at Liu Jin curiously, not understanding what was going on.

Liu Jin took out a booklet from his arms and said, "Because time is in a hurry, I have just sorted it out and want to give His Majesty a surprise... Isn't this a gift to His Majesty overnight?"

Zhu Houzhao didn't know how to deal with it for a while. He had already classified Liu Jin as a treacherous gangster, but now Liu Jin has taken the initiative to give him money to him.

"Take it!"

Zhu Houzhao ordered the eunuch with her, and her brows were still frowning.

Liu Jin handed the account book to the eunuch and said with a smile: "In order to count the silver for His Majesty, the old slave has not had a good sleep for several nights, and finally he calculated it clearly... This is a major issue involving local stability!"

After Zhu Houzhao looked at the account book, he found that the numbers matched the one submitted by Xiao Tiaozi before. All the people who had deleted it appeared. This seemed like he had wronged the good man, but he vaguely felt something was wrong.

Zhu Houzhao was one of the kings of the Ming Dynasty who was very easy to fool. He didn't care much about the affairs of the court, and he dealt with things entirely based on personal likes and dislikes. In addition, he was willing to believe Liu Jin in his heart because he was unwilling to admit his mistakes in employing those civil officials.

In addition, after Liu Jin received the information from Concubine Hua, he reacted in a timely manner and quickly presented the greedy money to Zhu Houzhao in another way to win a turning point for himself.

Zhu Houzhao was skeptical, and then put down the account book and glanced at Liu Jin. Liu Jin had very strong psychological quality, and Zhu Houzhao could not see any clues from his expression.

"Then you have worked hard and made great contributions." Zhu Houzhao said with a slight smile.

Liu Jin smiled and said, "It's worth it even if I can do things for Your Majesty... I originally wanted to give Your Majesty a surprise, but I was afraid that Your Majesty would misunderstand, so I counted the silver overnight and informed the specific situation."

Zhu Houzhao thought to himself: "Is it possible that he knew the news and then came to confess to me that he had this money?"

Thinking of this, Zhu Houzhao came up with a suspicion and asked, "You said that the Xuanfu place raised this money because of improper governance, which caused chaos in the people. Is this matter true?"
To be continued...