"Eighth Prince, I'm just following orders! If we don't investigate clearly and something happens, I will be responsible!"
The eighth prince raised his chin and said: "If there is a spy in the Black Tiger Army, I will bear full responsibility. You can let him go now!"
The general guarding the city hesitated, "This..."
The eighth prince ignored him and walked towards Lin Ziyi.
"Brother Ziyi, the master has already said, whatever you want to do, do it boldly, the master will take care of everything!"
The eighth prince's words made the general who defended the city even more speechless.
Even the Imperial Master said this, so what else could he say?
Lin Ziyi urged the horses to quickly enter the city. When they entered, the general guarding the city wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Go to the Prime Minister's Mansion and inform the Prime Minister that I can't stop him!" he said to the soldier beside him.
He turned to look at the retreating figures of Lin Ziyi and the others, and shook his head secretly, "Now, I'm afraid we'll be in big trouble!"
"No, I have to prepare early!"
On the other side, Prime Minister Qu's Mansion was furious when they learned that the Eighth Prince had gone over and brought people in.
"The Eighth Prince has never participated in government affairs. How could he get involved in this matter now? Lin Ziyi must have given the order in advance!"
He was pacing back and forth in the room with a ferocious look on his face.
"We can't let him take Ning Zhaoping to see the emperor! Absolutely not!"
Thinking of this, he walked out quickly.
As soon as they arrived at the door, they saw two eunuchs walking over. One of them said: "Prime Minister Qu, your Majesty, please come into the palace!"
Prime Minister Qu's face turned pale, his eyes were twinkling, and his expression was uncertain.
"I don't know, what is the important matter for the emperor's summons?" he asked.
"How do we know what the emperor wants to do? Prime Minister Qu will know it when he enters the palace! Please!" The eunuch made a gesture of invitation.
Prime Minister Qu glanced at the imperial guards following him. The current situation is that if you don't want to go, you have to go!
Not long after, he entered the palace and saw Lin Ziyi coming to the council hall, and Ning Zhaoping was also there. Prime Minister Qu's heart suddenly trembled!
Suppressing his panic, he walked in.
When the emperor saw him coming, he threw a memorial to the ground.
"Take a look, what is this!"
Prime Minister Qu picked it up tremblingly, opened it and saw that his hands were shaking!
"You concealed the plague in Lincheng and said it was Ning Zhaoping's rebellion. The contents of the correspondence are all in this memorial. What else do you have to say!" the emperor said angrily.
"This must have been forged by someone!" Prime Minister Qu argued.
"What about this!" The emperor threw a ledger in front of him.
What is written on this is all evidence that Prime Minister Qu colluded with the Jin Kingdom to make profits, and every single stroke is a human life!
"This is what my unsatisfied son did. He has been taken away by the Dongmen family. There is no way to verify it. Maybe someone framed it!" Prime Minister Qu said with cold sweat on his head.
"Your Majesty, this is evidence that Prime Minister Qu embezzled grain and delayed military flights! Please take a look at it!" Lin Ziyi handed over the evidence he collected.
In fact, he had collected this evidence a long time ago, but this evidence was not enough to completely overthrow Prime Minister Qu, so he had to get it absolutely.
But now, with the evidence in Ning Zhaoping's hands, he is adding more guilt to his crimes. Let's see how he defends himself!
The emperor glanced at the evidence and asked with a gloomy face: "Prime Minister Qu, did you do this too?"
"It's not a minor official, it's General Lin who is avenging his personal revenge!"
"Your Majesty, please see the witness!" A clear and pleasant female voice came from outside.
"Xuan!" the emperor shouted.
Xia Jin walked in with two Jin Kingdom businessmen.
I first learned from Luyi that Qu Linjie and two Jin Kingdom businessmen were discussing something. During this period, Qin Haoou deliberately approached them and learned an incredible clue from them.
"The military salary that Prime Minister Qu embezzled was sold to the Jin army at a high price through these two businessmen!" Xia Jin said.
The emperor's eyes widened, "Keep talking!"
Xia Jin looked at the Jin Kingdom merchant and said, "Please tell me what you know!"
The merchant from the Kingdom of Jin nodded, looked at the emperor, and said, "The general's wife is absolutely right. It was indeed Prime Minister Qu who sold us a sum of grain and grass. This is the receipt!"
Seeing that there were all the documents, the old emperor turned red with anger.
"Your Majesty, I also ask you to avenge the injustice of the soldiers who starved to death at Beimen Pass!" Lin Ziyi clasped his fists heavily and said every word.
"Come here! Arrest Prime Minister Qu and throw him into the dungeon!"
After the emperor gave an order, Prime Minister Qu's legs softened and he knelt on the ground. He wanted to speak, but found that it was difficult to even breathe.
"It's over, it's over..."
He was dragged out by the Imperial Guards with a look of despair on his face.
On the same day, the emperor ordered the residence of Prime Minister Qu to be ransacked, and the looted property was comparable to the national treasury.
Three days later, the emperor ordered everyone to be beheaded.
All the people involved were arrested and punished with the same crime.
Two days after that, Lin Ziyi took Qi Tianxiao to the tombstone of Lieutenant General Qi.
"Now, you can rest in peace!" Lin Ziyi said solemnly.
Qi Tianxiao knelt in front of the grave and cried loudly, "Brother, Brother Ziyi made the decision for you. You are not guilty now. You are a hero. The emperor also gave you a reward. It's a pity that you are no longer here..."
The wind blew through the leaves in the mountains and rustled, as if it wanted to tell something. Just for a moment, the wind stopped everything and returned to calm, seemingly relieved...
Lin Ziyi turned around and left, leaving Qi Tianxiao and his brother some alone time.
And at this moment, the knot in his heart also opened!
…
In the food hall.
Xia Jin was sitting on the second floor of the Food Hall, listening to the diners discussing topics about Prime Minister Qu.
"The property plundered from Prime Minister Qu's residence is more than the national treasury. How greedy is this!"
"The general's salary is resold and left to starve the frontline soldiers. He also framed him and said that he was not doing things well. Tsk, tsk, tsk, beheading this kind of person is considered a light thing!"
"Poor Lieutenant General, he was still wronged after his death. Fortunately, General Lin finally avenged his injustice!"
"I heard that during the head count, there were two people missing!"
"Who?"
"The eldest lady Dongmenshi and her daughter Qu Linglong were picked up in advance!"
"Is there anything else?"
"Harm, after all, they are members of the Dongmen family. With their power, it is not difficult to take away one or two people!"
Xia Jin squinted her eyes. Did the mother and daughter escape?
Eating melon seeds and listening to gossip, the day passed quickly. Guests came and went in the restaurant, and Xia Jin lost her fun after hearing too many true and false news.
He clapped his hands and stood up to see the old lady. As soon as he opened the door, he saw Li Qiang standing at the door.
"Xiao Qiang, it's you who scared me. You come to me at this time. What's wrong?" Xia Jin asked.
Li Qiang nodded and said: "Master, I have something very important to tell you!"
Xia Jin opened the door and said, "Come in and talk!"
Li Qiang walked in and closed the door. He looked at Xia Jin and thought for several days before deciding to tell Xia Jin about this.
"Master, do you still remember the man in black who followed us in Lincheng? I saw his face. He is actually from the Food God Hall!"
