Chapter 080: The Inside Story of the Imperial Envoy's Death
In the main hall of the Governor's Mansion, Xia Bingyan was sitting on the main seat with an expressionless expression. On the two chairs below were dozens of important court officials from Qingshan City. They were all sitting at home or at the public gate, doing their own business, but
Wei Zhong, the commander of the Ouchi guards, held the Queen's token and invited him to the Governor's Mansion.
"I wonder why the Empress summoned us here at this time?" Master Chen asked, cupping his hands.
LiuXu silently refilled Xia Bingyan's teacup with a faint expression on her soft face.
She picked up the tea cup and took a sip. Is it summer? It's so hot.
"Of course something happened. If I don't ask you questions later, who dares to say a word, kill!"
This sentence made everyone here cheer up. Before they knew what was going on, they shut their mouths. It seemed that what happened next was not that simple. Everyone lowered their eyes and said nothing.
, but they were all slandering in their hearts.
Mr. Chen's face was particularly ugly, maybe it was because of that incident.
Soon, Chunhong's figure appeared in front of the door.
She stepped forward quickly and said slightly, "Queen, I'm here."
"Um!"
Father Li quickly walked into the main hall from the corner. Before he saw the people in front of him, several villagers in simple clothes knelt down.
"Common people see the Queen."
"Dad Li, please get up." She looked at everyone with a smile in her voice, "Chunhong, please give me a seat."
"Yes!" Chunhong raised her hand to greet the guards standing not far away, and asked them to bring a chair and place it next to her, "Dad Li, please sit down."
Now that the Queen has spoken, take a seat.
Everyone then sat down one by one, but they all lowered their heads and did not dare to look up at the woman sitting in the main seat.
"Dad Li, if I ask you questions, just speak frankly. If you have any problems or grievances, I will take care of them for you."
"Yes, the common people know, thank you, Queen Mother." Father Li stood up and knelt down again gratefully.
"There's no need to kneel down, just sit down and answer." She raised her hand to stop her. She could talk like this for a long time without finishing the questions.
"Hey, yes, yes." Dad Li sat back down again, but he didn't dare to sit too much. He is still thinking about it in his heart, the Queen, she is the most noble woman in the world, meet Biden
It’s so hard, God has blessed me that an old guy like him actually saw me.
"Dad Li, have you ever heard that an imperial envoy appointed by the imperial court came here last month?"
"Imperial envoy? Some." Father Li replied without hesitation, "We in the village were very happy at that time. The emperor finally came to solve the drought for us. But who knew that a few days later, we would hear that the imperial envoy
Infected with a nasty disease."
At the end of the sentence, I sighed helplessly.
"Death of illness." She whispered and chuckled.
"The imperial envoy was inspecting Qingshan City to deal with the drought. He brought five million taels of relief funds with him. It was allocated by the imperial court. Have Father Li and others received it?"
"Empress, um..." An official sitting next to Mr. Li stood up, raised his hands and was about to speak.
"Come here, drag her down and chop her down." Xia Bingyan's face was startled, and her words made everyone's hearts tremble with fear.
"Yes." Soon several officers and soldiers rushed in, dragged the official and left without even giving him a chance to speak.
"I have said that when I don't ask you questions again, who dares to say a word, Zhan." She glanced coldly at the people in official robes in front of her, and sneered at the corner of her lips, "There are really some people who are not afraid of death.
Come and challenge me."
He looked at Father Li and others with cold eyes, encouraging and comforting.
"Dad, don't be afraid. I want to ask you if you have received the disaster relief funds."
Father Li's eyes were full of horror that had not yet recovered, and he didn't know whether to nod or shake his head.
Xia Bingyan sighed softly, "Don't be afraid, Father Li. I am solely responsible for this matter. As long as Father Li answers truthfully, I will definitely let you get through the disaster year safely."
"Back to the Queen, the grassroots and others have not received the relief funds." A man in gray and coarse cloth stood up and answered.
"Seriously?" she asked repeatedly.
"Of course the common people dare not deceive the Queen. Now is a disaster year, and the common people just want the victims to live in peace."
"What's your name?" This young man is quite courageous.
"Caomin Zhao Qingzhu." The man in gray lowered his head and answered.
"Have you ever read a book?" He looked like he was wearing simple clothes, but in fact he was wearing a gentle and upright attitude.
"Oh, I have read it." An old man with gray hair like Mr. Li stood up and replied with a smile, "Qingzhu is the private school teacher in our village, he knows a lot."
"Village Chief, don't praise me, I just know a little bit." Zhao Qingzhu hurriedly tugged on the village chief's sleeve.
"Why are you praising you? Didn't you also take part in the palace examination?" Then he looked at Xia Bingyan with a smile, "The queen doesn't know, Qingzhu is the most knowledgeable child in our village, and he took part in the palace examination three years ago.
Well, the emperor was also very satisfied with him, but for some reason, he later returned to the village and opened a private school."
"Oh? Why is that?" She raised her eyebrows and had an idea in her mind.
"Replying to my wife, it's just that my mother has raised the poor people for many years, but she passed away when the poor people were able to take care of her. The poor people couldn't bear it, so they had to stay at home to observe their filial piety." This is the reason why she stayed in the village.
"Hey, is it because of this? Qingzhu, your mother is alive in heaven, so you will feel relieved, but you can't guard our small village just because of this, and your mother's hard work has been wasted." The village chief
Only today did I understand the real reason why this young man stayed in the village.
"Master Chen!"
"Wei Chen is here." Mr. Chen, who had been feeling uneasy for a long time, heard Xia Bingyan calling him and stood up hurriedly.
"What do you think of what you just said?"
"Wei Chen..."
"Master Chen, you are the biggest official in Qingshan City. If you dare to say that you don't know, I won't believe it."
"..." Master Chen was sweating on the tip of his nose.
"I have not forgotten that Mr. Chen told me a few days ago that the imperial envoy did not come here. It seems that Mr. Chen deceived me. You know, killing the imperial envoy will be beheaded, and embezzling the imperial government's disaster relief funds
, are going to be punished by the Nine Clan, Mr. Chen, you have to think carefully, how to answer me can be done in one thought."
"Wei Chen deserves to die!"
"It really deserves to be damned. It is not a secret in Qingshan City that the imperial envoy patrols the sky on behalf of the emperor. Yet Mr. Chen went to such great lengths to conceal it and refused to report it. He knew that the paper could not contain the fire after all, but still resisted. It is really a heinous crime.
."
Her words were very soft, but they were like thunder in Mr. Chen's ears.
"Empress, the imperial envoy was indeed not killed by a minor official. Please tell me clearly." Master Chen knelt on the ground with all his strength, his forehead resting on the ground, and his body was shaking violently.
"As the governor of the northwest, he allowed an imperial envoy to die in his own jurisdiction and kept it secret, then deceived me and the emperor. This is the crime of beheading. Where is the five million taels of disaster relief money now? Please explain clearly.
It's better if you do, otherwise don't blame me for not giving you a chance."
"Your Majesty, I know that I really don't know. The imperial envoy died on the second day after arriving at Qingshan City. I also checked the treasury and found that five million taels of official silver have disappeared. Please spare my life, the Empress."
Mr. Chen knelt down and shouted loudly, and the officials next to him also knelt down to apologize.
Xia Bingyan couldn't help frowning. The imperial envoy was killed and the official silver disappeared. It had nothing to do with them? What a joke.