"Oh?" Zhu Gaoxu sat up straight, holding the table with both hands, and looked at Mo Li, "Who is it? If you are so ignorant of praise, are you not afraid that this prince will settle accounts with his wife?"
"Your Majesty, please don't worry. This time, all the officials in the court did not know that it was you, Your Majesty, who planned this joint petition to hold the Purple-clothed Captain accountable. Therefore, it is very unfortunate that some officials who have conflicts with Li An did not join the petition.
Normal. However, there is one thing that my subordinates can't figure out. The Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Criminal Department are both departments of the Three Law Departments of the Ming Dynasty. They often handle cases together, and their relationship should be much closer than others. But this time, only both
The Procuratorate did not participate in the joint petition."
Mo Li said slowly, word by word.
"Metropolitan Procuratorate? Is it that old man Jiang Qianxiao again?" Zhu Gaoxu raised his right hand and slapped it hard on the desk.
Zhu Gaoxu became angry when he mentioned the Metropolitan Procuratorate. If that old man Jiang Qianxiao hadn't poked fun at him in front of his father, he wouldn't have been stripped of his official title by his father and was about to be deposed as a commoner.
Li Li nodded: "It is Jiang Qianxiao. Moreover, not only Jiang Qianxiao did not participate in the joint petition, but also the Youdu Censor Wanqing, the Left and Right Fudu Censors, and the Left and Right Censors of Qiandu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate did not participate in the joint petition. This is Jiang Qianxiao's general
The entire Metropolitan Procuratorate is under control and they are not allowed to participate in this matter."
"This old man must have sensed danger and was unwilling to participate, so he chose to protect himself wisely," Zhu Gaoxu said.
"Jiang Qianxiao has been an official for decades and can sit firmly in the position of Zuodu Yushi. Naturally, he has certain abilities. He has seen this matter thoroughly and will not participate if he does not participate. As long as he does not ruin the prince's plan
, we don’t need to pay attention to him.”
"It's just that if Jiang Qianxiao secretly goes around with the officials to destroy the prince's plan, has the prince thought about how to deal with it?"
"How to deal with it? I never thought that he would do this. If he really wants to destroy it, we can only urge Li An to speed up the attack on the purple-clothed captain, and try to get the words from my father before he destroys it.
, get a result.”
Zhu Gaoxu put his right hand on the table, held the wine glass in the air, and said thoughtfully.
Li Qiye flashed his little mouse eyes a few times and lowered his voice: "Your Majesty, you didn't want to ask King Zhao to push forward the progress of the matter?"
Zhu Gaoxu was stunned, why didn't he think of this?
Although King Zhao is not favored like himself now, he is his father's biological son after all, and he lives in the capital. If he wants to talk to his father, it is not difficult.
If he could enter the palace and point out that Cangcheng's death had caused public outrage in the court, perhaps his father would consider taking back the imperial gift of purple clothes.
If the purple clothes that had just been given were taken back, the father would definitely feel very uncomfortable. At that time, all the officials would follow the prince and strongly oppose Zheng He's voyage again.
When several things overlapped, the prince's status in his father's heart should have plummeted.
Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu showed a smile on his face and looked at the counselor Mo Li beside him: "Give King Zhao a letter to write and let him secretly add fuel to the flames."
...
On the street in front of Li An's mansion, after watching Duan Tianming arrange the manpower to monitor Shangshu's mansion, Xiao Chen and his two men quickly returned to the Dongchang headquarters.
Lin Shangli sat under the portrait of Yue Fei in the hall, waiting for news about the two of them.
Hundreds of officials suddenly appeared in the court and jointly signed a letter, seemingly to blame Xiao Chen, but in fact it was aimed at the emperor's royal gift of purple clothes, and indirectly was dissatisfied with Dongchang's privileges.
Lin Shangli didn't believe Li An, the Minister of Punishment, had the guts to do such a thing.
Two strong figures walked into the Dongchang hall under the night sky.
"Did you find any clues?" Lin Shangli looked up at the dusty two and asked.
Turning around, he ordered Little Plum to add some charcoal to the stove in the hall.
In the first month of the year, the capital is still cold. Especially after nightfall, without a burning stove, most people are so trembling that they can't even speak.
Although Xiao Chen and Duan Tianming are strong, Lin Shangli does not want them to suffer from the cold in the Dongchang Hall.
Xiao Chen took his hands out of his sleeves, rubbed them a few times and then covered his face. Xiao Chen sat down directly on the chair next to the stove.
"Li An's steward is much more stable and experienced than Li An himself, and he was once a member of the King of Han's guard, Tiance Guard. I suspect that he is the person arranged by the King of Han to be around Li An."
Xiao Chen bent his body forward and simply put his entire face above the fire, absorbing the temperature of the stove like a barbecue.
Seeing Xiao Chen's face, Duan Tianming couldn't stand it any longer. He walked to the stove, opened his hands, and started heating up the fire too.
"Little plum, go get a jar of soju." Lin Shangli felt a little distressed seeing his right-hand man frozen like this.
"Have our people been arranged near Shangshu's Mansion?" Lin Shangli asked again.
"Yes." Duan Tianming nodded and rubbed his face with his hands that were already warm.
"It's so cold at night, let them put on more clothes." Lin Shangli said.
"The lieutenants are carrying the stove. They change guard every few hours and take turns lighting the fire." Duan Tianming responded.
Xiao Lizi had already brought over a jar of soju, poured two full bowls, and handed them to Xiao Chen and Xiao Chen respectively.
"All the officials in the court are dissatisfied with Dongchang's privileges. How can they see the sins that the captain of Dongchang suffered in order to thoroughly investigate a case." Xiao Chen drank up all the shochu in the bowl in one gulp.
Vent your dissatisfaction.
"This group of civil servants just needs to assist the government properly, but they have to create so many tricks, follow others to fool around, and be used as weapons by others. After this incident, another group of people will fall. I really don't understand, they
They are all learned scholars, how come they can’t even see this clearly?”
Lin Shangli muttered and pulled the chair in front of the stove.
It seemed that after drinking a bowl of wine, his whole body warmed up. Xiao Chen grinned and said with a smile: "Why don't you Dongchang and Jinyiwei be a thorn in the side of those civil servants, especially after the emperor gave me the unicorn purple clothes?
It was like a sharp sword hanging on their heads. Unless this sharp sword was removed, they would not be able to sleep or eat well. Just in time, with the death of Cangcheng, they thought they had a handle and started a massive counterattack."
Looking at the smiling Xiao Chen, Lin Shangli glared at him: "After I heard the news, I was very worried about your safety. It's better for you to act like you're fine."
Xiao Chen smiled mischievously: "Mr. Factory Master, you are worrying too much. It's not like you don't understand the Emperor. You let him take back his life so easily. Where can I put the Emperor's face? Besides, the current Jin Yiwei has become a blunt instrument."
Of the swords, only our Dongchang is left. If even Dongchang becomes a dull sword, what will the emperor use to check and balance these civil servants?"
"I feel that it is necessary for you to follow me and enter the palace tomorrow." Lin Shangli said seriously.