The case of a minister of the Ministry of Rites, who was ordered by his mother-in-law to hire a murderer to frame his colleagues, attracted widespread attention both among the people and the court.
Everyone's goal is focused on the Ministry of Punishment and they are paying attention to the progress of this matter.
Using despicable means to frame colleagues has touched the bottom line of the court. According to the law, both the wife of the Zhou family and the Minister of Rites will be severely punished.
But in the end, the Minister of Rites was only dismissed from his post, and the fourth wife of the Zhou family only lost her status as a married woman.
This is because the Zhou family took out two death-free gold medals given by the late emperor and used the death-free gold medals to absolve themselves of sins. Although it was a bit wasteful, it was really a helpless move.
According to the law, the fourth wife of the Zhou family, as the main conspirator, would not only be deprived of her status as a married woman, but also be relegated to a lowly status. If the Ministry of Punishment was more ruthless, it would not be impossible to classify her as an official prostitute.
The Zhou family now regards itself as a royal family. If the Zhou family's wife becomes an official prostitute, the Zhou family's face may be pressed to the ground and trampled on, and the Zhou family will become a joke in the whole city.
The Zhou family used the gold medal to absolve the two of their crimes, but in fact the old party, especially the Xiao royal family, felt uncomfortable.
The Zhou family took away the empire of the late emperor, and now they have to use the gold medal for immunity from death given by the late emperor to absolve the Zhou family. For the Xiao family, this is more disgusting than swallowing a hundred flies.
Fortunately, these two gold medals will never appear again in the future. I will feel sick sooner or later. It is better to feel sick sooner than later.
In Nanyuan, a grand banquet is being held in a luxurious mansion.
At the banquet, everyone from the old party gathered together. In addition to the officials in the court, there were also many members of the Xiao family. The table was filled with delicacies. Everyone was changing glasses and laughing constantly.
Zhou Zhong, the doctor in the Ministry of Justice, is undoubtedly the protagonist of this banquet.
He already had a very high status in the old party. This time, he caused the Zhou family to suffer such a big loss and made great contributions to the old party.
"The traitor of the Zhou family tried his best to please the late emperor when he was still there, and got two gold medals for immunity from death. In the past few years, every time I think about this, I feel like I have a knot in my throat. Now I finally spit out this fish bone. I am so happy.
!”
"It's really satisfying. The Zhou family has lost two death-free gold medals. It also gives us less worries."
"Master Zhou, I would like to propose a toast to you."
"I also want to toast Mr. Zhou!"
…
Zhou Zhong is the protagonist of today's banquet. Even the original royal descendants of the Xiao family gave him enough respect. This also made other officials present envious. Zhou Zhong is in a high position, has the ability and means, and is highly valued by the Xiao family.
, after today, I am afraid that I will be exposed to more secrets of the royal family, and my future future is limitless, and will definitely be more than just a minister of the Ministry of Justice.
Once Xiao regains power, his status in the court will be higher than it is now.
Imperial Palace, in front of Changle Palace.
A palace maid on duty was on duty, and several figures came from a distance and stopped beside her.
She looked up and immediately bowed and said, "I have met Commander Mei."
Master Mei glanced at her and said, "Drag her down, give her a hundred slaps on the mouth, twenty spanks with a cane, and send her to Fushou Palace."
The palace maid seemed to realize something, her face turned pale, and her body couldn't stop trembling.
Master Mei asked calmly: "Do you know why you are punished?"
The palace maid knelt on the ground and said in a trembling voice: "Commander Mei, I know you are wrong, I know you are wrong!"
Lord Mei gave her one last look and said: "When you are on duty in the palace, you must abide by the rules of the palace. Don't listen to things you shouldn't hear, let alone say things you shouldn't say. Take her down and fight outside the Fushou Palace...
…”
Fushou Palace.
Fushou Palace is located in the West Palace. It was originally the residence of the concubines of the harem. Today the queen has no concubines, and the late emperor's concubines were not driven out of the West Palace. Fushou Palace is the residence of the imperial concubine.
In the West Palace, the Empress Dowager is the most respected, followed by the Imperial Concubine. Since the death of the late emperor, the several concubines have basically been in a state of staying in the palace. On weekdays, the West Palace is extremely quiet.
Today, the silence of the West Palace was broken by screams.
A palace maid was escorted to the entrance of Fushou Palace by two guards. She was first slapped a hundred times, and then pinned to the ground and beaten twenty times with a cane. Her screams were so pitiful that the entire West Palace could clearly hear her.
The West Palace is a pure place, and the internal guards do not have such courage. The Queen must have signaled behind her.
The torture of the palace maid was not carried out in the Yongshou Palace of the Queen Mother, nor in front of the palaces of other concubines. It could not be a coincidence that the Fushou Palace of the Crown Princess was chosen.
It must be that the Crown Princess did something that dissatisfied His Majesty and touched His Majesty's temper, which made her change her respect for the concubines and not give the Crown Princess any face.
This is an obvious warning.
In the Fushou Palace, an old palace maid looked angry and said loudly: "There are so many places in the palace that she didn't choose, but she chose this place at the entrance of our palace. Isn't this obvious to the Crown Princess..."
The Crown Princess sighed: "Yes, this is her warning to the Ai family. The Ai family did not expect that she would defend that person in this way, but the Ai family was negligent..."
Not long after, a palace maid came in and said, "My dear concubine, that palace maid has fainted. Do you want someone to take her out of the West Palace?"
The Crown Princess shook her head and said: "After all, she is from the Ai family. Bring her into the palace and let her work in Fushou Palace from now on."
After saying that, she looked at the old palace maid again and asked, "How is Yunyang?"
The old palace maid sighed and said: "When the consort's accident happened, it hit the princess hard. She locked herself in the princess's mansion all day long and saw no one..."
The Crown Princess said: "No one expected that the person named Cui was actually an undercover agent of the Demon Sect. When he went to the princess's house, he told her what the Ai family said and asked her to come to Fushou Palace to stay with the Ai family for a few days..."
Princess Yunyang Mansion.
Cui Ming's identity as an undercover agent was exposed. After escaping from the divine capital, Princess Yunyang locked herself in the mansion and saw no one except her personal maid who delivered meals every day.
At this time, in Princess Yunyang's room, she looked at a woman who suddenly appeared and asked in shock: "Who are you?"
The woman smiled at her and said, "It doesn't matter who I am, what's important is that I'm here to help you."
Princess Yunyang warned: "You leave quickly, otherwise I will call someone."
The woman shook her head and said, "You can shout, I have sealed this place with a formation. Even if you shout, no one will hear you."
Princess Yunyang looked pale and said, "What exactly do you want to do?"
The woman looked at her and said slowly: "Didn't I tell you, I'm here to help you. Do you want to see the consort again, do you want to sit in the highest position?"
The woman's voice was bewitching, and Princess Yunyang asked blankly: "What is the highest position?"
The woman said: "Of course it is the supreme position, the ninth-five-year-old position."
Princess Yunyang was shocked and said: "How is this possible!"
The woman smiled slightly and said: "Other women can sit, why can't you? Don't forget, you have the blood of the Xiao family and are the late emperor's biological daughter. You are more suitable to sit in that position than her..."
In the room, Princess Yunyang thought about her words, and the alert look on her face gradually disappeared...
Li Mansion.
Li Mu also already knew that the Zhou family used two death-free gold medals to rescue the Minister of Rites and Zhou Chu's mother.
The Zhou family had a gold medal for immunity from death, but he did not expect that although the two culprits were not severely punished by the law, they were not without gains.
Things like death-free gold medals shouldn't exist in the first place. Use one piece at a time and lose one piece at a time. Sooner or later, when he is done with his work, Li Mu will have to find a way to destroy them all.
But right now, he has more important things to do.
The imperial examination was coming soon. Even though he wrote the syllabus, the examination questions were issued by various ministries, so he had to prepare. If he failed the examination, he would be embarrassed not only for himself but also for the empress.
In addition, Cui Ming's incident had a great impact on the imperial court. The most direct impact was that everyone among the officials in the imperial court looked like an undercover agent of the Demon Sect, especially the good-looking ones, who were under heavy suspicion.
After all, even the prince-consort and fourth-level officials of a country have been infiltrated by the Demon Sect. They have been planning on Cui Ming for twenty years. Who knows if they have infiltrated in other places.
But in this kind of thing, apart from soul searching, the undercover identity of the other party can only be discovered after the undercover agent is exposed.
The court is now in a state of chaos and chaos, which will actually make the officials panic, which is not conducive to the stability of the current situation. Li Mude suggested that the Queen should stop the investigation of the undercover agents of the Demon Sect. Historical experience shows that this kind of heavy pressure is not conducive to maintaining stability.
Very disadvantageous.
Coupled with what just happened, many officials from the New Party and the Old Party were directly dismissed from their posts. There was already some turmoil in the court, and the chaos in the court could not be allowed to continue.
The doctor in the Ministry of Rites, the foreign minister in the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the Prime Minister of Taichang Temple were dismissed. Those vacant important positions were quickly filled. Many officials were promoted, and their original positions were left vacant, just for future generations.
It will be settled after the imperial examination.
The biggest winner of this frame-up incident is not Li Mu, but someone else.
The Minister of Rites ruined his own future, and his position was taken over by another Minister of Rites.
This Liu Langzhong did not agree with the Minister of Rites and participate in the impeachment of Li Mu. It happened that the Ministry of Rites was seriously short of people this time. He took advantage of this incident to rise to the top, from being a doctor to the Minister in one step, eliminating at least ten years of work.
If you endure hardship, you may become the biggest winner in this matter.
Shendu, a mansion in Beiyuan.
Liu Qing, the newly appointed Minister of Rites, opened the door of the palace. The two and a half-year-old children playing in the courtyard discarded their toys and ran over quickly, opened their arms and said happily: "Daddy is back..."
Liu Qing picked up the two children, a boy and a girl, teased them for a while, then put them down and said, "You can play by yourself, daddy is busy with official duties..."
Because of the imperial examination, the officials of the Ministry of Rites were busy with their affairs. Even after he was sent to the Yamen, he still had many things to be busy with.
He walked into the study, glanced at a bronze mirror on the study table out of habit, and his eyes narrowed slightly.
A strange rune appeared on the bronze mirror.
Liu Qing set up a soundproof formation, picked up the bronze mirror, and used magic power to activate it. A man's face appeared on the bronze mirror.
Liu Qing said with a sullen face: "You finally contacted me. How long will I stay in the city of God?"
The man said: "Three years."
An angry look appeared on Liu Qing's face, and he said sternly: "It's three years again. That's what you said three years ago. Three years ago, you still said that. I've been in the city of God for ten years. For
In order not to arouse others' suspicion, I bought a house, married a wife, and even gave birth to two children. I was promoted from an eighth-grade official to the Minister of Rites. Now you tell me how many third-grade officials there are in the past three years.
Year!"
The man frowned and said, "Pay attention to your attitude. Don't forget who avenged your parents for you."
Liu Qing snorted coldly: "If it weren't for this matter, do you think I would listen to your nonsense here? Tell me, you haven't contacted me much in the past ten years, what do you want me to do this time?"
The man said: "I didn't contact you because it was for your safety. Now I have an important matter that I need your help with. The imperial examination is coming soon. I have arranged for some of our people to participate in the imperial examination. You want to
Help them pass the imperial examination."
"This is impossible."
Liu Qing flatly rejected his words and said: "I don't need to say more about the importance of the imperial examination to the imperial court. This is the first year that the imperial court got rid of the four major academies. There must be countless people's eyes staring at the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Zongzheng Temple, and other academies.
There are internal guards, and no one with great ability can tamper with the imperial examination."
The man said calmly: "As far as I know, the imperial examination is organized by the Ministry of Rites. You are the Minister of Rites. How many people do you have to help? Isn't it easy?"
Liu Qing shook his head and said: "The risk is too high to do it. Who knew that Cui Ming was actually your undercover agent, and he was accidentally exposed. Now the court is very strict about investigating undercover agents, and people with my appearance are even more important.
The subject of suspicion is on tenterhooks every day when I go to court. Do you know how much pressure I feel?"
The man's voice was unmistakable and he said: "This is an order, not a discussion with you. Don't forget who avenged your parents. Without me sending you to the academy, you wouldn't have the consequences of disobeying orders today."
You should know that your wife, your children, including you, will all die without a burial place..."
Liu Qing looked out the window and looked at the two children laughing and playing in the yard. After a moment, she looked back and asked, "Aren't you afraid that I will be exposed?"
The man said calmly: "Cui Ming's identity was accidentally revealed. You are different from Cui Ming. You are my secret son. Only I know your identity. As long as I don't tell, no one will know."
Liu Qing was silent for a moment and said, "Okay."
The man said: "I will give you the list as soon as possible."
Liu Qing asked: "Do they know my identity?"
The man said: "I don't know, the fewer people know about the undercover identity, the better."
Liu Qing nodded and said: "I will try my best to help them, but I can't guarantee whether I will be exposed. Over the years, I have been undercover in the court and found out a lot of secrets. Just in case, I have to keep these things
I’ll leave it to you first, you need to come to the Capital of Gods…”
The man was silent for a moment and said: "Three days later, northwest of the divine capital, three hundred miles away..."
