On the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, in the prime minister's house, Du Hanfei, who had just left court, was furious in the study.
Yesterday, Taifu Wu, an old man, brought the minister of Dali Temple to his prime minister's house to arrest someone. He went to the palace overnight to argue with Taifu Wu in front of the emperor. But after all, the official silver was dug out. Those farmers still had Zhu Chenlin's private messages on them, so their detention was inevitable, but fortunately they could still be saved.
He was already making connections, and had arranged for people to question him during the morning meeting. He planned to find someone to take the blame in a day or two, and the matter of replacing Zhu Chenlin would be over.
As a result, he could hear people talking about it all the way back to his home after going to court. There are also some wandering children singing ballads: "Zhu Chenlin, the governor of Jiangzhou, took bribes and perverted the law to harm the governor. Honest officials were wronged and sent to prison, and there is no justice for traitors and sycophants. No! God! Reason!..."
Although it was well known when Zhu Chenlin was arrested yesterday, he suppressed it quickly enough and blocked the news. The people probably only knew that he was in jail, but they didn't know what was going on. But why? Overnight, the whole city knew about it!
With a "pop" sound, another piece of blue and white porcelain was smashed.
"Have you found out who spread the news?" Prime Minister Du asked his confidant Mingyi.
Mingyi knelt on the ground, with the blue and white porcelain broken at his feet. He bit the bullet and replied: "Master Xiang, we really can't find it. We have basically asked all over the capital, and the most useful information is that there is a masked man in black. Man, he left his silver and taught this song and disappeared. First, he has no appearance, and second, he has no characteristics. There is only one sentence: man in black, subordinate. I really don’t know where to find it."
"Father, don't embarrass Mingyi. There is really nothing he can do about it." Prime Minister Du's eldest son, Du Kun, advised.
Mingyi glanced at Du Kun gratefully.
"Brother, what should we do now?" Du Ming, the second son of Prime Minister Du, said sarcastically.
Du Kun glanced at Du Ming with his peripheral vision, then turned to Prime Minister Du and said, "The most important thing now is to get Zhu Chenlin out of it."
Prime Minister Du nodded and said to Du Kun: "Leave this matter to you. In the evening, arrange for someone to go to Dali Temple to confess the crime."
"Yes." Du Kun resigned and went out to do things.
Du Ming walked up to Prime Minister Du and asked, "Dad, are you going to stop investigating this matter?"
"Check, why not check? Go and check the person who submitted the complaint for me." Prime Minister Du said angrily.
"yes."
Du Ming shrank his neck and resigned.
"Pah. Pah. Pah." There were bursts of shattering sounds in the study. The entire Prime Minister's Mansion was shrouded in gloom, and the servants were also cautious and frightened.
In the imperial study, the emperor was flipping through the memorials and asked Eunuch Li next to him: "I heard that the people in the capital are very concerned about Zhu Chenlin's case?"
"Yes. There was a lot of discussion."
"Where did the news get out?"
"Well, maybe the Dali Temple Minister was too showy when he arrested someone yesterday."
"What do you think about this matter?"
Eunuch Li glanced at the emperor's expression and said, "The emperor has made his own decision in this matter."
The emperor snorted coldly and cursed: "Old fox."
Eunuch Li said with a flattering smile: "I'm going to make a new pot of tea for the emperor."
When Eunuch Li left the royal study, he was surrounded by people sent by concubines and princes from various palaces. Everyone wants to know the emperor's attitude to decide which side their master should stand on.
A piece of silver was stuffed into Eunuch Li's arms. Li Wei was not confused at the critical moment. Now that he was stuck on Zhu Chenlin's matter, he didn't dare to collect cash.
He pushed away the white coins, took a few steps back, and said to everyone: "The Sacred Heart is unpredictable, and even this old slave doesn't know it. Please go back." After saying that, he turned around and walked away quickly.
In the Jade Palace, Concubine Li said to Xiao Yanjun: "Jun'er, I think this matter is more like thunder than rain. Prime Minister Du has been an official for many years, has many disciples, and is powerful. Zhu Chenlin is a scapegoat for this kind of thing. That’s it, I think you should say something nice for him in front of the emperor and sell yourself a favor.”
"Mother and concubine, this matter has caused quite a stir among the people." Xiao Yanjun did not want to take on a bad reputation and speak for Prime Minister Du at this time.
"After all, it's just a private matter. Can it bring down Prime Minister Du? Since it can't be done, we will support him at this time, so that he will remember this sentiment."
Xiao Yanjun thought about it and agreed, as long as Zhu Chenlin was acquitted in the end. Rumors will naturally be broken without attack, and the public opinion of the people will ultimately be determined by the results. As soon as he thought about it, he replied: "Yes, I understand."
Empress Li Fei nodded with satisfaction.
In Yongning Hall, Xiao Zimu was holding a handwritten letter. It says that Zhu Chenlin can be of the same mind as Taifu Wu. The handwriting is wild cursive.
If Lord Marquis hadn't given this letter to him, he would have been unable to believe that it was Xia Chu's handwriting.
He took it in his hand and rubbed it repeatedly, and after a while he finally took it to burn.
(End of chapter)