Emperor Longqing listened carefully to the report from Lord Qian, and sat behind the desk with a confused expression. He looked at the daffodils whose shadows were vaguely visible outside through the screen, and lowered his head to look at the letter in his hand. After a while, he asked, "Was it the second wife of the Peng family who caused this?"
Qian Shiyun replied respectfully, "Yes."
You always need to be extra alert when talking to the emperor, after all, something bad could happen if you are not careful.
Although Qian Shiyun was the youngest among the cabinet ministers, he was the most cautious and never said or did anything more than what he wanted.
Emperor Longqing put the letter aside, looked at Prince Zheng, who had been silent since he came in, and asked him, "What do you think?"
King Zheng touched his chin, smiled helplessly and spread his hands: "Brother, you really asked me this question. How should I know? But..." He smiled heartlessly: "But I don't think the fifth son of the Wei family is someone who can do such a thing."
After he finished speaking, he burst into laughter again: "But you never know. There's a saying that goes 'You can know a person's face but not his heart.'"
Emperor Longqing frowned and scolded him, "Nonsense!" He shook his head and sighed, "Now even your nephews have begun to learn to do errands, why are you still so ridiculous? The Wei family is half your in-laws after all, and Shouning was raised by Old Madam Wei. I have told you so many times that you are not allowed to be disrespectful to Old Madam Wei!"
King Zheng's attitude towards the Wei family was really too perfunctory.
Lord Qian lowered his head with a somewhat subtle expression.
Emperor Longqing seemed to be scolding Prince Zheng, but he looked very relaxed, which showed that he thought Prince Zheng's attitude was normal.
But judging from what he said, King Zheng didn't seem to be really indifferent to the Wei family's affairs...
But who knows? These things are not their business, so he kept his mouth shut.
Prince Zheng looked at Emperor Longqing helplessly, wanting to say something but not saying it. He just said perfunctorily, "I know, my royal brother." After a pause, he said, "There is one more thing. Speaking of this, what's going on with the Peng family? It's like a play, and it hasn't ended yet. It's been going on for more than a month, and it seems to be going on. There are so many things going on!"
Prince Zheng was complaining, but Emperor Longqing didn't find it offensive.
He also felt that the Peng family had too many things to do.
Before, the Peng family said they wanted to marry Wei An, and Concubine Peng De came to ask him for help, so he was genuinely willing to make this marriage happen.
But who would have known that in the end such a terrible thing would happen and the marriage would fall through.
It would have been fine if it had failed, but Master Peng actually went to provoke them. At the time, King Zheng was so angry that he felt he had lost face.
This matter has not yet come to an end, and now the Peng family has been involved in collusion with Japanese pirates.
Emperor Longqing did not believe that Wei Yangqing was smuggling weapons.
Wei Yangqing was in charge of the Shangbao Division. What good things had he not seen? And even if the Shangbao Division was honest, it would still be profitable. Not to mention that the Wei family was already very wealthy.
Wei Yangqing had to be crazy to do such a thing.
He felt a little headache, and angrily ordered Qian Shiyun: "Investigate this matter thoroughly! Interrogate Madam Peng Er."
Qian Shiyun came just to report. After all, Concubine Peng De's brother was involved, so he still wanted to get instructions from Emperor Longqing before doing anything.
Since Emperor Longqing had given the order, he stopped interrogating and simply responded. Then he went to discuss with Censor Chen and the Secretary of the Dali Temple, and interrogated Madam Peng overnight.
The very next day, the Peng family's steward and a shopkeeper outside were arrested.
With the testimony of the second wife and the fact that the second wife's daughter, Peng Siniang, knew many secrets of the Yi family, the case progressed surprisingly quickly after the previous bottleneck period.
Soon they found the Yi family’s secret vault and seized a lot of stolen money.
There is also a batch of weapons with the imperial emblem that have been replaced and will be shipped to the Zhangzhou wharf in Fujian after the storm has passed.
The document for the release of this batch of weapons was issued by Wei Yangqing. It was because of this that when Fan Shiqi reported Wei Yangqing, the Three Departments decided to arrest him.
Now that the criminal has been caught red-handed, Wei Yangqing's suspicion is naturally cleared - he had said before that he knew nothing at all.
And the worst thing is that Master Peng used to be a good friend of Wei Yangqing...
Qian Shiyun clicked his tongue twice and clapped his hands: "This case..."
This case is of great significance.
More than 3,000 soldiers died, and these soldiers did not die at the hands of the Japanese pirates, but at the hands of their own people, at the hands of corrupt officials. They died with regrets.
Whenever he thought about it, he felt wronged and dissatisfied for these soldiers.
The Peng family and the Yi family...
He knew this case was too coincidental.
Just based on what Dong Da said, even if it is all true, it is actually not credible - the second wife is just a lady in the harem. Even if she can imitate her husband's handwriting, there is so much evidence, how could she collect it
The only possibility is that someone took advantage of the second wife.
And the second wife just happened to be happy to be used in order to get rid of the Peng family.
But what does it matter
After all, the Peng family really did these things. For the sake of money, they even dared to collude with pirates, and they did it so cruelly.
He also framed loyal officials in the court - Guo Zixing was a rare military talent!
Just because Guo Zixing wanted to get to the bottom of the matter, they decided to kill him.
Moreover, it involves such a wide range of people and eliminates dissidents.
His heart is despicable.
It's not unfair to die.
So even if he knew that there were many flaws and loopholes here.
It doesn’t matter anyway, because the Peng family deserved it and deserved to die.
After he finished trying the case, he wrote a memorial. After Censor Chen and the Secretary of the Dali Temple had read it, he signed his name on it and submitted it to Emperor Longqing.
The above clearly explains the matter and his attitude - I ask Your Majesty to severely punish these traitors who collaborated with the enemy and betrayed the country, so as to set things right! To comfort the spirits of the more than 3,000 soldiers who died for the country!
Censor Chen picked up the pen expressionlessly and signed his name after Lord Qian's.
Wang Yuanzheng, the secretary of Dali Temple, frowned, and signed after some hesitation.
This case, which the people of Zhejiang had been waiting for a long time, finally had a solution. Emperor Longqing was furious and called Peng De a traitor several times in a very emotional state.
The court immediately issued an imperial decree, sentencing Peng De and Peng Huai to immediate execution. The rest of the Peng family, including the fourth and fifth masters, who were not involved in the case at all, were exiled three thousand miles away. Underage males and females were pardoned, and the Peng family's old house was taken back into the national treasury.
That night, the fire in the small kitchen of Concubine Peng De's Lanyue Palace was turned off as an exception, and the lights were kept on all night.