In the capital, the second prince Zhang Jingyang stared at the booklet handed over by the crown prince, "What do you mean by this?"
Seeing that Zhang Jingyang had no intention of taking it, the prince put it on the table and said, "You will know what I mean after you take a look at it."
The second prince Zhang Jingyang didn't want to look at it. There must be something bad written in the book. He had cooperated with the prince in the past two days and was very efficient, but that didn't mean he was willing to submit to him in the future.
The prince drank the tea calmly. The second brother really had money. This tea was better than the one in the prince's mansion. He reminded him, "This is what the emperor asked me to bring to you. You have to read it even if you don't want to."
Zhang Jingyang moved his fingertips. The prince didn't dare to use his father to deceive people, so he picked up the booklet and opened it with his face darkening. On the booklet were all his income in the Ministry of Justice over the years. Although he couldn't remember all of them, basically all the large amounts were included. After browsing through it and looking at the final ledger, Zhang Jingyang stared. There was actually more than 600,000 taels.
The prince drank the tea and brought the things. He stood up and said, "Father's original words, you have to swallow as much as you want. You only have two days. After the deadline, there will be no mercy. You can do whatever you want."
Zhang Jingyang's heart was pounding. He was about to pay out more than 600,000 taels of silver, which was a huge amount of silver. If he hadn't just received a lot of silver in Pinggang, he really couldn't come up with so much silver.
But even if we have the money collected in Pinggang, it would be very painful to take it out all at once.
Zhang Jingyang came back to his senses. Where was the prince? He had already left!
At Zhou Family Manor, Zhou Shuren received Wu Ming's reply letter, which was delivered by express horse. In the letter, Wu Ming expressed his gratitude and asked the Zhou family to help him buy a house. Zhou Shuren could see excitement between the lines, which Wu Ming himself might not have noticed. If Wu Ming's emotions fluctuated greatly, the last stroke of each word would be the heaviest.
Zhulan, "Mr. Deng just left. I asked Steward Ding to send someone to chase him and tell him."
"Okay, the house doesn't need to be too big. It can be located in the south or north of the city. A small courtyard will do."
If Wu Ming really comes to Beijing, it is not suitable for him to be high-profile. It is better to be low-key.
Zhulan said: "Okay, I'll remember that."
Zhu Lan had just instructed housekeeper Ding when she saw her daughter and her two granddaughters coming over. "Let me see what you are wearing. Are you going out?"
Xue Han nodded with a smile, "Let's change into coarse clothes and go to the nearby forest to pick some beautiful leaves."
Zhulan, "Pick leaves?"
Yu Shuang continued, "Well, my aunt and I saw some beautiful leaves, so we wanted to collect them."
Zhulan was not going to stop them. It was rare for the girls to go out, and there were no complicated rules. The people around were all from their own families, and there were servants following them, so there would be no danger. However, she still reminded them: "This snake has not hibernated yet, so you must be careful when you go out."
When she mentioned snakes, she felt uncomfortable all over. She saw one when she went up the mountain in the morning, and she saw it again when she went down the mountain. There were really a lot of snakes.
Xue Han said, "We won't go into the deep bushes, we'll just be around the perimeter."
"Well, go ahead."
Life seemed peaceful in Zhoujiazhuang. After Zhulan's daughter left, she was in a good mood and made wine from the fruits of the manor. Since she had someone to guide her, Zhulan got the hang of it quickly. In fact, the steps were not particularly difficult.
Zhulan sealed several jars and placed them together with Zhou Shuren, "You can drink it next year."
Zhou Shuren was looking forward to it. "I think it should taste good."
Zhulan was also looking forward to it. This was her first time trying it and she thought it was quite interesting and fun. She thought she could make more fruit wine in the future.
People in the capital were in a panic. The Ministry of Justice had arrested many of its officials. The evidence was conclusive and they had no chance to defend themselves. Although the highest-ranking official arrested was lower than the fourth rank, many people were arrested and all of them had served in the Ministry of Justice for many years. There was a lot of speculation in the capital.
The prince led people to arrest people this time, and the swift and decisive means made the officials in the capital see the prince's fangs for the first time. The officials in the court realized that the prince was no longer a shadow following the emperor, but a grown-up tiger.
The first time they showed their fangs was when they arrested a number of officials. This showed great courage.
The prince returned to the palace to report to his father. As he walked into the government hall, he noticed that the palace maids and eunuchs, the officials he met along the way
I was more afraid of him.
The prince curled his lips, this time it was not only about clearing up internal troubles, but also a chance for him to establish his authority. Before, he, the prince, followed his father beside him, and all the respect and fear came from his position as the prince. Now people were afraid of him as a person, and he was very satisfied.
At the Mansion of Marquis Yao, Yao Wenqi dropped the cup in his hand to the ground when he received the news. He confirmed the list of people arrested once again and felt disappointed. He knew that the prince was investigating the Ministry of Justice and he was prepared to find out a few people. However, he did not expect that the prince was so capable and destroyed his business of more than ten years in one fell swoop.
Training these people requires time and money. The most difficult part is time. He no longer has more than ten years to make secret arrangements.
It is not easy to train people, and the number of people selected for the imperial examination is limited. He does not have all the great abilities in his hands. He and his partners have cultivated chess pieces for so many years, and now they are all gone. He feels a little dizzy.
He had to hold back his anger and stay calm. These people knew a lot and now that he was caught, although he had evidence against them, he was not afraid of them talking too much, but accidents were inevitable. He no longer had confidence, and he found that the road that had been wide before was becoming narrower and narrower, and he also felt like he was walking on thin ice and he dared not take a wrong step.
Outside the door, Mrs. Bai covered her mouth with her hands, her pupils constricted. She could feel that the master had big plans, but she didn't expect that he had such ambitions. She felt a chill down her spine.
The next day, the capital was still not at peace. Everyone felt insecure, especially the officials in the Ministry of Justice, who were extremely cautious.
In the court, the evidence was shown to all the adults, and the prince said sternly, "The person who arranged this must be killed. I request your permission to conduct a thorough investigation."
If the officials in the court were not in the wrong place, they would have started talking about it long ago. This was really a big deal. They arranged so many chess pieces and had a big plan.
The emperor glanced at the officials standing in the court. The more he cleared them out, the harder it would be to find the remaining hidden chess pieces. However, he had patience. "I'll leave the thorough investigation to the prince."
The second prince Zhang Jingyang came to the court with silver notes. When he heard this, he said, "Father, I am your son."
Before he could finish his words, the emperor interrupted, "I have another errand for you."
Zhang Jingyang didn't dare to speak any more.
The third prince Zhang Jingshi hooked his fingertips, he found that no matter how well he and his second brother did their jobs, they were always overshadowed by the crown prince. He became more and more wary of the crown prince. The six ministries were originally an easy job, but the crown prince was able to find out so many things. Thinking of the problematic people around him, the third prince's face became worse and worse.
Time passed quickly, and in a blink of an eye, Zhou Lao Da and Zhou Lao Er brought Changzhong and Minghui to the farm in southern Beijing.
In order to give their son a surprise, Zhulan and Zhou Shuren did not inform him. When the little guy got off the carriage, he saw his parents and forgot to move for a moment.
Zhulan walked forward and hugged her son: "Mom is a little sad, Changzhong doesn't want to see mom?"
Chang Zhong came back to his senses. It was really his mother. "Mom, I miss you so much. Mom, why did you and dad come to the village?"
Zhou Lao Da and Zhou Lao Er were quite frightened. Why wasn’t their father in the capital? Well, because of the relationship between Zhulan and Zhou Shuren, no one informed Zhou Lao Da and Zhou Lao Er.