April of the eighteenth year of Changning

It has been a year since Xue Ji Ding Wei returned to Jiangling, although the official Ding Wei should leave the imperial court and not ask about political affairs, but as the prime minister, how could he really ignore it for three years.

There will always be a letter from Beijing every month, which is nothing more than a summary of the major events that happened in this month, and if it is peaceful this month, it will be replaced by the holy cordial condolences.

If it is a letter of condolences, Xue Ji naturally wants to reply to ask for peace, if it is to describe government affairs, he will most likely treat it as not seeing it and ignoring it.

The messenger came again this morning, this time it was different, seeing that he was worried and anxious, presumably something big had happened in Beijing.

"Put it there, I'll see later." Xue Ji pointed to the side, still leaning on the rattan chair and fanning the wind indifferently and closing his eyes to recuperate.

The messenger was anxious, and went around to the other side and rushed to him, "Lord Xue, this time is really a big deal, Lord Xu was imprisoned in the middle of last month!"

Xue Ji was startled when he heard this, opened his eyes suddenly, and glared at him: "Which Lord Xu?"

"Which Lord Xu could it be, Lord Xu Lang Xu of Shangshu Ling!"

This time, Xue Ji couldn't calm down, his face changed, he sat up straight, reached out and grabbed the letter, and quickly read the content of the letter.

Xu Lang was impeached for corruption and bribery, and the number of cases involved was not less than one million. Today, the saint has always hated this kind of behavior the most, and without saying a word, he was stripped of his clothes and sent to the prison of the Ministry of Punishment.

The most chilling thing is the last sentence of the letter, His Majesty asked him why he didn't notice it when he went to Xu Lang's Mansion on the first day of the first month of the seventeenth year of Changning, and if so, why didn't he report it.

This is a suspicion that he is covering up, and even suspecting him of forming a party for personal gain.

"What did the Criminal Department come up with?" Xue Ji raised his eyebrows and asked.

The person who delivered the letter bowed slightly, and his expression was a little entangled: "The lower official really doesn't know, if you want to return to Beijing......

Before he finished speaking, Xue Ji firmly refused: "After saying that Ding Wei has been worried for three years, then there must be no less than one year."

"But Lord Xu ......."

"I'll figure it out again."

After the others left, Xue Ji got up and paced back and forth in the courtyard, his face was sad.

Everyone knows that he has known Xu Lang for many years and has a close relationship, and now that Xu Lang has entered the prison of the Criminal Department, and the Criminal Department is in the hands of Chen Shao, he will definitely not let go of such a good breakthrough.

Shen Yurong walked slowly from under the eaves behind him, still holding a letter in his hand. She walked up to Xue Ji and held his hand, but she didn't rush to give him the letter, but asked softly, "What's wrong?"

Xue Ji lowered his eyes to look at her and said, "Xu Lang is in prison."

Shen Yurong's hand holding the letter tightened, and said thoughtfully, "It seems that what I think is good, this letter is for you."

Only then did Xue Ji notice the thing in her hand and wondered, "What letter?"

Shen Yurong gave him the letter and said, "I don't know, just now Quicksand said that there was a letter from the crown princess, and I still wondered, I couldn't know the crown princess who the prince married last September, how could I write to me in a good manner. Now that I think about it, this should have been sent to you by the prince."

Why is the prince's letter so obscure? That's the reluctance to be caught. But who would stare at this without any trouble?

Xue Ji already had the answer in his heart - Chen Shao.

Looking at the letter in his hand again, it is concise and to the point, and it is eight words big - abandon chess to protect himself, and he doesn't recognize a word.

Chess, referring to Xu Lang.

That confession...... What is it that you recognize?.

Xue Ji, who was far away in Jiangling, didn't know that Beijing was already full of wind and rain.

The Imperial Study

After more than half a month of trial, under Chen Shao's efficiency, Xu Lang's case has progressed, or it is nearing the end.

At noon, Xu Yan had just come out of the imperial study, and Chen Shao went in immediately. I saw that after he saluted and bowed his head, he opened his mouth and reported the results of the recent trial one by one.

"You mean, Cheng Cheng used public interests to protect Xu Lang's uncle for private purposes?"

Qin Xu's eyes were cold, and there seemed to be a thick layer of cold ice in his eyes.

Chen Shao said firmly: "It's true, Xu Lang's confession is here, please Your Majesty."

Look down."

While speaking, Chen Shao glanced at Zhang Yu, the eunuch on the side, Zhang Yu comprehended, stepped forward to take the confession, and presented it to Qin Xu.

Chen Shao's methods are not bad, but it doesn't matter if Xu Lang's things are dug up, and he also dug up a lot of Prime Minister Xue Ji's handwriting.

"Suppress the uncle of Shu County's ground movement to expeditiously play the sparse, cooperate with the Ministry of Rites to pretend to be sick to avoid Chunqiu, and protect Xu Lang with public and private interests...... What happened to the assassination of Xie Zhixi, the general sentence of Qianzhou?"

Chen Shao was already confident, and he had already prepared the draft, and he said: "Back then, it was rumored in Beijing that the prime minister supported his protégé, and a gambler Xie Zhixi could also get the top of the second class. His Majesty Shengming put Xie Zhixi back in Qianzhou to be sentenced, but he died unexpectedly on the way and died at the hands of bandits. According to Xu Lang's confession, it was the prime minister's attempt to cut down the grass and eradicate the roots."

Qin Xu was silent.

Xue succeeded this person and said that he was pretending to be public and private, but it was indeed true. It is said that he has an indulgent temperament and there are traces to follow. But it can be said that he acted carefully, cut the grass and roots, and killed people to keep his mouth shut...... Unlikely.

He couldn't think of this layer, and he couldn't do such a thing.

Qin Xu suppressed the thoughts in his heart, and said in a low voice: "The matter of the prime minister will be discussed later, and I will talk about this Xu Lang first."

finally grabbed Xue Ji's handle, but before he could get what he wanted, he was changed the topic. Chen Shao was unwilling, but he couldn't disobey the holy will.

"After verification, Xu Lang embezzled and accepted bribes of 3.48 million taels, and repeatedly colluded with officials to seek public gain, according to the laws of the Great Zhou, he should be beheaded."

When the word chop was sonorous and powerful, there was Chen Shao's hatred at this time.

Qin Xu raised his eyebrows to look at him, then looked at the music that was presented, and finally sneered, picked up the jade seal in his hand and pressed it on it.

"The Autumn Queen asks and closes the case."

"Yes." Chen Shao gave up, but there was still a thorn in his heart that had not been pulled out. After hesitating for a moment, he asked tentatively, "The prime minister?"

Qin Xu suddenly became angry and scolded, "Don't ask what you shouldn't ask!"

Chen Shao hurriedly silenced, and when he saw Qin Xu reprimanding this, he began to cough, and wanted to take two steps forward, but he raised his hand to stop him.

After hesitating again and again, he knelt down.

Zhang Yu followed him and sent him out of the imperial study, and while there was no one around, he whispered, "My lord, a few days ago, the imperial doctor said that His Majesty was not very good......

Chen Shao's footsteps paused, and he was stunned and hung in the air, and after a while, he slowly fell. "Who else knows about this?"

"Your Majesty won't let me say it." Zhang Yudao.

Chen Shao squinted his eyes and thought about the time in his heart, if His Majesty's time was short, and Xue Ji was still hiding in Jiangling...... When he comes back, it should be the crown prince who will succeed to the throne, and all these years of business will be in vain!

No, it's time to pick things up.

Chen Shao asked again, "What's wrong with what you are staring at?"

Zhang Yu replied, "As adults expected, it's just ......."

"What?"

"The crown prince didn't send a letter to the prime minister, but the crown princess sent a letter to his maiden relatives in Jiangling."

Chen Shao frowned, where did the crown princess come from her relatives in Jiangling? "What's her relative's name?"

Zhang Yu said, "I only know the surname Shen."

Okay, there is only one Shen family in Jiangling, and the Shen family now has Shen Changqing and his two sons, as well as the wives of the two brothers of the Xue family.

The prince is really clever enough, and he turned such a big turn just to pass on the word to Xue Ji!

Chen Shao sneered and ordered, "You find an opportunity to mention it to Your Majesty, and say that someone in the East Palace has sent a letter to Jiangling."

"Yes."

Chen Shao returned to his mansion, just when his wife came back with a letter, his eyes swept to see that the envelope was written "Chen Shao personally opened", the handwriting was very familiar, it was his mother's handwriting, and his eyes suddenly lit up.

"How?"

His wife handed him the letter and replied with a smile, "As you expected, it's just that my mother said that my father will watch it tightly and won't be able to get it out for a while."

The corners of Chen Shao's mouth gradually raised, it was already good, there was still time, at least it was not in vain that he put so much effort into it.

The first time he discovered the Xue family's life experience was when he returned to Jiangling a few years ago, when he was in his father

In the study, he saw a family tree, and there was a letter in it, and the name of the Jiang family at the place where the letter was signed attracted his attention.

He tried to ask his father, but he refused to say anything, and he locked the study. He relied on the bits and pieces of clues he saw in his memory, looked around for people to inquire, and gradually guessed the secret of the Xue family.

He asked people to send a letter to Jiangling, and his mother has always been favored by his father, so it is much easier to go into the study and turn over this thing. Now it's okay, just send her to steal the family tree and send it to the capital along with the letter.

By that time, will Xue Ji still be able to run?