In the imperial study, Ye Dushan stretched lazily and tidied up his clothes a little, so as not to make people look too disheveled. In fact, it doesn't make much difference after he finishes it, it's just better than nothing. Mu Changsheng stood quietly holding the handle of the knife, not squinting. It's just that today's Ye Dushan seems to be different from the past, and there is a hint of excitement and expectation in his lazy eyes.

The voice of the eunuch came from the front: "Lord Qin has arrived." ”

The footsteps approached, and a square-faced middle-aged man wearing a crown dress and a black veil walked into the imperial study step by step. He bowed his head and saluted Ye Dushan: "Weichen Qin Cong, I have seen Your Majesty." ”

Ye Dushan let out a "hmm", looked very excited, and stood up from his seat.

"Lord Qin, how are you doing?" Ye Dushan showed a meaningful smile.

Qin Cong replied respectfully, "All thanks to Your Majesty's care." ”

"It's been a few days since you were promoted to Dali Siqing, do you know its responsibilities?"

"Dali Temple is responsible for the prison and holds the power of justice. As the secretary of Dali Temple, the minister should enforce the law impartially and live up to His Majesty's expectations. Qin Cong's voice was calm, neither humble nor arrogant.

"Just remember. Ye Dushan said in a low voice, and a leisurely voice came from outside the door: "I wish you arrived." Ye Dushan smiled lightly and said, "The protagonist has arrived." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, there was the sound of eager and heavy footsteps outside the door. A bloated official walked in a little staggeringly, gasping for breath slightly.

Ye Dushan smiled and waved to the maid at hand, and the maid who had already been instructed to prepare hurriedly handed the tea to the visitor. Ye Dushan waited patiently for him to breathe, and then drank the tea in the cup.

Zhu Songtao took a deep breath and bowed to Ye Dushan: "Your Majesty suddenly summoned you, Weichen was terrified, he just came from the mansion, his demeanor was lost, and he asked His Majesty to forgive him." ”

Ye Dushan flicked his sleeves and said with a smile: "Lord Shangshu works hard, but it is understandable. But it's not me who wants to find Lord Shangshu today, it's this Lord Qin. As he spoke, he waved his hand in Qin Cong's direction.

Zhu Songtao, who was still kneeling on the ground, secretly glanced at Qin Cong next to him. Qin Cong didn't look at him, nor at Ye Dushan, his gaze naturally fell elsewhere. Zhu Songtao has never seen Qin Cong, but he has heard of this name, half a year ago, Qin Cong was only edited by the Hanlin Academy, above the court, he had no reputation, and he had no henchmen, and he even disdained the existence of wooing between the high positions in the court. It's just that in the past six months, he has been promoted a little unbelievably fast, and he has been promoted several levels in a row, and he has recently been promoted to Dali Temple.

The factions in the Longyuan court have a long history, led by Ma Pingchuan, a scholar of the palace pavilion university, and Prince Han, the emperor's brother, respectively. Zhu Songtao is the head of the household and an important member of Ma Pingchuan's faction, but Qin Cong is independent of the two factions, and should have been suppressed by the two parties, but he has been promoted several levels, Zhu Songtao knows very well that this is the emperor's secret help.

But the important official positions above the court are held by people among the two factions, the emperor has been on the throne for a short time, his wings are still weak, and the former Dali Siqing has just returned to his hometown, so he blatantly cultivates his own henchmen, for fear that he will be counterattacked by the joint efforts of the two factions, and the gains outweigh the losses. In fact, it is true, in the process of promoting Qin Cong this time, Ye Dushan almost exposed all his remaining power in the court, but in a few days, almost all the people in these positions have been turned over by the people of the two factions, so Zhu Songtao expected that the emperor would not make any more big moves.

He stood up, straightened his clothes, and asked, "I wonder what Lord Qin has to say?"

Qin Cong bowed to Ye Dushan, then took out a letter from his sleeve and handed it over. Ye Dushan took the fold and unfolded it, and Qin Cong's voice also sounded at the right time: "Today, Weichen specially came to report to Your Majesty, Zhu Songtao, the secretary of the household department, has embezzled public funds and accepted bribes hundreds of times, of which more than a dozen times are huge, and the specific amount and the officials involved are in the process of twisting and turning. ”

Ye Dushan's expression was calm, looking at the twists and turns, but Zhu Songtao stayed in place as if he had been struck by lightning. His face was flushed with anxiety, and beads of sweat suddenly oozed from his fat face.

"Hu ...... Nonsense! Weichen has always been self-denying and serving His Majesty wholeheartedly, how could he do such an unbearable thing!" he said angrily, and quickly thought of countermeasures in his heart. He never expected that Qin Cong would suddenly attack, and before the position of Dali Siqing was hot, he dared to offend the officials of the six departments, which was simply a hard-hitting rhythm, so he was at a loss for a while.

Crazy! Crazy like the emperor!

Ye Dushan was still looking at the twists and turns, and Qin Cong didn't pay attention to him. Zhu Songtao calmed down a little. As a household servant, dealing with money all day long, his embezzlement of public funds and accepting bribes are almost well-known among the ministers, but there are many similar things in the two factions, and if someone stabs out, it is mostly a lose-loser. Qin Cong's promotion to the secretary of Dali Temple is only a few days, presumably there are few cronies in Dali Temple, and even there are many people in the two factions in Dali Temple.

In connection with this section, Zhu Songtao was even more relieved, thinking that the emperor was still immature after all, although it was a thunderous means and full of posture, in the end I was afraid that the thunder was loud and the rain was small.

At this time, Ye Dushan's voice sounded: "Gu Shangshu, do you have anything to say?"

Zhu Songtao hurriedly replied: "Your Majesty, this matter is pure nonsense, presumably someone framed it." ”

"Is Lord Shangshu saying that I, Qin, deliberately framed him?" asked Qin Cong expressionlessly.

Zhu Songtao secretly sneered and replied: "Lord Qin is deeply valued by His Majesty, and he is already an official residence in Dali Temple, so naturally he will not make nonsense out of nothing. Thinking that there was a villain who was secretly playing right and wrong, chewing the root of people's tongues, and bewitching Lord Qin, Lord Qin listened to the villain's slander and came to embarrass Weichen. This villain is really sinister, and he deliberately wants to weaken my vitality. ”

"It turns out that Lord Zhu's official position is also related to my luck, and he is indeed a pillar of the minister. Ye Dushan's tone was slightly cold, his eyes were like a sword, and he looked at Zhu Songtao.

"Weichen didn't dare to be. I also ask Your Majesty to investigate this matter in detail, there is no evidence, and Presumably Your Majesty will not accept it. Zhu Songtao knew that his heart was weak, and he lowered his head and did not look at the emperor, but he still said calmly.

Ye Dushan flicked his sleeves and walked lightly in front of Zhu Songtao. Zhu Songtao expected that Ye Dushan would be in vain, but after all, he was a little weak-hearted, and his heart was still beating faster, and he didn't dare to look up at him. Ye Dushan suddenly turned around, looked at Qin Cong and said with a smile: "So, is Lord Qin wronging Lord Shangshu? Don't weaken my luck." ”

Zhu Songtao understood the sarcasm in Ye Dushan's words, but he was sure that the two of them had no definite evidence, so he stared at Qin Cong and only heard Qin Cong say: "Lord Shangshu is extremely clean, and there is not much evidence left. ”

Zhu Songtao was secretly happy in his heart, as Ma Pingchuan's money bag, Ma Pingchuan attached great importance to the affairs of the household department, and every year he sent out from the household department and the income of two large amounts of silver, involving a wide range of officials, one accidentally would pull half of the court into the water, so he specially appointed two capable servants to assist him to ensure that nothing went wrong. But I heard Qin Cong continue: "It's just that there is a witness who took the initiative to find Weichen and provided some evidence. These days Dali Temple has been verified, and all these evidence are true. ”

Zhu Songtao's heart jumped, and he wondered if this was Qin Cong's trick to deliberately deceive himself, but he heard footsteps approaching. He was inconvenient to look back, and curiosity drove him to turn his head to see who the so-called witness was.

"See Your Majesty. This voice is very familiar to Zhu Songtao, and his heart almost jumped out. This person was one of the household servants sent by Ma Pingchuan to assist him.

"Wang Shilang came just in time. Ye Dushan spoke to Wang Shilang, but looked at Zhu Songtao with a smile, "Just now, Lord Qin was accused of Gu Shangshu, do you know about this matter?"

Wang Shilang bowed down and said, "What Lord Qin played, Wei Chen has discussed with Lord Qin in detail in advance. Wei Chen came here to prove that what Lord Qin said was true. During the years that Weichen served in the household department, Gu Shangshu embezzled public funds and accepted bribes, many of which also passed through Weichen's hands. It's just that Lord Shangshu covers the sky with one hand in the household department, and there are party henchmen and officials behind him to protect him, so Weichen didn't dare to publicize it, so he secretly hid the relevant evidence, so that he could denounce it in the future and eradicate such thieves for His Majesty. ”

Zhu Songtao suddenly collapsed to the ground and looked at Wang Shilang viciously, but he couldn't stop shivering and couldn't speak.