Chapter 121 Another Mission
Chapter 121 Another Mission

Liu Qi, the prefect of Huai'an, amassed huge wealth while in office in Huai'an, causing public outrage and making life miserable for the people. If that were the only case, it would not have implicated Lü himself.

But the terrible thing was that Liu Qi was actually bewitched and was lured by Mongol spies for silver.

However, before he could do anything treasonous, the matter was secretly sold to the Censorate by one of his subordinates who was afraid of the execution of his entire clan. The Censorate immediately reported the matter to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang was furious and immediately ordered the Censorate to investigate the matter thoroughly.

As soon as the case was opened, it went without saying that Liu Qi and his men were arrested.

But everyone knows that what Lao Zhu likes most is to punish people by association.

Anyone who had any friendship or connection with Liu Qi was arrested and interrogated strictly.

This is where the problem lies! When Lü Ben was an official in the previous dynasty, he and Liu Qi worked together for a period of time, although they did not have a very deep friendship.

However, one of them was a colleague of the previous dynasty, and the other was a defector from the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

Since they had a personal relationship and the same background, it is hard to say that the remnants of Beiyuan were able to win over Liu Qi but failed to win over Lü Ben.

Who knows whether these officials from the former dynasty who surrendered had long been dissatisfied with the Hongwu Dynasty and had been secretly flirting with the remnants of the former dynasty?
So the fire burned Lu Ben himself.

If the case-handling officer of the Censorate had not remembered that Lü Ben was the old father of the Crown Prince's concubine, he would have ordered soldiers to raid the house and search its property without any hesitation!

However, according to secret information from Lü Benshen's old friends in the Censorate, Shitou, a member of the Censorate, had already drafted a memorial to impeach Lü Benshen.

Once this matter was brought to the court, given Zhu Yuanzhang's character, he would definitely order the Censorate to imprison and interrogate Lü Benshen.

Those grassroots officials in the court who followed Zhu Yuanzhang in the uprising from the beginning have always been dissatisfied with those who had served as officials in the previous dynasty. When the time comes, they will definitely punish the Lu family to death.

Even if they didn't dare to go too far due to the relationship between the crown prince and the Lu family, Zhu Yuanzhang's personality of preferring to kill the wrong person rather than let him go meant that the Lu family would probably not escape the disaster!
That's why Lu Ben hurried to the East Palace today to seek Zhu Biao for help.

After hearing what happened, Zhu Biao couldn't help but look worried.

If it were any other matter, it would be easy to deal with, but if it involved secretly colluding with the remnants of Beiyuan to plot a rebellion, this would touch the bottom line of the imperial court and Zhu Yuanzhang and would be absolutely intolerable.

Even Zhu Biao himself would not take such incidents lightly.

After all, the Ming Dynasty is the Zhu family's own empire. As the crown prince, if he doesn't take himself seriously, who will?
However, it was not known whether Lu Benshen was really a decent person who did not know how to read people's expressions, or whether he was relying on the fact that his sister was Zhu Biao's beloved concubine and was fearless. He just kept urging Zhu Biao to try to mediate.

After thinking for a moment, Zhu Biao said awkwardly: "The people in the Censorate will not give face to anyone. Now that Li Shanchang is in charge of the Censorate, they are more confident. Even if I personally come forward, I believe it will not have much effect."

"The prince must not show up!"

Zhu Biao was in a dilemma when Ye Xuan suddenly spoke.

Hearing this, both Lu and Lu Benshen glared at him angrily. Lu Benshen even directly scolded him, "What does this have to do with you? Why are you so nosy!"

Ye Xuan was unhappy, but he still looked respectful and said, "Lord Lu, you don't know. Everyone in the world knows that the people in the Censorate are like stones in the toilet, smelly and hard. They even dream of dying to remonstrate with the Golden Throne so that their names can be recorded in history."

"Now that Li Shanchang is in charge of the Censorate, these stubborn censors are even more confident!"

"If the Crown Prince doesn't show up, there's still some room for maneuver. If he does, it's like nailing this matter down completely!"

Ye Xuan's lips curled up slightly, and he said meaningfully: "Think about it, a loyal minister died to remonstrate, exposing the remnants of the previous dynasty, the prince was furious, and the censors were not afraid of power and would rather die than surrender. How exciting would it be if it was written into a play?" "If it can be written into the history books, haha, then it would be worth it even if I was beaten to death at the Meridian Gate, right?"

In an instant, the Lu brothers and sisters widened their eyes.

Originally, the two were not stupid people, but they were worried about their father's safety and did not think deeply about it. Now that Ye Xuan reminded them, they immediately understood.

Zhu Biao was also startled, and An An felt a little scared.

Just now he was still a little soft-hearted and was thinking about whether he should send someone to contact the censor who was preparing to submit a petition to the Censorate to see if there was any room for maneuver in this matter.

Fortunately, Ye Xuan reminded him in time, otherwise it would be like sending a sheep into the tiger's mouth.

He gave the opportunity to become famous to the Censorate!

"Then...what should I do?" Mrs. Lu's eyes turned red and tears immediately fell.

Zhu Biao felt sorry for his beloved concubine when he saw her so sad.

He caught a glimpse of Ye Xuan's indifferent look and was immediately moved.

"Don't worry, my dear, there is still a way!" Zhu Biao hugged Lu and said with a chuckle.

Upon hearing this, the Lu brothers and sisters immediately looked at Zhu Biao.

Mrs. Lu was even more impatient and twisted her body in Zhu Biao's arms, saying coquettishly, "Your Highness, what else do you have to say? Tell me now!"

Her shy and helpless look was so pitiful that not only Zhu Biao, but even Ye Xuan could not help but feel the urge to hold her in his arms and comfort her.

Zhu Biao became even more angry, and squinted at Ye Xuan with a meaningful smile, saying, "Colluding with the remnants of the previous dynasty to plot a rebellion, isn't this exactly the scope of investigation for the Jinyiwei? In fact, the Censorate is not qualified to handle this case!"

"It was just that the people from the Censorate first reported this matter to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and only then did they let them do it."

Lu Benshen frowned even more tightly, not knowing whether it was intentional or not, he said seriously: "If my father's case is sent to the Jinyiwei prison, wouldn't it be even worse? Everyone knows that the Jinyiwei are best at forcing confessions through torture."

Ye Xuan rolled his eyes. If it wasn't for Zhu Biao's sake, he would have left long ago. He wouldn't have cared about the life or death of the Lu family.

"Lord Lu is wrong. Torture is only an auxiliary method for us Jinyiwei. In fact, we also rely on evidence when handling cases..."

Ye Xuan said with some guilt.

The Jinyiwei did rely on evidence when investigating cases, but most of the evidence was obtained through torture.

Seeing that the two were about to argue, Zhu Biao waved his hand and said, "I cannot be rude. Whether your old father can get through this safely depends on Ye Xuan!"

"he?"

The Lu brothers and sisters looked at Ye Xuan in surprise, and Ye Xuan's heart also skipped a beat.

Seeing the different expressions of the three people, Zhu Biao laughed and said, "I will write to His Majesty and ask my father to transfer this case to the Jinyiwei for handling. Then I will ask Mao Xiang to hand the case over to Ye Xuan for handling."

(End of this chapter)