Chapter 40: Receiving the Order
Chapter 40: Receiving the Order to Shangyuan
Ye Xuan did not return to the Pacification Office, but went to meet Yun Qi outside the Meridian Gate.

As soon as they met from a distance, Yun Qi came up to Ye Xuan and grabbed his hand, saying angrily, "Little Ancestor, why are you so late? You made us wait so long."

Unlike the first time they met, Ye Xuan could clearly feel the change in Yun Qi's attitude. He seemed as familiar as an old friend who hadn't seen each other for a long time.

Ye Xuan did not get carried away by this, knowing that it must be Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude towards him that caused Yun Qi's change.

After quietly stuffing a silver ingot into the bag, Ye Xuan also showed great enthusiasm and said, "Thank you for waiting for me, eunuch. I wonder what your majesty wants me to do?"

Yun Qi looked around and saw that no one was paying attention. He then took the silver with a smile and started talking about the old man Li's complaint to the emperor.

The two of them talked as they walked, and by the time Ye Xuan realized what was going on, they had already arrived outside the Wuying Palace.

After tidying up his official uniform, Ye Xuan strode into the hall.

"Jinyiwei captain, Ye Xuan pays respect to His Majesty."

Although the person in front of him was the greatest emperor of all time, Zhu Yuanzhang, Ye Xuan was still somewhat uncomfortable with the formality of kneeling on both knees, so he played a trick and just used the military single-kneeling salute.

In terms of organization, the Jinyiwei are indeed military officers, so there is nothing inappropriate about doing so.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't care. He raised his hand and pointed at the old man Li on the side and recounted the whole story of Li Yanran's case.

Ye Xuan naturally would not be so foolish as to tell Zhu Yuanzhang that he already knew the whole thing. Instead, he pretended to listen carefully and even asked Old Man Li a few questions about some key points from time to time.

At the same time, he couldn't help but give a thumbs up to the Shangyuan County Magistrate. This guy is really brave!

Everyone in the world knows that what Zhu Yuanzhang hated most were corrupt officials who took human lives lightly, and he never showed mercy when it came to killing officials.

Within just a few years after the founding of the country, no less than ten thousand officials had died at the hands of Zhu Yuanzhang.

This guy is also a fool. If you want to commit favoritism, corruption, and abuse of power, you should at least wait for a transfer to another place, far away from Zhu Yuanzhang.

If you play with these things under the emperor's feet, you won't be afraid of spending your life greedily.

Zhu Yuanzhang said angrily, "I originally wanted to ask the Dali Temple to bring the people to justice, but most of these corrupt officials are stubborn. I asked you to come here to make the Shangyuan County Magistrate die with a sincere heart."

Ye Xuan immediately understood that this was to make the Shangyuan County magistrate an example to deter illegal officials.

"Your Majesty, do you want me to investigate this case?" Ye Xuan asked.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, "Check it out as soon as possible, and make no mistakes."

Ye Xuan received the imperial edict and went straight to the Pacification Office to find Wang Feihu and Song Zhenshan.

As soon as the three of them sat down, Wang Feihu asked curiously, "Sir, who is that eunuch? Why did our commander-in-chief personally accompany him?"

Ye Xuan knew he was talking about Yun Qi, and said unhappily, "That's your Majesty's personal eunuch."

Wang Feihu and the other two were shocked when they heard this. Song Zhenshan was even more worried and said, "The emperor hates it most when eunuchs make friends with court officials. As a member of the Jinyiwei, you are his majesty's minion, so you should avoid this."

Wang Feihu didn't know what he was thinking about, and muttered with a strange look on his face: "Speaking of which, this eunuch is quite handsome, like a woman."

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Feihu and Song Zhenshan suddenly showed an expression of sudden enlightenment and looked at Ye Xuan with horror.

Wang Feihu even more exaggeratedly squeezed his legs together, like a little girl trapped in a corner by a burly man.

Ye Xuan rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Are your brains filled with shit? Do I look like the kind of person who doesn't care about meat or vegetables?"

"Why did the eunuch come to see you?" Wang Feihu said bluntly. No wonder the two of them thought of something wrong. Even if they were beaten to death, they would never have thought that it was because Zhu Yuanzhang summoned them.

After all, Ye Xuan was just a small centurion, and there was no news that he had any relationship with the Zhu family.

Even if there was any mission to be assigned, it should be assigned by Commander Mao Xiang. There was absolutely no reason to assign Ye Xuan directly.

But the truth is often so bizarre, Ye Xuan had a sense of self-proving innocence: "The eunuch came to summon me on behalf of His Majesty."

Wang Feihu and the other man opened their mouths wide and looked at Ye Xuan in disbelief.

After a long time, the two of them had to accept this fact in disbelief under Ye Xuan's serious expression. After Song Zhenshan was surprised, he suddenly stood up and bowed to Ye Xuan and said, "Congratulations, sir. Congratulations, sir. It is unprecedented in our Zhenfusi Yamen to be so valued by the emperor and directly assign tasks to him."

Wang Feihu also quickly echoed, "With your majesty's favor, your promotion is just around the corner!"

After the two of them finished speaking, they stared at Ye Xuan with a flattering look on their faces and gave him a strange, flattering smile.

Ye Xuan said with amusement and anger: "Do you really think that catching the emperor's eye is a good thing?"

After that, he told the whole story of Old Man Li's lawsuit against the emperor.

"This case may seem simple, but Your Majesty wants to set an example, so you must do it perfectly so that no one can find fault with it."

Ye Xuan said solemnly: "If there is even a slight loophole and it cannot be turned into an ironclad case, it will be a disgrace to His Majesty."

"If you embarrass His Majesty, I think you two should understand the consequences."

The Jinyiwei has offended many people in the court over the years. Once any evidence is caught on them, they will inevitably be criticized.

If it were an ordinary case, it would be fine. The Jinyiwei never need to explain their work.

But if Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to use this incident as an example to intimidate the court, it would inevitably be criticized by others.

It’s not that the officials dared to openly criticize Zhu Yuanzhang, but it was almost inevitable to find some faults of the Jinyiwei such as confessions obtained under torture or suspected irregularities in handling cases.

But can a model with flaws still be a model?
Therefore, this case should either not be handled, or if handled it must be handled beautifully so that no one can find fault with it.

I originally thought that once I explained the secret clearly, Wang Feihu and the other two would back off.

After all, who likes to do a job that will cost them their lives if they fail to do it well?

But unexpectedly, Wang Feihu and the other man not only didn't care at all, but their eyes were shining and they looked like they couldn't wait to take action.

Song Zhenshan immediately stood up and ordered his men to prepare the horses.

Ye Xuan was stunned for a moment, but then he understood.

In the early years of Hongwu, most of the Jinyiwei were selected from the army that followed Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the world.

Official positions such as general flag, centurion, and thousand-householder were mostly appointed based on their military achievements before the founding of the country.

As the world has been settled, Wang Feihu and the other man have low and stable positions.

If you want to get promoted, the only way is to keep making achievements and show off in front of your superiors.

Just ask yourself, what better opportunity to show off than to appear in front of the emperor!
(End of this chapter)