Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 464: Logic Under the Mist
Just as Ma Kui was feeling mysteriously confident, his two good brothers sold him out decisively while cursing at him.

When Bi Zhen saw that it was such a big matter and was handled so roughly, he didn't want to get involved at all and directly handed over the letters and bribes.

The truth of the matter was finally revealed.

However, just when everyone thought this was a settled case, a magical scene happened!

According to past political common sense, after a victory, it is time to enter the "corpse touching" phase.

This link may reveal money, reputation, or an official position.

This turmoil originated from Liang Gu's false accusation, and then it was escalated with the instigation of Ma Kui, the chief historian of the royal palace. It was finally cleared of the injustice of Guishan Prince Zhu Danglu, Yuan Zhi and Zhao Yan after the meticulous investigation by the special task force.

It can be said that the organization is clear and the responsibilities are clear.

So, when the matter was over, the censors of the Censorate excitedly went forward to "touch the corpse."

The Imperial Censor Li Hanchen took the lead and impeached the Personnel Director Liang Gu for complaining and seeking credit, and the Chief Clerk Ma Kui for misleading Wang Wang. They should be arrested and interrogated immediately!

Then, I got a reply very quickly.

——Li Hanchen, the censor of the Censorate, was imprisoned and later demoted to be a magistrate in Guangde Prefecture, and Liang Gu was exempted from responsibility.

Seeing this result, all the civil and military officials in the court were stunned.

What the hell is this? !
How come the plaintiff and the defendant were both fine, but the judge was arrested and sentenced?

This is obviously not the case. Let me sort it out.

Cheng Qi Chong, the censor of the Censorate, and others were so confused that they quickly wrote another letter to the emperor.

Big guys, wake up! Liang Gu and Ma Kui are bad guys who spread rumors and are willing to die to cover up their crimes. Now the court not only condones the culprits, but also demotes the officials supervised by the Metropolitan Procuratorate. What's going on?

This is so unfair, they should have a retrial!

Then the second wave of appeals from the Censorate was directly ignored by the court.

At this time, even the most insensitive people realized one thing.

Oh no, the water is too deep here.

But before they could get further news, the court came up with the final solution.

Zhu Dangluo, the Prince of Guishan, who was cleared of all charges by the task force, was demoted to a commoner and imprisoned in Fengyang because he had privately kept guard weapons for fun, violating ancestral rules.

Yuan Zhi and Zhao Yan, who were also cleared of their grievances, were exiled to Suzhou.

Ma Kui, the chief official of the royal palace who caused the situation to escalate, was sentenced to beheaded for false accusations!
Xi Fengzhu and Qu Ang, who provided intelligence to Liang Gu, were exiled.

Liang Gu, the head of the Ministry of Personnel, who was suspected of false accusation...

Don’t do this again next time!
This verdict left the entire court silent.

Zhu Dangqi, who was famous for his bravery, walked to the high wall of Fengyang. Because he couldn't figure out the situation, he ran headfirst into it and died on the spot.

In order to severely damage the Lu Wang family, Pei Yuan launched the plan to kill Zhu Dangqi, which actually involves considerable risks.

He couldn't understand why such a magical result came to the court.

If the Zhu Dangqi case was advanced step by step in a logical manner, then as long as Pei Yuan provoked this matter, the outcome would be foreseeable at a glance.

Even if there are minor setbacks, Pei Yuan is confident that he can defeat the most powerful prince of the Lu Wang lineage.

But this case is full of illogical things.

If we don't sort out the underlying thoughts bit by bit, the consequences will be difficult to control.

Because all the variables are under the table, hidden in the mist of history.

Pei Yuan needs to explore the mist of history bit by bit to find the knife that reverses the whole case and kills Zhu Dangqie.

Pei Yuan thought about various possibilities and returned to his public housing.

He sat behind a large desk, letting the light and shadows from outside the window cast a shadow on his gloomy face.

On the second day, Pei Yuan felt bored sitting in the hall, so he simply took his men out to inspect the various temples.

When he came out of Jingfu Temple, he unexpectedly met General Song who was leading a large group of people. No, it was Song Tie, the chief of the Western Factory.

Pei Yuan looked at Song Chunniang wearing the fifth-rank military officer's uniform with a bear patch and couldn't help but look around, clicking his tongue.

Song Chunniang felt a little guilty, but she asked stubbornly, "What's wrong?"

Pei Yuan saw that the Tiqi following her looked familiar, vaguely like her fellow apprentice of Changfeng Escort Agency, so he did not hesitate to tease her, "You are a seventh-rank flag officer, and you dare to come out in a fifth-rank official uniform. Why don't you go to heaven?"

Song Chunniang was still stubborn, raised her chin, and argued, "I am a fifth-rank official in the Western Factory, and I am the chief of criminal justice."

The Jinyiwei of the East and West Factories were on secondment and had no formal establishment.

In other words, there are fifth-rank positions, but there are no fifth-rank people.

Pei Yuan was too lazy to care about these things, and asked her in surprise, "Gu Dayong is not in the capital, and if there is a case in the inner court, it should be the East Factory that handles it. Why did they send it to your West Factory?"

Song Chunniang explained indifferently, "This time it was indeed the work of the Eastern Depot."

"However, many of the old people in the East Factory followed Qiu Ju and joined the West Factory. The new admiral Zhang Rui did gather some confidants, but those people went south a few days ago."

"They are short of manpower in Beijing and have a big case to handle, so they can only borrow people from our West Factory."

"Besides, this matter has the Emperor's order. Even if Eunuch Gu is here, we have no choice but to do it. I thought that since I can't refuse anyway, I might as well do it in a nice way."

After listening to this, Pei Yuan roughly understood it.

It should be because Zhu Houzhao complained about the lack of money last time, so he asked the new director of the East Factory, Zhang Rui, to send people south to get money for him.

It has been a long-standing practice for the inner court to extend its influence to the local areas.

Since Zhang Rui is in this position, he should naturally assume the responsibilities of this position.

However, Pei Yuan knew too well the ins and outs of this matter.

Qiu Ju was in a terrible situation at the time, so Zhang Rui would definitely not have an easy time either.

Pei Yuan withdrew his thoughts and glanced at the group of ferocious-looking foreigners around Song Chunniang, feeling a little emotional.

When he went to Shandong, he did not bring Song Chunniang with him, allowing her to slowly adapt to her position in Beijing.

I didn't expect that today, this little follower of mine has become a very qualified leader of the Tiqi.

Although the main reason why no one dares to mess with the Chief of Criminal Justice of the Western Factory is that, for a bodyguard girl, it is very valuable to be able to hold up to the authority of this Chief of Criminal Justice.

Out of concern for his close friend in bed, Pei Yuanduo asked, "Whose case are you handling this time? Do you want me to help?"

Song Chunniang had no sense of keeping a secret from Pei Yuan and told him everything, "It's Wu Ji, the treasurer of the Imperial Household Department. He's easy to catch. Do you want to come?"

When Pei Yuan heard the name, he immediately became alert, "Wu Ji? Did you tell me the reason?"

Song Chunniang thought for a moment and said, "I heard that someone went to the East Factory to report that when Zhang Yong was in charge of the Imperial Household Department, he asked Wu Ji to steal thousands of taels of official silver from the Imperial Household Department's warehouse in the name of an inspection."

"Eastern Depot Commander Zhang Rui attached great importance to this. After reporting this to the Emperor, he came to the Western Depot early in the morning to borrow someone."

Pei Yuan suddenly became alert. Is this... going to attack Zhang Yong?
Zhu Houzhao's plan of replacing a powerful person with a new one had already been vigorously promoted, but Zhang Yong was involved in the balance of the court and had not been replaced for the time being.

Zhu Houzhao's sudden move surprised Pei Yuan a little.

He had just met Zhu Houzhao yesterday, but at that time, he was clearly trying to trick Zhang Rui.

Even if Zhu Houzhao had plans to adjust the people around him, he should have dealt with Zhang Rui first. Why did he suddenly deal with Zhang Yong?

unless……

Pei Yuan pondered for a while and an idea came to his mind.

Unless, Zhu Houzhao already had the idea of ​​re-activating the "Seven Tigers of Zhengde" at a certain time period.

That's why he knew that Zhang Rui was acting as a dog for the Queen Mother to target the Xia family, but he turned a blind eye and continued to exploit Zhang Rui's surplus value.

When the day comes when he needs to deal with Zhang Rui, he won't have to worry at all. He just needs to get Zhang Yong back.

After what happened today, Zhang Yong will definitely hate Zhang Rui to death. When the time comes, as long as the emperor summons him, he will bite him himself.

When Pei Yuan thought of this, his face immediately turned gloomy.

The two brothers Zhang Yong and Zhang Rong already had a big grudge against him. How could he just watch them come back alive?

Song Chunniang looked at Pei Yuan standing there without saying a word, and reminded him in confusion, "Captain?"

Pei Yuan's eyes moved and he looked at Song Chunniang's face.

Then he waved his hand to signal the people around him to leave.

Needless to say, the Jinyiwei brought by Pei Yuan, and the Tiqi in charge of Song Chunniang, all came from the Changfeng Escort Agency. They had vaguely guessed the relationship between the two last time, and seeing this, they also quietly withdrew.

As Pei Yuan's closest subordinate, it goes without saying that Song Chunniang and Pei Yuan have a tacit understanding.

Unlike other general flags who each had their own duties, Song Chunniang was the person who followed Pei Yuan most closely on the battlefield.

When Pei Yuan was hacking at people in the front, she helped to guard his back; when Pei Yuan hacked down the enemy, she went up to slit his throat; when Pei Yuan's weapon fell, she promptly searched for the weapon on the battlefield and handed it to Pei Yuan; when Pei Yuan rushed too deep, she would also help adjust the rhythm.

Seeing Pei Yuan asking people to retreat, with danger flashing in his eyes, Song Chunniang curiously asked, "Do you want me to kill Wu Ji?"

Pei Yuan shook his head and said to her without hiding anything, "No, I want to get rid of the two brothers Zhang Yong and Zhang Rong."

Song Chunniang frowned and said, "My mission is to catch Wu Ji, and even if this is true, Zhang Yong is not someone we can catch."

"You don't have to do it." Pei Yuan looked at Song Chunniang and warned, "When you go to arrest Wu Ji, you must be polite to him. Even if you search his house, you must be careful not to let him get arrogant."

"The backer of Wu Ji is Zhang Yong, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department. Seeing that you dare not touch him, he will definitely become more arrogant and domineering."

Song Chunniang frowned, but fortunately she had suffered a lot of humiliation when she was on the road, so she didn't react too much.

She asked in confusion, "What's the use of this?"

Pei Yuan said, "It's easy to tell at a glance how energetic a person is. This time Zhang Rui is dealing with Zhang Yong, and because the matter is of great importance, he will definitely come to interrogate Wu Ji in person."

"When Zhang Rui sees the arrogant Wu Ji, he might be dissatisfied with your indulgence."

When the time comes, remember to say something to Zhang Rui.

"Let's say that Wu Ji is the confidant of Eunuch Zhang Yong. Who knows, Wu Ji might gain power again someday, so they gave him some face."

Song Chunniang understood what she meant, "Are you planning to sow discord between Zhang Rui and Zhang Yong?"

Pei Yuan rolled his eyes. "Do we need to sow discord between these two? I just want Zhang Rui to be more aware of the possibility that Zhang Yong could make a comeback."

"He was used as a knife by His Majesty to get rid of Zhang Yong today. If Zhang Yong really comes back, what good will happen to him?"

"If Zhang Rui is brave enough to take action against Zhang Yong, then we will help him."

Song Chunniang nodded and asked, "Anything else?"

Pei Yuan said, "No more?"

Song Chunniang looked at Pei Yuan and said, "Then don't go. I'll do it myself."

After saying this, he waved to the large group of scattered Ti cavalry.

The Western Factory guards came over immediately and surrounded Song Chunniang as she left.

Pei Yuan watched Song Chunniang leave, and his heart began to feel a little uneasy.

He uttered the two words "Zhang Yong" lightly, and no longer had the heart to inspect the area. He planned to go back and think it over carefully.

If Zhu Houzhao really fully re-employed the old people of Hongzhi and demoted Zhang Yong, then in order to prevent Zhang Yong's influence in the palace from hindering him, he would most likely exile Zhang Yong to Nanjing.

As long as he figures out Zhang Yong's southern route, Pei Yuan can solve this problem quickly and efficiently.

Of course, it would be even better if Zhang Rui was willing to take action.

Pei Yuan walked halfway and remembered that there would be a good show of confrontation between the Zhang family and the Xia family today. He changed his mind and ordered his men, "Let's go to the Tongzhengsi first."

Zhu Houzhao's performance today, and even the feedback his every move could give to Pei Yuan, were all extremely valuable.

This will become an important basis for him to deal with Zhang Heling, Marquis of Shouning.

When they arrived at the Tongzhengsi and saw Pei Yuan coming, Wei Ne hurried out to greet him.

Even in front of his colleagues, under their surprised eyes, he deliberately showed a fawning attitude.

This feeling is like a wild dog that has been fed several times and is trying hard to prove that someone is protecting it.

Pei Yuan was a little uncomfortable with it. After all, many of the people here would become the big bosses of the Second Central in the future.

An official wearing a fourth-rank patch came out of his office room with some curiosity to take a look. He saw that Wei Ne treated Pei Yuan very attentively, so he glanced at their faces and then fell on the cup on Pei Yuan's table.

Pei Yuan didn't know this man's identity, but a fourth-rank civil official was much more valuable than a fifth-rank military officer like him, so he stood up and greeted him.

Then the man smiled and said, "This tea is not as good as mine. Do you want to try the tea I brought?"

Pei Yuan quickly stood up and said, "I dare not."

Wei Ne was somewhat surprised that this person would come over, so he introduced this person's identity to Pei Yuan, "Captain, this is the new Right Minister of the Ministry of Public Administration, Yang Yu."

Wei Ne is Pei Yuan's man, so of course he would not let Pei Yuan contact this person without knowing it.

So he whispered in her ear, "Now that Li Hao has retired, the Tongzhengsi is missing a Tongzhengshi. The new Tongzhengshi Cong Lan is out on a tour and has not yet taken up his post. The left Tongzheng Luo Qinzhong has just been transferred to Nanjing as the Minister of the Imperial Household Department, and the right Tongzheng Lin Tingyu has gone to Baoding as the governor."

"The court appointed Yang Xi, the former deputy secretary of the Ministry of Personnel, as the right minister of the Ministry of Public Administration, and he was also in charge of the work of copying documents."

When Pei Yuan heard it, he immediately understood.

Wow, even the Personnel Department is under the jurisdiction of the Censorate!

It's very impressive to be a Censor-in-Chief, and he is from the Personnel Department.

This is like inserting a pure-blooded civil servant into Zhu Houzhao's heart!

(End of this chapter)