In ancient times, the powerful and wealthy seized power step by step.

Chapter 97 Lies

The emperor was once the crown prince, and now he is the Son of Heaven, the most powerful person in the world.

Even though the emperor had lived in constant fear in the palace during his youth due to his father's extreme favoritism, fearing that his father would kill him for his younger brother, he was always outwardly treated as a noble and precious person, and no one dared to insult him with filthy things in front of him.

Therefore, everyone present, including the elders, felt that Gu Zhao's suggestion made a lot of sense.

After all, there's no point in doing something as self-defeating as criticizing the emperor; it brings no benefit whatsoever.

Even the Grand Secretary who had just suggested targeting the salt merchants to extract money changed his leisurely manner and hurriedly echoed:

"What Vice Minister Gu said is absolutely right; there is no need to rush."

Whether the interrogation is today or tomorrow makes little difference to the Emperor.

Whether or not there's an investigation makes no difference; what's the point of investigating such a nobody?

Killing him would solve the immediate problem, so there's not much to hesitate about; just kill him.

The Emperor wanted to see Zhang Shen before his execution, purely out of curiosity—curious to see what this audacious and arrogant man, who dared to deceive even the Emperor, looked like.

Having listened to the Grand Secretaries arguing all morning, their heads were throbbing with pain. The Emperor, also tired, waved his hand dismissively.

"Then tomorrow, Shen Xu, bring the person here for me to see. That's all for today. Building the Huiyi Temple is a good thing. The Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue, quickly draft a memorial to see how it should be built. As for whether the salt law should be changed, and how it should be changed, you ministers should think it through first and come up with a feasible plan for me to see. Stop just arguing all day long. Let's disperse."

The Emperor dismissed them, and everyone in the hall bowed and took their leave.

Gu Zhao glanced at Shen Xu and gave him a wink.

As longtime friends who grew up together, Shen Xu immediately understood the meaning in Gu Zhao's eyes. Gu Zhao was telling him to slow down because he had something to tell him.

Just then, Shen Xu had a letter to deliver to Gu Zhao, so he slowed down and the two of them swayed behind, putting some distance between themselves and the other elders.

Shen Xu naturally handed the letter to Gu Zhao:

"Xiong Kun asked me to bring this to you; it's news from Sichuan."

Gu Zhao naturally accepted the letter and said:

I want to see him tonight.

Gu Zhao didn't say who he was, and Shen Xu didn't ask either. He just nodded, quickened his pace, and distanced himself from Gu Zhao as they left the palace.

Shen Xu left the palace and immediately saw Xiong Kun still waiting at the gate with his horse in hand. He said:

"I've given him the letter. You can go back now. By the way, he'll probably be back late tonight. Tell the Duchess of Dingguo so they don't have to wait."

Xiong Kun bowed and thanked him, then returned to the Duke's mansion to deliver the message.

Shen Xu then mounted his horse and galloped back to the government office. He threw the reins to the gatekeeper who came to greet him and strode towards the imperial prison.

Inside the imperial prison, Zhang Shen was reading a book.

If we ignore the surrounding environment and focus solely on Zhang Shen, his current state doesn't really seem like that of someone serving time in a prison.

During this period, Shen Xu changed him to a clean cell and never tortured him again, nor did he even interrogate him. Sometimes he would come over and chat with Zhang Shen for a few words.

Confined in this small cell, never seeing the sun, apart from being a little pale and thinner, there was nothing wrong with him. In fact, because Zhu Qingyu had come and scolded him that day, Zhang Shen regained his will to live and was in good spirits.

Shen Xu took a whip from the wall and had the jailer open the door.

Because Shen Xu had been coming often these days, Zhang Shen had gotten used to it. He put down his book and was about to talk to him when he saw the whip in Shen Xu's hand, and he stopped breathing.

He was a pampered young master who had never suffered any physical pain. On his first day in the imperial prison, he was whipped several times by the jailer and almost died. The pain was so intense that now, whenever he sees a whip, the scar on his leg will ache again.

Shen Xu entered the cell, expressionless.

"I protected my face, and I acted very quickly, it was over in a flash."

Zhang Shen involuntarily took a few steps back, his face filled with fear:

"Lord Shen, what's wrong?"

Shen Xu lashed out with his whip, and Zhang Shen reflexively turned around to dodge, covering his head with his hands.

The whip struck Zhang Shen's neck, then wrapped around his hands that were protecting his head, knocking Zhang Shen to the ground.

The intense pain prevented Zhang Shen from even screaming. After that moment of excruciating pain, the pain spread from the wound throughout his body, causing him to curl up on the ground in an attempt to protect himself from further harm.

Shen Xu bent down to examine the conspicuous marks on Zhang Shen's neck and hands. After a moment, when Zhang Shen had recovered somewhat and could hear clearly, he said:

"The Emperor wants to see you tomorrow."

The mental fear overwhelmed the physical pain, and Zhang Shen looked at Shen Xu with a face full of terror.

Shen Xu then said:

"Lord Gu will be coming tonight. I advise you, if you want to live, do whatever he says."

After giving Zhang Shen these instructions, Shen Xu left the cell and then gave instructions to the jailer:

"From now on, you are not allowed to feed him anything or give him any medicine."

Having made arrangements for Zhang Shen's situation, Shen Xu didn't stop for a moment. He took a few steps out of the prison, picked up his horse, and was about to leave when his subordinate stopped him to report on important matters.

After wasting a full quarter of an hour, Shen Xu finally managed to fool his subordinates and returned the way he came, heading back to Qingyi Lane.

The Emperor is to meet with Zhang Shen tomorrow. If we are to prepare for the worst-case scenario, we must start making preparations today, otherwise it will be too late when the time comes.

Today, Lady Zhu must give him an answer.

While Shen Xu was busy preparing Zhang Shen to look presentable for the emperor, Gu Zhao was equally busy.

After waiting for so long, Gu Zhao finally received a letter from Shu. He returned to his duty room, put everything else aside for the moment, sat down to open the letter, and was still thinking about Zhang Jingyan's audience with the emperor the next day.

Since he had promised Qingyu to protect Zhang Shen's life, he naturally had to do it for her.

Otherwise, if something really happens to Zhang Shenruo, once her parents and brother arrive in Beijing, not only will she be unable to explain to her mother, but he will also have a hard time explaining.

After all, Zhang Shen was taken away by the Embroidered Uniform Guard in front of him, and he personally wrote the memorial for Zhang Shen's case and presented it to the Emperor.

Gu Zhao could imagine what would happen when he came to propose marriage. Oh, the person who harmed his own sister's child still dared to propose marriage!

He'd probably get kicked out by her mother with a big stick; he's dreaming if he thinks he can marry her.

Gu Zhao was lost in thought when he almost excitedly opened the letter. As soon as he opened it, he could vaguely see the words "No such place found" standing out in the densely written report that filled an entire page.

What?

Before they could even recover from the shock, something even more jarring than the fact that the place was nowhere to be found was the phrase "No such person found," which immediately came into view.

Gu Zhao's eyelids twitched, and a sudden pang of pain shot through his heart. Before he could take a closer look, Minister Cao of the Ministry of Revenue arrived.

Lord Cao took a memorial:

"Shouming, let's review the memorials prepared for disaster relief in the northern frontier. We should present them to the Emperor tomorrow."

Gu Zhao placed the letter face down on the table, stood up, and followed Lord Cao to look at his memorial, replying respectfully:

"Yes, Your Excellency."

The document that Lord Cao had spread out in front of him was densely packed with those eight characters, from top to bottom and from left to right:

No such place or person found.

......

Every word Lord Cao said went into Gu Zhao's left ear and came out of his right:

She lied to you from the very beginning!

She's been lying to you from beginning to end!

She's been lying to you from the very beginning!

Every word, every sentence, all come together to form one sentence: