Chapter 167 Ice and snow are smart
The illegitimate son of Jiang family occupied a large amount of land in Jiangzhou, and the Censorate impeached him for this. The emperor wanted to let the Jiang family restrain the Lu family, so he wanted to give them a break. However, it was revealed that Jiang You had robbed women and killed people.

The victim went to the Dali Temple and beat drums to complain, making it known to everyone in the capital.

Prime Minister Jiang is indeed an old fox. Seeing that he could no longer protect his son, he simply reported to the emperor, demanding that he sever the father-son relationship with this unfilial son and asking the emperor to severely punish Jiang You for the sake of justice.

The saint ordered the Dali Temple to investigate the matter. The Dali Temple determined that Jiang You was guilty and sentenced him to immediate execution.

The matter was about to be settled, but trouble arose again in Prime Minister Jiang's residence.

Jiang You's biological mother, Zhang, who was also Prime Minister Jiang's concubine, bore a grudge against her husband for disregarding his son in order to protect his career. She bribed the manager of the Prime Minister's study and secretly collected a lot of evidence of Prime Minister Jiang's crimes.

Such as corruption and selling official positions, forming cliques for personal gain, and colluding with the inner court to frame Concubine Shu.

The memorials from the Censorate impeaching Prime Minister Jiang piled up in front of the Saint like snowflakes.

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Jiang is the Prime Minister, but he has committed many crimes. On behalf of the five ministers of the cabinet, I request Your Majesty to thoroughly investigate this matter in order to ensure the safety of the country."

Important cabinet ministers were standing in the imperial study. Lu Yu stepped forward and asked the emperor for a decision.

Upon hearing this, the sage raised his eyes to look at the ministers and asked, "Are the other ministers like Minister Lu?"

Zhang Huaizhong from the cabinet stepped forward and said: "Prime Minister Jiang has violated the law. Although he is a veteran minister of three dynasties, we dare not shield him. We ask Your Majesty to make a decision."

Led by Lu Yu and Zhang Huaizhong, several other important cabinet ministers also reviewed the matter.

The saint was silent after seeing this for a long time, then he said slowly, "Whether this matter was reported by the woman surnamed Zhang to vent her anger or not, it is still unclear whether it is true or not."

Whether it is true or not, just order people to investigate. The saint's attitude is obviously to protect the Jiang family.

Zhang Huaizhong saw this and said, "Of course, the woman was venting her anger, but the evidence she presented was basically true after we checked it."

Before Zhang Huaizhong could finish, the saint interrupted him and said, "Prime Minister Jiang has served in three dynasties. I don't believe he would be so ignorant of the seriousness of the matter. Well, I will order a thorough investigation of this matter."

Zhang Huaizhong wanted to say something else, but Lu Yu saw through the saint's thoughts and secretly winked at him.

Lu Ji left the imperial city and went straight to the mansion, where he happened to meet Lu Ji at the gate.

"Saint doesn't want to touch the Jiang family?" When he saw Lu Yu, Lu Ji asked straight to the point.

Lu Yu nodded and sighed slightly: "The saint is clearly trying to cover up."

Lu Ji smiled faintly when he heard this: "It's as expected. If the Jiang family is gone, there will be one less chess piece to check and balance us."

Lu Yu frowned, a little frustrated: "It's just that we have spent so much effort, and we have seen that Prime Minister Jiang's crimes are notorious. If the saint is determined to protect him, it will be more difficult to attack the Jiang family in the future."

Lu Ji replied in a deep voice: "This matter is not over yet, let's think of a solution."

With that, the two brothers went to the study and discussed until midnight.

Because she had to get up early the next day to go to the villa on the top of the mountain, Qin Xiaoning went to bed early. When Lu Ji came back, she was sleeping soundly, but the noise of him going to bed still woke the sleeping little woman up.

Seeing that the person had woken up, Lu Ji no longer hesitated and stretched out his arms to hug the person in his arms.

His big hands touched the soft pajamas, and felt something was wrong, so he casually peeled them off, and held the warm and soft body in his arms. His originally depressed mood was immediately relieved.

After being tossed around like this by him, the little woman completely woke up. Knowing that he had been busy cleaning up the Jiang family recently, she asked him, "Can the saint give up this pawn of the Jiang family?"

Knowing that she was smart and couldn't hide anything from her, Lu Ji said truthfully: "Of course I can't bear to do it."

The little woman frowned when she heard this: "Didn't you ask the Cabinet and the Censorate to write letters to force us?" The little thing stayed in this small world in the backyard all day long, and he seldom talked to her about the daily affairs of the court.

He totally treated her like a child.

But she seemed to be made of ice and snow. She knew everything and nothing could be hidden from her.

As for creating public opinion and using the Censorate and the Cabinet to force the emperor to take down Prime Minister Jiang, she, a little girl, actually had the same idea as him.

It really is like a worm in his stomach.

Lu Ji lowered his eyes and glanced at the sleepy little woman, muttering, "You are so smart, one day even I may not be your opponent."

The little woman raised her hands and rubbed her eyes when she heard that. "We are in the same group. How could I use this little trick to deal with you?"

"Really not?"

She is a big-hearted person and extremely smart. Lu Ji really feels that he can no longer control her.

Helpless and powerless, he had to use his authority to scare her: "If you dare to play tricks on me, I will punish you."

The little woman smiled at his words and didn't respond. She continued to ask Lu Ji about the difficult matter he just mentioned, "So what are you going to do next?"

She said: "If the Jiang family is not overthrown, the King of Qi will not be able to ascend to the throne smoothly."

Lu Ji sighed slightly: "I've been thinking of a solution as well. I thought that the Sage would be moved by the Censorate and the Cabinet exposing the Jiang family's crimes, but I never thought that this matter would not go so smoothly."

Qin Xiaoning replied, "The saint is not stupid. He must be aware of Prime Minister Jiang's crimes."

"It's just that what the cabinet and the Censorate revealed did not touch the bottom line of the saint." She said

As she spoke, she raised her eyes to look at Lu Ji, and said in a serious tone: "As long as we are human, we all have weaknesses. I think the same is true for saints."

She paused, then continued, "Why don't you start by investigating the harem?"

Oh?
Lu Ji was suddenly enlightened when he heard this: "Are you saying that there is a secret hidden in the royal backyard?"

It's not like Lu Ji had no doubts about this.

The sage has been reluctant to appoint a crown prince and has been watching the fight between several major families. If he is just trying to eliminate the powerful and wealthy and is playing with the crown prince position as a joke, it would be a bit too much.

In addition, the saint's attitude towards Prince Xuanchen and his mother and son, Princess Chen, is also puzzling. After all, Prince Ning is the saint's own flesh and blood, and he has not committed any crime. It is indeed against human nature for the saint to cruelly put his own son to death.

There was also the late former queen, Wang, who died inexplicably at a young age without leaving any children. From then on, Wang of Langya never sent a daughter into the palace again.

Putting all these things in the harem together, it does seem like there is some conspiracy hidden.

Seeing that Lu Ji seemed to be thinking about something, Qin Xiaoning continued, "Although I have never been to the Imperial City, looking at the things that have happened one after another in the palace, it seems that the saint has been carefully protecting someone in the dark."

She guessed, "Among those women, is there one that he loves the most, but is also the most vulnerable?"

Just like herself, a weak little orphan, facing those noble ladies vying to marry Lu Ji, Lu Ji would always find ways to protect her.

If you want to protect someone out of selfishness, you will definitely hurt some people.

Lu Ji: I felt unsure and always felt that the girl was going to run away.

Ning: hahaha
Darlings, please give me a monthly ticket