coobybook Chapter 179 The Emperor was so angry he vomited blood, but inwardly he was secretly laughing.
Chapter 179 The Emperor was so angry he vomited blood, but inwardly he was secretly laughing.
The Imperial Guards responsible for confiscating the property were all given one hundred strokes of the cane by the emperor.
However, the emperor knew the truth.
The Imperial Guards would never dare to play tricks on him with these broken stones.
All the guards were interrogated, and their answers were almost identical.
The emperor couldn't figure out where the problem lay.
But one thing is certain: the money and valuables confiscated from the officials' residences were absolutely genuine.
The problem can only occur on the way back to the palace.
Then the problem is coming.
The money was sealed in a box right under the noses of all the Imperial Guards.
After leaving the official's residence, the Imperial Guards immediately escorted them to the palace.
There was absolutely no stopping in between.
How exactly were these items switched?
Since these things were all junk, the emperor no longer bothered to hide them.
Early morning the next day.
The emperor ordered the imperial guards to bring all the trash cans to the main hall, where he unleashed his fury in front of all the civil and military officials.
He also ordered relevant officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review to investigate the matter thoroughly.
"Your Majesty! I have something to report! Waaah!"
Suddenly, Marquis Zhongyi Tan Xiaohong ran out from the crowd and took a few steps toward the front of the hall.
He fell to his knees with a thud, crying with tears and snot streaming down his face, looking utterly pathetic.
The emperor was in a terrible mood. Looking at the Marquis of Zhongyi below, he said coldly, "What kind of decorum is this in the main hall! Report immediately!"
"Waaaah, my mansion was completely ransacked last night by a daring thief! He even..."
"He even castrated my Marquis's heir and killed several of my children, Your Majesty!"
"Your Majesty, this villain is incredibly audacious and his crimes are unforgivable! I beg Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly and do justice for me! Waaaaah!"
The emperor never expected such a bizarre event to occur at the Marquis of Zhongyi's residence!
Wow! This is truly something I've never heard of or seen before!
What deep-seated hatred did this thief have for this person?
Why did it have to come to this!
What the emperor didn't expect was...
Then another seventeen or eighteen officials stood up, weeping, and knelt on the ground to complain to the emperor.
Their accusations were largely the same.
They were all complaining that their homes had been robbed of everything, and that their most cherished descendants had either died or been castrated!
The case is almost identical to that of the Marquis of Zhongyi's residence!
We beg the Emperor to uphold justice for them and thoroughly investigate this case!
But the most tragic figure was Lin Wuyai, the Minister of War.
Lin Wuyai's house was not only robbed, but the entire mansion was also burned to the ground by the thieves!
Even his only two sons were beheaded by the thieves, and their bodies were mostly burned!
He originally thought that only his family had suffered misfortune, but he never expected that so many other officials' families were not much better off than his!
He also tearfully recounted his family's miserable situation and begged the emperor to send someone to investigate thoroughly.
The emperor never expected that even his most beloved Minister Lin's family would suffer such a misfortune.
His face was extremely gloomy at this moment.
This is a blatant slap in the face to him, the emperor!
The other officials in the mansion, who were unharmed, had never heard of such a horrifying case before, and their expressions were incredibly varied.
All the thefts and murders occurred on the same day.
The money seized during the raids was stolen without cause, which should be the work of the same force as the cases involving these officials' homes!
This case was too complex, so the emperor combined the cases and handed them over to the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice for joint investigation.
The emperor, who was originally furious, was shocked to hear that so many officials' homes had been robbed clean.
The Marquis of Zhongyi's residence was completely demolished.
As for the descendants of these officials who suffered loss of life... they weren't the emperor's children, so he found it hard to empathize with them.
The emperor was no longer so angry at this moment; in fact, he was secretly and twistedly pleased.
After all, the money obtained from confiscating property did not truly belong to the emperor, so he did not actually suffer any loss.
Indeed, comparison brings happiness.
As a second-rank official, Minister Zhou had more information to offer.
The Gu family is no less impressive.
But they are all intelligent people.
It was guessed that these Imperial Guards might not be able to find any clues for the time being.
He happened to run into them and thought he could use the Chu family's money to appease the emperor's anger.
Minister Gu was an upright man, and after understanding the reason, he also felt that the Imperial Guards' behavior of using their power to oppress others was unsightly.
But he couldn't be sure whether this money was the same batch that had been lost from the palace.
After all, the appearance of this batch of money was too coincidental.
After thinking for a moment, he stepped forward to express his opinion.
"Chu Jingxuan, can you prove that these valuables are yours?"
Chu Jingxuan nodded, "This money is the income of Jinzhaozui in recent years, and it was just carried out of Jinzhaozui's door."
"If needed, I, the common people, can cooperate and have Jinzhaozui provide the account books."
Upon hearing this, Vice Minister Gu nodded to Chu Jingxuan, and then looked at the Imperial Guard.
"Gentlemen, I believe it is best to investigate this matter thoroughly first. As for whether this money is something that was lost from the palace, we still need to investigate in detail."
"Why don't we take these pieces of evidence to the Dali Temple and have them verified?"
The emperor assigned the case to the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice for a joint investigation.
The Imperial Guards did not have the authority to intervene in this matter.
can only say,
The Imperial Guards were a bit unlucky, as they happened to encounter such a bizarre case.
For the sake of the reputation of the Imperial Guards, they also wanted to investigate the matter thoroughly as soon as possible.
Having finally come across such a large sum of silver, they thought of first withholding it to appease the emperor's anger.
The eldest son of Chu was also very unlucky; at this critical juncture, he insisted on parading through the streets with so much gold and silver jewelry.
To make matters worse, he ran into the unlucky Imperial Guards...
But Gu Changyao felt that the Jinwu Guards were even more unlucky.
If Jinwuwei had encountered other ordinary merchants without strong backing, they probably would have succeeded long ago.
Unfortunately, they ran into the unlucky Chu family.
Jinwuwei knew that he could not succeed today, so he could only grit his teeth and agree.
Who can argue with the powerful and influential Gu family, a clan that even the Imperial Guards cannot directly confront?
Besides, Minister Zhou was watching them intently from the side.
What bad luck, I've encountered so many obstacles.
The Imperial Guards could only slink away with their men.
Minister Zhou was surprised that the matter was resolved so easily, before he could even utter a single word.
But he was also secretly glad that it was best for him not to get involved in this matter.
“Young Master Chu, even if it is to clear the Chu family of suspicion, you need to send the items to the Dali Temple as soon as possible to avoid being criticized by others.”
Minister Zhou said something in a pretentious manner.
When you're down on your luck, nothing goes right.
Chu Jingxuan cursed inwardly, but pretended to be calm on the surface.
"Yes, Lord Zhou, Lord Gu. I will have someone bring these documents and accounts to the Dali Temple immediately, and I will certainly not make things difficult for you two."
"It's nothing. As long as the matter can be investigated and clarified, the Dali Temple will certainly not make things difficult for you without reason," Gu Changyao explained with a smile.
Chu Jingxuan understood the implication in Gu Changyao's words.
As long as you are innocent, no one can cover up these things.
"I have another matter to ask of you two, and I wonder if I could take up a little of your time?"
Gu Changyao gave Chu Jingxuan face and gestured for him to speak.