I'm really not doing business

Chapter 908: The wealthy and powerful are still trapped in power struggles, how can the common people bear the harsh rule?

Yan Shixuan was a little confused. The most difficult thing to accept was that his judgment based on his own standpoint was so accurate.

The fight between the Cai and Xu families was not a one-day or one-night stand. Ever since the wrongful death of Cai's daughter, the two families have been fighting over this case for a full ten years. During this period, not only the Deqing County government, but the situation in Zhejiang as well has changed repeatedly.

Deqing County is located in Huzhou Prefecture. First, the Deqing County Government questioned the entire Xu family of Deqing. Then the coroner performed an autopsy and determined that the daughter of the Cai family died of illness. The Cai family was dissatisfied and went to Huzhou Prefecture to file a complaint.

The prefect of Huzhou ordered the neighboring Wukang County to conduct another examination and an autopsy was performed, which concluded that the Cai girl had died of illness.

Cai was still not convinced, so her father, Cai Zhengping, went to the prefect of Huzhou to file a complaint. After a full year of investigation, the prefect announced that Cai's daughter had died of illness and would no longer accept Cai Zhengping's complaint.

Cai Zhengping wrote a letter to his younger brother who was an official in the capital, stating his grievances. Cai Zhengping's younger brother was Cai Zhengtong, a Jinshi in the 21st year of Jiajing. In the 9th year of Wanli, he was the Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate. Cai Zhengtong wrote a letter to Wu Shanyan, asking for the truth.

After Wu Shanyan received Cai Zhengtong's letter, he began to interrogate her again. The prefect of Hangzhou began to investigate the case and finally determined that Cai's daughter died of illness. There were all the witnesses, objects, and evidence. The coroners of Deqing, Wukang, Huzhou, and Hangzhou all signed the autopsy, which was ironclad evidence.

Cai Zhengping was still not convinced and asked Cai Zhengtong to smooth things over. Cai Zhengtong said it was very difficult for him, but Cai Zhengping still refused to give up and asked his son Cai Shuchang to go to Beijing to campaign. Cai Shuchang originally planned to go to Beijing to file a complaint with the emperor, but was persuaded to go back by Cai Zhengtong.

Because at that time, the Luomu Camp in Hangzhou Prefecture started a riot, and the Nine Camps in Zhejiang followed suit, and the momentum was very aggressive.

In the spring of the 17th year of Wanli, Cai Zhengping died. Cai Shuchang once again found Hou Yuzhao, the governor of Zhejiang, and threatened to return the land to him, forcing Hou Yuzhao to reinvestigate the old case.

Hou Yuzhao, who has always been very tough and believed that obeying the emperor's orders was his duty and that not obeying the emperor's orders would be considered a bandit, actually accepted this kind of coercion and demanded that Cai start returning the land immediately, and he would definitely investigate the case.

The Cai family had been fighting for a full ten years from Cai Zhengping to Cai Shuchang, and the reason for the fight was that they wanted to see the person alive or the body dead.

From beginning to end, the Cai family had never seen the body of Cai's daughter. Even when things had come to this point and the coffin was opened for an autopsy, the Cai family still had not seen the body of Cai's daughter.

"After the rules are broken, even the powerful and wealthy find it difficult to seek justice." Hou Yuzhao was extremely moved when he learned that there was nothing in the coffin.

Yan Shixuan frowned and asked, "Does Governor Hou believe that Cai is a good person and Xu is a bad person?"

"Yes, I believe that the Cai family was wronged." Hou Yuzhao nodded without much hesitation, and then explained: "Because of the position, the return of land in Deqing has been delayed. The Deqing County Government has obstructed it in every way. In the whole Zhejiang Province, only Deqing and Wukang counties have not completed the return of land, and Deqing is the most difficult."

"Stance cannot determine a case, but once someone expresses his stance through actions, we can determine whether he is an enemy or a friend."

Yan Shixuan really couldn't accept Hou Yuzhao's way of judging cases.

Yan Shixuan thought for a moment and said solemnly, "What if the Cai family girl escaped from the Xu family and returned to her parents' home? What if the Cai family hid the Cai family girl and then took the opportunity to overthrow the Xu family? This is not impossible."

"It's possible that the Cai family is hiding the Cai family's daughter, but it's unlikely that the Cai family is hiding the Cai family's daughter." Hou Yuzhao said with certainty: "These powerful and wealthy people value their reputation more than their lives."

"Since you have been complaining so repeatedly, knowing that it is impossible, you still want to complain after Deqing, Wukang, Huzhou Prefecture, and Hangzhou Prefecture have successively solved the case. It is so embarrassing. If the Cai family is hiding their own daughter, I am afraid they will not do this. It is so embarrassing."

"This is a case from ten years ago. I'm afraid it will be difficult to find out the truth. Many of Wu Shanyan's accomplices were killed." Yan Shixuan felt a headache when looking at the case file, because many of the parties involved in the investigation had been killed in the Zhejiang Jiuying mutiny.

"Try to investigate as much as possible and try to find the body." Hou Yuzhao certainly knew the difficulty involved. It was an old case from ten years ago and he could only leave it to fate.

If it doesn't work, call on His Majesty for support.

The emperor's carriage soon arrived in Hangzhou Prefecture. The Ming Emperor still stayed in the West Lake Palace. The palace covered an area of ​​less than 30 acres, but it was small but complete.

By the time the emperor arrived, Yan Shixuan and Hou Yuzhao still hadn't investigated the case thoroughly.

"The land in Deqing and Wukang cannot be returned. Deqing is the most difficult. The Cai family of Deqing feels that they have been wronged for ten years and have not been able to redress their grievances, so they refuse to obey the court's announcement; the Xu family of Deqing believes that the court has been unfair in repeatedly listening to the Cai family's complaints." After Zhu Yijun finished reading the memorials of Hou Yuzhao and Yan Shixuan, he decided that if the land in Deqing was returned, Wukang would no longer be a problem.

Deqing and Wukang are adjacent to each other. Once Deqing County can no longer bear the consequences, Wukang will be unable to stand up.

"General Ti, is this case easy to investigate?" Zhu Yijun asked as he handed the case file to General Ti Zhao Mengyou.

After reading the case file, Zhao Mengyou frowned and said, "It's not easy to check. It will take at least ten days."

"Then let's find out. I have waited for seventeen years, and I can wait for more than ten days. We must get the land returned." Zhu Yijun nodded and said, "Let's find out everything."

"I obey your command!" Zhao Mengyou bowed his head and accepted the order. He appointed two thousand-householder inspectors and, after giving them careful instructions, had them lead two hundred cavalrymen straight to Deqing County.

Seven days later, the truth came to light.

The way the imperial guards handled cases was completely different from the way the yamen runners handled cases. In fact, the yamen runners had no way to deal with these wealthy and powerful families.

To repair bridges and roads, the gentry had to pay; to provide disaster relief and pensions, the scholars had to contribute grain and money; even to build a building or a house, the foundation had to be laid on the gentry's land.

The salaries of the yamen runners were all paid by these gentry. Is it the yamen runners' turn to boss these gentry around?

The two chief judges were both veterans of criminal law with more than ten years of experience. As soon as they got the case file, they saw some clues. There was nothing wrong with the case file. It was precisely because there were no problems that became the biggest problem.

Although humans are the most intelligent creatures on earth, everyone's memory is actually not that accurate. They can make mistakes about what happened a few days ago, but it is strange that the confession can be so accurate.

Moreover, everyone has his or her own set of cognition, and everyone's memory of an event is completely different. Since the confessions are so similar, there must be something wrong with this case.

When the imperial guards arrived in Deqing County, they did not care about the complicated interests of the local people. They directly arrested the Cai and Xu families and interrogated them one by one. While investigating, they also conducted a thorough search of the Cai and Xu families.

The magistrate of Deqing County trembled with fear. Not to mention the magistrate of Deqing County, even the nobles in the capital would tremble with fear when the imperial guards entered their homes, for fear of bringing trouble upon themselves.

It took the imperial guards only seven days to investigate the case thoroughly and find the daughter of Cai. She had been dead for seven years. After an examination by the coroner, it was found that she had been poisoned to death by arsenic. A silver needle turned black when it penetrated the rotten bones.

“So, the coroners in Deqing, Wukang, Huzhou, and Hangzhou said that she died of illness. However, the person they examined was not Cai’s daughter, but Cai’s maid Guixiang.” Zhu Yijun summoned Hou Yuzhao and Yan Shixuan to the West Lake Palace and handed the case files to them.

After the Cai girl was poisoned, Guixiang, who was of similar size and appearance, also died. She did not die of natural causes, but of suffocation. That is, the body was fixed and covered with layers of paper soaked in water, suffocating the person to death.

The body that the Xu family asked the coroner to examine was Guixiang.

Hou Yuzhao frowned and said, "It stands to reason that even if they examined Guixiang's body, they should have known that she died of suffocation. The coroners still violated the law. It's simply lawless!"

The reason why the law was violated was because of pressure from someone, headed by Wu Shanyan, and the former Hangzhou prefect, Huzhou prefect, Deqing county government, and Wukang county government were all accomplices.

The key point is that Wu Shanyan was almost completely unaware of the matter. It was all Wu Shanyan's master who mediated and handled the matter properly.

Why was the Cai girl killed?

Because she caught her husband having an affair with her mother-in-law all day long.

This is a bit confusing, but it is true. When the Tiqi found out, they were also extremely shocked.

The Xu family was a wealthy family in Deqing, but the previous head, Xu Tianhua, had done something sinful and had no sons or daughters, leaving the family with no heirs. Xu Tianhua was the only child, so he had to adopt a distant nephew from a side branch. The nephew was named Xu Duncheng.

If you go straight into the main stream, all kinds of strange problems will arise.

Even when Xu Tianhua was old, he was still obsessed with having a child, even if it was just a girl or marrying someone into the family. To this end, Xu Tianhua took in more than a dozen concubines, but in the end he got nothing and it was all in vain.

This adopted nephew Xu Duncheng was well-behaved and sensible at first, but Xu Duncheng soon discovered that he could do whatever he wanted in Deqing County, and no one could do anything to him.

It was somewhat difficult for his adopted nephew to find a wife of equal status, so Xu Tianhua was very worried about him. He gave 80 hectares of land to the Cai family and married Cai's daughter.

Xu Tianhua was old, and in order to have children, he took in more than a dozen concubines. These concubines knew that they could not give birth, and once Xu Tianhua died, these concubines would be driven out of the house.

In order to stay in the Xu family, he really went to great lengths. Among them was the skillful Ni who had the nephew Xu Duncheng under her control.

Ni was a woman of romantic and fickle nature. Xu Tianhua was not suitable for her, so Ni found a strong man outside the house, hoping to have a child. However, the man tried hard for several months but to no avail.

Ni decided to go all out and took her adopted nephew Xu Duncheng, who was only fourteen years old.

At that time, Xu Duncheng was only fourteen years old, full of vigor and vitality. How could he resist such temptation?
In this way, the two of them lived together shamelessly for two years. When Xu Duncheng got married, Ni became Xu Tianhua's second wife and was considered the mistress of the household.

A second wife is the one who takes over after the death of the principal wife. After Cai's daughter married into the Xu family, she had to call Ni her mother-in-law, even though this mother-in-law was only a few years older than Xu Duncheng.

Three months after getting married, Cai's daughter discovered her husband's affair with her mother-in-law. As a lady from a wealthy family, she immediately told her father-in-law Xu Tianhua and prepared to return to her parents' home with her maid.

This is intolerable. If this gets out, both the Cai and Xu families will lose face.

Cai's daughter had never expected that Xu Tianhua, Xu Duncheng, and Ni would go all out and poison her to death.
Xu Tianhua is old, and he has no descendants. His only concern is the reputation of their Xu family.
Xu Duncheng and Ni colluded with each other and jointly killed Cai's daughter and her maid Guixiang. Xu Tianhua turned a blind eye and helped to clean up the aftermath. Xu Tianhua not only had the bodies buried, but also bribed Wu Shanyan's lawyer to make the case a solid one.

Xu Tianhua died unjustly in the 15th year of Wanli. He did not expect that Cai Zhengping, his lifelong rival, would run around for so many years and hold on to the unjust death of his daughter.

Xu Tianhua never expected that he would die at the hands of his adopted son Xu Duncheng.

Xu Duncheng could not have imagined that even after Cai Zhengping died, Cai Shuchang would still hold on to the case and seek justice.

Zhu Yijun said with emotion: "Cai Zhengping believes in one principle: if a person is alive, he must see the person, if he is dead, he must see the body. Since there is no body, there must be something wrong."

"As things continued to develop, Cai Zhengping felt more and more guilty. Before he died, he finally gave in and asked his son Cai Shuchang to obey the government order and return the land. This was a final way to seek justice for his daughter. Until his death, Cai Zhengping felt that it was because of the 80 hectares of land that his daughter was left in such a miserable state." Cai Zhengping was unwilling to let go of the matter until his death. There were many reasons for this. He must have felt that he owed his daughter. Secondly, the two families were fighting to the point where they were incompatible.

"I never thought that the Cai family was a half-county family, and Cai Zhengping's younger brother Cai Zhengtong was the Censor-in-Chief, a fourth-rank official in Beijing. Ten years after the death of the only jewel in the family, the unjust case was finally cleared up." Zhu Yijun looked at the case file and said to Hou Yuzhao and Yan Shixuan.

It is true that Cai Zhengtong was a fourth-rank official in Beijing, but he was not as good as the current county magistrate. Cai Zhengtong wrote a letter to Wu Shanyan, who took action, but it was tantamount to doing nothing.

"Is Xu Duncheng out of his mind? With a family background like his, what kind of woman can't he find? Yet he listens to Ni in everything? If he was young and frivolous and ignorant of the ways of the world, he would still be hanging out with Ni at this age. How shameless!"

"Ni asked him to kill someone, so he killed someone. Ni asked him to bribe, so he bribed. Ni asked him to kill Xu Tianhua, so he did it?!" Yan Shixuan had never expected that this would be the truth!
Xu Tianhua's death was also caused by Xu Duncheng. Ever since the death of Cai's daughter, Ni had been hanging out with Xu Duncheng all day long.

Xu Tianhua turned a deaf ear to the matter but secretly planned to adopt another child. However, some carelessness could lead to disaster. Unexpectedly, Ni found out about this and was terrified. She convinced Xu Duncheng with just a few words. Xu Duncheng decided to go all out and drowned Xu Tianhua as well.

Xu Duncheng was such a ruthless man, who had already committed three murders, but he didn't just kill Ni to put an end to all the murders. He also had a son and a daughter with Ni. Yan Shixuan was really shocked.

Zhu Yijun looked at the file and said, "Xu Duncheng and Ni have three crimes."

"The first is murder. The Ming Code, Criminal Law, Human Life stipulates that those who murder grandparents, parents, and husbands shall be executed by slow slicing; those who murder others shall be beheaded. Xu Duncheng and Ni teamed up to kill Cai's daughter, Guixiang, and Xu Tianhua by poisoning, suffocating, and drowning. The methods were extremely cruel and the circumstances were so bad that they were condemned by both humans and gods."

"The second is adultery. The Ming Dynasty Code, Criminal Law, Adultery stipulates that anyone who commits adultery shall be caned 80 times; if the husband is married, he shall be caned 90 times. Xu Duncheng and Ni committed adultery together, and since they were a family, their crime was one level higher, and they should be executed."

"Third, bribery. The Ming Dynasty Code, Criminal Law, Fraud and Forgery stipulates that if an official accepts bribes and perverts the law, he shall be sentenced to death for taking bribes, and if the amount is more than 80 strings of cash, he shall be hanged. Wu Shanyan, the prefect of Huzhou, the prefect of Hangzhou, Wu Shanyan's advisor, and other officials involved in the case accepted bribes and forged the autopsy results. Those who have died shall be hanged regardless of the others."

"Xu Duncheng and Ni were both executed by slow slicing. The servants of Xu and Ni knew about it but did not report it. They were beaten with 100 sticks and exiled to Jinchi."

After investigating the case thoroughly, Zhu Yijun made a judgment.

Among them, all officials involved in the case in Huzhou Prefecture, Deqing and Wukang must be held accountable.

Lingchi is Lingchi, not sending the prisoners to the Jiekuyuan. The Jiekuyuan no longer accepted people from the Ming Dynasty, and the specimens mainly came from the Japanese slaves.

This case had an extremely bad impact, and Zhu Yijun implicated all of his family members, especially Xu Duncheng and Ni's relatives, who were all exiled to the Jinchi Governor's Office as punishment, because they were also involved in the case. Bribing so many officials was not something that Ni and Xu Duncheng alone could do.

In fact, in this case, the officials of Deqing County were the most guilty. The prefects of Huzhou, Wukang County, and Hangzhou were mainly responsible for covering up for Deqing County. It was a very common phenomenon in officialdom for officials to protect each other.

Zhu Yijun wrote in red: Xu Duncheng murdered his father and was a lewd leader, Ni violated ethics and assisted evil, conspired to kill three people, bribed officials to cover up the truth. According to the "Great Ming Law", he will be tortured to death and his family property will be confiscated by the government. The rest of the criminals will be hanged to correct the social order.

He said to the two officials: "This case is not only a personal sin, but also a microcosm of social contradictions: judicial corruption, ethical collapse, rampant power, and ineffective laws. If I were an important figure in Zhejiang, I would also ask, where is the law, where is the emperor?"

"Although Xu Duncheng and Ni were sentenced to death, and all the wrongful judges and officials at all levels were hanged, it is just a way to make up for the loss. If the system's chronic diseases are not eliminated, similar tragedies will happen again."

"The moral principles have collapsed and the principles of heaven have disappeared. The wealthy and powerful are still trapped in power struggles. How can the common people bear the harsh government?"

Zhu Yijun's thoughts on this case were not limited to the case itself. The reason why he took such a heavy hand was to warn that if such a thing happened again, government offices at all levels should not cover up for each other. If they cover up the same crime and sentence people to death without any punishment, naturally no one would respect the law or respect Zhu Yijun, the emperor.

"Your Majesty is wise." Hou Yuzhao and Yan Shixuan bowed their heads and accepted the order.

In the prison cell of Hangzhou government office, Cai Shuchang, who was arrested for injuring three people, was staring at the skylight in a daze. It had been ten years since his sister died, and it seemed that there had finally been new progress. He could also comfort his father's spirit in heaven.

"Cai Shuchang."

The jailer opened the cell door and called Cai Shuchang, and the Chief Justice and Pacification Envoy Chen Mo lowered his head and walked into the cell.

"I am Chen Mo, the imperial swordsman and the chief justice. The court has already investigated the case thoroughly. This is the truth that you and your son have been searching for." Chen Mo took out the pen, ink, paper and inkstone. If Cai Shuchang had no objection, he could leave after signing and sealing the document.

Cai Shuchang read the case file in detail, put it down and remained silent.

"Do you have any objection?" Chen Mo asked.

Cai Shuchang took a deep breath and said, "Chen Zhenfu, you are a person from the Ninth Heaven, so you naturally don't understand the suffering of a commoner like me. It is all thanks to the grace of the emperor that my injustice has been redressed today. I am just an ordinary person, so I should be grateful for the grace of the emperor, but I still want to ask a question."

"What about before? My father worked hard for this for ten years."

It could have been investigated clearly in seven days, but it was dragged on for ten years. What were you doing?
If he had not promised to return the land, the Hangzhou government office, the governor's office, and even the censor of the Censorate would have ignored the case!
Is it true that as long as he doesn't agree to return the land, this case will never be cleared up?

Justice delayed is cheaper than grass.

Chen Mo's expression was a little strange. He looked at Cai Shuchang for a long time before he spoke: "In the 29th year of Jiajing, the governor of Zhejiang, Zhu Wan, wanted to give Zhejiang justice and prevent the rampant pirates from disrupting people's livelihood. Later, he was falsely accused and committed suicide;"

"In March of the 34th year of Jiajing, Grand Marshal Zhang Jing and Governor of Zhejiang Li Tianchong led troops to suppress the Japanese pirates, killing 4,200 pirates and capturing 840 Japanese pirates. The court received a memorial from Zhejiang, blaming Zhang Jing and Li Tianchong for their waste of military funds and harming the people. In October, Zhang Jing and Li Tianchong were unjustly killed."

"Zhu Wan, Zhang Jing, and Li Tianchong came, and they died. What are you local powerful people doing? They came to suppress the Japanese. The Grand Marshal and two-term governor died unjustly. Who should be blamed?"

"After the Japanese invasion was over, did the powerful local tyrants in Zhejiang say a fair word for Zhu Wan, Zhang Jing, and Li Tianchong, or petition the court to redress their injustices or file petitions to appeal for justice? It seems not."

"Later, Wu Shanyan, a man despised by both humans and gods, secured his position as governor of Zhejiang."

"Well, if you don't agree, these things happened too long ago and have nothing to do with you. In the 13th year of Wanli, His Majesty was on a southern tour from Nanjing to Hangzhou Prefecture. He encountered heavy rain and stopped at Renhe. A fire broke out in the official residence in Renhe. Just after the heavy rain, the fire in the official residence burned half the sky red."

"Songjiang Governor Shen... Doctor Shen was also in charge of Zhejiang. He pacified the people of Zhejiang and started the land return. I want to ask you, other families have returned their land, but what are you doing? It was not until this spring that you went to the Hangzhou government office to find Governor Hou."

"The imperial court naturally has its own problems, but in the choices you make time and again, Cai Shuchang, don't you have any problems with the choices you make?"

Chen Mo did not blame them, nor did he reprimand them in a harsh tone. The Cai family was thoroughly investigated and no problems were found. They were a good family.

In Chen Mo's mind, the court and the local government are mutually exclusive. This case has been unjust for ten years and it is entirely blamed on the court and His Majesty. Chen Mo believes that what Cai Shuchang said is wrong.

Justice cannot be achieved by the court alone.

"What Governor Chen said makes sense." After listening to what Chen Mo said, Cai Shuchang was a little stunned and remained silent for a long time. However, he felt that what Chen Mo said made some sense.

Zhejiang has ended up in this situation, or the Ming Dynasty has become like this, because of the foolish rulers and incompetent court?

The imperial court and the emperor were too omnipotent. It was the cumulative effect of every choice made by every individual that made the world become like this.

"It doesn't matter whether you are pretending or being sincere, as long as you can listen to what others say, it's fine. If there is no problem with the case, just sign and seal it." Chen Mo pushed the case file and asked Cai Shuchang to read it carefully several times. After making sure that there was nothing missing, Cai Shuchang signed and pressed his fingerprints.

Cai Shuchang felt relieved that his injustice had been redressed. At least Zhejiang was getting better little by little.

"Your family owns 1,100 hectares of land. Here are 20 ship certificates and 20 ship deeds. If you don't know how to run maritime trade, you can hand it over to Songjiang Ocean Trading Company for operation." Chen Mo took out the ship certificates and ship deeds from his sleeves.

The ship certificate is the proof for sailing to the sea and is required for passing the lottery. The ship deeds are for three five-masted ocean-going ships and seventeen three-masted plywood ships.

Chen Mo did not recommend Ningbo Ocean Trading Company because in Chen Mo's opinion, Ningbo Trading Company was still a little disloyal and had a high threshold. These ships might be like throwing meat buns at a dog and never come back. On the contrary, Songjiang Trading Company had been operating for several years and there had been no similar rumors.

"Um, does Huantian really have the ship certificate and ship deed?" Cai Shuchang was shocked.

"No, Cai Shuchang, have you never seen the land return order? Do you think the imperial court confiscated your family's land for nothing?" Chen Mo was almost laughing out of anger. The land return order in Deqing County had been delayed, and it seemed that even a wealthy family like the Cai family knew nothing about the specific policy.

Cai Shuchang took a deep breath and said, "I heard someone say that there were boat certificates and boat deeds for returning the land, but there are none at all. They were all taken by... Governor Hou himself. I heard, I heard."

"Tell me in detail." Chen Mo's eyes lit up. He smelled the scent of a big case and immediately said excitedly: "Everyone here is a secret agent. You don't have to worry about Hou Yuzhao's revenge. He really treats the emperor's order to return the land as a business. He will not survive this year. Tell me everything you heard in detail!"

Chen Mo was eager to try. A third-rank official who held the title of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and was the Governor of Zhejiang, this was a big fish!
Cai Shuchang looked around and told Chen Mo everything he had heard. Chen Mo recorded it all and told Cai Shuchang to go home immediately after leaving the Hangzhou government office and not to tell anyone about what he had reported. He would send twenty imperial guards to protect him secretly.

Three days later, Chen Mo was extremely disappointed. It was not that Cai Shuchang had heard it wrong. There were indeed such rumors in Zhejiang, but they were just rumors against the order to return the land.

Hou Yuzhao was clean and honest, and all the ship certificates and deeds that should have been issued were present. Moreover, most of the powerful and wealthy families who insisted on returning the land chose Songjiang Yuanhang Trading Company instead of Ningbo Trading Company.

Chen Mo asked the imperial guards to tell Cai Shuchang the situation and then ordered them to withdraw from the Cai family.

Hou Yuzhao himself knew nothing about this. He thought that the Cai family kept those imperial guards in order to continue the normal process of three reviews of the death penalty.

"There's nothing wrong with Hou Yuzhao." It's hard to tell whether Zhu Yijun's expression was disappointment or happiness. His expression was a bit complicated. He certainly didn't want Hou Yuzhao to have any problems, but he was naturally a little disappointed that he didn't see the fun.

"Your Majesty, Governor Hou is ill..." Feng Bao held a memorial and whispered, "Governor Hou and Prefect Yan went to the Zhejiang East Canal together yesterday, and it suddenly rained. Prefect Yan is fine, but Governor Hou has caught a cold."

"Governor Hou has been in Liaodong for more than ten years. He learned some martial arts from Ningyuan Hou and reclaimed wasteland himself. He is in very good health and has never been sick in Liaodong. After arriving in Zhejiang, he either fell off his horse or fell ill for no reason. The day before yesterday, he ate a fish and got a fish bone stuck in his throat."

"Huh?" Zhu Yijun was quite surprised. He took the memorial and looked at it for a long time. This was a memorial written by the chief physician beside Hou Yuzhao.

During the past two years in Zhejiang, Hou Yuzhao had been unlucky, so much so that the chief medical officer wanted to find a temple to burn incense and exorcise evil spirits for him. It was really too weird, and it was all coincidence.

"Hou Yuzhao is really lucky!" Zhu Yijun sighed sincerely after reading the memorial.

(End of this chapter)