Morbid pet

Xie Zhaoyi took over the mess in Jiangnan without hesitation. He showed the thunderous methods of an emperor. He was courageous and capable. He reorganized the entire political system of Jiangnan from the inside out by himself. Because he had time, he was appointed as the new one. The prefect of Jiangnan has not yet chosen which one to use. Furthermore, the suspicion on Lingmen has not yet been investigated clearly, so Xie Zhao has taken over the position of Jiangnan prefect for the time being and cannot hold the concurrent post.

Chang Le suddenly followed Xie Zhao and moved into the magistrate's mansion, feeling a little emotional, "A Zhao, you have really led me to experience many kinds of life. Now I am the magistrate's wife again. Things are really unpredictable."

Xie Zhao held the freshly cooked porridge in his hand, coaxed Chang Le to sit down, and said warmly: "Drink this porridge first, where are you going in the afternoon? I have to go and interrogate Lingmen. I can't accompany you, you can do it by yourself ?"

Chang Le took Xie Zhao's hand and said, "I want to go with you. I will go wherever you go." Of course, she was only concerned about the progress of the Lingmen case.

Xie Zhao thought for a moment and said, "Okay."

noon.

in prison.

Lingmen was also the appointed prefect, so no one in the prison dared to disrespect him. It was only the arrival of His Majesty that completely intensified the matter.

Lingmen also maintained his last bit of pride. He lay on his side in the prison cell, waiting for the interrogation to come. He knew it would be very soon.

The affair of Meirenmaru was very involved, and the old bustard was one of the people who solved the case. He was almost close to finding a solution, but Lingmen himself was still trapped in prison and unable to escape.

Beauty Pills and Ginseng Poison was a big event that caused a sensation in the whole city.

Lingmen knew that he had neglected his duties this time and was just unlucky to have happened to meet the two masters who attached great importance to this matter, so he looked gloomy.

Suddenly there were two footsteps at the door, neat and steady.

It's Xie Zhao and Chang Le.

Changle followed him like a shadow.

Xie Zhao himself walked in the front, holding the hand of his young wife, and did not leave until he saw Ling Men.

Ling Men instantly stood up from the bed, then knelt down, "I will see you, Your Majesty, and see the Queen."

Changle shook his head gently, "Lingmen, you don't have to worry about me, just listen to His Majesty's words."

Lingmen glanced at Chang Le and then turned to Xie Zhao, "Yes."

Xie Zhao looked at Lingmen condescendingly and said, "Lingmen, please tell me about the beauty pill, and why did you want to hurt the Queen? Huh?" He brought with him a sense of coercion, making any expression on the face of the person in front of him appear to be different. There is no hiding from the calculations.

Lingmen was startled and thought to himself, indeed, he is worthy of being an emperor!To be able to become the king of a country respected by the world at such a young age is indeed extraordinary.

"Your Majesty, I don't know what you are referring to. I was wronged in this matter. How could I hurt my empress? She is the key person I want to protect. How could I be willing to hurt her? It was an accident that day. We must use poisonous snakes to take some of the empress's phoenix blood and bring it back to the monks of Ling'an Temple to practice it, so that Jiangnan can be well protected."

"Really?" Xie Zhao sneered, "Then I ask you again, how do you know about the beauty pills? How do you know the formula of those medicinal materials, and do you know their proportions?"

"No!" Lingmen quickly denied, "Your Majesty, I have never done these things, and I will never do them. Your Majesty, please be aware of everything. These formulas are also the conclusions reached by our investigation."

Xie Zhao looked at Ling Men indifferently, "Ling Men, I already know that you have been controlling this matter behind the scenes. It doesn't matter if you don't admit it. I have already mastered your whereabouts. Now I just show them to you. , But don’t worry, I won’t tell the queen, nor anyone else. However, if I find out that you are still planning something secretly, I don’t mind making your actions public. "

Lingmen's expression changed, "Your Majesty, this is slander."

"Slander?" Xie Zhao snorted coldly, "I just presented evidence, Lingmen, don't blame me for not remembering our old feelings. If you continue to persist in your stubbornness, then don't blame me for being rude."

"Your Majesty!" Lingmen knelt down and begged for mercy, "I was wronged. I can't just sit back and wait to die!"

Xie Zhao ignored Lingmen, but turned to Changle and said, "Let's go, let's go look elsewhere."

Chang Le also knew that Ling Men's condition was certainly not suitable for conversation at this time, so he did not insist on staying and left with Xie Zhao.
-
Xie Zhao and Chang Le came to another place in the prison.

There were guards stopping Xie Zhao at the door along the way, but Changle's identity was Xie Zhao's wife and the empress of the Ming Dynasty. Naturally, he had the privilege to enter and leave this place at will, and Xie Zhao did not stop him.

After some investigation, Ling Men was really a corrupt official. He had been an official since he was very young, and now he was a fourth-grade prefect. His corruption and perversion of the law had become more and more serious. Recently, even some court officials had been bribed by him. Most of these officials were bribed, and a few were forced to do so. Lingmen did it very secretly, and almost no one knew about it, so he could live happily, but his actions had long been mastered by Xie Zhao's spies. , they only need to reveal a little bit of information, and Lingmen will fall.

The incident of the Beauty Pill Ginseng Poison was also planned by Ling Men, directed and performed by himself. His weird actions were the best confession. However, Xie Zhao did not want to torture Ling Men because Chang Le was around today.

As Changle walked, he asked, "What do you plan to do with him?"

"Lingmen's crime cannot be punished. He should pay some price."

Changle hummed softly, and then said: "What are you going to do with him?"

"I'm going to chop off his hands, and then send him to the royal prison, where he will be imprisoned for life." Xie Zhao said expressionlessly, "But before that, I will give him a good time, and I will give him his hands." Cut it off and throw it into the Royal River to feed the fish."

Changle glanced at it and said, "Are you sure?"

"I never joke." Xie Zhao said, "Lingmen's crime is so heinous that I would be merciful if I didn't kill him, not to mention that in his current state he cannot walk out of prison alive."

Changle said nothing more.
-
In one night, Lingmen's name had spread throughout Jiangnan City, and the mistakes he had made were enough to annihilate the nine tribes.

Lingmen was imprisoned in the royal prison, which was guarded by guards in addition to guards.

Chang Le stayed beside Xie Zhao without saying a word.

Xie Zhao looked at the woman beside him and sighed in his heart. She didn't speak or make any noise, she just looked at him quietly.

This silent atmosphere made Xie Zhao's heart feel a little uncomfortable.

Changle suddenly said: "Xie Zhao, I think you are so strange."

Xie Zhao was stunned, "How could that happen?"

Changle shook his head, "We were in love before, but now, I find that you seem to be hiding many secrets from me. I don't like this feeling."

Xie Zhao's heart tightened. How could he not understand this feeling?
In the past, he always treated Chang Le as his younger sister, but now, he has developed different feelings for her. Although he knew Chang Le but not him, he knew Chang Le's thoughts very well.

He was afraid that Changle would alienate him because of this.

Xie Zhao coughed lightly, "Chang Le, don't you also have many secrets that you haven't told me?"

"I don't have any secrets to tell you." Changle said lightly.

Xie Zhao was stunned. He stretched out his hand to touch Chang Le, but paused in mid-air, and finally withdrew his hand.

"Okay, then you can rest first. I will go to the study to review the memorial first." Xie Zhao said.Changle nodded, "I understand, go ahead."

"Well, I'll go first." After Xie Zhao finished speaking, he left Changle's dormitory. When he walked out, he saw Changle's personal maid Die Shi, so he asked her to go in and accompany Changle.

Dieshi immediately stood respectfully beside Changle.

"Die Shi, do you think I'm bad?" Changle suddenly asked in a low voice.

Die Shi was startled, and then said: "How can the empress be so bad? The empress is the best person in the world." Die Shi praised Chang Le seriously and couldn't help but make Chang Le laugh.

Changle's mood relaxed a little, but only a little, and soon became filled with worries.

She didn't want Xie Zhao to hide anything from her, but she also knew that even if she knew some things, what would happen? She couldn't help at all, and it was impossible to change anything.

"Empress, what's wrong with you?" Dieshi asked worriedly when he saw Changle looking a little distracted.

"It's nothing, I just feel a little sad thinking about the past." Changle said.

"What happened in the past?" Die Shi asked doubtfully, "Did anything happen before, my empress?"

"No." Changle shook his head, "It's just that I can't figure it out. What happened in the past is in the past. We have to move forward now, right?"

"Your Majesty is right." Dieshi agreed with a smile, "My Majesty, the Emperor is sincere to you, you must not miss him!"

"I know." Changle said, "Die Shi, I'm tired and want to take a nap."

"My servant helped the empress to lie down on the bed. The emperor said that the empress has been in poor health recently and is weak. She should not stand for a long time. The empress should have a good rest." Dieshi said, helping Changle lie down and covering her with a quilt.
-
After Xie Zhao handled some government affairs in the study of the magistrate's residence, he returned to Changle's courtyard.

"Your Majesty." Die Shi saw Xie Zhao entering the door and hurriedly greeted him, "Your Majesty, I just heard that your Majesty wants to execute Magistrate Lingmen Ling, but you can't do this!"

Xie Zhao looked at Die Shi and asked, "How do you know about Lingmen?"

"I heard about it," Die Shi said, "I am sister Changle's personal maid. I usually know everything about sister Changle. I just heard the conversation between sister Changle and the emperor and knew that the emperor wanted to kill Lingmen."

Xie Zhao frowned, "Only Lingmen's crimes will be made public. His punishment cannot be made public for the time being, and you can't talk about it everywhere."

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will never reveal anything." Die Shi assured.

Xie Zhao nodded, then turned and walked towards the bed.

Chang Le was leaning on the soft pillow and reading a book. When he heard the footsteps, he raised his head and glanced at Xie Zhao, then continued to lower his head and read.

Xie Zhao walked over, sat on the edge of the bed, and hugged Chang Le into his arms. Chang Le struggled twice, but Xie Zhao did not let go. Chang Le had no choice but to nestle in Xie Zhao's arms.

"Xie Zhao, do you really want to kill Lingmen?" Chang Le looked up at Xie Zhao.

Xie Zhao nodded, "Yes."

"Then why don't you take action?" Changle asked puzzledly.

Xie Zhao pondered for a moment, "I don't want to kill him yet."

"Why?" Changle asked, "You have been struggling with him for so long, do you want to continue to struggle with him? There is no need."

"He betrayed me. Lingmen and I are old acquaintances, and it was my intention to decentralize to Jiangnan. However, he colluded with officials in Jiangnan, gave and received privately, and even reached out to Chang'an City to make all your beauty pills his own. How can I endure the chain of interests?" Xie Zhao said coldly, "Betraitors, die."

Chang Le's brows furrowed, she did not expect Xie Zhao to say this.

"Maybe this was his fault in the first place."

"Then how do you know it's his fault?" Xie Zhao asked.

"Because..." Changle was at a loss for words.

She didn't know how she knew, but she just felt that this matter was Xie Zhao's fault. It was like an intuition that made her feel that Xie Zhao was a bad person. He was too decisive in his actions. There was no room for change for anyone. Just based on the words of a few people and the gold and silver jewelry found in Lingmen's house, he was sentenced to death. Although Lingmen hurt himself first, but a few days ago from Changle After getting along with Lingmen, it turns out that he is not such a greedy person. In other words, Lingmen has been trying to cover up something for someone and would rather die for that person.

Changle didn't know why she felt this way. She couldn't help but shook her head to get rid of the messy thoughts in her mind.

"Don't think nonsense." Xie Zhao said.

"How could I have such random thoughts!" Chang Le glared at Xie Zhao.

Xie Zhao smiled, hugged her into his arms, and said, "Do you think I'm too cruel?"

Changle shook his head, "That's not what I meant. You are the emperor. You can kill whoever you want. There is nothing to say."

Xie Zhao sighed lightly and hugged her tighter.

"I won't kill him." Xie Zhao said.

Changle raised his head slightly, "Why?"

Xie Zhao looked at her and said, "Because it still has an effect for the time being."

"But what if he must die?" Changle asked.

Xie Zhao smiled and said, "Then I will kill him."

"You're not so cruel, are you?" Changle said, "After all, he was your former minister."

"My subject?" Xie Zhao's eyes flashed slightly, and then returned to normal, "Lingmen did such a thing, how can I still recognize such a subject? He has long been of no use value."

Changle frowned, "But if you kill Lingmen like this, what will you do if he makes another mistake in the future? You can't just kill him every time to vent your anger, right?"

"Since he dared to betray me, we should have expected that he would end up like this." Xie Zhao said calmly.

"But, he is your minister after all, and I always feel that there is something hidden in his matter. Let's investigate further."

Xie Zhao's face darkened, "The Lingmen are no longer worthy of being my ministers. They have forgotten their duty to be loyal to the emperor."

Chang Le looked at Xie Zhao and knew that Xie Zhao was determined.