spend time

An hour later.

Commander Song, who was exhausted from the journey, strode into the Zhaohe Palace and bowed respectfully: "Your Majesty, I have fulfilled my mission and returned with the head of the traitor."

Jiang Shaohua was not in a hurry to look at the heads of the traitors in the three wooden boxes. He walked forward with a smile and helped Song Yuan up: "Uncle, you have worked hard all the way."

Song Yuan felt warm at the sound of the intimate address in private, and replied in a low voice: "It is my duty to share the emperor's worries, and I don't feel tired at all."

How can it not be hard?

It took more than a month to reach Yuzhou after following the army. After settling down for a few days, the war began. The actual fighting didn't take up much time. After capturing Zheng Chen alive and beheading him, he rode back to Beijing the next day. The time it took to get back was more than twice as fast as the time it took to go there.

However, it would be good if we could arrive in the capital one day earlier.

Jiang Shaohua knew Song Yuan's temper. No matter how tired or hard it was, he would never say it in front of her. Smiling, she urged, "Uncle, go and settle down and rest first. I will ask you about the war in Yuzhou tomorrow."

Song Yuan responded, left the three wooden boxes, and left.

Jiang Shaohua's eyes drifted over, as if he was considering which one to open first.

Chen Sheren volunteered: "Your Majesty, I will open the wooden box."

"No need," Jiang Shaohua said calmly, "I'll open it myself."

Zheng Chen is already dead, and all the past events have become a thing of the past. It's just a head, which is not enough to make her feel helpless.

Jiang Shaohua stepped forward and opened the first box.

Coincidentally, the head in the first box was a familiar face.

Song Yuan's knife strike that day was decisive and sharp, and he promptly used quicklime to cure it. The head was well preserved, and through the stiff and cold face, one could see Zheng Chen's fear and unwillingness before his death.

Jiang Shaohua looked at it for a while, then opened the second wooden box. Inside was Zhao Wu's head. Zhao Wu was split in half by General Zuo's sword, and the head was pieced together, looking weird and hideous.

Chen Sheren took a look and felt a little uncomfortable in his stomach. He turned his head quietly and retched.

Jiang Shaohua remained calm and opened the third wooden box.

Lu Cheng died on the city wall. Whether he died at the hands of the imperial court or under the hidden knife of Zheng Chen and Zhao Wu was a mystery. Jiang Shaohua was not interested in getting to the bottom of it. In short, Lu Cheng was dead.

Lu Cheng was buried in a coffin, but later his grave was dug up and his head was cut off, so the head had already rotted a lot.

Chen Sheren couldn't help it and walked out, covering his mouth.

Jiang Shaohua didn't even frown as he called Qin Hu, Meng Sanbao and other guards over: "Send these three heads to the Ministry of Justice. Order the Ministry of Justice to file a case and punish the Lu and Zhao families for treason."

Not only did Lu Cheng and Zhao Wu die, but their property was also confiscated and their clans were exterminated to demonstrate the majesty of the imperial court's laws.

Qin Hu and others accepted the order, repacked the wooden box, and took it to the Ministry of Justice.

Yang Shangshu, the newly appointed Minister of Justice, took the three wooden boxes with a solemn expression and said, "Please report to the Emperor on my behalf that the Ministry of Justice will file a case and make a judgment as soon as possible."

Empress Dowager Zheng in Jingyang Palace soon received the news.

Empress Dowager Zheng sent Eunuch Zhao to invite the emperor to come and talk. Jiang Shaohua finished his official duties and did not come until the evening.

Empress Dowager Zheng used to be arrogant and domineering, but now she has restrained herself and spoke to Jiang Shaohua in a gentle tone, negotiating with her: "Shaohua, I know that Zheng Chen committed a serious crime of treason. However, he has died at the hands of Commander Song, and his head has been cut off and brought to the capital."

"There is no place to find the body. We should send this head back to the Zheng family and have Duke Anguo quietly prepare a thin coffin and put a set of clothes in it so that it can be buried in peace."

Jiang Shaohua was very familiar with the way of controlling the Grand Empress Dowager Zheng. She was embarrassed at first, and then sighed deeply: "Grandmother, all the ministers in the court are watching me. I have shown favor to the Zheng family time and time again. Without the thunderous power of the emperor, where will the laws of the court be placed?"

"Court officials may be dissatisfied or have unstable minds. If they make a big mistake in the future and bring up the matter of Zheng Chen with me, how should I respond?"

"Am I going to say that in my opinion, the Zheng family has an extraordinary status and is above the laws of the court?"

Empress Dowager Zheng knew she was in the wrong, so she said nothing else but played the pity game, tears streaming down her face: "Shaohua, I raised him all by myself, and he stabbed me in the back and made a big mistake. I hate him for not dying. But he is dead now, and I feel empty inside. These days, I always dream about what he looked like when he was alive."

"Please give him a proper burial for my sake. He committed sins in this life, and it is his fate to be reborn as a beast in the next."

Empress Dowager Zheng believed in Buddhism, and Buddhism pays the most attention to karma in the afterlife. If you can't be buried in the ground, you will be a wandering ghost, not even qualified to be reincarnated.

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Empress Dowager Zheng showed weakness and bowed her head because she hoped that Zheng Chen could be reincarnated as soon as possible.

Jiang Shaohua neither agreed nor refused, and just dealt with Empress Dowager Zheng with an embarrassed look on her face.

Empress Dowager Zheng was filled with resentment, but she also knew that Jiang Shaohua would never agree to such empty talk. She had to bleed him again.

"By the way, I heard that you are going to open a girls' academy in the capital." Empress Dowager Zheng forced herself to cheer up: "To open an academy, we need to hire teachers and provide lunch for the students, which will cost a lot of money."

"You don't have to worry about these expenses. I have some private money here, and I will pay for them."

Jiang Shaohua did not refuse: "Grandma is so generous. I would like to thank you on behalf of all the female students."

"Can Zheng Chen's head be sent to the Zheng family?" Empress Dowager Zheng asked impatiently.

Jiang Shaohua continued to ponder.

Empress Dowager Zheng held back her anger and continued bleeding: "I also heard that you plan to promote women's academies in all prefectures and counties in Daliang. The rice and silver consumed in this process is also a huge burden for the current court. The Ministry of Revenue will pay 30%, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will pay another 30%, and the prefectures and counties will raise 40% on their own. What do you think?"

If every county had a women's academy, that would be 300. If it were to continue to be promoted and every county had a women's academy, that would be thousands. The annual expenditure would be a staggering figure. The Ministry of Revenue would definitely not be able to afford it.

Even if they could afford it, it wouldn't make sense to do it this way. If the court spent money to build a women's academy, shouldn't men also receive some subsidies?
It is more reasonable to do as proposed by Empress Dowager Zheng.

The Imperial Household Department had always been tightly controlled by the Empress Dowager Zheng, and was equivalent to her purse. This time, it was severely cut.

Jiang Shaohua was quite satisfied with the result and finally relaxed: "I sent someone to deliver a message to Minister Yang, saying that this matter must be handled quietly." (End of this chapter)