I stole divine power in Daxia

Chapter 532 Hypothesis Reasoning
Outside the palace, there was a faint sound of thunder, and inside the palace, the lights were bright.

The Queen did not answer immediately, but asked first, "Why didn't you report this matter at the court meeting?"

Although the Queen Mother received foreign officials, the expansion of power was also achieved step by step.

The reason for receiving foreign officials in the first place was to compile the "Nong Dian" in Pingzhang Palace, so talented people were recruited at the same time. However, the Empress Dowager only selected students from the Imperial Academy and fellow Jinshi. There was not a single Jinshi among the North Gate scholars. Because Jinshi were most likely clerks in the Hanlin Academy, that is, the emperor's clerks, the Empress Dowager did not exceed her authority, but used fellow Jinshi who were of lower rank and basically had no chance of entering the Hanlin Academy.

Later, when the emperor was thinking of removing Zhou Tieyi from the position of director of the central bank, the queen took the opportunity to let her Beimen scholars gradually take over various tasks of the central bank, and she did not overstep her authority during the whole process.

The Queen has always been adept at handling power.

That's why the Queen Mother asked Zhao Guanshan why he brought the charges to her, because although this matter was a party dispute, it was also a dispute over the inspection of Tianjing. Up to now, the Emperor had no clear intention to let the Queen Mother take charge. Otherwise, at the beginning of last year, when the Zhao family wanted to suppress the Zhou family and gain certain military power in Tianjing, the Emperor gradually began to use Zhou Tieyi.

Of course, now that Zhou Tieyi has become powerful, the problems that previously existed between the Emperor and the Queen Mother have become minor issues. However, the Queen Mother still wants to let the people below know that she is not abusing her power, so as to prevent them from having inappropriate thoughts.

When asked this by his sister, Zhao Guanshan quickly realized that they were brothers from the same mother. After all, they were born of the same mother. It was not just him and Zhou Tieyi who had people under them that were difficult to discipline, but his sister would also face this problem in the future.

He was horrified. If a power group had such cunning subordinates, it could be said that they did not control their subordinates strictly. However, if several different power groups had the same problem, it could only mean one thing, that is, the power system of the entire Daxia was in the midst of a fierce struggle. Even if the struggle at the top could not be broken, the people below had already seen the gaps caused by the power struggle, so they all wanted to work their way up.

After all, everyone has his own job. Three years ago, during Dong Xingshu's three-company management era, the upper structure was stable and the people below would not have so many ideas.

But from last year to this year, how many people can rise to the top with the help of others just by making slightly "correct" choices. Among the top levels, even the position of a big shot like Simin Dong Xingshu is in jeopardy, which naturally makes the people below have inappropriate thoughts.

In an instant, Zhao Guanshan and the Queen of Heaven exchanged information through questions and answers.

There are also people around my own sister, the queen, who are abusing their power and causing trouble, and they are closely related to this matter!

Sister is reminding herself!
But why doesn’t sister just take down these power-hungry people?

Zhao Guanshan thought about this question while answering, "Your Majesty, the death of the Imperial Academy's collection official involves Marquis Zhou who is currently preaching in Taiyi Temple. This matter is of great importance. If it is delayed for a day, I am afraid that there will be more variables. The Imperial Guards have just announced to all officials that the emperor should cultivate morality and cancel the court meeting the day after tomorrow."

Zhou Tieyi preached at Taiyi Temple that the thirty-three days of good fortune had gathered together, and it was a golden opportunity for the Great Xia Emperor, whose core doctrine was Theory of the Three Talents of Heaven, Saint and People. He was also using this opportunity to cross the barrier between the third and second grades, so Li Kegong of the Confucius Institute said that the Great Xia Emperor would not try to stop him.

Since he had crossed the threshold between the third and second ranks, the Emperor of Daxia naturally could not spare the time to deal with the court meetings, so he notified the Yulin Army to cancel two court meetings. Anyway, this was not the first time he had done such a thing.

The Queen covered her right hand with her left hand, nodded slightly, and then said to a clerk in the palace who was handling documents, "This matter is indeed of great importance, and I dare not make any rash comments. Gao Wencan, take my handwritten order and bring Zhao Jingwei to Zixiaotian to ask for instructions on this matter."

"Yes, Queen."

Gao Wencan put down what he was doing, stood up and said respectfully that the Emperor of Daxia was in seclusion in Zixiao Heaven and only the handwritten edict of the Queen Mother could allow direct entry.

Gao Wencan took the imperial edict and gestured to Zhao Guanshan, "Zhao Jingwei, please."

Zhao Guanshan took a closer look at the clerk who was giving the instructions. Even though Zhao Guanshan tried to avoid the people around his sister, he had heard that there were two young men around his sister who were the most valued.

One was named Zhang Yuesong, who came from a family of diplomats; the other was named Gao Wencan, who came from a famous family.

However, I heard that the two of them don't get along. Zhang Yuesong has evil intentions, but Gao Wencan only knows how to flatter him.

Gao Wencan had a fair face without a speck of beard, a full forehead, but deep eye sockets, giving him a sleepy look. Zhao Guanshan had learned some physiognomy and knew that a full forehead was good for one's career, while deep eye sockets indicated that one was extremely cunning. The combination of the two made it easy for him to become a high-ranking official.

However, Gao Wencan's eye sockets were too sunken, causing his entire brow bone to collapse to the sides in an "eight" shape, giving him a trapped look.

People who are extremely cunning will eventually be trapped by their own calculations.

Zhao Guanshan made a judgment based on Gao Wencan's expression, and combined with what he had just said with his sister, he roughly deduced that Gao Wencan must have been involved in this matter, but he didn't know what role he played, and why his sister still let him lead the way, as if she wanted to continue to leave the matter to Gao Wencan to handle.

"Good work."

Zhao Guanshan bowed to Gao Wencan in return, and the two of them did not delay. They walked out of Pingzhang Palace and took two steps forward holding the Queen Mother's order. Suddenly, the space around them replaced, and they unknowingly came to a sky full of glittering light. The thick clouds that were drizzling with spring rain were now all under their feet, mixed with the dark yellow power of the country, becoming a cloud mud-like texture. Thousands of feet in the sky, bunches of gorgeous peach and pear trees grew, on both sides, one red and one white, complementing each other.

Peach trees form a main avenue for worship, with nine steps on top. Yulin guards patrol the stairs. Two huge pillars that reach the sky form a gateway. Inside the gateway, one can vaguely see magnificent Taoist palaces being built. Inside these palaces, gentle sunlight shines down. The sun gradually rises from the dim morning glow, and although it is slow, one can clearly feel that it is getting stronger.

Holding the Empress's handwritten order, the two men went up the steps, reported what had happened, and requested an audience with the emperor. After a while, the chief eunuch Su Xibi came out to announce, "You two, the emperor is in seclusion at a critical moment, and he ordered: Since the Tianjing Guards are in charge of the public security of the four cities in Yujing Mountain, they have the right to handle this matter. However, handling evil spirits is also the responsibility of the God Punishment Department. Then you two will investigate the case together and report it to the Pingzhang Palace for the Empress to decide."

"Yes."

Zhao Guanshan and Gao Wencan received the order.

At the same time the two were asking for instructions, Shen Tu Yuan had already searched the crime scene in Taixue College. He knew, of course, that he could not stop Zhao Guanshan for long, but for such an urgent matter, he could only stop him for a while. Whoever seized the crime scene first would have the upper hand.

Shen Tu Yuan even had the idea in his mind that if anything that was unfavorable to Zhou Tieyi really appeared, he would destroy it directly. Now that the situation has come to this point, Zhou Tieyi is talking about the way of sages in Taiyi Temple. Even if Zhou Tieyi has never given him any information, in Shen Tu Yuan's eyes, this is a piece of information.

Zhou Tieyi preaches the way of saints, so there is no way out for him not to become a saint.

On the day when the Mohist leader Tianfu died, Zhou Tieyi dared to contact the Mohist school. Gongshujia slowly promoted the establishment of Tianfu's identity as a "sage" in places other than Tianjing. As Zhou Tieyi's subordinate, Shen Tuyuan, who followed Zhou Tieyi, naturally dared to do so. After all, Tianfu was just a dead man, but Zhou Tieyi really had the aura of becoming a saint. At this time, even if he risked being blamed by Zhou Tieyi, he had to make this matter a reality.

Thinking of this, Shentu Yuan touched the scar on his face. Although he was beaten by Zhou Tieyi last time, he did not think that it was necessarily because Zhou Tieyi hated him for killing Tai Academy students.

On the contrary, he felt that this was something Zhou Tieyi wanted to do, but could not do due to morality, reputation, and even his own path.

Just like when he first came in, he scolded the adjutant to vent his anger on Zhang Shizhong.

The reason why those in power have clean hands is because the people below are taking the blame.

If Zhou Tieyi really hated me because of the incident with the students of Tai Academy last time, then it would not be as simple as just giving me a whip, helping me clean up the mess, and letting me stay in the Zhushen Division.

The fact that he kept himself in the Zhushen Division showed that the Zhushen Division was still of great use to Zhou Tieyi, and none of the people under Zhou Tieyi's command could do anything to harm the Zhushen Division.

The last time I was beaten was because I didn't do things well enough and something went wrong, not because I killed students.

But this time is different...

Shentu Yuan turned his head and looked at the two people beside him who were also examining the case. Zhang Shizhong had a solemn expression, and Mei Juncang had a deep gaze, but a faint smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

As soon as he learned about this, Shen Tu Yuan knew that his brain was not capable of handling such matters. If he acted rashly, he would only end up like the last time when the students of Tai Academy besieged Zhou's residence, which would only make things worse for others.

So he learned his lesson this time and went back to the God-Slaying Division to find Mei Juncang first.

Although the two had known each other for a long time, after all, one was a man who had kneeled before all the wealthy families in Tianjing and had walked back from the gates of hell. Shen Tu Yuan knew the gap between himself and Mei Juncang.

Even in Shentu Yuan's eyes, Mei Juncang is more powerful than Hao Ren, who is now in power.

Before Mei Juncang and Zhou Tieyi fell out, Shen Tu Yuan, as a core member of Zhou Tieyi's team at the time, knew Zhou Tieyi's plans for Mei Juncang.

Although Mei Juncang and Zhou Tieyi had a falling out in the eyes of his subordinates, he had received strong support from the Legalists. The vernacular movement continued to advance along with the newspaper industry. At that time, one of the important exchanges when Zhou Tieyi helped the Legalists run the "Legal Daily" was to translate "The Xia Tian Constitution" into vernacular Chinese, and this had always been done by Mei Juncang.

Mei Juncang, who had taken a "small Zhoutian pill" and had the ability to see through the spirit world, was trained by the Legalists for more than half a year. He also "translated" nearly half of "The Great Xia Tian Constitution". No one knew how far Mei Juncang, who was acting as the director of Zhou Tieyi's Inspection Institute, had come to in the Legalists.

As the director of the Inspection Office and a Legalist elite, it was natural for him to participate in solving the case at the request of the centurion Shentu Yuan, in terms of rules and reason.

"Inspector Mei, who do you think did this? And why did they do it?"

After getting into the case, Shentu Yuan was not as arrogant as before and asked cautiously.

Mei Juncang's smile widened and he walked around the study.

"Although the information here has been processed, there is no need to investigate the cause of death. It is a waste of time, but many things can be inferred even without using magical powers."

"This is the Imperial Academy. If you want to kill someone quietly, you must first come in with a legitimate identity, and at the same time gain the trust of this Han Guanzang. You must even be able to confirm that Zhang Jijiu was not in the Imperial Academy at the time."

"This Han Guanzang is a historian. To be able to do this, one must be a Confucian or historian of the middle rank or above, or hold a third-rank imperial edict. Otherwise, if this Han Guanzang shows the slightest intention of resistance, things will become very complicated."

"The study is a place for meeting guests. Let's imagine a scenario where someone comes from afar to visit the collection officer with some secret matters, hoping to get his help, but the collection officer doesn't agree."

"Han Guanzang is a historian from the Imperial Academy, so this incident was definitely not done by the Tianjing School. Even if the Confucianists and historians of the Tianjing School cannot get the help of the Guanzang officials, they can easily remove Han Guanzang from his position and replace him with an obedient person."

Zhang Shizhong frowned and coughed.

Mei Juncang continued to ask with a smile, "Zhang Jijiu has an idea in his mind now, what the Confucianists and historians outside want to do, but they know that you and Dong Xingshu will definitely be hesitant. At such a critical moment, they must first confirm the matter, so they contacted the collection officer."

"The library official has a low rank and is not very powerful, but he can help a second-rank official outside the library to do something that he cannot do. What is hidden in the library of the Imperial Academy? Can Zhang Jijiu answer my questions?"

Zhang Shizhong's face was so gloomy that it seemed like water was about to drip out.

"Even if Han Shaoquan disagrees, they don't have to kill anyone!"

Zhang Shizhong did not explain what was hidden in the library, but instead raised a question that he could not figure out.

Mei Juncang smiled and said, "This is simple. It concerns the whole world. For such an important matter, it is definitely not enough to just contact the people in the Imperial Academy. So the person who came also contacted the palace. I think the emperor is in seclusion, so the highest level that the person who came can contact in the palace is only the Queen Mother."

"Therefore, there were actually two groups of people who came to Han Guanzang to clarify the pros and cons. One group was the Confucianists outside, and the other group was the people inside the Tianhou Palace. The Confucianists outside saw that reasoning was not working, and were still thinking about how to solve the problem. Suddenly, the people inside the Tianhou Palace made a fatal move, so they did something that was totally out of place."

Zhang Shizhong's eyes were about to spit fire. Shen Tuyuan smacked his lips, "Can he accomplish this by killing someone?"

Mei Juncang chuckled, "Of course it is so. Otherwise, why would the third-rank official who came with us hesitate for a moment and eventually miss the best time to stop him, causing our beloved Han Guanzang to slowly die in the eyes of disbelief, and finally leaving behind a clue of the word 'Zhou'?"

(End of this chapter)