Thief Emperor

Chapter 1013 Strikes hard
Prince Jin looked at Li Yun and smiled dumbly: "Second brother is right. In the past six months since you left Luoyang, Luoyang City has indeed become much more lively. The number of people in the Jingzhao Prefecture Prison has more than doubled compared to before."

His Majesty the Emperor smiled upon hearing this, then looked outside and asked, "What do you think of the scandal that was exposed this time?"

Prince Jin thought for a moment, then said silently: "The candidates below are naturally angry, but the officials do not think so. Many people think that the court is making a fuss over nothing, and that there is nothing wrong with the officials of the Ministry of Rites."

"Cao Yu, who exposed this matter, was ostracized because of it. Wherever he went, officials avoided him for fear of being associated with him."

His Majesty the Emperor sneered: "It doesn't matter what they think. They don't have the final say in the court."

He looked at Li Zheng and said calmly, "All those involved in the case will be taken to Jingzhao Prefecture Prison. Jingzhao Prefecture will collect their names and backgrounds, and then investigate their families. From now on, no one in the family will be allowed to participate in the imperial examinations, nor will they be allowed to become officials of the court."

"As for Cao Yu."

His Majesty the Emperor tapped the armrest lightly and said slowly: "Being unpopular in the court is not necessarily a bad thing. In the future, let him follow Xu Ziwang's old path and be a lone minister."

The reason why Cao Yu, a small imperial censor, dared to expose this matter was that someone had instructed him behind the scenes. Although this person was not Emperor Li himself, the Emperor did give him instructions.

Since Li Yun taught him to do this, his future would naturally depend on Li Yun. It happened that Xu Ang had already been appointed as prime minister and was only in charge of the Censorate concurrently. In the future, the Censorate would also need a successor.

While the two brothers were talking, the dragon chariot stopped. Lord Yang Xi, who was outside, bowed his head and said to the dragon chariot: "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has led the civil and military officials to greet Your Majesty."

This place is still forty or fifty miles away from Luoyang City, and all the civil and military officials have already come out of the city to welcome us, which shows how huge the momentum is.

Even Prince Jin couldn't help but laugh and said, "As Jingzhao Yin, it's my duty to stay a little further away, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has come so far to welcome my second brother."

The emperor also smiled and asked, "I have not been in Luoyang for most of the past six months, but you have been watching over him. Tell me, how has your nephew been doing in the past six months?"

Upon hearing this, Prince Jin had a strange look on his face. He shook his head and said, "Brother, please don't hurt me. I dare not answer such questions."

Emperor Li patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "You are his third uncle, are you afraid of him?"

Prince Jin shook his head and said seriously: "Second brother, don't try to trick me. I have read some books over the years."

"In the court, the ruler and his subjects come first, followed by ethics. The prince is half a ruler, so I naturally cannot afford to offend him."

The emperor shook his head and smiled, "We are a family, there is no need to talk so much."

As he spoke, he lifted the curtain of the carriage and said, "Let's go, let's go, get off the carriage and meet them."

After he got off the car, he looked back at Li Zheng who was getting off the car, and said with a smile: "I am back now, and the prince is going to get married soon. By then, your Jingzhao Prefecture will be very busy for a while."

Prince Jin smiled and said, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is getting married. No matter how busy I am, I am happy in my heart."

The two brothers had already got off the dragon chariot while chatting and laughing. Emperor Li looked up and saw that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was walking in front on the official road, followed by Du Qian and Su Sheng, and behind them were the civil and military officials of Luoyang City.

When His Royal Highness the Crown Prince saw the Emperor get off the carriage, he knelt down and kowtowed immediately. The civil and military officials behind him also bowed down and kowtowed to the Emperor.

"Your Majesty, I, your servant, greet you."

"Long live your Majesty."

The voices were in unison and as loud as thunder.

Prince Jin wanted to avoid the courtesy of the ministers, but the Emperor held his hand and he couldn't avoid it. Emperor Li glanced at the civil and military officials, then looked back.

At this time, Concubine Lu and the three beauties who accompanied the emperor back to the capital had all gotten off the carriage. Along the way, Concubine Lu got along well with these three "sisters" who could have been her daughters in terms of age. So she turned around and asked them who in the court these people kneeling before the emperor were.

The Emperor walked up to the Crown Prince, stretched out his hand to help him up, then walked behind the Crown Prince and helped the two important officials Du Qian and Su Sheng up. Finally, he looked at the civil and military officials and said with a smile, "It has been more than half a year since we last met. You don't have to be so reserved. Everyone, stand up."

All the ministers then thanked the emperor in unison and slowly stood up.

After they stood up, Li Yun looked at his eldest son and patted him on the shoulder: "I am not in the capital, and you have been supervising the country for more than half a year. How do you feel?"

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince quickly bowed his head and said, "Father, I have been trembling with fear for the past six months..."

"But I am far inferior to you, father. Just the affairs of the political hall have already exhausted me."

"I miss you every day, and I hope you will come back."

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince bowed his head and said, "Now, I have finally waited for my father to return."

His Majesty the Emperor looked at his eldest son for a long time before slowly nodding.

As the eldest son of Li Yun and his first wife, the relationship between Emperor Li and this son was of course good, but as he became emperor, he began to educate this son in the same way as he educated the crown prince, and the relationship between father and son seemed to be not that close. To be more precise, it should be said that the relationship between father and son was overshadowed by the relationship between the monarch and his subjects.

There is no way around it. No matter who becomes the crown prince, it will most likely be like this.

Even so, the father and son were still close. The emperor silently patted his son's head, looked at Du Qian and Su Sheng, and said with a smile: "I have been away for most of the past six months. Has my son caused any trouble to my two brothers?"

Du Qian bowed his head first and said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince is very talented and has handled government affairs in the Secretariat very well."

Su Sheng also lowered his head and said, "Your Highness has done a great job. Everything in the Privy Council remains the same as before."

His Majesty the Emperor looked at the three men, then looked at Xu Ziwang who was not far away, walked up to Xu Ziwang and said a few words, then got on the sedan chair and ordered: "It's getting late. If you don't move, I'm afraid you won't be able to enter the city before dark."

"Let's go into the city."

Everyone responded, and the huge team immediately moved slowly, surrounding the dragon chariot and heading towards Luoyang City.

When Li Yun returned to the Luoyang Palace, it was already completely dark. After returning to the palace, Emperor Li did not meet anyone and did not hold a banquet to invite any officials. He only instructed Gu Chang and Concubine Lu to properly accommodate the three beauties brought back from Jiangnan. He himself, together with the Empress, went all the way to the Empress' palace.

The couple had a meal together, and Emperor Li took Empress Xue's hand and sighed, "For the past six months, the person I've been thinking about the most is Madam."

Empress Xue was very happy when she heard this, but she looked at the emperor with a reproachful look and snorted, "You are an emperor, but you are still so slick."

Emperor Li said sternly, "When have I ever lied to my wife?"

Empress Xue smiled softly and said, "You miss me so much, yet you still have several wives in Jinling. If you didn't miss me, would you stay in Jinling and never come back?"

"Harmful."

Emperor Li coughed and waved his hand, saying, "Those are all official matters. How can they count?"

Empress Xue rolled her eyes at him and said, "Is taking a concubine also a public matter?"

"It's business, of course."

Li Yun smiled and said, "Jiangnan is too far away from Luoyang. It's been a long time now, and Jiusi may not be able to trust everything. We have to plant some more people in Jiangnan."

"Madam, please check the origins of the three newcomers to the palace and you will find out. They are all from prominent families in Jiangnan, and they are relatively clean."

"Before I came back, I met all three families one by one."

Emperor Li said softly, "It's always good to have more eyes. If your husband is really lustful, is there any young woman left in Luoyang?"

Empress Xue took Li Yun's hand and said with a smile, "If it was all official business, why are the three sisters so beautiful?"

Emperor Li said calmly, "Even though it's official business, it can't be too ugly, or else people will see through it."

Queen Xue pinched the back of Li Yun's hand and snorted, "Maybe he picked three of the prettiest women from Jiangnan, and took in their families as his spies?"

Emperor Li hugged Empress Xue's waist and said with a smile, "No, no."

…………

The next day, the emperor slept in and did not get up from the couch until the afternoon.

After washing and dressing, he returned to the familiar Ganlu Palace and summoned several people to meet him. Not long after, Prime Minister Du Qian, Xu Ang, the still-in-official Minister of Justice Fei Xuan, and the newly-appointed Supreme Court Minister Xu Kun had all arrived.

Emperor Li looked at the four people and said straight to the point without any nonsense: "I am back now. The corruption case in the seventh year of Zhangwu should have a conclusion."

"Within three days, the Secretariat and the three judicial departments shall draft an edict. I want to get this done."

The four of them looked at each other, and finally Xu Ang stepped forward and bowed to Li Yun and said, "Your Majesty, how do you deal with Prime Minister Zhuo?"

"Do you still need to ask?"

His Majesty the Emperor looked calm.

“Deal with it according to the law.”

(End of this chapter)