Thief Emperor

Chapter 990: Don't dare to ask
It took Emperor Li nearly an hour to read through the evidence sent by Lu Bing. After reading it, he sat alone in the study and remained silent for a long time.

Managing the salt road is a lucrative job in itself.

The advantage of this lucrative job is that he can deal with salt merchants. When transporting or delivering salt, he can give a little more or a little less, or get some kickbacks from the salt merchants. These are not big problems and are also something Li Yun tacitly agrees to.

But it would be too outrageous to tamper with the taxes paid to the court directly.

As for the sentence "No one knows the county magistrate", it made His Majesty the Emperor even more angry.

The three regions of Jiangnan were the foundation of his fortune and the base for his entrepreneurship. If he couldn't even carry out the administration of the base, he would have no way to carry it out.

Not to mention how big the impact will be in the end, Li Yun himself must be quite annoyed.

Although he was annoyed, as the emperor, he could not be too impatient. Even if he knew something, he had to pretend nothing happened and then do things according to his specific needs.

Even if we want to attack Zhuo, we have to wait until he returns to Jiangdong and arrives in Jinling.

Just as Emperor Li was sulking in the study, Lu Bing walked out of the study and was about to look for Imperial Concubine Lu. Before he arrived at where Imperial Concubine Lu was, he saw a tall girl who was pinching her waist with her hands and looking at him viciously.

Obviously, he had been waiting for a long time.

It was Princess Lujiang.

Most daughters look like their fathers. As the emperor's eldest daughter, Princess Lujiang inherited some of her father's tall stature. Although she is not as tall as her father, she is much taller than ordinary women, even slightly taller than Lu Bing.

At this moment, she rushed forward viciously, grabbed Lu Bing's sleeve tightly, and glared at him, "You traitor!"

Without thinking, Lu Bing knew that it was probably because of the affair of Princess Lujiang that he had revealed to the emperor before leaving the capital that caused the trouble. He complained in his heart, but a smile appeared on his face. He said in surprise: "Princess, you are also in Luzhou."

"What princess!"

Princess Lujiang grabbed her uncle and said through gritted teeth, "I told you so many times not to tell my father. You clearly agreed to it, why did you secretly tell him?"

She said angrily, "Are you better off with me or with my father?"

Princess Lujiang Li Shu had only one uncle and one aunt from her mother's family. Her aunt also lived in the palace. If she wanted to go out of the palace to play, she could only rely on Lu Bing as an excuse.

Moreover, Lu Bing doted on her since she was a child, so Li Shu was naturally very close to her only uncle.

The "rebellion" at the beginning of the year made her very sad.

Lu Bing sighed and said, "Xiao Shu, stop messing around."

He looked at Princess Lujiang and said sternly, "Every time you leave the palace, you say you want to come and play with your uncle. His Majesty dotes on you and agrees every time. Your uncle has to go out of the palace to do business. If you don't explain this to His Majesty clearly, His Majesty will know about it and he may not punish you or not."

"But it must have annoyed my uncle to death."

Lu Bing used his hand to stroke his neck.

"Will my uncle still be alive by then?"

"nonsense."

Princess Lujiang curled her lips and said, "Father is so kind-hearted, why would he kill you?"

Hearing this, Lu Bing's expression became a little strange, but soon, he forced a smile: "In your opinion, His Majesty is naturally a very good temper."

"To outsiders, this is probably not the case."

Li Yun has never been considered a good-tempered person, at least that's what outsiders think.

Of course, he would try to unite those who could be united, such as the Pinglu Army and the Hedong Army, but His Majesty the Emperor would never show mercy to those who could not be united.

Over the years, not to mention others, out of the more than 170 people in the anti-theft team, less than a fraction is left. Those more than 100 people may not have all died on the battlefield.

Your Majesty was ruthless in dealing with many people.

Even if we don't count the casualties on the battlefield, it is not necessarily true that His Majesty the Emperor has turned into a benevolent Bodhisattva over the years.

Lu Bing explained to his eldest niece for a long time, and finally promised to take her to visit Luzhou in the next few days. Only then was he able to get away and go to the backyard to meet his elder sister and younger sister.

After talking to the two sisters for a while, Lu Bing stood up and bowed his head to Concubine Lu and said, "Sister, your majesty is right."

"This is our Lu family's business, and I should be the one to handle it. You and my younger sister are both from the royal family, so you shouldn't be involved."

He took a deep breath and said, "Last time in Luoyang, I was soft-hearted. This time, I will not let their family appear in front of His Majesty and make a scene."

Concubine Lu frowned slightly and said softly: "The Lu family only has this one elder."

Lu Bing's expression was firm: "Sister, can someone like him be considered an elder?"

"No, Your Majesty. We three siblings don't know where we are now."

“I don’t know if there will be another chance for us to meet again!”

Lu Bing said slowly, "I will handle this matter, sister, please don't ask." Concubine Lu still sighed, "He is just doing this for his two sons. I think he should teach him a lesson, but maybe we can find a job for his sons."

"With their personalities, if we give them a job, will they do it earnestly?"

Lu Bing sneered, "Our Uncle Nine is probably thinking of becoming like the Xue family."

The Xue family relies on the emperor and can be said to be very successful now. Two titles have come from the same family. When Xue Guozhang retired two years ago, the court conferred him the title of a prince. Even if the title of a prince cannot be inherited, this line can also be a hereditary duke.

Xue Fang, the second master of the Xue family, was also conferred the title of marquis, which can be said to be a very honorable title.

Princess Lu was about to speak, but Concubine Lu beside her pulled her sister's sleeve and shook her head slightly, saying, "Sister, let my brother handle this matter. We really shouldn't talk."

Lu Bing stood up and said, "Then I will go right away."

After saying that, he turned his head and strode away.

When he reached the door, Lu Bing, who had a resolute face, was grabbed by Princess Lujiang again. At this time, the eldest princess looked excited: "I heard your conversation with my mother."

Her eyes lit up: "I'll go with you!"

Lu Bing looked at her, somewhat helplessly, and said with a wry smile: "Okay, but you can't talk nonsense."

"I do not speak."

Princess Lujiang rolled her eyes and said with a smile, "I will be Master Lu's follower."

She dragged Lu Bing out and asked as she walked, "Uncle, how are you going to deal with them?"

"We are the major branch, and he is the minor branch. We own all the Lu family businesses in Luzhou."

Lu Bing said slowly: "They should all be inherited by our branch."

"Now, he has occupied it for many years. It's time to drive him out if he doesn't want to."

Lu Bing said expressionlessly, "Let's take the case to court and let the Luzhou Governor's Office make the final decision."

Having said that, he looked at his eldest niece and said, "Tomorrow, we will go to the Lu family to meet them. Today, I will go and make some preparations."

The eldest princess was a little curious and asked, "What preparations are you making?"

"I'm going to find Lord Yang."

Lu Bing chuckled and said, "Let's borrow some manpower from Lord Yang to strengthen our reputation."

…………

When Emperor Li was on his eastern tour, Prime Minister Zhuo, who was being escorted home, had already returned to Luoyang.

After arriving in Luoyang, the Yulin Army that escorted him did not make things difficult for him. They just sent him all the way back to the Zhuo Mansion. After Mr. Zhuo returned home, he immediately ordered people to close the door and not to see any guests.

He was the prime minister, and the emperor did not order anyone to be arrested at this time, so naturally no one dared to come and question the prime minister.

The next day after Zhuo Xianggong returned to Luoyang, he changed into his official uniform, entered the imperial city, and came to the Secretariat, where he met the Crown Prince who was on duty. After seeing the Crown Prince, he knelt on the ground in a proper manner, kowtowed respectfully, and said, "I, the guilty official Zhuo Guangrui, kowtow to Your Highness."

His Royal Highness, who was in charge of Luoyang, of course, already knew about the incident last year. He also knew that Prime Minister Zhuo, the chief examiner, was probably guilty. After thinking for a while, he stood up and helped Zhuo Guangrui up. He looked at Zhuo Guangrui and sighed, "Prime Minister Zhuo has been an official for many years and has always been cautious. How could he have fallen into such a big trap?"

Zhuo Guangrui bowed his head and said, "I... was negligent for a moment, and my crime is unforgivable."

He bowed his head and said, "I have heard that the criminals have been detained in the Dali Temple Prison, waiting for your majesty to question them. I am the chief examiner and my crime is unforgivable. Please give the order to have me taken to the Dali Temple Prison to await trial."

Li Yuan thought about it and was about to answer when he suddenly remembered what his father had told him before he left. He pondered for a while and then shook his head and said, "Mr. Zhuo, you have been in the court for many years and have made outstanding contributions. Without the order of the emperor, I cannot rashly put you in jail."

He pulled Zhuo Guangrui's sleeve and said, "I am still young and I dare not make decisions on these important matters. Lord Zhuo should go see Lord Du and let him make the decision."

Upon hearing this, Zhuo Guangrui looked up at the prince and secretly praised him. After bidding farewell to the prince, he rushed to see Prime Minister Du. After seeing Du Qian, he knelt down and bowed, saying, "The criminal asks Prime Minister Du to interrogate him."

Du Xianggong quickly stood up, helped him up, and shook his head, saying, "How can I ask Brother Zhuo about his guilt?"

"Brother Zhuo, you should go home. Go home."

Mr. Du sighed deeply.

"Wait until His Majesty comes back to make the decision."

After saying this, Du Qian thought for a moment and said seriously.

"Brother Zhuo, rest assured that we, the old officials of Jiangdong, will be there when the time comes."

"I will definitely intercede for you, Your Majesty..."

"Give me a lighter punishment."

(End of this chapter)