Raising a wife? The mistress of the Hou family divorced and remarried her younger uncle

Chapter 147 Red Seal
Although the soldiers and students at the palace gate had dispersed, the incident of the young princess of Prince Huainan hitting her head against the tripod and dying caused a big uproar. There was a lot of discussion in the capital. Everyone was speaking up for Prince Huainan and denouncing the clans headed by the Lu family. The emperor ignored them, and the censors and civil servants argued fiercely at the court meeting.

Memorials impeaching Prime Minister Lu piled up on the emperor's desk like snowflakes.

Su Qingwan ordered Qingyun and Qingyi to compile evidence of corruption committed by Lu's eldest son, the Dali Temple Minister and other officials directly under Prime Minister Lu, and submit it to the Princess and the Governor of Kyoto.

The governor of Kyoto was shocked when he received the evidence.

When gods fight, don’t harm innocent people.

He did not dare to conduct a random trial, nor was he sure where all the evidence was delivered, or whether it was only given to the Kyoto Prefecture. In order to avoid suspicion and trouble, the prefect of Kyoto made a report during the grand court meeting and delivered the evidence to the imperial desk.

When the emperor received the evidence, he was furious and handed it over directly to the Imperial Guards, who put Lu Jing in charge of the investigation. However, Prime Minister Lu prevented the emperor from handing the case over to the Imperial Guards, arguing that the Imperial Guards were brutal and had tortured court officials into confessing many times.

The governor of Kyoto refused to take this hot potato, fearing to offend people. The Dali Temple Minister was the main culprit, so the case could not be handed over to the Dali Temple Minister, but to the cabinet. Lu Shoufu and the defendant had a thousand connections, so no one dared to take the case. Lu Shoufu hinted that the princess could take over the investigation, but the princess refused on the grounds of recuperation, and the case was still handed over to Lu Jing.

Within three days, Prime Minister Lu's eldest son was demoted by one rank, the Dali Temple Minister was demoted, and more than a dozen officials were implicated. Some of them abused their power for personal gain, sold official positions for money, and embezzled tens of thousands of taels of silver. It was shocking, and even Lu Jing was shocked. In fact, the Jinyiwei knew that the officials in Beijing were corrupt, and many officials bribed the Jinyiwei to cover up their crimes.

The Jinyiwei knows who is corrupt and who is honest and fair. The Jinyiwei knows it all, and the emperor knows it too. Many pieces of evidence are recorded. It just depends on whether the emperor wants to investigate.

More than a dozen officials were arrested by following the clues, which was also instructed by the emperor. The main reason was that after the princess of the Prince of Huainan died by hitting a tripod, the people in the capital had deep resentment towards the clan for its unilateral control.

The evidence of this group of officials' corruption and bribery, and their breaking of the law knowingly, was not only submitted to the imperial court, but also spread among the people. The people were outraged, and even the emperor could not protect them.

Near the end of the year, many important officials in the court were imprisoned. Fortunately, the relatives in the capital were complicated and covered up for each other, so their families were not implicated. Just a few days after being imprisoned, three officials committed suicide in prison.

Officials headed by Prime Minister Lu accused Lu Jing of murdering loyal officials and forcing them to confess. They all hoped that the princess would take over the case and continue investigating, otherwise everyone would be in danger.

Lu Jing said, "If you all abide by the law, the Jinyiwei will never frame someone for a wrongful conviction. If you are not upright, please confess as soon as possible, and the emperor will be lenient with you."

Prime Minister Lu lost several important officials in succession and finally could not bear it any longer. He sent someone to send a letter to Lu Jing, inviting him to his house for a chat.

In the posthouse, Su Qingwan looked calm when she learned that Prime Minister Lu had invited Lu Jing to his house for a chat.

She has had these pieces of evidence in her hands for a long time, and she had originally intended to use them as bargaining chips when overturning the case in Huainan. Now that the emperor has cut off her retreat, she also wants to cut off the emperor's arm.

The eldest princess controls the commanders of the armies in the four regions. She is in charge of food, fodder, and military supply allocation. This takes advantage of the commanders' weaknesses, while the emperor has to rely on the civil service group.

Apart from the infant prince, the eldest prince who has grown safely to the age of four is born to Concubine Lu. If the emperor is in good health, he will certainly not tolerate the Lu family becoming too powerful and the foreign relatives monopolizing power in the future, and he may not want Concubine Lu to give birth to a prince.

However, he is weak and the prince is young. The Southwest King's lineage of the royal family has many descendants, and they are all outstanding. The emperor must rely on Prime Minister Lu. If he has an accident, the Lu family can support the young master and compete with Southwest.

Su Qingwan suffered a setback during her redress and was bound to fight back.

Qingyun said regretfully, "It's a pity that we were not able to overthrow the eldest son of the Lu family." The eldest son of the Lu family worked in the Ministry of War. Although he was not the Minister of War, he had real power and was not so easy to be overthrown. The Lu family could push someone else to take the blame.

Su Qingwan said calmly, "The Lu family has a large number of followers. A dozen officials alone cannot shake their foundation, but Prime Minister Lu cannot protect them. The clans that depend on the Lu family understand one thing: when disaster strikes, everyone will flee, and no one can protect anyone else. The clans have been plundering the people's wealth, enslaving the people, and forming cliques for personal gain for so many years. They must be more nervous than anyone else, not knowing when their evidence of guilt will be made public."

Qing Yi said admiringly, "Lord Lu was very decisive. He arrested and imprisoned them after gathering evidence. He showed no leniency and never covered up for them."

"Even if he wants to cover it up, the public outrage has already arisen, and he can only follow public opinion. Even the emperor can't protect them." Su Qingwan said lightly, "There were swords and shadows before the New Year, which was more dangerous than the battlefield. I want to see how long they can resist this. Since Prime Minister Lu stopped me from redressing Huainan, he was ready to have his followers cut off."

In order to find out the situation in the capital, the King of Southwest and Su Qingwan have sent out batches of death warriors over the years. In addition to the death warriors from Huainan, there are also southwestern spies who specialize in collecting intelligence.

All these people are under Su Qingwan's control.

She had been in Beijing for a year, seeking revenge for Xie Zhaolan. The matter of redress was put on hold for the time being. Now the secret order was reactivated, and news of the investigation by the Southwest spies was sent to her one by one. After discussing with the King of the Southwest, she also made new arrangements.

The emperor wants to cut off their retreat, but they want him to suffer the consequences.

The eldest princess sent someone to invite Su Qingwan.

Su Qingwan took a deep breath, as if she had expected this.

There are only seven days left until New Year’s Eve. The closer we get to the New Year, the stronger the festive atmosphere becomes.

Although the capital was in a state of panic and all officials were on edge, the Princess's Mansion was decorated with lights and the festive atmosphere was strong. Lu Nianqing greeted guests at the door and politely saluted Su Qingwan.

She was wearing the face of the Princess of the Southwest King, but Nian Qing didn't know it. She followed the order of the eldest princess and politely invited Su Qingwan to the flower hall. She was very silent all the way.

Su Qingwan wanted to say a few more words to him, but Nian Qing was not the type to be outgoing and always observed etiquette, so Su Qingwan could only give up with regret.

The eldest princess held a banquet in the flower hall, and Lu Nianqing accompanied them for the meal.

"Since Xiaojiu came to Beijing, my sister has not treated you well. This is my son Nianqing. According to seniority, she should call you aunt." The eldest princess said with a smile.

Lu Nianqing called out "Hello, aunt" again.

Su Qingwan smiled and took out a red envelope and handed it to him. It was almost the New Year, and giving a child a red envelope was a way to bring some joy and was also the best wish from the elders.

Lu Nianqing took it graciously and thanked Su Qingwan.

Su Qingwan looked at his beautiful features and felt a little pain in her heart. It had been twelve years and this was the first time she had given Nian Qing a red envelope, which represented the wishes of the entire Huainan clan to Nian Qing.