The Ninth Lady is a rebellious person.

Chapter 394 Taming the Hawk? Early Death, Early Rebirth
The Marquis of Zhenbei has been impeached!
The person who impeached him was Wei Guangfeng, a notorious tough guy in the Censorate, known as "Crazy Wei." He was an outspoken official who dared to speak frankly even to the emperor. He impeached the Marquis of Zhenbei for failing to manage his household properly, failing to educate his children properly, allowing his servants to prey on the people, forming cliques and engaging in private activities, and most importantly, embezzling soldiers' pensions and lending money at exorbitant interest rates.

Embezzling pension funds is absolutely unacceptable. No one believed that the Marquis of Zhenbei would be so foolish as to covet such a small amount of money. Many officials expressed their doubts, but Wei Guangfeng produced evidence.

The Marquis of Zhenbei was not greedy, but he was far away on the frontier and could not manage his household. His wife misappropriated the pension fund, and before she could repay it, it was exposed.

The emperor was furious and ordered the Marquis of Zhenbei to stay in his residence for self-reflection, and not to leave without being summoned.

Lang Jiuchuan received this news from Zuo Yan himself.

She looked at him, dressed in plain clothes, even his belt was moon white. Was he observing mourning for the Bai family?

Seeing the deeper meaning in her eyes, Zuo Yan explained, "The two elders went together. It's not even a month yet. I'm their grandson-in-law, so I can only stay and watch over them for a while."

The truth about the deaths of the two elders of the Bai family has not been revealed. If he does not keep it a secret, he will inevitably attract gossip.

Lang Jiuchuan didn't care, and only asked him: "Was the dispute between Xie Zejin and that little Qilin, as well as the usury of the Zhenbei Marquis's mansion, your doing?"

Zuo Yan nodded: "Such a large Marquis's mansion must have some secrets that are not known to outsiders. Xie Shizi's improper conduct will not really hurt the Marquis of Zhenbei. However, if this marriage is ruined, the Marquis of Zhenbei will lose a powerful in-law. The Vice Minister of War, who has real power, would be a great help if he were to marry him."

"Now that we've found out about the affair between Prince Xie and the musician Wanbai, we should make use of it, which will also help Miss He avoid a trap."

"Aren't you afraid that their wedding will still go ahead as planned?"

Zuo Yan said calmly, "That's her fate. But Minister He is a high-ranking official of the third rank with real power. He wouldn't covet the position of a young mistress of a marquis's family. If he insists on it for the sake of his reputation, then that's their destiny. You Taoists always say that you won't interfere with cause and effect?"

Lang Jiuchuan picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said, "Interference? It depends on my mood. Didn't she also get involved in the cause and effect?"

Zuo Yan said in a deep voice, "Actually, even if they were to lend money at exorbitant interest rates, as long as they recover the principal and forgo the interest, they could immediately stop. The Marquis of Zhenbei's mansion would have the ability to cover up the matter. What I didn't expect was that they would be so bold as to embezzle the pensions of wounded soldiers and their families."

"This kind of compensation isn't a one-time payment; it's given every year?"

Zuo Yan said, “According to the laws of this dynasty, if a soldier dies in battle, he will receive a pension for ten years according to his rank, and that will end after ten years. If he is wounded or disabled, the pension will be paid for three years. The reason why the Marquis of Zhenbei has a good reputation and high military prestige is because he used his own salary to provide additional pensions for the soldiers under his command who died or were wounded in battle. However, at the end of last year, the brother of the Marquis of Zhenbei’s wife lost 100,000 taels of silver gambling and did not have enough to cover the debt, so he came to the Marquis of Zhenbei’s wife to borrow money, and that money was misappropriated.”

He sighed again as he spoke: "It's probably because the Zhenbei Marquis's mansion is nearing its end. The pension they embezzled was actually less than 10,000 taels. If they wanted to make up for it, they could have just sold a few antique jewelry pieces. But before they could do that, we found out about it."

After this incident, he understood the meaning of cause and effect even more.

But why is it suddenly so cold?
Zuo Yan rubbed his arms, turned his head and saw that Manager Fu of Wanshipu had a dark face and was full of murderous aura. He couldn't help but fall silent. Had he said something wrong?
Fu Qi, also a military man, was naturally furious upon hearing such words. The Xie family truly deserved to die! Zuo Yan then looked at Lang Jiuchuan and said, "Although the Zhenbei Marquis's mansion is now facing multiple charges, the Emperor has ordered a thorough investigation, and he has been placed under house arrest, these matters were actually orchestrated by the Zhenbei Marquis's wife and others, and have little to do with the Zhenbei Marquis himself. As long as the Zhenbei Marquis submits a petition, and with the help of officials who are on good terms with him, he won't be convicted of any serious crimes. At most, it would be considered a case of lax household management, not a capital offense. I believe he has probably realized by now that someone is targeting him and is trying to find a way to deal with it. You previously said that the Gu worm matter would only be revealed at the right time; shouldn't that time have come?"

He couldn't wait any longer.

Lang Jiuchuan hummed in agreement and said calmly, "I was originally planning to train the eagle a bit, but I have important business to attend to, so I'll pass."

Let him die sooner rather than later.

Zuo Yan's eyes sharpened, and he said, "Then let the show begin?"

Lang Jiuchuan nodded: "Find someone to make the story more plausible, so that people can guess who it is right away. Once the story has spread enough, have Shen Qinghe submit a memorial to the throne. Anyway, the witness is already locked up in the prison of the Censorate."

As she spoke, she looked over again and said, "You powerful and wealthy people are quite adept at framing others and making false accusations. You can even use a useless person."

Zuo Yan smiled faintly: "Since the Sage already knows about the love potion, he must have already had someone investigate Consort Xie. He hasn't acted yet because he's waiting for a legitimate opportunity to seize military power. Although that witch is crippled, as long as she's alive, she's still a witness. Whether she's truly crippled or who crippled her is unimportant. As long as the Sage knows that such a person exists, and this matter is exposed, then if we say he murdered her to silence her, then he is. Even if he isn't, the fact that he kept such a person makes this difficult to explain. So this isn't framing; it's just presenting the facts."

What is imperial power? What is an emperor? It means that if an emperor wants to kill someone, he doesn't actually need solid evidence. He can kill you if he wants to. All he needs is a small opportunity!
"Actually, the success of this matter is due to your connections. Otherwise, why would Master Gong and the others have cooperated with me to bring that witch back?" Zuo Yan looked at Lang Jiuchuan with a hint of admiration in his eyes.

"Do good deeds and don't worry about the future. If trouble comes, someone will take the blame." Lang Jiuchuan smiled and handed him a talisman: "Once this matter reaches the court, if the Marquis of Zhenbei cries injustice, you can take the opportunity to stick this talisman on him."

Zuo Yan took it: "What is this?"

"It's nothing. Let him tell everyone the truth about my father's death himself."

Zuo Yan shuddered.

Her tone was calm, yet it carried the chilling aura of a thousand troops on the battlefield.

After Zuo Yan left, Jiang Che said, "Didn't you want to see a trapped beast fight? Why are you killing it? Is it so easy for that Xie fellow?"

"Young Master Rong is going to open the Gate of Hell at Qingyang Temple during Qingming Festival to send ghosts into the underworld. Do you think someone will come to clear the way for her before then, eliminating some thorns in her side, like me? So after this matter is resolved, I will go into seclusion for a while." Lang Jiuchuan's tone changed: "But you said that it would benefit the Marquis of Zhenbei, that's impossible. I also told Prince Xie that when he returns to the capital, he will definitely pay him a visit in person. How can a person break his promise?"

When visiting someone's home, it's customary to bring a gift. After all these years of complacency, it's time for him to experience what it's like to be haunted by vengeful spirits in the dead of night.

(End of this chapter)