The Prime Minister's Wife

Chapter 232 Reciprocity (3)
There was a hint of a smile in the emperor's eyes and he said: "Get up and stand next to Mr. Zhongshu Ling temporarily. After Chen Yushi returns from Mu's residence, it will be clear at a glance whether you are really wronged or guilty."

She smiled affectionately and thanked En: "Thank you, Your Majesty." It turned out to be a plan to divert the tiger away from the mountain.

As soon as he walked to Mu Zhaoming, he heard the eunuch's voice: "Censor Chen Ping and Master Chen have an audience."

Looking back involuntarily, I saw a middle-aged man wearing the court uniform of a third-rank official, his face was calm and awe-inspiring, but the smugness in his eyes was hard to hide, let's see what he found from Mu's mansion .

Chen Ping stepped forward and said: "Back to the emperor, I am fortunate enough to not disgrace my life, and found evidence that Mrs. Zhongshuling took bribes." After finishing speaking, he took out a booklet from his sleeve, and said with a trace of pride on his face: "Back to the emperor, I have already Let people organize the gifts received by Mrs. Zhongshu Ling into a book, and ask the emperor to read them."

Eunuch Tan handed over the booklet to the emperor with both hands.

The emperor opened the brochure and read: "One catty of eight-treasure porridge and rice from Mr. Lu's mansion, three jars of pickles; one catty of eight-treasure porridge from Mr. Liu's mansion, three boxes of Fanji dim sum; one catty of eight-treasure porridge and rice, olives and kumquats from Mr. Shi's doctor. , a box of dried meat..."

The more they read back, the more surprised everyone looked, and they couldn't help but look at Chen Ping with contempt. Accepting something is called bribery. I don't know what he was thinking.

Facing everyone's whispers, Chen Pingping still did not change his expression. It seemed that in this booklet, there was really evidence of merciless acceptance of bribes, rather than him trying to hold on.

After reading the booklet, the emperor said: "Chen Yushi, I read this booklet back and forth, and there is nothing here that can make Mrs. Zhongshu Ling take the crime of bribery, unless you can show stronger evidence."

Chen Ping still said without changing his face: "Back to the emperor, from this gift list alone, we can't see the problem. The real problem lies in the gift." After finishing speaking, he clapped his hands, and immediately a guard was holding a The rectangular wooden box walked into the hall.

The flirtatious eyelashes drooped slightly involuntarily, casting arc-shaped shadows on the eyelids, covering her pupils. She recognized the wooden box, which was the wooden box that contained pickles jars when Mrs. Lu delivered the pickles. Sent to the hall as evidence.

Chen Ping saw the fickle look in his eyes, pointed at the wooden box with a smile and said, "Madam Zhongshuling, do you recognize this wooden box?"

He raised his head, glanced at it flirtatiously, and said lightly: "It looks familiar, but I don't want to see it anywhere for a while, it should be something in the house."

Hey!

Chen Ping sneered twice, and said with a righteous face: "Your Majesty, since Mrs. Zhongshu Ling doesn't remember, let me tell her."

The emperor nodded, and Chen Ping continued: "This is the three jars of pickled vegetables that the wife of Lu Shilang from the Ministry of Industry gave to the Mu Mansion. I wonder if the lady has any impression this time?"

oh!Bo Qing seemed to straighten up suddenly, and said slowly: "Yes, this is the pickle that Mrs. Lu gave to my concubine. It is said that her house pickled it herself, and it was pickled according to the flavor of Fengdu. When it comes to plain porridge, it tastes better than Runcheng’s pickles.”

Chen Ping said sarcastically: "I'm afraid it's not as simple as three jars of pickles." After speaking, he lifted the lid of the wooden box to reveal three exquisite vegetable jars inside.

Someone in the hall immediately shouted: "During the Qinyue Dynasty, the Huaiyang town porcelain used by the court was worth 15 taels of silver each. Here are three pieces of 45 taels of silver, enough to support the former soldiers for a long time."

Boqing didn't rush to explain to herself, but immediately looked at the person who spoke, and secretly wrote down the person.

These people are really a good plan. Not only did they plan on her head, but also involved those irrelevant people. It is really easy to bully her when she is ruthless.

Chen Ping pointed to the three jars and said, "Mrs. Zhongshu Ling, may I ask Mrs. Lu to open the wooden box when giving gifts, and has Madam seen these three jars with her own eyes?"

Boqing said calmly: "Mrs. Ben has indeed seen it."

snort!Chen Ping immediately snorted coldly and said: "Since Mrs. Zhongshuling is a woman of the Bo family, it is impossible not to see the value of these three jars."

Boqing raised her eyebrows, and said provocatively: "Yes, my wife has indeed seen it, so what?"

Faced with the ruthless provocation, Chen Ping immediately turned around and said to the people on the high platform: "Your Majesty, Madam knows the value of the three jars, but she accepts them without shame. I have no regrets, I hope that the emperor will punish this matter severely."

An official among the courtiers suddenly came out and said in a loud voice: "Qi Zou the emperor, I believe that the Zhongshu Ling adults are also guilty of this matter, and should be punished together."

Seeing this situation, Chen Ping deliberately said: "Zhongshu Ling is busy with political affairs, and there are occasional negligence in the affairs of the backyard. I believe that this matter must have been done by Zhongshu Ling's wife alone, and has nothing to do with Zhongshu Ling. Your Majesty, please be strict." Just punish Mrs. Ling, that's all."

Bo Qing suddenly chuckled and said: "Chen Yushi is so protective of my wife's husband, my wife is here to thank Chen Yushi." After speaking, she bowed slightly to Chen Ping.

Walking to the middle of the main hall, he knelt with Chen Ping and said, "Back to the emperor, the concubine did receive the gift from Mrs. Lu, and used the three altars of pickles in the Huaiyang town porcelain altar used by the court during the Qinyue Dynasty. Knowing the value of this pickle jar, one is willing to give and the other is willing to accept, what's wrong with that?"

The minister who spoke in front continued: "Back to the emperor, I remember that Mr. Lu Fang, the servant of the Ministry of Industry, was the first to enter the court to serve the court, and this person happened to be recommended by Mr. Zhongshuling. I don't know if there is any It doesn't matter?"

As soon as these words came out, the courtiers could not help but take a deep breath, the emperor suddenly said to Xiao Yu who was standing in the hall like an invisible person: "Prince, what do you do?"

Xiao Yu walked out of the queue, and after saluting, he said calmly: "Return to the emperor, Mr. Zhongshuling was recommended by my ministers. It is not very appropriate for my ministers to answer this question. Why don't I let the younger brothers express their opinions."

The third prince, Xiao Jinyan, walked out of the middle of the hall, looked down at Boqing, and said respectfully: "Back to the emperor, I think I should listen to you. Zhongshu ordered Madam to explain why she thinks she is not wrong. Maybe there are us in it." I don't know the truth." This woman is not so easy to deal with.

Boqing heard the words of the third prince, and the corners of her lips curled up slightly. The man became more and more intelligent and cautious, and said with a smile: "As the third prince said, there is indeed another truth to this matter."

Chen Ping hadn't heard the answer yet, but when he heard Boqing's words, he couldn't help feeling cold, and he pretended to be calm and said, "I don't know Madam, what is the so-called truth?" implicated him.

With a slightly mischievous smile, he said: "The truth is, my wife did accept Mrs. Lu's ancient porcelain worth 45 yuan, but according to reciprocity, I returned her a pair of porcelain unearthed from the tomb of the first emperor of the Qinyue Dynasty and used by the first emperor." The emerald jade box worth 50 silver that I bought was filled with meat jerky from the empress, and the inner jerky must be packed in a jade box so that it is not easy to break."

Looking up at Chen Ping, he said with a smile that was not a smile: "If Mr. Chen doesn't believe it, you can go to Lu Shilang's house to check, is my wife—reciprocity?"

(End of this chapter)