The Prodigal Son

The Imperial Palace.

Zhao Luan received Qin Yu's report.

The report was very long, and Zhao Luan read it word by word, taking almost half an hour to finish.

In his report, Qin Yu detailed the specifics of the historians' plot to murder the crown prince, as well as their achievements, and described the situation and predicament on their side.

After reading the report, Zhao Luan took a few deep breaths, trying to suppress the anger in her heart.

Although she already knew that the Shi family had murdered the crown prince, seeing these specific details still enraged her.

They even thought Shi Zhen was a loyal minister, and he was posthumously awarded the title of Grand Master of the Palace!

In his later years, the late emperor actually intended to suppress the Shi family. It was only because Shi Zhen maintained his stance of protecting the crown prince even on his deathbed that the late emperor gave up the idea of ​​suppressing the Shi family and appointed Shi Yi as the Salt Commissioner of Liangjiang.

Unexpectedly, all of this conspiracy originated from Shi Zhen!

It has to be said, Shi Zhen was indeed ruthless!

He was willing to risk his own life to protect the historians!

Crush his bones and scatter his ashes!

Even though Shi Zhen and Shi Dingyuan are already dead, they must be reduced to ashes!

After struggling to compose herself for a long time, Zhao Luan finally managed to calm herself down and then instructed Shangguan Youyi, "Summon Gao Yi, Su Yu, Du Zhiwen, Lü Chunqiu, and Feng Shinan to the Imperial Study immediately for a meeting! Also, send someone to invite the Empress Dowager over!"

"yes!"

Shangguan Youyi accepted the order and quickly left.

"call……"

Zhao Luan exhaled a breath of stale air and lowered her head again to examine the report.

This time, however, she skipped the part about the assassination of the crown prince and focused on the following content.

The various chaotic situations that arose in Ningzhou were within her expectations.

Qin Yu handled it very well; although there was some chaos in these areas, no major disorder occurred.

This is something she can totally accept!

However, the problems Qin Yu mentioned are indeed quite thorny.

Especially among officials.

The Shi family case, along with the salt transport case, resulted in the downfall of over three hundred officials, both high and low-ranking.

The positions of prefectural governor in Ningzhou, Yuanzhou, and Haizhou are vacant.

Fangzhou only had Fu Mingzhu temporarily serving as its prefect.

The governors of Shangzhou and Taozhou were spared because Qin Yu showed them leniency, but their records are certainly not clean.

Behind these officials, there are more or less some high-ranking officials in the imperial court.

With so many vacant official positions, someone has to fill them!

Qin Yu, that bastard, really has no ambition.

He was given full military and political power over Kyushu, yet he didn't place any of his own people in local positions?

Thinking of this, a relieved smile appeared on Zhao Luan's cold face.

A moment later, Zhao Luan stood up and walked towards the Imperial Study.

Upon arriving at the Imperial Study, Zhao Luan took out a list from the secret gate, staring at it with icy eyes as she pondered deeply.

After a long while, Zhao Luan's gaze softened, and she put the list back into the sealed gate.

The court is short of officials, and these officials are still useful, so let's spare their lives for now!

A short while later, the Empress Dowager arrived at the Imperial Study first.

Zhao Luan pulled the Empress Dowager to sit down and handed her the report that Qin Yu had sent.

The Empress Dowager struggled to control her emotions. After a brief inspection, she growled coldly, her face icy: "I will grind those two traitors, Shi Dingyuan and Shi Zhen, to dust!"

"That's what my daughter thinks too."

Zhao Luan gently patted the Empress Dowager's hand, "Leave these matters to your daughter! Mother, please take good care of yourself."

The Empress Dowager nodded gently, taking deep breaths to compose herself, and then asked, "Now that this case has been solved, shouldn't we exonerate those officials who were wrongfully imprisoned back then?"

"Um."

Zhao Luan nodded and said, "Prime Minister Gao and some officials in the court submitted a memorial on this matter a few days ago! I know that if we exonerate them, it will inevitably damage Father Emperor's reputation, but now that the case has been investigated and cleared up, if we don't exonerate them..."

"Let them be exonerated if they deserve it!"

The Empress Dowager interrupted Zhao Luan, "No one is perfect, who can be without fault? The real culprit who murdered your elder brother has already been found. If the court still insists on not exonerating them, it will surely damage the reputation of the court and yours! I believe that if the late Emperor is watching from heaven, he will certainly not blame you!"

Such a big thing cannot be kept secret.

Soon, news of the historians' plot to murder the crown prince will spread throughout the land.

The real culprit has been found, yet they still refuse to exonerate those officials. What are the people and officials supposed to think?

One dynasty, one era!

Those who deserve redress should be redressed!

Compensation should be provided where it is due!

"Thank you, Mother!"

Zhao Luan breathed a sigh of relief, then pointed to a section of the report and said, "Qin Yu specifically mentioned Lü Si's merits in his report. Mother, what do you think I should do to reward Lü Si?"

"Let's talk about that later!"

The Empress Dowager closed the report. "When do you plan to order Qin Yu to escort those traitors back?"

"This needs to be addressed later," Zhao Luan replied. "Currently, the area surrounding Ningzhou is in disarray. Although it's not a major upheaval, there are still many problems, and we need Qin Yu to oversee things there!"

"Don't worry, Mother. With Steward Guo keeping an eye on things, those treacherous villains won't die so easily!"

"Moreover, making them suffer and live in fear every day is also a way of avenging our elder brother!"

Hearing Zhao Luan's words, the Empress Dowager nodded resentfully and said no more.

Also!

At this point, for those treacherous historians, death was not the most terrifying thing!

Living in fear and torment is the most terrifying thing!

The mother and daughter chatted for a while longer, and Gao Yi and others arrived at the Imperial Study one after another.

Zhao Luan ordered someone to offer them seats, then handed them Qin Yu's report to read, and said, "Regarding the assassination attempt on my elder brother, there's no need for you all to elaborate! Right now, the court needs to resolve the issues raised by Qin Yu, especially those concerning officials! Elder Su, when will the review of the imperial examination papers be completed?"

"Your Majesty, it can be completed and submitted to Your Majesty within two days, where Your Majesty will make the final decision."

Su Yu replied, "However, the preparations for this special imperial examination were rather hasty, and there are not many candidates, nor are there many talented ones among them! This old minister suggests that the court should give priority to the students of the Confucian Temple and the Imperial Academy."

"What Lord Su said makes some sense, but it's not enough!"

Gao Yi picked up the thread, "There are indeed many talented scholars in the Confucian Temple and Academy, but governing a region requires not only talent but also experience! Previously, this old minister and Lord Du both submitted memorials to Your Majesty, asking Your Majesty to consider those officials who were wronged and suffered injustice in the past..."

That old fellow Su Yu has quite the dream!

Are they also giving special consideration to students from the Confucian Temple and Academy?

His son was the educational administrator of the Confucian Temple and the Confucian Academy, which was also under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites.

All the students of the Confucian Temple and Academy can be said to be disciples of Su Yu and his son Su He!

If a large number of students from the Confucian Temple and Academy were to become officials, wouldn't that greatly strengthen the Su family's power?

This is something he doesn't want to see!

If Zhao Luan reinstates those officials, his power will grow rapidly!

This is exactly the result he wanted to see!