Tang Dynasty: Taking the Empress Dowager to a brothel, Father Emperor, what a coincidence!

Cheng Chumo was dumbfounded and wanted to find a place to plead for leniency.

But after Wei Zheng finished speaking, he didn't even look at him.

As for his own father?

Cheng Yaojin just stood there grinning foolishly, completely ignoring Wei Zheng's words.

Cheng Chumo turned his head and looked at Li Chengqian pitifully.

Li Chengqian sighed and walked up to Wei Zheng:

"Duke Zheng, you've wronged Cheng Chumo."

This thing is called fried noodles. It's something I racked my brains to come up with so that my 100,000 troops on the front lines could make it to Liaodong alive, a life-saving dish.

The soldiers had been traveling for days and hadn't even had a sip of hot water; they were surviving on this thing.

You, on the other hand, come here and instead of asking if the soldiers are suffering, you're picking and choosing, and even threatening to ruin their future.

You're showing absolutely no compassion for the army. How disheartened would the soldiers be if they heard this?

Wei Zheng was so taken aback by Li Chengqian's words that he almost fainted.

"Good! What a life-saving item."

"I will not argue with Your Highness over words. Since Your Majesty has entrusted the case of Anping County to me, I will personally go to the Pingzhou Prefectural Governor's Office tomorrow to interrogate Zhao Deyan."

After Wei Zheng finished speaking, he flung his sleeves and stormed out.

Li Chengqian watched Wei Zheng's departing figure and smiled:

"Changsun Chong, Du He, Fang Yi'ai."

Three heads immediately poked their heads in from outside the tent.

"Your Highness."

"Tomorrow, Lord Wei will be going to the governor's mansion to investigate a case. He's a civil official and can't even kill a chicken. Take some men with you and go with him to help him out."

Li Chengqian deliberately emphasized the word "busy".

Changsun Chong understood immediately:

"Your Highness, rest assured, we will definitely handle Lord Wei's case perfectly."

The next morning.

The gates of the Pingzhou Prefectural Governor's Office were wide open.

Governor Zhao Deyan stood at the door with a smile on his face, followed by two rows of yamen runners.

Wei Zheng, holding the imperial edict, stepped out of the sedan chair with a dark expression.

"Your humble servant, Zhao Deyan, Prefect of Pingzhou, respectfully welcomes Your Excellency, the Imperial Envoy."

Zhao Deyan hurriedly went to greet him.

Wei Zheng snorted coldly, ignored Zhao Deyan, and went straight to sit down in the main hall.

"Zhao Deyan, the magistrate of Anping County is known for his disregard for human life and corruption. Are you aware of these matters?"

Wei Zheng cut to the chase and asked.

Zhao Deyan calmly cupped his hands and said:

"Your Excellency, I was negligent in my investigation."

The magistrate of Anping County is usually very good at disguising his true intentions. I myself only just heard about this matter and was preparing to submit a memorial to the court to plead guilty.

As he spoke, he took a booklet out of his sleeve and handed it over.

"These are the account books of Pingzhou Prefecture Treasury. Please take a look, Your Excellency."

"I am an honest and upright official, with nothing to my name, and have absolutely not embezzled a single penny."

Wei Zheng took the account book and began to look through it.

This ledger is absolutely flawless.

The more Wei Zheng looked, the more his brows furrowed.

Often, the more perfect the evidence, the more problematic it indicates.

Zhao Deyan looked at Wei Zheng with a smug expression.

Want to investigate him? No way.

The moment the Anping County Magistrate was in trouble, he took out all the evidence he had prepared beforehand.

They were waiting for the imperial envoy to arrive.

Just as Wei Zheng was reviewing the account books, Changsun Chong picked up his teacup and said:

"Oh my, this tea from Pingzhou is really fragrant. Lord Zhao certainly knows how to enjoy life."

As Changsun Chong spoke, he circled around Zhao Deyan.

Suddenly, Changsun Chong slipped and fell forward.

The teacup in his hand flew directly towards Wei Zheng.

A whole cup of tea was spilled onto the account book in front of Wei Zheng.

The ink on the ledger miraculously dissolved and became a blob.

Wei Zheng stood up angrily, pointed at Changsun Chong, and demanded:

"What are you doing?"

Changsun Chong, with an innocent expression, raised his hands and said:

"Lord Wei, the ground is too slippery, you really can't blame me."

Besides, this ledger looks like it was just written recently; the ink isn't even dry yet, it's all smudged, isn't it?

Zhao Deyan's expression changed.

Before he could speak, Du He pulled out a small notebook from the side and read it aloud:

"On the fifth day of the third month of the sixth year of the Zhenguan era, Zhao Deyan, the prefect of Pingzhou, accepted 10,000 taels of silver from the magistrate of Anping County, along with ten young girls who had not yet reached the age of marriage..."

Zhao Deyan hurriedly pointed at Du He and shouted:

"You're making baseless accusations! This is a frame-up."

"Framed?"

Du He rolled her eyes dismissively and continued reading.

"On the twelfth day of the fourth month of the sixth year of the Zhenguan era, Zhao Deyan embezzled eight thousand strings of cash allocated by the court for the repair of the city walls, and used it to build himself a villa outside the city..."

"Stop reading it."

Zhao Deyan looked anxiously at Wei Zheng and said,

"Lord Wei, this is clearly fabricated evidence. I am innocent!"

Wei Zheng originally intended to conduct the trial step by step in accordance with the laws of the Tang Dynasty.

As a result, these two brats have turned it into a street brawl, disrupting all his plans.

"You two shut up."

Wei Zheng roared angrily.

Changsun Chong and Du He shrugged and stepped aside.

Zhao Deyan's forehead was already covered in cold sweat.

He never expected that the Crown Prince's men would actually obtain his real account book.

If we don't run now, we're probably going to die here.

"Master Wei."

Zhao Deyan clutched his stomach, bending over in pain.

"I suddenly have severe abdominal pain, probably from catching a cold last night. Please allow me to go to the back room to use the restroom and change my clothes. I will come back to report later."

Wei Zheng waved his hand:

"Go quickly and come back quickly."

Zhao Deyan hurriedly ran towards the back hall.

As soon as he entered the backyard, the pained expression on his face disappeared.

He didn't go to the outhouse at all, but ran straight to a dog hole in the back wall of the governor's mansion.

This dog hole was an escape route he had prepared long ago.

There are fast horses waiting outside; once you get out, you can fly far away.

Zhao Deyan lay down on the ground, just as he was about to crawl into the dog hole.

A figure emerged from the kitchen in the backyard.

It was Fang Yi'ai, who was searching everywhere for meat to eat.

"What a shabby governor's mansion! There's not even a roast chicken here."

Fang Yi'ai had just stepped out, cursing and swearing, when he saw a man in official robes crawling on the ground toward a dog hole.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

Fang Yi'ai shouted.

Zhao Deyan was so frightened that he didn't even dare to turn around and desperately tried to crawl into the dog hole.

"Trying to run away?"

Without saying a word, Fang Yi'ai grabbed a pot from the ground and smashed it over Zhao Deyan's head.

"Bang!"

The bottom of the pot slammed solidly into Zhao Deyan's face.

Zhao Deyan couldn't even scream before Fang Yi'ai knocked him unconscious.

Fang Yi'ai stepped forward, kicked Zhao Deyan with his foot, and pursed his lips:

"With a body like that, you think you can crawl through a dog hole?"

Upon hearing the commotion, the person in the front yard rushed over with their men.

As soon as Wei Zheng entered the backyard, he saw Zhao Deyan lying unconscious on the ground, and Fang Yi'ai standing next to him holding a pot.

Wei Zheng angrily pointed at Fang Yi'ai and roared:

"Fang Yi'ai! What are you doing? I'm presiding over the case, and you're resorting to torture in the back?"

Do you have no respect for the law?

Fang Yi'ai threw the pot on the ground and said with a wronged expression:

"Lord Wei, this old rascal was trying to escape through a dog hole! I was helping you catch a fugitive, why are you scolding me?"

"You call this catching a fugitive? You're killing someone."

Looking at Zhao Deyan's face, which even his own mother wouldn't recognize, Wei Zheng felt so angry that his blood pressure was about to burst from his head.

Just as Wei Zheng was about to continue reprimanding Fang Yi'ai...

Changsun Chong stumbled and ran out of the governor's study.

He was clutching a stack of letters in his hand.

However, his face was somewhat pale, and he was avoiding Wei Zheng.

If Heaven gave him another chance, Changsun Chong would never come to this dilapidated governor's mansion in his entire life.

This is terrible!!!