Chapter 136: Promotion 4/4

…

At King Jin’s mansion.

King Jin threw a vase to the ground, gritting his teeth: “That damned Lu Qingxi! One day, I will tear him apart with a thousand cuts!”

At Prince Yan’s mansion.

Prince Yan smiled with satisfaction: “This time, King Jin is probably going to fall flat on his face! Lu Qingxi has done this beautifully!”

He had intended to help Lu Qingxi, but before he could offer any assistance, Lu Qingxi had already spread those books.

It was said that Lu Qingxi had even enlisted a theater troupe to write plays about Linhu County!

“Your Highness,” Prince Yan’s mentor said, looking calmly at Prince Yan.

Prince Yan immediately restrained his expression of joy and asked his mentor, “What should I do next, Teacher?”

Prince Yan’s mentor replied, “Your Highness can go out more and meet more people, regardless of whether they are under Lu Qingxi or King Jin… Your Highness can also make some connections with the common officials of the court.”

The Emperor’s health had deteriorated, and he couldn’t manage much. At this time, if they, the princes, were slightly more high-profile, it wouldn’t attract much attention.

And with King Jin in trouble… there would definitely be a lot of attention on them, the princes, within the court.

Moreover, over the years, they had not been idle and had made many connections… Their influence would surely grow stronger.

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, two more days had passed.

The Emperor’s health had finally “improved”!

This time the Emperor had been ill for nearly a month without attending early court sessions. Such things had happened before, but this time…

The officials in the court sensed that something was amiss.

Was the Emperor… dissatisfied with King Jin?

Regardless, now that the Emperor was well again, everyone had to attend early court sessions.

And this time, the early court session would undoubtedly mention the events in Linhu County.

If the Emperor had recovered a few days earlier, there would definitely have been many people speaking up for the Lou family, criticizing Magistrate Zhang’s cruelty, and King Jin’s people would have rallied against him, until Magistrate Zhang had no chance of redemption.

But now… the crimes of the Lou family and Magistrate Zhang had already been exposed. Who would dare to speak up for the Lou family now?

If they really did so, they would probably incur everyone’s contempt!

However, even so, King Jin’s people would not let Magistrate Zhang off the hook.

When the Emperor sat on the dragon throne and the early court session began, someone immediately brought up the matter of Linhu County, and then someone began to criticize Magistrate Zhang.

Some said that Magistrate Zhang, as a magistrate, had killed a county magistrate, which was irregular and required severe punishment.

Some said that Magistrate Zhang had secretly mobilized the provincial army and was suspected of treason.

Some said that Magistrate Zhang had forged imperial edicts and deceived the emperor.

…

They never mentioned the Lou family’s affairs, only seizing upon Magistrate Zhang’s wrongdoings to demand severe punishment from the Emperor.

However, as soon as this wave of people finished speaking, Lu Qingxi’s people jumped out, accusing King Jin of condoning his uncle’s tyranny, saying that King Jin had used the Lou family to amass wealth and harm the people.

Then, there were some who didn’t take sides and simply felt sorry for Magistrate Zhang, or were officials who were friends with Magistrate Zhang, stepping forward to plead for him, saying that Magistrate Zhang had acted impulsively.

The entire court was thrown into chaos, no different from a vegetable market. Some people argued louder and louder.

The Emperor listened with amusement and stopped them: “Gentlemen, wait a moment.”

Although the Emperor’s voice was not loud, all the officials in the court quieted down.

The current Emperor had made little achievements, that was true.

But he was a soft-hearted Emperor, very kind to the people and the court officials.

The previous King Jin had enjoyed indulgence, and the late emperor had done some foolish things for the Imperial Consort… What about this Emperor? He had no extravagant hobbies, lived a very simple life, and although he loved the Imperial Consort, he had never done anything wrong.

The only thing that people were dissatisfied with was that in recent years, Lu Qingxi had been handling memorials on behalf of the Emperor.

But even so, they didn’t dislike the Emperor.

If King Jin were to ascend the throne, he might not be so lenient!

But precisely because King Jin was not lenient, they didn’t dare to offend him. Some people even went to pledge allegiance to King Jin early on.

The Emperor said, “Magistrate Zhang did not forge the imperial edict… I gave him a confidential decree.”

The officials in the court were stunned.

The Emperor looked at Lu Qingxi. “Old Lu, is this true?”

Lu Qingxi replied, “Your Majesty, it is true. It was I who asked for this decree from you!”

The Emperor said, “Yes, that’s right. Old Lu heard that there was unrest in the south, so he asked Magistrate Zhang to investigate. For this reason, I specifically wrote a confidential decree to Magistrate Zhang…”

The Emperor followed Lu Qingxi’s request and explained.

Lu Qingxi continued, “Magistrate Zhang is like a father to the people, willingly demoting himself just to understand their plight. He is truly a role model for us!”

With just a few words between the Emperor and Lu Qingxi, they completely cleared Magistrate Zhang of any wrongdoing.

At first, the officials in the court didn’t believe it. They thought it was just the Emperor’s way of protecting Magistrate Zhang. But upon further thought… perhaps it was true?

First of all… after offending Lu Qingxi, why would Lu Qingxi send him to He Xing Prefecture? He Xing Prefecture was famous for its wealth!

And then… why would Magistrate Zhang act so impulsively? Falsifying an imperial decree is a capital offense!

Initially, they thought Magistrate Zhang did this to prevent the Lou family from escaping justice. But with so many tragic incidents in Linhu County, once those cases were revealed, the Lou family would undoubtedly face death!

Magistrate Zhang didn’t need to rush to kill anyone. He just needed to send those books to the capital, and King Jin would have had to sever ties with his own family.

In the end, it all came down to those books.

So many books, spreading all at once… These books must have been written and printed long ago!

It couldn’t be that Magistrate Zhang wrote them after committing murder, right?

So, Lu Qingxi must have planned it all in advance, just to ruin King Jin’s reputation!

Think about it, after the news of Magistrate Zhang’s massacre in Linhu County came out, King Jin had been speaking up for the Lou family, claiming they were innocent and making a big fuss. The Lou family even pretended to be pitiful and went to appeal to the authorities!

Just when many people sympathized with them, the situation took a turn!

Now, the people of the capital detest King Jin. Even if he wants to sever ties with his own family now, it’s too late!

It’s brilliant, truly brilliant!

This must have been a scheme meticulously devised by Lu Qingxi!

If that’s the case… what Lu Qingxi and the Emperor said should be true—Magistrate Zhang was indeed sent to Hexing Prefecture by them!

So, was the conflict between Magistrate Zhang and Lu Qingxi fake?

Was Magistrate Zhang actually working for Lu Qingxi?

The officials in the court were shocked beyond measure.

Magistrate Zhang had some friends in the court. They had been very worried about him these past few days, even helping him plead for mercy just now. They had even prepared themselves to offend King Jin because of it. And yet… Magistrate Zhang really had a confidential decree? Nothing would happen to him at all?

Did this old man even consider them friends? To think he didn’t even tell them about something this big!

And then, was Magistrate Zhang out of his mind? He actually teamed up with an eunuch!

Well, considering Magistrate Zhang’s character of being dedicated to the people and not caring about fame… this wasn’t really surprising.

These people had all sorts of thoughts running through their minds, already determined to write letters to Hexing Prefecture and scold Magistrate Zhang.

They couldn’t have been worrying for nothing all these days!

As for King Jin and his people…

Magistrate Zhang was Lu Qingxi’s man?

This scoundrel Magistrate Zhang actually colluded with Lu Qingxi to deceive them!

They looked at the seemingly honest and sincere man, never expecting him to be so deceitful!

They were furious, but powerless.

In the end, someone spoke up first, “Long live the Emperor!”

And so, the words “Long live the Emperor” echoed through the court.

In the midst of such voices, Lu Qingxi raised his head proudly, feeling extremely satisfied.

He thought his move was truly brilliant!

Now, the entire court, both civil and military officials, regarded him as an unparalleled strategist!

The Emperor noticed Lu Qingxi’s actions and couldn’t help but smile wryly.

Things were going quite well now, but King Jin’s resentment towards Lu Qingxi was likely to intensify.

Sigh…

Speaking of which… since Magistrate Zhang was helping him, his demotion must have been a pretense. He definitely couldn’t let Magistrate Zhang continue to serve as a magistrate… he should promote Magistrate Zhang.

He couldn’t let Magistrate Zhang come to the capital temporarily, to prevent King Jin from making a move behind the scenes… After pondering for a while, the Emperor decided to appoint Magistrate Zhang as a provincial governor.

The current governor of Jiang’an Province, where Hexing Prefecture was located, was already elderly, so it would be perfect for Magistrate Zhang to take over.