Rebirth of the Merchant Woman's Revenge

"Your Majesty has been quite busy lately, especially since next month is your birthday. The Ministry of Rites has a lot of things that need your confirmation every day, and they should be summoning Suzhou Governor Jian Liangce today, right?"

Li Junze quickly found an excuse for the emperor so that his mother wouldn't feel sad when thinking about it.

Wang Yuyan did not respond. She felt a little uneasy in her heart, but she could not say much in front of her son. She could only remind him again, "You must prepare your father's birthday gift carefully. You should be more honest these days."

"Yes, Ze'er understands, mother don't worry." Just as Li Junze finished speaking, Eunuch Chengping had already arrived at the palace gate.

Another palace maid came to report, and Wang Yuyan quickly asked Aunt Qimeng to help him up, and stood up to greet them.

She thought that the emperor came specially to meet them mother and son because he thought of Ze'er entering the palace today.

However, only Eunuch Chengping came in. He bowed to Concubine Yu and Li Junze, and then said, "Empress Yu, Hello, Your Highness Prince An. I came here this time because the Emperor has something to discuss with Your Highness Prince An. Please follow me to the Imperial Study."

His words were respectful, and neither of them felt anything unusual. Concubine Yu then said to Li Junze, "Ze'er, since your father wants to see you, then go ahead. Everything is fine here, don't worry."

Li Junze nodded, and then followed Eunuch Chengping to the imperial study.

After being informed, he was quickly brought in, but the situation inside made his heart tremble.

They saw several people already standing in the hall, among them was the Suzhou governor Jian Liangce whom they had just talked about.

The few people standing behind him all looked like they were dressed as civilians. The next one was Yan Nangui, the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple, who was standing on the right hand side of the emperor.

Seeing them appear here safe and sound, he knew that their action last night had ended in failure again. They must have moved Jian Liangce and the others in advance, otherwise they would have been poisoned if they were in the inn.

"Greetings, Father." Li Junze didn't have time to think any more, so he greeted the emperor first.

"Well, Ze'er came just in time. Lord Jian came to the palace to report today. He happened to talk about the people who wanted to come to the capital to file a complaint and were killed inexplicably a few days ago. I just remembered it now."

The emperor's voice was a little hoarse and his eyes were a little red, probably because he didn't get enough rest last night. He pointed at Yan Nangui and continued,

"Zer, didn't you report to me before that you had investigated this matter? Tell Lord Yan what happened later."

Yan Nan returned to his words and bowed to Li Junze as a greeting.

When Li Junze heard about this incident, he quickly organized his words and said, "For some reason, those who came to Beijing to file a complaint had someone pass the news to Ze'er in advance, so Ze'er sent... people to meet them in advance that day."

He almost let slip the names of Wang Quan and Ji Huan, but fortunately he corrected himself in time.

"It's a pity that when they arrived, all those people had been killed. Not a single one was left alive. It is said that they saw a man in black appear at the time, but they chased him all the way. Although the man was injured in the leg, he escaped at the post station."

After hearing this, Yan Nangui couldn't help but frowned, "Your Highness, do you have any letters from those people? Or any evidence that they have accused Lord Jian of corruption and abuse of power?"

"There is a letter, but it does not mention any specific things or evidence. I have already handed the letter to you when I reported to you last time." Li Junze bowed and said to the emperor.

"Yes, I have seen the letter. It only said that I would go to the capital to file a complaint and the approximate time. It didn't say much else."

After the emperor finished speaking, he waved his hand and asked Eunuch Chengping to help him get the letter for Yan Nangui to check.

Yan Nangui then asked, "Then I wonder if His Royal Highness Prince An has any suitable description of the man in black?"

Li Junze thought for a moment before saying, "My people mentioned after they came back that his right thigh had been stabbed, but it did not affect his movements, which shows that he is also a martial arts expert. And judging from his movements, it seems..."

He didn't say the rest of the words. After all, it was just a guess and might not be accurate.

It is not appropriate to say it in such a formal occasion.

The emperor then said, "Just say whatever you want to say. It doesn't matter if you're wrong."

Li Junze did not speak directly, but still looked embarrassed. After pondering for a long time, he finally spoke, "At that time, I saw that the man in black used a sword that looked very ordinary, but his body movements seemed like those of a guard of the Imperial Guard."

"What? Why didn't you mention this matter at the beginning?" The emperor became angry when he heard it and questioned Li Junze.

"This, father, there is no definite evidence, and it is all guesswork by their subordinates. I really did not dare to say it out loud. Please punish me, father." Li Junze quickly knelt down and apologized, while making a few excuses for himself.

The emperor slapped his right hand on the imperial desk. "It's been more than two months since this happened, and there has been no news since then. I thought you Dali Temple had been investigating it, but I didn't expect this to be the result?"

When Yan Nangui, Jian Liangce and others saw that the emperor was angry, they immediately knelt down and apologized.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. Your Majesty, please calm down."

Especially Yan Nangui said loudly, "Your Majesty, I have been investigating this matter all the way from the capital to Suzhou. It is because we have some results that I am meeting your Majesty with Lord Jian."

The emperor looked at them helplessly again, then sighed and said, "Everyone, stand up."

"I will order Prince An and Yan Nangui to investigate this matter together. Lord Jian is also in the capital now, so you must give me a reply within five days." The emperor finally said.

"Yes." Several people answered in unison.

Li Junze felt that this matter was somewhat unusual. In the past, his father would ask the Crown Prince and Lord Yan to handle matters like this together, but now he asked him to come.

If I say that it is because I have reported this matter before, that is not right. Similar things have happened before. In the end, my father will still hand it over to the prince to deal with.

Is it because the prince has fallen out of favor with the emperor? Or is it because the emperor wants to use him, so he made such an arrangement?

But how did the prince fall out of favor, and why was he reused?

Li Junze couldn't figure out any of the questions, so he had to change his way of thinking, but he broke out in a cold sweat - could it be that his father suspected that he was related to this matter?

No, he couldn't let his imagination run wild. Once he left the palace, he had to go to the Scholar's Mansion and discuss countermeasures with his grandfather.