Rebirth of the Merchant Woman's Revenge

"Well, Chengping, please call Xie Ziming over later." The emperor spoke again at this time.

Eunuch Chengping nodded and went out to arrange for the eunuch to find someone.

At this time, Jian Liangce finally spoke.

He had been the runner-up in the last two imperial examinations, but he was already 35 years old. He was quite talented, upright and honest, and was very much liked by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, so he was recommended to be the Governor of Suzhou.

"Your Majesty, I have something to say."

The emperor said calmly, "If you have anything to say, Lord Jian, just speak up."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Jian Liangce was also a patient man. Only at this time did he raise his hand and introduce the two people behind him to everyone.

"This man is called Wang Erguai. Among the people who came to the capital to file a complaint last time, one of them was his biological brother."

"This is Li Shitou, Uncle Li. Among those who filed a complaint to the emperor, there is also his son, Li Jianshu."

It was the first time for both of them to come to Beijing, and also the first time to meet the emperor. They were so nervous that they didn't know what to do. They could only kneel down tremblingly and shout "Long live the emperor".

Then the two of them took out the two petitions that they were hiding in their arms and presented them to Eunuch Chengping with both hands, who then passed them to the emperor.

This was also because Jian Liangce was worried that they would not be able to speak when they met the emperor, so he wrote down what they said in advance.

Jian Liangce said to the emperor at this time, "Your Majesty, I have been in office in Suzhou for less than a year, and this has happened. I am really ashamed. I hope Your Majesty will investigate and give me justice."

After saying this, he solemnly knelt down before the emperor and kowtowed three times.

It looked as if he had suffered a great injustice, which made Li Junze, who was standing next to him, very curious about what was written on the two pieces of paper.

The emperor on the dragon throne carefully read the two pieces of paper one by one, then handed the paper to Cheng Ping and asked him to show it to Li Junze.

After Li Junze took it, he read the contents on the paper very carefully, and a hint of worry appeared in his eyes.

It turned out that both people wrote on the petition that their families had never had direct contact with Lord Jian before going to Beijing to file the complaint, let alone knowing him.

Moreover, both of them mentioned that they were going on a long trip and would receive a large sum of money when they returned, but they would need to move out of Suzhou in advance.

In Mr. Li's complaint, it was clearly mentioned that his son Li Jianshu had become addicted to gambling half a year ago and owed a large gambling debt. Debt collectors came to their home every few days to make trouble.

But three days before Li Jianshu left Suzhou, the debt collectors never came to his home again.

Immediately afterwards, they heard the bad news from the capital, asking them to come to the capital to claim the body. They also met each other on the way.

They both felt that the deaths of their family members were suspicious, so they asked around and found out that they had come to the capital to file a complaint with the emperor, and the person they were suing was actually Lord Jian, the governor of Suzhou.

Anyone who has been to Suzhou agrees that Suzhou is a rare and great place to visit with its beautiful scenery and abundant resources. However, few people know that Suzhou's officialdom is plagued by serious corruption, with officials following the example of their superiors and colluding with each other. This is a taboo known to everyone.

There is no other reason. It is probably because Suzhou has a developed commerce and almost all the big businessmen in various industries are in Suzhou, which has also fostered the greed of those people in officialdom.

However, after Lord Jian arrived in Suzhou, the first thing he did was to issue an order prohibiting officials from accepting money and treasures from the people and merchants, and anyone found doing so would be investigated and punished on the spot.

This did attract a lot of attention in the local area, but it also attracted even more ridicule. They did not believe that the deep-rooted bad habits in Suzhou's officialdom could be completely reversed by a simple and good policy.

However, in just three months, Lord Jian personally investigated and handled three major corruption cases, involving ministers and even officials of the third rank.

Not only did he investigate the case personally, he also did it very quickly. Within a month, all three men were dismissed and investigated.

Li Shitou and Wang Erguai naturally knew about these things, and they understood that it was because Lord Jian had touched the interest chain of others that he was slandered and framed.

Li Shitou's son and Wang Erguai's brother were bewitched and became the ones who framed Lord Jian.

So the two of them thought about it and decided not to continue making trouble with their family. Instead, they went directly to find Lord Jian to report the matter.

After reading all this, Li Junze felt annoyed. How could the people under him leave so many hidden dangers when doing things? Why did he let them go back home after explaining the action plan to them?

These people are so careless with their words that they would casually talk about such an important matter.

Although he had all kinds of complaints in his heart, he could only show a surprised expression on his face at this moment, "Why, how could it be like this? That's not what they said in the letter they sent me."

Yan Nangui watched Li Junze acting and sneered in his heart. It seemed that the Third Prince was indeed not as upright as the Crown Prince, and even his acting skills were far behind.

"I still don't understand why these people would pass information to His Royal Highness Prince An? Is there any other hidden secret?" Yan Nangui looked at Li Junze.

“This…” Li Junze felt something was wrong when he heard Yan Nangui’s words. He immediately bowed to the emperor and said in horror, “Father, please understand. I really don’t understand. I have never come into contact with people like them before. Please understand…”

"Okay, Prince An, I have handed this case over to you and Lord Yan. I want you to investigate it and tell me what happened. I know what's going on."

The emperor pinched his brows in a headache and didn't want them to say anything more. He didn't want to solve the case in the first place. After the leader of the Imperial Guard, Xie Ziming, arrived, he dismissed all of them.

After leaving the hall, Yan Nangui bowed to Li Junze and said, "Your Highness Prince An, how do you plan to investigate this case? I would like to hear the details."

Li Junze didn't have any ideas, but this was his first time working with Yan Nangui, so he naturally wanted to recruit Yan Nangui for his own use. He didn't want him to think that he had no ideas, so he had to say,

"Lord Yan, to be honest, I have been thinking about my grandfather's health. You go back to the Dali Temple first. After I visit my grandfather, I will go to the Dali Temple to discuss things with you as soon as possible. How do you think?"

Yan Nangui nodded and said, "Your Highness Prince An, your filial piety is commendable and you are a role model for us. Naturally, there is no reason for me to disagree. Please ask Your Highness Prince An to give a good message to Mr. Wang on my behalf."