A concubine enters the mansion? Reborn, three matchmakers and six engagements to marry the Prime Min

Li Jing gritted his teeth and bowed, saying, "I admit defeat."

Emperor Xuande summoned Puyi and ordered him to go to Li's house and bring all the cash to the palace. After that, the silver was received by the Ministry of Revenue and used entirely for disaster relief.

Some officials who were not on good terms with Li Jing praised him in a strange way, saying that Li Jing was a man of high moral character who was willing to give up his wealth for the sake of the disaster victims.

Censor Li, who is usually eloquent, didn't say a word in reply. I wonder what he was thinking.

Before Puyi took the order and left, Shen Zhixiu gave instructions.

"Commander Fu, when we get to the Li family, let's talk it over. Be sure to tell everyone in the Li family that this is not a confiscation of property. It is Censor Li who donated cash for disaster relief."

"This subordinate will bear in mind Lord Shen's instructions."

After Pu Yi left, Shen Zhixiu said, "Your Majesty, we should wait for Commander Fu. We need to know how much money Censor Li can give before we can plan for the rest."

"If there are any surplus, we can also support the wars in Northern Xinjiang and Liaodong."

Emperor Xuande nodded, thinking that what Shen Zhixiu said made sense, so he decided not to leave the court, and everyone continued to discuss the war in Liaodong.

After more than an hour, Emperor Xuande kept looking outside the hall, obviously running out of patience.

Just as he was about to send someone to ask, the Dragon Guard Commander Puyi suddenly hurried into the hall.

Pu Yi knelt on one knee and said, "Your Majesty, I have already taken all the cash from Censor Li's family."

Emperor Xuande asked casually, "Why did you take so long?"

I wondered how much cash the Li family had, and it wouldn't take that long even if I walked to carry it back.

Pu Yi replied respectfully, "Your Majesty, the amount is really too large, and it will take us a long time."

As an emperor, Emperor Xuande was naturally sensitive to these things.

"What's going on? Is the amount too big? How big is it?"

Puyi didn't know how to answer, so he could only wave his hand and signal his men to bring the things up.

Then, two Dragon Guards came in carrying a large box, more than a dozen boxes in total. The entire empty space in the middle of the Qianyang Palace was filled with these boxes.

After the box was dropped on the ground, it was opened directly by the Dragon Guards, and the contents inside were exposed to everyone.

There were sixteen boxes of neatly arranged silver ingots.

Everyone was shocked, and Emperor Xuande stood up and walked down the hall.

Pu Yi continued, "I have already calculated that each box contains 100,000 taels of silver. Adding them together, the total is 1.6 million taels."

Someone subconsciously looked at Li Jing. Li Jing's face was pale. He stared at the silver ingots in a daze with a vague look.

Emperor Xuande also looked at Li Jing, "Lord Li, your family is quite wealthy. Where did all this money come from?"

Although Li Jing was from a branch of the Li family, the ancestral property he received when the family was divided was not much, just enough to support his life.

After Li Jing entered the government, he worked in the Hanlin Academy for the first three years, and then worked as a salt transport envoy in the Salt Transport Bureau for several years. Three years ago, he was transferred back to the capital and joined the Censorate.

Everyone knew that a job like the Salt Transport Commissioner was lucrative, but the fact that there was so much money still frightened the court officials.

Li Jing listened to Emperor Xuande's questions and knew that he could not panic at this time, as there might still be a glimmer of hope.

He was panicking, but trying to calm himself down.

"To answer your Majesty, this money...was...left with me by my brother-in-law who is a businessman."

Shen Zhixiu looked puzzled and spoke.

"Li Yushi, I remember that your brother-in-law didn't do any big business. He used to sell tea in the capital, but was beaten for counterfeiting. Half a year ago, he returned to Tongzhou Prefecture and opened a teahouse with only eight tables."

"What Censor Li means is that a teahouse with only eight tables can earn 1.6 million taels of silver in half a year?"

After hearing what Shen Zhixiu said, Li Jing shuddered subconsciously.

I wondered if Shen Zhixiu was crazy. How could he know everything his brother-in-law did?

What he didn't know was that Shen Zhixiu had investigated all the officials in the court from the moment he took charge of the Ministry of Personnel. Shen Zhixiu had investigated every one of his ancestors, including all the relatives who could be related to him.

He would not use these to attack his colleagues, but when necessary, he would immediately know what was going on.

Emperor Xuande could see that Li Jing was panicking, so he returned to the dragon throne and sat down, scolding him harshly.

"Li Jing, why don't you tell the truth? Where did all this money come from?"

Then he looked at Pu Yi, "Besides money, what else does their family have?"

Pu Yi said respectfully, "Your Majesty, there are countless rare and precious antiques in Censor Li's house."

Emperor Xuande stared at Li Jing with cold eyes, "Li Jing, why don't you say anything?"

Li Jing knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. I am innocent. This money... this... was not embezzled by me."

No one mentioned corruption, but he brought it up first.

Emperor Xuande took a deep breath and said, "First, take off Li Jing's official uniform, and the three courts will investigate Li Jing's corruption case together."

The Minister of Punishments Wang Jian, the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple Jing Yun, and the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate Wei Wei all received the imperial edict.

No one expected that a discussion about disaster relief in Qianyang Palace would eventually ruin Li Yushi's future and even his life.

When his official uniform was taken off, Li Jing looked at the crown prince and Li Jingchuan, but they were obviously helpless and looked down at him.

Li Jing looked at Shen Zhixiu again. Was it a coincidence or did he do it on purpose?

Shen Zhixiu looked calm, neither arrogant nor guilty.

It seemed that whether Li Jing was demoted or not had nothing to do with him.

After Li Jing was taken away, there was a moment of silence in the hall.

The prince was relatively calm. Although Li Jing was loyal to the Eastern Palace, he knew he dared not say anything. The officials of the three courts did not dare to accuse him of Li Jing's corruption.

The final result of this incident was probably that the Li family was raided and Li Jing was beheaded.

Afterwards, Emperor Xuande took the opportunity to admonish the court officials before adjourning the meeting.

Shen Zhixiu left Qianyang Palace with great satisfaction. Today's morning court session was quite fruitful.

When the news of disaster relief reached the He family, He Guangfu, the apparent head of the He family, immediately went to find his cousin He Guangju to discuss countermeasures.

For the He family, the business of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was originally theirs. The medicinal materials needed for this disaster relief were equivalent to the money that the He family had paid.

Everyone is happy when money comes in, but no one is willing to take it out like this.

At this time, the second wife of the Su family, Mrs. He, also got on the carriage and returned to the He family with a sad face.

She didn't know that the He family was going to provide disaster relief. She only knew that her own shop's business was not good. It was a damp winter and many of the medicinal herbs in the warehouse had become moldy.

He had been very worried about these moldy herbs these days. Today, she had no choice but to go back to her brother's house to discuss the matter.

After He entered the house, the servant took her to the inner house to meet the mistress of the house, He Wenjuan's wife, Xu.

"How's my sister-in-law?" He bowed as soon as she entered the room.

Xu sat in the main seat, holding a heater in her hands and wearing a crimson satin jacket embroidered with lotus leaves.

Hearing He's voice, he raised his eyelids and said, "My aunt is here. I'm sorry for not welcoming you in person. Our temple is small and I'm afraid it can't accommodate a big Buddha like you."

Because Su Xiangling got involved with the prince, she entered the Eastern Palace and became favored.

Therefore, Xu had a lot of dissatisfaction with her sister-in-law and spoke to her in a sarcastic tone.