Chapter 201: Ask the Prince to Leave
Zhao Yushu and Sun Wuyang were riding at full speed together. The street was a bit congested, which made them a little impatient. If Sun Wuyang was not a mortal, Zhao Yushu would have wanted to use his flying sword to take him directly over the roof.
At the Jiangning Prefecture Yamen, Princess Li Tong's carriage arrived almost at the same time as Zhao Yushu and the others. It was unclear whether it was a coincidence or Li Tong did it on purpose.
Li Tong originally lived in the government office, but he came back from outside at this time, which made Zhao Yushu a little confused.
The person who came with Li Tong was a monk whom Zhao Yushu had met many times. They stopped outside the government office but did not go in. The little prince Li Jian stood at the door of the government office, looking at Li Tong with a sullen face, and the anger on his face could not be concealed at all.
Just a little bit of salt tax, and you guys have gone to this extent! You've forced the imperial officials to death, and even Prince Fu will be imprisoned!
"Hello, Mr. Liu." Li Tong still had a blank expression on her face and greeted him softly.
Zhao Yushu smiled bitterly: "The princess is very courageous. I thought it would be the Duke of Yue who would take the lead."
"Mr. Liu must have misunderstood. I didn't do anything."
Zhao Yushu laughed, his acting was pretty good: "Aren't you going in now?"
"Wait for a moment, Duke Yue."
Everyone is here, are we going to have a showdown today? There is only one day left before our welcoming party.
The Duke of Yue lived far away, but after receiving the news, he immediately used his guard knights to lead the way, and the carriage rushed over at almost a gallop.
"Come in." Duke Yue got off the carriage and walked straight into the government office, as if he was the owner.
Li Jian hesitated for a moment and ran back first.
Walking into the lobby, the prince sat high on the main seat, looking at the crowd of people walking towards him outside. He was obviously the prince, so why did he feel nervous when he saw these ministers?
"Madam Li, I'm here." Li Tong walked up to the prefect's wife, who was kneeling on the ground in all white, and helped her up.
Madam Li's eyes were red and tearful, and she trembled as she took out a letter from her bosom: "My husband's suicide note clearly stated that it should be given to the princess."
"You will live up to your trust."
"Li Tong! It was you who did this!" The prince could no longer sit still. He stood up suddenly, pointing at Li Tong and cursing.
"I don't know what the prince is talking about." Li Tong walked straight into the hall without stopping and took out another letter from her sleeve.
"It's you! In order to prevent me from checking taxes, you even forced Li Taishou to death!"
Li Tong glanced at the prince, his eyes full of contempt.
"This morning, I received a secret letter from Li Taishou, who said that he was going to die and had important evidence that he wanted me to present in court. Your Highness the Crown Prince lives in the government office. You have a master by your side, so you should be able to sense who sent the letter."
The prince was startled and looked at the old eunuch behind him. The old eunuch nodded and said, "Someone did go to see the princess early in the morning."
It’s just looking for the princess, it’s not a big deal, no one takes it seriously.
"I rushed to the place mentioned in the secret letter early in the morning. At the same time, according to the request of the secret letter, I invited Duke Yue and the six gentlemen of the academy to meet the prince together." Li Tong unfolded a piece of paper in his hand and handed it to the prince to show that he was not lying.
The prince was a little confused. He read the letter over and over again twice, then handed it to Li Jian, who was closest to him, and asked him to pass it on.
No wonder she came back from outside. Zhao Yushu looked at her hand, where there was the suicide note that Madam Li had just given her. Then what did Governor Li ask her to take?
"According to my husband's wishes, I want the princess to read this suicide note in court." Madam Li knelt in the hall, choking with sobs.
"Your Highness, do you want to read it or should I?" Li Tong picked up the suicide note and looked at the prince.
The prince subconsciously reached out to take it, but stopped himself and snorted, "Just read it when he told you to, why are you doing this to me?"
Li Tong nodded and said, "I, Li Fang, have been honored by your majesty to be the governor of Jiangning. However, I was obsessed with money and coveted the salt tax. Now that the prince is investigating the case, I know that I cannot hide the truth, so I committed suicide out of fear of punishment. All the evidence has been given to Princess Li Tong. My family is completely unaware of this. I hope that the prince will consider my many years of merit and pardon my family from death."
As soon as Li Tong finished reading, the prince snatched the suicide note away and read it over and over again in disbelief: "Impossible!"
Madam Li kowtowed heavily and said, "My husband has failed the court. I beg the prince to grant me the death penalty and allow me to reunite with my husband."
The prince ignored Madam Li and looked at Li Tong with the last glimmer of hope: "Where is the evidence? What evidence is he talking about? Can he afford so much salt tax by himself?"
"He can't eat it, but many people in the court also want to eat it." Li Tong took out a stack of papers from his arms.
"The court?" The prince suddenly had a bad feeling.
"From the generals to the gate officers of Xijing, there were 27 people in total, and they shared a total of 4.2 million taels of salt tax from the southeast. Governor Li only took a few hundred thousand taels. Unfortunately, we only have last year's accounts, and we don't know how much was paid before that."
Zhao Yushu forced himself to stop his mouth from opening wide. He first looked at Li Tong who was speaking righteously, then at Duke Yue who had an expressionless face, then at Li Jian who had a confused look on his face, and finally at the prince who had an overloaded pig brain.
Sun Wuyang clearly stated that the academy had profit sharing, and Li Tong personally explained to him the profit sharing situation of each family. But now the prefect Li has produced a bunch of evidence to say that the money was given to the nobles in Xijing.
Zhao Yushu believed that as long as he checked, he would be able to find out that these twenty-seven people had indeed received such a large amount of money, and it must have been sent from the southeast.
And if I’m not mistaken, at least half of these twenty-seven people are princelings.
Li Tong, the Duke of Yue, and even the Academy, joined forces to set up a trap, using a year's share of the salt tax to deal a heavy blow to the Eastern Palace. If the prince could not cope with it well, his position as the Eastern Palace would be in danger.
If that's the case, then the counselor Huo Cheng is most likely from the Southeast faction, and Governor Li is simply a stubborn man who is trying to trap the prince with his own life.
Who can bring him greater benefits? A prince from Xijing? Or...
Zhao Yushu tilted his head slightly, his gaze seemed to penetrate the high walls, through countless mountains and rivers, and looked towards the war-torn south.
"You!" The prince's face turned blood red, and his spiritual energy surged uncontrollably, but Li Tong and Duke Yue did not move.
A hand held the prince: "Your Highness, let's go back to Beijing."
The old eunuch still smiled and gently helped him straighten his clothes which were a little messy due to the disturbance of spiritual power: "Return to Xijing, Your Majesty will make the decision."
The prince's lips trembled: "Not even seven days!"
The old eunuch shook his head: "One year."
The prince was puzzled, but Zhao Yushu understood. Southeast had started planning a year ago. It doesn't matter when you come, prince. People might have played with you for a while longer. If you were a waste, they would have sent you away with good food and wine. But after he tortured Wang Yan with thundering means, these local tyrants found that this man could not afford to play, so they kicked you out cleanly.
"Duke Yue! Are you here too?"
"I, your Highness, do not understand what you are talking about, but I will write a letter today to ask your Majesty to investigate these people thoroughly and make them pay the salt tax back to you, Your Highness."
The prince swayed, but then stood up straight, as if he had thought of something. He looked at Zhao Yushu with cruel and playful eyes: "I will not leave."
Everyone raised their heads and looked at him. Things had come to this point. Even if you didn't leave now, the emperor's edict would come in a few days to force you to go back. Why bother embarrassing yourself here?
"Mr. Six's welcoming banquet is coming soon. I will definitely have to watch it before I leave."
Zhao Yushu glanced at him coldly. Do you still want to punish me after this?
"In that case, please, Your Highness, take a good look!"