Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

Huanghuafang Bensi Hutong, Jiaofangsi.

Song Cheng, who was wearing a third-grade official uniform, appeared here. Since he had taken office in a hurry, it was now natural to investigate this case.

Song Cheng does not have much utilitarianism, as if he was born to punish those who do good and to promote good, and to uphold justice and combat evil as his own duty.

It's just that he overestimated the ethics of Shuntian government officials. Faced with a corpse that clearly had major doubts, he waited for the corpse to decompose without conducting an autopsy.

Faced with such a corrupt Shuntian government office, he also relied on His Majesty's support and immediately went to the Shu to request the dismissal of several relevant officials.

Song Cheng still had a suppressed fire in his heart. The first case he took office was to investigate the death of the prostitute Lanxiang, the official of the Jiaofang, and now he came here to conduct on-site investigation.

"Lord Fu Yin, they were drinking in this private room that night. Lan Xiang accompanied Young Master Zhu Qi, and another girl, Qing Zhu, accompanied Young Master Xu, Xu Yuangai! The two young masters drank a lot of wine here that night until they were drunk. I left the scene after being very drunk, and Lan Xiang and Qing Zhu helped the two young masters back to the rooms in the back house to spend the night." Zhengjiupin Fengluan Liu Tai, the top manager of the Jiaofang Division, immediately told what happened that night.

Song Cheng imagined the two of them drinking here that night. He looked at the already cleared dining table and said, "Is there any record of how much drinks the two of them drank that night?"

"The two of them drank eight pots in total. There is a bill for this matter!" Fengluan Liu Tai was stunned for a moment, and then reported the number he had prepared.

Song Cheng looked away from the empty table and asked seriously: "How many dishes did the two of them eat that night?"

"Both of you are noble nobles. Every time you come here, you will prepare a large table. There should be eight or nine dishes!" Liu Tai, Fengluan, gestured seriously as if he had seen it with his own eyes.

Song Cheng saw that there was nothing wrong with this private room, so he nodded noncommittally and said, "Take me to where they are staying that night!"

"Song Prefecture Yin, please come this way!" Although Fengluan Liu Tai belonged to the Ministry of Rites, he did not dare to neglect the Shuntian Prefecture Yin, and raised his hand respectfully.

Since it is daytime and the recent murders have affected life here, it seems particularly quiet here.

The group of people came out of the private room and quickly came to a staircase leading to the back house.

Song Cheng was a very serious person. He suddenly stopped in front of the stairs and said, "A weak woman may not be able to help them go down this staircase, right?"

"There is a waiter here to help. It was the two waiters who helped the two young masters back to the back that night!" Fengluan Liu Tai was slightly stunned again and explained in a flattering manner.

Capt. Zhao, who was accompanying him, originally thought this was strange, but after hearing this explanation, he was relieved.

There is a unique cave behind Jiaofangsi. There are not only many houses here, but also several courtyards, and even a lotus pond in the courtyard.

The corridors here seem to extend in all directions. If you are not familiar with this place, you may easily get lost.

Song Cheng didn't say anything along the way, just silently observing the layout of the place, and found that since there were some special sentry posts here, there were personnel on duty at the sentry posts.

It would be okay if they were in the same courtyard and room, but guests from different courtyards could not escape these sentry posts if they wanted to meet.

"Master Fu Yin, Young Master Zhu Qi will stay in this room that night!" Feng Luan Liu Tai led a group of people to a room and opened the door, looking a little uncomfortable.

Song Cheng smelled a strange smell in the air and asked lightly: "Has this place been cleaned since the incident?"

"It was not cleaned! After learning that Lan Xiang's case caused a disturbance, the subordinates strictly ordered no one to enter this room again. They were not even allowed to empty the chamber pot. This was just to facilitate future inspections!" Liu Tai was immediately sure. He nodded.

Song Cheng walked around the room, wiped the dust on the table with his hand, looked at the chamber pot again, and then came to the hanging beam and looked up at the beam and rope.

"Master Fu Yin, the stool that day probably overturned in this place!" Liu Tai saw that the bench was standing, so he stepped forward and put the bench down in the same position.

Capt. Zhao deliberately raised the stool again, then stood up to compete with the rope still hanging on the beam, but the rope was obviously too low. Just considering his burly figure, there doesn't seem to be a big problem.

Song Cheng found that the room was very closed, with only a front window near the door, so he asked seriously: "How many times did Zhu Ji go out that night?"

"Not once!" Liu Tai replied firmly.

Song Cheng couldn't help being stunned, but he said suspiciously: "You said Zhu Ji never left the house once. Can you guarantee this?"

"To be honest with Mr. Fu Yin, due to the theft that had just occurred earlier, Xianguan strengthened the management that night! This row of rooms has two people on duty here, and there are personnel on duty at each sentry post outside, and even the latrines will be recorded! Besides, unless you want to get into the big room, who would run out without any trouble? Young Master Zhu Ji was really as drunk as a dead pig that night!" Liu Tai nodded seriously and explained seriously.

Capt. Zhao just took a look at the layout here and found that the management here is indeed very standardized.

Song Cheng frowned slightly and asked seriously: "Where is Xu Yuangai?"

"Mr. Xu is the same. He was as drunk as a dead pig. He didn't get up that night! He was only woken up that morning after the suicide case of Lan Xiang!" Liu Tai said seriously.

Song Cheng took a deep breath, but stared at Liu Tai and directly exposed the lie: "You lied!"

In Qianqing Palace, sandalwood smoke curled up.

Zhu Youtang, who was wearing regular clothes, looked at the information just sent by Dongchang and saw the case about Lanxiang, the official prostitute of the Jiaofang, and his expression slowly became serious.

"According to the investigation conducted by the slaves these days, this case has nothing to do with Zhu Qi of the Funing Marquis Mansion! It was not Zhu Qi who slept with Lan Xiang that night, but someone else. Zhu Qi was actually a replacement!" Zheng Guozhong led The two assistants responsible for investigating the case looked disappointed and reported.

They originally thought that by catching the case of Lanxiang, the official prostitute of Jiaofang, they would be able to take the opportunity to punish the Funing Hou Mansion, but as a result, the investigation found that the case was not related to the Funing Hou Mansion.

Faced with such a result, since the Funinghou Mansion cannot be severely damaged, this case naturally loses the value of investigation.

When Zhu Youtang saw the investigation results of the case, he also expressed his disappointment: "Since it has nothing to do with Zhu Qi, then don't waste any more manpower. Let this case end here!"

"Yes! Your Majesty, Shuntian Mansion is also investigating this case. Do you want to share the investigation results with Shuntian Mansion?" Zheng Guozhong immediately expressed his position and asked again.

Zhu Youtang looked at the person who provided the intelligence above and asked bitterly: "The government pays attention to human and physical evidence when handling cases. Do you want to expose the secrets of your Dong Factory?"

"No... don't!" Zheng Guozhong realized that he had not thought carefully and shook his head.

Zhu Youtang knew that the matter had nothing to do with Zhu Qi, so he expressed his position: "You no longer need to intervene in this case. The case can be investigated by the Shuntian Prefecture. I believe that the Shuntian Prefecture can investigate it clearly!"

The reason why he was interested in this case earlier was actually not entirely because he wanted to target the Funing Hou Mansion, but mainly because he hated the dereliction of duty of his predecessor, Shuntian Prefect Wu Qi.

Now that Wu Qi has been dealt with and it has been proven that Zhu Qi replaced someone else, there is no need to spend any more effort on this case.

Song Cheng is a good investigator. Even if Zhu Qi, Yang Tinghe and others played tricks, this trick would not escape Song Cheng's eyes.

As the emperor who oversees the overall situation, sometimes you need to make some choices. You don't have to do all the big and small things yourself, but you need to know how to grasp the key points.

"Your Majesty, after our secret investigation, we have now found that Marquis of Xiangcheng Li Jin embezzled tens of thousands of military expenditures during his tenure!" Zheng Guozhong continued to report.

There was no expression of joy on Zhu Youtang's face, and he looked very calm and said: "Is there any solid evidence?"

"Reporting to your Majesty, this matter has been confirmed, and now there are account books and personnel as evidence!" Zheng Guozhong took out a confession and account book from his sleeve and presented it seriously.

After Zhu Youtang read the contents listed above and the witness statements, he calmly ordered: "In that case, let's arrest the person!"

He knew that these martial arts merits were not checked at all. Due to their aloof status, these martial arts merits were often corrupted and violated the law. Now that they dare to go against themselves, they naturally want Dongchang to settle accounts with them.

If they could honestly use the salary they gave them to be idle martial artists, I wouldn't care too much about them. But if they want to compete with themselves for military power and try to incite the soldiers to cause trouble, then they will all go to hell.

In fact, the best result is to hit the Duke of Chengguo with a stick. After all, the Marquis of Xiangcheng was promoted to the title by Uncle Xiangcheng, and his influence is not the same as that of the Duke of Chengguo.

It's just that Duke Cheng was working in Nanjing, and although Zhu Fu, the eldest son of Duke Cheng, was ambitious, he didn't leave any clues.

"Your Majesty, please take your leave!" Seeing that the matter was over, Zheng Guozhong immediately planned to go and arrest the person, so he led his men and saluted.

Zhu Youtang put down the evidence about the Marquis of Xiangcheng, but said to those who were about to leave: "Qin Conggui, please stay!"

"Your Majesty, what are your orders?" Tan Conggui was quite surprised and saluted respectfully.

He is an old man from the East Palace and was the emperor's personal eunuch when he was in the East Palace. As a follower of the dragon, he should have achieved great success, but now he has left the Qianqing Palace and works in Dongchang.

"Are you still used to being in Dongchang?" Zhu Youtang looked at this former personal eunuch and asked with complicated expressions of concern.

Tan Conggui's eyes suddenly became wet, and he replied: "Thanks to your Majesty's great blessing, I can still adapt to it now!"

"You are an old member of the East Palace. You have been with me since you were a child and have been serving me! Now I don't use you in any important way. Have you ever complained about me in your heart?" Zhu Youtang looked at this familiar yet unfamiliar figure. The fat and fair little eunuch asked with concern.

Snapped! Snapped! Snapped!

Tan Conggui suddenly closed his fingers and slapped himself hard, as if he wanted to beat himself to death.

"Stop, what are you doing?" Zhu Youtang immediately stopped when he saw that he was abusing himself.

Tan Conggui had no resentment towards Zhu Youtang, and kowtowed and blamed himself: "I had a different intention in the East Palace in the past. I was an informant for the Empress Dowager Zhou, and I wanted to please the Crown Princess! Your Majesty did not punish me for this, and I am already in tears of gratitude." , how can there be any reason to resent Your Majesty? I only regret that I was not able to be loyal to Your Majesty wholeheartedly. I am unworthy of Your Majesty's favor. My crime...is worthy of death!"

As he said this, he couldn't help but shed tears of regret, expressing regret for his actions back then.

"Yes! You were my playmate who grew up with me, but you got too close to Qingning Palace and wanted to please Concubine Shu. Although I always remember our old relationship, I don't dare to keep you by my side anymore. Yes!" Zhu Youtang saw that Qin Conggui had sincerely repented, but he also said bitterly.

After all, Jia Conggui has already had a precedent of being unfaithful. No one can guarantee that he will not fall in love with Empress Dowager Zhou or Concubine Shu again, but it is impossible to act emotionally.

Even if a woman has slept with him, once her heart is impure, she will naturally let go of Qianqing Palace instead of leaving a bomb for herself.

Tan Conggui is also a person who misses old love, not to mention that the eunuchs’ loyal partner is always only the emperor. He is also very worried and said: "I am unworthy of your kindness to your majesty. I regret it deeply!"

"You work well in Dongchang! As long as you work hard for me, I will not be stingy with rewards. Although it is difficult to call you back to my side, the position of factory director of Dongchang may be given to you in the future!" Zhu Youtang said clearly. Sincerely.

When Qin Conggui saw that His Majesty was still thinking about him, he immediately expressed his stance seriously: "I will definitely work hard in Dongchang and I am willing to die for Your Majesty!"

"I have not rewarded you since I became the great treasure. I was really happy that you reported all my affairs to the Empress Dowager. But you have been with me for so many years, so I will reward you with one hundred taels of gold!" Zhu Youtang said here People who were severely beaten by society in their previous lives should be rewarded immediately.

Qin Conggui deeply felt His Majesty's affection, and solemnly expressed his position again: "Thank you for Your Majesty's kindness. I cannot be a loyal servant, but I am willing to be His Majesty's outside dog!"

"Stay back!" Zhu Youtang asked Huang Pan to take Qin Conggui to receive the reward, and then gently raised his hand.

He knew that although Qin Conggui had flaws, the young eunuch who could be cultivated by his side was certainly not a stupid person. Once given the right stage, it can also shine.

As soon as Huang Zhong led Qin Conggui away, Liu Jin came in with Zuoshu in his arms.

"Is there any news from Yangzhou?" Zhu Youtang asked lightly when he saw that Liu Jin had brought a memorial from Nanzhili.

If the Aegis Camp is the starting point for strengthening one's army, then rectifying Huaiyan is the starting point for sorting out one's finances. Only healthy finances can lead China on the road to rejuvenation.

Because of this, he has always been very concerned about the progress in Yangzhou, but he hopes that Wang Yue can make a major breakthrough in Yangzhou, and that he can use this as an opportunity to reorganize his finances.