At the beginning, his wife came to him, and he became rich by selling kidney treasures.

"My lord, I would like to pay my respects to Your Majesty."

Censor Chen and Li Shiji paid their respects to Wen Yan in unison.

Wen Yan asked with a gloomy face: "Censor Chen, do you admit your guilt?"

"I know my guilt." Censor Chen said he knew his guilt, but he attributed all the blame to being misled by the Anyang Li family and the county magistrate.

"How can you be bewitched by him? Is it you who have no brains, or am I?!" Wen Yan shouted loudly.

This frightened both the Li father and son and Censor Chen so much that they dared not speak.

Because whether they are admitting that they themselves have no brains or that Your Majesty has no brains, they are all doomed.

In this situation, it would be wrong to just shut up and say nothing.

Seeing that they were all silent, Wen Yan stood up and walked to the sword rack and said, "Tell me, what else have you done that I haven't been told?"

"Your Majesty, I am loyal to you and have no ulterior motives. I was confused for a moment and was bewitched by him." Censor Chen said tremblingly.

"Imperial Censor Chen, it seems that you are really old." Wen Yan slowly drew out the Emperor's Sword from its sheath.

The friction sound between the sword blade and the sheath frightened everyone so much that they stopped breathing.

Censor Chen didn't even dare to breathe, for fear that the emperor's sword in His Majesty's hand would chop him directly on the head.

Wen Yan was silent for a long time before she put the sword back into its sheath. "Where is Madam Shi now?"

"I'm in Ren Ke's house." Li Shiji raised his head and said.

"Tell her and Ren Hao to come to the palace." Wen Yan ordered.

"Yes." Li Shiji stood up and accepted the order, then left with the old eunuch.

After more than an hour, Ren Hao followed Madam Shi into the palace and arrived at Tianlu Pavilion.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to His Majesty the Emperor."

"Common people, pay homage to His Majesty the Emperor."

The two of them greeted Wen Yan in unison.

"No gift."

As Wen Yan finished speaking, both of them stood up and stood in place.

"My husband Shi is loyal to Your Majesty and is not afraid of power. Now he has been framed by Anyang Li and the county magistrate and is imprisoned and sentenced to death." Mrs. Shi told Wen Yan all about the crimes of Anyang Li and the county magistrate, including how they bullied the common people and retired veterans.

Ren Hao next to him also said: "Your Majesty, please seek justice for the Shi family and redress their grievances."

"Shi, I am aware of the injustice your husband has suffered. I will uphold justice for you and clear your husband's name, and I will never shield any guilty person." After Wen Yan agreed, he issued an edict to have the case tried by the three courts, and appointed Ren Hao and Li Shiji as imperial envoys to go to Anyang immediately to arrest Anyang Li and the county magistrate.

The so-called Three-Court Trial was a major case that was handled personally by the emperor and jointly tried by the prime minister, the Supreme Court, and the Censorate.

"This sword is given to you two. Seeing the sword is like seeing the emperor."

"If anyone disobeys, he should be beheaded." Wen Yan took the sword from the rack and handed it to the old eunuch next to him.

Ren Hao and Li Shiji looked at each other.

Finally, Ren Hao climbed forward and took the Emperor's Sword from the old eunuch.

"Common people, obey your orders."

"My lord, take your orders."

Ren Hao and Li Shiji accepted the order in unison and immediately led a hundred imperial guards to Anyang to arrest the man.

After everyone left, Wen Yan felt physically and mentally exhausted.

Just when she was about to have a good rest, Minister Liu came to visit again.

"I am your old minister, paying my respects to Your Majesty." Minister Liu bowed to Wen Yan.

"My dear Liu, didn't you go to investigate the corruption? Why did you come back?" Wen Yan asked in confusion.

"Your Majesty, I dare to ask you to postpone the thorough investigation of this matter, as it involves so many people." Minister Liu took out three thick memorials from his arms and knelt on the ground to present them.

The reason why he turned back was because there were too many ministers and it was inconvenient to say more.

The old eunuch next to him took the memorial from Minister Liu and presented it to Wen Yan.

Wen Yan took the memorial that was presented to him. This so-called memorial was actually an account book, which recorded all the rewards and fertile fields allocated by the national treasury in recent years.

If a thorough investigation is really to be conducted, then the ministers in the court, the relatives of the emperor, the governors and the county magistrates in various places will all be held accountable.

The Shi case is just the tip of the iceberg.

If there were no war, this matter could be suppressed if it was thoroughly investigated. However, border wars are frequent nowadays, and a thorough investigation of this matter will only cause unrest in the court.

Wen Yan suppressed the anger in her heart and waved to Minister Liu: "Back off."

"I'll take my leave." Minister Liu didn't say much. He believed that with His Majesty's ability, he should know what to do.

After Minister Liu left, Wen Yan left the palace through the secret passage of Tianlu Pavilion.

The reason she disguised herself and left the palace was not for fun but to go to the Prime Minister's Kiln to find Wuming.

"Wuming pays respect to the princess." Wuming was about to pay respect to Wen Yan, but Wen Yan waved her hand and said, "Wuming, I came here this time to find you to do something."

"No matter what, I am willing to go through fire and water for the princess." Wuming gave an example.

"very good."

"You must lead three hundred elite soldiers and set off immediately. You must kill all the Li family members and the county magistrate in Anyang before Ren Hao and Li Shiji arrive in Anyang, and make their deaths look like suicides out of fear of punishment." Wen Yan ordered with a cold face.

"I obey your command." Wuming accepted the order without hesitation and carried out Wen Yan's order unconditionally.

The reason why Wen Yan said one thing in public and another in private was that he wanted to enforce the law impartially and give an explanation to Li, and also to preserve the royal family's face and protect Censor Chen.

If the Anyang Li family and the county magistrate were really brought to the capital for interrogation, it would not only cause the royal family to lose face, but would also implicate Censor Chen and even more people, leading to turmoil in the court.

Although Wen Yan wanted to get rid of Censor Chen, he was now facing internal and external troubles. Internally, there was the Prime Minister's faction which was full of his students and former officials; externally, there were wars and the princes who were eyeing him covetously.

Now she can only endure it and use this incident to scare others, but she cannot conduct a thorough investigation.

……

Anyang County is more than a thousand miles away from the capital.

Ren Hao and Li Shiji led a hundred imperial guards and rode non-stop for two days before arriving in Anyang.

The two men led a hundred imperial guards into Anyang and saw a puzzling scene.

Every household is decorating with lights and hanging firecrackers in front of their doors to celebrate.

It’s not even the Spring Festival yet, what are every household celebrating?

Ren Hao asked in confusion: "Li Qinchao, are there any major festivals coming soon?"

"It seems not." Li Shiji shook his head in confusion, not knowing what the people of Anyang were celebrating.

Ren Hao got off his horse and asked a random old man, "Old man, what are you celebrating today? I see that everyone of you is very excited."

"That damn county magistrate and Li both committed suicide out of fear of crime. Tell me, are we happy or not?" the old man said happily.

"Dead?" Ren Hao was stunned and immediately led people to Li's mansion.