The most romantic little emperor

The next morning, Wang Yourong woke up and felt her cheeks were swollen. She was extremely embarrassed and hugged Qin Hao with both hands. She quickly said to Yan'er who was waiting beside her: "Yan'er, go and prepare some hot water. His Highness will be attending court soon."

……

When he arrived at the court, Qin Hao habitually glanced at all the civil and military officials in the court. He found that Su Zhengfang had dark circles under his eyes and looked not in good spirits.

So he asked, "Lord Su, you didn't sleep well last night, and you don't look very energetic!"

Su Zhengfang didn't expect Qin Hao to be so observant.

He cupped his hands and responded, "Your Highness, I am old and had insomnia last night, but it is not a problem."

His voice was a little hoarse and there was a hint of fatigue in his tone.

Only then did all the civil and military officials in the court notice that Su Zhengfang was acting strangely.

His face was indeed pale, his eyes were a little blurry, and he was obviously mentally disturbed.

Some ministers couldn't help but start speculating in their hearts, as Minister Su was fine yesterday and even held a banquet to welcome Su Meng in the evening.

Afterwards, what happened that made him look so exhausted in the court?

Qin Hao nodded, his eyes showing concern, and said softly: "Lord Su, please take care of your health. The court still depends on you to take charge of the overall situation."

"Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I understand."

After Su Zhengfang finished speaking, he said no more, squinted his eyes and closed them to rest.

What happened last night was a heavy blow to him. He had not expected that the son he had just taken a fancy to would do something that was outrageous to both humans and gods. This made him very upset and unable to sleep all night.

Seeing that Su Zhengfang was unwilling to say more, Qin Hao said calmly, "Let's get started!"

"If you have the foundation to start a memorial, if you don't have the foundation to retreat from the court."

Gao Lishi shouted loudly.

Fan Wenhai, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, came forward, knelt on the ground, buried his head firmly on the ground, and said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, I am guilty and I ask for punishment."

Qin Hao raised a smile and said calmly, "Tell me! What happened?"

Fan Wenhai raised his head, took out a confession from his bosom, and said with guilt on his face: "Your Highness, a malicious wounding incident occurred at Ruifenghao Grain Store yesterday afternoon."

"Sun Zhigang, the manager of the Ruifeng grain store, hired thugs to beat up the people who bought grain at will. He also colluded with Deng Huyong, the head of the Supervision and Arrest Bureau, and did many things to oppress the people."

"Luckily you caught them red-handed and arrested them on the street. But last night, two people died mysteriously in prison. The cause of death is unknown and the murderer has not been caught."

"It is my fault for not keeping watch over it properly. Please punish me!"

Gao Lishi took the confession from him and handed it to Qin Hao.

Qin Hao took the confession and after opening it, a few big words caught his attention: "The criminal is not dead, the murderer deliberately let him go."

He quickly read the confession and understood everything. He was secretly happy in his heart, but pretended to be angry and said, "Fan Wenhai, I trusted you so much, but you let me down. You can make mistakes even when guarding a prisoner. How do you do things?"

Fan Wenhai knelt on the ground, cooperating with Qin Hao's performance, burying his head deeper, and said with a trembling voice: "Your Highness, I have failed in my duty. Please punish me."

Qin Hao slammed the table, pretending to be furious, and roared at Fan Wenhai: "Do you think this king dare not punish you?"

"Fan Wenhai failed to supervise the criminals properly this time, resulting in the death of two seriously guilty people. He will be fined for half a year. Do you have any objections?"

His voice echoed in the court, frightening all the civil and military officials to lower their heads.

Seeing that no one objected, he winked at Fan Wenhai, who understood and kowtowed, saying, "I am willing to be punished."

"Your Highness, I have something else to report."

"Speak." Qin Hao said coldly, obviously still angry.

Fan Wenhai pulled out a memorial and a large stack of confessions from his bosom and read aloud, "Yesterday, Wang Youzhi committed treason and was executed in public by you. Lord Gao searched his property and confiscated 2.3 million taels of silver, 370,000 taels of gold, countless gold, silver, jewelry, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, in addition to many land deeds, shops, etc."

"I was ordered to interrogate his clansmen and found that most of these assets were obtained through corruption and bribery. Many members of his family were involved in a number of illegal operations and are guilty of crimes that cannot be forgiven. Here is the list and the confessions of the prisoners. Please take a look."

When everyone heard that Wang Youzhi had embezzled and accepted bribes so much, they all gasped and dared not even breathe.

Gao Lishi took the confession and handed it to Qin Hao.

Qin Hao read it carefully, threw it on the table, slammed the table, and cursed angrily: "Wang Youzhi, you bastard, you are the eternal sinner of my Great Xia. Killing you is too easy for you. I wish I could cut you into pieces and dismember you, you, you..."

Seeing the prince so angry, everyone tried to comfort him, "Your Highness, please calm down!"

Gao Lishi hurried forward to give him a back massage.

Su Zhengfang quickly distanced himself from the matter and advised, "Your Highness, I did not expect Wang Youzhi to have embezzled so much and accepted so many bribes. He is indeed the most corrupt official in the Great Xia Dynasty."

"I, your Highness, request that you execute all nine generations of his clan as a warning to others."

Many ministers also gave their advice and agreed with Su Zhengfang's words, to execute all nine generations of his clan.

It took a long time for Qin Hao to recover. He looked at everyone's expressions coldly, neither angry nor happy.

"Your Highness, I am guilty!"

He took out a large stack of silver bills from his pocket, held it high above his head, and said loudly: "This money is the silver that I have received from others in recent years as bribes. The total amount is 335,000 taels of silver."

"I know that I have committed a grave sin, and I am willing to donate this money to help the disaster area. Please punish me, Your Highness."

Qin Hao slowly stood up, walked to Fan Wenhai, and said in a deep voice: "Lord Fan, you have come back to the right path and corrected your mistakes. This is the greatest virtue. I will give you a chance to correct your mistakes and will not pursue this matter any further."

"At the same time, I want to give you a message, and also a message to all the civil and military officials in the court."

“Don’t stretch out your hand, or you will be caught.”

"You must remember this, all the ministers present here, please remember this!"

Qin Hao paced in front of the ministers and continued, "This king will intensify the anti-corruption efforts and thoroughly investigate corruption. Anyone found to be seriously corrupt and hiding stolen money will be severely punished."

"But I am also well aware of the truth that 'too clear water to have fish'. Many ministers were forced to do so, or were confused, or were not strong enough, so they accepted bribes from others and embezzled some public funds."

"It doesn't matter. I can give these people a chance to mend their ways. As long as they haven't done anything harmful to the world and morality, and as long as they haven't committed a heinous crime, and as long as they hand over the embezzled money, I won't pursue them."

"Even if someone has done something that is against the will of heaven and earth, even if he is a very evil person, as long as he hands over the stolen money, I will give him some dignity and only hold him accountable, and never hold his family members accountable."

"Otherwise, your fate will be like Wang Youzhi's. Even after death, the debt cannot be repaid. I will kill all nine generations of his clan."

"Remember, you only have one chance. Confess and you will be treated leniently. Resist and you will be treated severely."