The queen is spoiling the king and madly criticizing him for spoiling her

Lord Bai noticed Xie Ci'an's eyes and did not dare to resist at all. He let Yunhe come forward and touch his chest, and soon took out a silk handkerchief from the side of his clothes.

Yun He stepped forward and pulled the handkerchief off Guo Qian's waist with great force. After comparing them, he handed it to Gu Jianchu and said, "Your Majesty, the Queen's handkerchief is exactly the same."

Gu Jianchu glanced at it and said, "Not only are the patterns exactly the same, but even the embroidery techniques are exactly the same. I think they came from the same place. I remember Chunshui Embroidery Workshop once sent a batch of identical embroidery to Zuihonglou."

"Sir Bai, was this handkerchief a gift from the brothel?" Gu Jianchu asked very directly.

According to the methods used by the Emperor and Empress to investigate cases, they would probably be able to find out about his mistress in the brothel, not to mention the handkerchief. Lord Bai simply stopped struggling and said with an expression as if he was waiting for the verdict, "It was indeed the handkerchief from Zui Honglou."

Gu Jianchu originally wanted to use the mouths of those nosy ministers to spread the news that Lord Bai went to the brothel and let his tigress-like wife know about it.

So Gu Jianchu didn't continue to embarrass Lord Bai, and turned his attention to Guo Qian. "Indulging in brothels all day long is called knowing you're wrong. I'm afraid you've never regretted what you did."

"This was given to me by the girls when I went to the brothel. I haven't been there since my wife passed away?" Guo Qian quickly explained.

"Really? The perfume powder used in that brothel is quite good. It still has such a strong scent even after not being there for a long time. Zhuxi, why don't you go and ask me what kind of perfume powder they use that can keep the smell on the body for so long?"

Smart people could see that the Queen didn't ask people to inquire about perfume and powder, but asked people to ask Guo Qian if anyone had been to the brothel recently.

No matter how good the perfume is, it cannot stay on the body for such a long time.

Xie Ci'an leaned forward, his eyes holding a dangerous smile, "I see you're still tough enough, Yunhe."

Seeing Yun He about to raise his hand to command the young eunuchs, Guo Qian instinctively reacted with fear and curled up. "I said, I was there just yesterday."

"You should have said no earlier. There's no need to waste so much time."

"After your wife died, you used her death to blackmail Dean Wu." Gu Jianchu casually interjected.

Not only Guo Qian, but even Dean Wu had a terrified expression.

How did the Queen know this?

Dou Wen was already used to standing in the crowd. The queen seemed to be particularly sensitive to certain things.

If the queen were a man, the position of Dali Temple would seem more suitable for her.

The truth had already been exposed, and continuing to deny it would only bring more suffering. Dean Wu huddled on the ground and admitted, "I did blackmail you. After Sun's death, Guo Qian extorted ten thousand taels of silver from me, saying that if this matter became public, it would be bad for my reputation. I was also afraid that this matter would get out of hand and implicate me, so I persuaded Guo Qian to give him eight thousand taels and settled the matter."

Dean Wu had already entertained him, so Guo Qian naturally had no way to hide it and could only plead guilty.

"Since both of you have admitted your crimes, then you will be drowned in the pond as a warning to others."

"In addition, all the money that Guo Qian extorted from Dean Wu was transferred to the two elderly people as compensation." Xie Ci'an's voice was cold and without any warmth.

The ministers were so cautious that they didn't dare to plead for mercy.

The main reason is that the things these two did were worse than pigs and dogs. There is no way to plead for mercy, and even if they are not drowned in the pond, it is a capital crime.

Dean Wu had a shocked expression on his face. He practically crawled to his knees in front of Xie Ci'an, and kowtowed repeatedly with blood all over his head. "Your Majesty, I have realized my mistake. I beg Your Majesty to forgive me."

Xie Ci'an twirled the jade ring on his hand, looking at Dean Wu with a cold look in his eyes. He raised his foot and kicked Dean Wu in the chest, causing him to fall backwards. "When you did these things, you didn't leave any chance for yourself to survive. Why should I leave any chance for you? Yunhe, just take him to the sinking pond and pull his body out after he dies. Don't pollute the river water."

"Yes." Yun He immediately led people forward to drag Dean Wu and Guo Qian away.

Except for a few officials who were sweating profusely, most of the officials present felt that the emperor handled the matter smoothly.

Gu Jianchu stood up and helped the old couple up from the ground. "The evildoers have received the punishment they deserve. I hope you can mourn with some understanding."

The two old men stood up tremblingly and kept thanking the emperor and empress, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for making this decision for me."

"Zhu Xia, please help them out." Gu Jianchu arranged for Zhu Xia to help the two old people out.

Neither Chongfeng nor Cheng Song came back, and it was obvious that today's Qujiang Banquet could not be held.

Dishes continued to be served. Xie Ci'an glanced at the Queen, who was staring at the dishes on the running water and swallowing her saliva, and said with a light cough, "Keep eating."

The emperor had spoken, and they could only sit back in their original seats trembling with fear. They picked up their chopsticks but had no mood to eat. Only the queen ate without a heart.

Xie Ci'an was helping Gu Jianchu pick up the dishes and picking out the fish bones for her, which made the ministers next to him stare with disbelief on their faces.

Is this still the emperor who just threw someone into the drowning pond?

There is a visual feeling as if something is possessed by me.

After a while, Chongfeng came back. He was about to report, but when he saw that Gu Jianchu had not finished eating yet, Xie Ci'an raised his hand to stop him.

According to Gu Jianchu's personality of loving to eat melons, once he has melons to eat, the rice in front of him will no longer taste good.

After Gu Jianchu had eaten and drunk his fill, he noticed that Zhongfeng had returned. Receiving a glance from Xie Ci'an, Zhongfeng reported truthfully, "I led my men to various docks and apprehended Yang Shilin at the East Lane dock. We also discovered several ships of smuggled salt. I seized the salt, ships, and the people aboard and sent them to the Imperial City Division for interrogation. I also brought Yang Shilin here."

Chongfeng waved his hand, and someone immediately brought Yang Shilin over.

Yang Shilin was wearing an indigo robe, had a handsome face and a teardrop mole on his face, giving people a feeling of being so weak that I felt pity for him.

"Your humble servant greets the Emperor and the Empress." Yang Shilin respectfully paid his respects to the Emperor and the Empress.

Xie Ci'an looked at Yang Shilin's calm face and asked lazily, "Lord Yang, do you know why I brought you to the palace?"

Everyone understood that Xie Ci'an was giving Yang Shilin an opportunity to confess.

After all, the young eunuch and Yan Cheng have already confessed, so Yang Shilin has no choice but to admit it even if he doesn't want to.

Yang Shilin's expression was calm, without even a hint of unnecessary emotion. Instead, a relieved smile flashed across his eyes. "I know that you helped Yan Cheng cheat in the imperial examination, causing the poor student Ai Qing to fail. You also colluded with the Governor of Zhejiang and the Zhejiang Provincial Government to sell illegal salt. I admit every detail."

[I thought it would take some effort, but I didn't expect Yang Shilin to be such a smart guy and actually confessed everything.]