Princess Promotion

To be honest, Yao Chuguang had never expected things to develop to this point.

Yao Chuguang thought that Mengchangjun was guilty of a heinous crime and would be sentenced to death no matter what.

As long as it can help those unfortunate women avoid being implicated, it doesn't matter if it takes a detour.

Even in her era, when women were more open-minded, few girls had the courage to face such things.

What's more, in this era, a woman's innocence is more important than her life.

At the beginning, Yao Chuguang and An Tian planned that An Tian would lead people to attack Meng Mansion at night and catch Mengchangjun off guard.

Once evidence of collusion with court officials is obtained, they will be executed on the spot.

Those innocent women were quietly transported out of the Meng Mansion, and after the storm had passed, their household registration was changed and they started a new life.

An Tian also intentionally let Meng Fan go, after all, he had destroyed the body.

If no one comes forward to report her, she will go to the government office and surrender herself.

Who would kill someone to silence him and then surrender to the government? If he doesn't have some ulterior motive, then he's mentally ill.

Therefore, someone must be left behind to escape from the Meng Mansion and expose An Tian.

The ideal situation would have been for Meng Fan to escape and go directly to the government office to report the case and arrest An Tian.

Then, after An Tian was imprisoned, he confessed to the evidence of Mengchangjun's collusion with court officials.

In the end, An Tian made amends for his mistakes, the treacherous minister was punished and everyone was happy.

Yao Chuguang had thought that something might go wrong during this process, and that Meng Fan might be frightened and run away instead of exposing An Tian.

Or maybe the old stubborn people in the court refused to let An Tian go.

These Yao Chuguangs all have backup plans. For example, if Meng Fan doesn't come, they will arrange a Meng Chang. Anyway, as long as someone comes to expose the truth, it will be fine.

As for An Tian, even if he messed up, the worst that could happen was that he would fake his death and be a brave man again eighteen days later.

Yao Chuguang didn't believe that anyone would dare to accuse her of deceiving her superiors and subordinates.

But Yao Chuguang really didn't expect that this plan would have so many twists and turns, like a spider web, tangled in all directions.

As soon as An Tian arrived at the Meng Mansion and took the person under control, Fu Hongxuan and his men discovered the crime scene.

Not to mention An Tian, Yao Chuguang was a little confused when he saw Xu Mei being sent over that night.

This has been exposed before it even started?

Yao Chuguang couldn't accept it, but Fu Hongxuan and the others had seen it, and Yao Chuguang couldn't really kill people to silence them.

The only option is to drag Fu Hongxuan down with him and make him part of the same evil.

At this time, Yao Chuguang still thought that although the plan had some minor flaws, it was not a big problem and could be repaired in time.

But the next day when Yao Chuguang went to court, he was completely dumbfounded!

Li Jinglong and his followers took the lead in launching an attack in the court, directly targeting Lord Xiao.

To be honest, if Yao Chuguang didn't know that all this was his own doing, he would really think that this old fox had done something that was against God and man and offended Li Jinglong.

An Tian had been harvesting food and supplies from unscrupulous merchants along the way, and in order to save time, he deliberately revealed to those merchants that he had a backer.

After all, it is easier to get things done if you have someone in the court, but An Tian can't really use Yao Chuguang's name.

It’s not a question of whether Yao Chuguang’s name can be used, but that no one believes it even if it is reported.

This is just like when you bargain with someone when buying something. You say, "I am a relative of the president, please give me a discount," or "I am a neighbor of the urban management, please give me a discount." Which one works?

An Tian didn't just take advantage of Lord Xiao, she also reported that Lord Liu, Lord Qing and even Lord Wu had also used it.

But An Tian discovered that the reputations of several other family heads were quite famous in Qi State, but almost no one knew them in Western Zhou Dynasty.

In the end, it was Elder Xiao who had a better reputation and was the most useful.

Yao Chuguang really didn't expect that the blame would be put on Elder Xiao for no reason.

To the extent that Li Jinglong still insists on targeting Lord Xiao, it doesn't matter who the real murderer of Mengchangjun's family is, what matters is that he wants to kill Lord Xiao.

Even when Meng Fan, who had escaped in the end, accused Lord Xiao in court, Yao Chuguang really felt that this development was unexpected.

Just when Yao Chuguang was thinking, why not just go along with it and let Lord Xiao take the blame?

But a new problem arose: how could she give the evidence to Lord Xiao without anyone noticing?

You know, this old fox is the most vengeful. If he knew that I had betrayed him, he would probably carry his coffin into the palace and scold me.

Fortunately, Meng Fan finally reported An Tian, although it was also to frame Lord Xiao.

Yao Chuguang thought that although the mastermind had gone a little astray, the situation was still under control.

An Tian also realized that he had implicated Lord Xiao, and he had to find a way to clear Lord Xiao.

She was the concubine daughter of a minor official in the Western Zhou Dynasty. She held a grudge against Mengchangjun for his depravity and returned to seek revenge.

Although this cannot completely eliminate Li Jinglong's suspicion of Lord Xiao, at least on the surface, An Tian has nothing to do with Lord Xiao.

Although they really have nothing to do with each other.

Everything was planned well, but suddenly Lord Xiao secretly came to the prison to question An Tian.

It would have been fine if Lord Xiao had just come, but he was also caught by Li Jinglong.

There's no point in even trying to cleanse this thing. Just get on board with them.

Yao Chuguang looked at Li Jinglong and the others firing at full speed below, and felt that they had complete evidence of their guilt.

However, Lord Xiao looked at them with a sneer on his face, as if he were looking at a clown. He probably thought that they were just looking for excuses to accuse him.

Only Yao Chuguang was worried about how to expose Mengchangjun's crimes.

If An Tian were to produce evidence of Mengchangjun's guilt now, Li Jinglong would insist that it was Lord Xiao who forged the evidence in order to frame them.

Yao Chuguang even wanted to throw the jar into chaos, so why not expose herself?

Yao Chuguang looked at Fu Hongxuan who was standing below without saying a word. Should he push Fu Hongxuan out to block the thunder?

I would rather die than let my friend die. I will ask An Tian to give up Fu Hongxuan and say that Fu Hongxuan was framed and imprisoned by these court officials and has been holding a grudge against him.

Yao Chuguang felt that this was a good idea, and at this moment the drum at the palace gate sounded.

People came in groups to speak out for An Tian.

Even the girl who was rescued was willing to come forward to testify for An Tian.

An Tian’s efforts were not in vain. Yao Chuguang was happy for An Tian and proud of these girls.

These people have been clamoring that they are innocent and that they are diligent and selfless in their work for the people.

Yao Chuguang didn't mind helping these girls again.

Yu Zhijian is in a bit of a difficult situation, as the Meng Mansion case now involves a wide range of people.

From the nobles of the old dynasty to the officials, these girls had no other evidence except the names of these officials.

At this moment, an imperial decree suddenly came from the palace.

Inside the yamen, there was silence, and everyone's eyes were focused on the eunuch who suddenly appeared.

He was wearing the official uniform of the palace, holding the yellow silk imperial edict, and walked into the hall with steady steps.

The eunuch stood still, looked around, then slowly unfolded the imperial edict in his hand and read aloud: "By the will of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: I have heard that there are accusations from the people that Mengchangjun is colluding with officials and businessmen to oppress the people. I am deeply concerned."

"I hereby grant you this order, ordering you to act immediately to bring justice to the world. If any woman has been humiliated by this, please hide behind a screen and describe in detail the characteristics of the official who had sex with her."

"Anyone who matches the name will be arrested without delay and sent to prison to await my personal trial. This is a matter of national importance. I hope you will handle it impartially and not let me down. I decree this!"

As soon as the eunuch finished speaking, the entire yamen fell into deathly silence.

Yao Chuguang felt that he was giving them too much face. He had all the evidence in his hands, so why should he listen to their nonsense?

Forget the proof, forget the false accusations, just chop him up and be done with it.

A tyrant is a tyrant. Why should she care about her reputation when she usurped the throne?

After hearing the imperial edict, Li Jinglong felt a gust of cold wind blowing past him, his back involuntarily became cold, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

He knew that those people could not be saved, although Li Jinglong had no connection with Mengchangjun.

But the people under him were deeply involved with Mengchangjun, and after this incident his power in the court was severely damaged.

After the eunuch finished reading, he handed the imperial edict to Li Jinglong and stared at him sharply, as if trying to see through his heart: "Sir Li, the emperor's decree has been issued. You should know what to do, right?"

Li Jinglong took the imperial edict, his hands trembling slightly. He took a deep breath and tried to make his voice sound firm: "Your servant, Li Jinglong, will obey the imperial edict and will do his utmost to find out the truth and bring justice to the people."

At this time, in the residence of Lord Xiao, Xiao Liang received news that His Majesty would personally try his grandfather's case.

Gao Xing ran to find Elder Xiao, and saw that he was playing chess with his father in the pavilion.

He walked over and said, "Grandfather, Father! Her Majesty has personally inquired into Grandfather's case. I believe justice will be served to Grandfather soon."

Upon hearing this, Minister Xiao was also surprised and put down the chess piece: "Seriously, this is great."

Elder Xiao paused holding the chess piece, then smiled and said, "The innocent will be innocent. There's no need to pay too much attention to this matter. Liang'er, you seem to have fallen behind on your official duties recently."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Liang felt secretly ashamed. He had been unable to sleep or eat due to his grandfather's case recently and had indeed neglected a lot of official duties.

So Xiao Liang took his leave and returned to his study to handle official business.

When Minister Xiao saw his son walking away, he was about to turn back and celebrate with his father.

Unexpectedly, when I turned around, I saw the smile on Lord Xiao's face disappear, and the chess piece in his hand fell heavily onto the chessboard.

Upon seeing this, Minister Xiao quickly suppressed his smile, lowered his head and listened obediently.

Seeing this, Lord Xiao was furious, wondering how come he was so smart all his life but his son was so stupid when he was born.

If he passed away one day, how could he be at ease to hand over the huge Xiao family to a son who was sold out but still happy.

Lord Xiao noticed that the old ministers of the Western Zhou Dynasty seemed very dissatisfied with him.

He believed that he had not done anything to provoke the anger of his old ministers.

That means someone must be secretly sowing discord.

There are not many people in the court who have such great ability that they can offend the old ministers of the Western Zhou Dynasty without him knowing and then put the blame on him.

Elder Xiao of the Liu, Qing and Wu families was the first to exclude them, not because they would not do such a thing.

But Lord Xiao was confident. After serving in the court for so many years, he believed that although he could not do everything for these three families, he could still do everything for them.

But if it was really what they did, Lord Xiao would definitely notice it.

Over the years, Lord Xiao has only been cheated by Yao Chuguang.

Excluding Qi, there are only three possibilities left.

The first possibility is that the old ministers headed by Li Jinglong set up a trap to frame him. After all, there is no room for two tigers in one mountain, and the officials on the Qi side were headed by him.

If Lord Xiao were to fall, it would be a blessing in disguise for the old ministers.

The second possibility: What the Yan State did was to sow discord and make them fight with their old ministers, disrupting the political situation and leaving them no time to take care of other things.

After all, Qi has now conquered the Western Zhou Dynasty. Once the Western Zhou Dynasty is pacified, Yan will be in danger.

Only when Qi is in chaos will Yan benefit the most.

The third possibility: It was Yao Chuguang who did it. This conscienceless guy dragged him out to take the blame in order to divert the conflicts among the old ministers, as long as he started fighting with the old ministers.

In order to win, the old ministers must have the support of Yao Chuguang, and then Yao Chuguang can take advantage of the situation to win over the old ministers of Western Zhou.

Lord Xiao always felt that the third possibility was the highest, but the first two could not be ruled out.

But whenever he thought of the third possibility, he felt a lump in his throat.

The fire was started by Yao Chuguang, and then it burned himself. Yao Chuguang just watched the fire from the other side and acted like a good person.

Elder Xiao felt that he had to find out whether Yao Chuguang had done it, and he couldn't let this guy just sit there and watch the show.

Now we have to see who this An Tian who appeared out of nowhere is.

So Lord Xiao went to see An Tian secretly to see if he could get any information out of him.

This An Tian was from the Western Zhou Dynasty and was later sold to the State of Yan.

There is no possibility of any intersection with Yao Chuguang.

Elder Xiao thought to himself, was he overthinking it?

Li Jinglong wanted to overthrow him and develop the power of his old ministers, otherwise why would he happen to run into him.

This shows that Li Jinglong had definitely planned this for a long time.

But Lord Xiao felt something was wrong about this incident.

When Lord Xiao went back to review An Tian's case, he discovered that the reason why those old ministers had been so cold and indifferent to him before was because of him.

This was because An Tian exchanged a large amount of food from them for a batch of cheap spices.

Cutting off someone's financial resources is no different from making them your enemy.

The question is, does Li Jinglong have such great ability to obtain so many spices?

What was the purpose of exchanging the spices in his hands for so much food just to target him?

Rebellion? But did Li Jinglong have any troops?

Could it be that he is in cahoots with Fu Hongxuan?

The more Elder Xiao thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. If he could think of these things, how could Yao Chuguang not?

If Li Jinglong really had the intention of rebelling, as soon as there was any sign of this, Yao Chuguang would definitely be the first one to be killed.

How could he allow Li Jinglong to continue to act so recklessly? Although Yao Chuguang did not play by the rules, he would never tolerate a minister who intended to rebel.

So there must be something he overlooked, what was it?

But no matter which possibility it is, there is one thing that Lord Xiao can be sure of.

Yao Chuguang would definitely not be kind enough to clear his name. There must be some benefits that he doesn't know about.

This heartless thing will not do anything without profit. How could it suddenly have a conscience?

He doesn't believe it!

When the news came from the palace, An Tian handed over a detailed account book, the contents of which were highly consistent with the list of officials revealed by the victimized women.

More than 30 officials were involved in the case, all of whom were arrested, imprisoned, and executed in the autumn.

Although An Tian made great contributions in exposing the crime, he still violated the law. He was fined and his property was confiscated to make up for his mistake and was acquitted.