Going to Beijing to save his father, all the powerful officials in the city are vying to be his fath

For the next two days, Zhao Liangchen stayed at home to recuperate from his injuries. He knew nothing about what was happening in the outside world, especially how Tong Zhongqian was investigating the case and the subsequent developments.

Meanwhile, Zou Tai was scheduled to go to the palace for duty in two days. However, surprisingly, he did not immediately go to see the emperor after entering the palace. Instead, he paced back and forth in the vast square.

The Emperor was also extremely upset. Although the crucial disaster relief funds had been found, the exact person who had the audacity to embezzle this life-saving money remained unknown. Tong Zhongqian, the person in charge of investigating the matter, was still investigating.

At the same time, there were two identical pieces of evidence on the emperor's desk!

The two pieces of evidence pointed to Su Jijing and Li Zheng, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, respectively, accusing them of embezzling a large sum of disaster relief funds. Tong Zhongqian, naturally wary, immediately ordered a careful comparison of the handwriting on the evidence with Su Jijing and Li Zheng's authentic handwriting. The results revealed that the so-called evidence was completely forged! Although they were convincing enough to be mistaken for the real thing, they ultimately failed to escape the scrutiny of professionals.

Even more interesting is that if one examines Su Jijing's evidence alone, it might seem somewhat authentic. However, once Li Zheng's evidence is added to the evidence, Su Jijing's appears completely flawed and false. Thus, these two pieces of evidence, originally considered incriminating, not only fail to prove Su Jijing and his companions' guilt, but instead become strong evidence of their innocence. The only conclusion that can be drawn from this is that Zhao Kuo's accusations against Su Jijing and his companions are pure slander and frame-up.

This is a problem. Not only can Su Jijing not be convicted, but there is no clue about the real criminal.

Zhao Kuo died, and the other prisoners who escaped with him only admitted that they had colluded with Zhao Kuo to steal and replace the disaster relief silver and sent it back to the Imperial Guards camp. However, no one knew who instructed them to do so. They all followed Zhao Kuo's orders. In other words, once Zhao Kuo died, the clue was cut off.

Jin Tong presented a list, a long, rambling list of suspects from the Imperial Guards, numbering over a thousand. These individuals came from all walks of life, from ordinary soldiers to captains, commanders, and even the Imperial Guards' deputy commander.

Jin Tong was obviously very scared. He would rather kill a thousand people by mistake than let one go, so he pulled out all the people he thought were suspicious.

His idea was simple and crude. He felt that as long as these people were driven out of the Imperial Guard, there would be no more problems with the Imperial Guard in the future.

However, how could the emperor deal with so many people at once? Obviously, it was impossible.

The Imperial Guards were completely different from the Winged Guards. Who could join the Imperial Guards without some kind of background? The generals who held official positions were generally from families with outstanding achievements. Touching all of them would be like touching thousands of families with connections. He would probably be drowned in the spit of the officials before he even began to deal with them.

But how could such a serious matter be left unaddressed? How many people should be punished? What was the highest official rank that could be punished? These all required careful consideration and repeated deliberation.

In the past, if any major event happened in the court, there would always be four regent ministers to offer advice, but in this matter, the four of them seemed to have telepathy and remained silent, even calling it training the emperor.

The emperor was clear-headed and knew that if this matter was not handled properly, he would probably never be qualified to talk about ruling the country again.

So he was extremely annoyed, and as he watched the evidence of crimes being handed to him continuously, he walked out of the hall in annoyance. He wanted to go out for a walk to change his mood, and then he saw Zou Tai circling around the square.

He asked Liu Jin to call Zou Tai over and asked, "What are you doing there?"

Zou Tai replied dejectedly, "Your Majesty, I am upset and cannot stand still, so I am turning around."

The emperor found it funny. Was he upset? How could a Du Yuhou, who was in charge of a few thousand people, be as upset as someone who was in charge of an entire country?

The emperor asked casually, as if chatting casually: "Then tell me, what are you worried about?"

Zou Tai frowned and said, "I seem to have done something to let Liangchen down."

The emperor asked in disbelief, "You and Liangchen are so close that you're practically the same person. What else could you possibly do to let him down?"

Suddenly, as if remembering something, he approached Zou Tai and asked mysteriously, "You're not cheating on him, are you?"

Zou Tai looked at the gossipy and mean expression on the emperor's face and his mouth twitched: You are the king of a country, can you please not make an expression like the gossipy woman at the village entrance?

He denied it, "Your Majesty, we are not married yet, and we don't even have a concubine."

The Emperor: "Then what have you done to offend him?"

Zou Tai sighed and recounted the story of how Zhao Liangchen had given him the silver notes to buy food and quilts for the disaster victims.

The emperor was puzzled: "Isn't this a good thing? You are helping him, how can you be sorry for him?"

Zou Tai frowned and said, "It's a good thing. The key is that the credit for this good thing doesn't go to him. It's because I distributed the things, and I've been out on patrol these days. So the victims only know me and treat me like their savior. They sing my praises, and I feel that this is stealing the credit from Liangchen."

Emperor: "Didn't you explain this to the victims?"

Zou Tai: "I told them that every time I gave food to someone, I told them that Liangchen paid for it so that they would remember their benefactor. But it was useless. The victims were ordinary people. They had no idea about so many officials. They couldn't remember the people they couldn't see. They could only remember the people who gave them food.

Originally, I thought that when Liangchen had time to go out of the city and show up in front of them more often, they would remember him. But who knew that Liangchen was injured, and I'm afraid that he will not be seen again after he recovers from his injury after the victims leave.

When the disaster victims return to their hometowns, they will definitely be grateful to me, not him. Wouldn't I be stealing his credit?"

After hearing his words, the emperor felt that this situation was somewhat familiar. Didn't he also donate money for disaster relief? But it wasn't him who distributed the money to the victims. Would the victims remember his kindness when the time came?

Seeing that the emperor was lost in thought, Zou Tai continued, "There are so many disaster victims outside this city. When I return to Chanzhou, I don't know how much the news will spread among the disaster victims. The other day, a disaster victim actually told me that he planned to set up a longevity tablet for me when he returned home. I was almost scared to death.

Although this was not my original intention, Liangchen's money was used to gain me fame, and I feel sorry for him. Therefore, I am trying to find a way to change the minds of the victims, lest after they leave in a couple of days, the rumor spreads even further, and my sin becomes even greater."

The emperor's expression gradually grew serious. "Is it really as exaggerated as you say? It's just a little bit of food."

Zou Tai: "If Your Majesty doesn't believe me, you can send someone to visit the disaster victims and listen to what they have to say. You don't know that the people don't ask for much. What they care about most is having enough food and clothing. Whoever can provide them with enough food and clothing is a great philanthropist and a god above their heads.

They didn't care who the emperor was or who the ministers were. The highest official they had ever seen was their county magistrate. As long as the county magistrate could keep them well fed and clothed, he would hold great power and control the land. He was an authority that the people looked up to, a being higher than the emperor.

After Zou Tai finished speaking, he saw the emperor's face turn pale and he immediately knelt on the ground in fear. He said with a terrified face: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I was just talking nonsense. Please don't take it to heart."

His words pierced the emperor's heart. How could he not take them to heart? However, the emperor did not blame Zou Tai. He just said with a sullen face: "You just said a few words of truth. What crime have you committed? Stand up."

Zou Tai wiped a non-existent cold sweat from his forehead and quickly expressed his gratitude: "Thank you, Your Majesty."

After he stood up, the emperor asked him, "Have you figured out how to change the current situation?"

Zou Tai pretended to think, "I originally thought that even if I had to carry Liangchen out of the city to see the disaster victims, I was afraid that his injuries would be aggravated. So I thought of getting a few more people to mingle among the disaster victims and speak well of Liangchen. The people are all soft-hearted. If you say this is good, they think it's good. If others say that is good, they think that is good. They are very easy to coax. As long as more people say good things about Liangchen, their minds will naturally change."

The emperor nodded thoughtfully: "That's a good idea. Okay, stop walking around and walk with me."

Next, Zou Tai accompanied the emperor for a slow walk, and the emperor would ask about the victims from time to time.

Because he found that he knew nothing about the lives of the victims or ordinary people.