Traveling through the emperor, overthrowing the empress dowager at the beginning

"Okay, I won't talk nonsense anymore. I'll listen to you."

Madam Xue finally chose to bow her head, but then said, "Let me go first!"

"Ah."

Ye Chen turned over and pressed Madam Xue directly under him. At this moment, Madam Xue felt as if a mountain was pressing down on her. She was suddenly shocked, but she didn't expect that the next moment, Ye Chen had already propped himself up.

By the way, Ye Chen also pulled Madam Xue up from the ground.

"Emperor, even if I promise you not to talk nonsense, nothing can happen to Nanny He!"

Madam Xue gritted her teeth, and after being pulled up by Ye Chen, she finally calmed down a little from her panic, but immediately said.

"Haha, that Nanny He leaked the secret in the past and almost got me killed. She should be punished. Otherwise, where is the law of the land? But I will arrange for you to meet her in a few days."

Ye Chen just smiled coldly. Even if Nanny He was forced to do so, it was a fact that she leaked the secret. She should be punished if she was guilty. At most, she could be allowed to make amends for her crime.

Upon hearing this, Madam Xue frowned. At this moment, she suddenly realized that she had no bargaining chips to offer when facing Ye Chen.

Before, Madam Xue thought that Ye Chen would be afraid of the criticism from the world, but she almost got flirted with, which made her realize that Ye Chen might be a tyrant who didn't care about the criticism from the world.

Therefore, Mrs. Xue could not come up with anything to threaten Ye Chen at this time, and in the end, she could only choose to compromise.

"Then Your Majesty, did you really not torture Madam He?"

Mrs. Xue held on to her last hope, straightened her clothes and asked.

"of course not."

Ye Chen spoke in a steady tone, but his eyes were wandering over Madam Xue. This woman was really quite charming.

She is mature and noble, and has the temperament of a lady by nature.

She is a completely different type from the Yuniang who lives in the cottage by the lake.

"Madam Xue, remember what you promised me."

"If I knew you would regret it later and speak nonsense again, I would never let you off easily. Also, if anyone outside asks, you and your palace servants are only allowed to say that Nanny He is being interrogated. You are not allowed to say anything else."

Ye Chen suddenly raised his hand, gently lifted Mrs. Xue's chin with his fingers, stared into her eyes and said.

At this moment, his voice contained unparalleled arrogance, and the imperial aura emanated from him, captivating everyone.

Mrs. Xue's heart trembled, but she immediately realized that she had been taken advantage of again. When she was about to reach out to knock Ye Chen's hand away in anger, Ye Chen had already retracted his hand and patted Mrs. Xue's pretty cheek.

Then, Ye Chen turned and left.

Madam Xue looked at Ye Chen's receding back, her starry eyes revealing dissatisfaction, hatred, shame and annoyance, and she felt extremely unwilling in her heart.

This was the first time in all these years that she had been treated so frivolously, and it undoubtedly left a deep impression on her.

And when I walked out of Xuemei Palace.

Shen Qiu, who had been guarding outside the door, had a complicated expression and looked at Ye Chen with a dim gaze.

"Qiu'er, what's wrong?"

Ye Chen turned his head to look at Shen Qiu, but felt that there was something wrong with the way Shen Qiu looked at him.

Shen Qiu's lips moved slightly. She was guarding the gate. Although she didn't see what was happening in Xuemei Palace with her own eyes, she still heard some noises.

She knew that Ye Chen had used some means to make Madam Xue surrender, and these means did not sound so legitimate, but she could not say much about it.

"Your Majesty, news just arrived that Mi Cheng has surrendered."

Upon hearing this, Ye Chen immediately raised his eyebrows and asked as he walked towards the sedan chair, "What did Mi Cheng do?"

"Your Majesty, Mi Cheng has put the blame on Kou Qing for everything. He says that he was ordered to do this by Kou Qing. He also says that Kou Qing has long been colluding with the Lu Shang merchants. That Mr. Kou of the Lu Shang merchants is Kou Qing's distant cousin!"

"Mi Cheng also said that in the past, one or two persecuted people would escape from the dungeon and suddenly appear on the busy streets. These people were all sent by Kou Qing to deal with him."

Hearing this, Ye Chen's eyes suddenly became sharp and he asked, "How do you deal with this?"

"It's said that most of the people were driven out of the city and handed over to the Lu merchants. If they encountered anyone shouting and yelling, they would be treated as rioters and sent to the Ministry of Justice. During this period, any traveling merchants who helped the rioters would also be arrested and handed over to the Lu merchants and the Ministry of Justice. If the merchants who helped the rioters were local merchants in the capital, Mi Cheng would send people to threaten them at their homes."

"Normally, ordinary merchants wouldn't dare show up in front of the city defense forces. Occasionally, when encountering a few powerful people, Kou Qing would find someone to communicate with them."

Shen Qiu's pretty face darkened slightly. What Mi Cheng confessed to was undoubtedly a human trafficking industry chain.

"Oh, good!"

Ye Chen's eyes lit up. It was obvious that Mi Cheng was not a tough talker. Once he was thrown into the death row and faced with the charge of treason and various torture instruments in the death row, he spilled everything he knew and only wanted to ask for a lighter sentence.

"Who did Kou Qing find?"

Ye Chen asked.

"Mi Cheng said he didn't know. It's said that every time Kou Qing led people to deal with these powerful children, he was sent away."

Shen Qiu paused and said, "However, Mi Cheng once secretly saw the people Kou Qing was with from a distance and found that one of them seemed to be the steward of the Minister of Personnel's Mansion."

"Ah."

Ye Chen nodded slightly. He had known for a long time that Xiahou Jie was involved in this matter.

"Did you find Lu Shang at Lu Niu Dan's place?"

Mi Cheng's testimony alone is not enough to convict Kou Qing.

Ye Chen understood that the key still lay with Lu Shang.

We must catch these guys to get more evidence.

Only then can we uncover all the big fish hidden behind this human trafficking.

"Your Majesty, we are still searching for it, but according to Lu Niu Dan, we have found some clues and we should be able to find it soon."

"Ah."

Ye Chen nodded, feeling a little bit of anticipation, and then got into the sedan chair.

"Your Majesty, there's one more thing. We've already investigated the restaurants in the city and found out that there are indeed many powerful families behind them. However, these families only distribute dividends every month and mostly don't interfere with the management of these restaurants."

Shen Qiu stood beside the sedan chair and clasped his fists towards Ye Chen.

Hearing this, Ye Chen narrowed his eyes, vaguely sensing something was wrong.

"Qiu'er, what are the identities of most of the owners of these restaurants?"

"Your Majesty, they are all local merchants. Many of them have been doing business in the capital for many years, and some have even been doing business for generations."

Shen Qiu replied.

Hearing this, Ye Chen snorted lightly, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes, and said: "Qiu'er, make a list and clearly write down which powerful people are involved in each restaurant."

"Yes!"

Shen Qiu paused, feeling somewhat puzzled: "Your Majesty, why do you care so much about these restaurants?"

"Qiu'er, these restaurants are more than just restaurants."

Ye Chen shook his head, his face serious: "If I am not mistaken, the powerful families behind these restaurants have probably already gathered together to form a huge force for their own interests, and this has lasted for dozens or even hundreds of years. It is a huge network."

"This matter must be thoroughly investigated."

Upon hearing this, Shen Qiu's face turned serious and he immediately clasped his fists.

"promise!"