Shipin Dalizheng

Of course, it was the four great guards who made the effort. They took the evidence they had collected in the past, which showed that Jin Shizhao had accepted bribes to help candidates cheat, and threw it into the palaces of Prince Huai and Prince Yong at night.

The two kings summoned their supporters overnight, and at the court meeting the next day, dozens of officials from various departments impeached Jin Shizhao, and the censors criticized him harshly.

Even Wei Shangshu, who usually protected him, did not speak for him. Instead, he complained bitterly, saying that the government office had too many affairs to deal with, and he and the right assistant minister were busy as dogs, while the left assistant minister had nothing to do, asked for leave every day, and when he occasionally went on duty, he did nothing and just sat there drinking tea.

Prince Han, who had not attended court for many days, spoke out, "The treasury is already tight, why support such a useless person? The Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites has nothing to do, so don't assign him a new one. Since Minister Wei and the Right Vice Minister can still handle it, let them continue to do so. The Ministry of Rites doesn't need to add any more people, and it will save a salary."

This was of course just an angry remark. Each ministry had two assistant ministers on the left and right, each with their own responsibilities. Not only were there many things to do, but more importantly, it was a matter of decentralization. The emperor could not abolish this position.

But because of his words, Jin Shizhao was completely doomed. Normally, the emperor wouldn't pronounce a verdict on such minor charges until the facts were fully investigated. But now, he simply said, "Since he's so idle, he probably doesn't need this job to make a living. His position should be dismissed. As for whether he accepted bribes, the Ministry of Justice will investigate. They'll sentence him if necessary, and execute him if necessary."

The emperor had spoken, and Jin Shizhao had no future, let alone a way out of living a life of idleness and waiting for death.

When Jin Shizhao was taken to the Ministry of Justice, the sky fell on the Minister's Mansion. The wailing of fear gave the old men in the neighboring Earl's Mansion a headache. They didn't leave, wanting to catch their breath and continue scolding Jin Shizhao. They had scolded him so much the previous day that Jin Shizhao sent for the patrol battalion to arrest them. However, when the patrol battalion heard that it was the elders scolding the younger ones, they simply said that family matters should be handled at home and left.

The old men who had been trembling with fear when they saw the officials became bolder and more determined to confront Jin Shizhao when they saw that no one cared about them.

When the old men heard the wailing sounds like a pig being slaughtered coming from the other side, they asked Butler Tao to find out what had happened.

As soon as Steward Tao went out, he ran into Old Madam Jin, who was trembling on a crutch. She burst into tears as soon as they met, "Steward Tao, hurry up, go to Jingzhao Prefecture and pick up the second young master. His father is in trouble and he needs to go and rescue him."

Butler Tao asked for a long time before he finally understood what had happened. Once he understood, he fell silent. He was now in deep self-doubt. What kind of fool had he been to treat such a stupid, evil, irresponsible family as his master?

"Old Madam, I'm sorry I don't understand what you're saying. First, there's no Second Young Master in our mansion. We only have Prince Tang as our master. Second, Prince Tang was sued by Lord Jin—no, not Lord Jin, but Master Jin—and thrown into jail. Now his life or death is uncertain, so he can't take care of Master Jin. Third, Master Jin already has his beloved eldest son, Master Yaoyang. It's Master Yaoyang who should be handling this matter. It's really disrespectful to Master Yaoyang that Old Madam comes to find Prince Tang."

The old lady cried, "Why are you still talking about this now? Yaoyang has been confined to his father's house for a year. As the second son, shouldn't he run for his father? Even if his last name is Rong, he is still my son's son. He can't escape this. As for the Jingzhao prison, I will go with you to get him out."

Although Butler Tao wanted to curse, he thought it would be a good opportunity to take the prince out, so he nodded silently and went to Jingzhao Prefecture on his own initiative.

Nangong Jing listened to Madam Jin's request and said in silence for a moment, "No, it's Lord Jin, no, Master Jin who sent the person in personally, so he must come to withdraw the lawsuit personally. The case of disobedience is so serious that even death is not an exaggeration. How can we let him go so easily?"

Butler Tao was a little dumbfounded. He didn't expect the prefect to be so serious. He had always thought that the prefect was biased towards their prince.

Old Madam Yang was also dumbfounded. She didn't like Rong Tang either, but now everyone in the mansion was in a dilemma. Her beloved eldest grandson had wet his pants when he heard his father had been arrested. How could she expect him to do that? After comparing them, only Rong Tang had the courage to come forward. She was still counting on him to save her son.

Forced to do nothing, she started crying, making a fuss, and even threatening to hang herself at the gate of the government office, saying that the prefect wanted to kill her, an old woman.

Nangong Jing was also burdened by his reputation as an honest official and could not do anything to her openly, so he secretly asked Butler Tao to go to the prison and quietly ask his son if he was willing to go out.

When Steward Tao entered the cell, he heard loud shouting and excitement. Six people were throwing paper scraps around a table. Several young men were so excited that they took off their shirts. It was really disgraceful.

He pulled Rong Zhan aside and told him what happened outside. Rong Zhan didn't find it strange, as this was within his master's expectations.

"Wait a moment."

Steward Tao waited for a while, and only then did he realize that a gambling game was going on in the cell. The loser had to either take off his clothes or sign a wine purchase contract with the prince. Each loss was a year-long contract, with a guaranteed minimum of 500 taels of silver per year.

The young masters felt that they had no say in other matters at home, but they could still have a say in which brand of wine to buy. After all, the family held banquets every year and every month, so it didn't matter which brand the wine was from.

Even if my family doesn't buy it, if I tighten my belt, I can afford 500 taels a year. Let's gamble!

Rong Tang won again.

It was too hot, and there weren't many things to take off. They couldn't take off their pants, so the three losers all signed the contract and immediately said with red eyes, "Let's do it again."

While the cards were being shuffled, Butler Tao called Rong Tang aside and told him about this.

"The prefect is so strange that he asked me to ask the prince if he is willing to go out. How could the prince not want to go out..."

"Can not Go Out."

Rong Tang said decisively.

Butler Tao: "Eh..."

Rong Tang turned back and continued playing cards. They were playing a six-player upgrade game. After a while, they caught Xiao Zhenyue breaking the rules and stealing cards. They immediately shouted loudly, grabbed him and beat him up.

Xiao Zhenyue was his teammate just now, and now he is his opponent. There is nothing wrong with arresting him, but he offended the few people who just lost. They can't count cards and are dazzled. They are both novice and like to play.

After this commotion, everyone got angry, especially those who had lost everything. They took the opportunity to vent their dissatisfaction, and the six of them started fighting, completely losing the friendship they had when they were drinking together.

Steward Tao was speechless. "Guard Rong, hurry, hurry, the prince is being beaten."

Rong Zhan stopped him and pushed him into the corner. In his eyes, Rong Tang was not beaten. He just wandered around among a few people and provoked a fight. The fight looked lively, but it was not serious.

They fought until the guard outside escorted Nangong Jing in. Nangong Jing's face was as dark as ink. "Well, you can't be at peace in prison. I see you don't want to go out. Come on, put on the iron chains."

The guards from the torture chamber came over and put a collar and a pair of bracelets on each of them, and they temporarily became obedient.

Nangong Jing pointed at Butler Tao and Rong Zhan again, "You two, get out! Don't come back until we deliver the meal."

Butler Tao and Rong Zhan were both driven away, and the prison door was locked again.

Half an hour later, the card game started again, but this time Rong Tang, who was good at counting cards, was excluded. The five of them played the game of Royalist, and everyone was at the same level, which was so cool.

Rong Tang sighed and walked into his cage, slowly counting the contracts. It was not bad. He signed eight contracts and got an order worth four thousand taels.