At the tender age of eight, he was hastily dragged out and made emperor!

The successive arrests shocked the government and the public. The emergence of the Kogon leak case made many people realize that this case would not be over.

But when the real storm broke out, many people were shocked.

After all, this series of upheavals originated from the trend of reforming commercial taxes and border trade. However, many people have overlooked the fact that the root cause of all this was that someone wanted to take advantage of the disasters in many places to use the sky as a warning, and then bring down Xiao Jing. Once this was done, it would create a situation where Xiao Jing was forced to resign.

People are always thinking about maximizing benefits and minimizing harm. They scheme and plot, always striving for what is advantageous to them and trying every possible way to avoid what is disadvantageous.

But living in this world, how can you possibly have everything?

In this world, are you the only smart one, and everyone else is a fool?

……

Imperial City, Ministry of Personnel.

Main hall.

"Has the Prince Consort of Wu'an not arrived yet?"

"not yet."

"It's already time."

"Yes, even if there are important matters, today should be..."

"Cough cough!!"

A soft cough sounded, causing the few scribes in a corner of the main hall who were responsible for recording to lower their heads and remain silent. Qin Zhibai, who was in front, frowned and glanced at them, then looked at Xiao Jing, Huang Kun, Bao Yuan, Jin Chang, Zhou Xian, Shao Bing and others sitting in the main hall.

Can't you tell what the atmosphere is like right now?

Is this the time for you to discuss this privately?

Qin Zhibai knew that after this deliberation, certain rules of the Secretariat had to be strictly enforced, otherwise how could the Secretariat shoulder its heavy responsibilities?

"My lord, the time has come, and the Prince Consort of Wu'an has not yet arrived. Should we proceed with the deliberations..." Thinking of this, Qin Zhibai composed himself, rose from his seat, and bowed to Xiao Jing, who was sitting in the main seat.

"Then let's keep waiting!!"

Before Qin Zhibai could finish speaking, and before Xiao Jing could even respond, Huang Kun, the emperor's brother-in-law sitting to the side, coldly snorted and shouted, "When will this deliberation begin if Liu Chen arrives?!"

This is done with anger.

The people gathered in the hall couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion upon seeing Huang Kun's state. They thought it made sense; if their own son was tricked into doing a job that offended people, no matter what their temperament was, as long as they cared about their son, they wouldn't tolerate such indignation.

"Let's do as the emperor's brother-in-law says."

Xiao Jing flicked his sleeves and looked at Qin Zhibai, saying, "The deliberation will begin again once the Prince Consort of Wu'an arrives."

"Yes."

Qin Zhibai raised his hand in a gesture of respect, then returned to his seat.

The hall fell silent once more.

The atmosphere was somewhat oppressive.

Everyone knows the current situation, and everyone knows that countless eyes are watching from the central government. The Ke Gong leak case is getting bigger and bigger. If there is no convincing result, it is likely that it will cause a big uproar in the central government, especially in the local areas.

However, for the Great Yu Dynasty, the most unbearable thing is turmoil.

In particular, the disaster has affected Annam and Seo Liang provinces. If the situation is not handled properly, it could very likely cause other problems in the local area.

"Oh dear, it's all my fault, I've kept you all waiting!"

Time ticked by, and suddenly, Liu Chen's voice rang out from outside the hall. All eyes turned to him, and Liu Chen and Zang Hao entered the main hall one after the other.

"Please forgive me, gentlemen."

Facing the gazes of the crowd, Liu Chen raised his hand and said with a smile, "The Military Affairs Bureau has many things to attend to, and I have been delayed. If you gentlemen do not mind, I will prepare a feast after this review is over..."

"The Prince Consort of Wu'an certainly has quite the airs of an official!"

Huang Kun snorted coldly, staring straight at Liu Chen. "Thinking about it, it makes sense. Lately, in the central government and in Yudu, the Military Command has been making headlines, arresting so many people. Even if they wanted to have some peace and quiet, it would be difficult, wouldn't it?"

"Look at what the Imperial Brother-in-law is saying."

Liu Chen smiled and said to Huang Kun, "This is just my duty. What's with all this talk of official authority? I'm also receiving an official salary, and I know about etiquette and clan rules."

"So the Prince Consort of Wu'an is indeed knowledgeable about etiquette and clan rules!!"

Huang Kun sneered, "If you hadn't said so, I would have thought you'd forgotten."

Liu Chen did not respond.

On the other hand, Bao Yuan, Jin Chang, Zhou Xian, and Shao Bing, who were sitting in the hall, listened to Huang Kun and Liu Chen's sharp exchanges, but none of them uttered a sound.

Everyone knows why Huang Kun was so sarcastic and veiled towards Liu Chen.

"Your Majesty, now that the Prince Consort of Wu'an has arrived, shall we begin the deliberations?" Xiao Jing glanced at Liu Chen, then at Zang Hao who had sat down, revealing a meaningful expression, before bowing slightly to Huang Kun.

"Please proceed, Lord Xiao."

Huang Kun raised his hand in a salute and said to Xiao Jing, "You are the presiding judge of the case of the leak of secrets in the imperial examinations, and I am the deputy judge. Now that everyone is here, let's begin the deliberation."

Huang Kun's targeting was limited to Liu Chen.

Actually, he didn't want to target anyone, but there were some things he had to do.

Before the deliberation, the Eighth Prince Chu Hui privately approached him and clearly told him that no matter what happened afterward, he had to go against Liu Chen.

Chu Hui told Huang Kun a lot about this, even explaining in detail the appropriate atmosphere for saying certain things.

This is why Huang Kun developed doubts and concerns.

After all, the current situation is beyond his comprehension, and Huang Kun is afraid that he has gone too far and caused some new trouble.

However, Chu Hui's words, that the more powerful Liu Chen was, the more advantageous it would be for Huang Long, immediately dispelled Huang Kun's doubts.

He couldn't interfere in matters of the court, but when his son was involved, he would do whatever he was told. The Huang family would prosper from now on thanks to Huang Long.

"Please take a seat, Your Highness, Prince Consort of Wu'an."

Xiao Jing gestured to Liu Chen.

"Yes."

Liu Chen smiled and nodded.

"Now that everyone is here, let's begin the deliberation." Xiao Jing flicked his sleeves and surveyed the crowd in the hall with a serious expression. "I won't go into details about what has happened in and around Yudu recently, as you are all aware of it."

"The Jinyiwei, Bingmasi, and Xunbuying people arrested batches of suspects related to the Kegong leak case without explaining the situation to me or to anyone else, causing the central authorities to discuss the matter extensively."

"Can anyone explain to me why these so-called suspects were arrested in this manner?"

"Even during this period, Huang Long, the son of the emperor's brother-in-law and a general of the Imperial Guard, was involved. His military command almost clashed with the Southern Army at the Southern Army's headquarters!"

"This matter must be addressed!!"

No sooner had Xiao Jing finished speaking than Bao Yuan slammed his fist on the table and shouted, "If everyone acts so recklessly, disregarding the laws of our dynasty, wouldn't the world descend into chaos?"

"well said!"

Huang Kun continued, "Because of this series of changes, everyone involved in the interrogation of the Ke Gong leak case is in a very passive position. What's worse, some people are throwing mud at Lord Xiao in the court and among the people!"

"What do you mean by colluding with cronies and retaliating?!"

"Everyone knows what kind of person Lord Xiao is. Now, because of the unauthorized actions of some people, everything has gone wrong. How can the Kogong leak case proceed under such circumstances?!"

Bao Yuan frowned, her eyes fixed on Huang Kun.

The matter we are discussing is of utmost importance, yet the emperor's brother-in-law insists on criticizing it out of personal anger. This deliberation is no child's play.

But Bao Yuan couldn't say much.

Because what Huang Kun said was similar to what he wanted to say, but his tone and speaking speed changed, and some of the meaning changed as well.

Everyone in the hall knew who Huang Kun was talking about. Jin Chang, Zhou Xian, and the others glanced in one direction, but when they saw Liu Chen with a calm expression, picking up his teacup and sipping his tea as if nothing had happened, their brows furrowed.

At a time like this, you still have the mind to drink tea?!

"Your Excellency, let me speak first."

Seeing Liu Chen's reaction, Zang Hao sighed inwardly and then got up and walked forward. "Chief Judge Xiao, the Embroidered Uniform Guard did not inform you or the other officials about this matter beforehand because, prior to this, some students from the Vermilion Bird Avenue had made a formal accusation that someone was secretly manipulating the examinations. In order to avoid alerting the suspects and also for further investigation, we did this."

"After several days of intensive interrogation, several suspects arrested by the Embroidered Uniform Guard have confessed to their crimes. They colluded with some officials and even runners from the Ministry of Rites and other relevant departments to secretly copy out the imperial examination questions that were sealed in the archives of the Ministry of Rites by bribing them with large sums of money."

A word stirred up a thousand waves.

Zang Hao's words caused many people's expressions to change slightly.

No one expected this to happen.

Those who can remain standing in this central government are all extraordinary individuals. Even the fiercely righteous Bao Tietou has his own intelligence channels.

Those arrested by the Embroidered Uniform Guard were all from the academy, and among them were many from prominent families. However, for various reasons, they were active in the academy.

"During the interrogation, was there any torture or forced confession?"

Xiao Jing leaned forward, staring intently at Zang Hao.

"No."

Zang Hao shook his head and said, "The interrogation methods used by the Embroidered Uniform Guard to deal with this group of suspects are all publicly available, and I can guarantee that."

"Did you bring any corresponding statements?"

Jin Chang, the Minister of Justice, frowned as he looked at Zang Haodao.

"No."

Zang Hao shook his head and said, "This review was sudden. Before this, I had been at the Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters participating in interrogations, so I did not bring it with me when I came."

"Furthermore, this interrogation is of great importance. The Embroidered Uniform Guard will not release the statements of all suspects to the public until they are recorded in this way."

These words caused many people to frown even more deeply.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard is a very special entity. Although they participated in the investigation of the leak of secrets by the imperial examination officials, they could not say much if Zang Haozhen took a tough stance.

But what Zang Hao just said touches on the key to the Kogong leak case. If there is no strong evidence to support this, how can this storm be quelled?

'Is this a privilege granted by imperial power?'

After Qin Zhibai, who was in charge of recording, wrote down Zang Hao's words truthfully, his gaze towards Zang Hao changed. Since the beginning of the Ke Gong leak case, the Secretariat had assigned people to record the details. All the information about this case would eventually be made public, so there was no room for error.

"It is understandable that the Embroidered Uniform Guards handle cases."

Under these circumstances, Huang Kun flicked his sleeves and snorted coldly, saying, "But I would like to ask the Prince Consort of Wu'an, why did you not notify us beforehand when your military officers made the arrest?"

"Is there something that can't be made public?"

You bastard, are you never going to stop?!

All you did was drag your son down with you.

You'll have to find out later that you should be thanking this prince consort!

Liu Chen cursed inwardly at Huang Kun's repeated targeting, but his face remained expressionless.

Very few people knew about Chu Hui's secret meeting with Huang Kun; even Huang Long was unaware of it. Chu Hui did this on Chu Ling's orders.

Because we need to establish rules.

Despite both being relatives of the emperor, they appeared to be at odds to outsiders. The reason for this was to let the world know that the emperor of the Great Yu promoted his relatives of the emperor, but because they were both relatives of the emperor, they would be on the same side because of certain things.

From the moment the Kogong leak case was established, a campaign to establish rules targeting both the central government and local authorities had already quietly begun.

Chu Ling wanted to use this method to tell everyone that, regardless of what happened in the past, starting from the fourth year of the Zhengtong era, anyone who dared to break the rules would have to bear the corresponding consequences, and anyone who stayed within the rules, no matter how targeted their actions were, would be dealt with within the rules.

Rules are the foundation of order.

Order is the cornerstone of governance.

If the established laws and regulations can be broken at will by anyone, how can there be any peace in the world? Turmoil only begins when the rules are broken.

Chu Ling will not use a pale imperial edict to make the world aware of these things; he will use repeated games and struggles, as well as specific major cases, to make the world aware of them.

Anyone who disdains this during this period will be eliminated.

As for who dares to have thoughts they shouldn't have.

Let's give it a try!

With the Northern Army and the Shanglin Army present, Chu Ling wouldn't be afraid of small-scale disturbances and conflicts. As for larger incidents, Chu Ling wouldn't summon them!

"It is the Emperor's brother-in-law who truly understands my difficulties."

After a brief silence, Liu Chen smiled and looked at Huang Kun, whose face was gloomy, and said, "Ever since the Ke Gong leak case was settled, I have been secretly investigating the sealed-off places."

"Because of this major case, many people have been arrested, but in the places where numerous poetry and literary gatherings were held before the Kogon meeting, not a single person who should have been arrested was caught."

"When something is out of the ordinary, there must be something fishy going on!!"

"So this investigation has led me to uncover a shocking case. Who would have thought that there would be so many people in the Southern Army who are not fulfilling their duties?"

"But this matter is of utmost importance, as it involves the Emperor's father-in-law. Although I am the Emperor's son-in-law, I am ultimately..."

"So you dragged my son into this, huh?!"

Huang Kun slammed his fist on the table and roared, "Liu Chen, your heart is truly filthy!! What did you find out? What if you didn't find out anything, and this turns out to be a laughing stock? Will you use my son as a scapegoat?!"