Only after being reborn did I realize that I was the white moonlight of a powerful minister.

"I believe in you, my dear minister. However, Minister Zhou's memorial contains both witnesses and physical evidence. I summoned you here so that you could see what really happened," the Emperor said gently to Xie Bohuai.

Some time ago, the land reclamation project on the alluvial plain, which was handled by Xie Bohuai, was completed. Later, local officials rented the land to the people for cultivation. After collecting three years' rent, the land will be sold back to the people.

How did it become that Xie Bohuai's people forcibly bought the land?

It hasn't even started selling yet?

After reading Minister Zhou's memorial, Xie Bohuai reported, "Your Majesty, the memorial stated that the lease would be for three years before being sold. Meng Feichi, who was impeached in the memorial, was indeed a former member of the Zhenfu Division, but he was injured years ago and is no longer able to use a knife. He has already received his money and returned to his hometown. I truly do not know anything about his purchase of land."

"I knew you wouldn't get involved." The Emperor breathed a sigh of relief. "This matter was originally a good thing that would benefit the people and the country, but a case of forced land purchase has occurred. It's best to investigate this thoroughly, otherwise it will cause public outrage, which would be bad."

"Your Majesty understands. I will go there personally to see what's going on." Xie Bohuai thought of the memorial that mentioned Meng Feichi would send him gifts every year. After returning to the Xie residence, he asked Zhe Zhu about the storeroom.

“My lord, the storeroom key has already been given to the madam. If you want to open the storeroom, you will have to go to the madam,” Zhe Zhu said.

Xie Bohuai went to find Ye Wanning again. Yunzhi led them to the storeroom, where all the items delivered by outsiders would be registered and recorded so that they could be returned as gifts later.

Yunzhi found a rosewood box. "Last year's record says that the Meng family sent a box of pearls. At that time, Madam asked you about it, and you said that you would not accept anything from others, but only things sent by the town government officials. As long as it was not too valuable, you could accept it as a normal courtesy."

As she spoke, Yunzhi opened the wooden box, but then froze.

Yunzhi had seen the pearls that were delivered back then; they were just ordinary pearls, not very good quality, and not worth much. Now, when she opened it again, the pearls seemed to be covered with a layer of powder. She reached out and pinched them, and the powder fell off, revealing the golden pearls.

Ye Wanning frowned. "Chunxi, you stay at the door and don't let anyone in."

Yunzhi hurriedly explained, "My lord, my lady, when I received it, it was clearly a box of pearls, how could it have turned into gold pearls?"

Even Ye Wanning understood this matter. "It seems someone is trying to frame you, sir. They've wrapped the gold pearls in pearl powder and sent them in pretending they're worthless. You have a good relationship with the brothers in the town government, and you only interact with people from the town government on a regular basis. It's perfectly normal for friends and relatives to exchange gifts during festivals. Now someone has taken advantage of this. Sir, since Meng Feichi has this trick up his sleeve, if someone isn't specifically targeting him, then Meng Feichi would use this to blackmail him."

It's best if there's no one else around, otherwise this person is too terrifying. He laid the groundwork so far in advance, right under Xie Bohuai's nose. His mind is too meticulous.

Xie Bohuai always trusted the people of the Zhenfu Division implicitly. Even those brothers who had left the division would be helped by a single word. After all, they were brothers who had gone through thick and thin together, and he remembered that bond.

However, Xie Bohuai's few remaining emotions were being exploited, and his expression was extremely bad at the moment.

Yunzhi had received the items, and she knew things were in trouble. She almost cried, asking, "What do we do now?"

Ye Wanning said, "Regardless of whether this is gold or not, since it was presented as pearls when it was delivered, we should insist that it is pearls. Also, find all the previous items and examine them carefully, so as not to leave any clues." She then looked at Xie Bohuai and said, "No matter what Meng Feichi's purpose is, it would be best if you had someone influential accompany you on this trip, otherwise even if you prove your innocence, the people in the court will say that you used tricks."

The blame lies with Xie Bohuai, whose reputation is so bad that in the eyes of the world, he is someone who is capable of anything.

Most people didn't dare to go against Xie Bohuai, except for Minister Zhou, who was practically on his deathbed anyway. He disliked Xie Bohuai and, now that there were witnesses and evidence, he was even more determined to impeach him.

“I understand. Since it was Minister Zhou who impeached me, it would be best if he came with me,” Xie Bohuai said.

"He's already so old, can he withstand any more trouble?" Ye Wanning was a little worried. If Minister Zhou died on the way, or if something unexpected happened, Xie Bohuai would be unable to clear his name no matter what.

Xie Bohuai sneered, "Judging from the strength in his voice when he scolded me, he's in good shape. Besides, he's afraid I'll use underhanded tactics, so he'll definitely be willing to go with me. I'm not dead yet, so Minister Zhou won't be able to close his eyes in peace."

Having made up his mind, Xie Bohuai went to submit a memorial.

Ye Wanning, along with Yunzhi and Chunxi, began to count the items one by one in the warehouse.

In the neighboring courtyard, Le Ge'er, who hadn't waited for Chunxi to come and pick him up, was about to go back by himself when Yu Qingsheng called him back.

"That Chunxi, wasn't she supposed to bring some snacks today? Why didn't she come?" Yu Qingsheng swallowed unconsciously as he spoke.

“Sister Chunxi always keeps her word. Since she didn’t come, she must have something more important to do. If you want to know, I’ll ask her later and tell you tomorrow,” said Brother Le.

"Who cares? I just hate people who break their promises." Yu Qingsheng snorted.

“But sometimes, unexpected things happen. Has the gentleman never broken his promise in his life?” Le Ge’er blurted out, which stunned Yu Qingsheng.

Yu Qingsheng waved his hand at Le Ge'er, "Alright, I'm not going to argue with you, you little brat. Go back now, it's not like I want to eat taro cakes."

“I know, you still miss Sister Chunxi’s pastries. Didn’t you say that one should speak frankly and say what’s on one’s mind?” Le Ge’er not only didn’t leave, but moved closer. “If you want some, just say so. I can ask Sister Chunxi to make some for you.”

"No, I didn't. I'm a grown man, why would I talk so much about food? Alright, just go away. I hate seeing you, just like your father, always so sharp-tongued." Yu Qingsheng fanned himself irritably.

As a result, Le Ge'er's eyes reddened. He didn't cry when Yu Qingsheng slapped his hand, nor when he was punished to copy books. Now that he was being told he was annoying, he pouted and sat down on the ground.

He didn't say anything, just silently shed tears.

When Yu Qingsheng heard the soft sobbing and turned around to see Le Ge'er crying, he panicked instantly. He had never been a father, nor had he ever comforted a child. If Xie Bohuai hadn't forced his family to become a teacher, he would still be a teacher at the family's private school. At the family school, every child was afraid of him; whatever he said went. There was no need for him to comfort them.

"Why are you crying? I didn't hit you."

“Sir, you dislike me.” Le Ge’er said aggrievedly, “I have learned everything you taught me. But you dislike me because I didn’t get to eat the pastries made by Sister Chunxi. I feel bad.”

"You silly child, it's not because I didn't get any snacks... Oh dear, stop crying, or people will think I bullied you." Yu Qingsheng ran over.

Le Ge'er refused to get up, asking, "Why do you hate me?"

"I don't hate him, okay?" Yu Qingsheng had been trying to coax him for a while, and he was getting annoyed. He thought that this child was indeed just as annoying as Xie Bohuai. But he was getting irritated by watching Le Ge'er cry. He waited and waited, but Chunxi didn't come to pick him up, so he had no choice but to carry Le Ge'er to the neighbor's yard himself.