Chapter Five

  "Tian Da, how's the investigation going?"

  "Everything is just as we thought, Li Yi raped Cuier after which Cuier was so ashamed that she killed herself. Afraid of getting into trouble with the authorities, Li Yi framed Zhao Dazhuang for the crime. And this corrupt county magistrate accepted Li Yi's bribe and forced a confession out of Zhao Dazhuang before hastily closing the case. That's what really happened. I've already found an eyewitness, Xiaomei, who was passing by Cuier's house at the time and saw everything. I promised her 100 taels of silver as a reward and she has agreed to testify in court."

  "Alright, not bad. That girl must be well protected. This is our first shot, and we must make it count. Cao Xiu is probably giving Li Yi a sedative now. Once they let their guard down, I'll give them a surprise..."

  Two people looked at each other and smiled.

  Li Fu. Cao: "Young Master, you don't have to worry, today I came into contact with him and found that he is not like many officials who only care about money, once I gave him a sum of hush money, what else can he do? Does he really want to offend the Prime Minister? That would be losing his official hat."

  Li: "I think so too, tomorrow I'll have the steward give him some silver. Congratulations on your double promotion, Lord Cao! However, since you need to hurry to take up your new post, I won't keep you any longer. Just take this small token."

  "Ah, Master, you're too kind. Just a few good words in front of Old Master would make me eternally grateful."

  Li: "Lord Cao, don't say that. Thanks to your care over the past few years, I will certainly speak well of you in front of my father. Please take this silver, we'll still need to trouble you in the future." Cao: "Then I shall obey your orders with gratitude."

  Three days later, the entire Tianyang County was in an uproar. In the Yacui Building, on the second floor by the window, sat two young masters and a middle-aged scholar with a benevolent appearance, accompanied by several attendants who seemed to be skilled in martial arts. The smaller of the two young masters had rosy lips, white teeth, single phoenix eyes, a nimble nose, spirited eyes, and delicate white skin, giving off an air of being a modern-day Pan An; while the taller young master was not particularly handsome, with ordinary features that gave off an impression of being astute and capable. The scholar, on the other hand, exuded an aura of being cunning and calculating.

  Young Master: "Second Brother, what did Father bring us here for?"

  Chang Gongzi: "I'm not quite sure what it's for either, Mr. Yue, you can speak now."

  "Mr. Yue said, 'It's been two years since the Emperor ascended to the throne, but all major court matters are controlled by Prime Minister Li, while the Right Prime Minister can only manage military affairs. For so long without war, defense and other things can't be changed from before. If you make a slight move, you'll be impeached by Prime Minister Li's people and nothing can be done. Fortunately, there are great generals like Yang Ling and Lü Xian who have been training soldiers all the time, which can keep foreign countries from making a move. Now that Yang Ling and others are old, the stable court is starting to shake. You came here not just to see if you could win Miss Yang's heart and become the grandson-in-law of General Yang, but also to get the support of the military, so your father could overthrow Prime Minister Li. However, things have changed a bit now. The Emperor is eager to do something big, and overthrowing Prime Minister Li is inevitable. Moreover, many sides have already hinted at this to Prime Minister Li, who sent us to Jiangnan under the guise of sightseeing, but in reality, we are searching for evidence to prepare for the overthrow.'"

  Little Master: "Then why did we come here?"

  Mr. Yue said, "In the capital city, the vast majority are Li Zhong's party members. After all, he has been operating for 30 years, and it is difficult to have any breakthrough development there. Here is his hometown, and many of his trusted officials were selected from here, so we may have a breakthrough development here."

  The two gentlemen suddenly realized and admired Mr. Yue's profound wisdom.

  These two young masters should not be said to be a young master and a young lady, they are the second son of Right Chancellor Lin Tianyuan, Lin Fei, and the third daughter, Lin Yunshi. Mr. Yue's name is Zhen, he is Lin Tianyuan's strategist, although he has no official position, Lin Tianyuan listens to his plans and ideas, at this moment, he sent him to carry out this task.

  "Everyone go quickly, there's a good show to see..." At once many people rushed over.

  The conversation of the three was disturbed by the noise. "Little Er, what's going on?" Lin Yunshi asked, beckoning Little Er over to ask.

  Xiao Er: "Young masters, you are from out of town, aren't you?"

  Lin Yunshi replied: "That's right, what's going on?"

  Xiao Er: "You don't know, our new county magistrate is going to overturn the case."

  Lin Yunshi: "That's nothing to be surprised about."

  "Xiao Er: 'You don't know...'. After a pause, Lin Yunshi handed over a silver ingot. Xiao Er looked around cautiously and whispered, 'Do you know who the murderer is? It's so frightening that I'm afraid to say it out loud. It's the young master of the Left Prime Minister's family. Which official doesn't fear him? But he's also very evil. Our new county magistrate wants to take a risk by pulling out a tiger's tooth, but who knows who will end up being eaten?'"

  Three people saw the "unprepared" look in each other's eyes, and perhaps they could get an unexpected effect. Since everyone has seen it, the three led their followers to the county government office.