usatvline Chapter 319: The Minister of Personnel and His Sister-in-law
Chapter 319: The Minister of Personnel and His Sister-in-law
But Zuo Xiang found what he heard to be intriguing.
After all, the Left Prime Minister has been accompanying the emperor for many years, so he always interprets the emperor's words with a bit more caution. After listening to them over and over again, he always feels that there is something else behind the Empress' words, as if there is something wrong with the pregnancy medicine his daughter is taking, and the medicinal food also seems to have problems.
As for Lord Zhang next to him, he felt extremely guilty.
But even today, no one dares to stop it.
Because the emperor and empress seemed to have made up their minds, it was useless to stop them.
There was a dead look in Mr. Zhang's eyes.
Time passed by minute by minute. Some people were panicking, some were nervous, but Gu Jianchu was the only one who was eating the snacks in small bites.
After a while, the Minister of Personnel was brought over by Cheng Song.
The Minister of Personnel accompanied the emperor to the palace, but he was busy with other things, so he did not go hunting or stay in the stands today.
Looking at the people kneeling on the ground, especially the Chief Censor kneeling beside the emperor, the Minister of Personnel couldn't help but feel uneasy. He looked at the emperor with a guilty look in his eyes, "Your humble servant greets the emperor and the empress."
[This person must have done something wrong, his eyes are so erratic.]
【I really did something bad. 】
Upon hearing this, Xie Ci'an's face became even uglier. None of these officials could keep themselves clean. They had done all kinds of evil things. No one knew how they had become officials in the court.
The Minister of Personnel was actually having an affair with his sister-in-law. Isn't this a typical story about sister-in-law and brother-in-law? He was so nervous because he was afraid his affair with his sister-in-law would be discovered. After all, it wasn't something to be ashamed of. He was terrified every time he did that with his sister-in-law, but every time she refused to change, he found it incredibly exciting.
Xie Qingzhi: ...
Xie Ci’an:…
Who could have thought that the Minister of Personnel would be such a person, having an affair with his own sister-in-law.
That unlucky brother of the Minister of Personnel must have a little bit of a green head.
[It's more than just a little green. The child is the Minister of Personnel's, and the child and the Minister of Personnel look more and more alike. However, the Minister of Personnel and his elder brother are brothers. No one doubts that he looks a little like his younger brother, but the Minister of Personnel himself still feels a little guilty because he looks at the child all day.]
【I didn’t expect there was such a big secret hidden. 】
[Let's stop eating melons and deal with this bastard's business first. His two wives know at least half of what he did. Even if they don't know about his extramarital affairs, they must know something about his bribery and protection for other officials. Otherwise, it would be a bit unreasonable for him to bring so much money home every day.]
[Especially Zhang and Ruan, they both know something.]
This Master Zhang is quite resourceful. He's managed to coax his two wives into hiding everything for him. If he were to interrogate them directly, neither of them would likely open up. However, if they were disappointed in their husband, they might volunteer to reveal Master Zhang's shameful deeds.
These two unfortunate women have truly been fooled by Master Zhang. They have no idea of his true face.
Xie Ci'an straightened his expression and said, "I want to ask you, has an official from Linqi entered the Censorate recently?"
The assessment of all officials in the world is under the jurisdiction of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. Even a small official position needs to be approved by the Ministry of Personnel before it can be taken up.
The Minister of Personnel looked bewildered at the question. After a moment's careful consideration, he nodded uncertainly, "I now remember that there is indeed an official named Lin Qi who joined the company. However, he didn't join recently, but a month ago."
"Who recommended you in?" Xie Ci'an looked at the Minister of Personnel with cold eyes.
After all, it happened a long time ago. Every time he answered Xie Ci'an, the Minister of Personnel, he would think carefully, "He was recommended by Lord Zhang. I remember Lord Zhang said he was a student of his teacher and had good character. He was assigned a small official position to train him first. If he was not qualified, he would be let go. It was an insignificant position anyway, so Lord Shangshu turned a blind eye and did not intervene."
The hands of the Minister of Personnel had begun to tremble slightly under his sleeves.
He had already guessed it vaguely.
There must be something wrong with the official recommended by Lord Zhang, otherwise Lord Zhang would not have been reprimanded by the emperor. Looking at the water stains all over Lord Zhang's body, he must have angered the emperor.
Xie Ci'an waved his hand, and the Minister of Personnel, fearing that he would be implicated, quickly retreated.
Xie Ci'an looked at Master Zhang with cold eyes, "My dear, what else do you have to explain? It was you who arranged for Lin Ling's brother, Lin Qi, to be admitted to the Censorate. If it weren't for the price of my sister, how else could you have the opportunity to recommend that brother to the Censorate?"
Lord Zhang wiped the sweat from his forehead. "It is true that I recommended Lin Qi to the Censorate. However, I valued Lin Qi's talent, and also because of my teacher's recommendation. Otherwise, I would never have given Lin Qi such a backdoor. I just didn't know that Lin Qi was such an ungrateful person. I recommended him to the Censorate, but he actually repaid me like this by having his own sister frame me. I hope Your Majesty will understand."
"Lord Zhang and Lin Qi should have no grudges against each other, right?" Gu Jianchu suddenly asked.
Zhang was caught off guard by Gu Jianchu's question. After a long pause, he shook his head and said, "No hatred."
"Since there is no hatred, and you didn't kill his father or his mother, why did he frame you like this? Could it be that Lord Zhang has offended other ministers in the past, and Lin Qi has been bribed by other ministers to offend you? Lord Zhang might as well tell us which ministers you have offended in the past, so that they would bleed and he bribed the court officials to frame you." Gu Jianchu's voice was cold, but every word he said seemed to push people off a cliff.
Xie Qingzhi couldn't help but give Gu Jianchu a thumbs up.
The Queen has dug a trap for Lord Zhang to fall into.
If he had not offended Lin Qi or the ministers, then this matter would not be a false accusation but true. If he revealed the ministers he had offended, the emperor and the empress would immediately launch an investigation. By then, it would be found out that he had not offended anyone but the minister he had mentioned.
It's like being roasted on a fire, no matter what answer you give, it's wrong.
Mr. Zhang hesitated, not knowing how to answer.
Xie Ci'an and Gu Jianchu's equally cold gazes fell on him at the same time, making his back feel cold.
"I have always gotten along well with all the ministers and have never offended anyone," Lord Zhang said with a guilty conscience.
"That's strange. Since you haven't offended anyone, why would those people frame you like this? Could it be that they think that Mr. Zhang is honest and easy to bully?"