At the same time, Prince Yi"s Estate had also finished investigations.
Dou Quan hurried forward to Jing Yi and reported, "Your Highness, the investigation shows that Peng Yuanhai, head of the Ministry of Personnel, had no contact with Prince Rong at all. Thus, the ministry"s memorials were not instructed by Prince Rong. However, Yuanhai does work for Qiao Zheng, who was privately in contact with Your Highness. This subordinate is worried that the Emperor would think that it is Your Highness who deliberately instigated the Ministry of Personnel to submit the pet.i.tion complaining about Prince Rong."
"This is exactly what this prince is worried about." Jing Yi pondered the issue and said, "Since all the pet.i.tions must be screened by the Office of Transmission before submission, there is no way that Lord Qu, head of the Office of Transmission, would hand over the pet.i.tion censuring a prince. What Qu did is only reasonable when he had taken office at this prince"s recommendation three years ago. All the evidence points towards this prince colluding secretly with the Ministry of Personnel and the Office of Transmission to impeach Jing Rong and exterminate him."
"Then what shall we do now, Your Highness?"
"At this time, Imperial Father must have received the investigation findings as we speak. My next move is...a bit difficult." He replied lowly with his brow furrowed.
Dou Quan asked, "If Prince Rong has nothing to do with this matter, then who could it be?"
Jing Yi shook his head in response. For now, neither officials in the Imperial Court nor remaining confederates of the former Crown Prince had the ability to command the Ministry of Personnel and the Office of Transmission.
Even a prince like him, couldn"t control these two departments.
The manipulator behind the ministry and the office knew how to kill two birds with one stone. Who could it be?
Jing Yi sank his voice, "We must prepare our next plan as soon as possible."
In case of the change of the Crown Prince, or rather, the change of the throne.
……
Five days later, Zuo Yao, magistrate of Yufu county, had arrived at the Yufu county gate with his subordinates well in advance.
The yamen staff had been waiting here with trepidation under the scorching sun for most of the day. They were sweating like pigs, exhausted both physically and mentally.
Zuo Yao was so anxious and restless that he walked back and forth in the same place, rubbing his hands together nervously. He searched for Prince Rong"s carriage with his eyes as he sighed and muttered, "It"s already so late. Why hasn"t he arrived yet?"
Finally, Constable Zhou couldn"t stand the heat anymore. He wiped the pearl-sized sweat on his forehead and went forward to ask Zuo Yao, "Your Magistrate, shall we go back? It"s torturous to wait like this." No more waiting. I wouldn"t wait anymore no matter what you say.
Zuo Yao glared at him, "Go back? What if Prince Rong arrives and sees that we are not here to welcome him? Prince Rong was ordered by the Emperor to investigate the missing disaster relief funds in our county; and that Teacher Ji, who was sent by the Supreme Court to investigate the Ye"er case from a few years ago. Both of them are important figures and must not be slighted, otherwise even our lives would not be sufficient as compensation."
"How about waiting in a cooler place? Look at how strong the sun is. If we continue standing under it, we will definitely faint."
"You sure have a lot of nonsense."
"Your Magistrate..."
"Shut up." Zuo Yao reprimanded.
Constable Zhou wiped away his sweat once more after the scolding and resigned himself to waiting. After all, his superior had always been as timid as a mouse.
Reluctantly, Zhou stepped away. He looked up at the sun above and was almost blinded by the brightness.
As for other young constables of the yamen, their heads were swaying because of the heat and they were almost burnt. If they continued like this, they were sure to suffer heatstroke!
However, Magistrate Zuo was tenacious enough to keep pacing back and forth in the same short stretch of road.
Suddenly, the clip-clop of horses" hooves approached. It was Prince Rong"s bodyguard galloping towards them on a horse, looking majestic.
"He"s coming!"
Hearing this, everyone instantly cheered up. Zuo Yao immediately tidied up his folded official robe, perked himself up and watched respectfully as the horse stopped in front of him.
The bodyguard pulled on the reins and spoke in a pompous tone, "Is that Magistrate Zuo?"
"Yes, this lowly official is here."
"Magistrate Zuo, Prince Rong sent me to inform you not to come out to meet him. Please return to the yamen. Prince Rong won"t be here until evening."
"Until evening?"
Zuo Yao was as shocked as if he was struck by lightning. Did that mean that he had stood here for so long, for nothing at all?
Unfortunately, since his job was to notify them, not to comfort them, the bodyguard then pulled the reins and left with a kick to the horse"s stomach.
Alas! Zuo Yao sighed heavily.
Constable Zhou approached him eagerly and seized his chance. "Your Magistrate, what did I say? Go back first. We have been standing here all morning like fools, only to know Prince Rong will only arrive in the evening."
"Since when have you become so talkative?"
"I"m just telling the truth."
"Alright, alright, let"s hurry and go back then." Zuo Yao could only resign himself to fate. As his tightly wound nerves finally loosened, his knees also buckled, almost sending him to the ground.
Son of a b.i.t.c.h, it"s hot as h.e.l.l. He wiped the sweat on his head as he quickly entered the gate. The others made haste to follow him. In the end, they escaped from being a roast suckling pig.
……
Not far from Yufu County, a group of carriages were advancing slowly. The bodyguards on horseback were almost burnt to a crisp by the sun. If you sniffed carefully, you could even detect a faint smell of sizzling meat. Delicious and savory barbecue!
Even a person made of iron had to surrender when faced with the scorching sun.
These days of the seventh month are always so stuffy and hot! Ridiculously hot!
Inside the carriage, the muggy air and constant jostling they traveled were slowly killing them, which was the reason why Jing Rong gave an order to march slowly. To avoid causing unnecessary trouble due to rus.h.i.+ng, Jing Rong sent a guard to Yufu County to notify the magistrate about his late arrival.
Ji Yunshu const.i.tution tended to be cold and she seldom felt warm, but now, even she was a bit overwhelmed by the heat.
Jing Rong"s lips curled up in a seductive smirk, "If you don"t mind, you can take off your clothes so that you do not fall sick from the heat. Don"t worry, this prince won"t look." Well, this prince would take a look. Just one.
Ji Yunshu glared at him. "I don"t feel hot."
"You don"t, but I do." As he finished speaking, Prince Rong gestured as if he really was about to take off his clothes when Ji Yunshu stopped him.
"What are you doing?"
Jing Rong put on an innocent expression as he returned a question. "Is there anything wrong for this prince to take off my clothes when this prince feels hot?"
It was indeed reasonable. In modern times, one can even strip to the waist, leaving only briefs on.
But…
Seeing her remain silent for a while with pinched eyebrows, Jing Rong asked again, "What? Can"t I take my clothes off?"
Of course you can! Ji Yunshu could only take back the hand that stopped him. It"s just…
After Jing Rong took out his outer robes, he raised his hands again in preparation for taking off his inner robes.
"Wait!" Ji Yunshu stopped him again. "Just the outer robes are enough. If you really feel hot, pull the curtains open."
"Pulling the curtains open won"t work, I"d better strip myself. At least I would feel much better."
As someone from ancient times, shouldn"t you be more conservative? Ji Yunshu"s face turned dark from Jing Rong"s bold words."You are in a carriage right now, not in a room. If you took off all your clothes here, it would be embarra.s.sing if the people outside saw you."
She wouldn"t enjoy being taken for a h.o.m.os.e.xual.
Hearing this, a wicked grin spread on Jing Rong"s face as he leaned towards her. "By that logic, then if we were indoors behind closed doors, then we can take it all off?"
"Ugh!" She had fallen into Jing Rong"s trap!