Chapter 224 – Look Into Her (1)
The beautiful girl had left behind a deathly silence and dismal air. Behind the writing desk, with a gloomy face, sat the master of this study and the entire palace.
No one had mentioned Ye Zhen before him for quite some time now. Nor had he thought of the woman he was once married to. Why would he? He had no affection for her, only a strong sense of disgust. He had never bothered to see her even, not even on their wedding day was he curious to know how she looked. All he knew was that she had used despicable and shameless means to accomplish her ends.
Back then, he was just a prince without any power or support. All he had was his father’s despise and loathing. He felt the battlefield was a much nicer place than his home, unlike here where they stabbed in the dark, the enemies there attacked right in the face. One such vicious villain of his life was Ye Yisong.
He still remembered the day Ye Yisong had dared to threaten him at the cost of his mother and Yi’s safety in the palace, forcing him to marry his niece and support the crown prince wholeheartedly.
Left to him, he would not have yielded to the coercion and married Ye Zhen. However, holding his mother and brother’s life hostage was only the tip of the iceberg. If he were to defy the conditions laid before him, the ruthless man would have certainly attacked him from all fronts.
At that time, he was leading troops into battle. Ye Yisong controlled the Ministry of Revenue户部, and withheld the supply of army provisions. Without the provisions, he could not send out the troops. Besides, it was too late to withdraw from the war. So, for the lack of a better option, he had married Ye Zhen.
What did that woman look like?
Mo Rongzhan tried hard to recall the happenings from the day of their marriage. No matter what, he could not remember her. Her face, voice… absolutely nothing came to his mind. If he were to say, he did not know what his wife of two years looked like, no one would believe him. But it was the truth.
Half a year ago, upon his ascension to the throne, he had eliminated Ye Yisong, the treacherous official. As Lu Yaoyao said, not everyone in the Ye Family deserved to die.
He admitted that there were good people in the Ye Family, like Ye Yiqing, his father-in-law. He was a good man, nothing like his tyrannical brother.
However, he had just ascended the Dragon Throne. There was internal strife and external aggression. Everybody in the Ye Family had to be killed and the clan annihilated. Otherwise, it would cause chaos in the imperial court.
Without a second thought, he had ordered the execution of the Ye Clan unto the third generation. However, he had people secretly save Ye Yiqing and his son. No one knew about it, and he did not intend to let anyone know.
Lu Yaoyao… why does she stand crying injustice on behalf of the Ye Family? Did she not live in the border town all that time? How did she know about Ye Zhen?
Mo Rongzhan was not able to make sense of this. In his view, the Lu Family should hate the Ye Family. Who didn’t know of the crimes they committed? The world was rejoicing over their demise, after all. And yet, here was a young girl blatantly accusing him of tyranny.
“Your Majesty, Lord Tang seeks an audience.” Eunuch Fu’s voice interrupted the emperor’s musings.
Mo Rongzhan returned to his senses, and lightly said, “Show him in.”
Tang Zhen walked in and curtsied. “This humble servant greets His Imperial Majesty.”
“Rise.” Mo Rongzhan lifted his eyelids and looked at Tang Zhen.
“Your Majesty, all the cases that Ye Yisong wronged back in the days have been investigated. A total of thirty officials have been killed unjustly. Twenty-five people are now in prison. These are the reviews of those cases.” Tang Zhen presented a thick book in his hand.
Eunuch Fu came forward to take it and put it in front of Mo Rongzhan.
Mo Rongzhan turned several pages at will. Some of them were very familiar names. Several of them were famous ministers in the previous years. Because they were honest and upright, they disagreed with Ye Yisong’s opinions, so they were persecuted and sent to prison.
“After examining the cases, the confiscated possessions shall be returned to them,” Mo Rongzhan softly said. As he thought of what Ye Yisong had done in those days yet again, anger surged in his heart.
Tang Zhen bowed, his hands cupped in obeisance. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
Mo Rongzhan collected the book and lightly looked at Tang Zhen. “I have something for you to look into.”
“Your Majesty, please command,” Tang Zhen said.
He was the trusted confidant of Mo Rongzhan. He did a lot of things that were inconvenient to bring to the table. Compared with Lu Lingzhi, he was more trusted by Mo Rongzhan.
“I want to know everything about Lu Yaoyao’s life in the border town–who she has been with and what she has done since she came to the capital,” Mo Rongzhan said in a deep voice.
Lu Yaoyao?
Tang Zhen’s expression changed a little but went unnoticed.
How could the emperor notice Lu Yaoyao? Why is he suddenly asking me to look into her?