AWB Chapter 412 The rumbling wind
Chapter 412 The rumbling wind
As soon as the news spread, all the aristocratic families in Shengjing were instantly plunged into unknown fear.
Li Zhang was able to smoothly take up the position of Minister of Revenue because he was 'clean' on the surface. The Prince of Qi appointed Li Zhang as Minister of Revenue precisely because of his 'clean' reputation.
The position of Minister of Revenue is very important. In order to avoid giving Prince Chen and others any leverage and to ensure that nothing goes wrong, Prince Qi even specially arranged for people to clean up any potential hidden dangers and loose ends that might be exposed for Li Zhang.
Unexpectedly, such crucial evidence was already in the emperor's hands.
It is not uncommon for people to engage in usury, force law-abiding citizens to buy and sell land, and even cause deaths. However, those who do such things do not leave any future troubles for themselves.
Li Zhang died too quickly; they didn't even know where Emperor Wenjing got the evidence!
When King Qi learned that Li Zhang had lost his life, his face remained grim.
Even the usually unserious Li Zhuoyue had a gloomy face.
By all accounts, Li Zhang was his uncle.
Li Zhuoyue knew his uncle Li Zhuoyue fairly well. He was involved in everything, but he was skilled at handling the aftermath. Logically, he would never leave himself with such a fatal weakness.
Li Zhuoyue raised her hand to rub her throbbing forehead, her brows furrowed, and looked at Prince Qi, saying, "Your Highness, Li Zhang would never leave behind such a huge handle; there must be something wrong here."
King Qi hadn't slept a wink last night because of Li Zhang's affair; his eyes were dark and he looked utterly haggard. "What's the use of saying all this now?" he said.
Li Zhuoyue was speechless for a moment, standing there stunned, unable to say anything.
Yes, it's no use saying all this now.
Li Zhang is dead.
Prince Qi rose and walked heavily to the window. "Li Zhang is dead, and the position of Minister of Revenue is vacant. Guess who Father will appoint to fill the position?"
Li Zhuoyue's pupils contracted slightly. "Your Highness means..."
The court session was held every three days, but there was no court session today. However, Liu Haifu, the chief eunuch of the palace, was ordered by Emperor Wenjing to personally go to the Yun residence to deliver the imperial decree.
Without consulting his court officials, Emperor Wenjing directly issued an edict promoting Yun Shang to Minister of Revenue and concurrently serving as Inspector General. He also strictly ordered the Grand Secretariat and the Six Ministries to fully cooperate with Yun Shang in purging corrupt officials in the court. If anyone refused to cooperate, Yun Shang would have the power to execute them first and report later.
Only at this moment did the aristocratic families clearly realize one thing.
The current Emperor Wenjing is no longer the new emperor who, upon ascending the throne, could only rely on powerful families and had no one to turn to.
Although he has accomplished nothing in recent years, he has made good use of scholars from poor families, and many new nobles have emerged from humble backgrounds in Shengjing. However, these people are far less powerful than the aristocratic families. But if these people unite to fight against the aristocratic families, they can be as annoying as ants trying to shake a big tree.
In just three days, more than ten officials from the six ministries were imprisoned. Most of these people came from aristocratic families, but were not from the direct line of the family.
The news of these dozen or so officials being imprisoned was like a bombshell, once again causing a huge uproar among the powerful families.
The collateral descendants of the aristocratic families lived in constant fear, terrified that disaster might suddenly befall them. They were well aware of the shady dealings they had committed.
"So many people have been arrested in just three days. Yun Shang is trying to wipe them out completely!"
“Yun Shang has the Emperor backing him up. If we let this continue, I’m afraid none of us will escape.”
"In just a few days, the aristocratic families have already been thrown into chaos... We can no longer remain so passive."
"What you all mean is..."
"He must die."
……
Recently, the hot topic in Shengjing City has been Yun Shang's vigorous punishment of corrupt officials. Now even a three-year-old child who doesn't know anything knows that there is now an official in Shengjing who will stand up for the people.
Yun Shang was extremely famous, and every day Madam Shen would receive invitations from ladies of various prominent families in Shengjing. Yun Shang told her not to pay attention to them, so she piled them all up on her desk, and they had already formed a small mountain.
Looking at the posts, Yunxi sighed softly, "These ladies mostly want to use us to control my brother."
Knowing this, Madam Shen smiled and said, "It's alright. As long as we don't go out, those people can't possibly break into our house."
Upon hearing this, Yunxi did not feel relieved.
My brother has been in the limelight lately, and he has dealt with too many people. There must be a lot of people in Shengjing who wish they could kill him.
Yunxi thought for a moment, then sighed again, resting her chin on her hand and said sadly, "I haven't seen my sister-in-law for several days, I miss her so much."
Madam Shen also sighed, "I miss Yu Niang a little too."
Previously, Yun Shang learned that Prince Qi was plotting to alienate the Yun family and the Duke of Anguo's mansion. Thinking that he had taken on such a troublesome matter, he simply let Yu Wan continue to live in the Duke of Anguo's mansion.
To avoid those people turning their attention to Duke Anguo.
At this point, on the surface, the two are already in a 'broken' relationship.
Even while at the Duke of Anguo's residence, Yu Wan still thought about Madam Shen and the others.
However, the King of Qi's men have been keeping a close watch on her lately, and Yu Wan, not wanting to cause any more trouble, rarely sneaks to the Yun residence.
Yun Shang's thorough investigation into corrupt officials caused a great stir and made a big fuss, which made her feel uneasy.
This unease was confirmed the following day.
The newly appointed Minister of Revenue, Yun Shang, encountered a group of audacious bandits on his way to the outskirts of the city yesterday.
Yun Shang and his party were forced to the edge of a cliff by bandits. All the guards were killed in battle, and several accompanying officials, including Yun Shang, were forced to jump off the cliff. Their fate is now unknown.
Upon learning of this from the Duke of Anguo, Yu Wan felt a wave of dizziness.
Although subconsciously she believed that Yun Shang would be alright, after all, he had the protagonist's halo, the current situation was developing so differently from the original story that she could no longer be sure that nothing unexpected would happen.
Yu Wan tried to calm herself down.
She said to Duke Anguo, "Father, please send someone out to look for him. Yun Shang will definitely be alright."
Seeing his daughter's pale face, Duke Anguo readily agreed, "Don't worry, I've already sent people to look for her. Once they find Yunshang, they'll send word back."
"Yun Shang must have made preparations before taking action against those people, so he will definitely be fine."
Yu Wan felt the same way.
Knowing something is one thing, but being unable to control your worry is another.
At the same time, Shen Shi and Yun Xi in the Yun family also learned of this terrible news.
Shen burst into tears on the spot, sobbing, "How could this be? Why would bandits suddenly appear in the outskirts of the capital?" Yunxi's face was deathly pale.
What bandits? It must be those powerful families who finally couldn't resist making a move against my brother!
Yunxi's eyes reddened, tears welled up, and her voice trembled with sobs: "Mother, they're not bandits."
Shen was stunned, and looked at Yunxi with tears in her eyes.
Yunxi clenched her fists, her lower lip bitten until it turned white, and said, word by word, "It must have been those powerful families who did it. They don't want my brother to investigate any further..."