Xu Xiantu quickly walked into the imperial study, bowed and saluted, "See your majesty!"
"Xu Aiqing is exempt from the courtesy!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Zhao Gou walked a few steps and suddenly asked: "How is the situation at home?"
Xu Xiantu was a little confused. He thought that the officials would ask Chen Qing about his countermeasures, but he didn't expect that he would ask about his own family situation. He could only answer confusedly: "Weichen's family is very good. Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty!"
Zhao Gou asked expressionlessly: "I remember Xu Aiqing has three sons, right?"
Xu Xiantu's head buzzed. He knew what the official wanted to ask. It must be his third son Xu Shou. Various news had been spread before. He was also quite panicked and turned to Hu Yun for help. Fortunately, Hu Yun
Yun made a plan for him.
He had never tried this plan before, and now he had no choice but to give it a try.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, I have three sons. The eldest son and the second son are both officials in the imperial court. The eldest son is a Yuanwailang in Duzhisi, and the second son is a magistrate of Qingtian County in Chuzhou. Only the third son is not serving as an official at home."
"Oh? Where are your three sons now?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the third son Xu Shou is currently in Mingzhou. Weichen felt that he had nothing to do at home, so Weichen found something for him to do. Last year he took over a spice shop and let my son take care of it. He went to Guangzhou to buy
The raw materials are gone.”
Zhao Gou was startled, why was it different from what was written in the report?
He picked up the report and said calmly: "Someone is impeaching Xu Aiqing's third son for serving as county magistrate in Yuchi County, Kaifeng Prefecture, so I want to ask clearly."
Xu Xiantu showed a wry smile on his face and said: "Your Majesty, this rumor existed a few months ago. Wei Chen didn't know who made up this rumor. It was said with both nose and eyes. Wei Chen simply scoffed and ignored it. Unexpectedly, a few months ago
In the past, rumors actually reached His Majesty. Wei Chen wants to know, who made up the rumors? Who wants to stab Wei Chen in the back?"
Zhao Gou hesitated and said, "It's a report from Yushitai to me. I didn't know it was a rumor!"
Xu Xiantu said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, since the Yushitai wants to file a complaint saying that Wei Chen's son is serving as an official under Chen Qing, then please provide them with evidence. Why do they say that the magistrate of Yuchi County is my son?
Is it because they look alike? Is it because Weichen's ancestral home is Yuchi County? Weichen wants evidence!"
Xu Xiantu denied it firmly, and Zhao Gou was a little shaken. After all, what was on the censor's desk was a report, which meant that they had no conclusive evidence. If the evidence was conclusive, it would not be a report, but a document of impeachment.
"Let's do this! I will ask the Yushitai to clarify the matter. If they make a mistake, I will ask them to apologize to you!"
Xu Xiantu knew the official family very well and knew that he could not make any concessions at this time. If he made any concessions, the emperor would become more suspicious.
He did not give in: "Your Majesty, the reputation of the minister cannot be slandered by the Yushitai. If the Yushitai has no evidence and talks nonsense, Zhao Xing must be held responsible, and then the minister will resign!"
Speaking of this, Zhao Gou's doubts disappeared. He began to suspect that Yushitai was instigated by Qin Hui and wanted to use the means of catching wind and shadow to bring down Xu Xiantu. If that was the case, he would be using himself. It was so abominable!
Zhao Gou nodded, "Don't worry, Aiqing, if Yushitai is making false accusations, I will definitely give you an explanation!"
Xu Xiantu retreated, and Zhao Gou immediately ordered people to find Zhao Xing, the censor Zhongcheng. Not long after, Zhao Xing hurried over and bowed and saluted, "I am a humble minister, Zhao Xing, to see your majesty!"
"Zhao Zhongcheng, I want to ask you, in your report, it is said that Xianggong Xu's third son is serving as the county magistrate in Yuchi County, Kaifeng Prefecture. Is there any evidence?"
"Your Majesty, after the Yushitai heard about this incident, they immediately sent people to Yuchi County to check and found that the Yuxian Cheng was indeed Xu Shou, the third son of Xu Xiangguo!"
"Who did you send to check?" Zhao Gou asked.
Zhao Xing hesitated. In fact, it was not Yushitai who sent someone to check, but Prime Minister Qin Hui sent his confidant He Li to Kaifeng Mansion and recognized Xu Shou.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, Wei Chen did not send officials, but asked someone who knew Xu Shou to go to Kaifeng Mansion. He told Wei Chen with certainty that he recognized Xu Shou and it must be him."
Zhao Gou frowned, "Is this evidence? There are too many people who look alike in the world, and you can be sure just by looking alike. Mr. Xu denied that this happened. He said that his son opened a shop.
, his son went to Guangzhou to purchase goods, who do you want me to trust?"
"Your Majesty, you must have seen the right person!"
"That's useless. I want evidence to prove that Yu Shou of Yuchi County is the third son of Mr. Xu Xianggong. If you can't find it, you, the censor Zhongcheng, don't need to do it!"
"I obey the order!"
Zhao Xing was sweating profusely and slowly retreated. He hurriedly went to find Qin Hui.
At this time, in the elegant room of Changfeng Tea House, Xu Xiantu told Hu Yun what happened today worriedly. Hu Yun took a sip of tea and smiled slightly: "Don't worry, Mr. Xu, there will be no evidence for this matter, and it will end without any problems.
Once His Highness takes Fujian Road, you can say that your son who bought spices in Guangzhou cannot come back and his return journey is cut off. If that doesn't work, we can also find someone like your son to show up in the shop so that the neighbors can see it.
Look, then he goes to Nanyang to buy goods.
As for Yuchi County, you don’t have to worry at all, the people who went to investigate will not come back."
Xu Xiantu felt relieved, nodded and said, "Then I'll leave it to you."
Hu Yun smiled again and said: "Let me tell your highness to change your son to be an official in another county, so that these people will not keep an eye on him."
"So much the better!"
Xu Xiantu did not dare to sit for a long time, so he got up and left in a hurry.
Hu Yun pondered for a moment, then called for the shopkeeper Dong An and said to him: "Qin Hui will definitely send people to Yuchi County again. This time, he will keep an eye on him. If he goes there, he will not come back."
Dong An nodded, "I'll arrange it!"
In the afternoon, as soon as Qin Hui returned to the mansion, the housekeeper told him that the censor Zhao Zhongcheng was here and had been waiting for a long time.
The Yushitai has always been controlled by Qin Hui. In recent years, he has used the Yushitai to catch people and exclude dissidents, and he has used it very smoothly. Naturally, Zhao Xing, the Yushi Zhongcheng, was promoted by him, and he can be regarded as his confidant.
Qin Hui drove to the guest hall and coughed heavily in the hall. Zhao Xing, who was sitting in the hall drinking tea, stood up quickly, came forward and saluted: "See you, Mr. Xian!"
Qin Hui asked slowly: "I heard that the official summoned you today?"
"Exactly! Beizhi handed the report to the emperor early this morning, and he summoned Xu Xiantu, and then summoned Beizhi."
Qin Hui said displeasedly: "I told you that I would use the impeachment letter directly, but you didn't believe it. You used the report to show that you lacked confidence, and it was easy for Xu Xiantu to take advantage of you. Looking at your frown, you must have been counterattacked by Xu Xiantu.
"
Zhao Xing said with a bitter look on his face: "Actually, it has nothing to do with whether the impeachment document was written or not. The key is that the officials asked me for evidence. I said that the people sent had recognized the other party. The officials said that they just looked alike and there was no evidence. That was just trying to make assumptions.
."
"Then what? Do you know what Xu Xiantu said?"
"The official told me that Xu Xiantu's son opened a shop in Lin'an, and his son himself went to Guangzhou to purchase goods."
Qin Hui frowned, Xu Xiantu was prepared! But think about it, this rumor has been around for several months, how could Xu Xiantu not be prepared?
"What evidence does the official want?"
"I didn't say anything specific. I just said that we need conclusive evidence. Even though I'm a low-ranking official, I guess I don't know."
Qin Hui spread his hands, "Then how to find evidence?"
Zhao Xing thought about it and said: "I just thought about it. The censors all pay attention to personal and material evidence when handling cases. We can only look for personal and material evidence. That Yu Shou must have servants around him. He knows Yu Shou's bottom line. This
That’s the personal evidence. As for the physical evidence, if you can get the official document that Yu Shou is correcting now and compare it with the previous handwriting, you can identify the same person. This is called complete personal evidence and physical evidence.”
Qin Hui nodded. This idea is good and can be adopted. He immediately said: "I will arrange the manpower and go to Yuchi County again!"