The arrival of Su Pingjiang pushed the consequences of He Ran's truth-telling to the extreme. He secretly planned in his heart that in view of his image in everyone's mind, he should be very careful in telling the truth in the future.
While the monarch and his ministers were talking, He Ran handed a file to Su Pingjiang and said with a smile: "Don't come in vain, someone happens to want to see you."
Su Pingjiang opened the file and glanced at it, then frowned and said, "An Li?"
He Ran nodded and said, "Yes, he wants to impeach me in front of you."
Su Pingjiang looked troubled and said: "He has been following me for many years. If the crime is not serious... let him be spared once."
He Ran picked up the tea cup, blew the floating leaves and said casually: "This is not a matter of your words. Let's see first. You can decide how to deal with it."
Su Pingjiang lowered his head and looked carefully. His brows furrowed more and more as he looked. When he turned to the second page, he didn't believe it: "Have these been verified?"
"The Supervision Department and the Criminal Department investigated together. He inspected the five cities. These are only the charges in Dongzhi City. Evidence is being collected for the other four cities." He pointed to the case beside him and said, "There are cases in Dongzhi City.
There were ninety-five officials in total, and eighty-four were guilty.”
Zhuyin said in surprise: "How come there are so many officials in this small Dongzhi City? As a rule, there should be no more than thirty."
He Ran snorted and said: "It's just a matter of clever designation to increase the number of official positions. The more official positions you have, the more they can be sold. It's hard to get rid of the officials in this matter. These are just registered officials. They have also created many half-official and half-civilian institutions."
, are all places that harbor filth and evil. Although Dongzhi City is small, it has become the source of all evil. When other places are clean and there is no oil and water to harvest, Dongzhi City has become a place where fish and smell are chased.
"
Su Xiyao frowned and asked: "Why are there so few upright officials?" Zhuyin sighed: "Sister, I don't know anything about officialdom. It is said that the upper beam is not upright and the lower level is crooked. If the highest official in charge of a party does not act upright, the villain will be
Then you will gain power, and it will be difficult for good officials to survive. Everyone is greedy, and if you are not greedy, how can others trust you? If you are promoted, you may punish everyone at any time, so good officials have no chance of promotion.
Yes, even if you are not promoted, everyone will still be worried. They must always be on guard against you filing a petition for impeachment. The best way is to exclude you from the officialdom, so that everyone can completely rest assured. This is the secret rule of the officialdom. Dongzhi City can have eleven
It’s already rare to find an honest official, and if one comes within a year or two, there won’t even be one and a half left.”
He Ran took a sip of tea, put down the cup and said: "What we rely on to regulate the officialdom now is the Supervision Department. If something happens to one of the inspection envoys, it will be difficult for several cities on that side to keep their integrity. This system has too many drawbacks, so
That’s why I’m going to introduce new policies and put officials under the supervision of the people. Countless pairs of eyes will be watching them. It will be difficult for them to make mistakes. In this way, the country will be stable forever.”
Su Pingjiang closed the file angrily, exhaled heavily, and said, "What do you think we should do with him?"
He Ranhun said indifferently: "According to the law, it is not an exaggeration to punish him from the nine clans. If you want to cherish the old feelings, let him go. However, it is not appropriate for him to hold this position again, otherwise it will be too unjust and difficult to appease everyone."
.”
"Do you really agree to let him go?" Su Pingjiang stared at him and asked.
He Ran smiled and said: "Although the prince has committed the same crime as the common people, it is just for the common people. You are the king, and An Li has committed the crime of treason. If you want to forgive him, there is nothing anyone else can say. We can't commit the crime of peace."
You are in trouble."
"Then...how do you explain it to the investigators?" Su Pingjiang asked.
He Ran smiled brightly and said: "I won't embarrass you, but you can't embarrass me either. You should give everyone an explanation. I don't care about this."
Su Xiyao said: "That's true. He sent people to investigate the case and found out the final irrefutable evidence but did not punish him. How do you want him to tell the people below?"
Su Pingjiang frowned and stared at the case report. After a while, he sighed and said: "It is your own fault. I have not contributed much to the governance of the country. You have worked so hard for the country, how can I?"
If I cause trouble to you again, I’ll deal with it according to the law.”
He Ran thought for a moment and said: "Then let's kill the three clans. This bastard doesn't know how to live or die. If he pleads guilty earlier, I don't want to implicate his family."
Su Pingjiang nodded and said nothing.
He Ran raised his eyebrows and said: "If you feel uncomfortable, it's not too late to change the sentence. How about I arrange a scene where the remaining party robs the prison and rescues others, so that you don't have to explain anything to the officials."
Su Pingjiang smiled and said: "Don't think nonsense. I said I shouldn't cause trouble to you. I can't explain this to the ministers. I feel uncomfortable. After all, he has been with me for many years. In the past,
He often blocked swords for me on the battlefield, but... Well, if only I had kept him by my side. I know your difficulties. Kong Zong is also your good brother. For the sake of upholding the law, you have to keep him.
Kill him. As a king, I cannot disturb the law with my body. Just kill him. I will go see him later."
The small Dongzhi City became lively with the arrival of the king and many dignitaries in the court. The governor of Xizhi City, who had just taken over the city defense, was so scared that he did not even dare to sleep.
Zhuyin left for home the next day. Since He Ran was injured, she had to rely on her to take care of matters related to the New Deal. She couldn't delay it for one more day.
In the afternoon, He Ran was chatting and joking with Yun Shang and Ming Qin Chaduo, when Xiao Zhu came in and said, "Madam and the queen are here."
Hearing that Nanqiu was coming, He Ran frowned slightly, and Yun Shang and Mingqin Chaduo hurriedly retreated.
When Nanqi came in, He Ran pretended to stay on the bed and salute her, but as soon as he moved, he grinned in pain.
Nan Qi hurriedly said: "Commander, please don't move."
He Ran said apologetically: "I'm sorry, please forgive me, Queen."
Nan Qi pursed her lips and smiled and said: "You rarely show courtesy to the king, so don't put on such airs in front of me."
Seeing that she spoke easily, He Ran smiled and said: "Your Majesty's permission to give me a little courtesy is the King's kindness to his humble ministers. I dare not waste the courtesy of a monarch and his ministers in front of the queen."
Nan Qi curled her lips and asked with a smile: "Is the wound still painful?"
He Ran replied seriously: "The pain will be severe if you pull it a little bit, but it will be better if you don't move."
Nan Qi said softly: "Then take good care of it. Don't take risks easily in the future. This is no joke."
"Thank you, Queen, for your consideration. I will remember it." He Ran said respectfully.
Nan Qi glanced at him, then turned to Su Xiyao and said, "Sister, the military advisor talks and laughs with everyone, but he is the only one who bows respectfully in front of me. I guess it's still hard to let go of the past grudges in your heart?"
Su Xiyao smiled slightly and said, "You are too worried."
Nan Qi's bright eyes turned to He Ran's face, she raised her eyebrows slightly and said, "Am I too worried? Military advisor."
He Ran's heart trembled when she saw her. There seemed to be some resentment and something touching in her joking eyes, "The queen is overly concerned, and I am happy to talk, but the queen's status is respected, how dare I speak lightly?"
What a lie."
The resentment in Nan Li's eyes suddenly swelled, but it disappeared in a flash, and she said: "Your Majesty went to see An Li in the morning, and he looked gloomy when he came back. I thought it would be better to let him leave here as soon as possible, so I came to ask the military advisor for advice.
The idea is to let him really go to Xiangguo, or to just have fun as before."
He Ran smiled and said: "It's up to the Queen to decide where she wants to go. It doesn't matter where she wants to go, even if she wants to go to the prairie."
Nan Qi showed a look of joy and said: "Really? I really want to see the grassland scenery."
"This is not difficult. If the queen really wants to go, I will send someone to inform the general over there and let him make proper arrangements. As long as we don't go deep into the grassland, we should have no worries about safety. This season is when the grassland is the most beautiful."
"Okay, then we have Military Advisor Lao!" Nan Qi said happily, but then she showed an uneasy look and said: "This...will it cause trouble to the general?"
He Ran said with a respectful expression: "It is a blessing for the country that the queen is so considerate of her subjects. This will not tire the people and the army. The people on her side can just use this to train, which is beneficial and harmful."
"That's good." Nan Qi said, her bright eyes suddenly filled with tenderness, "Take good care of the military advisor, and I won't disturb you." After her words fell, the tenderness in her eyes disappeared, and she turned to Su Xiyao and said:
"Sister, Li'er has resigned."
After sending Nan Qiao away, He Ran asked Su Xiyao thoughtfully, "I think your attitude toward her is much better than before. Why?"
Su Xiyao said: "She talked to me for a long time before coming here. Her words were very courteous and kind. I can't keep a sullen face all the time."
"She is very scheming, you have to be careful."
Su Xiyao smiled and said: "I'm not a three-year-old child. I'll get dizzy after being given a few nice words. Just don't be confused. Although I couldn't see her expression behind her just now, I noticed the look in your eyes.
Something is wrong."
He Ran laughed dumbly and said: "Your eyes are really amazing. She just..., forget it, I won't say it anymore. Maybe I feel wrong. It's better not to make random guesses about this kind of thing."
Su Xiyao sat next to him, held his hand, looked at him quietly and said, "You have to promise me that no matter what, you will let Nan Qi safely be the queen."
He Ran felt extremely aggrieved and said: "What are you thinking about? Do you still suspect that I have some evil thoughts about her?"
Su Xiyao said angrily: "What are you guilty of? I didn't think about all this mess. I was worried that Nanqi would cause trouble again. If you kill her when you can't bear it, Pingjiang will definitely not be able to bear it. I'm afraid
My brother's life has been miserable enough. What I want is for you to find a way to control Nanqi so that she can give up and start trouble again."
He Ran breathed a sigh of relief and said: "So that's it, okay, I'll just put more thought into it."
Su Xiyao looked at him with strange eyes and said, "You really have a ghost in your heart, otherwise why would you want to go there all of a sudden?"
He Ran said aggrievedly: "You are not such a slanderous person. You just said that my eyes were wrong, and then you said those words. I can't just let it go."
Su Xiyao said: "You know for yourself whether there is something wrong in your heart, but her eyes really seem to be able to talk. When I was looked at by her, I felt unsettled. I felt pity for her.
The disgust disappeared without even realizing it.”
He Ran said with a bad smile: "Speaking of eyes, there is no pair of eyes in the world that can speak better than yours. Look, now they are telling me that they want me to kiss them."
Su Xiyao couldn't help laughing and spat: "Be honest with me, you are not serious at all!"
Vote to support the author and receive points and k-beans