Chapter 11- Closing the Net (Part 1)
After finishing the formalities Zhao Yichen and Qiu Chen sat down in front of the Emperor. Zhao Yichen presented the report and evidence that showed the result of his investigation. All the bribery, officials getting promoted by illegal means, embezzling funds everything was written in details. But the most important report was about the illegal trade that was going on for quite some years. It was the salt-trade. Most of these officials reported were involved in this either directly or indirectly. The Emperor furrowed his brows more and more. He was having a headache. If he were to act against them, he also needed a bunch of people to occupy their positions. To gather and appoint so many people all of a sudden was a headache, not to mention, whether they would be trustworthy or not.
Qiu Chen knew what troubled the Emperor all of a sudden. He presented another report timely. It was about some capable people in each province. The life experience of these people were also mentioned. Most of these people either suffered from war and couldn't get enough money to bribe for their official position, or left behind sons and grandsons of past loyal royal servants who were suprpressed and bullied by the corrupted governors. They were all investigated by the Ravens. All of them were loyal to the country, not to any person. Many of these people were planning to rebel, but were temporarily appeased by Zhao Yichen.
The Emperor's furrowed brows loosened a bit seeing this report. But it did not last long because of Qiu Chen's next words.
"Father Emperor might want to see this report. All those crimes were operated from the capital. Some important ministers are also involved," Qiu Chen said as he handed over another scroll to Chief Eunuch Zhou who presented it to the Emperor.
The forhead veins of the Emperor bulged after reading it. Not to mention some small ministers and noble familes, even the Duke Song and the Right Prime Minister were involved. And both of them were tied to the Second Prince. Now he can see why this big matter went unnoticed for so many years. Because people were deliberately covering it up. Chief Eunuch Zhou handed calming tea over to the emperor.
After a few minutes the Emperor laid all three reports side by side to judge them all together. Qiu Chen and Zhao Yichen sat patiently waiting for him to finish. But the child inside Qiu Chen kicked again. He still was not used to this. His face showed visible discomfort. Zhao Yichen hurriedly hugged his shoulder. The Emperor was emmersed in work, so he did not notice. But Chief Eunuch Zhou noticed.
"Is Wangfei uncomfortable?" He asked with concern.
"......It's the child," Qiu Chen said with a red face.
This time even the Emperor was paying attention. "Someone! Call the imperial doctor!" He shouted in hurry.
"Father Empeor, don't get busy. It's a normal reaction," Zhao Yichen said calmly.
"He's pregnant with YOUR child and is uncomfortable. But you're saying it's normal!" the Emperor scolded Zhao Yichen.
Zhao Yichen really doubted that his father was treating Qiu Chen as porcelain doll. His father had only one daughter, who was nowhere near soft and squeamish. He did not even have any ger son. So all his life he could not "spoil" anyone. Now all his attention was on Qiu Chen.
"....Pray Father Emperor calm down. It's your grandchild. He's quite lively inside. Erchen is not used to yet," Qiu Chen turned scarlette while talking. After all it was his father-in-law, and he never thought of explaining these things to anyone before coming to this world. He was really embarrassed.
"Grandchild? He's moving?" the Emperor was exited this time. After excitement was over he turned nostalgic, "When Xing'er* was pregnant with Yichen, she was also uncomfortable sometimes. This child was also very lively." He said with a trace of sorrow on his face. (Gui Fei's name)
All official business was temporarily forgotten. He directly showered Qiu Chen with gifts. Qiu Chen was dumbfounded. He did not understand why he got so many gifts. All these took a lot of time. Zhao Yichen and Qiu Chen had dinner with the Emperor.
After Dinner they went back to work. After discussing for almost two hours they made a full proof plan. That night three of Emperor's personal shadow guards rushed out using the darkness as cover and went to three different dorections. All three of them were carrying three imperial edicts addressed to three people, but with the same content.
Next day, in the morning court, the air was gloomy. After the court was over some people were relieved, some watched fun, and some were disheartened. The Second Prince was smiling ear to ear. He went staright to the Empress's palace to share the good news, for not completing the mission given by the Emperor, the Fourth Prince was punished to be confined in his mansion until the Emperor himself lifts the house arrest.
While people in the Empress's palace were celebrating, Qiu Chen and Zhao Yichen returned to the General's mansion. Zhao Yichen had to start another journey soo. He did not get much time to spend with his wife. So he treasured this limited time. Unlike what the people of the Second Prince's faction thought, they enjoyed their own private precious time.
Within ten days General Ye from the South-East, General Yan, Yan Nijue, from the North, and Commander Xu, who usually positioned under Zhao Yichen, entered the capital under disguise. Yan Nijue escorted Yan Yunze, the imperial grandson, to the Grand Princess. The next day Zhao Yiqing got her son, it was announced that she missed her son so much that she made people bring him to her.
So, in next two days four teams left the capital secretly. All of them met the soldiers under them at predetermined stations. The teams were led by Zhao Yichen, General Ye, Yan Nijue, and Minister Sun respectively. Commander Xu accompanied Minister Sun as the Military Chief of the team. Another one accompanying Minister Sun was Sun Xing. After Sun Xing had a heart to heart talk with Minister Sun, he was relived of his marriage. Minister Sun also agreed to him learing some useful things. This time, although the mission was risky, he took him with him because he saw Sun Xing's talent was actually much superior to his brothers' and he wanted Sun Xing to gain some practical knowledge. Minister Sun could not get a better opportunity for this.
Although the marriage between Song and Sun family was never formally agreed, it was already like a verbal agreement. This time Minister Sun made it clear that he was not going to marry his son to Song Yuhao. He could not disclose anything, so the excuse he used was that Song Yuhao did not do any prestigious job till now. Although he is the Shizi of Song Jia, his personal achievement was zero. If he wanted to marry Sun Xing, he had to show material achievement to Minister Sun. Madame Sun tried to convince Minister Sun, but was directly punished to copy the house rules for 10,000 times. With the Madame's character, Minister Sun was sure that it would keep her busy until he got back from the quest. Madame Sun only knew that Minister Sun was going to the hills behind the capital to recuperate according to the imperial doctor's prescription, and he took Sun Xing with him.
These four teams followed the same strategy of blocking the news getting leaked. The first thing they did after entering a city was acting marshal law. They first took control of the governor's manor. The Ravens helped blocking any news from getting to the capital. They even sent false news to the capital. So, to the people stationed capital, it seemed like everything was okay. Due to the imperial edict, the four team leaders held the power to punish any guilty individual directly. They were even aloowed to give death penalty.
Over in the capital the Empress saw that it was her chance to pave way for the Second Prince. Zhao Yichen was under house arrest, the Third Prince followed a toaist priest from a very young age and had no desire for power, apart from them there were no more royal children as the Emperor refused to touch any concubine after the death of Gui Fei. So, now only Zhao Yirong was left who could gain position of the Crown Prince.
But no matter how many times she went to meet the Emperor, or what trick she used, there was only a humble ever smiling Chief Eunuch Zhou telling her that "His Majesty is resting". The Empress suspected that the Emperor was sick. She created a huge scene out of it. Finally after about fifteen days the Emperor showed up. He seemed perfectly fine. But the Empress caught a glance of him secretly eveing his breath. So she was quite sure that the Emperor was sick.
But where the Emperor really was? He developed a habit of secretly running to the General's Mansion to "bond with his unborn grandchild". He often dragged Yan Yunze with him too. Zhao Yiqing was now eight month's pregnant. So it was not suitable for her to leave the palace. In the days Zhao Yichen was on the mission, the Emperor communicated with Qiu Chen very frequently under the disguise of caring for his grandchild. Qiu Chen also understood why he came so frequently but did not expose him. He also enjoyed the fatherly love from the Empeor.
The capital seemed very calm and normal. After another month Zhao Yiqing gave birth to a daughter. The Emperor announced three days holiday out of joy. But during this time neither Zhao Yichen nor Qiu Chen came greet the Princess. The Empress was definitely happy as she thought that Zhao Yichen's punishment was really grave this time. But zhao Yirong did not think the same.
For two months he did not get any meaningful news from his people. He kept getting information sent from his stations. It seemed alright at first. But now he felt that something was amiss. Regular natural disaster, or delay of delivery was not so normal. Now Zhao Yichen did not even come out to congratulate Zhao Yiqing. This only meant one thing, he was not in the capital. Minister Sun was also "recuperating in the hills" with his ger son accompanying him. Talking about this ger son, his marriage was almost set with Song Yuhao, but Minister Sun called off the marriage with a lame excuse all of a sudden. Putting all these things together, Zhao Yirong had a really bad premonition. He called the Right Prime Minister, Duke Song, and the Generals in his faction for a meeting. The meeting lasted for almost three hours. They all together decided to take a huge step together.
In the General's mansion, Butler Wang whispered something in Qiu Chen's ear.
A/N: My academics are killing me! Why reading books are so fun but studying them is so hard!