The rural doctor bought a husband who was very treacherous

Chapter 235 Jiangnan Case

Qi Mansion, inside the dungeon.

Qi Feng fiddled with the iron skewer in the charcoal brazier, causing sparks to fly everywhere.

"It doesn't really matter whether you are tried or not. The evidence against you has been collected and is now on its way to Kyoto."

Qi Feng continued to fiddle with the charcoal in the brazier. The flickering light of the fire in the dungeon reflected on Qi Feng's face, making it impossible for the tied-up Hong Zhenhai to see Qi Feng's expression clearly.

Although no one tortured him and forced him to confess after he was tied up in the dungeon, Hong Zhenhai, who had lived a life of luxury for many years, could not endure it. Just being tied up and hung on the rack with his upper arms stretched upward for a long time made Hong Zhenhai miserable.

"I came here just to tell you that you cannot die now. At least you have to stay alive until His Majesty summons you to the capital for trial. I have also brought your only son and your concubine who are hiding in Suzhou. If you behave well, perhaps His Majesty will pardon them and release them."

Qi Feng's words made Hong Zhenhai's eyes pop open. He shook his fat body violently, trying to break free from the ropes that bound him.

how is this possible! !

He had clearly hidden his only son and his concubine and placed them in Suzhou.

Hong Zhenhai suddenly raised his head and looked in the direction of Qi Feng, "The governor promised me."

"He is now in a difficult situation. You should think about how to make amends and reduce your guilt so that you don't end up without any descendants."

After Qi Feng finished speaking, he threw the iron skewer in his hand into the brazier, causing another burst of sparks.

The door of the dungeon was closed. Hong Zhenhai seemed to hear his son calling him dad in a daze.

"Put him down later, don't kill him. He can be useful if you keep him." Qi Feng said to the guards guarding the dungeon when he came out of the dungeon.

"Yes." The guard responded.

The next day.

Shops on the streets of Yangzhou Prefecture are open for business as usual.

The incident at Zui Xiang Lou yesterday did not cause any waves in the city, as if the danger yesterday had never happened.

But if you are careful, you will definitely find that the people guarding the gates of several cities in Yangzhou City have been replaced today, and they are all soldiers wearing heavy armor.

"Maybe it's because we in Yangzhou pay a lot of taxes, so our Yangzhou city is going to be upgraded to a higher level, so the soldiers in the city are dressed better." Some people passing by the city gate discussed in a low voice after seeing the soldiers' attire being checked.

"Alas, high taxes are not good either, because they are exploiting the people..."

"Shh, how dare you say anything." Another person looked around carefully. Fortunately, the person next to him didn't speak loudly and didn't attract anyone else's attention.

"Last night, Yang Huaili's people had already controlled everyone on the list, and they were all taken out of the city last night..."

After Qi Feng returned from the dungeon, he reported the new news in Yangzhou City to Qi Lingheng.

Qi Lingheng was in the study of the Qi Mansion, writing a memorial to be presented to Emperor Jing.

This time they came to Jiangnan, but under the pretext of accompanying Su Tang on a trip. He must report what he found out to Emperor Jing first.

Before, Qi Lingheng heard Duke Qi say after the court session that the civil officials talked a lot, and that they had been talking about the reduction of tax revenue in Jiangnan for several years.

He was still young at that time and didn't know what was going on in the court.

When I heard what the Duke of Qi said, I just took it for granted.

Now that I think about it, the court should have known about the reduction in tax revenue in Jiangnan at that time and must have had doubts about it.

But every year Emperor Jing would send people to Jiangnan to investigate the accounting situation here, and the information reported back was correct.

Otherwise, the court would not have to discuss the issue of taxation in Jiangnan every year.

Along the way, although they also found a lot of evidence of the Ministry of Revenue officials tampering with the taxes in Jiangnan, it was the evidence they got from the Song family that finally frightened the Jiangnan side and made them take action.

The officials in Jiangnan never expected that the Song family would carefully record everything they had handled in Jiangnan over the years.

"If you walk by the river often, you will get your feet wet." Su Tang took the fruit that Chunmei had just washed and took a bite. The sweet juice immediately filled her entire mouth.

Su Tang couldn't help but squint her eyes slightly, savoring the wonderful taste, with an expression of satisfaction and enjoyment on her face.

Qi Lingheng looked up at Su Tang and saw Su Tang's satisfied smile.

He smiled dotingly at Su Tang, put down the pen in his hand, blew away the ink on the memorial, and when the ink dried, he put the memorial away, stood up, walked to the door, and handed it to Qi Feng who had just returned from the dungeon.

"Send this to Kyoto."

"Yes." Qi Feng responded and retreated.

Qi Lingheng walked to Su Tang's side and picked up a fruit that he had just washed from the plate and started eating it.

In fact, he didn't like to eat these sweets, but Su Tang couldn't live without these sweet fruits every day. Qi Lingheng also ate some every day and now he was used to the sweet taste.

"How is the Governor of Suzhou now?"

"The sister of the Suzhou governor is Concubine Li. We can't touch him for now. Let's wait for His Majesty to make a decision."

"No wonder they dare to do these things so confidently. I said how could anyone without any background dare to set their sights on the royal tax revenue." After Su Tang finished speaking, she took another bite of the fruit in her hand.

"Yes, but there is one thing you haven't thought of yet." Qi Lingheng leaned close to Su Tang and said in a low voice.

Seeing Qi Lingheng and Su Tang getting closer to chat, Chunmei and the others immediately stepped back and helped them close the door.

There was no outsider in the room at this time, so Qi Lingheng came forward and told Su Tang some secrets.

"Wait, let's go back and talk about it." Knowing that what Qi Lingheng wanted to say was a secret, Su Tang pulled Qi Lingheng back to the space.

"Okay, tell me now." Su Tang took Qi Lingheng back to her dormitory.

“The Third Prince is the child of Concubine Li and Prince Li. Concubine Li allowed her brother to amass a fortune in Jiangnan in order to give it all to Prince Li.

The iron we mined from the mines we discovered earlier was also made into armor and weapons, and sent to King Li’s territory in batches.”

Su Tang listened to what Qi Lingheng said with her mouth wide open.

This... her cheap father was cuckolded and raised someone else's child for more than ten years! !

Ugh!!

Is it so exciting?

"Don't royal children have their identities verified?"

It is said that the royal family is very strict in managing these things in order to prevent their offspring from being confused.

Aren't all these things recorded later about the time when each concubine entered the palace and her menstrual period came and went, the day she was with the emperor, and what she did on a daily basis?

Qi Lingheng raised his hand to close Su Tang's wide-open mouth, and replied with a smile, "Shouldn't you think about going back and telling Emperor Jing about this?"

"Silly, how can I talk about this." Su Tang is not stupid. How can she talk about such a scandal that concerns a man's dignity?

Seeing Qi Lingheng laughing again after hearing her words, Su Tang realized that Qi Lingheng was just teasing her.

Based on this alone, it is estimated that the Governor of Suzhou will not be able to escape death.

Let the Governor of Suzhou live a few more days.

At this moment, Su Tang thought of something. She pulled Qi Lingheng by the collar, and the two of them were face to face. "How do you know about Concubine Li and Prince Li?"

Concubine Li and Prince Li have kept this a secret for so long that even Emperor Jing doesn't know about it. Logically speaking, Qi Lingheng's people shouldn't be able to find out.

"Tang'er, I'm sorry, there's something I haven't told you yet." Qi Lingheng half-knelt down, holding Su Tang's hands with both hands, and said nervously.

"What's the matter?" Su Tang asked curiously.

“I am a reborn person, but I never told you before because I always felt that this was a little unbelievable and I thought it was just a dream.

But later, you told me that you were a soul from another world, and then I felt that maybe my rebirth was real.

Perhaps my rebirth and your possession are both opportunities for rebirth given to us by God."

"It's possible. Were you with me in your previous life?" When Su Tang asked this, she suddenly felt jealous.

In his previous life, was Qi Lingheng in love with the original Su Tang just like he is now?

Did they grow old together?

“No, in my previous life, I was bought by Zhao Youtian. When I arrived at Dahe Village, Su Tang was already dead. All I saw was a cold corpse.

Later, Zhao Youtian released me.”

Seeing that Su Tang was obviously relieved, Qi Lingheng also knew what Su Tang was nervous about.

In fact, he also wanted to ask whether Su Tang was married in her previous life.

But he thought about it later and decided that he shouldn't ask Su Tang about her previous life. In this life, the most important thing was that Su Tang was with him.

"Then you must have had a hard time returning to Duke Qi's Mansion in your previous life."

"In my previous life, there was no Duke of Qi's Mansion. I followed the eldest prince until I assisted him in ascending the throne. Only then did I know those secrets."

"Duke Dingguo and Old Madam Qi in the previous life?"

"Not long after their homes were searched... they all died." Qi Lingheng's body trembled slightly as he spoke of this.

"It's okay, it's okay. They are still alive in this life, and that's enough." Su Tang patted Qi Lingheng's shoulder.

"Well, meeting Tang'er is my greatest blessing in this life." Qi Lingheng leaned over and kissed Su Tang's lips.

After a while, the two separated.

Su Tang hit Qi Lingheng on the shoulder and said, "You are a man who talks all the time. Look, your lips are swollen again. How are you going to go out and meet people later?"

"It's not like they haven't seen it before." Qi Lingheng laughed softly.

Half a month later.

Su Tang and Qi Lingheng had almost dealt with the affairs in Jiangnan before returning to Beijing with Hong Zhenhai and other detained former Yangzhou officials and evidence of their crimes.

On the way back to Beijing, Qi Lingheng, Su Tang and others were indeed stopped.

Fortunately, Su Tang equipped the several secret guards who accompanied him with machine guns.

The secret guards were naturally agile and could react immediately after hearing someone approaching. In addition, with the "magic weapon" given by Su Tang, any assassins or dead men who showed up were quickly killed by the secret guards with one shot.

So, although there were some surprises along the way, there was no danger.

Along the way, Su Tang and his companions killed no idea how many waves of people who ambushed them were.

It was not until they reached the vicinity of Kyoto that those who came to intercept them stopped the attack.

As for the Duke of Qi, he had already received orders from Emperor Jing and left the camp outside the capital in advance to welcome Su Tang and others.

"Your Majesty, I am honored to meet you, Princess. On the orders of His Majesty, I am here to welcome the princess back to the capital." Duke Qi sat on his warhorse and saluted to Su Tang's carriage with his fists clasped.

"Well, thank you, Duke Qi." Su Tang lifted the curtain of the carriage and nodded to Duke Qi who was not far away.

"Welcome the Grand Princess back to the capital!" Duke Qi also nodded to Su Tang, then pulled the reins, turned the warhorse under him around, and waved his arm.

Immediately, the Qi family cavalry he brought surrounded the princess and her entourage tightly.

He escorted Su Tang and the others to the gate of Kyoto.

"Your Majesty, I can only escort the princess to the city." Without being summoned, the Duke of Qi could not lead his troops into the imperial city.

Su Tang understood and nodded in agreement to Duke Qi.

Qi Lingheng then led the princess and her entourage into Kyoto City.

Soon, Su Tang and his group arrived outside the palace.

The evidence brought back from Jiangnan, together with Hong Zhenhai, was handed over to the commander of the Imperial Guards.

"Thank you." Su Tang said to the commander of the Imperial Guards.

"His Majesty has ordered that the princess and the King of Qi go to the imperial study together." After the commander of the imperial guards saluted Su Tang and Qi Lingheng, he informed Su Tang and the others of Emperor Jing's oral order.

Afterwards, Su Tang and Qi Lingheng entered the palace and went straight to the imperial study.

"This old servant greets Her Royal Highness the Princess and His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi." Outside the imperial study, Eunuch Fu had been waiting for a long time. When he saw Qi Lingheng and the others, he immediately bowed.

"Hello, Eunuch Fu." Su Tang would greet Eunuch Fu politely every time she saw him and did not treat him as a servant at all.

In fact, Su Tang has a similar attitude towards everyone. As long as they don’t have any ill will towards her, Su Tang will treat them with courtesy.

If these things happened to ordinary people with some status, the other party would not feel anything.

But as a princess, Su Tang's treatment of servants in this way can really win the favor of the servants.

Therefore, Eunuch Fu, the eunuch in charge, was also very enthusiastic towards Su Tang.

"Princess, Prince, His Majesty is waiting for you inside." Eunuch Fu made a gesture of invitation.

Afterwards, Su Tang and Qi Lingheng entered the imperial study under the guidance of Eunuch Fu.

At this time, Emperor Jing had already received several memorials sent by Qi Lingheng a few days ago, and he had a general understanding of the tax leakage in Jiangnan.

Emperor Jing had a gloomy face at this time, and he looked better when he saw Su Tang and others coming in.

"Give the princess and the King of Qi a seat." Emperor Jing said behind the desk.

Immediately, a young eunuch brought two chairs over.

Afterwards, everyone in the room was cleared out by Eunuch Fu, who also stood outside the hall waiting.

"You guys were able to find out things that have been buried for many years in Jiangnan during your trip out there. You've worked really hard." Emperor Jing's voice was low, and it was impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry.

"Father, actually this was just a coincidence. It just so happened that the people from the Song family were disrespectful to us on the street, which led to so many things happening later. Tang'er had never thought of this before." Su Tang replied in a low voice.

"Well, I had my doubts about Jiangnan before, but every time I sent someone to check the accounts, they said there was nothing wrong with the accounts. It seems that there are many corrupt officials in my court."