insane

Chapter 73

In the palace, Liu Mu presented the collected evidence to the emperor one by one.

After the emperor saw it, Long Yan was furious, "These corrupt officials eat the salary of the imperial court and also harm my people. It is not an exaggeration to cut them into pieces! Come on, send me an order to send the prefect of Jinling Yang Dacheng was put in prison, and Xia Zan, governor of Suzhou, will thoroughly investigate the case." The emperor paused, and then said, "Liu Mu, I order you to assist Xia Zan in thoroughly investigating this case together."

The eunuch withdrew respectfully and went to deliver the decree.

Liu Mu said, "Your Majesty, Cao Min is just a white man, so it is probably not suitable to involve too much in this matter."

The emperor smiled and said, "In this case, I have appointed you as the supervisory censor, so that you will not be dishonest when you investigate the case. You first assist Governor Xia to handle the case, and when the case is understood, go to the Beijing Central Censor." Let's report."

Liu Mu was so frightened that he hurriedly knelt on the ground, "Thank you for your great kindness. It's just that the grass-roots people are stupid and haven't read any sage books. They are just idlers. If people like grass-roots people become officials, then the common people will suffer. "

The emperor laughed and said, "I have felt that you act uniquely since I was in Huguo Temple. Unlike those nerds, the imperial court has no shortage of nerds who are familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics. What is needed is an upright person like you who dares to be flexible and take risks."

"Your Majesty, the grassroots are used to a free and loose life, I'm afraid this officialdom is really not suitable for the grassroots. The grassroots implore the emperor to take it back!"

The emperor laughed loudly, "Liu Mu, you are indifferent to fame and wealth, I really did not misunderstand the person. You should get up first, let us leave you as an official, but there is one more thing I must do."

Liu Mu stood up, and the emperor said, "Princess Changle is my adopted daughter, she is about the same age as you, and has not yet married, so I want to marry you two, how about it?"

When Liu Mu heard the word bestow marriage, she was so frightened that she plopped and knelt on the ground again, "No way! Caomin thank the emperor for his kindness. But Caomin has no virtue and ability, and he has a family long ago, so he dare not climb high."

The emperor said, "If Princess Changle doesn't mind you having a wife? The princess has already committed herself to marrying a concubine, don't you have any dissatisfaction?"

Liu Mu said, "Caomin already has a wife, so he will never marry another person. Otherwise, he would be sorry for his wife and wronged the princess. I hope the emperor will forgive me. Except for his wife, Caomin will never marry another person in this life."

The emperor asked, "Don't you want to know who this Princess Changle is?"

Liu Mu said, "I don't want to know! Even if the princess Changle is a fairy, the grass people will not want to take a second look. Even if the emperor charged me with disrespect and killed the grass people, the grass people would never marry the princess Changle. "

Suddenly a woman said, "Dead wood! Is this girl so unpopular? You would rather die than marry me!"

Liu Mu couldn't help being startled when he heard this voice, turned his head to look, and it was indeed Zeng Qing, "Zeng Qing! Are you the princess of Changle?"

Zeng Qing said angrily, "That's right! I'm the Princess Changle you'd rather die than marry!"

"Aren't you a lady from a merchant family in the capital? Why have you become the princess of Changle again?"

The emperor laughed and said, "Zeng Qing is the daughter of Prime Minister Zeng Pu, who is deeply loved by the queen, so I accepted her as a righteous daughter and bestowed the title of Princess Changle."

Liu Mu bowed down and said, "Cao Min pays homage to Princess Changle!"

Zeng Qing said angrily, "Dead wood! Since you like to salute so much, then you should kneel on the ground and don't get up!"

Seeing that Liu Mu was really kneeling there motionless, Zeng Qing walked over angrily and grabbed Liu Mu's ears and lifted Liu Mu up, "Dead wood, you really plan to keep kneeling forever!"

Liu Mu bared his teeth and said, "Oh, my princess, be gentle, it hurts! It hurts!"

Zeng Qing said, "Hmph! If I knew this, I might as well let the emperor's guards catch you and chop you up to feed the dogs."

The emperor said, "The princess of Changle rejected the marriage proposal of Prince Tuge of the Taerhan Tribe, and told me that she already had a sweetheart, and she wanted me to cancel the engagement, and she wanted to show her ambition with death. One of the reasons I came to Jinling is to tour the south and understand the people's sentiments." The second is to see who the sweetheart of Princess Changle is. I don’t think it’s the willows that scraped off the golden paint of the Buddha statue in the Huguo Temple to help the people.” The emperor laughed and said, “If you want to go to the capital to be an official, you won’t do it. , You did not agree to marry Princess Changle. Liu Mu, you are the first person who dared to reject me again and again. Liu Mu, you have a unique style of doing things. It is no wonder Princess Changle gave up being a princess because of you. If such a talent does not Wouldn't it be my loss to become an official in the court? Liu Mu, you came from a family of merchants, but you can take care of the poor people with rich clothes and fine food. It shows that you are the parental official that the people really need. Since you don't want to take up the post at Yushitai in the capital, it is just right Now that the prefect of Jinling has been dismissed and investigated, there is no need to find someone else to fill this vacancy, so I appointed Liu Mu as the prefect of Jinling. This time, the Liu Qing family will not reject me again, will they?"

Seeing this, Liu Mu didn't dare to refuse, so he could only kneel on the ground, "Thank you for your kindness. Thanks to the emperor's trust, I will do my best to protect the people of Jinling."

"Get up." The emperor said with a smile, "Princess Changle reunites with you after a long absence, and there must be a lot to talk about. You two may wish to catch up, but don't forget to come to my dinner tonight."

At the dinner party, Liu Mu met Feng Langqu again.

Feng Langqu said, "Brother Liu risked his life to stop the emperor's dragon chariot today, just to seek justice for the common people. I admire you very much."

Liu Mu smiled and said, "I should admire Mr. Feng. I heard that Mr. Feng is responsible for the construction of the palace. Now that something like this has happened, Mr. Feng can still sit here and enjoy the dinner set by the emperor." , I admire it very much."

Feng Langqu laughed and said, "These corrupt officials who take money and break the law really deserve to be killed. I am also very sad that such people appear among my colleagues, but I am not involved in this matter, so I have nothing to worry about." Although he said It's easy, but I don't necessarily think so in my heart.Feng Langqu thought to himself, could it be that Liu Mu did all this for me?

After the dinner party, one person rushed up and blocked Liu Mu's way.

"I don't know who this brother is?" Liu Mu saw that the man was tall and burly, and his clothes were different from those of the people from the Central Plains, so he must be from outside the customs.

The man said, "In Xiatuge."

"So it's Prince Tuge, nice to meet you." Liu Mu thought to himself, Zeng Qing rejected Tuge because of me, did he come to challenge me for a duel?Look at this tall and burly Prince Tuge, if I fight, I will definitely not be an opponent!

Tu Ge said, "So you are the sweetheart of Princess Changle. I heard some things about you earlier, and I thought you were a little clever Han. Today, seeing that you dare to intercept the imperial car for those lowly people, you really have some courage. "

Liu Mu said, "All the people in the world are the emperor's children. Of course, the father of the child has the right to know. Since someone wants to prevent the news from reaching the emperor's ears, then I can only take a risk."

Tuge laughed and said, "With Mr. Liu's family background, he can collude with those courtiers to dominate one side, but you choose to speak for the poor. It can be seen that Mr. Liu is an upright and temperamental person. Although you are my rival in love, this king is very I like your true nature."

Liu Mu said, "Prince Tuge, although Zeng Qing has feelings for me, but I already have a wife and I don't think I will marry another person. If you are sincere to Zeng Qing, I hope you can impress Zeng Qing one day and take care of her for the rest of your life. But if you are only greedy for Zeng Qing's appearance, I advise you to let it go earlier. Presumably your prince must also have three wives and four concubines. With Zeng Qing's temperament, he certainly cannot bear such a life. I have always regarded Zeng Qing as a Sister, I will definitely not let her become a victim between the two countries, and I will not let her suffer a little bit of grievance. Even if I am an ordinary citizen with no power to restrain a chicken, I will not let Zeng Qing feel a little wronged. If it is true Even if I risk my life, I will protect Zeng Qing. Even if you are the prince of the tribe, I will not submit to you."

Tu Ge laughed, "Okay! I never thought there would be such a bloody man in the Central Plains, as bold as our prairie people! Princess Changle really saw the right person! Brother Liu, don't worry, I know Princess Changle only has you in his heart. So I will not force others to do anything difficult, I will return to the outside of the customs tomorrow, and I will never propose marriage to Princess Changle again!"

Liu Mu cupped his fists and said, "Then I will thank Prince Tuge for fulfilling Zeng Qing."

The fact that Liu Mu was appointed by the emperor as the magistrate of Jinling spread throughout the city in just one day.For a while, Master Liu's mansion also had a constant stream of guests, all of whom came to congratulate the Liu family.

Xia Tong said, "In the future, no one will dare to say that we are bullies in Jinling. This time, the common people don't know how to thank the boss."

Zhang Fu said, "You are too. Why didn't you tell us about such a big matter in advance? When we saw you cut off the dragon chariot, we thought you were messing around just for fun. This kid Xia Tong almost rushed in." I saved you."

Liu Mu said, "I don't know if this matter will be successful, and I'm afraid it will hurt you, so naturally I dare not say more."

Xia Tong said, "It's all right now, it was a false alarm. The boss was also appointed by the emperor as the prefect of Jinling, and we brothers can also enjoy the prestige and prestige together. Now those big girls are not what they used to be. Going on the road, now they are all eager to be spotted by the boss and fill in the house."

When Liu Mu returned home, Yu Wanran said, "Congratulations, Mr. Liu. You are the first person to be appointed magistrate by the emperor from a white body since the founding of our dynasty."

"You're still making fun of me at this time." Liu Mu said with a sad face, "I have rejected the emperor over and over again today, so it is natural for me to refuse the position of prefect of Jinling. But if I become this official, I will be deceiving the emperor. At that time, I'm afraid that the entire Liu family will suffer."

Yu Wanran smiled and said, "You are always like this, you can't be so pessimistic about everything in your life."

Liu Mu sighed, as if showing great courage, and said, "Wanran, it's time for us to clarify some things."

"what's up?"

"You also know that the emperor appointed me as the prefect. Although I am far away from the capital, it is inevitable to participate in the intrigues in the officialdom. I don't know which black hand behind the scenes I offended because of corruption and perverting the law when I was the prefect. Maybe what will happen to him in the future? Take revenge on me. This is a divorce letter, if you want to leave, then sign it."

Yu Wanran smiled and said, "What? You disliked me as an old-fashioned wife just after becoming an official? Could it be that you want to divorce me and marry your 'Brother Zeng' again?"

Liu Mu said, "Wanran, you are so smart, how could you not understand what I mean?"

Yu Wanran said, "If Xianggong doesn't tell me, I really don't understand."

Liu Mu whispered, "If I were a man, I would naturally not give up such a beautiful and talented woman. But I am a woman after all. How can two women stay together forever? If we go on like this, we will only delay your lifelong happiness. While you are young, you I can still find another good family, if I get older, I'm afraid it will be too late for me to remarry."

Yu Wanran pretended to be angry, "Then why don't you say it sooner or later, why did you say it at this time."

Liu Mu said in embarrassment, "I didn't want to say these things. After I recovered my memory, I kept pretending to be a fool in order to delay being with you for a while. It's okay to put my identity in the past. If someone knows He was reduced to a laughing stock and was scolded by others. But being an official is very different now. If you reveal your identity, it is a crime of deceiving the emperor. If you want to beheaded, you may even be executed! I am afraid that I will be implicated you."

Yu Wanran said, "If I really want to leave you, why should I wait until you get a divorce letter before leaving?"

"Then what do you mean..." Liu Mu couldn't believe that these words came from Yu Wanran.

Yu Wanran reproached and said, "Don't you understand what it means?"

Liu Mu smirked and said, "You mean...you want to stay because you like me?"

"I do not know."

Liu Mu seemed a little too excited, grabbed Yu Wanran's hand, and said seriously, "Wanran, if you don't dislike my identity, then let me suffer the cruelest punishment in the world, and I will never leave you." Don't give up."