Chapter 138: Who encouraged this unhealthy trend

Pang Jin was not a rigid and reckless person. Having mixed in the officialdom of the Imperial Capital for so many years, he also knew the rules here.

Even Lin Yue'e, whom everyone felt was very rigid, also understood certain principles; she was just relatively persistent.

In Pang Jin's view, the biggest beneficiaries of the Crown Prince's death and the Emperor's passing were actually Li Chen; this was beyond doubt.

Regardless of the reason why the Empress Dowager supported Li Chen at the beginning, the current relationship between the Empress Dowager and Li Chen was indeed very harmonious. As the Minister of Justice, this could naturally be investigated.

Having handled cases in the Ministry of Justice for many years, Pang Jin naturally had his own way of thinking.

Since the arrow was now pointing to the Empress Dowager's forces, the person in the dark was inciting him to deal with the Empress Dowager.

Pang Jin now had several hypothetical plans in his mind.

The worst plan: the Crown Prince's death might have been done by Li Chen. Li Chen and the Empress Dowager were in the same group. Only when the Crown Prince died suddenly and the Emperor passed away could Li Chen take the opportunity to ascend the throne in a legitimate way.

Perhaps the force hiding in the dark just wanted to tell Pang Jin this point.

Pang Jin just dared to think about these, but absolutely didn't dare to say them.

If this were really the case, Pang Jin would certainly stop the investigation or delay the progress of the investigation. As the Minister of Justice, he could still do this point.

As long as he didn't want to investigate, no one would know how the Crown Prince died.

He could indefinitely investigate with the excuse of insufficient clues.

The previous Minister of Justice, Feng Huai, did this, but he indeed had insufficient clues.

Pang Jin was just a newly promoted Minister of Justice and hadn't been bold enough to dare to investigate the Emperor.

Besides, the Minister of Justice was just the Emperor's dog. A dog biting its master was not appropriate.

Pang Jin's power was all given by Li Chen, and Li Chen was also his background. If he toppled Li Chen, he would be the one suffering.

He just had ability and didn't like to be in the same boat with others. His goal was to survive in a place like the Imperial Capital where the water was deep, not to be so upright that he had to get to the bottom of every matter.

Besides, there was no right or wrong in the struggles of the imperial family.

Li Chen was already at the full level of the Sage Realm, and even a famous powerhouse like Lord Dingtian had been defeated. He had no reason to provoke Li Chen, and he had no way to deal with Li Chen.

However, there was one point: Pang Jin felt this probably wasn't done by Li Chen. Li Chen didn't have that kind of desire for imperial power and didn't centralize power after becoming Emperor.

In other words, if Li Chen wanted to be Emperor, he just needed to show his strength, then the late Emperor would even beg him to be Emperor. There was no need to use such means to ruin his own reputation.

Even if not, Pang Jin still had to consider the possibility.

The second plan: it was done by the Empress Dowager, and it had nothing to do with Li Chen.

Then the person in the dark was certainly trying to take this opportunity to sow discord between Li Chen and the Empress Dowager.

Because once the matter was investigated and the truth was made public, Li Chen, in order to maintain the dignity of the imperial family, would certainly have to deal with the Empress Dowager.

The most important thing was that Li Chen still had the ability to handle it; he was the Emperor at the Sage Realm.

Then, looking at the relationship between Li Chen and the Empress Dowager now, Li Chen would be cutting off his own arm.

If the Empress Dowager had an accident, the Zou Clan of Xiliang wouldn't let it go either.

If it were really done by the Empress Dowager, Pang Jin would come to ask Li Chen whether he should continue to investigate.

If Li Chen really wanted to clean up the Empress Dowager, Pang Jin would certainly be the vanguard. If Li Chen wanted to protect the Empress Dowager, then Pang Jin would pretend he didn't see it.

All this depended on how Li Chen wanted him to handle it.

Of course, Pang Jin didn't say the first plan; he only stated the hypothesis of the second plan.

As for other plans, they were all irrelevant; he had the ability to solve them himself.

Pang Jin just didn't dare to move people around Li Chen; it didn't mean he didn't dare to move others.

As the Minister of Justice, others should be afraid of him.

Recently, he had cleaned up quite a few noble clans.

Li Chen looked at the file in his hand and indeed realized this point.

The Empress Dowager must have hidden very deeply. Perhaps a long time ago, she was playing a game with the Emperor. Li Chen had heard a little about these.

"Fine, you've worked hard recently. You stop investigating this matter here for now; I will give you a reply tomorrow."

Hearing this, Pang Jin directly took his leave and left.

He had a lot of things to do, and next he had to be busy with the docking work with the sects.

This point might be brought up at the morning court tomorrow.

The Tian Ce Dynasty needed to add a department specifically responsible for the registration and management of these sects.

The power of this management department was very great, equal to the Six Ministries, and it managed a lot of resources, so it needed to arrange Li Chen's confidants to sit in town.

Pang Jin would certainly recommend Lin Yue'e. Although Lin Yue'e's official position was low, her political achievements were too outstanding; it was just that there was no suitable position for the time being.

By then, even if other court officials had opinions, they wouldn't dare to speak directly. Opposing Lin Yue'e would mostly mean offending Li Chen.

Pang Jin hadn't considered blocking this matter in the Ministry of Justice.

He had considered many points here. If he managed sect affairs, his own official power would become greater and greater. Originally, the Ministry of Justice had many experts, and plus being able to let sect powerhouses help, it would have a certain impact on imperial power.

Even if it was fine now, because the current Emperor was strong enough, he was at the Sage Realm.

But what about later? Could he guarantee that subsequent Emperors would always be at the Sage Realm? Would the future Minister of Justice, having obtained such great power, act arbitrarily?

These were all points Pang Jin needed to consider, so after thinking for a few days, he still decided to establish a new department and divide the power.

By the way, sell Lin Yue'e a favor.

Lin Yue'e hadn't had a promotion in official position; wasn't it because she couldn't find a suitable position?

Pang Jin had been in contact with Lin Yue'e and felt that her ability to handle things was strong, and she was also a bit persistent, but these were secondary; the main thing was that Lin Yue'e was absolutely loyal to Li Chen.

Now it was just Pang Jin's conception; the specifics could only wait until the morning court tomorrow.

There was one point Pang Jin was very puzzled about, which was how Li Chen would handle this matter. Did Li Chen have other ways to obtain information? Or did Li Chen know some inside information?

These were just his guesses; specifically how to do it depended on Li Chen's news.

Li Chen had his own way of thinking. After Pang Jin left, he also left the Imperial Study and went directly to the Empress Dowager's bedroom.

At this time of day, the Empress Dowager was practicing exercises in the room, because she had eaten quite a bit of hot pot recently and needed to maintain the curves of her body.

Generally, at this time, no one else could disturb her. The Empress Dowager was wearing training clothes, which was equivalent to tights. Not to mention the full curves, even the camel toe could be seen clearly.

After she practiced for a while, she suddenly stopped.

It wasn't because she practiced wrong, but because Li Chen was standing at the door at some point.

It could be said that besides not seeing the full picture, Li Chen could see clearly what the Empress Dowager looked like inside.

Especially the flexibility of the Empress Dowager's body, and the various gullies produced by the squeezing of the fullness, were indeed enough to feast one's eyes.

"Your Majesty, when did you come?" The Empress Dowager stopped practicing and walked over.

Her eyes were looking at the confidant palace maid next to her, seemingly saying: His Majesty came, why didn't you tell me?

But the confidant palace maid was also very embarrassed. When Li Chen came, she actually wanted to report, but Li Chen made a quiet gesture, so she didn't dare to speak.

"I've been here for a while, just seeing that you were practicing relatively intently, so I didn't want to disturb your practice. If you haven't finished practicing, you can continue; don't worry about me," Li Chen said casually.

Anyway, this kind of good show was pleasing to the eye, and Li Chen still wanted to watch for a while longer.

The Empress Dowager's figure dancing like this was indeed even more tempting.

In the future, he would have to let Lady Youlan and the others learn more. However, with their cultivation foundation, this shouldn't be difficult.

With the Empress Dowager's approach, Li Chen could feel the extreme temptation.

At this moment, the Empress Dowager asked the palace maid to bring clothes for her to wear. Li Chen directly stopped her, and let the palace maid go out, close the door, and walk far away.

The result that stunned the Empress Dowager was that her palace maid really just left.

Ah? Don't you need to ask for my opinion?

How could the palace maids know these things? They had always thought that the Empress Dowager and Li Chen were in the same group, just like what Pang Jin thought.

With Li Chen's approach, the Empress Dowager perceived a trace of crisis. She felt that she should have paid attention to her image just now; now she estimated that Li Chen was going to make a mistake.

Just when she was preparing to warn Li Chen not to mess around, Li Chen had already sat in the position next to her and signaled her to sit down too.

The Empress Dowager finally breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that she was going to have a big problem this time.

It looked like it should be that Li Chen had something to find her, so she sat in the position next to her.

However, she was wearing this set of clothes and talking to Li Chen, always feeling it was very strange, but Li Chen's one sentence made her dispel the complicated thoughts in her brain.

Li Chen said: "Did you kill the Crown Prince?" The Empress Dowager replied with a blank face: "Your Majesty, what does this mean?"

Her appearance indeed couldn't see any psychological fluctuation.

This was what she practiced in the inner court.

But the fluctuation on her body could still be seen.

This she couldn't cover up.

"My subordinate has already investigated to the Zou family, asking me whether I should continue to investigate." Li Chen's way of speaking was still very casual.

"This commoner doesn't understand." The Empress Dowager had been observing Li Chen's expression, seemingly wanting to see something.

"Aiyo, don't talk to me about these twists and turns. You also know the relationship between us. If you killed him, just say it directly. I'll let Pang Jin stop investigating. If you didn't kill him, I'll let Pang Jin continue to investigate. I'll just tell the truth. Look, this answer is fine."

Li Chen wasn't the type who liked to be long-winded and liked to play games.

If it were other Emperors with insufficient strength, they would certainly be afraid of the pressure of court officials, afraid of offending the Empress Dowager, and would have to inquire from the side, and it would be best not to let the Empress Dowager know that they were inquiring about her, doing things sneakily.

Then the Empress Dowager would hear the wind and make precautions, and use language to probe.

!

The two began to play games.

On the surface, they were harmonious, but in secret, they fought to the death.

Li Chen didn't need to do these troublesome things at all, and he didn't like to engage in intrigue with others.

He could even ask directly like this.

You have your conspiracies, and I have my full-level way of playing.

When I have the ability to make anyone disappear directly from this world, then I can play according to my own ideas.

Li Chen looked at the Empress Dowager: You just tell me honestly. Our relationship is good. If it were really you who did it, I'll just protect you. Anyway, I'm not familiar with the Crown Prince, and I didn't label myself as some sage monarch.

Hearing Li Chen's words, even the Empress Dowager, who had been fighting in the inner court for so many years, was stunned.

The Empress Dowager would judge what a person was going to do and what their intention was from every word of everyone.

Even the late Emperor, when talking to her, was very particular about his words.

But Li Chen's plain words, and even saying them directly, were the first time the Empress Dowager had heard them.

I originally used a rhetorical question; shouldn't you continue to probe? You just said it?

Not only directly asking if she killed the Crown Prince, but also saying Pang Jin's name.

However, thinking about it, Pang Jin was the Minister of Justice; he could indeed investigate, and he also listened to Li Chen.

Besides, Li Chen wanted to protect Pang Jin, and really no one dared to move him.

The more obedient the dog, the more the master naturally protects it.

At this moment, the Empress Dowager opened her mouth wanting to say something, then closed her mouth.

It wasn't that she couldn't say it, but because she instinctively wanted to say conversational rhetoric; this was already her habit.

Considering that Li Chen didn't want to listen, she was considering how to say it straightforwardly.

Wearing a mask for a lifetime, tearing it off was a bit difficult.

Considering how to say it straightforwardly, the Empress Dowager said: "The Crown Prince was certainly not killed by this commoner. It wouldn't be good for this commoner to kill him either. However, the Crown Prince wanted to please this commoner before and had contact with this commoner's clansmen. There are many factions within the Zou Clan, and it's not something this commoner can control alone. You just let Pang Jin continue to investigate."

The Zou family was a complex great clan. Those people inside, in order to obtain higher power, naturally also contacted other forces everywhere.

Not to mention the remnants of the previous dynasty, even the foreign forces from the west, their own Prince of Zhennan, and even the top noble clans of the Tian Ce Dynasty, the Zou family had contact with all of them.

The reason the Empress Dowager said this was because she also wanted to know who killed the Crown Prince, and she now had such a good relationship with Li Chen, so she could also appropriately help Li Chen solve those people in her own family who had opinions about Li Chen.

Only when Li Chen's throne was stable was her status stable.

The Empress Dowager hadn't thought about being a female Emperor, but the Emperor was at the Sage Realm; what could she use to be one?

People would change. At that time, Li Chen didn't deliberately pretend to be a pig to eat the tiger to humiliate her, so she followed the steps down, looking for a change of track, and "recruiting" Li Chen into her own camp, which was actually fine.

It couldn't be said that Li Chen surrendered to her. As long as she needed it, Li Chen could help. How was this not a way of belonging to her own camp?

She just wanted to understand this point, so she began to invest in Li Chen.

As for the remnants of the previous dynasty and other things, the Empress Dowager knew a lot, but Li Chen didn't ask, so she was too lazy to say.

There were quite a few secrets hidden on her.

Li Chen was also too lazy to know too much. The Imperial Capital was surging, like a whirlpool that could swallow people at any time. Most people were hiding, afraid of being targeted by the whirlpool and then swallowed.

But he dared to stand outside alone and do things according to his own will, and the whirlpool didn't dare to approach him.

Because who would destroy whom, that wasn't certain yet.

Since he knew the Crown Prince wasn't harmed by the Empress Dowager, Li Chen was still willing to stay here for a while longer.

He even ate dinner with the Empress Dowager before going back.

What made the Empress Dowager speechless was that she wanted to change clothes the whole time, but Li Chen used the excuse that this looked relatively good and just didn't let her change.

She was a bit helpless. Do you think that looks good? I'm too embarrassed to point it out for you!

The Empress Dowager just kept wearing the shameful training clothes until Li Chen left.

In Li Chen's bedroom, Chu Ruoyan had been waiting for a long time. She wanted to share Xia Qing's information with Li Chen.

She had just found out what Xia Qing liked.

As long as she told Li Chen these, it would be relatively easy for Li Chen to conquer her, which could be considered as sharing worries for Li Chen in aspects within her power.

But before she could speak, her mouth was blocked by Li Chen.

The next morning court, Li Chen was still sitting lazily on the dragon chair.

No matter how he sat, the court officials felt it was the appearance of a true dragon!

Regarding the matter of impeaching people in the morning court, the court officials all felt that Pang Jin was the most active. Every time he spoke, someone would be unlucky.

But this time, the first to step out was the Vice Minister of War.

Everyone thought he would speak about the war situation in the north. Every time there was a great victory, he would say it at the morning court; this was a convention and also his duty.

But as soon as the Vice Minister of War spoke, it wasn't the northern war situation, but impeaching his own Minister, Zou Chong, for being in Qingqiucheng for so long without sending back any news, simply having no ability, a very low level, and possibly being bought by the Third Imperial Prince!

The Minister of War was a person of the Empress Dowager. The unknown Vice Minister of War dared to impeach him; his courage was simply huge.

More court officials thought that this might be the intention of some big shot in the court, wanting to weaken the Empress Dowager's forces.

But Li Chen seemed to see it. This Vice Minister of War seemed full of resentment; it was just his own impeachment.

As the Vice Minister of War, acting on behalf of the Minister of War, now the military situation of the war in the north, resource mobilization, etc., all needed him to manage.

It was simply from morning to night, and in the end, the political achievements might be given to Zou Chong.

Thinking of this, the Vice Minister of War was certainly unconvinced. He took the salary of a Vice Minister and did the work of a Minister. What if the war was almost over and Zou Chong came back to grab the credit?

Not steaming buns, but fighting for breath, he simply impeached his own Minister directly.

Anyway, Zou Chong went to Qingqiu City for an hour without any movement; his impeachment was reasonable and compliant.

At this time, many court officials were looking at Li Chen. Li Chen's relationship with the Empress Dowager was good. Would he conflict with the Empress Dowager for the Vice Minister of War?

Maybe they ignored one point: Li Chen didn't seem to know that the Vice Minister of War was a person of the Empress Dowager.

Even if he knew, it didn't matter. In Li Chen's view, weren't these all his subordinates?

I don't care whose you are; I am the Emperor, you all have to listen to me!

Since this subordinate felt wronged, and the other subordinate couldn't make any achievements, that's easy to handle.

Only to see Li Chen say: "You have indeed performed well recently, then you and the Minister of War swap positions."

The Vice Minister of War was overjoyed inside. He was promoted! Finally, he had made it!

He immediately knelt down to thank him: "Your Majesty is wise!"

This made the surrounding court officials a bit surprised.

They thought Li Chen would appease the Vice Minister of War, give some rewards, and this matter would pass.

Who knew Li Chen even promoted him. If he hadn't opened his mouth this time, he might have been a working Vice Minister of War for a lifetime.

Next, the outrageous part came. Prime Minister Zhao Wenyuan felt that many people's gazes were looking at him.

He instantly thought of something, then glared back.

You guys are rebellious, and still want to impeach me to take the position!?

Who encouraged this unhealthy trend!

Oh, it's His Majesty, then it's fine!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 139 =====