Chapter 12 Knocking

"Your Majesty, I found out that the fat man driving in the market just now was the housekeeper of Duke Shen's mansion." Not long after Yang Yong returned to the palace, Liu Hu came over to report the search results just now.

"Will there be any mistakes in the butler of Duke Shen's Mansion?" Yang Yong was greatly surprised.

"Report to the Emperor, he is indeed the steward of the Duke of Shen Guo. The steward of the Duke of Shen Guo Guo has to go to the East City every few days to purchase it. Every time he travels around, he often buys and sells it forcibly. Weichen has already mastered several miserables. It is obvious that goods worth hundreds of coins, if the Shen Guo Guo buys them, they will not pay more than fifty coins. If the owner does not sell them, they will immediately smash the store." Liu Hu has been trained by Yang Yong for more than ten years, and is as careful as he has asked clearly what the emperor told him.

"Hmph." Yang Yong slapped the table heavily. Thinking about the past, when the four evil people in the capital were domineering on the streets, they were all really royal relatives. Unexpectedly, a housekeeper in Duke Shen's mansion is so arrogant now? Is the Great Sui Dynasty not as good as the former Zhou Dynasty? Yang Yong said angrily: "Since that is the case, isn't anyone complaining to Jingzhao Yin, and Jingzhao Yin doesn't care?"

Liu Hu said in a hurry: "Return to the emperor, I have asked several people, and someone has visited the former Jingzhao Yin to file a complaint. However, Guo Yan responded to the investigation without any evidence. After several times, no one complained again. The current Jingzhao Yin has only been in office for three months. Is there any complaint? I don't know whether I have sent someone to notify Jingzhao Yin to prepare to enter the palace to see the emperor."

Yang Yong nodded. Liu Hu was indeed in every way and was more considerate than Yang Shi. He tapped the table with his hand and said, "Go, pass Li Hun into the palace."

"Yes, my servant follows the order!"

Li Hun was not only Duke Shen, but also one of the generals of the Twelve Guards. His residence was much closer to the emperor than Jingzhao Yin, so he came earlier than Jingzhao Yin. When Liu Hu reported that Li Hu had arrived first, Yang Yong said directly: "Let him wait and see Jingzhao Yin first."

"Yes, I am following the order." After Liu Hugong went down, he immediately threw Li Hun aside.

Li Hun was in his forties, in his prime, and held high power. It was when he was full of energy. Such a person would naturally not be simple. In fact, he was Li Mu's youngest son. It was not his turn to inherit the title of Duke Shen. After Li Mu died, because his eldest son died early, Duke Shen was given the title of Duke Shen to Li Jun, the eldest grandson of Li Mu. Li Hun instructed his other nephew Li Shanheng to kill Li Jun, and bribed Yuwen Shu to speak kind words in front of Emperor Wen of Sui, expressing his willingness to give him half of the land and property of Duke Shen's fief, so that Yuwen Shu could do his best in front of Emperor Wen of Sui. When Yuwen Shu was favored, with the help of Yuwen Shu, the position of Duke Shen fell to Li Hun.

However, Li Hun was not a generous person. As soon as Duke Shen arrived, he forgot all the land that promised Yuwen Shu. The two of them turned against each other. Now that Yuwen Shu was wiped out by the new emperor, Li Hun was even more proud of his actions at that time. Not only did he not give up the land, he also successfully drew a clear line with Yuwen Shu.

When Yuchi Jiong rebelled, it was Li Mu's timely surrender that the rebellion of Yang Jian general Yuchi Jiong and others was easily quelled. Now on a bloody night in the capital, Li Hun stood firmly on the side of the prince. After two contributions, the Li family also received generous rewards. When Li Mu was alive, he was ranked as the third duke. Now, in addition to him as the general of the Right Guard, his nephew Li Shanheng and Li Min were also granted the title of Marquis, General of the Cavalry, and held military power. In addition to the officials of each state, the power of the Li family is not bad at all compared to when Li Mu was alive. In the eyes of others, the Duke Shen Mansion is still the first family of the Sui Dynasty.

The emperor summoned Li Hun in Ganlu Hall, but Li Hun arrived behind Ganlu Hall, and the emperor was reluctant to summon him, which made him unable to help but become impatient. If it weren't for the palace that he could not have been allowed to break freely, Li Hun would have been unable to sit still. Today, the court had just been on vacation, and he was summoned into the palace, which made Li Hun a little confused.

A few steps came from outside the hall. Li Hun was happy when he heard this. He looked up and saw Jingzhao Yin Qu suddenly overwhelmed. He was stunned and thought to himself: "What are he doing?"

Qu Tugai was Qu Tutong's younger brother. He used to be the magistrate of Chang'an County. There were two counties under the capital, namely Chang'an County and Daxing County. After Guo Yan fell, Qu Tugai replaced Jingzhao Yin with Chang'an County Magistrate and was promoted several levels in succession.

Before he could guess the reason, an eunuch came out from the imperial study room. Xuan Qu Tugai Jin saw it. Li Hun was furious when he heard it. He waited for half an hour and the emperor did not see him. Unexpectedly, a fourth-rank Jingzhao Yin who had just been promoted from the county magistrate, was he going to summon him as soon as he arrived. Li Hun grabbed the eunuch's collar: "I will come first, why don't the emperor summon me first? Is it that you, a dog slave, falsely spread the imperial eunuch?"

Li Hun was very strong, and the eunuch was suddenly suffocated by Li Hun's hands. He couldn't help but roll his eyes, and he could not reply.

Qu Tugai couldn't see it and hurriedly said, "General Li, don't let go. This is the palace. Who dares to falsely pass the imperial edict?"

"Hmph." Li Hun saw the eunuch rolling his eyes, and realized that it was inappropriate. He lowered the eunuch in his hand. The eunuch's legs became weak and collapsed directly to the ground.

Qu Tuga quickly helped the eunuch up, "Cough, cough, cough." The eunuch couldn't help coughing several times and looked at Li Hun with a hint of cruelty. However, Li Hun didn't care at all. The eunuch of the Great Sui Dynasty had basically no power except for spreading messages for the emperor and doing chores in the palace. Li Hun was too lazy to talk to Qu Tuga, so he sat down again.

"Mr. Qu, the emperor is invited." After coughing, the eunuch knew that he had no choice but to send an order to Qu Tugai again.

Qu Tuga glanced at Li Hun, and saw that Li Hun ignored him, and there was no need to seek trouble for himself, so he bowed to the eunuch: "Okay, my father-in-law leads the way."

Seeing Qu Tugai and the eunuch heading towards the Imperial Study Room, Li Hun felt even more uncomfortable, and just sat down and waited patiently. This time, he waited for another half an hour.

In the imperial study room, Qu Tugai shook his clothes and knelt down: "I'm going to see the emperor."

"Don't give me a gift, Qu Aiqing, you have been serving as Jingzhao Yin for several months. I wonder if you will receive complaints from some people against the children and their families of the powerful people in the capital." Yang Yong asked.

Qu Tugai stood up and replied, "Go back to the emperor, I have received it."

“Oh, how many are there?”

"On the first day I took office, I received a complaint from someone who sued the newly established secret ward guards who broke into Daxing Temple to search for the rebels."

Yang Yong frowned slightly. After the secret guard went from secret to the open, he was boycotted by many ministers. In order not to make all officials disgusted too much, Yang Yong had to lower the level of the secret guard. All officials above the third rank were not investigated and interrogated by the secret guards, which made the officials accept it slightly, but they still felt uncomfortable. It is normal for someone to ask for trouble for the secret guards.

But at this moment, Qu Tugai suddenly mentioned the matter of the secret guard, and Yang Yong's face was still a little embarrassed: "That's not counting. Jingzhao Yin doesn't have to deal with any matter of the secret guard in the future."

"Yes, I am following the order. In addition to the matter of the secret guard, I am also receiving dozens of lawsuits against some ministers and their sons who fought and tried to hurt others on the streets. However, I have punished the injured and compensated them, and those who injured others have also accepted the punishment. I wonder if the emperor needs to check the case files?"

There were dozens of cases that had been accepted, and there were probably many cases that had not been complained. Yang Yong was secretly shocked when he heard it. If these powerful and noble children did not restrict them, they would not know how many disasters would be caused in the capital in the future. What exactly is that, he should check it first and then talk about it. He nodded slightly: "It's okay, submit all the case files I just mentioned to the palace, my dear, please go down."

"Yes, I'm leaving."

Qu Tuga retreated and felt a little uneasy. Those case files involved many children from aristocratic families. Although it was not a big deal, presenting these case files to the emperor always offends people very much. Even if Qu Tugaga was proud and offend too many people, it might be swallowed up by others. However, the emperor's will must not be ignored. Therefore, when Qu Tuga walked out of the imperial study, his face was full of bitterness, and he felt a little regretful that he had left so many case files in the past few months.

After Qu Tugae went out, Li Hun was summoned by the eunuch. At this time, Li Hun had been sitting in Ganlu Hall for almost an hour. When he saw Qu Tugae, he couldn't help but glared at him. Seeing the bitter expression on Qu Tutong's face, he walked into the imperial study room with suspicion.

"I'm going to see the Emperor."

Yang Yong looked at the head of the first family of the Great Sui Dynasty. It would be better to say that Li Hun was a powerful minister. Although the Li family was powerful and as long as one decree, Yang Yong believed that Li Hun could deprive Li Hun of his power. However, if he had no sufficient reason, forcing such a method would only be more than worth the loss of stability to the throne. Therefore, Yang Yong could not try it casually.

Yang Yong knew everything about Li Hun's past deeds, including his plan to seize the throne of Duke of Li Junshen, his nephew, Li Junshen. Such a person has too many ambitions. If he beats him from time to time, he may have to lift his tail up to the sky. One day, will he have any unreasonable thoughts?

Although Li Hun lowered his head, he could still feel the emperor's eyes staring at him. Of course, this would not be any kindness. Li Hun couldn't help but think about it. Could it be that he had something wrong with doing, and the more he thought about it, the more he became more uneasy. In the cold weather, his back was covered in cold sweat.
Chapter completed!