Emperor Yongchang was furious about the matter.
At the same time, he simply could not understand it.
First there had been Tian Baoci, who treated human lives as worthless, murdering people and throwing their bodies to dogs as feed.
And now there was Ren Ming!
What was even more infuriating was that Ren Ming had been personally promoted by him to his current position.
Yet he had never realized that this favored minister at his side was such a person!
Grand Secretary Li was even angrier than the Emperor.
He had spoken up for the Ren family because of the Crown Prince’s interests, only to discover that Ren Ming had left behind such a devastating weakness for others to seize.
He was one of the most influential men in the empire, yet never in his life had he felt such terror.
Meanwhile, the others in the Grand Secretariat wore solemn expressions.
Especially Chu Bo, who cast Lai Chenglong a casual glance.
Lai Chenglong seemed to have become particularly fond of meddling in other people’s affairs lately.
Everyone harbored their own thoughts.
For a moment, no one dared speak.
Grand Secretary Li was genuinely frightened.
Trembling, unable to make sense of it, he asked, “Why would Ren Ming kill so many women? At his age, and with his circumstances… could there perhaps be some misunderstanding?”
His relationship with Ren Ming had always been close.
After all, both belonged to the Crown Prince’s faction.
Moreover, Ren Ming had secretly supplied him with no shortage of benefits over the years.
If Ren Ming’s crimes were truly confirmed, he himself would suffer consequences as well, and it would inevitably affect the Crown Prince.
Lai Chenglong had been waiting precisely for those words. Slowly, he handed a headscarf to Eunuch Xia and said gravely, “Your Majesty, the reason I went to the Ren residence was because Ren Shuquan was found in possession of a White Lotus Sect headscarf.”
The White Lotus Sect!
Grand Secretary Li’s face instantly turned ashen.
At that moment, he almost wished he could simply die.
D*mn it!
How was that possible?!
Ren Ming wasn’t insane. How could he possibly be connected to the White Lotus Sect?
Even Chu Bo’s brows twitched sharply.
The other Grand Secretaries became even more unwilling to speak.
The matter was clearly spiraling larger and larger.
Once the White Lotus Sect was involved, it would not just be the Ren family that suffered, countless others could be implicated as well.
The headscarf was presented before Emperor Yongchang.
He glanced at it and let out a cold laugh. “Excellent. So I’ve been paying generous salaries and granting high offices only to raise a nest of rebels!”
Rebels!
The weight of those words was enormous.
Everyone’s expressions changed.
Even Chu Bo hurriedly rose and knelt. “Your Majesty, calm your anger! Your Majesty, calm your anger!”
Grand Secretary Li was drenched in cold sweat. For a moment, he felt as though he could barely breathe. With a miserable expression, he muttered, “How could this be? How could this be?”
No matter how hard he tried, he simply could not understand how Ren Ming could possibly be connected to the White Lotus Sect.
Emperor Yongchang immediately ordered Lai Chenglong,
“Today, I will personally preside over this case. Go and bring Ren Ming here!”
Lai Chenglong hurriedly acknowledged the command.
***
At that moment, Ren Ming was still handling official business at his government office. On the surface, he had always appeared amiable. He treated everyone politely and never put on airs or made life difficult for others.
As a result, he enjoyed an excellent reputation in court.
At present, he was leisurely sipping tea. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, “I heard things are lively outside today. Any interesting news?”
The matter of Ren Zhong’s death had already passed. The only one unable to let go of it was Old Madam Ren. That was why she had invited a large number of monks to the residence to conduct prayer ceremonies.
As for Ren Ming, he had no time to dwell on such things.
His thoughts were entirely focused on ensuring that the Lu family would be successfully destroyed and permanently branded as traitors to the nation.
That, in turn, would bring down Xiao Yunting.
If he could successfully carry out this task for the Crown Prince, he would become the next Chu Bo.
The next Chief Grand Secretary.
Schemes like this naturally involved risks. But the rewards were worth taking them for.
His attendant had only gotten as far as recounting Ren Shuquan’s seizure of Confucius’s statue from the Imperial Academy when Ren Shuquan’s cousin, Huang Mingqing, was hurriedly ushered in by another subordinate.
The moment he saw Ren Ming, he dropped to his knees. “Eldest Uncle! Something terrible has happened! The Imperial Guards, the Imperial Guards have raided the family estate!”
For a moment, Ren Ming thought he had misheard.
What had he just heard?
The Imperial Guards had raided whose estate?
The Ren family was now celebrated throughout the empire as a loyal and faithful household.
Even Emperor Yongchang intended to reward them.
The Imperial Guards were the Emperor’s watchdogs.
Had they completely lost the ability to read the situation?
Immediately, he barked, “Nonsense!”
Huang Mingqing looked utterly miserable, tears streaming down his face. “It’s true, Eldest Uncle! The Imperial Guards dug up countless corpses in your courtyard…”
Only then did Ren Ming’s expression truly change. He shot to his feet.
Even someone as calculating and experienced as he was could not help turning pale.
Those corpses!
There were far too many of them.
How could he possibly explain them?
How could he explain them?!
His fingers turned icy cold.
For a moment, he could not even hold his teacup steady.
His hand trembled.
Crash!
The teacup fell to the floor and shattered into pieces.
The very next moment, Lai Chenglong entered with Chunsheng, Chunlin, and a group of Imperial Guards. Like wolves descending upon prey, they surged forward without another word and seized Ren Ming.
Even if Ren Ming possessed three heads and six arms, there was nothing he could do now. His heart and soul shaken, he shouted, “No! Wait! Just wait a moment!”
As if Lai Chenglong would wait.
With a cold snort, he replied with a half-smile, “Lord Ren, His Majesty wishes to see you. His Majesty doesn’t have time to wait.”
***
The entire government office was thrown into an uproar.
What a day it had been.
Normally, being an official was rather dull.
Most work consisted of the same repetitive tasks day after day.
Yet today they had watched one drama after another unfold.
The spectacle was so overwhelming that they could barely keep up.
It was more entertaining than attending an opera troupe performance.
The Ren family truly was full of remarkable people.
The younger brother had died to expose a corrupt official.
The elder brother had become a mass murderer who buried corpses.
They had seen military generals kill countless enemies on battlefields before.
But they had never seen a civil official like Ren Ming.
Whispers immediately spread everywhere.
***
From a teahouse, Qi Zhen watched as Lai Chenglong and the Imperial Guards escorted Ren Ming away. Clicking his tongue, he remarked, “He killed so many people. Was he trying to borrow their lifespans?”
Qi Yuan glanced at him. Pouring herself a cup of tea, she asked calmly, “Father, how did you know?”
Know what?
Qi Zhen looked completely baffled.
He had just been making a random guess!
He didn’t know anything!
But then realization struck. His mouth dropped open. “H-he really was…?”
Had he gone mad?!
The very idea sounded absurd even to hear aloud.
Yet it was actually true?
What exactly was Ren Ming?
Was he an official or a cultivator seeking immortality?
If he wanted to cultivate immortality, he should have gone to Longhu Mountain!
Or at the very least to Maoshan!
Had something gone wrong with his brain?
Old Marquis Qi ignored his son. Accepting the tea Qi Yuan handed him, he asked softly, “Yuan Jie’er, how did you know?”
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