Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

Guo Tianyang pinched Wu Sheng's philtrum while patting his chest.

After quite a while, Wu Sheng finally came to his senses and immediately wailed, "I'm suffering, Your Majesty!!"

"That Fang Zheng forced me to say that I had carnal relations with a female dog in my house! He wouldn't let me leave if I didn't confess!"

Li Yuanzhao chuckled, but then he saw the Emperor Jing's murderous gaze.

Emperor Jing frowned: "So what if you said it! Even if he forced you, who would believe it if it got out?"

Wu Sheng panicked: "It's... it's that horn! That horn can actually record sounds!"

"The words I said can be played back through that horn exactly as I said them!"

"Fang Zheng threatened me, saying that if I widely publicize Taoyuan County, he would release the recording to the world!"

"He also said it's like having mud on your crotch, even if it's not shit, it still looks like shit."

"I am a scholar! How could he treat me like this? Please, Your Majesty, execute this scoundrel! He's not human! He's a demon! He's not human!!!"

Wu Sheng hugged Guo Tianyang's leg, wailing incessantly.

At this point, Emperor Jing and Guo Tianyang had no mood to pay attention to him.

Guo Tianyang's eyes were glazed over, and he kept muttering: "No being a hostage, no being a hostage! Damn it! This Fang Zheng is really not a good thing..."

Emperor Jing was trembling with anger. When he signed the contract, he had recited curses into the horn for a long time.

He never expected that the words he said would be recorded so perfectly! He never imagined that such a magical device existed in this world! This boy is truly hateful!

Li Yuanzhao's eyes were shining with excitement, and he almost jumped up and clapped his hands!

Interesting! Interesting! There is such a villain in the world! Such a treasure! I must meet him when I have time!

After calming down, Emperor Jing continued to ask: "Is there anything else! I want to know all the details!"

After the emotional outburst, Wu Sheng entered a relaxed state.

Since he had already given up, he might as well confess everything.

So, he continued to mutter: "Besides that, Fang Zheng also promised me a house and five hundred taels of silver, saying that I could go directly to Taoyuan County after I retire."

"Then he let me go... That's all."

.......................

Emperor Jing paced back and forth, thinking deeply.

He appreciated Fang Zheng's unconventional behavior, but now it was clearly excessive!

An official was going to such lengths to stay in a small county, not serving the imperial family. Did he think the Emperor was made of paper!

After a while, Emperor Jing slowly spoke in Wu Sheng's uneasy gaze: "Wu Sheng! As the Inspector of Hengjiang Prefecture, you have openly accepted bribes!"

"Your official position is revoked, and you are demoted to a commoner!"

"You must not tell anyone about what happened here. As for whether you return to Hengjiang Prefecture or Taoyuan County, I will not interfere. Go!"

"I will take care of Fang Zheng's matter myself, you don't need to worry."

Wu Sheng was overjoyed! He thanked the Emperor repeatedly.

He had saved his life! He didn't care about losing his official position! He would still live a life of luxury in Taoyuan County!

He would never tell anyone about this. Only a fool would tell others.

So, Wu Sheng repeatedly kowtowed and was then dismissed by Guo Tianyang.

Guo Tianyang glanced at the Crown Prince, who hadn't left yet, and whispered: "Your Majesty, aren't you being too lenient with this Wu Sheng?"

Emperor Jing glanced at him: "If it were you, what would you do?"

"Ah... this...."

Guo Tianyang was dumbfounded. Although eunuchs had a bad reputation and were often cursed behind their backs for being childless,

he thought that if Fang Zheng did things like this, even his decades of professional ethics would not be able to withstand it!

Eunuchs also had to save face!

"Uh... Your Majesty is wise!"

"Alas... who would have thought that there would be a magical device in this world that could record people's voices! It's simply the work of immortals."

"He actually used such a magical device to do such despicable things! What a bastard! I wish I could summon him here and beat him a few times!"

Emperor Jing looked like he hated that Fang Zheng was not living up to his expectations.

Guo Tianyang nodded repeatedly. If such a talent came to the Eastern Depot, he would have to abdicate and give way to him! He was really a top-notch bad seed!

"Prepare yourself. I will go to Taoyuan County again in the next few days."

Li Yuanzhao jumped up excitedly when he heard this, and said excitedly: "Father! I want to go with you too!"

Emperor Jing immediately reprimanded him: "Nonsense! I will give you one more chance!"

"If you act as recklessly as last time, I will skin you alive!"

Li Yuanzhao retorted: "Go ahead! If you go, I'll rebuild the Tiger and Leopard Garden!"

"It's impossible to attend court! It's impossible in this lifetime!"

"I'll just watch the beast fights in the Tiger and Leopard Garden!"

Emperor Jing was furious and raised his hand to slap the Crown Prince, but Guo Tianyang quickly stopped him.

He whispered: "Your Majesty, it's better to take the Crown Prince to broaden his horizons. Your Majesty has fought for many years to achieve today's great achievements, but the Crown Prince has grown up in the deep palace. It's good for him to see the world."

"Taoyuan County is very peculiar, maybe he can gain some insights?"

"Besides, we will be back in two or three days, it won't be long."

Emperor Jing thought for a moment and felt that there was some truth to it, so he slowly lowered his hand and said seriously: "Okay! I promise you."

"But you and I have to make three rules. You cannot travel outside as the Crown Prince, you cannot leave my side, and after returning to the capital, if I tell you to go east, you must never go west."

"Can you do it?"

"Yes!" Li Yuanzhao agreed without hesitation.

What happens afterward doesn't matter! Let's go first! He had never seen such an interesting person in the palace.

"Okay! Then you go back."

After Li Yuanzhao left, Guo Tianyang asked: "Your Majesty, why not directly summon Fang Zheng to the capital?"

"I want to observe him further to see if he can withstand cultivation. He has enough ability, but his character... I want to see more."

Guo Tianyang said: "This person obviously has no ambition. He used such dirty tricks to stay in Taoyuan County!"

Emperor Jing smiled slightly and didn't say anything.

Everything today was basically laying the foundation for the Crown Prince's future.

He only had this one son, and the country could only be inherited by Li Yuanzhao. Although the current Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet were capable, the new people below seemed to be lacking in strength.

They only knew how to follow the rules and didn't know how to adapt.

And people like Fang Zheng were suitable for cultivation. First, he didn't seem to care much about the struggle for power and profit.

Second, once such a person entered the court, he would definitely be disliked by others, and he wouldn't be involved in forming factions.

Good ability, indifferent to fame and fortune, bad relationships, simply the best candidate to pave the way for the Crown Prince's future.

"Your Majesty... Fang Zheng still has the poisonous oath we made back then... What do you think?" Guo Tianyang asked cautiously.

What he was most concerned about was actually this. Although he didn't use his real name, it was his voice!

It's like a toad crawling on your foot, it doesn't bite, but it's disgusting.

Mentioning this, Emperor Jing also began to have a headache. He was dizzy at the time and signed a confidentiality agreement with him.

"Let's put this matter aside for now! We'll talk about it when Fang Zheng is summoned to the capital in the future!"

......