The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 619

Emperor Jiajing finally received Zhou Chu's memorial. He opened it and read it; it listed the crimes of those officials and the related chain of interests.

After reading it, even though he had expected it, Jiajing could not contain his anger and slammed the memorial on the table.

"This is outrageous! These people and the Salt Gang are utterly lawless, embezzling so much of the imperial court's property."

Even though it was expected, seeing how audacious these people were, with the imperial court only receiving a small portion of the salt revenue while the majority was divided up by them, was something Jiajing could not tolerate under any circumstances.

According to the confessions of these people, there were originally many big shots in this chain of interests, far more than just third-rank officials. However, most of them, who were of the third rank or above, had either retired or were directly investigated and punished by Zhou Chu.

Xia Yan is indeed a ruthless person. He is too ambitious. Even with such great benefits right in front of him, he did not participate because he knew very well that this matter could not withstand investigation. If someone wanted to target him, this would be his fatal weakness.

"My lord, please calm down. These people do deserve to die, but it's not worth it to harm the Emperor's body because of them."

Huang Jin gently comforted her from the side.

Upon hearing this, Jiajing sat down and pointed to Zhou Chu's memorial.

"Send it to the Cabinet and let them determine the charges against these people. We can discuss this matter further in court tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Huang Jin subtly picked up the memorial, then left the Imperial Study and headed towards the Wenyuan Pavilion.

Inside the Wenyuan Pavilion, Yang Yiqing, Yang Shen, and others were teasing Xia Yan. Xia Yan had indeed been having health problems these past few days and had asked the cabinet for a few days off. It wasn't a problem that he hadn't been on duty, but that afternoon, Xia Yan had no choice but to appear at the Wenyuan Pavilion.

"Lord Xia, what's wrong with you? Why do you look so haggard? Is there something wrong with the doctor that Lord Zhou found for you?"

When Yang Yiqing saw Xia Yan's appearance, he was immediately shocked. Xia Yan looked ten years older than before, with many fine wrinkles on his face. After a few days of treatment, his dark circles were not as severe, but anyone with eyes could see that Xia Yan had a serious health problem.

"The doctor that Lord Zhou found for me is fine, and the medicine he prescribed is all good."

Xia Yan thought about it and couldn't find any fault with the Imperial Guard who treated him. He just felt that he had been indulging in too much sex and had no self-control, which led to his current state.

Because no matter who saw the prescription, no one could see anything wrong with it. Even if Xia Yan wanted to suspect something, he couldn't, since the medicine was prepared by his own people.

Xia Yan thought through every detail but couldn't find anything wrong with Zhou Chu.

"Why is Grand Secretary Xia acting this way?"

Yang Shen, who was standing to the side, was startled when he saw Xia Yan's appearance.

"The medicine that the man sent by Lord Zhou prescribed for me was indeed good. It brought back the feeling of my youth. I became a little unrestrained and indulged in too much sex."

Xia Yan smiled wryly.

Xia Yan didn't need to hide this from him. After all, he had already lost all face in this regard, so he didn't care about losing a little more.

"I knew it. I heard that in the last half month, Grand Secretary Xia has taken three new concubines. It seems that the person sent by Lord Zhou is really capable. However, Grand Secretary Xia should know how to be moderate, otherwise it will harm his health."

Yang Yiqing joked.

"Grand Secretary Xia is in good health. He took three concubines in half a month. No wonder he looks so haggard."

Yang Shen smiled.

Jia Yong, standing to the side, did not tease Xia Yan. He was always taciturn and focused on his work in the cabinet. He knew Xia Yan's character very well. This man was ruthless. Yang Yiqing and Yang Shen, one the Grand Secretary and the other the leader of the literary world, did not have much conflict of interest. Xia Yan would not easily provoke these two.