Regarding the handling of Cao Zhengchun's future crimes against the imperial family, due to the Ming Emperor's vague and evasive attitude, Cao was merely stripped of his position as the head of the Eastern Bureau as a disciplinary measure, without sustaining any real harm.
However, Cao Zhengchun had put on a stellar performance of remorse and confession right in front of the emperor, practically slapping his own face to show contrition, and had the emperor personally vouching for him. In the end, when pressed step-by-step by the Dragon Guarding Manor, the Ming Emperor casually dropped a single sentence: "If this Celestial Screen eventually exposes what others in the future might do to harm the Ming dynasty, I wonder if the Dragon Guarding Manor will still handle matters strictly according to the law." That one remark instantly forced Zhu Tiehan to call off his troops. Although the three secret agents of Heaven, Earth, and Man found this completely baffling, they obediently followed orders.
Before long, the Celestial Screen began to display hot comments from netizens, and a miraculous scene unfolded. The common people of the Ming dynasty watched the whole spectacle with undisguised delight. Moreover, the eunuchs and the Eastern Bureau of the Ming dynasty had long been notorious; in the eyes of ordinary citizens and court officials alike, they were a pack of vicious wolves and poisonous snakes, and everyone wished they could be eradicated swiftly.
Chapter 626