Zhao Mo watched a big show. When everyone dispersed, he, as the little follower of His Royal Highness the Prince, followed him all the way to the imperial study, and when he retreated left and right, he dared to whisper and ask: "The emperor did this on purpose?" deliberately planted an inexplicable crime for the prince of Shu?

The crown prince reacted halfway through the trial, and looked at the emperor with a smile when he heard the words: "Father is wise." In this way, there is no need to let people outside know the existence of Beirong's secret spies, and it can also make the prince of Shu suffer a big loss. ”

The emperor glanced at his son and nephew, looked indifferent, did not speak, just picked up the tea that the waiter had just added, and drank most of the bowl. The emperor is also a human being, and if he speaks for a long time, he will also be thirsty.

After listening to the prince's words, Zhao Mo knew why the emperor and the prince wanted to use public opinion to deal with the prince of Shu, instead of clearly convicting him, and hurriedly asked: "The emperor and His Royal Highness the prince have already determined, is the prince of Shu the person we are looking for?"

The emperor shook his head: "There is no definite evidence, but everything is related to him. Originally, there was a suspicion of the king of Shanyang, but now the king of Shanyang died unexplained, and the prince of Shu was present at the time, if it wasn't him, who else would it be?"

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said to Zhao Mo: "Yuan Tongzhi reported that the suspicious foreign man in the Grange of the Prince of Shu had returned to the village, and continued to deal with the family that had an accident as if nothing had happened. After the secret spy department found out that he entered the city, he went directly to the palace of the prince of Shu. Although he disguised himself halfway and changed his appearance, the people from the Secret Spy Division kept staring at him, and some people were staring at the mansion of the prince of Shu, so there could be no mistake. It can be seen from this that if the leader of the Beirong secret spy really spread the news of being pursued, it must have reached the palace of the prince of Shu. At the moment, I don't know what the idea of the foreigner man returning to the grange to lurk, Yuan Tongzhi has already sent more people to keep an eye on it. And here in the capital, the people below also found out that after the king of Shanyang left the East Palace that day, he has been walking with the prince of Shu, and he has also gone to the house of the prince of Shu, and he came back with a package, and it looks like the size of a box. Before the accident of the king of Shanyang yesterday, he had been walking with the prince of Shu, and the prince of Shu obviously deliberately led him to that tavern, otherwise he would like to borrow wine to kill his sorrows, why go to that restaurant, but ignore the dozen or so taverns of all sizes that passed by on the road?"

Sometimes the way of thinking of the superior is as simple as that. There is no need for clear incriminating evidence, just look at the results. In the whole thing, the prince of Shu is the most suspicious, and the king of Shanyang is just a little bit of a side, but he doesn't have the strength and brain, and there is no reason, and now he is still dead. The rest of the emperor and the crown prince only need to determine this result, and the evidence or something, that is when a public trial is required and the conviction is clearly determined, the Zongren Mansion and Dali Temple need to worry about it.

But the emperor and the crown prince obviously did not want to interrogate the prince of Shu in public for the time being, and they did not intend to convict him definitively. Among the followers of the Shu Dynasty, as well as the officials of Shu, many of them did not participate in the rebellion of the Shu Palace, but they trembled all day long and feared that they would be implicated. The court said early on that it would not pursue those who were not guilty, and it was also for the sake of appeasing the hearts of these people. It's only been a few years now, and the crime of the prince of Shu is about to be punished so soon, if there is no definite evidence to prove that he deserves it, I'm afraid it will easily cause all kinds of speculation and panic. The emperor and the crown prince simply did not convict the prince of Shu as guilty, but now that everyone has determined that he is guilty, how much better can his situation be? When the officials of Shu and the relatives and friends of the Shu royal family decided that the prince of Shu was no longer qualified to serve as a barometer and would not have all kinds of panic and speculation because of his ups and downs, how did the emperor want to treat him?

It's just that Zhao Mo felt a little awkward in his heart, although the current evidence is still a little insufficient, but if he wants to cure the crime of the prince of Shu, it is actually barely enough. What a great crime it is to collaborate with the enemy and betray the country? The prince of Shu could not escape the fate of being imprisoned for life. was not directly executed, it was already based on the identity of his clan. As soon as this crime is discovered, it will not be fatal, and who will dare to say anything about the old officials of the Shu Dynasty? Moreover, there are only a few really innocent and innocent Shu officials, and if they sit upright, they do not need to be afraid of the liquidation of the imperial court, and most of them will be weak-minded! There is no need for the imperial court to act restraining itself in order to accommodate the emotions of these people.

Even if there are so many reasons, Zhao Mo still feels that the sentence that the prince blurted out before is the most important reason - the emperor and the prince concealed the collusion between the prince of Shu and the secret spy of Beirong, it seems that he is concerned about his own situation and reputation, and he is afraid that he will be affected by his father and ancestors.

He said with a straight face: "Even if public opinion is unfavorable to the prince of Shu, he still has to escape after all, and he can live happily and freely now." Obviously, his collusion with the Beirong secret spy is a major crime of collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country, and it should be clearly punished! Moreover, the Beirong secret spy has been lurking in Dazhao for many years, and the poison is very deep, and it needs to be investigated in detail to confirm whether all of them have been punished. The nephews and grandchildren knew that their grandparents were all responsible for the infiltration of the Beirong secret spies, but they could not spare those sinners in order to cover up their shame! The emperor and His Royal Highness the crown prince really don't have to worry too much. ”

He is very calm, even if it is said that his father and ancestors have committed the sin of negligence and provided space for the Beirong secret spies to operate, he doesn't care. It is enough to have the favor of the emperor and the crown prince, he has the title of county king, and his own fief, and the family affairs have long been decided, and the marriage will be completed in a few months, he has nothing to fear. Even if the public opinion outside is not good, he can follow the trend, return to the fief after the wedding, and live a low-key life for a few years. The crown prince has decided to enrich the backyard, presumably in a few years, a grandson will be born. Those rumors that he would be succeeded to the East Palace as an heir, naturally no one would mention it again at that time. In the future, if he wants to enter the court again to do some practical things, there is nothing inconvenient.

But Zhao Mo was calm, but the prince thought more about him: "Why bother? It has nothing to do with you, you have suffered a lot of losses, and you have made a lot of contributions to the capture of Beirong's secret spies, why do you want to let others talk about it? Many internal affairs are inconvenient to reveal to the outside world, so that those who don't know anything talk about you in private, aren't you wronged? You are not wronged, you are wronged for you! This matter has already been decided, so you don't need to say more." In the prince's opinion, Zhao Mo is a very good child, but unfortunately he didn't have a good grandfather, father, and uncle. He felt that Zhao Mo was completely in the wrong place. If you were born in the royal branch, how perfect would it be?

Zhao Mo smiled gratefully at the crown prince, and then looked at the emperor: "Your Majesty, your nephew and grandson are not wronged. The country is important. What's more, with the protection of the emperor and His Royal Highness the crown prince, and the nephews and grandchildren will not really suffer any losses, what does it matter if they have a little reputation? If others want to talk about it, let them talk about it. How can a sinner be allowed to go unpunished just because his nephew and grandson are alone?"

The emperor smiled slightly: "It's not just because of you. The matter of Beirong's secret spy is very important, it lasts for a long time, and it is spread out to let the subjects know, and the loss of face in the imperial court is a small matter, and it is not good if it causes panic among the subjects. Besides, as you just said, I don't know if all the spies planted by the Beirong people in the territory of Jokhang have been caught, and wouldn't it be even worse if they were to startle the snake and let the fish that slipped through the net escape? As for your fathers and ancestors, they have already taken their responsibilities and received their punishments, so there is no need for them to be punished again. As for the truly guilty at large......"

The emperor paused, revealing a disapproving sneer: "Who said that he is really at large? What if there is no evidence? Since he is guilty, do you and my father and son still need evidence if they want to rectify him?"

No, of course not. The prince of Shu was originally the son of a sinner, and he barely proved his innocence. The emperor looked at the face of the Queen Mother and his children, and temporarily took it lightly, but it does not mean that he is really innocent and no longer guilty. He just barely kept the title of the prince of Shu, without the king of Shu, without a fief, his son is not worthy of the name, and he completely relies on royal grace to exist. When the royal family has no intention of showing any more favors, he will be beaten back to his original form and become a clan idler.

Maybe he is not as good as other clan idlers, other clan idlers are innocent, there are fathers and brothers to rely on, there are clan houses to fight, ordinary officials and people will let him score three points, he is really wronged, sue the palace, and the queen mother and the emperor will also make decisions for him. But does the prince of Shu have these treatments?

It's just that considering the feelings of the Queen Mother and the Tu family, when there is no evidence, it is not good to rashly punish him after all. However, now he has something to do with the death of the king of Shanyang, the princess of Shanyang is also the daughter of the Tu family, the Tu family will not help the prince of Shu, and once the queen mother finds out that he is not innocent, she will not protect him regardless of the facts. When these two layers of shelter are gone, what else does the prince of Shu have to rely on?

As for the public opinion of the outside world - maybe thanks to the peachy rumors some time ago. Because of the scandal between the prince of Shu and the daughter of the Chen family, it spread all over the capital, no matter how much the prince of Shu claimed that he was innocent, and the princess of Shu was crying, outsiders also felt that this matter was groundless, and it may not be without a reason. The former gentle gentleman character of the prince of Shu has been affected, although the impact is not great, but in the eyes of the public, he is no longer the image of a righteous gentleman. Now it is rumored that he calculated the King of Shanyang because of personal grudges, causing the King of Shanyang to stumble and die after drinking, all the officials of the clan will find it credible - since he is not a real gentleman, but a normal man with desires, it is reasonable that he will have resentment because of betrayal.

Zhao Mo didn't know who was deliberately facilitating the spread of rumors before, but now it seems that it is the right thing to do. Without this scandal and rumors spreading, it destroyed the original image of the prince of Shu as a good person, and now if he wants to form a public opinion unfavorable to him in front of the subjects of the clan, it is not so easy to do it.

And after these two rounds of rumors, the head of the prince of Shu has already been splashed with countless sewage. His calculation to kill the King of Sanyo will also leave a deep impression on everyone and become an established fact. When the time was ripe in the future, the emperor gave a light order and punished him. No matter what the reason was at that time, the reaction of the hundred officials of the clan would probably only be a soft "oh", as if that was the result of course, right? No one would ask for a word of mercy for him.

Zhao Mo understood that the emperor and the crown prince didn't really want to appease someone, but just to minimize the negative impact of someone's conviction. However, he still has some concerns: "In case the prince of Shu has a new plan during this period, and wants to be unfavorable to the emperor and the prince......"

The crown prince smiled, and the emperor's gaze at Zhao Mo softened even more: "Good boy, neither I nor the prince will give him this opportunity, you just have to rest assured." ”