The bleak wind and cold rain have stopped at night, and the glazed tile roof in the palace has been washed by the rain, which is even more brilliant.

Today, there are only two people who can enter the palace in the middle of the night, one is Tai Shihong, the general of the Zhenguo, and the other is Xiahou Yuanzhi, the minister of state.

When the prime minister enters the palace, it is the time of the sea, and when there is still half a stick of incense, it is the time when the saint goes to bed.

The saint pays attention to health preservation, and if there are no special circumstances on weekdays, he will rest strictly according to the established time.

In the imperial study, the prime minister looked solemn and waited with his hands down, only when the eldest grandson Mei'er appeared with the saint, the prime minister stepped forward and knelt on the ground.

"Let's calm down the prime minister." After the saint sat down, he instructed the eldest grandson Mei'er beside him: "Mei'er, give a seat to the prime minister." ”

The eldest grandson Mei'er was about to go over, and Xiahou Yuanzhi had already said solemnly: "The old minister doesn't dare to sit." ”

The sage frowned slightly.

For the prime minister, even as an imperial saint, the saint has always treated him very much, not only because the minister is the brother of the saint, but also because Xiahou Yuanzhi was the first person to support the saint back then, without the existence of the prime minister of Xiahou, even if the saint held the first emperor's succession book, he may not be able to ascend to the throne.

Therefore, when the minister of state enters the palace, the saints will give him a seat.

And the prime minister is over sixty years old, and his health is not very good, and the saint gives a seat, but he rarely refuses, even if he occasionally resigns, he is polite, and finally sits down.

But at this moment, the prime minister looked solemn and his tone was firm, and he seemed to really dare not accept the offer.

"Why did the prime minister come late at night?" The saint thought for a moment, and finally said, "Because of the case of the Ministry of War? ”

"The chief officer of the three divisions was taken to Dali Temple, but he was poisoned and died in Dali Temple last night." The minister of state said slowly: "Su Yu reported this matter, and the old minister has already prepared the whole story and presented it to the palace. ”

The sage nodded slightly: "I have already seen it, and I have issued a decree to order Dali Temple to thoroughly investigate the culprit of poisoning." The application was quite displeased, and said lightly: "It seems that I still overestimated the ability of Dali Temple, and this matter should be handed over to the Criminal Department from the beginning." ”

The prime minister didn't even get up, he still knelt on the ground, and said solemnly: "Sage, the old minister has found out the real culprit of the poisoning. ”

"Oh?" The corners of the sage's eyes tightened, and he asked, "Who is so bold?" ”

The minister said: "The old minister not only found out the real culprit who poisoned the three chief officers, but also found the culprit behind the case of the military department. After a pause, he continued: "The three presiding officers were poisoned for the purpose of killing people. Two years ago, some people secretly conspired with the chief officers of the three divisions to be shoddy, and embezzled military funds from them, and dozens of officials were involved in this case, but it was these three directors who knew the details of the matter. ”

The sage was still calm and asked, "Did the minister say that after the East Window incident, the culprit behind the corruption of the military expenses was worried that the three chief officials would confess him, so he killed people?" ”

"Yes." The minister said: "The culprit and the young secretary of Dali Temple Si Nongfeng secretly had a dealing, after the three principals were taken away by Dali Temple, the culprit was panicked and sent someone to Si Nongfeng to hand over a secret letter, asking Si Nongfeng to kill people and kill his mouth, and Si Nongfeng poisoned the wine, and the three principals died immediately after drinking. ”

The saint said slowly: "Has the culprit been caught?" ”

"The old minister dared to bring him to the palace and begged the saint to condemn him." The Prime Minister stood up, walked outside the imperial study, and said loudly: "Carry people in!" ”

Soon, the two dragon scale guards were carried into the imperial study with a stretcher, and there was a person lying on the stretcher, the placket on the ass was already tattered and the flesh was blurred, and the person was also weak and dying, and the dragon scale guard put the stretcher on the ground and retreated.

"Huai...... Huaiyang Hou! The eldest grandson Mei'er, who was standing beside the saint with her hands down, looked at her twice, and her face was pale.

The sage also frowned slightly, looked at the Minister of State Xiahou Yuanzhi, and asked, "The culprit that the Minister of State said is the Marquis of Huaiyang?" ”

"The old minister deserves to die for raising such a lawless beast." The old minister sighed: "Until today, the old minister didn't know that he was carrying the ugly thing that the old minister did behind his back, and he wanted to kill him directly with a cane, but if the rod killed him, it was to shield him, and he took him into the palace overnight to beg the saint to surrender." ”

The saint got up, carried his back with one hand, and slowly walked to the edge of the stretcher, Huaiyang Hou barely raised his head, looked at the saint, his face was pale, and his voice was weak: "Aunt..... Aunt, father..... Father wants to kill me, you ..... You save the child.....! ”

The sage looked at Huaiyang Hou condescendingly, his eyes were sharp, and he said lightly: "Is it really what you did?" ”

"Child..... The child was confused for a moment. Huaiyang Hou said with a crying voice: "In the future..... Don't dare again. ”

The old minister of the country arched his hand and said: "The saint, greedy for military expenses, murdering the court officials, these two major crimes, any one of them is a capital crime, I implore the saint to give him a capital crime, so as to give the Manchu Dynasty civil and military and the people of the world an explanation." ”

The sage glanced at the old minister and asked, "Mei'er, should the Marquis of Huaiyang be killed?" ”

The eldest grandson Mei'er said softly: "Returning to the saint, if it is based on the law of the country, it should be handed over to the Criminal Department, and the Criminal Department and Dali Temple will work together to try it, and then they will convict it." If these two cases were indeed committed by the Marquis of Huaiyang, they should indeed be severely punished. ”

"What the eldest grandson Sheguan said is extremely true." The old country hated each other and said: "Such a disobedient son, it is not a pity to die." ”

"It's just...... If this matter is really announced to the world, it may not be a good thing for the imperial court. The eldest grandson Mei'er bowed slightly, and said respectfully: "The Marquis of Huaiyang is the beloved son of the prime minister of the country, and he is also the emperor's prince, if the people of the world know that the son of the minister of the state manipulates the officials to be greedy for military spending, and even murders the chief officer of the three divisions in order to kill him, the reputation of the minister of state will definitely be damaged, and even the holy name of the saint will be tarnished because of this." After a pause, he cautiously continued: "The prime minister is the head of a hundred officials, and if his prestige is damaged, the prestige of the imperial court will be damaged. ”

The old minister of the country arched his hand to the eldest grandson Mei'er and said: "The eldest grandson, the prince is guilty of the same crime as the people, not to mention that Xiahou Jie is not a prince yet." What good is the imperial decree if it is not punished according to the law? Greedy for military funds to poison court officials, the crime is extremely heinous, although Xiahou Jie is the son of an old minister, but he can't abolish the public for personal reasons. ”

"The Minister of State can kill his relatives with righteousness, and I am very relieved." The sage said calmly: "The words of the prime minister are reasonable. The people of the world are all my people, Xiahou Jie committed such a heinous crime, if I was born in Xiahou's family, I will cover up for personal gain, how can I face the people of the world? ”

The prime minister knelt on the ground and said solemnly: "The old minister immediately handed over Xiahou Jie to the Criminal Department, and the Criminal Department and Dali Temple will cooperate in the trial. ”

"I reminded the minister that the Xiahou family is a very popular minister and enjoys the emperor's grace." The sage said coldly: "The more flowers are blooming, the more cautious you must be. You are the head of the hundred officials, and the eyes of the subjects of the world are naturally staring at the Xiahou family, and others may have room for maneuver if they make some mistakes, but as long as the Xiahou family has the slightest mistake, it will be exaggerated by the people of the world. ”

"The old minister's sin is unforgivable." The minister blamed himself: "The old minister also begged the sage to surrender, the Xiahou family came out with such a rebellious son, and the old minister was also ashamed of the saint and the subjects of the world, and he was shameless to continue to stay in the court, and begged the sage to give an order to let the old minister return to his hometown." Looking up at the saint, it was the old tears, and he sighed and said: "Thanks to the grace of the saint, the Xiahou family has enjoyed all the glory and wealth over the years, and the old minister is also a very popular minister, and the blessings that should be enjoyed have also been enjoyed. ”

Huaiyang Hou Xiahou Jie said weakly: "Aunt.... Auntie, the child is really wrong, ...... in the future I really don't dare in the future..... Forgive the child..... This time ......!"

"Brute, do you dare to speak?" The prime minister raised his sleeves to wipe away his old tears, looked at Xiahou Jie and said angrily: "You deserve it, and you must not be forgiven." ”

The sage turned around and sat down behind the imperial desk, and asked lightly: "Minister of State, the Marquis of Huaiyang is in charge of the three divisions, how many people know about this matter?" ”

"Xia Houjie has not come forward in this matter." The minister replied: "For more than two years, the three directors have been secretly colluded, and the three people also have their own cronies, and they have all benefited from the military spending of the greedy ink, but the subordinates of the three directors do not know that Xia Houjie is behind the scenes, and only the three directors are directly appointed by Xia Houjie." ”

The saint groaned slightly, and then asked, "Except for those three, no one else knows that Xia Houjie is behind the scenes?" ”

"Some people may be suspicious, but there is no evidence in hand." The Minister of State replied.

The sage said: "What is the relationship between Shaoqing Si Nongfeng and Xiahou Jie of Dali Temple?" ”

"The old minister found out that Si Nongfeng has served as a young secretary in Dali Temple for many years, but the authority of Dali Temple is weak, and Si Nongfeng has always wanted to be transferred to other yamen, and he once wanted to take the way of the old minister." The minister did not hide it: "But this person is mediocre, and the old minister thinks that this person is difficult to take on a big job, so he ignores it." Si Nongfeng secretly approached Xiahoujie, hoping to use Xiahoujie to help him get through the way of the minister, the two have been friends for more than a year, and before that, they did not commit anything out of the ordinary. This time, Xiahoujie sent someone to hand over a secret letter to Si Nongfeng, asking Si Nongfeng to kill people, but Si Nongfeng did not report, but listened to Xiahoujie's words, and really poisoned the three principals, this person is also the most unforgivable. ”

"So Si Nongfeng has evidence that Xiahou Jie murdered the three principals?" The saint said indifferently: "If he wasn't a pig, of course he could guess that since Xia Houjie wanted to kill people, he was naturally the mastermind behind the ordnance case of the Ministry of War." ”

The prime minister bowed his head and said, "Yes." ”

"Xiahou Jie deserves it, he deserves it." The sage glanced at Huaiyang Hou who was lying on the stretcher, and said coldly: "But what Mei'er said is not unreasonable, if this matter is known to the whole world, and the prestige of the minister and the court is damaged, it is not a good thing." After a deep groan, he finally said, "Send him to the army." ”

The prime minister raised his head and said, "The sage's meaning is to let Xiahou Jie go to ...... Go to Bae Hyo-gong's side? ”

The sage shook his head and said: "Go to the north, let Xiahou Jie go to the northern border pass, and hand it over to Taishi Cunxuan for training, and within ten years, he will not be allowed to return to Kyoto." ”

"Auntie, I'..... I don't go north, there..... It's bitterly cold there, and I ..... I'll go to Pei Xiaogong's .....! When Xiahou Jie heard that he was going to the north, he hurriedly said: "The relationship between the Taishi family and our Xiahou family is ..... If the relationship is not harmonious, if it is ..... If the child is handed over to Taishi Cunxuan, he will ......! ”

"Shut up!" The Minister of State shouted.

Xia Houjie shuddered, not daring to say more.

"Come, carry him down." The sage commanded, and immediately a dragon scale guard came in and carried Xia Houjie down, and then said lightly: "There is no need to let the matter of Xia Houjie instructing the chief officer of the three divisions to commit the crime spread out, how to deal with the aftermath, the minister of state thinks about it himself." Recently, let Xia Houjie rush to the border and hand him over to Taishi Cunqiao. ”

"The old minister obeys." The minister of state prostrate on the ground: "The old minister thanks the saint for his forgiveness." ”

The sage sneered: "The minister of state thinks that I am deliberately shielding Xiahou Jie? I just don't want the prestige of the imperial court to be damaged, Xiahou Jie went to the border pass, you should treat this son as if he was no longer there, and he was not allowed to return to Kyoto within ten years, and if he couldn't make a contribution after ten years of experience, let him stay in the border garrison empire until he was old. Thinking of something, he frowned slightly and said: "That Si Nongfeng of Dali Temple, the Minister of State also wants to deal with it, he has evidence that Xiahou Jie murdered the chief officer of the Third Division, don't make any trouble because of him in the future." ”

"The old minister's order." The minister said: "It's just that in addition to Si Nongfeng, there is another person who has ironclad evidence of Xia Houjie's crime." ”

The sage wondered, "Ironclad evidence? ”

"Xia Houjie was coerced and wrote a letter of indictment, clearly stating the crime and the officials involved." The minister said: "That indictment is now in Qin Xiao's hands. ”