The candidates sent to visit the King of Jin, the Acting King, the King of Yan and the King of Zhou, and finally decided to be Lian Zining, the left capital of the Imperial Palace, as for why the personnel of the Ministry of Rites were not used, Zhu Yunwen took into account that Lian Zining was shrewd and capable, and maybe he would find some clues. Lian Zining was ordered to go north, and Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng and Yu Xin went to the Shili Changting Pavilion in person, talked for a long time, and said goodbye.

Lian Zining opened the transcript of Zhu Youjiao, the second son of King Zhou, in the car, and looked at the accusations on it, some of which were absurd, such as King Zhou asking the mage to set up an altar and curse Xingzong (Zhu Biao) to let him die young; Another example is that the king of Zhou likes medicine, and summons doctors to equip them with colorless and odorless poisons, as well as poisons that make people delay the onset of attacks, with the intention of murdering the emperor and the emperor; Although I've seen it a few times, Lian Zining still can't help laughing, what is this, how is it possible?

However, he is more concerned about several other items, because Kaifeng once did the Ming Dynasty Beijing, maybe the first emperor did not expect the Northern Yuan Dynasty to be vulnerable, but also held the preparation of long-term battles along the Yellow River, so Kaifeng City is tall and majestic, second only to the capital of Nanjing and the Yuan capital Beiping, the same Zhou Wangfu is also magnificent, in this majestic city and the palace called the king, the King of Zhou is a little ambitious, once wore a dragon robe at night in the mansion to play, play, let people call him "long live", this kind of thing can be big or small, but in Lian Zining's view, If this article is verified, it is enough to cut off the title of King Zhou. There is also the co-optation of the officers of Henan, if they accept the co-optation, then when they go out, the king of Zhou will take them with them and report more military merits, and the positions of these people will naturally rise; If they don't accept the wooing, then they will also be brought with them, but let them do some chores such as building cities and tuntian, and if there is a small mistake, they will be impeached by the imperial court, and they will be demoted. According to Zhu Youjiao, his father Zhu Hu also paid attention to wooing court officials, palace ladies and chamberlains, so that they could say good things for themselves, in short, and so on.

However, these things are actually difficult to verify, unless the people of the Zhou Palace's palace are arrested and tortured, but the emperor doesn't know why he doesn't want to do this, maybe the emperor is afraid that King Zhou is still outside the fortress, and he is afraid that King Zhou will rebel. Lian Zining felt that the emperor was a little too careful, and if he kept interrupting, he would suffer from it.

After Lian Zining arrived in Kaifeng, he went to meet Zhu Youstew, the prince of Zhou, who was just nineteen years old this year, slightly fat, a little honest, but behaved decently, and was enthusiastic in the face of the imperial court, but not flattering. After the audience, Lian Zining secretly praised in his heart.

Inn.

Lian Zining finished dinner and was closing his eyes to recuperate when his family came in and whispered a few words. After listening to this, Lian Zining nodded. After a while, Feng Xingjian, the envoy of Jinyi Weibei Town, walked in in a regular suit, saw Lian Zining, bowed down, and said, "Lord Du Yushi, the last general will be polite." ”

Lian Zining stood up and said with a smile: "General Feng, it's hard work, the emperor's life is here, I don't know how you are doing?" Will you be able to meet the king of Runan? ”

"It's all arranged, please go out and get in the carriage, King Runan is already waiting for you."

"Huh?" Lian Zining was a little surprised, but quickly reacted: "Okay, this official listens to your arrangement." ”

After a while, Lian Zining, who was dressed in regular clothes, went out of the door, got into the carriage at the door, "pop", the coachman whipped up, and the carriage drove away. Lian Zining's carriage had just walked for a while, when a carriage across the street turned a corner and followed with the sound of the coachman's whip.

Lian Zining sat in the car, closed his eyes and recuperated, thinking about what things he needed to pay attention to when he saw King Runan for a while. Feng Xingjian lifted the curtain slightly, looked at it for a while, and suddenly said, "My lord, we have been followed." ”

"Huh?" Lian Zining opened his eyes, leaned over to the curtain, and observed: "Is it the car behind?" ”

"Well, that car has a stick of incense with us."

Lian Zining looked at it for a while, but said with a smile: "Is there no way for General Feng?" ”

"Absolutely." Feng Xingjian turned around and knocked lightly on the carriage four times.

The carriage walked for a while, turned into a narrow alley, and at the mouth of the alley lay a few bamboo poles, probably touched by the carriage, which toppled down and rested on the opposite wall. When the carriage came from behind, the horse naturally stopped, and the coachman hurriedly came down to straighten the bamboo pole, and then got on the carriage to continue the chase, and when he saw the car in front again, the coachman couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Lian Zining and Feng Xingjian walked out of the alley, and a carriage with a completely different style ran over on the opposite street, and the two quickly got into the carriage, and the carriage drove in the opposite direction.

In the car, Feng Xingjian said a little proudly: "How is it?" Lord Du Yushi, if you want to keep an eye on the tip of the brocade guard, it's not so easy. ”

Lian Zining said with a solemn face: "Who is it?" The official just arrived in Kaifeng and didn't do anything, how could anyone follow the official? ”

"Well, the last general doesn't know about this, but these people are watching outside the post house, maybe they have a special intention."

"A special attempt?" Lian Zining looked at Feng Xingjian, but did not speak again, but closed his eyes.

Seeing that Lian Zining didn't mean to ask, Feng Xingjian had no choice but to shut his mouth stupidly, originally he had a stomach to say, but now he had to choke in his stomach, feeling a little bloated, but there was no way.

This time the carriage traveled at a high speed, and after a quarter of an hour it stopped at the mouth of an alley. Feng Xingjian led the way in front, and the two turned left and right to the front of a wing of a house. Feng Xingjian nodded at the person guarding the door, and the other party also nodded and pushed the door open.

Feng Xingjian guided Lian Zining into the room, Lian Zining glanced at it, the room was not big, only a table and a few chairs. There was a pale and haggard young man sitting next to the table, he saw Feng Xingjian coming in, quickly stood up, and arched his hand: "General Feng, you are here." ”

Feng Xingjian snorted twice, and said with a smile: "His Royal Highness the King of Runan, this is Lord Ning Lian, the Imperial History of the Left Capital of the Imperial Palace, who came up to ask questions on behalf of the emperor, you must know everything, and you must say everything." ”

"That's, that's." The young man seemed to be a little afraid of Feng Xingjian, and nodded again and again.

Lian Zining frowned, looked at the young man carefully, and said, "You are the king of Runan?" ”

"Yes, yes." The young man nodded again and again, took out a large seal from his arms, and handed it to Lian Zining. Lian Zining took it and looked at it, nodded, and returned the print, and the young man hurriedly took it and hid it. Lian Zining took out the holy decree and held it in his hand: "This official asks questions on behalf of the emperor, and the king of Runan kneels to listen." ”

"Yes, the minister Zhu Youjia, the king of Runan, has a decree." Zhu Youjiao, the king of Runan, knelt down on his knees and bowed his head to listen.

Lian Zining looked back at Feng Xingjian and said, "General Feng, this matter is highly confidential, can you help this official make a record?" ”

"No problem." Feng Xingjian agreed, sat on the chair, picked up the pen and prepared to record.

"King Runan, this official is asking questions on behalf of the emperor, if you have something untrue, it is the crime of defrauding the king, do you know?"

"The minister knows."

"Are you Zhu Youyao, the king of Runan?"

"Yes."

"Are you suing your father, Zhu Hu, the king of Zhou, for rebellion?"

"Yes."

"Do you know that if the court confirms that your father's rebellion is true, he will be stripped of his title?"

"Yes."

"And you can't inherit the title of King Zhou, at most you can retain the title of King Runan, and even demote you?"

"The minister knows."

Every time Lian Zining asked, he carefully observed Zhu Youjiao's expression, but Zhu Youjian's answer was fluent, without hesitation or hesitation, and he couldn't help sighing.

Lian Zining then asked Zhu Youjiao about the incriminating evidence reported by Zhu Youjia one by one, and Zhu Youjia confirmed them one by one, and the description was more detailed than that on the recital, and finally added a clause, saying that the prince Zhu Youjiao had recently corresponded frequently with Feng Sheng, the Duke of Song Guogong in Fengyang.

After Lian Zining asked, he asked Zhu Youjiao to sign and draw the charge, then said goodbye to the two, and returned to the post house in the carriage. The first thing he did when he returned to the post house was to write a good note, add Zhu Youjiao's confession, and send it to the capital as soon as possible.

When Lian Zining left, Feng Xingjian and Zhu Youjian stayed for a while before coming out. Zhu Youjia nodded to Feng Xingjian, Feng Xingjian was also full of ambition, the two said goodbye at the entrance of the alley, and each took a carriage to leave.

This place was not far from the Zhou Palace, and Zhu Youjiao's carriage quickly entered the Zhou Palace. After a while, a carriage also drove into the palace of King Zhou, and the people in the car opened the curtain and said a few words to the guards at the door, then lowered the curtain and drove into the palace of King Zhou.