The old emperor sighed leisurely and said the excuse that had been prepared a long time ago: "To tell you the truth, when the fire broke out, my prince was unfortunately hit by a broken beam in order to enter the ancestral hall to rescue the tablets of the heroes of the past dynasties, and was seriously injured and his life was in danger. ”

Although His Highness's officials had already known the truth, they still pretended to be in an uproar and whispered to each other with shocked faces.

"Not only the crown prince, but also my other five princes accompanied the prince to join the ranks of rescuing the tablet, and all of them were seriously injured." The old emperor simply put his words in place, and added calmly: "I will make it clear today so that there will be no other versions of gossip in the future. ”

The prime minister's face was full of sadness, and he knelt heavily on the ground, leaving two lines of old tears to cry and said: "I hope God bless my empire, and I hope the prince can recover soon!" ”

Led by the prime minister, all the prince's staff knelt down one after another, shouting in unison, "I hope God bless my empire, and I hope the prince can recover as soon as possible!" ”

Xiao Mochen furrowed his eyebrows slightly and closed his eyes. The crown prince has died, and these staff members are still shouting words of solidarity here, are they using this to test the pressure on the old emperor? Linking the prince's personal life and death with the honor and disgrace of the empire is really damning!

The gloom in the old emperor's eyes deepened, and he moved his lips and was about to speak, but he heard a loud voice ringing outside the hall.

"The prince is already dead!"

The third prince was dressed in formal court clothes, walked in from outside the main hall with his head held high, and said with a commanding voice: "Just now, my imperial brother, the crown prince of the empire, has passed away with hatred!" ”

These words were like a thunderbolt, and they immediately shocked everyone. The civil and military officials looked at this prince who rarely showed up in disbelief, not knowing what he was thinking.

Xiao Mochen's heart trembled, looking at the third prince who came to his side, and a sense of foreboding rose in his heart.

The old emperor looked at the third prince in surprise and anger, frowned and said in a deep voice: "Third prince, do you know what you are talking about? ”

"Erchen naturally knows what he's talking about!" The third prince smiled, his eyes suddenly became sharp, and he said: "Erchen has the key evidence, and he can use this to find the real murderer of the prince's brother!" ”

The prime minister didn't care about grieving for the death of the crown prince, so he immediately got up and asked, "Dare to love the three princes, who did it?" ”

"Third child, are you confused!" Seeing that the situation was gradually getting out of control, the old emperor slapped the armrest of the dragon's head and said: "The fire in the ancestral hall was done by the maidservant's mistake, and she has been corrected on the spot, what real murderer is there?" ”

While speaking, the old emperor kept staring at the third prince with cold and coercive eyes, signaling him to shut up as soon as possible and not mention this matter in front of everyone again.

For the old emperor, the royal face was the most important thing, and he no longer wanted to investigate the conspiracy behind the fire.

In fact, how could the third prince not know the old emperor's thoughts? It is precisely because of this that he chose the method of direct advice from the court, and if he handed over the evidence to the old emperor in private, I am afraid that he would also be suppressed.

The third prince smiled coldly, and for the first time met the cold gaze of the old emperor without flinching, and said word by word: "What did the maidservant do? It's just an illusion over there! In fact, someone used the power in their hands to plan this earth-shattering conspiracy! ”

As he spoke, the third prince quickly turned his head to look at Xiao Mochen, stretched out his hand and pointed at him and said, "I never thought that my own brother would actually attack his hands and feet!" ”

All of a sudden, countless pairs of shocked eyes focused on Xiao Mochen's body, if his eyes could form a lethal force, he would be pierced by ten thousand arrows in an instant!

"Brother Huang, be careful when you speak." Although Xiao Mochen's tone was calm, there was already a clear look of anger on his face.

The third prince laughed twice, and said to the courtiers: "Since I dare to expose King Chen's wolf ambition in public today, I am ready to be eliminated by him!" ”

After that, the third prince turned his head to look at Xiao Mochen, raised his eyebrows defiantly, took out the secret letter from his sleeve, held it high and asked, "King Chen, can you explain what this is?" ”

As soon as Xiao Mochen saw the secret letter, his face suddenly changed, and he asked in a lost voice, "Why is the secret letter here with you?" ”

Seeing Xiao Mochen's reaction, the third prince was even more convinced that the secret letter was true, so he said to the ministers unscrupulously: "This secret letter was written by King Chen, who is the chief director of the festival, and it should have been handed over to General Fu for inspection and then destroyed, but it was found near the fire site!" ”

This statement surprised everyone, the secret letter must be granted in person, and it will be burned immediately after reading, which is a truth that everyone in the court understands. King Chen has been leading troops outside for many years, how can he be so reckless?

Xiao Mochen's face instantly turned extremely pale, he could vaguely remember that he personally handed over the letter to Fu Yanran and asked her to hand it over on his behalf, and afterwards he also confirmed to her that the letter had been burned, why did it fall into the hands of the third prince now?

The old emperor stood up from his position, took a deep breath, and said in a deep voice: "Third brother, you present the letter to me. ”

"Yes!" The third prince replied respectfully, handed the letter in his hand to the old emperor, and then retreated, and said confidently: "Erchen has already experienced the truth of the letter before, so he has the confidence to present the letter to his father. ”

The old emperor carefully checked every word on the letter, and his hands couldn't stop trembling, this was indeed Xiao Mochen's handwriting, and it was not much different from the itinerary of the day.

"Father, this letter is so strange that people have to suspect that King Chen has something to do with the arson case." The third prince raised his voice and said in a demagogic tone: "In the time arrangement, King Chen should be patrolling near the fire point when it is on fire, and it stands to reason that he can find the fire as soon as possible, but he temporarily went to another place, so that he missed the opportunity to fight the fire. ”

Saying that, the third prince took a step closer to Xiao Mochen and said insidiously: "Water and fire are the most ruthless, every minute and second late will cause casualties that cannot be lost, and the lives of the crown prince and the other five brothers are all killed by you!" ”

The old emperor's face changed and changed, even if he wanted to stand on Xiao Mochen's side, there was no way to argue for him right now.

"King Chen, what do you have to say?" After being silent for a long time, the old emperor put down the letter, looked at Xiao Mochen and asked.

Xiao Mochen gritted his teeth, bowed his head and knelt down, and said, "It was Erchen who conveyed the wrong information, so that such an important secret letter was leaked. ”

"King Chen, this is not just as simple as leaking the secret letter!" The third prince sneered twice, paced back and forth, and said: "Did you lose this letter in the process of transmission, or was the object of the transmission not General Fu at all!" ”

"What do you mean by that?" Xiao Mochen suppressed his anger, raised his head and glared at the third prince and asked.

Such a cold and resolute gaze made the third prince feel weak for a moment, but he quickly stabilized his mind, and after coughing twice, he continued calmly: "If this matter is only regarded as a mistake in your transmission, it is too coincidental, if you use your power to cooperate with the forces outside the palace to join forces to set fire to the crown prince, then it makes sense!" ”

"That's nonsense!" Xiao Mochen couldn't listen to it anymore, shook his long sleeves heavily, and retorted mercilessly: "Third prince, you just let your imagination blindly guess, and you want to charge this king with conspiring against arson, it's too whimsical!" ”

"King Chen, can you deceive others, can you deceive yourself?" The third prince smiled coldly, steadily accepted Xiao Mochen's question, and said in a cold voice: "Let me ask, once the crown prince is killed, who is the biggest winner?" Isn't it your Royal Highness King Chen? Why did the prince who should have been hiding in the Hidden Scripture Pavilion have a different head, and you, who should have been destined to fall into the fire, escaped unscathed? ”

As he spoke, the third prince raised a mocking smile and said deliberately: "Could it be that the fire also knows the master?" Only burn the prince, not you? ”

Such a heart-wrenching remark is to confirm Xiao Mochen's charge of arson, and he recognizes that Xiao Mochen will not find a reason to defend himself for a while.

The old emperor closed his eyes, pressed his eyebrows with his hand, and said slowly: "Someone, the old general Xuanfu is here to see you." ”

The father-in-law of the steward stood up with some embarrassment on the side, and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, General Fu has been suffering from a high fever for many days, and he is sick in bed, so I am afraid that there is no way to go to the Hajj right now." ”

"If General Fu is not present, how can the two face each other and see where the problem is?" The old emperor stretched out his hand and dusted off his dragon robe, and said lightly: "As long as he still has a breath, he will be my courtier, and he will be driven by me, which is a matter of course." ”

The old emperor used the means of abandoning the pawn to protect the car the most handy, and he had already thought about it, and if he wanted to put the fault of the loss of the letter on the old general Fu, he could keep Xiao Mochen's position.

Even if General Fu has made more contributions than ordinary people can make for the empire all his life, compared with Xiao Mochen, who was in high spirits back then, he is indeed the one who can be sacrificed.

"Father, there's no need to confront each other in court." Xiao Mochen suddenly said aloud, then lay down to apologize and said: "This matter has nothing to do with General Fu, it was the son's son who unilaterally had a problem when he passed the letter. ”

How could Xiao Mochen not see what the old emperor was thinking? He didn't want General Fu to live a bright and upright life, but he was stigmatized because of his own negligence, and he didn't want to confess Fu Yanran, which led to her being imprisoned.

For Fu Yanran, Xiao Mochen's feelings have always been very delicate, he is willing to take due responsibility for her and take care of her for the rest of her life, but he can't repay her for the love of men and women.

"King Chen, did you confess your sins?" The old emperor was stunned, looked at Xiao Mochen in disbelief and said, "Do you know how much of a sin this is?" ”

The third prince pursed his lips without showing a trace, it was already at this time, and the old emperor was still trying to find a way to help Xiao Mochen exonerate, if he was replaced by other princes, I am afraid that he would have died many times.

"Erchen knows that he has committed a serious crime, and he is willing to pay for it." Xiao Mochen knelt on the ground for a long time and said: "However, the son has always been loyal to the empire and his father, and it is impossible to act against the interests of the country. ”

"Father, since King Chen has admitted that the letter was made by him, it is better to send him to the Zongren Mansion for careful interrogation."

The third prince added such a sentence in a timely manner, and the prime minister hurriedly echoed and said: "The minister seconded the proposal!" ”

Many of the prince's henchmen also knelt down one after another, and said in unison: "The minister seconded the proposal!" "They have done so many unconscionable things around the crown prince, if Xiao Mochen really becomes the emperor as he wishes, I am afraid that the first wave will attack them, and they will naturally try their best to bring him down.

The old emperor clenched his fists, stared at Xiao Mochen and said, "King Chen, I will ask you one last time, is the letter related to you alone?" ”

"Yes." Xiao Mochen raised his head fearlessly and replied categorically.

"Yes, that's good." Because Xiao Mochen was too ignorant of lifting, the old emperor was a little annoyed and angry, and scolded sharply: "I really taught a good son with responsibility and responsibility!" ”

Xiao Mochen's shoulders trembled, knelt on the ground and did not raise his head to speak.

"Someone is coming, immediately escort King Chen into the Zongren Mansion to be strictly guarded and interrogated carefully!" The old emperor did not show any mercy, but quickly and coldly ordered.

It seems that he is indeed too fond of this gifted son, so that he no longer knows how many pounds and taels he has, and he dares to openly challenge his father's authority.

Only by letting him suffer some flesh and skin can he know that the world is sinister!

The third prince watched Xiao Mochen being escorted down the hall by the left and right guards, and a sinister and smug smile rose on the corner of his mouth. Xiao Mochen, you also have today!

The news that Xiao Mochen was exposed by the three princes and was immediately ordered by the old emperor to be included in the Zongren Mansion was transmitted back to the Chenwang Mansion as soon as possible. When Gu Zeyang entered the door with the holy decree, Su Wan and Fu Yanran were having breakfast at the same table.

After hearing the news, Su Wan's face changed instantly, and he said in disbelief: "Xiao Mochen can't make this kind of mistake, there must be a misunderstanding somewhere!" ”

Gu Zeyang sighed and said slowly: "I also feel incredible, but the prince has already pleaded guilty in court, and even refused the opportunity to confront General Fu face-to-face, and took the initiative to say that it was all his fault." ”

Fu Yanran put down her rice bowl, her face flushed, and her heart pounded. She knew very well that the initiator of all this was herself, and Xiao Mochen must have confessed her guilt in order to protect herself.

While speaking, Gu Wu also walked into the room. He had witnessed what had happened this morning, and he was also quite uneasy at the moment.

"Princess, the most important thing at the moment is to prove that the prince has nothing to do with the arson case." Gu Wu saw Su Wan's worried and sad appearance, so he stepped forward and said: "The third prince is punishable, and he wants to make a big fuss about this and charge the prince with rebellion." ”。

"The wolf ambition of the third prince is Sima Zhao's heart, Xiao Mochen won't fail to see it, what can make him rather be misunderstood and imprisoned than make a defense?" Su Wan sighed sadly, sat back in his chair and muttered to himself.