Among the people sent out by the three princes to investigate Zhou Xing, several of them were friends with Zhang Xiuhe, but they have always been very low-key, and others don't know which side they are. So they also know what to do to be good for Zhang Xiuhe, that is, to make the gap between the two brothers of the current emperor and the second prince bigger and bigger, and then Zhang Xiuhe, the cousin, will have the opportunity to return to the court.

The way they investigated Zhou Xing was the same way that Zhou Xing used to investigate others: torture to extract confessions, take words out of context, and implicate innocents. Zhou Xing didn't know that the means he used to deal with others were used on himself in the blink of an eye.

Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore, and confessed to his unjust sentence to the Lord and others, and after the detention, he knew that he was not far from death, and he asked to see the emperor one last time.

The person in charge of the trial went to report to the Queen Mother and the Third Prince, and also said Zhou Xing's request, the Queen Mother couldn't help but feel pity, turned her head to the Third Prince and said: "Poor Zhou Xing has done so many things for my dynasty, but in the end he wants to destroy his innocence for this kind of thing...... Hey, go see him, and leave him a whole corpse too. ”

The third prince also felt very uncomfortable, and he felt sorry for Zhou Xing. Maybe Zhou Xing's methods are really a little cruel, he killed a large family of two adults, if he hadn't been investigated at this time, he might have killed more people. But...... The third prince also made it clear that this right was given to Zhou Xing, and Zhou Xing's killing of those people was more or less through his consent and hints.

When the third prince arrived in the prison, he saw Zhou Xing, who was already in his fifties, lying in the prison covered in blood, he really couldn't bear to look at it, and he wanted to turn his head and leave, but Zhou Xing woke up, turned his head slightly to look at him and said, "Your Majesty ......"

The third prince stopped, looked back at him, and asked, "You want to see me now, is there anything else you have to say?" ”

Zhou Xing wanted to struggle to turn over, but his body was like falling apart, and there was really nothing he could do. In the end, he sighed and said, "Your Majesty, the old minister will not salute today, and he really can't get up." ”

The third prince waved his hand and said, "No need, if you have anything to tell me, just say it." ”

"The old minister has this fate today, it is all the old minister's own fault, it has nothing to do with Your Majesty, Your Majesty must not feel unhappy in your heart. The two big families who died at the hands of the old minister actually did not sin to the extent of Zhulian, they did not have any intention of rebellion, but they would shake His Majesty's rights. When Lao Chen killed them, Lao Chen realized that one day, he would also be punished, but Lao Chen didn't expect retribution to come so soon......" Zhou Xing let out a long sigh and rested for a while before continuing: "The only thing Lao Chen regrets is that he acted too slowly and didn't kill all those people. Your Majesty, the old minister can't stand you! ”

The third prince's eyes were hot, and he immediately turned his back, raised his head, and after he was ready, he turned back and said, "You did a good job, but I am sorry for you and hurt you......"

"The old minister has nothing, he was loyal to the prince before, and now he is loyal to you, because you were all chosen by the first emperor, and the first emperor's decision will definitely not be wrong. It's just that the old minister is worried that after I die, your courtiers will mess around for various reasons......" Zhou Xing climbed to the feet of the third prince, looked at him with his head raised and said: "Your Majesty, you must kill the second prince and Zhang Xiuhe, otherwise, you will definitely not be able to sit in this position!" ”

Why don't the three princes understand in their hearts? As long as there are still those few people under his second brother, they will definitely not let him live in peace. But his mother did not want to see anything happen to their brothers...... He knew that this was not his mother's partiality, his mother probably felt that his second brother did not become the emperor, so he owed him, so he let him do everything.

Zhou Xing didn't hear the third prince's answer, so he grabbed the corner of his clothes tightly and shouted, "Your Majesty, did you hear that?" Your Majesty, do you hear me? ”

The third prince jumped, he came back to his senses, and was about to speak, when he saw Zhou Xing's round eyes, those eyes seemed to jump out of their sockets, and in an instant, red and white liquid flowed out of his nostrils, and then Zhou Xing fell down like human skin that had lost his bones.

Zhou Xing died.

The third prince returned to the palace in despair, and he felt very uncomfortable from his heart to his body at that time. Then, something that made him even more uncomfortable came along.

On the second day of the court, many ministers who were previously under the crown prince did not come, and some even asked to resign and go home. The third prince had long known that as soon as Zhou Xing died, someone would definitely make trouble, but he didn't expect it to be so much, so urgent, and so fierce.

He suddenly felt dizzy, and after sitting in the court for a long time, he couldn't hear what others were saying. Soon, his eyes were black, and he fainted in the court.

He was sick for several days, and every day he dreamed of the scene before Zhou Xing's death, dreaming that he seemed to be drained of everything in his body, dreaming that he was betrayed by his relatives, his brother didn't like him, his ministers also left him, and his mother thought he was too useless and gave up on him.

The third prince began to have a high fever, and the imperial doctors in the palace saw it, so they could only use medicine to suppress his high fever, but there was nothing they could do about the recurrence one after another, only saying that he was a demon in his heart, and herbal medicine could not cure it.

The Queen Mother silently shed tears for a long time, and finally remembered Chu Yaocen and Qingdi who were locked up in the prison, and she couldn't pull her face to invite them out, so she asked Xiaohu to take them out.

The two of them have been in prison for several days, and they don't know what is going on outside, but now they hear Xiaohu crying and talking about what happened to the third prince, and they know that something really happened.

Qingdi immediately went to see the third prince, only to find that after just a few days, he was already haggard and without a human figure. Qingdi suddenly felt a sense of guilt...... If she had persuaded her, she said that she should not deal with Zhou Xing, and that the second prince should be sacrificed, would he not be what he is now?

But if she really persuaded her like that, she would feel sorry for the second prince at that time.

The third prince was dazed for a while, and when he heard that the green flute was coming, he tried to open his eyes, and when he saw that it was indeed the green flute, he hurriedly waved his hand to let the palace maids and guards in the palace go down, leaving the green flute alone.

After everyone left, the third prince sat up on the edge of the bed, he now regained some senses, looked up at the green flute again, and then lowered his head again, and said, "It's really bad for you to see me like this." ”

Qingdi tightened her palms, and she suddenly realized that for such a pure and kind man, maybe he shouldn't have been made emperor in the first place...... In the final analysis, it was her fault after all, she harmed others.

"Are you alright?" Qingdi asked.

The third prince shook his head: "I don't have anything to do except have nightmares every night, I saw Zhou Xing die in front of me with my own eyes, and that scene was deeply imprinted in my mind, and I dreamed of him every night before he died......"

"But his death is not your fault, you don't need to take him to heart." Qingdi comforted him, "You are the emperor, and more people will die at your hands or because of you in the future, if you can't bear this, it's better to ......."

Qingdi said the end, and didn't say anything, sighed and looked at the third prince.

But the third prince didn't hear this sentence as comforting at all, and he was terrified when he thought of what Qingdi said that more people would die at his hands in the future. He glanced at Qingdi and asked incredulously, "Really?" When you become an emperor, do you really want to kill so many people? But when his father was alive, he didn't hurt anyone, he was very charitable, and everyone loved him. ”

Qingdi couldn't help laughing, shook his head and said: "Third prince, it's impossible, as a person, it's impossible to make everyone like him, and the emperor is the same, but the emperor can make people who don't like him obey him, if he doesn't obey, then he will have to die." Although Zhou died for you, he also deserved it, and he killed many people. ”

The third prince looked down at the palm of his hand on the quilt, as if he was looking at the lines of his palm, and he didn't seem to see anything. He was silent for a while, and then said, "However, there are many people in the court who don't like me now, too much...... They don't like me and don't want to do things for me, they're going to leave me...... Am I going to kill them? ”

"You need to decide for yourself." Qingdi said: "If you forcibly keep them, they may not continue to work for you, and they will provoke other ministers in the court, but they may also be moved by you and continue to assist you." If they are allowed to go, they may rebel outside, or they may honestly go home and farm. If you kill them, it may chill and scare other ministers, but it may also make you more authoritative and better able to govern the country. The human heart is the most unpredictable, and I can't tell you what decisions you make and what the results will be. ”

The third prince listened to Qingdi's words, thinking about what he should do, and suddenly saw that he felt a headache and felt that his head was about to explode, he hugged his head and said: "I don't know what to do, I don't want to be the emperor anymore." ”

Hearing this, Qingdi was silent for a moment, and then asked rhetorically, "Your Majesty, are you serious?" You really don't want to be an emperor anymore? ”

The third prince let go of his hand and looked at Qingdi helplessly: "I can't stand it anymore...... I originally thought that being the emperor was as easy as my father's emperor, and the people and civil and military officials loved him, but I didn't expect it...... I can't stand it anymore......"

"Your father, how can it be easy, he has been in power for so long, he must have experienced turmoil and betrayal, but he has solved these things." Qingdi sighed, and didn't persuade him anything, and said: "If you don't want to be the emperor anymore, hurry up and give up the position of the emperor yourself, lest you make any mistakes in the future, and the queen mother forcibly abolishes you." Now you can take the initiative and save your face. ”

The third prince suddenly raised his head to look at Qingdi, there was some emotion similar to pain in his eyes, and he asked Qingdi, "Do you think I'm not suitable to be the emperor now?" Do you think I'm incapable? ”