The letterhead with Hua Myanyin killing forty-nine purple-clothed guards was transmitted to Ji Jinyan through the flying pigeons that night. He laughed and burned the letterhead: "God help me! ”

On the morning of the second day, as soon as Emperor Cheng Zhao entered the Xuanzheng Palace, he felt that the atmosphere was not quite right. The group of ministers seemed to be arguing about something in a faction, and they were silenced until they heard Lian Xi's report. While he was guessing what had alarmed the old guys, he stepped on the ninth-level Golden Majesty Stairs and walked steadily towards the dragon chair. He turned and sat down, looking imposing. Everyone prostrated on the earth and the mountains and shouted long live.

Emperor Cheng Zhao's mellow and awe-inspiring voice resounded through the hall: "All Aiqing is flat." ”

After the words fell, some of the ministers got up and stood back on both sides of the main hall after thanking them, but most of them were still kneeling and had no intention of getting up.

Emperor Cheng Zhao's face couldn't help but be gloomy, and he said coldly: "What do you mean by waiting?" ”

Prime Minister Liu Wanxing, who was kneeling on the ground, raised his head at this time and said with a bow: "Your Majesty, the ministers received a secret report last night, saying that the eldest prince eloped with Princess Ning Wan and was on the run, and killed the emperor's forty-nine purple-clothed guards outside Xilai City because they resisted arrest. If this matter is true, I hope that the emperor will not cover them up, and they must be arrested as soon as possible to prove the law of the country. ”

Emperor Cheng Zhao was shocked when he heard the first half of the sentence, why didn't he receive any news about such a big event? He didn't believe they had the ability to kill forty-nine purple-clothed guards. When he heard the second half of the sentence, he couldn't help but be angry, and shouted: "Could it be that the prime minister wants me to cut off his son? ”

Liu Wanxing hurriedly kowtowed and said: "Weichen doesn't dare, it's just that the matter is big, if you don't punish it, you can't block the mouths of the people." ”

Emperor Cheng Zhao narrowed his cold eyes and looked at Liu Wanxing, and his words were full of excitement: "I don't know how the Prime Minister plans to punish my prince?" ”

Liu Wanxing said confidently: "The eldest prince was deposed as the crown prince five years ago because he killed the emperor's concubines at will. The minister thought that since the two princes had been named Prince Jin and moved out of the palace to live in the Jinwang Mansion, it was better to give the eldest prince a prince, give him a fief, and make him move to the fief to settle down, and he could not return to Beijing without a recall. ”

At this moment, Emperor Cheng Zhao's gaze under the cover of the twelve crowns seemed to be quenched with ice and snow, cold and terrifying.

Sun Changyi, the secretary of the Ministry of War, stood out from the standing ministers and said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that this matter has not been confirmed, and it is too early to talk about how to punish the eldest prince now." What's more, the person who delivered the secret letter to Prime Minister Liu Cheng and others did not act openly and fairly, and there must be something unspeakable, and his words are not credible. For the sake of the future, it is better to find out the truth before making a decision. ”

"Your Majesty!" Liu Wanxing grabbed Bai Dao, "Weichen can wait for the truth to be revealed, but please also ask the emperor to give the courtiers a guarantee, if the matter is true, the eldest prince and Princess Ning Wan will be severely punished, in order to set an example, and must no longer tolerate adultery, cover up and connive, not to mention, Princess Ning Wan and Emperor Nanxiu still have a marriage contract, if they are not severely punished, give Nanxiu an explanation, it is really unreasonable." ”

Li Yong, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites who was kneeling on the ground, echoed: "The minister thinks what Prime Minister Liu Cheng said is very true. ”

The rest of the kneeling ministers also said in unison: "The ministers seconded the proposal." ”

Emperor Cheng Zhao felt that his love for Ji Yunye had been hidden to the extreme, but he didn't think that he would still be seen and used to make a fuss. The person behind it must know that even if he is annoyed by what he did to Ji Yunye, he will inevitably cover it up, so he will reveal the matter early and put pressure on himself through these ministers, which is really calculating.

Emperor Cheng Zhao snorted coldly and said: "Governing the country according to law is the foundation of the country, but it is nothing more than legal reasoning and human feelings. When the matter is revealed, I will act according to the law. Since you know that you are a courtier, you should do your duty as a courtier, and it is not your turn to persecute me at this moment. ”.

Li Yong saw that Long Yan was already angry, and hurriedly kowtowed: "The emperor is angry, the ministers have no intention of persecuting the emperor, as long as the emperor can deal with the elopement of the eldest prince and Princess Ning Wan and the killing of the emperor's guards, we have no objection." ”

Emperor Cheng Zhao said impatiently: "As the king of a country, I will act impartially, so how can I let you wait for your beak here." If there is nothing else to do, let us retreat. ”

"The minister still has the book to play." It was one of the ministers who was standing who spoke, it was Shi Chunming, the servant of the ministry, who stepped into the center of the hall and said, "The position of the crown prince has been vacant for five years, and the minister thinks that in order to stabilize the country, the emperor should make plans for the establishment of an heir." ”

"Yes, the establishment of an heir is a matter of the country's society, and it should be sooner rather than later." Another minister chimed in.

"The emperor is at the peak of the Spring and Autumn Period, what should be sooner rather than later? What's more, all the emperor's princes are dragons and phoenixes, and the emperor has time to choose an heir. "It was Zhang Zizheng, the head of the household, who spoke.

Emperor Cheng Zhao looked at Shi Chunming with interest and said, "According to Aiqing's intentions, who is the right candidate for the crown prince?" ”

"The minister thinks that the second prince is a stable person, cautious, has experience in the court and the army, and has never made a big mistake, and is worthy of being the prince of a country."

Emperor Cheng Zhao couldn't help but narrow his eyes. Above this court, most of the people who support Ji Jinyan can be seen from the number of kneeling people. However, there are not a few ministers who have always been neutral, such as Sun Changyi, the secretary of the Ministry of War, and Zhang Zizheng, the head of the household department, and Shi Chunming, the head of the Ministry of Officials. Today, he actually offered to make Ji Jinyan the crown prince, which was really a bit unexpected by himself. He didn't know when Ji Jinyan would reach out to the ministry, it seemed that he should think about it in the long run.

"According to Lord Shi's point of view, there are more than two princes among the emperor's princes who meet these points." Someone intersected.

Emperor Cheng Zhao looked at Ji Jinyan, who His Royal Highness had been silent, and saw that he was neither humble nor arrogant, not frightened, and the court disputes seemed to have nothing to do with him.

He called out on a whim: "Jin Yan! ”

Ji Jinyan came out and said: "Erchen is here." ”

Emperor Cheng Zhao said: "What do you think? ”

Ji Jinyan said calmly: "If the father asks about the emperor's brother, the son thinks that the truth will be confirmed in a few days. If the father asks about the establishment of an heir, the son feels that among the sons of the father, it is not impossible for the son to be more intelligent than the son, and the matter needs to be decided by the father. Regardless of the final decision of the father, the sons and daughters will obey the will of the father. ”

His answer seemed to be leaky, but he didn't mention what if Ji Yunye's elopement and killing the emperor's personal guards were all misinformation. If he hadn't subjectively wanted so, he would have had nothing to do with the person behind the scenes, or he himself would have been behind the scenes.

Emperor Cheng Zhao nodded, but did not speak, his eyes were lightly closed, hiding the fluctuating light.

Ji Chuyang watched the various beings in the court with cold eyes, and the corners of his lips mockedly.

Two days later, in the Xuanzheng Palace, when the ministers were still arguing over the same matter, I saw a purple-clothed masked man in the dust and dust enter the main hall without being informed, his clothes fluttered, swept past everyone, and knelt down on one knee in front of the ninth-level golden majesty.

At this moment, the people in the hall and the surprised or puzzled gazes they projected became the background, and Emperor Cheng Zhao's gaze followed closely from the moment the purple figure entered the hall. There seemed to be a mist in his eyes, and he almost wanted to get up and step forward to ask what was going on, but he couldn't help it when he heard the sound of "Weichen sees the emperor".

He stabilized his emotions and said: "Aiqing is flat, I don't know if Aiqing's trip is going well?" ”

Fang Quan got up and said, "The minister is fortunate to have taken the eldest prince and Princess Ning Wan back to the palace, and now they are waiting outside the palace. ”

Emperor Cheng Zhao suppressed the excitement in his heart and deliberately emphasized: "Take it back? ”

"Exactly." Fang Quan replied respectfully, "The two of them have already harvested the Fire Lotus King, and they said that they wanted to bring it back for the queen." ”

"So, they didn't elope?"

"Back to the emperor, they did not elope, when our fifty purple-clothed guards met them, they had already returned from Xiyan Kingdom and arrived outside the city of Xilai in our country."

"Since you didn't elope, and you have already picked the fire lotus, why don't you send a letter back in advance? And I've heard that they killed forty-nine purple guards. ”

Fang Quan pretended to be surprised and said: "I don't know who the emperor listened to, but now the forty-nine brocade guards are intact, and they have all returned to the palace, and they are also waiting outside the palace at this moment. ”

This words are undoubtedly like hot oil into boiling water, and the entire hall suddenly boiled to the sky, and the most surprising thing was Ji Jinyan, who saw several changes in his eyes, but he couldn't bear to be calm. He thought that he could intercept the letter they sent back to the palace to collect the fire lotus, and then intercept them on the way, once and for all, he thought that everything was under control, but he didn't expect the final result to be completely unexpected. What went wrong?

Emperor Cheng Zhao breathed a sigh of relief and said with relief: "It's good to come back." Then he glanced majestically at the people in the hall, and they were immediately silenced like an electric shock, and the ministers who listened to the rumors felt that they were now in an ice cellar, and the cold air went straight to the marrow.

"Carry them into the temple." Emperor Cheng Zhao said in a deep voice.

"Spread the eldest prince, Princess Ning Wan, and the purple-clothed guard into the palace—"

Lian Xi's sharp voice passed through the cold hall and reached the ears of those outside the hall. The ministers in the palace consciously set aside the middle avenue and stood on both sides of the hall with their heads bowed.

When the figures of the two appeared on the main hall, the splendor of the hall could not cover their elegance, they just smiled slightly, standing proudly in the center of the hall, so that everyone who saw it was ashamed of themselves, and then looked at the dozens of purple-clothed guards behind them, some of whom were already in a cold sweat.

After respectfully seeing the salute, Ji Yunye said: "As soon as Erchen entered the palace, he heard bad rumors about Erchen, and now Erchen and Princess Ning Wan have collected the fire lotus and returned to the palace, and the fifty purple-clothed guards are also unharmed, I don't know if I can break those rumors?" ”

After Ji Yunye finished speaking, he deliberately looked around the ministers, causing the weak-hearted person to shiver.

Prime Minister Liu Cheng bowed forward and said: "The ministers were bewitched by others and mistakenly thought that the purple guard had died in his duties, so they were sad and angry for a while and demanded that the murderer be severely punished, and I hope the emperor will forgive me." Now that they have returned to the palace safely, it is really gratifying. It's just that the return of the eldest prince and Princess Ning Wan to the palace does not mean that they did not elope, maybe they had to go back because of the power of the purple guard. ”

Emperor Cheng Zhao said: "Didn't the Purple Guard Commander Fang just say that they met outside Xilai City? If they really want to elope, what will they do back home? ”

"This ......," Liu Cheng said, "Could it be that someone reported the news in advance, and they felt that the matter was exposed, so they ......?"

"Father!" Hua Mian interrupted him and said to Emperor Cheng Zhao respectfully, "Before we returned to China, we asked Feige to send a letter back, and the letter clearly stated that we have harvested the fire lotus and will be able to return to the palace in a few days." Could it be that Wantao forgot to hand over the letter to the emperor? She said that Dong Qi was a flying pigeon, because she was afraid that Liu Wanxing and others would seize this detail and make a fuss. Dong Qi has been in the East Palace, if she suddenly came to her side, it can only mean that she wrote back to the palace to make a remedy in order to choose herself after receiving Wan Tao's letter, wouldn't it be in Liu Wanxing's hands?

And the reason why she dared to say this was because she was sure that Dong Cry was intercepted by Ji Jinyan's people, and it was because the letter was not delivered to the emperor. Ji Jinyan will never demolish her, how can he do anything to expose his evil deeds?

Emperor Cheng Zhao looked at Hua Mian in surprise, only to feel that her expression was serious, not like lying, could it be that the letter was lost or intercepted on the way? He didn't ignore the intent of her last sentence. Regardless of whether she wrote the letter or not, or whether the letter was lost or not, as long as she pushed the boat down the river, she would help them out in an instant. Because, this letterhead is the strongest evidence that can prove their innocence at present.

He frowned, turned his head to look at Lian Xi beside him, and said in a majestic tone: "Lian Xi, six days ago, on the way back to the dormitory, I saw Wantao leaving from the direction of my dormitory, could it be that he came to deliver a letter?" "Those ministers received a secret letter about their elopement the night before six days, and the Purple Guards were sent out by him after that. He said that six days ago, it was just right to rule out the fact that they had written a letter to cover it up because someone had reported the incident.

Lian Xi was stunned, he was with the emperor all day long, when did he see Wantao? But he knew that the emperor had always been interested in the eldest prince, and immediately understood what he meant, so he pretended to suddenly say: "After the slave waited for the emperor to rest in the morning, Xiao Anzi handed over the letter to the slave, and the slave thought that he would wait for the emperor to wake up and then transfer the letter to the emperor. Please also ask the emperor to punish him. ”

Although Ji Jinyan's face was not different, his fists were already white, he knew that they were acting, but he couldn't expose them. If he had known that Hua Mian and Emperor Cheng Zhao would sing such a play, why did he have to let go when he intercepted the letter, wouldn't he be happy to kill it?

"Oh, that's the case." Emperor Cheng Zhao sighed and said to Lian Xi, "Where did you put your letter?" It is better to take the letter and let the ministers witness it. ”

Although Emperor Cheng Zhao said this to Lian Xi, the ministers below all knew it, and this was said to them. They can question Hua Mian's words, but who dares to question Lian Xi? Lian Xi is the mouthpiece of the emperor, and questioning Lian Xi is equivalent to questioning the emperor. They don't have the guts yet.

A smart minister immediately said in a round game: "The minister thinks that since even the father-in-law has said so, there is no need to do more, and the minister believes that the eldest prince and Princess Ning Wan are innocent." ”

"Oh? And what about the other ministers? Emperor Cheng Zhao pointed directly at the ministers in the palace.

"The minister also believes that the eldest prince and Princess Ning Wan are innocent."

"I believe it."

"The minister also believes."

……

Except for Ji Jinyan and Liu Wanxing, the ministers in the palace did not agree, and the rest of the people were all in the same voice.

Emperor Cheng Zhao's cold eyes narrowed slightly, taking in everyone's faces, and the corners of his lips hooked up a few imperceptible arcs.

At this moment, the direction of the wind in the court has been deflected, and Ji Yunye wasted no time in deciding to add another fire. He said to Emperor Cheng Zhao: "Erchen still has one more thing to show to his father." ”

Emperor Cheng Zhao said gently: "Ye'er, but it's okay to talk about it. ”

Ji Yunye glanced at everyone again, his eyes quickly moved away after a slight pause on Ji Jinyan, and he was not surprised to see a trace of nervousness hidden under his calm coat. He said loudly: "Before Erchen and his party met their father's purple-clothed guard, they were attacked by a group of killers pretending to be purple-clothed guards in the mountain stream on the outskirts of Xilai, and they lost two excellent secret guards. Sadly, we couldn't catch them alive and let them escape. ”

Emperor Cheng Zhao was surprised: "There is such a thing? With a turn of his eyes, he saw that many ministers were also full of surprise, and some of them had even started to talk about it.

Ji Yunye continued: "Before they fled, they said a word, 'Retreat quickly and wait for reinforcements'. Later, we met my father's purple guards, and we thought they were reinforcements for the killers, and although the two sides fought, fortunately there were no casualties. Because at that time, Myanmar only hypnotized all the forty-nine purple-clothed guards with Xiao Yin, and had no intention of killing. Otherwise, what you will discuss in the court today is how to cure our heinous sins. ”

As soon as these words came out, it was tantamount to a thunderclap that shook everyone out. What a poisonous serial scheme! It is clear that the person who wrote the secret letter was the same group of people who planned the plot. Everyone couldn't help but look at each other, and the meaning shown was obvious, that is, this matter has nothing to do with me, who is so ruthless and wants to put the eldest prince to death, and he doesn't quickly stand up and arrest him!

Emperor Cheng Zhao's heart was even more turbulent, and his anger was so surging that he couldn't hold it even if he wanted to. It's unexpected! The people standing below are not their own courtiers, or their own clan heirs, and they are just fighting openly and secretly, but now they are so bad that they are both murderous and blameless, which is really eye-opening.

In the end, due to anger, he retired early, and did not forget to warn the initiator to do it himself, otherwise the Zongren Mansion would be his destination, as for those ministers who helped to abuse, there was only one end, that is, to destroy the family.

This remark also has a certain deterrent effect, at least many ministers dare not stand in line casually, after all, it is most important to save their heads.