The officials had such a shocking case, and Chen Shangshu could not escape the blame, and he came to the Qing Palace to ask for the guilt.

Sheng Hongjun's face was shrouded in a layer of frost, and the words he spat out were as sharp as a blade: "I trust Chen Shangshu and hand over the most important officials among the six departments to Chen Aiqing's hands. Is this how Chen Aiqing repaid me? ”

Chen Shangshu was full of bitterness and unspeakable, and he couldn't even say a word of defense, kowtowing and asking for guilt: "Weichen is derelict in his duties, the supervision is not clear, please ask the emperor to surrender!" ”

There is such a scandal of selling officials and awarding officials, as a scholar, there is no way to defend it, so he can only stand up and bear the anger from the Son of Heaven first.

Sheng Hong said coldly: "The Ministry of Officials is the head of the six departments, and the Ministry of Officials is the foundation of the court. No one knows the truth better than Chen Shangshu. Zong Lang is one of the people, how can he have such a big guts. This matter must be investigated to the end and everyone involved in the case must be found out. ”

"Chen Shangshu is old, so he shouldn't worry about it, so let's go home to rest when he's sick!"

This is not even going to give him the opportunity to redeem his merits.

Chen Shangshu's heart was cold, and he trembled and thanked him for taking the order to retreat. Walking outside the hall, Chen Shangshu only felt that the sun was dazzling, making people dizzy and dizzy, and his legs were floating.

Chen Zhan, who had been waiting outside the hall, stepped forward to hold his father's arm.

The father and son have been at odds with each other for many years, and they have quarreled countless times and turned their faces several times for the sake of establishing a prince. Chen Zhan didn't know how many beatings he had received.

In the past two years, Prince Aluo's position has gradually stabilized, and the relationship between father and son has eased slightly. However, words are not speculative, and there is always a knot of estrangement between each other.

When such an ugly thing breaks out in the ministry, the Son of Heaven will be angry, and it will definitely affect Chen Shangshu. No matter what, it was also his own father, Chen Zhan knew that his father was summoned into the Yiqing Palace, so he came to wait silently.

Sure enough, I saw Chen Shangshu come out with a miserable face and blank eyes.

"Father," Chen Zhan couldn't bear it, and said in a low voice, "I'll send you home." ”

Chen Shangshu's expression was discouraged, he didn't even have the strength to speak, and he didn't have the strength to push his son away, so he only nodded.

Chen Zhan sighed secretly in his heart.

Almost all of the important ministers above the third rank in the court are old ministers of the three dynasties. It is not wrong to be an official, but there is a question mark about loyalty to the Son of Heaven.

As a confidant of the Son of Heaven, he knew very well what the Son of Heaven was going to do next.

Sheng Hong, who has been sitting on the dragon chair for more than ten years, has planned to gradually replace the important ministers of the court and give the court a real big change.

The Hanmen Jinshi who sued the emperor is the same as Brother You'er. If you hadn't gone through Brother You'er's way, how could you go up to heaven and sue the emperor?

This time, Chen Shangshu hit a hard nail. It is necessary to break the blood flow of the head. It is a blessing to be able to be safe.

……

Sheng Hong's anger did not subside, and he announced that the criminal department was still in the book, and strictly ordered the criminal department to investigate the case in the shortest possible time.

Shangshu of the Criminal Department didn't even dare to wipe the cold sweat on his forehead, and responded with a voice.

A Luo, who had never spoken, finally opened his mouth at this time: "Father, the son has been in the ministry for more than a year, and he is familiar with the personnel of the ministry, and it is convenient to investigate. The son begged his father to hand over the case to the son. Within a month, the son will definitely investigate the case clearly and present it to his father. ”

Criminal Department Shangshu: "......"

Shangshu of the Criminal Department, who was half bald, couldn't help but glance at A Luo, whose belly was slightly bulging.

Her Royal Highness the Empress Dowager is pregnant, and she can't take care of the fetus well, so she wants to meddle in the case of the ministry? It's not a trivial task! Don't be tired.

Although the Shangshu of the Criminal Department did not make a sound, the reminder contained in that glance was obvious.

Sheng Hong also hesitated a little and looked at Ah Luo: "Can you eat with your body?" ”

A Luo's face was calm and cold: "As a prince, Erchen should share his father's worries and contribute to the stability of the Great Qi court." If the father is not at ease, he will make Qian Shangshu the right and his son as the deputy. ”

A Luo asked for it like this, in front of the criminal department, Sheng Hong was inconvenient to say more, and opened his mouth to agree.

……

The next day, Chen Shangshu was on the fold of complaining about illness.

Qian Shangshu of the Criminal Department officially took over the case, wrote a handwritten letter, and left and right waiters personally went to the Ministry of Officials and invited a group of officials involved in the case to the Ministry of Criminal Affairs to "drink tea".

He can't be punished by a doctor. Imperial court officials may interrogate, but may not be privately executed. Moreover, this case is very widely implicated and has a great impact, and almost everyone in the DPRK and China, big and small, is watching this case. The pressure on the criminal department is quite high.

At this time, it can be seen that the benefits of the empress dowager sitting in the criminal department have come.

With the imperial lady personally supervising the case, no matter how capable the officials involved are, they dare not play tricks under the eyes of the imperial princess. Those who secretly inquired about the news, who wanted to spend money to dredge up the relationship in private, and those who found a certain prince or a certain Shangshu Pavilion old man to help intercede, all died down.

Without a lot of involvement, the investigation of the case is much more logical.

When "drinking tea and chatting", A Luo was dressed in a prince's dress and sat beside Qian Shangshu with a cold expression. Either you don't open your mouth, and you ask questions with one mouth, and you will be particularly sharp.

Unable to carry out the punishment, Ah Luo ordered people to interrogate him repeatedly, and the officials who were interrogated were not allowed to eat, drink, or sleep. If you ask a question three or five times, it is less, and you will turn it out and ask it again. If there is one word that is different from the previous one, it is considered a lie.

Over the past few days, the officials who had been invited to the Criminal Department for "tea" were all physically and mentally exhausted by questioning. Unfortunate, he began to confide in him.

As the first person to be accused, Zonglang also received special "preferential treatment".

Her Royal Highness the Empress Dowager personally interrogated.

Zong Langzhong refused to admit it at first. Ah Luo sneered, and put the confessions of the rest of the officials in front of Zong Langzhong one by one: "The evidence is conclusive, whether you admit guilt or not, you can't escape death." ”

"I'm asking you myself now to give you one last chance. You tell me honestly, where did all the huge amount of money you got from selling your official position go? Tell the truth and make your death happy. Otherwise, it will be Ling Chi's capital punishment. ”

Zong Langzhong's face was not bloody, and his whole body trembled.

It's the same death, and beheading is a matter of an instant. Ling Chi was in great pain, and it took three days to breathe.

Ah Luo said lightly: "You confess everything, you can save the lives of your family." Otherwise, it will be the disaster of exterminating the family and stealing the family. Do you want to die alone, or do you want to die with the whole clan, choose for yourself. ”

"I'll just give you a stick of incense time to think about it."

The slender and strong hand took the hourglass to the side, and the hourglass was turned upside down and placed lightly on the table.

Drop by drop of sand.

Zonglangzhong's face changed from miserable white to dead white, and finally opened his mouth to confess.

The female officer next to Ah Luo wrote the pen, and the cloud pen was like flying, recording them one by one.

Ah Luo stared coldly at Zong Langzhong, the anger in his eyes gathered like a cloud, and the haze was filled with the anger of the impending storm.

Brother You, who was waiting in the criminal department, prayed silently in his heart.

Sister Aluo, don't be so angry that you hurt your body! Don't forget to have our baby in your belly!