In the Chengqian Palace, the civil and military officials stood silently, looking at the second prince, the third prince, and the fourth prince standing at the front, and their thoughts kept flowing:

Since the death of the first emperor, these three princes have not been to the early dynasty, and they are so neat today, I am afraid that something will happen. Especially the second prince, he was awarded the title of German by the previous emperor, and he was the emperor's brother, and his status was the most transcendent. The third prince was banned before, but later, the first emperor passed away, amnesty to the world, and the ban of the three princes was also unsealed, although the emperor did not reward him, but now he also occupies the name of a prince, and there is a brother of the fourth prince behind him, no matter how you look at it, it is not easy to think about it.

Shen Ninghua sat on the throne above, and his eyes swept around all the officials in the hall lightly: "Today, the palace specially invited the three princes to come, in order to discuss the war in the northwest. You also know that the northwest is bitterly cold, and has suffered natural disasters for many years, the emperor has sent a message to the palace, saying that there is no food available in the northwest cities, and the soldiers and people eat tree bark and tree roots for a living, and now the two countries are at war, if the soldiers and generals don't even have a full meal, how can they have the strength to go into battle to kill the enemy? ”

As soon as the words fell, the officials below couldn't help but start talking, they thought that the northwest should be under difficult conditions, but they never thought that they would eat tree roots and bark, is this too miserable?

The third prince Baili Jinyu sneered: "Queen, you are too alarmist, although the conditions in the northwest are difficult, but when my father was in power, he ordered the northwest to store grain every year, in order to prevent war, there is no grain and grass available, how can there be no food at all now?" ”

"The third prince asked a good question, the palace is also very curious, the food hoarded every year is in the hands of whom, the magistrates in the northwest region, the power is much greater than that of ordinary local officials, and the grain in the official warehouse is completely under their jurisdiction, the emperor sent the news that these local officials in order to please their bosses, they secretly sold the grain, and sent the silver taels as an offering, it is said that this layer of up can be sent to Kyoto."

As soon as these words came out, the faces of many officials changed greatly, some time ago, the emperor dealt with a large number of old-school officials, the crime was corruption and bribery, and now the country is at war, the situation is even more critical, if something happens at this time, for the sake of national stability, will not be directly beheaded?

The third prince sneered: "Queen Mother, as far as this king knows, it hasn't been a few days since the emperor arrived in the northwest, even if he finds out any news, it can't be conveyed to Kyoto at all, what you just said is a guess, there is no direct evidence." ”

The queen looked at the third prince, a trace of ridicule flashed in her eyes, after what happened before, Baili Jinyu still didn't learn at all: "Third prince, before the emperor left, he had already sent someone to investigate, do you think that the emperor dared to drive the expedition without foresight?" ”

"Hehe, does the queen have evidence that the officials in the northwest sent silver taels to the officials in Kyoto?"

Shen Ninghua shook his head: "There is no conclusive evidence in this palace. ”

"There is no evidence, so what are you saying this for?"

"Naturally, it is to deal with a group of corrupt officials."

The third prince laughed loudly: "Empress, without evidence, you dare to attack the court officials?" You're probably excluding dissidents, aren't you? Queen Mother, you have only been in charge of the country for a few days, and you have begun to eradicate people in the court, the purpose behind this is really chilling......"

The fourth prince also stood up, he received the news before he came, and naturally knew that Shen Ninghua was going to attack them, so he didn't have to hide it today, just tear his face, Baili Junyi was not there, a woman, they were not afraid of her:

"Queen Mother, you should have heard of it, now it is rumored outside, many people are complaining, complaining about why the emperor did not accept the peace conditions of the Great Yue Kingdom, otherwise there would be no need to suffer from war, and now you are in such a hurry to eradicate the court officials, I can't help but make this king and others wonder if you have the intention of rebellion!"

As soon as these words came out, the hall was in an uproar. Many old-school officials' minds began to fluctuate, although they were left alive by the emperor, but looking at the emperor's methods now, who knows if he will continue to track down their previous mistakes, if they wait for the emperor to return in person, and completely sit on the throne, it will not be a matter of raising his hand to clean them up at that time.

Shen Ninghua took everyone's floating thoughts in his eyes, and a trace of darkness flashed in his eyes: "The fourth prince, folk rumors are everywhere, among them, you and the third prince have contributed a lot, and you are not less behind the scenes." ”

"Queen, you're spewing blood. As a member of the royal family, this king naturally wants to maintain the majesty of the royal family, how can he spread these words? Do you have witnesses, do you have physical evidence? ”

Shen Ninghua's voice was cold: "If it weren't for this incident, the palace wouldn't know that the fourth prince was a thoughtful person, some time ago, your relatives followed Wang Wu, the family was killed, and the subordinate steward Ning An's family, the family was on fire in the middle of the night, and the family was burned to death, and there were twenty-six people such as idle people, all of whom died violently overnight, these people are the people you used to spread rumors, in order to prevent the palace from finding out, after they spread the rumors, they were killed and destroyed immediately, and it was really a waste of hard work." ”

The fourth prince stood still, his face was full of justice: "Queen Mother, these people have been killed, this king is also very heartbroken, these days have been making people look for the murderer, but, queen, how can you rely on your own guess to push the matter on the king's head?" What rumors, what destruction of corpses, is simply nonsense, today Niangniang will definitely give this king an explanation! ”

As soon as these words came out, many people below began to echo: "Yes, please explain the reason to Weichen and others, otherwise you won't be able to convince the public!" ”

"Yes, you can't convict arbitrarily based on your own guesswork, especially if you want to be convicted of being the prince of the dynasty."

"This wind must not last, otherwise the country will be in turmoil."

“……”

The new officials have a bad face, they support Baili Junyi, and they also admire Shen Ninghua's skill, but today, the queen made a rash move, she was indeed too anxious, there is no evidence, not only can she not convict the fourth prince and others, but she will also let him bite back, the situation is not good! Immediately, many people stood up to speak for Shen Ninghua:

"This incident involves a lot of lives and should be taken seriously, the queen mother is just guessing one or two, but you have such a big reaction, isn't it suspected of being weak-hearted?"

"Exactly, the body is not afraid of the shadow, if you don't do something wrong, naturally you don't need to refute it in a hurry."

Zhu Zheng, the representative of the Yanguan, suddenly stood up, and looked at the third prince and the fourth prince with unkind eyes: "The fourth prince, the rumors stop at the wise, and it is rumored outside that the abolition of the queen can quell the war, it is just nonsense, the ambition of the wolf son of the Dayue country is obviously trying his best to bully my Da'an country and suppress the morale of my Da'an country, the queen is the mother of a country, how can she be abolished lightly?" The fourth prince was aggressive in the court, and he also spoke wildly, saying that the queen mother was suspected of rebellion, so do you have evidence? If you talk nonsense without evidence, is there also a sense of disobedience?

What's more, so many people died in the palace of the four princes, you should inform the queen mother as soon as possible, and let the mother send someone from the criminal department to investigate, although you are now a prince, but you have no power to investigate the case, you send someone to investigate the cause of their death, this is ultra vires! ”

Good! The newly-promoted officials secretly shouted hello in their hearts, they are worthy of being able to sit in the past to the present, this combat effectiveness is not ordinary, these words even knocked and beaten, and the faces of the four princes were black.

The fourth prince turned his head to look at Zhu Zheng, and secretly cursed in his heart that he was immortal.

Shen Ninghua hooked the corners of her lips imperceptibly, and then looked at Baili Jinjing with a mocking look in her eyes: "Fourth prince, were you too anxious just now, did this palace say that there is no evidence?" Did you say that everything is speculation? ”

Baili Jinjing's face darkened, and a bad feeling rose in his heart: "So you have evidence?" ”

"Yes, yes, the secretary of the criminal department, can you tell me?"

Shangshu of the Criminal Department, who had been there all the time, hurriedly stood up and took out a book from his sleeve pocket: "Returning to the queen's mother, after inquiry, the detained witnesses identified that the person who was killed in the Four Princes' Mansion was the one who spread the rumors at the beginning, and some of them gave two silver taels to let them expand the rumors, and the Tibetan silver has also been recovered." ”

Baili Jinjing stared at the Shangshu of the Criminal Department with unkind eyes: "What witness, where did you find the witness?" ”

"It is not easy to find out the root cause of the rumors, fortunately, the queen mother has been prepared, for fear that someone will take advantage of the war to shake the people's hearts, so in important teahouses, restaurants and other places, people have been sent to keep an eye on it, and it just so happened that the story of this matter was clearly understood, although they did not have time to catch the people who directly spread the rumors, they were killed, but the first people they came into contact with were brought to the criminal department for questioning."

"The people? Let the people be witnesses? ”

Shen Ninghua raised her eyes: "What, can't the people be witnesses?" Fourth Prince, now that there is evidence that the rumors were spread by your people, what else do you have to say? ”

"Even if it proves that those people spread rumors, do you have evidence to prove that they were instructed by me?"

Shen Ninghua looked at his determined expression and couldn't help but smile coldly: "I have no evidence." ”

Baili Jinjing smiled proudly, there is no evidence, what can I do about it?

"I don't have evidence, but many things don't need conclusive evidence, come here, escort the third prince and the fourth prince back to the house, let them recuperate in the mansion these days, and no one is allowed to disturb them."

The third prince's face changed: "Queen, are you going to put us under house arrest?" ”

"How so?" Shen Ninghua was surprised, "This palace just asked people to send you back to recuperate, and by the way, sent someone to protect your safety, where is it under house arrest?" ”

"You ......"

Shen Ninghua was reluctant to continue arguing with them: "During the special period, the status of several princes is precious, so we have to send additional people to protect them, come and escort the two princes back to their homes!" Oh, wait, and Lord Qi, Lord Liu, and Lord Chen who just spoke...... They are also important ministers of the country, and they are specially protected during special periods, and they are also sent back with them! ”