The prince and Zhou Qingshan entered the imperial study, and saw that the imperial study was lively today, Zhao Kang and Qu Fucheng were there, and there were two jailers. The prince didn't know who these two jailers were, he had only heard Qi Changfa's name before, and he hadn't seen them, but he knew that these two jailers must be related to the Zhenguo Mansion.

I suddenly felt that things were not good, but the people had already come, could they still escape back halfway? I can only bite the bullet and pretend to be okay to greet the emperor: "Father." ”

Zhou Qingshan also greeted: "Your Majesty." ”

The emperor nodded, did not give the two of them a seat, and did not say anything, but continued to look at a piece of music in his hand. I also wrote a review unhurriedly. When Zuo Yue came, the emperor just finished approving the recital, put down the pen in his hand, and then asked: "Qingshan, do you know why you and Zuo Yue came over at the same time?" ”

"I don't know." Zhou Qingshan replied very sincerely.

The emperor smiled, pointed to the two kneeling on the ground, and asked, "Do you two recognize this lord?" ”

Qi Changfa and Li Xie both glanced at Zhou Qingshan timidly and nodded.

"Speak up!" The emperor suddenly raised his voice, so frightened that both of them hurriedly kowtowed, and trembled: "Recognize, recognize!" ”

Seeing this posture, Zhou Qingshan and the prince both trembled in their hearts, but their faces did not change. Zuo Yue's knees moved, but in the end, he didn't kneel, and he also stood steadily, his face was as usual.

The emperor asked in a deep voice: "Tell me about the two of you, how did you know Doctor Guanglu?" ”

These two people didn't dare to be ambiguous, Li Xie was a little bolder, so his family was in dire need of silver, how the entourage next to Zhou Qingshan found him and helped him get through the difficulties, how to take him to see Zhou Qingshan, and how Zhou Qingshan ordered him, they all said carefully; Then Qi Changfa, although it has been many years, how can you forget this kind of thing? It was also said very carefully.

The emperor didn't think they were verbose, but listened patiently, looked at Zhou Qingshan, and asked, "Zhou Qing, are they true?" ”

"Nonsense! It's nonsense! Zhou Qingshan did not directly answer the emperor's words, but pointed to Li Xie and Qi Changfa and said, "What is the identity of this official?" What are the two of you? How can this official have anything to do with you two little jailers? ”

"If you two say that you are just a small person in Shengdou who has a problem with their livelihood, and this official is not a Buddha who knows everything in the world, how can you know about the trivial things in your family? It's nonsense! Ridiculous! Say! Who told you to say this to frame your own officials? ”

The Zhou family is powerful, and they rely on the identity of the emperor's relatives, and the Zhou family is not as submissive as other ministers in front of the emperor, and even harder than the princes such as the prince and King Chen.

If it is placed in normal times, Zhou Qingshan's reprimand in disregard of the emperor's presence is not wrong, the emperor will turn a blind eye and will not say anything.

He also has a good deal to deal with on weekdays, and in this case, it is not easy to change the rules, so he can only use the usual method to show that this matter has nothing to do with him.

But how can the emperor be as lenient as in the past? Taking advantage of his roaring words regardless of the occasion, he directly copied a book and threw it on his face angrily: "Zhou Qingshan! How daring! ”

Zhou Qingshan hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed: "Weichen was wronged by these two people who didn't know where to come from, and he was anxious for a while, just wanting to seek the truth, so that he was out of proportion. made a loud noise in front of His Majesty, and rushed into His Majesty's holy ear, and hoped that His Majesty would forgive his sins! ”

The emperor's reaction was actually expected by him. knew that if he reprimanded these two people in front of the emperor today, he would definitely attract the emperor's anger, but he still wanted to do it. Isn't it clear to see this posture? The emperor came prepared, but he was afraid that he had already decided to deal with it in his heart. Even if he tried to defend himself, the emperor would not believe it. will also grasp his different attitude from the past, and make another article.

The results are the same, it's better to be happy, and it won't give the emperor any more grips.

"Forgiveness? Zhou Qingshan, which sin do you want me to forgive you? The emperor said in a deep voice.

"Weichen lost his honor in front of the emperor, collided with the holy face, and hoped that His Royal Highness would forgive his sins." Zhou Qingshan said with a little trepidation.

"Huh...... What about other than that? The emperor laughed angrily, leaned on the dragon chair, and asked slowly.

Zhou Qingshan looked puzzled: "Other than that...... Wechen really didn't know what other sins he had. ”

The emperor laughed, did not look at Zhou Qingshan, but looked at the prince, and asked, "Prince, you said, what kind of crime should your uncle confess." ”

The crown prince glanced at the two jailers and said, "Back to my father, if what these two people said is true, Dr. Guanglu admits it, and it should be a crime of ill-intentionedness." If what these two people said is not true, what Dr. Guanglu admits is not only the crime of dereliction of honor in front of the emperor, but also the crime of being careless as an official. If he hadn't offended someone, how would he have been framed in this way? ”

inevitably made the emperor think that he was talking to his uncle, and hurriedly said: "So the ministers think that now, they should find out the details of these two jailers to confirm the truth of their words." If it is true, then Dr. Guanglu's contempt for the royal law and abuse of power to strengthen his official authority must not be spared. ”

These words sounded like selflessly asking the emperor to punish his uncle heavily, but in fact, he was still excusing his uncle. What these two jailers said couldn't be more obvious, that is, Zhou Qingshan used them as eyeliner and knives and axes, and did those things that deceived the emperor, and it is not an exaggeration to say that they have the intention of rebellion. But he only used an understatement of "strong official authority" to talk about the matter.

But what else could he say? Can it still be directly said that the Zhenguo Mansion has planted eyeliner in all departments and yamen of the imperial court, in order to actually take power? No matter how stupid he is, no matter how much he wants to clear himself, he will not do it.

The father only called his uncle over, but did not call his grandfather and second uncle to come over, and the two jailers confessed that it was only his uncle alone, and no one else was involved. Therefore, today's incident, the most serious consequence is only the disposal of his uncle alone, and it has nothing to do with the entire Zhenguo Mansion.

If he crosses the river and demolishes the bridge now, he may face the situation of being exposed to the enemy in the future.

The emperor heard the prince's words, and said in a deep voice: "Prince, I see that you have forgotten your surname." ”

The emperor's words are quite serious.

Frightened, the prince hurriedly knelt on the ground and kowtowed heavily, but he didn't dare to say anything.

The heart is both apprehensive and confused. Although his words meant to help his uncle exonerate, they were not completely helpful. He shouted "Doctor Guanglu" one by one, could it be that his father still couldn't hear his estrangement? And he also said that if this is true, he must be punished heavily. Counting it, it should not be offended by either side, why did the father say this?

The prince had just arrived in the imperial study, and although he already knew the seriousness of the matter, he didn't expect how much anger the emperor had in his heart. Who would have thought that at this time, as long as he did not admit his guilt and did not identify his grandfather's family, in the eyes of the emperor, it would already be a big crime? What's more, he is still talking about both parties without offending, which makes the emperor extremely disgusted.

"Zuo Yue, I ask you, are you an official of my Feng Country, a courtier of me, an official of the Zhou family, or a courtier of the Zhou family?" The emperor didn't ask the prince, but instead asked Zuo Yue, the secretary of Dali Temple. The question is still quite heavy.

Hearing the emperor's heavy questioning, the prince felt a chill down his spine. Knowing that today's hurdle is not good. Isn't it just sad? Rather...... I can't get by.

Zuo Yue was also so frightened that he hurriedly knelt on the ground, and did not say any useless words to show loyalty, but directly kowtowed: "Your Majesty Mingjian!" The selection of jailers has always been decided by the two Zuoqing, and Wechen will never personally ask about this matter! Such a trivial matter, it is not within the scope of Weichen's responsibility. Wechen rarely goes to patrol the cell in person, these two jailers, Wechen has never seen it! ”

If you don't pick yourself up quickly, when? When the emperor starts a fire, he can't pick it if he wants to.

The emperor looked at Zuo Yue with a deep face, and saw that he was still a smart person, so he didn't investigate his guilt in detail. just instructed: "Go back and replace all the cell heads and jailers in the four cells of Dali Temple, this time, you will personally choose." There is also Dali Temple Zuoqing...... I remember that Zhou Zuoqing and Liang Zuoqing both came to Dali Temple last year, and there should be no problem with Liang Zuoqing, but Zhou Zuoqing ...... Absolutely no longer stay. Dismissed him from his post and let him go home and think about the past. Liang Zuoqing, don't be negligent, you help me warn him. ”

"Yes! Wechen takes the order! Seeing that the emperor just did this, and did not delve into what he meant, Zuo Yue hurriedly responded.

The emperor naturally didn't really believe Zuo Yue's defense, and really thought that Zuo Yue had nothing to do with Zhou Qingshan. Even if he didn't know about the placement of the jailer, if Zhou Qingshan didn't have a good relationship with him on weekdays, how could he put his son in Dali Temple to practice? How can you do it so freely? Zhou Qingshan's world, even if Zuo Yue is not involved, he must turn a blind eye and let him go.

If you dig deeper, there are countless ministers in the court who are involved in the Zhenguo Mansion, can they all be dismissed and investigated? Therefore, I can only give them a warning, let them understand the situation, and take the initiative to draw a line with the Zhenguo Mansion in the future.

"It's none of your business, you can step down." The emperor said.

"Yes! Wechen retires! Zuo Yue was granted amnesty and kowtowed heavily. Thanksgiving, he left without even looking at Zhou Qingshan and the prince.

People's hearts are cold, but that's the case. The monkeys that gathered on a tree of interests, once the tree fell, dispersed in an instant......