Ling Li originally planned to return to Beijing with Shu Mei, but the ceremony of establishing the prince was imminent, and he still needed to work with Shen Zhi and others in advance, worried that Shu Mei's body would not be able to bear the pain of traveling day and night, so he finally arranged for Dou Ji to escort her back to Beijing in a carriage, and he took the guards to ride first.

Ling Li rode his horse all the way and rushed back to Yongding two days before the ceremony. He couldn't take a break, and personally interrogated Sun Zhi overnight. Sun Zhi was very stubborn, and finally learned that Chu Yugu, Cardamom and others had been captured, and witnessed the imprisoned Cardamom, so he agreed to testify against Ling Zhao for plotting to kill the eldest princess of Fuguo. Of course, he also put forward conditions such as wanting to ensure his safety and giving him a reward of 100,000 yuan afterwards. Ling Li agreed.

Ling Zhao's crime of raising incense slaves and stealing secrets from court officials could have been confirmed, but if he led someone to raid Tianxianglou at this moment, he would inevitably startle the snake, and this article needed to be left to Emperor Chengde to order a thorough investigation after the crime of treason and seeking relatives was confirmed.

After breaking through Sun Zhi, Ling Li, Shen Zhu and Chen Ping repeatedly deduced the revelation of Ling Zhao on the day of the Lichu ceremony, deducing at which node of the ceremony should be exerted, predicting the reaction of Emperor Chengde and the ministers, and arranging the order of appearance of human and physical evidence.

The ceremony of establishing the prince is the same as the day when the Western Army of Zhenxi was rewarded, and it is set up in the square outside the vertical arch hall, but the specifications of the ceremony are very different. In addition to the flags, halogens, ceremonial guards, and ceremonial dresses, there are also seven bronze tripods and copper incense burners symbolizing the seven temples on the nine steps.

The people who attended the ceremony were not only civil and military officials above the fourth rank in the DPRK and China, but also the relatives of the Ling clan, the meritorious family, the local officials who received the edict and returned to Beijing, and the foreign envoys who came to congratulate them. This is the grand ceremony in the Yongnian Palace, second only to the emperor's enthronement.

All the people who participated in the ceremony had already entered the palace before dawn, and under the guidance of the officials of the Honglu Temple, they took their places and waited for the ceremony to begin.

"The emperor has arrived—"

At the right time, six high-headed horses pulled by the emperor slowly drove into the square with Emperor Chengde. Under the shouts of the ceremonial officials, the bells in the square rang in unison, and everyone knelt down and shouted: Long live my emperor, long live, long live!!

Emperor Chengde, who was dressed in the crown of the twelve-chapter big robe, slowly stepped down from the emperor's chariot, and strode towards the nine-story stairs under the kneeling of everyone. In front of the bronze tripod, Emperor Chengde took the incense candles handed by the ceremonial officer and prayed loudly:

"The ancestors and the ancestors are on top, the descendants Ling Xi asked for sacrifices, the ancestors were blessed, and the monarchs and ministers worked hard for 150 years to get the prosperity of Nanyue today. For the eternal solidity of the country and the longevity of the country, on this auspicious day, please tell the ancestors and the ancestors, and set up the crown prince to inherit the great cause. ”

After the prayer was recited, Emperor Chengde knelt on the ground and bowed three times, then got up and inserted the incense candle into the large incense burner. After the ceremony, he moved to the dragon chair and took a seat, and then nodded his head to signal the ceremonial officer, who immediately shouted: "Xuantong Shu Wang Lingzhao to meet you——! ”

Immediately, on the corridor of the square, Ling Zhao, who was dressed in the prince's silk robe, walked to the nine steps in high spirits amid the sound of ceremonial music.

Ling Zhao was originally handsome, dressed in princely clothes at the moment, walking under the spotlight at this moment, smiling at the corners of his lips, carrying the wind on the sleeves of his robe, and behaving elegantly, attracting everyone to compete for the ceremony and admire.

"Erchen Ling Zhao, meet my emperor, long live my emperor, long live long live, long live!!"

Emperor Chengde nodded with a smile, raised his hand and said, "Please announce the decree of the ceremonial official." ”

The ceremonial official holding the edict stepped forward, unfolded the scroll of the holy decree in his hand, and read it out loud: "Fengtian carries the emperor, and the edict says: Since ancient times, the emperor has succeeded the heavens and raised the imperial area, and the crown prince and Maolong Guoben will be established, and the Mianzong Society will have no borders. The prince Ling Zhao, the Japanese table is Yingqi, the talent is beautiful, since the assistant government affairs, he has been diligent and cautious all nights, and the law is reasonable, and he is in Yuanliang ......"

"End in Yuanliang?! I'm afraid this is extremely inappropriate! ”

Ling Li, who was watching the ceremony on the right side of the Majesty's steps, suddenly spoke aloud, and the ceremonial officials on the stage were startled and stopped announcing the decree in a stunned manner.

Everyone was also confused by this sudden change, and they all looked forward to the four hopes, and they were full of doubts. For a while, there was silence in the square.

"Presumptuous, where is your turn to speak today?!" After Emperor Chengde reacted, his face turned black and he immediately reprimanded.

Ling Li strode forward and said loudly: "Ling Zhao collaborated with the enemy to commit treason and murder his relatives, how can he be called 'in Yuanliang'?" The sons were afraid that their father and emperor would be deceived by others, and they would be ashamed of the ancestors of the Ling family, so they interrupted by risking death. ”

"Third brother, you ...... What nonsense?! Ling Zhao, who knelt on the ground to receive the order, suddenly stood up, and his eyes were full of murder when he looked at Ling Li. He didn't expect Ling Li to suddenly attack at the Lichu ceremony.

"Whether it's nonsense or not, it's up to my father to decide."

Ling Li knew very well that when dealing with a person like Ling Zhao, if he couldn't kill him with one move, he was afraid that the consequences would be unpredictable. But now, he had to give it a go. Success or failure are all on this day. He went straight up the nine steps and handed a scroll of guilt to Emperor Chengde on the dragon chair, "Please ask the Emperor Father." ”

"What kind of occasion is it today, you are so foolish?!" Emperor Chengde glared at Ling Li angrily and did not take the letter of guilt in his hand.

"I implore my father to read this book of guilt and then cure the crime of his son's troubles." Ling Li reluctantly handed the guilty letter in front of Emperor Chengde.

The hundreds of officials in the audience looked sideways, and the clan relatives and envoys who were watching the ceremony around also began to exchange their heads.

After Emperor Chengde looked around, he had no choice but to take the guilty book and open it. After a quick sweep, he looked up at Ling Zhao, "Zhao'er, someone has reported that you colluded with the enemy general's Wushu to refute it, but is there such a thing?" ”

Ling Zhao immediately bowed down and replied, "Back to my father, my son can't think of why he wants to collude with the leader of the enemy army who is thousands of miles away? And since the son's assistant government affairs, he has stopped feasting and drinking, stopped gatherings, quit extravagance, made every effort to raise military salaries for the Zhenxi Army, and helped the third brother to successfully win the victory in the west. ”

Emperor Chengde looked back at Ling Li, "The war in the west is over, and those who use this matter to slander Zhao'er can be punished." ”

"Second brother really can't think of why he wants to collude with the vultures?" Ling Li sneered, turned to Emperor Chengde and said, "Please allow Erchen to send witnesses to come forward and confront him." ”

Emperor Chengde looked at Ling Zhao, but Ling Zhao smiled and said, "Okay, I also want to see who wants to testify against me." ”

Emperor Chengde nodded, "Witness." ”

A moment later, the cardamom with the fence on her head was brought to the front of the steps.

"Who is kneeling down the stairs?" Emperor Chengde asked.

"Min...... The folk girl Cardamom has seen the imperial ...... His Majesty the Emperor. Cardamom scrambled to salute. She promised Ling Li to appear to testify against Ling Zhao, but she didn't expect it to be on such a grand occasion as the Lichu Ceremony. She was already shocked when she was brought into the palace gate, and when she took off the fence at this moment, she was already trembling with fear when she saw such an occasion around her.

"It turned out to be a cardamom girl, I haven't seen her for many years, and the girl still misses this king?" Ling Zhao asked with a smile.

"Wang ...... Rajah. Cardamom lowered her head, not daring to look at Ling Zhao, who was dressed like a good person at this time.

"This king paid a lot of money to rescue you two sisters from the Teaching Workshop Division, but I didn't expect you to take revenge and covet glory and wealth, so you came up with this trick to blame me?!"

"That's not the case...... Cardamom shook her head eagerly.

"What's that like?" Ling Zhao took a step closer and said, "Isn't it true that Miss Cardamom wants to say that this king asked the two sisters to use a beauty trick to lure that vulture to attack South Vietnam?" ”

Cardamom shook her head again.

"You woman is really vicious, she colluded with the Xili people to slaughter the whole family of a wealthy businessman surnamed Chu in Anyuan, and used the wealth of the Chu family to build a villa in Shannan, and then entrenched in Anyuan City, seducing people with sex, and selling intelligence for profit. I don't know whose benefits are coming to harm me now?! Ling Zhao asked.