CHAPTER XXI

It is said that Congsi and his senior brother Xundi sneaked into the emperor's bedroom late at night and gave the emperor a book, which was the evidence that recorded the crimes of Zhong Yushi and the Queen Mother.

When the two of them left, the emperor got out of bed himself, held the lamp, and flipped through the books in his hand one by one.

Half an hour later, the emperor was so angry that his eyebrows were split, and with a wave of his hand, the teacup on the bookcase shattered to the ground.

"Bang bang!"

Outside the door, the little eunuch who was keeping vigil woke up and hurriedly asked, "Your Majesty, what happened?" ”

The emperor reacted, and his temper still exploded: "Get out!" ”

The little eunuch outside the door was so frightened that his legs were weak and he no longer dared to speak.

"Xiao Zhengzi, you say, what's wrong with the emperor? Why do you lose your temper so much? ”

Xiao Zhengzi whispered: "It is estimated that it is Concubine Yun's mother's business......"

"Also, the emperor has been blocked by the ministers for the past two days, and he went to Baguio Palace at night, but he was stopped by the queen mother, if the emperor is not angry, it will be strange ......"

Xiao Zhengzi's gossip was on his mind: "If you want me to say, being the emperor is suppressed like this, and it's also strange to be aggrieved." Who doesn't know that Concubine Yun is about to give birth, if the two born are princes, those in the harem, but they will be angry! ”

"Don't say it, it's like that. Have you seen it, a few days ago, Concubine Zhong was favored, and it was her hand to keep it up! ”

"Shhhh......h

……

The next day, the emperor ordered a summons to the secretary of the criminal department, saying that he wanted to inquire about the situation of those who died violently in the city.

Bai Shengqi, the secretary of the Criminal Department, was summoned and rushed to the palace in a hurry.

He was originally the son of a declining courtier, but fortunately passed the imperial examination, won the emperor's appreciation, and was promoted all the way to the official department of the criminal department.

Therefore, he has always been loyal to the emperor and has no second heart.

In the imperial study, there were only the emperor and Bai Shengqi.

At this time, the emperor did not procrastinate and gave Bai Shengqi a piece of paper.

I saw Bai Shengqi open it, and his face suddenly changed.

"Your Majesty, what is your plan ......"

The emperor stroked the beard at the corner of his mouth: "First secretly catch those small fish and shrimp, and then send a master of the criminal department to keep an eye on Zhong Wanquan, if he has any movement, he will be arrested immediately to see me!" ”

"If you go to Mengliangju, just say that you will come and get something, and naturally someone will see you."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Bai Shengqi listened to the order, and his voice was loud.

After a stick of incense, the people outside stared at the imperial study, and saw that the Shangshu of the Criminal Department was scolded and scolded by the emperor, and his face was covered with tea stains.

Everyone spat in their hearts: "Damn, why do you think it's ...... big deal?"

Three days later, in the early court, the Shangshu of the Criminal Department presented a recital, saying that the four characters engraved on the back of the man who died violently in the city that day were made of ink from Zhuqing Pavilion.

And after handwriting comparison, the words "Demon Concubine Misfortune" came from the hand of her shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper of the bamboo pavilion is good at tattooing and embroidery, although he rarely tattoos the pattern for the guests, outsiders do not know his craftsmanship.

But in the end, after a thorough investigation and a strict trial of the shopkeeper, the evidence of the crime was completely confirmed.

Unexpectedly, Zhuqing Pavilion is a shop opened by Zhong Yushi's wife.

As soon as these words came out, everyone present was surprised and looked at Zhong Wanquan one after another.

Zhong Wanquan's old face couldn't hide it, and he held back his anger: "Your Majesty, this matter must have nothing to do with my Zhong family!" ”

"As we all know, Zhuqing Pavilion is just a place to open the door to do business, and when guests come to the door, it is natural to put the guests first."

"My wife is a woman, who teaches her children at home all day long, and rarely goes out, so how can she manage the business in the store?"

"Therefore, if the minister is brave, it must be the shopkeeper's greed for money, so he will do bad things for those who have a heart!"

When the emperor heard this, he smiled slightly: "Oh? Regarding Zhong Yushi's statement, what is Zhong Aiqing's opinion? ”

Immediately, the hall is like a duck farm with a bar, countless ducks calling, and your words are deafening.

The emperor sat on a high dragon chair, sipping tea while looking down on his courtiers, with an unpredictable smile on his lips.

In order to sit firmly on this dragon chair, he endured it for too many years, like a giant boy who was locked up, forced to listen to the teachings of his elders all day long.

Regarding anything, even if you have an idea, you can't agree with it, you can only watch the current group of people chatter, fighting for a red face and coming up with a plan.

This time, he took the initiative to put power in their hands, in order to enjoy the spectacle.

An hour later, the ministers finished arguing.

Everyone was defeated by the Yushi faction led by Zhong Wanquan, and they were finally defeated.

The one who does the imperial history is nothing more than relying on his mouth to be powerful, eating and doing things with his mouth, and at the same time using a knife with his mouth, killing people without seeing blood.

Looking at Zhong Wanquan's triumphant look, the emperor gave Bai Shengqi a look.

I saw Bai Shengqi step forward: "Your Majesty, the minister caught a Taoist priest in the restaurant yesterday, he and others showed off while drinking, saying that he had recently won Zhong Yushi and gave him two hundred taels of silver, and asked him to preach that Concubine Yun Niangniang was a demon concubine in the bazaar. ”

"When the minister heard this, he immediately arrested him, put him in prison, and interrogated him personally."

"Is this the confession of the Taoist priest, please take a look at the emperor."

Seeing the situation, the chief eunuch Ma De quickly raised a confession and presented it to the emperor.

When the emperor opened it, he was furious.

"Zhong Wanquan, what else do you have to quibble!?"

The thin confession fell to the ground, and Zhong Wanquan's panicked heart fell to the ground like that.

I saw him crawl over on his knees and pick up the paper.

At first glance, what was written on it was actually the crime of bribing the Taoist priest with money and letting the Taoist priest ruin Concubine Yun's reputation.

"Your Majesty, this is not true! The old minister has never done this before! Zhong Wanquan knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing and begging for mercy.

"Bai Shengqi also said that when the Taoist priest drinks with people, he must be drunk and talking nonsense!"

"The evidence is here, and you still dare to quibble!?" The emperor was furious, and a cup was slammed on the ground, spilling tea on the ground.

The ministers who opposed Zhong Yushi on weekdays took the confession and circulated it one after another.

For a while, the sound of chirping was everywhere, and everyone's eyes became meaningful when they looked at Zhong Wanquan.

"Your Majesty, this matter is not the minister's doing, and the minister will never admit his guilt!"

"In order to prove the innocence of the old minister, the old minister is willing to apologize with death!"

After finishing speaking, Zhong Wanquan was about to crash into the huge vermilion pillar in the hall.

The next moment, Bai Shengqi grabbed the person first, grabbed Zhong Wanquan's collar with one hand, and couldn't get out of it no matter how hard he struggled.

"Zhong Yushi, don't be in a hurry to prove your innocence, the king of this county still has good things left for you!"

The loud voice shook open, and I saw the king of Anguo County striding into the hall, carrying a dead fish in his hand.

Seeing this, the emperor frowned and said, "King Anguo, I don't know why you brought a dead fish?" ”

The king of Anguo County bowed down: "Your Majesty, this thing is the culprit that caused the people in the city to suffer from the 'plague'. ”

When the ministers heard this, they were full of horsepower under their feet, and they instantly avoided it.

"Bold! King Anguo, you dare to bring such a disaster to the emperor, what is your intention!? A minister rebuked angrily.

Although the king of Anguo County is old, he is still full of anger: "This fish is just poisoned, not infected with the plague." ”

"And speaking of which, this thing is also related to Zhong Yushi!"

In an instant, everyone's eyes were once again focused on Zhong Wanquan, eager to pierce it.

"Your Majesty, there has been a sudden illness in the city recently, and the ministers have doubts, so they immediately secretly investigate the matter."

"After investigation, the minister found that the sick people had all gone to the market to buy fish that day, and the fishmonger who sold the fish was a distant relative of Zhong Yushi."

"The minister arrested this man, and before he could interrogate him, the fishmonger panicked."

"Who knows, the fishmonger said that Zhong Yushi gave him a bag of medicinal powder and a hundred taels of silver that day, and only asked him to feed the medicinal powder to the fish."

"Later, when something happened in the city, the fishmonger found out that it was caused by eating his own fish."

Hearing this, the emperor was furious, and the officials were surprised, but Zhong Wanquan's hairs stood up.

The plague was not his doing, and now someone framed him, and he chose this time.

Now, no matter how much he quibbles, he can't do it......

"Zhong Wanquan! You are guilty! The emperor slapped his palm, and the book case shook.

"Your Majesty, this is really not the old minister's doing, someone framed him, ask the emperor to learn from it!" Zhong Wanquan knocked thousands of times, and blood was already flowing on his forehead.

But the emperor obviously didn't believe it: "It's really the opposite!" The evidence is placed in front of him one by one, and he does not admit guilt and ambush, but he dares to quibble! Are you completely out of sight of me!? ”

Hearing this, Zhong Wanquan cried bitterly: "The old minister didn't dare to ......"

Immediately, the emperor waved his hand and ordered: "Bai Shengqi, immediately pull this person into the heavenly prison, and he must be interrogated by me!" ”

"This matter involves Concubine Yun, he dares to be so bold and capable, and there must be accomplices."

"I give you three days, if there is no result that satisfies me, you can wait for the dispatch of the frontier!"

Hearing this, Bai Shengqi respectfully sang: "Yes!" Emperor! ”

So, in the main hall, the ministers looked at the miserable appearance of Zhong Wanquan being dragged away, and they were so frightened that they were silent, especially those who were close to Zhong Wanquan, all of them bowed their heads and remained silent, panicked.

Today's emperor shocked them too much, and they couldn't adapt to it for a while.

But what they didn't know was that the emperor had already made up his mind in his heart to get rid of those who hindered his mastery of imperial power one by one!

At this time, a person walked out: "Your Majesty, Zhong Wanquan has been an official for many years, and it is not difficult to have this ability." If there were accomplices, they would have confessed. ”

"The minister thinks that this matter may have been done by Zhong Wanquan alone."

Everyone was surprised, who dared to speak in such a situation, and when they saw it, it turned out to be Prince Ning.

I saw that he had an elegant temperament, a graceful and extraordinary demeanor.

Seeing this, the emperor shook his head and said: "Thirteenth brother, you have only entered the court not long ago, the way of officialdom, in a few years, you will know the stakes." ”

The ministers were here, and the emperor didn't say much, just handed a look to Prince Ning.

Prince Ning was stunned for a moment, and said with a ashamed smile: "The younger brother has always been addicted to literature, and he doesn't know the policies of officialdom, but the younger brother is lacking." ”

The emperor smiled slightly: "It's okay, just have more contact in the future." ”

He, the imperial brother, is still too tender after all.

But it's okay, he likes literature and poetry, doesn't understand political affairs, and will not hinder himself from mastering government affairs in the future.

The matter came to an end for the time being, and the emperor was tired, so he immediately announced his retirement from the court.

The officials who received the order immediately began to arrange for the seizure of the Zhong Mansion, and allocated a part of the proceeds as charity funds to purchase medicinal herbs and food to relieve the suffering people in the city.

At the same time, the emperor ordered that the ban on the Baguio Palace be lifted and the jewel Aya Luo was rewarded to make amends.

Seeing that the hall became empty, a lot of stones fell in his heart.

Now, he wants to see who else dares to continue to make waves!