Chapter 63: Self-justification

Seeing the emperor's slightly changed face and stiff body, Zuo Xiang resisted the urge to laugh, bowed down, and spoke again, "Your Majesty, don't worry, this old minister has already sent someone to check, and there will be no explosion!" ”

"Lord Zuo, remember to tell me in advance next time! I'm old, I can't help you play tricks like this! The emperor said hatefully. This old immortal, even when he is old, still likes to play tricks on people, fortunately, I know that you have this habit, otherwise, I would have dragged you out and cut you down.

"Your Majesty! This thing is the cause of the fire in Myochunkaku! After a pause, he continued: "And according to the people who inspected this item below, this item is more carefully proportioned than the Heaven-Shaking Thunder in the Ordnance Department, and the person who developed this item is extremely intelligent, and has added a lot of phosphorus powder to it. ”

"Phosphorus powder? What does phosphor powder do?! The emperor asked suspiciously.

"Yes, phosphorus powder can help burn and speed up combustion, the reason why Lao Chen was able to confiscate this item is precisely because the gas wave generated by the explosion made this object fly into the Nishang Lake, otherwise this thing would have been annihilated in the fire a long time ago."

"I see! However, I remember that the research methods and materials of the earth-shaking thunder are strictly guarded by the Ministry of Industry, so how can this thing appear in the Miaochun Pavilion now?! ”

Cold sweat broke out on Zuo Xiang's forehead, the emperor blamed himself for dereliction of duty, such an important ordnance manufacturing method and materials were stolen, one could not be handled well, but it was a crime of killing the head.

Zuo Xiang hurriedly knelt down and pleaded guilty, "Please ask the emperor to punish the crime!" ”

"Oh? What is Aiqing's crime?! The emperor asked with a confused and confused expression.

"The secret method and materials for the development of the earth-shattering thunder are strictly controlled by the old minister, and now he is out, it is the old minister's dereliction of duty, and now this kind of thing has happened, so that the third prince received the pain of broken legs, and Shen Xu died in this explosion. It's the old minister's disadvantage! Please also ask the emperor to punish the crime! ”

"Humph!" The emperor snorted coldly and slapped the table hard, "You still know that you are guilty?!" I'll see how you explain to Tobe Shangshu tomorrow! ”

"Please punish the emperor! The minister is willing to wear the guilt and make meritorious service! Find out about it! Zuo Xiang's head was lowered, and he couldn't help but snort in his heart, old fox, didn't he just want to let himself find out the original tail at this time?! I'm glad I've been with you for a long time, otherwise I wouldn't have known what you were going to do.

The emperor did not speak again, and for a time the entire imperial study fell into dead silence. The dead silence of the imperial study made Zuo Xiang couldn't help but be frightened, could it be that he guessed wrong, and he really wanted to punish his own crimes?!

"That's it! Capital sins can be avoided, but living sins cannot be escaped. After all, Aiqing is also an old minister by my side. This matter is completely up to you, and it is important to find out who did it, and at the same time find out who made this earth-shattering thunder. If someone leaks out the secret method of manufacturing, you know what to do! At the end, the emperor's tone was cold, without a trace of warmth.

"Thank you, Lord Longen, thank the emperor for his incurable crime!" Zuo Xiang hurriedly kowtowed to thank him, and breathed a sigh of relief, you said it earlier, I was almost scared to death by you, and I thought you were really going to cut off my head.

"By the way, Aiqing just said that King Qi's whereabouts are unknown now, and now there is any news?" After dealing with the business, the emperor remembered Bi Yuntao's matter.

Zuo Xiang's face was embarrassed, hesitated for a while, and knelt down again to plead guilty. "Back to the emperor, I haven't found it yet!"

"Humph! What do you want! When the emperor saw that Zuo Xiang didn't know anything, he angrily picked up a piece and smashed it at Zuo Xiang.

"Please ask the emperor to punish the crime!"

"Punish the crime! Offences! Do you really think I don't dare to kill you?! "This old thing, if you hadn't made a lot of contributions to yourself when you were young, you wouldn't have died a hundred times now.

The emperor vented, and the resentment in his heart dissipated a lot, "Forget it! You go and find out the whereabouts of King Qi now! Leave the rest of the matter at that! ”

Zuo Xiang, who was prostrate on the ground, hurriedly said yes, but he couldn't stop muttering in his heart, how could this King of Qi be so favored by the emperor, and let the emperor ignore the leakage of the method of earth-shaking thunder, and find out his whereabouts first. It's just a little pitiful for the three princes, the three princes broke a leg, the emperor just asked casually, and he didn't ask, it's really more popular than people!

Zuo Xiang followed the emperor to discuss the relevant details, and then got up to retire, and as soon as he left the palace, he hurriedly ran to find out Bi Yuntao's whereabouts.

The emperor sat alone in the imperial study for a while, and then got up and returned to the imperial concubine's residence.

The imperial concubine smiled and saluted the emperor without a trace, "The concubine bows to the emperor!" No matter how you don't let people inform, the concubine is dressed up again. The imperial concubine waited anxiously for Xiaolan, but who knew that it was the emperor who was waiting, and the corners of her mouth were stiff, but after all, she had been in the palace for many years, and her ability to control her expression was also visible, so she quickly changed her smile without a trace.

"Haha! Aifei, why can't I come over? The emperor made it to the bed, laughed and stretched out his hand to stop the imperial concubine's body and held her in his arms.

The imperial concubine snuggled in the emperor's arms and said coquettishly: "Of course not! It's not that the concubines are not dressed up, they are ugly! ”

"Huh! The beauty is also beautiful without dressing up, so there is no need to dress up. The emperor shaved her pretty nose lovingly and comforted the imperial concubine.

"Your Majesty! Don't make a fuss! It's getting late, so let's go to bed! The imperial concubine couldn't stand the emperor's hands up and down, and it was so soft that she was in her arms.

The emperor listened to the imperial concubine biting his ear, and immediately laughed, "Haha! It's still early! I just have something to ask you about Yuntao, and I'm spending the Spring Festival with the beauties. ”

The emperor felt the body of the imperial concubine in his arms stiffen, the smile on his face quickly converged, pinched her chin and broke her head, and stared at her eyes with a cold gaze, "Today's matter, just now Zuo Xiang told me that Yun Tao did it, do you know?!" ”

"The emperor forgives his sins!" The imperial concubine was suddenly frightened and wanted to get out of the emperor's arms and kneel on the ground to beg for mercy, but the emperor's fingers pinching his chin were too hard, and he couldn't help but leave a few tears in pain.

"Looks like you know about it!" The tone of flirting with the imperial concubine just now was gone, replaced by a full chill. The emperor originally just deliberately deceived the imperial concubine to see if she knew about it, but he didn't expect it to really come out.

The imperial concubine's face was pale, but she didn't expect the emperor to deliberately deceive herself, and her body couldn't help but tremble, "Your Majesty! Tao'er only mentioned it to the concubine, and the concubine didn't know much. ”

"Tell me everything you know now! Today's matter is very serious, Yun Peng broke a leg! Yuntao's whereabouts are unknown now! The emperor pushed the imperial concubine away with great force, and his gloomy eyes were filled with cold and piercing murderous intent. You'd better explain it all! ”

The imperial concubine was pushed away by the emperor, fell to the ground and screamed in pain, and originally wanted to fool the past, but as soon as she raised her head, she saw the killing intent in the emperor's eyes without any disguise, and "plopped" and knelt on the ground and kowtowed and begged for mercy, "The emperor spares his life!" The concubine really doesn't know much! He took a few steps and hugged the emperor's legs, crying and begging for mercy with a sad face.

The emperor looked at the imperial concubine who was kneeling on the ground and holding her thighs crying and begging for mercy, and snorted coldly, "Hmph! Hurry up! Otherwise! You know the consequences! ”

The imperial concubine cried and said what she knew. Tao'er said that she was going to the banquet to see what Yun Peng was thinking. Today, the concubine also learned with the emperor that something had happened to the third prince, and as for why Tao'er's whereabouts are unknown, the concubine does not know. ”

The emperor squinted his eyes and stared at the imperial concubine who kept wiping her tears on the ground, "Then do you know what Yuntao has been doing in the mansion these days?!" ”

"The concubine doesn't know! Since the concubine came back from the Qi Palace, she has stayed in the palace and has not gone to the Qi Palace. The imperial concubine had stopped crying, but she kept inhaling because she was crying.

It seems that Yun Peng's broken leg is inseparable from Yun Tao, I wonder if the incident of the earth-shaking thunder is also related to Yun Tao? ! It's better not to have, or else! Thinking of this, the killing that had been hidden in the emperor's eyes resurfaced.

The imperial concubine knelt down, not daring to raise her head, feeling the emperor's cold killing intent above her head, like a cold mangon on her back, she couldn't help but tremble, and cold sweat was already oozing from her forehead.

A "click" broke the silence at this time, and listening to the sound of being pushed open from the outside, the imperial concubine raised her head suddenly, and said that her heart was not good, Xiaolan came back.

The sound also surprised the emperor, and just as he wanted to call the guards, he heard the voice of the person who came in. "Guifei Niangniang, I found out the news of King Qi!"

The emperor glared at the imperial concubine coldly, and the corner of his mouth showed a sneer full of coldness.

Xiaolan had already drilled in at this time. Because of the screen blocking, Xiaolan didn't see the subtle atmosphere behind the screen. Seeing that the imperial concubine had not made a sound, thinking that she might be asleep, she walked directly towards the screen.

The emperor listened to the footsteps getting closer and closer, and glanced at the imperial concubine, who was still in a nervous mood, but when she saw the emperor's envoy's eyes, she was overjoyed and hurriedly spoke, "Xiaolan, just say it there, the palace is a little tired, you can retreat after speaking!" ”

But she was a step slower, Xiaolan had already moved past the screen, and saw a mighty man with a cold light in his eyes sitting on the bed, and a woman kneeling on the ground with tears on her face and trembling slightly. When I suddenly saw this scene, I stood in place, and forgot to salute for a while.

Feeling a cold gaze looking at herself, Xiaolan couldn't help but shudder, and then she came back to her senses, "plopped", and fell to her knees. "Knock on the emperor! The slave didn't know that the emperor was also in the house, and she forgot the etiquette for a while, and the crime deserved to die, please forgive the emperor! ”

"Humph! That's it! You said you found out the news of King Qi?! ”

"Back to the emperor! The slave maid found out that King Qi was now in the Zuoxiang Mansion, with Miss Meng and Master Meng! Xiaolan replied respectfully.

The emperor's brows gradually furrowed, could it be that all this was secretly operated by Zuo Xiang?! This old fox, this is starting to take sides! It seems that he is going to have a good beating, but regardless of the difference between the monarch and the minister, he secretly instructed Yun Tao to be so vicious.

But after thinking about it, I felt that it was wrong, if it was really Zuo Xiang's doing, then he shouldn't have come up with something similar to earth-shattering thunder for himself, so what role did Zuo Xiang play in this matter?

After thinking about it carefully, I thought of the disability of the third prince, is it for Yuntao......

Xiaolan saw that the emperor was frowning, her face was gloomy, and she was silent. I don't know if I said something I shouldn't have said, I lowered my head and kept glancing at the imperial concubine who was also kneeling.

"Your Majesty!" The imperial concubine spoke up boldly, "Your Majesty! Since Tao'er is in the Zuo Prime Minister's Mansion! It must have been rescued by Meng Ruolang. ”

The emperor came back from his contemplation, and for a moment he was a little absent-minded, and replied casually. "Oh? How? ”

"They are messing around together all day long, Meng Ruolang knows some kung fu, this time Tao'er went to the banquet, and deliberately let Meng Ruolang stare in the dark to prevent himself from encountering accidents."

The words of the imperial concubine were like an initiation. That's right! Meng Ruolang has been practicing martial arts since he was a child, and he has been fooling around with Yuntao. The third prince is holding a Hongmen banquet this time, and since Yuntao dares to go, he will definitely call Meng Ruolang to protect him in secret.

The last time I saw my attitude towards them, I didn't punish the three princes strictly, so I held a grudge, and it happened that Yun Peng handed over the invitation, so under the protection of Meng Ruolang, I secretly cracked Yun Peng's killing situation.

What Zuo Xiang did today must have been unaware, although the imperial concubine was an insider, but she had no chance to encounter such a thing as earth-shaking thunder, so this should have been arranged by Yuntao himself.

So how did Yuntao get the earth-shattering thunder?! Thinking of this, the emperor's eyes showed a chill, it seems that the problem of the Ordnance Department is not ordinarily serious, and it is time to investigate and rectify it.

If Bi Yuntao knew the emperor's thoughts, it is estimated that his heart would bloom with joy. The explanation that I had thought of was all for the emperor to go back by himself.

Seeing that the emperor's eyes were full of murderous intent, Xiaolan and the imperial concubine palpitated at the same time, looked at each other, and didn't know what to do.

The emperor also figured it out and stood up, only then did he realize that there were still two people kneeling on the ground, especially one of them was his favorite imperial concubine, and hurriedly said: "Okay, get up!" You go down first! I'm going to rest! ”

Xiaolan was relieved and quickly stood up and retired.

When the emperor saw Xiaolan's figure disappear behind the screen, he stopped the imperial concubine in distress and hugged her into his arms, "Concubine Ai is suffering!" Today's events are so high, and that's why I'm like this! ”

Seeing that the emperor's face had improved, the imperial concubine knew that she was fine, so she snorted coquettishly and hammered the emperor's chest unruly, "Hmph! The emperor is necrotic and deliberately deceives people! ”

The emperor grabbed and beat his fist, "Haha! There is a reason for the incident, and please forgive me. How come I've never seen that maid by your side? And they don't know the rules, they don't make a report and come in through the window without permission! ”

"Please also ask the emperor to forgive your sins." The imperial concubine broke free from the emperor's embrace and knelt on the ground again, "That maid was bought by Tao'er." The last time the concubine went to the Qi Palace, she felt that she had a temper with the concubine everywhere, so she advocated taking her to the concubine's side to serve. ”

"I see!" When the emperor heard the imperial concubine's explanation, he got up and picked up the imperial concubine, let her sit on his lap, and pinched her sharp chin provocatively, "In the future, don't let me know that you let the palace maid out of the palace without permission, and I won't investigate it deeply this time, but it is still essential to punish you." ”

Without waiting for the imperial concubine to react, she turned over and suppressed the imperial concubine, and in an instant, the room was full of spring.