The crown prince, who was under house arrest in the East Palace, did not become depressed and degenerate, on the contrary, he worked harder than ever. I started reading every day, and I read it all day. In addition to reading during the day, he also copied Buddhist scriptures at night, copying Buddhist scriptures for the first queen, copying Buddhist scriptures for the deceased emperor and the first queen mother, copying Buddhist scriptures for the emperor, and copying Buddhist scriptures for the Great Zhou.

Letting the prince read and copy Buddhist scriptures was the suggestion of the head of the Xie family. The head of the Xie family was worried that the prince would lose his breath if he was placed under house arrest in the East Palace, and would do something that would lose his mind and his sacred heart. So, he came up with this idea. As long as the prince is given something to do, his attention will be diverted, and he will not think about house arrest all day long.

The crown prince, who was under house arrest in the East Palace, did not know what was happening in the court. When he was under house arrest, the emperor decreed that no one should visit the crown prince, and no one should tell the prince anything outside the East Palace.

The head of the Xie family also didn't want the prince to know what was happening outside during his house arrest, lest he lose his breath when he heard about it, so the prince didn't know what was happening outside at all.

At this time, he was studying in the East Palace.

In fact, he is very fond of reading. He finds joy in reading and peace in reading. These days, he listened to what was going on outside the window, read with all his heart, and his mood became very calm, not as impetuous as usual.

Suddenly, he felt a panic, followed by a deep sense of unease. He had a bad premonition that something was wrong.

"Lu Cong! Lv Cong! Lu Cong ......" The prince shouted loudly a few times, and Lu Cong hurriedly walked in.

"Your Highness, what's wrong?"

"Is there something going on outside?" The prince furrowed his brows and looked at Lu Cong sharply, "Is something wrong?" ”

When Lu Cong heard this, a strange look crossed his eyes, but he didn't show half a point on his face.

"Your Highness, why do you ask?"

The prince stretched out his hand to cover his chest on the left, "I suddenly felt flustered, something must have happened." ”

A smile appeared on Lu Cong's face: "Your Highness, you are too worried, nothing has happened outside." ”

"Really?" The prince was not convinced.

"Really."

"Is it that the King of Chu is back?" The prince's first reaction was that the King of Chu had returned.

"No, Your Highness, you forgot that the King of Chu had an accident in Jinling, and his whereabouts are still unknown." Lu Cong said, "There has been no news of the King of Chu in the capital, you are too worried." ”

"King Chu really didn't come back?"

"I really didn't come back." Lu Cong said again, "The slave doesn't dare to deceive you. "It is true that the king of Chu did not come back.

The prince thought about it and thought that it was too, and gave Lu Cong ten dares, and Lu Cong did not dare to deceive him.

"Your Highness, are you not feeling well, otherwise the slave maid will call you the imperial doctor?" Lu Cong said worriedly, "You have been a vegetarian for a long time, and it is estimated that your body can't bear it, so you are panicking." ”

The prince felt that what Lu Cong said made some sense, he not only ate vegetarian food every day during this time, but also copied Buddhist scriptures late every night, and it was very likely that his body was a little unbearable. He waved his hand and said, "No need." ”

"The slave maid ordered the kitchen to prepare a bowl of soothing soup for you."

"No, you can go down."

"The slave and maid are gone."

Lu Cong exited the study and raised his eyes to look in the direction of Chengguang Hall. He didn't know what was going on outside, but he sensed that the atmosphere in the palace was different today. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has a good hunch, I'm afraid that something big will really happen, I hope it has nothing to do with His Royal Highness the Prince, and I hope it is not the King of Chu who has returned. If the king of Chu returns, then the crown prince ...... He didn't dare to think about it.

At this moment, in the Chengguang Palace, the king of Chu was in front of the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, reporting to the emperor that he went to Pengcheng to investigate the truth of the copper theft.

According to the investigation of the king of Chu, the crown prince and his family have stolen tens of thousands of tons of copper in recent years. In the past few years, the prince and his family have secretly forged thousands of weapons.

The king of Chu also gave a specific report on the situation in Wuhua Mountain. In order to forge weapons, the prince not only created a plague, but also killed an entire village of people in Osmanthus Village. Not only that, but the people near Wuhua Mountain were all forcibly arrested to forge weapons, making the people miserable.

When the emperor heard this, his expression was very calm, but the faces of the civil and military officials were very shocked.

The king of Chu also investigated that the former Zhenguo Gong secretly had an arms deal with Han Zhong. Han Zhong was in Shu and forged a lot of weapons for him.

Although the civil and military officials all guessed the purpose of the prince and the head of the Xie family to steal copper, they didn't expect the prince to be so bold.

The king of Chu only said about stealing copper, but did not say that he was assassinated by someone sent by the prince. However, just stealing copper to forge weapons is enough to shock the whole world.

The emperor didn't speak, his expression was inexplicable, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

The ministers below were silent.

The acting king and the marquis of Xuanping were very excited, and their eyes were full of ecstasy. They have waited for so many years, and finally they have to wait for the day when the crown prince is deposed, so how to calm down.

At this time, Yu Shi Zhongcheng walked out. He said righteously and awe-inspiring that the prince and the prince of Zhenguo were stealing copper and forging weapons to rebel, and asked the emperor to deal with them according to law.

Zhenguo Gong, that is, the son of the head of the Xie family, hurriedly knelt down and shouted loudly that he was wronged, saying that someone had deliberately framed the prince and the Zhenguo Mansion, and asked the emperor to investigate.

When Yu Shi Zhongcheng heard this, he let out a sneer. He said that what the king of Chu said clearly and clearly, and the human and physical evidence were gathered, and the prince of Zhenguo still shouted that he was wronged, did he regard the emperor and the people of the whole world as fools.

The Duke of Zhenguo kowtowed and argued that the prince and their Zhenguo Mansion did not have the intention of rebelling.

The ministers who supported the acting king began to attack. They said that if the prince and the Zhenguo Mansion did not have the intention of rebellion, why did they steal the copper of Pengcheng, and why did they secretly forge weapons in Wuhua Mountain, could it be that the prince and the Zhenguo Mansion stole copper and forged weapons for fun?

The ministers who supported the king of Chu also began to rebuke the crown prince and the Zhenguo Mansion. They and the ministers who supported the acting king, you and I asked the prince of Zhenguo every word.

Nowadays, there are very few ministers in the court who support the crown prince, and they and Zhenguo Gong are powerless to fight back in the face of the questioning of the ministers who support the king of Chu and the acting king.

Among them, some ministers who supported King Jing scolded the prince and the prince of Zhenguo, and poisoned King Jing who was far away in Jinling.

The ministers who supported the king of Chu remembered at this moment that when the king of Chu went to Pengcheng to investigate the theft of copper, he was assassinated countless times by the crown prince and the prince of Zhenguo.

The prince has another crime, that is, killing his brother's flesh and blood. The ministers who supported the Dai Wang, the Chu King, and the Jing King denounced the crown prince as ruthless and inhumane.

The imperial historians came out one after another, asking the emperor to severely punish the crown prince and the prince of Zhenguo, and they must not be spared.

Today's ministers are rarely united. On weekdays, the ministers divided into several waves, each arguing for their respective masters. Today, they are surprisingly unanimous in their claims to the prince and the prince of Zhenguo.

Where are the opponents of the ministers of Zhenguogong, they can't refute it at all in the face of the ministers' continuous rebukes and questions. They fell to their knees with earthy faces, their eyes full of horror.

The emperor still did not speak, and quietly looked at the ministers who had united below.

Seeing that the emperor was slow to express his position, the acting king hesitated to step out of the ranks, and then knelt down. He first kowtowed three times to the emperor, and then begged the emperor to spare the crown prince in a pleading tone.

Seeing that the king interceded for the crown prince, the emperor was not surprised at all.

The acting king first played the emotional card to the emperor, saying that the crown prince was the eldest son of the emperor and the child of the former empress, and he was canonized as a prince since he was a child. Then he said that the prince was smart and kind since he was a child, and he also took great care of their younger brothers. He also said that the prince was very filial, not only always copied Buddhist scriptures for the first queen to pray for blessings, but also honored the emperor. In the end, he said that the reason why the prince did so many wrong things was because the prince was bewitched by the prince of Zhenguo.

His expression was very sincere, and his tone was very sincere, begging the emperor to give the crown prince another chance.

Hearing the acting king say this, the king of Chu couldn't say nothing. He also knelt down and interceded for the prince.

Regardless of whether the acting king and the king of Chu sincerely intercede for the prince, but as the younger brother of the prince, they can't watch the prince have an accident and not help each other, otherwise they will be unfilial and unfilial.

The emperor naturally knew in his heart that the acting king was not sincerely interceding for the crown prince, but for the sake of show. As for the king of Chu, the emperor guessed that he was a little sincere.

Although Yu Shi Zhongcheng knew that the acting king and the king of Chu were pretending to intercede, he still had to oppose their plea. He righteously and sternly refuted the words of the acting king and the king of Chu to intercede, and then again asked the emperor to severely punish the crown prince and the prince of Zhenguo.

Other ministers echoed the words of Zhongcheng in the imperial history, begging the emperor to dispose of the crown prince and the prince of Zhenguo in accordance with the law.

The main hall of the Chengguang Hall echoed, "I beg the emperor to severely punish the prince and the prince of Zhenguo, and correct the law of the country!" ”。

The emperor glanced at He Xiang and Liu Taishi, and asked without any emotion: "He Xiang and Liu Taishi think I should punish the crown prince?" ”

When the ministers heard the emperor ask, they immediately became quiet, and then they turned their eyes to He Xiang and Taishi Liu in unison.

He Xiang and Liu Taishi glanced at each other, and then Liu Taishi came out, he first saluted the emperor, and then said in a respectful tone: "The words of the imperial history Zhongcheng are right, the prince and the prince of Zhenguo have seriously violated the laws of the Great Zhou, please tell the emperor to deal with it." ”

"What is your opinion?"

He Xiang said: "Your Majesty, stealing copper and forging weapons without permission are both big crimes, especially forging weapons without permission, according to the laws of the Great Zhou, it is necessary to raid the family and exterminate the clan. ”

When the emperor heard this, he raised his eyebrows slightly: "Are you going to copy the Zhenguo Mansion?" ”

He Xiang said with an awe-inspiring face: "According to the law of the Great Zhou, it should be like this. ”

As soon as his words fell, the other ministers immediately echoed and agreed.

"The crown prince is also going to be exterminated?" The Emperor asked deliberately.

He Xiang and Taishi Liu hurriedly said that the prince did not need to exterminate the clan, but the prince did such a rebellious thing, and he was not worthy of being the prince of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The emperor's expression suddenly became very gloomy, and his tone was full of coldness: "Are you going to abolish the crown prince?" ”

Liu Taishi was not afraid of the emperor's anger, and boldly admonished that the crown prince was not worthy of the throne.

He Xiang followed Taishi Liu's words and directly asked the emperor to abolish the crown prince.

The ministers who supported the acting king and supported the king of Chu were waiting for the phrase "abolish the prince". They had just said a lot of things, but they didn't dare to say it. Because the words "abolished prince" cannot be said easily.

The other ministers did not dare to ask the emperor to depose the crown prince, and they had been waiting for He Xiang to speak to Taishi Liu.

He Xiang and Liu Taishi are in important positions, and they are the emperor's confidants. It is most appropriate for them to propose the deposition of the crown prince. Besides, for such a big matter as the deposition of the crown prince, He Xiang and Liu Taishi did not get the emperor's approval, and they did not dare to bring it up easily.

Now, hearing that He Xiang proposed to Taishi Liu to depose the crown prince, the other ministers knew that this was the emperor's intention.

Since the emperor wants to depose the crown prince, as a courtier, he naturally has to support it.

Yesterday I climbed the mountain, and then I was tired into a dog, and I couldn't move at all when I got home, so there was no code word update. When I woke up today, my calves and stomach hurt so much that I couldn't walk.