In the early morning of the next day, the Imperial City Jiqing Palace.

Emperor Yan Zhang Can, who woke up with a hangover, leaned on the dragon chair, a trace of doubt appeared on his pale face, squinted slightly at several important ministers in the hall, and asked puzzledly: "Ladies and gentlemen, what is the important matter of entering the palace so early to ask for a meeting?" ”

His voice was ethereal, with little air to speak of.

"Your Majesty, please be the master of the ministers!"

One took two steps forward and knelt on the ground, his tone desolate and painful, full of grief and indignation.

Zhang Can was slightly stunned, stared at this person for a moment, raised his hand and rubbed his eyes, and asked in surprise, "Chen Qingjia, why are you here?" ”

Although Chen Jingtang was dismissed from office, he was still the marquis of the country, and the emperor and the two new privy councillors did not kill him, so he was qualified to face the saint and be a minister, and the case last night could reach the heavens.

Hearing the familiar title of the Son of Heaven at this moment, Chen Jingtang immediately burst into tears, kowtowed again and again, and said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, the son of the minister was killed last night, and I implore Your Majesty to be the master of the minister and severely punish the murderer!" ”

Zhang Can sat up straight, looked around at the other important ministers, and gradually realized that something big had happened, so he asked, "Chen Qing's family is flat, what happened?" ”

Chen Jingtang stood up and said bitterly: "Your Majesty, the dog Chen Qifu had a banquet at the Taipingfang Xuening Pavilion last night, and had a quarrel with Guo Yijiang, the son of the privy deputy envoy Guo, and then turned into a mutual fight. If it was just a dispute between young people, the minister would not dare to present it to the emperor, but Guo Yijiang killed the dog with a blade in the fight, and ordered the minister to send the white-haired man to the black-haired man! ”

Zhang Can's eyes widened, and he subconsciously looked at Guo Yan, the privy deputy envoy standing solemnly on the other side, but saw that he was looking at his nose and nose and heart, and his face was expressionless and calm.

Chen Jingtang continued to complain: "After receiving the news, the minister immediately reported to the official, who knew that the Yin of Heluo Mansion actually said that this was the dog's initiative to provoke, and Guo Yijiang was just fighting back in self-defense, at most it was a crime of wrong hands, and he was fined a thousand taels of silver." The dog died unexpectedly, but the murderer was able to get away with it, how can the minister accept such an ending, and implore His Majesty to uphold justice for the minister! ”

Zhang Can only felt a headache, looked at Yin Cheng Changhua of Heluo Mansion and asked, "Cheng Qing's family, is there such a thing?" ”

A middle-aged civil official with a white face and short beard bowed down and said, "Your Majesty, this is indeed the case. After receiving the report, the minister took the head of the government office to the Xuening Pavilion, and at this time the Chen family Erlang had died. The minister immediately interrogated everyone present and found out that the dispute was due to jealousy. Last night, Yan Qiuxing, the top Qing man of the Xuening Pavilion, combed the gift, Guo Yijiang and Chen Qifu bid one after another because of this Qing Qi person, and once reached an astonishing amount of three thousand taels. ”

Zhang Can's brows furrowed, these powerful children are so generous, they can spend a lot of money for a Qinglou woman.

At this moment, his heart became more and more irritable, but he had to continue listening.

Cheng Changhua didn't squint, and said unhurriedly: "Guo and Chen first fought for wealth and then quarreled, Chen Qifu threw a teapot at Guo Yijiang, and then attacked, Guo Yijiang was forced to fight back, and the two fought together, and their companions and long-term followers were the same, and the scene was extremely chaotic. At this time, Guo Yijiang accidentally stabbed Chen Qifu in the chest, causing him to bleed too much and unfortunately died. The case was not complicated, there were witnesses from beginning to end, and Guo Yijiang did not deliberately murder, so the minister believed that he could only be convicted of the crime of wrongdoing. ”

"You talk nonsense!"

Chen Jingtang's eyes were red, and he said angrily: "The dog's companion said very clearly, Guo Yijiang has deliberately provoked since he entered the Xuening Pavilion, constantly ridiculing and mocking in his words, and finally even insulting Ben Hou in person. When the son scolds the father, how can this matter be endured?! Even if it ends here, Ben Hou can be regarded as a young man and fight bravely, but Guo Yijiang took out a short blade and stabbed the dog in the chest during the fight, which was clearly a deliberate murder! ”

"Ahem, please be cautious."

The privy deputy envoy Guo Yan cleared his throat, his face was not shocked, and he said calmly: "This official wants to ask Chen Hou, Guo Yijiang and Ling Lang had no grudges in the past, only some trivial things such as fighting for wind and jealousy, why did he deliberately murder Ling Lang?" Even in front of Your Majesty, you can't reverse black and white. ”

"Ben Hou reverses black and white? Guo Shumixiu wants to spew blood! ”

"The official cares about the pain of Chen Hou's loss of his son, and he is reluctant to say something directly. Now that Chen Hou is aggressive, the official has no choice but to talk about things. Last night, it was Ling Lang who shot first to hurt people, Guo Yijiang was just self-defense, and the short blade was not carried by him, but for some reason it appeared in his hands. Perhaps, it was Ling Lang who wanted to commit murder, but Guo Yijiang grabbed it with his hand, causing a false stab in the chaos. ”

"Ridiculous! The dog has never carried a blade with him! ”

Chen Jingtang was furious, but Guo Yan was still indifferent, and said indifferently: "You said that you didn't bring it, you didn't bring it?" This official can also say that the short blade is definitely not owned by Guo Yijiang. ”

"The facts of Guo Yijiang's murder of Chen Qifu are clear and the evidence is conclusive, and I implore Your Majesty to severely punish the murderer!"

Chen Jingtang's chest rose and fell violently, no longer tearing with Guo Yan, but bowing to the end to the Son of Heaven on the dragon chair.

Zhang Can hesitated, Chen Jingtang obviously hoped to execute Guo Yijiang for murder, but regardless of Guo Yan's status in the court, this mutual fight was clearly provoked by Chen Qifu.

The Son of Heaven hesitated, and the grief on Chen Jingtang's face became stronger and stronger.

At this time, the middle-aged Wenchen, who was standing at the head of everyone, said in a deep voice: "Chen Hou still asks for condolences. No one wants to see such a thing happen, but the Si people are gone, and after all, they must take care of the living. Guo Yijiang was at fault for killing people, but he did not deliberately murder, but killed people by mistake in the chaos, and his crime is unforgivable but excusable. ”

Chen Jingtang raised his eyes and looked at the other party's clear face, and his heart became more and more miserable.

This person's name is Wang An, and he is now the prime minister of the dynasty, and he is in charge of the government with one hand.

He can be cold to Guo Yan, but he only has a strong sense of powerlessness when facing Wang An.

Wang An sighed lightly: "According to the law of the dynasty, there are six killings, namely, murder, homicide, fight, manslaughter, manslaughter, and drama killing. According to the law, Guo Yijiang should be sentenced to exile. ”

Chen Jingtang gritted his teeth and said: "Wang Xiang, the dog will not be blind to death!" ”

Wang An shook his head and said lightly: "Chen Hou mourns." ”

Chen Jingtang looked to the side, Guo Yan frowned, obviously dissatisfied with the prime minister's verdict, but did not publicly refute it out of respect.

He looked at the Son of Heaven on the dragon chair again, and saw Zhang Can nodding and saying, "It is more appropriate for the king to make a decision." Chen Qing's family, the matter has happened, I hope you can mourn, I really can't let Guo Shumi's son lose his life, this is not in line with the law of Dayan. ”

Chen Jingtang's complexion turned from red to blue until pale.

He didn't say anything more, bowed to Zhang Can, and muttered, "Thank you, Your Majesty." ”

Then he got up and walked out of the hall, his back was extremely desolate.

The important ministers in the hall retracted their gazes, and their thoughts were different.

Guo Yan was naturally a little dissatisfied, last night's bloody case was not his son who bullied the weak, it was clearly the second son of the Chen family who took the initiative to provoke trouble, and he was killed only because he was not good at learning arts, how could a gentleman from Xungui's mansion not even have this awareness.

Wang An seemed to know what he was thinking, and said slowly: "Guo Shumi, although Chen Hou is not in the court, after all, he has been a privy deputy envoy for seven years, and he has a lot of old times in the army. This time he died of a son, and the court must give an explanation, so that Lang will have to suffer at least for this time. ”

Guo Yan lowered his head and said: "Wang Xiang taught, and the lower officials should keep it in mind. ”

Wang An nodded slightly, and said to Zhang Can: "Your Majesty, the minister retires." ”

Zhang Can pinched his eyebrows, tiredness welled up in his heart, and he waved his hand and said, "Then let's disperse." ”

A brief court meeting ended, and no one noticed that a eunuch quietly came to the palace gate and whispered to a certain forbidden general, and then the news of what happened at the court meeting soon reached Zhuo Yuan.

Xiao Jun recounted it one by one, from Chen Jingtang's bitter complaint to Wang An's decision in the end, there was nothing missing.

Qing Yu Huaijin sat in front of the window, staring at the green scenery in the courtyard, and asked after a while, "What do you think about this?" ”

Xiao Jun replied: "Your Highness, the disposition of the king is not lost, in fact, it is best to punish Guo Yijiang and Ming, after all, the evidence of his murder is conclusive." However, considering that Guo Yan had not been appointed as the privy deputy envoy for a short time, and he urgently needed to establish prestige in the court and the army, such a disposition could be justified, but I was afraid that the resentment in Chen Jingtang's heart would be difficult to dissipate, and this person still had some influence after all. ”

Qing Yu Huaijin said softly: "What I asked about was not the reaction of the important ministers of the court, but the murder that happened in the Xue Ning Pavilion last night. ”

Xiao Jun said: "Your Highness, after learning about this last night, our people have already found out the reason. Chen Qifu and Guo Yijiang both received invitations from the Xuening Pavilion, and they had been there many times before, and they were quite fond of the top-brand Qing man Yan Qiu, coupled with the previous grievances between the Guo and Chen families, it was normal for them to have conflicts in the Xuening Pavilion. ”

"Really?"

Qing Yu Huaijin smiled expressionlessly, and said leisurely: "Why did that short blade appear in Guo Yijiang's hand?" ”

Xiao Jun said: "The villain asked Guo Yijiang, and he said that the scene was very chaotic at that time, and there was only Chen Qifu in his eyes, and the short blade appeared in his hand for some reason, and it just happened to be inserted into Chen Qifu's chest. The villain suspected that he might have fabricated such a lie in order to get away with it. ”

Qing Yu Huaijin shook his head slightly, and a cold color flashed in his eyes: "This is a not very clever but effective murder with a knife." It is impossible for Guo Yijiang's long-term followers not to know the seriousness of the matter, and they don't dare to kill Chen Qifu with a knife if they lend them ten guts, let alone put the blame on Guo Yijiang. Even if Guo Yijiang defended that the knife had nothing to do with him afterwards, Chen Jingtang, who suffered the pain of losing his son, would not believe it. ”

"Gentlemen like Guo Yijiang and Chen Qifu, although they can't get on the stage, they know how to pursue advantages and avoid disadvantages the most. It's common to hit someone in a moment of anger, but pull out a knife to kill someone? How can they have such courage. ”

Qing Yu Huaijin's lips showed a slight sarcasm, and she leaned back in the Taishi chair.

Xiao Jun's heart froze, and he said in a low voice: "Your Highness's intention, is this someone secretly playing ghosts?" ”

"There are only two possibilities, one is that Chen Jingtang is crazy and sacrifices his son's life to win the sympathy and support of his old friends, trying to return to the court."

Qing Yu Huaijin chuckled, and his face turned cold: "Second, the people in the southern warp weaving department can't bear it and want to take revenge on what the Procuratorate has done in Huaizhou in the past year. ”

"Warp weaving division...... In this way, will the disappearance of Lu Shen in Huaizhou be related to this matter? ”

Xiao Jun's expression was solemn, because he knew that the Procuratorate had suffered setbacks everywhere in Huaizhou before, and Lu Shen had played a great role in it.

Qing Yu Huaijin nodded and said softly: "You go and do a few things to see how many secrets are hidden behind this murder." ”

Xiao Jun replied: "Yes! ”

(End of chapter)