Ning Yuanfu's suspicions were not supported by any real evidence.

However, the world is the best at association, not to mention that Ning Yuanfu's analysis is quite reasonable.

The details of the assassination on Qingfeng Street have long been known, and the assassins are very well prepared, and it is definitely not an impromptu idea, which is enough to show that they have long planned to assassinate Lu Shen, and they have known in advance the time and place of the Grand Prince's banquet for Lu Shen.

In this way, on the premise that there is no evidence pointing to others, the suspicion of the eldest prince is very eye-catching.

It's just that when it comes to the son of the Heavenly Family, most of the courtiers don't think that they have the identity and status of the official secretary, and they are not sure about the attitude of the Son of Heaven on this matter, so they can't wait to echo it.

Even so, the heart of the eldest prince still hung involuntarily.

On the dragon chair, Li Duan said lightly: "King Chen." ”

The eldest prince hurriedly went out of class and saluted: "The son is here." ”

Li Duan glanced at the silent and solemn ministers in the front row, and said in a slightly accentuated tone: "Did you hear what Ning Shangshu said clearly?" ”

"Erchen heard me clearly."

The eldest prince bowed down, and then hurriedly defended: "Father, the reason why the sons want to invite the Marquis of Shanyang is just because they admire his personality and merits, and they want to express their respect for him in person, that's all. The retainer could assure his father that the retainer had never informed others of the whereabouts of the Marquis of Shanyang, and the people in the palace would not do such a thing. ”

In fact, he had said this in the palace that night a few days earlier.

At that time, Li Duan was noncommittal, but at this moment, he looked at his eldest son's anxious and aggrieved expression, a wisp of complicated emotions flashed in his long and deep eyes, and he said slowly: "In other words, can you be sure that Chen Wangfu has nothing to do with the Qingfeng Street assassination case?" ”

The eldest prince felt a pang in his heart, he vaguely realized that there might be a problem here, could it be that someone in the palace really leaked the news to the outside world?

He couldn't say for sure if there was such a possibility, but he couldn't let go of it right now, otherwise disaster would surely befall him.

In the silence, Ning Yuanfu frowned and said, "His Royal Highness King Chen is so sure, but how can the assassins know all about the whereabouts of the Marquis of Shanyang?" Do these people have the power of God? ”

The eldest prince turned to look at the official Shangshu, and said hurriedly: "Lord Ning, this king has nothing to do with this case, I don't know why you want to forcibly detain the suspicion on the head of this king in front of the civil and military officials!" You said that the assassins knew all about the whereabouts of the Marquis of Shanyang, this does not mean that they must have known the details of the banquet held by the king in Fengyuan in advance, and there is also a possibility that the mastermind behind the scenes has been sending people to monitor the Marquis of Shanyang, so why is it difficult to know that he went to Fengyuan to attend the banquet?! ”

Although he has never been known for his quick wit, his words are quite reasonable, and many important ministers can't help but bow slightly.

Ning Yuanfu said coldly: "Your Highness's intention, the strict governance of the army by the Marquis of Shanyang is just an illusion, and the elite guards he brought out with his own hands can't even be detected by being monitored?" ”

The eldest prince was stunned, and his face immediately turned red.

A wave of manic depression and resentment surged into his heart, and he looked down, only to see that the suspicion on Ning Yuanfu's face was not concealed, and many ministers looked at him with slightly strange eyes, as if he was the mastermind behind the assassination of Lu Shen.

During this time, the eldest prince's mood was already very depressed, especially when he heard Lu Shen's hint in Fengyuan that day, and realized that his hope of becoming the prince was getting slimmer and slimmer, if it wasn't for Lu Shen's immediate assassination that shocked him, maybe he would have put everyone in danger in the palace.

Now he is questioned by the officials of the Ministry of Heavenly Officials, and what makes the eldest prince even more chilled is that no one in the Manchu Dynasty has defended him.

As soon as he thought of this, the eldest prince turned around and knelt down towards the Son of Heaven, and said angrily and sadly: "Father, the son dares to swear with his life, the son is definitely not the mastermind behind the murder of the Marquis of Shanyang, I implore the father to be the master for the son, and I implore the father to thoroughly investigate this case and return the son to innocence!" ”

Before Li Duan could speak, the second prince suddenly took two steps forward, knelt down beside the eldest prince, and said in a deep voice: "Father, the son firmly believes that the eldest brother has nothing to do with the assassination on Qingfeng Street!" If it is found out that the eldest brother is the mastermind behind the scenes, the son is willing to be punished for the same crime! ”

The third prince reacted quite quickly, and hurriedly knelt down and said, "Father, the sons are also willing to protect the eldest emperor's brother!" ”

This scene fell in Li Duan's eyes, no one knew the true mood of this son of heaven at the moment, he looked at the eldest prince with a face full of grief and indignation, and then looked at the second prince who stepped forward without hesitation, and a moment of softness flashed in his heart, but this emotion disappeared instantly when he saw the third prince.

Ning Yuanfu's face was not very good-looking, he didn't expect that at the moment when the dispute between the princes gradually surfaced, the second prince would actually remember the word brother.

In fact, the eldest prince and the third prince are brothers of the same mother, and the second prince is separated by a layer after all, but he is more determined than the third prince.

The eldest prince turned his head to look, only to see the second prince looking at him gently, and said in a low voice: "Big brother, I believe in you." ”

The voice of the Son of Heaven immediately sounded in the ears of the three of them.

"Get up, Ning Shangshu's doubts are normal, King Chen, you don't have to be too impatient."

"The retainers obey."

The three princes got up one after another and stood back to their original places, and at this moment, a Praetorian Guard general cautiously walked into the Wende Hall and said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, the Warp Weaving Division raises Qin Zheng to ask to see him." ”

Li Duan said: "Accurate." ”

Li Daoyan, the left prime minister, who had been silent and hung his head before, seemed to be old and almost sleepy, suddenly raised his head, and a look of incomprehension appeared in his eyes.

Li Duan took advantage of the situation, and the two monarchs and ministers, who had walked through the Spring and Autumn Period for fourteen years, glanced at each other, and then separated their eyes.

In a slightly strange atmosphere, the warp weaver lifted Qin Zheng into the Wende Hall with a steady pace.

He walked along the spacious open space between Wenchen and Wuxun, went straight to the front of the imperial steps, bowed and saluted: "Minister Qin Zheng, meet Your Majesty." ”

"Excuse me."

Li Duan bowed slightly, and then asked, "I asked you to thoroughly investigate the assassins who appeared on Qingfeng Street, and today you suddenly entered the palace, did you make any new discoveries?" ”

Qin Zheng responded: "Your Majesty, the ministers and colleagues of the Warp Weaving Department discovered an extremely important clue an hour ago, so they don't dare to delay. ”

This sentence instantly aroused the curiosity of the vast majority of people in the hall.

They knew very well what Qin Zheng was, and if it weren't for the fact that it was indeed a key discovery, he would not have been able to enter the palace so urgently.

Li Duan's eyes narrowed slightly: "Come on." ”

The ministers all looked at Qin Zheng standing in the center of the main hall, and so did the princes on the right side of the imperial staircase, especially the eldest prince with a complicated expression, he was not only worried that Qin Zheng's next statement would involve the people of the Chen Palace, but also hoped that this warp weaver could clear his suspicions.

The third prince seemed to be looking at Qin Zheng with concern, but in fact, his heartbeat was already accelerating wildly, and his hands hidden in his sleeves clenched involuntarily.

He didn't notice that Lu Shen, who was standing below, didn't look at Qin Zheng, but instead stopped his gaze on him.

When Qin Zheng was stepping into the Wende Palace, Lu Shen's mind suddenly brightened, and he finally understood why the Son of Heaven did not support the eldest prince, and he vaguely guessed what was going to happen next.

Qin Zheng got the permission of the Son of Heaven, turned his head to look at Xue Nanting, the right minister, and said calmly: "Dare to ask Xue Xiang, is there a situation where the Lingwei Army of the Wuwei Battalion has lost its ordnance?" ”

Xue Nanting was in charge of the investigation of the various departments of the Beijing army, although he was very conservative in front of the Son of Heaven before, but in fact he had a more detailed understanding of all the departments of the Beijing army, and replied calmly at the moment: "Yes." ”

Qin Zheng's expression became solemn, and he said to the Son of Heaven: "Your Majesty, the minister has finally made some progress in investigating the identities of those assassins during this time. Among the assassins who appeared on Qingfeng Street that day, one of them was good at wielding a pair of water cloud thorns, which was quite rare and had relatively distinctive characteristics. This assassin's name is Luan Jicheng, a native of the northern part of the Yangtze River, who appeared in the Jiangnan territory four or five years ago, and then disappeared for a while, and began to appear in Beijing about half a year ago. ”

The Manchu ministers listened intently.

Qin Zheng continued: "The minister mobilized people to check down this line, and found that this Luan Ji was born and romantic, often lingering in the land of Fengyue, and was extremely close to a woman named Yang Liuyue in Beijing. According to this Yang Liuyue's confession, Luan Jicheng told her half a month ago that he was going to do a big thing, and after the matter was completed, he would help her redeem herself and take her out of the capital to enjoy the glory and wealth. She also said that one night more than a month ago, Luan Jicheng spent the night at her after getting drunk, and said that he had seen two nobles that day. ”

A nervous mood spread throughout the Wende Palace.

Li Duan frowned slightly, as if he was not very satisfied with Qin Zheng's somewhat abnormal verbosity today, and said lightly: "Two nobles? ”

Qin Zheng said respectfully, "Yes, Your Majesty. Luan Jicheng didn't say much to Yang Liuyue, but he said the names of the two after he was drunk. One of them is Zheng Jinyuan, who is now the commander of the Lingwei Army of the Beijing Army, and he is fully capable of providing the mastermind behind Luan Jicheng with a standard bow and crossbow in the army. Before entering the palace, the minister had already sent someone to control Zheng Jinyuan to prevent him from committing suicide in fear of crime. ”

Li Duan's face gradually turned cold, and he said slowly: "What about another person?" ”

Qin Zheng raised his head and glanced at the right side of the imperial staircase, and said in a deep voice: "There is another person named Changsun Jun, and the minister has found out that this person is a Qingke literati raised by His Royal Highness King Chen in the mansion. ”

The ministers were in an uproar.

When the eldest prince heard this name, his body trembled uncontrollably like five thunderbolts.

Li Duan looked at Qin Zheng fixedly, and did not look at the great prince whose expression had changed drastically.

Qin Zheng continued: "The minister knows that this matter is very important, especially the people who are involved in His Royal Highness King Chen, and he does not dare to ignore it. Because the clues came too suddenly, the minister was worried that he would have a long night and many dreams, and he was afraid that he would wronged His Royal Highness King Chen, so he personally took someone to King Chen's mansion and wanted to meet the Qingke in person. The chief of the palace said that Changsun Jun left the palace yesterday afternoon and never appeared again. The minister hurriedly rushed to Changsun Jun's residence, and found that it was empty, and there were obvious traces of packing up and leaving. ”

The eldest prince's face turned pale in an instant, and bean-sized sweat droplets spread all over his forehead.

The second prince looked at his brother very puzzled, in his mind, although the boss is strong on the outside, his nature is not too bad, and he should not be able to do such a ruthless thing.

But how could Qin Zheng talk in the Wende Palace?

The third prince standing on the other side lowered his head and tried his best to suppress the ecstasy in his heart.

It was as if a picture appeared before his eyes.

The eldest prince was imprisoned, the second prince was seriously ill, and he, as the only sound and innocent prince of the heavenly family, walked to that position step by step in the noise of hundreds of officials.

That represents the supreme position.

(End of chapter)