Dawn was approaching, and there was no movement in the imperial city, but Xiao Shaozong was very calm.
The imperial city is already in his palm. Tens of thousands of soldiers and horses surround the imperial city. When to launch an attack is only a matter of his order.
The old minister pondered for a moment and then said: "You mean, when Qining was kidnapped, an expert helped him?"
"Xiao Wang doesn't know what is going on." Xiao Shaozong sighed: "But when Qining regained his consciousness, things naturally became very difficult. The witness has been worried after knowing about it, but it is not convenient for him to personally intervene in the matter. Therefore, the burden of monitoring Qining falls on my father."
"You mean... old prince?"
Xiao Shaozong nodded and said: "Exactly. The witness trusted his father very much. He did not tell anyone about this matter. He told his father alone. The father was in the court and could monitor the Qi family at any time. Therefore, the witness I entrusted this matter to my father.”
The old minister wanted to ask Huainan King to do this in person, and the identity of the witness was naturally unusual.
"Your Majesty, since the witness already knew that Qining was not a bloodline of the Qi family, why didn't he report this to the emperor?" The old minister asked: "As long as the emperor knows about this, Qining will have no power if he doesn't put him to good use. , naturally it will not pose a great threat to the imperial court."
"The witness had been concealing the matter earlier. My father knew about it only after Qi Jing passed away." Xiao Shaozong said: "Qi Ning was favored by the emperor at that time, and Qi Ning was indeed assisting the emperor in dealing with Sima Lan. For the sake of the overall situation, the witness concealed the matter from the emperor."
"That's it." The old minister nodded slightly. Although Xiao Shaozong said it with both nose and eyes, it was all one-sided and could not even produce decent evidence. The old minister was naturally still suspicious of what Xiao Shaozong said. He pondered for a moment and then said: "Your Majesty told this secret to me this time. I don't know why?"
Xiao Shaozong said solemnly: "Little Wang just wants to tell the old minister that this time Xiao Wang will kill Qining at all costs, not only for the sake of the emperor, but also for the sake of our country, the country of Chu." After a pause, he continued: " Mr. Lu was still doubtful just now, wondering why Qining had any reason to rebel."
"Your Majesty, please forgive me for speaking frankly. Even if Qin Ning is not of the Qi family's blood, it does not mean that he has the right to rebel." The old minister said: "Does the prince want to say that Qin Ning was abused by the Qi family's wife when he was a child? , so you hate my great Chu because of this, and are you planning to rebel?"
Xiao Shaozong shook his head and said: "Of course it's not the reason. It's just a personal grudge between him and the Qi family. Moreover, the emperor treated him with kindness and kindness, so there is no reason for him to rebel because of it."
"The old minister is confused."
"Sir, since Qining is not of the Qi family's blood, then he couldn't have come out of the ground?" Xiao Shaozong sneered: "He is indeed born to the Liu family, but his father is someone else. …!”
The corner of Lao Shangshu's eyes flashed again. Xiao Shaozong leaned close to his ear and whispered: "Once Qining knows who his biological father is, he will definitely feel resentful. As far as I know, he has already doubted his parentage, and He has also been secretly investigating his own life experience. If I am not wrong, he already knows who his father is, which is why he committed this regicide."
"Who is his father?" Lao Shangshu asked urgently.
Before Xiao Shaozong could speak, he suddenly heard the sound of drums at the top of the city. Everyone in the city raised their heads and looked towards the top of the city. They saw Qi Ning already appearing at the top of the city, looking down at the city. Soon they heard Qi Ning say loudly: " Sir, the queen and several nobles in the palace have arrived, and you can leave the city now."
The old minister immediately raised his hands and said: "I am waiting for the queen to leave the city!"
"Sir, there are many attendants accompanying the queen and several nobles out of the palace. Please take care of them." Qi Ning moved his eyes to Xiao Shaozong and said loudly: "Xiao Shaozong, if any of them is injured in the slightest, the responsibility will be yours. .”
Xiao Shaozong put his hands behind his back and said calmly: "The maids can leave the palace, but none of the eunuchs are allowed to leave the city."
Qining frowned and said, "What do you mean?"
"You sneaked into the palace this time to assassinate, and you brought many assassins with you." Xiao Shaozong said: "If you let them disguise themselves as eunuchs and sneak out of the city, it is not impossible. None of the assassins who entered the palace this time want to escape from the city. come out."
Qi Ning laughed and said: "It makes sense." He said in a deep voice: "Open the city gate!"
The imperial city gate soon made a "quacking" sound, and the heavy city gate slowly opened. Qining mainly arranged for the queen to leave the city, but he also sent several concubines near Fengyi Palace out of the city. There are many nobles in the harem, so it is naturally impossible to organize everyone to leave the palace in more than an hour. Although the only people leaving the city are the queen and a few nobles, there are many eunuchs and maids accompanying them. A long team has already been in the city. Waiting behind the door, the city gate opened wide, and a group of palace ladies came out of the city gate surrounded by the queen's phoenix chariot.
Xiao Shaozong did not allow the eunuchs to leave the city, so those accompanying them had no choice but to retreat and stay in the city.
A long procession came out of the city, like a long snake, accompanied by hundreds of palace maids. The queen's phoenix chariot approached, Xiao Shaozong and the old minister were already kneeling beside it, and the military formation had already moved out of the way. channel.
"Your Majesty, although the Sima Mansion was confiscated, the courtyard was not damaged and the door has always been sealed." When the queen's phoenix chariot passed by, the old minister stood up and said to Xiao Shaozong: "I thought that the queen and a few nobles could be allowed to stay for the time being. I wonder what the prince’s wishes are for temporarily settling down in Sima Mansion?”
After the Sima family was exterminated, their family property was confiscated. It turned out that the Duke's Mansion had also been sealed up, and the court had never dealt with it in detail. However, the Sima family had been prosperous for decades and had been prominent for many years. The Sima Mansion also occupied an extremely large area with many courtyards, and the Queen After leaving the city, there were hundreds of people in the group. It was really not easy to find temporary accommodation in the capital, and Sima Mansion was indeed a good place for temporary resettlement. Xiao Shaozong immediately said: "Everything will be according to the wishes of the old master."
"Yuan Moxian!" The old minister called out, and Yuan Moxian came over immediately. The old minister ordered: "Escort the queen to the previous Sima Mansion, and send someone to immediately notify Yin Tiezheng, the governor of Kyoto, and ask him to dispatch officers from the Kyoto mansion to protect the queen and everyone. Your safety."
Yuan Moxian bowed his hands and hurried away.
When the last person came out of the city, the gate of the imperial city was immediately closed. Qining looked at the long queue. He knew that Chi Danmei was among them at this time, but there were too many people, and he didn't know where Chi Danmei was. Only waiting for the team to pass through the military formation and go away, Qining looked up at the sky and found that a trace of fish belly white had appeared on the eastern horizon.
Dawn has arrived!
"Qining, the queen has left the city, do you want to tie yourself up and leave the city too?" Xiao Shaozong looked up at Qining at the top of the city: "I don't have the patience to wait any longer."
Qi Ning laughed, and suddenly raised his finger and pointed at Xiao Shaozong and said sternly: "Xiao Shaozong, you are still here pretending. The emperor was harmed by you, and you actually beat him up and framed me. It is simply shameless."
"Oh?" Xiao Shaozong was calm and composed, with a slight smile on his lips: "Do you have evidence?"
Qi Ning sneered and said: "I have sent people to look for evidence and found clues, but soon there will be sufficient evidence to prove that the emperor was harmed by you."
At this time, Dou Kui and others came forward. Dou Kui raised his finger and pointed at Qi Ning at the top of the city and cursed: "Qi Ning, you are a regicide and a traitor. Even when you are about to die, you are still spitting blood here. You lead the assassin and sneaked into the palace. , to assassinate the emperor, even your father-in-law can testify, but you are still making excuses?"
"Qining, you have insulted the Jinyi Qi family's statement." Another person shouted loudly: "If you still have a sense of shame, immediately tie yourself out of the city and apologize to the prince and the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty!"
"If you continue to be stubborn and the army attacks the city, after the city is broken, you will be cut into pieces!"
A group of people yelled insults at Qi Ning. Qin Ning sighed and said, "This is not a vegetable market, and we don't want to be a shrew here. After all, we are all members of the imperial court. It's better to retain a trace of dignity." His voice was also low. It was so big, but the energy penetrated through it and easily suppressed everyone's voices.
However, Old Shangshu Yuan raised his hand and motioned for everyone to calm down. The old Shangshu was highly respected in the court, and everyone gave him some respect. The noise gradually died down. After everyone calmed down, the old Shangshu headed towards the city. Qi Ning said: "Qin Ning, you have seen the current situation. With the defensive strength in the city, it is impossible to resist the army's attack. There are warriors from our great Chu both inside and outside the imperial city. Do you really want me to attack the city?" The soldiers of Chu killed each other? Why did they do it when they knew it was impossible to do it, harming others and themselves?"
"My lord, to be honest, I am defending the city for no other reason than to find evidence." Qi Ning said loudly: "I believe that the emperor was harmed by Xiao Shaozong. This man is sanctimonious, but in fact he is the real one." Treasonous thief!"
"You said it was the prince who killed the emperor. What evidence is there?" Yuan Laoshangshu said with a cold face: "Everyone can see clearly that you brought the assassin into the palace. If not, why are you trapped in the city?"
"What the boss said is absolutely true." Dou Kui immediately said: "This man is struggling to his death. He knows that he will definitely die, but he wants to frame the prince in turn. He is really unconscionable. Such traitors must be eradicated at all costs. Then he said to Xiao Shaozong: "My lord, there is no need to talk nonsense with this traitor. Immediately order an attack on the city. After the city is broken, this man will be cut into pieces with a thousand swords and his head will be hung on the top of the city to show to the world!"
Xiao Shaozong was very calm and said nothing.
"I have found some evidence." Qi Ning said loudly: "As long as you give me some more time, I can prove that everything was done by Xiao Shaozong." Staring at Xiao Shaozong in the crowd, he said coldly: "Xiao Shaozong, the sky net is vast and sparse If you don’t miss anything, what you do will eventually be revealed to the world!”
At this time, Lu Xiao, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, suddenly said loudly: "Qining, if you have no evidence to frame the prince, then you are just blaming others. If you say there is evidence to prove that the emperor was harmed by the prince, then will you show the evidence?"
"Master Lu, I said it will take some time." Qining said: "It's just that I'm worried that this prince is afraid that I will find all the evidence and will immediately order an attack on the city. He has a guilty conscience and is always afraid that the truth will be exposed to the world!"
Xiao Shaozong suddenly smiled and said: "Qining, you are just trying to delay time. If you said you can find evidence to prove that I am the one who murdered the emperor, then I will give you half a day. The one who is clean will self-cleanse, but I want to take a look at you. What tricks can you play?"
"Xiao Shaozong, it seems that I underestimate you." Qining said with a smile: "How about I make a bet with you. Within twelve hours, if I can find evidence to prove that you did everything, then Needless to say, if I can’t find it, I’ll tie myself out of the city and leave it up to you, what do you think?”
Dou Kui immediately said: "My lord, don't talk nonsense with him. He is just stalling for time. The army is waiting in full formation. The prince can attack the city with just one order. Why bother with him and let him live for one more day."
Xiao Shaozong glanced at Lu Xiao and the ministers behind him, then at Yuan Laoshangshu, and finally said calmly to Qi Ning at the top of the city: "Okay, in twelve hours, I will wait for you to present your head!"