Hu Bowen claimed that his confession was forced by others. Long Tai was startled, but King Huainan changed his color slightly.
"Forced by others?" Sima Changshen lost no time in shouting: "Hu Bowen, you said that this confession was forced by others, do you mean that the confession was not the truth?"
The King of Huainan said coldly: "Hu Bowen, the confession you signed and sealed came from the Ministry of Punishment interrogation. What do you mean by being forced?"
"Your Majesty, someone threatened the life of the guilty minister's family and ordered the guilty minister to write this confession to frame the Duke of Zhenguo." Hu Bowen raised his head and said: "The guilty minister has been thinking about it for a long time. Your Majesty is so kind and generous. If I deceive the Holy One out of conscience and frame up my loyalty, even my ancestors will not be able to let me go."
"Framing Zhongliang?" Su Zhen already said: "Hu Bowen, what do you mean by this?"
"Marquis of Wuxiang, in order to assist the government, the old Duke worked hard, regardless of his advanced age." Hu Bowen said loudly: "Someone forced and threatened the guilty minister to write a confession to frame the old Duke. Naturally, they wanted the guilty minister to frame Zhongliang. Although the criminal has committed a serious crime, he is unwilling to make the same mistake again and again."
King Huainan's eyes flashed, and he said in a cold voice: "Hu Bowen, the emperor is here, and the officials are also here. You should be careful what you say."
"Your Majesty ordered Hu Bowen to be brought here, could it be that he wanted to confront him in public?" Sima Changshen snorted coldly: "Now that Hu Bowen has revealed the truth to the Holy One, is it possible that His Majesty won't let him speak?"
Longtai glanced at Sima Changshen and then asked: "Hu Bowen, you said someone is threatening you, who is it?"
Hu Bowen did not hesitate and raised his hand to King Huainan: "Your Majesty, before the guilty minister went to the Eastern Qi Dynasty, the King of Huainan ordered the guilty minister to join forces with Liang Xiong to destroy Jin Yihou's mission. He threatened the guilty minister, if the guilty minister disobeyed , my family will not be protected. I am extremely confused, and in order to protect my family, I made a big mistake."
There was a burst of excitement all around, and all the officials were extremely surprised. Originally, the King of Huainan insisted on letting Hu Bowen come forward to testify. Everyone thought that after Hu Bowen came out, he would testify that Sima Lan was the person behind the scenes. No one expected that Hu Bowen would directly accuse Sima Lan. King Huainan was the mastermind behind this, which was beyond everyone's expectations.
The King of Huainan looked extremely ugly and said sternly: "Hu Bowen, you are so bold, how dare you talk nonsense here."
"King Huainan, Hu Bowen's confession falsely accused my father of being the one behind the scenes, so you don't think he was talking nonsense. Now that Hu Bowen has stepped back from the brink and told the Holy Emperor the truth, you still say he is talking nonsense." Sima Changshen also said sternly: "The prince's ability to turn things upside down is really amazing."
"Everyone in the court knows that your Sima family is bent on getting Sima Wanqiong into the palace. For the benefit of our great Chu, the emperor sent Jin Yihou as an envoy to Dong Qi to marry Princess Tianxiang. He also wanted to appoint Princess Tianxiang as his queen." Huainan Although Wang's face was ugly, he was still calm at the moment and said coldly: "When Princess Tianxiang comes to my country of Chu, your Sima family's wishful thinking of controlling the harem will be shattered. Naturally, you are unwilling to give in, so you want to destroy it. Hu Bowen, isn’t what this king said exactly what you confessed?”
Hu Bowen said: "Your Majesty, because of this, once the mission is really destroyed and unable to complete its mission, many people will naturally think that it is the work of the old man. Do you still remember that before the mission, you I told the guilty minister that once this matter is successful, it will kill two birds with one stone. Not only can it point the finger at the Sima family, but Jin Yihou has insulted the emperor's order, and can also take the opportunity to suppress Jin Yihou." At this point, Qi Ning looked at One glance.
Qi Ning was wearing court clothes, with his hands folded in his sleeves, his face expressionless and silent.
After Hu Bowen appeared, Sima Lan remained silent. Only then did he sigh softly and said: "Your Majesty, I know that you and I have slightly different political opinions in daily life, but I always thought that even if our political opinions are different, they are all for the sake of my greatness." If Chu can prosper, there are some things we can discuss slowly." He shook his head and said, "Our Sima family has been favored by the emperor for several generations, which is already the highest honor. Your Majesty, in memory of the veteran minister who has been loyal to the country for many years, this is the title of Duke. This has already made the Sima family burst into tears of gratitude. How can they think of letting Sima Wanqiong enter the palace as their queen? What's more, they have to prevent the delegation from going to Dong Qi because of this. Although the old minister is confused, he is not so unbearable. Why should the prince bother? Use this method to trap the old minister into disloyalty!"
Sima Changshen lost no time and said: "Your Majesty, the King of Huainan framed him and has ulterior motives. Please investigate clearly!"
The King of Huainan was already livid at this time, but one of the ministers stepped forward and said loudly: "Your Majesty, Hu Bowen committed a capital crime, and now he is talking nonsense here. He is deliberately slandering the prince. He must be investigated carefully. . The prince is upright and has never worked tirelessly for our great Chu, but now he is being framed by a traitorous minister, and I plead his grievances on behalf of the prince."
When everyone looked around, they saw that the person who suddenly stood up was Dou Kui, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance.
Dou Kui was a die-hard best friend of King Huainan, and everyone was not surprised when he stood up to speak for King Huainan.
Longtai pondered for a moment and finally asked: "Hu Bowen, you said that the King of Huainan coerced you into writing this confession, and that the person who ordered you to destroy the mission was Uncle King Huainan. So what evidence do you have? It's just empty talk. How can I believe what you say?"
Hu Bowen lay on the ground and said: "Everything the guilty minister said is true, but there is no other evidence in his hand. The person who forced the guilty minister to write this confession was Qian Raoshun, the Minister of Punishment. He told the guilty minister that if the guilty minister If I can’t write down and sign this confession, my family will be in danger.”
Longtai glanced at Qian Raoshun and said coldly: "Qian Raoshun, is this a problem?"
Qian Raoshun, the Minister of Punishment, knelt on the ground and lowered his head and said: "Your Majesty, Hu Bowen... Hu Bowen is spitting blood, minister...!" Before he could finish speaking, King Huainan had already sneered and said: "Your Majesty, Hu Bowen is like a mad dog here, biting people indiscriminately. , this person has committed a heinous crime, and now he is deceiving the emperor. His crime of deceiving the emperor has implicated the nine clans, and he must not be leniently spared."
Hu Bowen had already said sternly: "Master Qian, you were in charge of the punishment of our great Chu. Back then, you were able to judge the case impartially and were even praised by the late emperor. Shouldn't you tell the truth today to frame Zhongliang? Duke Zhenguo has worked hard for our great Chu. , Now someone is trying to frame and murder his old man. I, Hu Bowen, don’t care about the lives of the whole family and tell the truth to the emperor. Are you still stubborn?"
The King of Huainan clenched his hands into fists, and his face was even more ugly. Qian Raoshun lay on the ground, raised his head and glanced at Longtai, and shouted suddenly: "Long live Qi Cun, I deserve death for my crime, please punish me!"
Qi Ning had been watching with cold eyes. This case was being tried in public, but the development was unexpected. Hu Bowen overturned his confession, which made Qi Ning aware that something was fishy. At this time, Qian Raoshun suddenly apologized to the emperor, and Qi Ning Knowing that things are even more unpredictable.
"What crime did you commit?" Longtai asked in a deep voice.
Qian Raoshun glanced at King Huainan and saw that King Huainan was also staring at him, with his forehead on the granite floor of the sacrificial altar. "Your Majesty, Hu Bowen's confession is indeed... It was indeed forced out by torture. King Huainan secretly summoned the minister. , I ordered the minister to make Hu Bowen sign this confession regardless of coercion or inducement, so that he could frame the old prince. I did not dare to disobey the prince's order, and unscrupulously took advantage of the safety of Hu Bowen's family to force him to sign this confession. It is signed and stamped, and everything stated in this confession was written in accordance with the prince's instructions. I...I have violated the law for my own personal gain. I am unworthy of the Holy One, and I still ask for His Majesty's punishment!"
King Huainan's face turned pale at this time. He couldn't help but take two steps back, then rushed forward a few steps, pointed at Qian Raoshun, and shouted sternly: "Qian Raoshun, do you know what you are talking about?"
Qian Raoshun raised his head, looked at the King of Huainan, and said with fear on his face: "Your Majesty, I... I really dare not deceive you, let alone frame Zhongliang. I can lose my head, but... I can't lose my conscience."
The ministers were already in an uproar at this time.
If Hu Bowen's words were not believed by everyone, then as soon as Qian Raoshun's words came out, everyone felt that all this must be planned by King Huainan.
As we all know, Qian Raoshun has always been very close to the King of Huainan. The King of Huainan and the Sima family were fighting in the court. Qian Raoshun has always been the main general around the King of Huainan. He has won the trust of the King of Huainan and is the confidant of the King of Huainan. , Qian Raoshun rebelled in public, and everyone was shocked.
"It turns out that all this was planned by the King of Huainan." Sima Changshen sneered: "Don't you think it's too despicable for the prince to use such means to frame our Sima family?"
The King of Huainan ignored Sima Changshen and stared at the calm Sima Lan. Instead of being angry, he smiled. The laughter spread far away. The ministers thought that it was just that the King of Huainan confessed to framing Sima Lan, and he was still in front of the emperor. Laughing unbridled is really disrespectful and quite disobedient.
Longtai glanced at King Huainan and finally said: "Why is Uncle King Huainan laughing?"
"Your Majesty, there is such a traitor in the court. It seems that I was right to side with you this time." King Huainan put his hands behind his back: "Sima Lan is a good-looking man, but cunning and cunning. He secretly bribed Qian Raoshun. This is beyond my expectation. ." He stared at Sima Lan and sneered: "Gong Zhenguo, what a trick!"
Sima Lan glanced at King Huainan and said in a calm tone: "Justice is in the heart of the people. Today, the prince wants to trap the old minister into disloyalty, so he even wants to hinder the holding of the sacrificial ceremony. If it were anyone else, it would be like committing a rebellion. Mr. Qian and Hu Bowen have not lost their conscience and have revealed the truth to the emperor. If the prince pleads guilty to the emperor immediately, we will also intercede for the prince."
"The prince broke the law and committed the same crime as the common people." Sima Changshen sneered: "Obstructing the sacrificial ceremony, framing Zhongliang, and previously trying to destroy the mission to seek marriage. Each of these major crimes is appalling. Now the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty are here To prove it, if nothing goes away, where is the court’s law?”