Without saying a word, Xu Yonghong took off his official hat and placed it in front of himself.
No one dared to speak out, but they couldn't help but exclaim in unison in their hearts.
Everyone uses this trick.
Tsk tsk, the Five Military Commandery was suddenly without its left and right commanders.
Isn't this a coincidence
Shao Wenxun's eyes flickered, and he secretly glanced at King Zhuang when no one was paying attention.
King Zhuang remained unmoved.
The fifth prince was confused.
Duke Ping stroked his beard, looked at his grandson who looked so out of place standing among a group of foxes, and felt a little worried.
Xu Yonghong had already kowtowed three times to Emperor Yuanfeng. Compared to Song Xiangyu's passionate speech, his tone was still rigid. He kowtowed to Emperor Yuanfeng respectfully and said directly: "Your Majesty, I am guilty! I neglected to discipline my son, allowing that unfilial son to commit such a heinous crime of murder. It is my fault! But the son of Marquis Guangping accused me of hiding poison and plotting against the law. I dare not admit it. I am innocent!"
Song Xiangyu immediately said angrily: "You are shameless! How dare you say it's unfair!"
Xu Yonghong ignored him and said as if no one was around: "Your Majesty, he accused me of hiding poison, but this poison is not hidden in my house, let alone owned by my family! Instead, that unfilial son bought it in the market with someone else."
He pursed his lips and kowtowed to Emperor Yuanfeng again: "It is our fault. We dare not deny it, but I dare not be accused of colluding with the previous dynasty. I am terrified!"
Song Xiangyu sneered: "Are you afraid? I think you are very bold! After all, you should tell me, is it true that your son poisoned my son?!"
"That's true." Xu Yonghong pursed his lips, his resolute face expressionless, and said in a resolute voice: "But this matter has nothing to do with anything else. It's just a group of children playing around and losing their sense of propriety! Because this poison was bought by my son and your son together!"
Song Xiangyu froze.
King Zhuang was also stunned.
All the civil and military officials shouted "Be good" in their hearts.
This is really exciting, even more exciting than watching a play.
Emperor Yuanfeng said an ambiguous "oh" at the top of his head, and then asked, "How did you know?"
Xu Yonghong seemed exhausted. He bowed to Emperor Yuanfeng and said, "Your Majesty, I have been traveling overnight since I got your permission. The first thing I did after returning was to interrogate all the people who followed Xu Ying, including the old steward who originally planned to go to Baihe Temple with Xu Ying that day but did not go."
"According to him, Xu Ying offended Song Heng two years ago and was thrown into the Jinshui River by Song Heng. Since then, he has hated Song Heng. He is also a good friend of Song Zhibin, the eldest son of Guangping Marquis Mansion, and Song Zhibin also doesn't like Song Heng..."
Everyone understood.
That’s right, the discord within the Song family is actually obvious.
Xu Yonghong paused, then continued: "They were always together, often hanging out in restaurants and theaters. This is something many people know. I am not lying. You can send someone to verify it. Later, it was said that Young Master Song wanted to seduce a woman in a brothel but someone got there first. Young Master Song actually beat that person up, and was taught a lesson by Song Heng. When he returned home, he was scolded by the Marquis, so he has been holding a grudge against Song Heng..."
Song Xiangyu frowned and said nothing.
"My unfilial son is also a vengeful person. In a fit of rage, these two people said they wanted to punish Song Heng. It just so happened that the eleventh young master of the Song family lost a game of cards in the gambling house that day, and got into a fight with someone and was caught by Song Heng. So these two people came up with this idea to put the blame on Song Heng..." Xu Yonghong sighed, "There are witnesses to prove all this, because when they went to buy poison, the close attendants around the eldest young master Song also went with my son's people..."
The crowd was shocked.
It turned out that the Song family was too chaotic and the trouble started from within.
That being said, Xu Ying's crime wasn't that serious.
Song Xiangyu shouldn't have called for the killing of the Xu family - you are fighting among yourselves, and your own children are fighting to the death, you can't put all the blame on others, can you
Xu Yonghong kowtowed to Emperor Yuanfeng again. Compared with Song Xiangyu, he seemed restrained and stoic. "Your Majesty, I am incompetent and did not discipline my children strictly, so they made serious mistakes. I ask to be stripped of my title!"
Everyone gasped.
Song Xiangyu is cruel, and Xu Yonghong is even crueler than Song Xiangyu. After all, he just wants to replace his younger brother as the crown prince, but Duke Chengguo doesn't even want the title.
After the shock, everyone felt more sympathy for Duke Cheng.
The ones who made the mistake were Xu Ying and Song Zhibin.
But Xu Ying died.
Song Xiangyu said it well. Song Zhiyuan is indeed almost a useless person, but that is not caused by Xu Ying alone. Just now, Song Xiangyu said that he is suspected of colluding with the previous dynasty... ..
The two generations of Chengguo Dukes have made great contributions to the court. The current Chengguo Duke is also a general who fights to the death, but he is forced into this...
The military generals of the Chengguo Duke faction came forward one after another to plead for mercy.
There are also many people who support the Guangping Marquisate.
King Zhuang stood in the center of the storm with a deep look in his eyes.
Duke Chengguo is truly a capable man!
All the concessions, all the dormancy, and even Zhang Linghui's death, every step was meaningful and purposeful, and no step was redundant.
This person is so terribly scheming.
Duke Chengguo was still kneeling on the ground. He choked for a moment, but immediately held back his sobs and kowtowed to Emperor Yuanfeng: "Your Majesty, I dare not refute or say that I am wronged. I only ask Your Majesty to make a holy judgment and spare my son's life. I... I only have this one son left!"
Duke Ping continued to stroke his beard, then let out a sigh of relief in his heart.
Song Xiangyu was too careless when facing Duke Chengguo.
He certainly has a deep relationship with the emperor.
But Duke Cheng and the emperor also grew up together, and they have supported each other all the way. He is a minister that the emperor trusts.
Moreover, Duke Chengguo's ability to guess the emperor's intentions and to plan three steps ahead is truly perfect.
Sure enough, he heard Emperor Yuanfeng say, "Get up."
Duke Chengguo and Song Xiangyu both stood up.
Emperor Yuanfeng glanced at the two of them, frowned, and suddenly called out the Prime Minister Yang Bo: "My dear minister, what do you think we should do?"
Yang Bo, who was named, looked at no one and cupped his hands: "This old minister dare not speak rashly. Your Majesty is wise and I believe he has already made a plan in mind."
Emperor Yuanfeng just laughed and didn't ask any more questions. His tone was also indifferent: "Well, if you are talking about not managing the family strictly and not educating the children well, both of you are at fault. The Ministry of Rites will be responsible for supervising the matter. The position of the eldest son of Marquis Guangping will be succeeded by Song Xiangfei. In addition, the Duke of Chengguo will be demoted to the Marquis of Anning, and the title will continue to be hereditary."
Giving each of them fifty lashes seems to be fair.