The emperor sitting above was stunned for a moment, then became furious. He stood up and yelled: "Ji Changze!! You are trying to rebel!"
--boom!
A sharp arrow almost grazed his ear and pierced the wall behind him.
If you miss it by one point, it will fall on your face.
The emperor froze. He watched Ji Changze retract his bow, shook his hand that was a little painful due to injury, and smiled, still in a respectful manner:
"I have just been injured, so my archery skills are a little inaccurate. Your Majesty, it is better to sit calmly and listen to what I have to say, lest I get the impression of this injury and shake my hand, injuring the dragon's body."
"You, you..." His heart was filled with great anger and frustration, but he could only sit down with anger to save his life.
In just a moment, the situation was in Ji Changze's hands.
Master Ji, who was obviously a scholar, but had obtained military power by pretending to be poor and selling miserably, and with the support of these military powers, he led his soldiers into the main hall where the court was going to the court in such a grand manner under the eyes of the people of the court.
It can be said that everyone present has never seen such a simple and crude act of rebellion.
All the civil and military officials are still standing here.
The emperor sat on the dragon throne and did not dare to move rashly. He came to his senses and cast his expectant eyes on the courtiers standing below.
It stands to reason that for such an upright person to do such a treasonous and unethical thing, the courtiers present should come out to criticize and scold Ji Changze, showing their own philosophy of preferring death over surrender and Ji Changze's lack of cooperation in treason.
This was exactly what he was looking forward to. If everyone was unwilling to surrender, could Ji Changze kill them all
As a result, the emperor's confidence was rekindled in his heart, and he waited hopefully for the courtiers below to speak out.
Courtier 1: "--"
Courtier 2: "--"
Courtier 3: "--"
There was an awkward silence.
The emperor simply thought he was deaf. When he realized that no one in the civil and military circles of the court came forward to criticize Ji Changze, his anger almost overwhelmed the entire hall.
However, in his anger, he completely did not realize that this embarrassing situation was due to his years of operation. Those who really dared to face the power and still spoke out had been killed/demoted by him long ago, and they could retain their positions in his hands. Yes, he is either an old fox or a coward.
How could they stand up in such a situation
A few officials were a little uneasy under the emperor's angry gaze, but when they saw the old masters standing in front of them, they all calmed down and looked at their noses and noses, looking at their hearts, and just pretended not to notice the ones above. .
These people are unreliable, so they can only rely on cronies.
The emperor's eyes fell on Zhou Ru again.
However--
Zhou Ru, who was still emotionally excited just now when attending the meeting in Changze, felt as if his tongue had been pulled out by invisible hands, or like a newborn quail, standing with his hands and feet tied in front of the soldiers who filled the hall.
Let alone open your mouth to "justice" for the emperor, I might not even have the courage to open your mouth to beg for mercy.
Ji Changze followed the direction where the emperor was looking, and his eyes also fell on Zhou Ru. The corners of his lips were raised, and he seemed to be smiling: "Is your Majesty worried that I will be harmful to Mr. Zhou? You are worrying too much. The rules of the court are not to hurt Mr. Zhou." Colleagues are not allowed to fight wantonly, how could a humble official break the rules?"
Zhou Ru trembled with fright and was begging for mercy, but suddenly remembered that he had shot an arrow at Ji Changze's only daughter. Although the arrow was blocked, according to Ji Changze's actions, would he still be alive
Ji Changze treated him with such contempt and must have concluded that he did not dare to resist.
If he killed Ji Changze right now... wouldn't it be a great achievement to put an end to this chaos
Anyway, he couldn't get any benefits from Ji Changze gaining power, so he might as well give it a go. He was so arrogant, so he might not be able to get it.
Thinking of this, Zhou Ru slowly moved his hands to his waist. While Ji Changze's back was turned to him, he suddenly took off his belt, grabbed one side with one hand, and put it around the neck of the person in front.
It should be foolproof.
But Ji Changze seemed to have eyes behind him. He turned around almost as soon as he burst out. He only saw a sharp edge in front of his eyes, and the next second, there was a sweet feeling in his throat.
--boom!
Zhou Ru fell to the ground, covering his neck with blood that was constantly overflowing with his hands. His body twitched a few times and then stopped moving. After his hands fell weakly, he penetrated his neck, and only a dagger with a handle was exposed.
Lord Ji watched him die condescendingly, then squatted down, pulled out the dagger, wiped it carefully with a handkerchief, and smiled while looking up at the emperor who was pale with fright.
"Master Zhou knows the law and breaks the law. He intended to murder his colleagues at the time. Such a treasonous and unethical person, I will help your majesty deal with it."
The emperor had always been above authority all his life. Now that he was being treated so oppressively by Ji Changze, he could no longer suppress the anger in his heart. He stood up angrily and personally criticized:
"Ji Changze! What on earth do you want to do!!"
"Since I came to the throne, I have been diligent and caring for the people, I have been wise in domestic affairs, I am kind and courteous, and all the people in the world love and respect me. I have never done any bad deeds. If you intend to rebel and want to replace me, you are wrong! !”
"The vassal kings everywhere will never recognize you, and the people of the world will only regard you as a traitor and traitor, and the civil and military officials will not do anything for you. Do you think you can control the imperial city with military power? Even if you succeed today, in the end In less than a month, the vassal kings will gather a large army and march to the city. When the time comes, I will watch your heads fall to the ground! Kill your entire family!"
"Ah."
After hearing the emperor's impassioned speech, Ji Changze sneered unceremoniously:
"Your Majesty is diligent, caring for the people, kind and courteous?"
Anyone can hear the irony in this statement.
He stood in the middle of the hall and said loudly:
"In the third year of Yuan Shun, an imperial official named Mei Huan wrote a memorial, saying that Your Majesty should not be extravagant and use gold and silver to build houses just for fun. His Majesty accepted the advice and humbly corrected it. Seven days later, Mei Huan died violently. .”
"In the fourth year of Yuanshun, your Majesty went on a personal expedition, chasing the enemy all the way to Hegu, and captured the three lands of Huzhou for our Wen Dynasty. The veteran general Wu of Zhou, who had made many achievements in the world, persuaded your Majesty not to pursue the enemy when you are in trouble, for fear of being deceived, but your Majesty did not Determined to go his own way, he led his troops into Crane Valley and fell into the enemy's trap. Only two thousand of the thirty thousand soldiers survived."
The emperor's expression suddenly changed, and he looked at Ji Changze with a look that made him want to bite him to death: "Shut up!!!"
Ji Changze didn't look at him at all and just continued:
"After returning to the camp, His Majesty ordered that Zhou Wu, greedy for merit, led his troops into Hecheng and was executed on the spot. His whole family was exiled."
"This! This is His Majesty's diligence and kindness!"
The surroundings were surprisingly quiet, but the faces of all the officials were full of shock. Their gazes passed over the soldiers surrounding the entire hall and landed on the face of the emperor sitting on the dragon throne in disbelief.
Zhou Wu won many victories for the Wen Dynasty. His execution that day already made many people feel it was a pity. At least they wanted to spare his life in view of his past achievements.
But who would have thought that the veteran general who had served in the military all his life would die unjustly.
They looked at the master of the country, but saw that the emperor was trembling all over, his eyes were red, and he couldn't argue in the end.
Ji Changze continued:
"In the fifth year of Yuan Shun, His Majesty paid a private visit incognito. He took a fancy to a girl who had a husband's family, brought her into the harem, and named her a talented person. This is not a big deal, but unfortunately, that talented person's husband's family was very lively before, but three days later, [accidentally] ] The fire left no one alive, including the woman’s biological son.”
"After the woman found out, she intended to assassinate His Majesty. After she was caught, she spread the word about His Majesty's taking away his wife."
Things that had been concealed were revealed one by one in front of so many people, and the emperor was on the verge of collapse.
He stood up suddenly and swept down the pen and ink on the table in front of him. With the sound of things falling to the ground, he also said:
"I told you to shut up!!!"
Ji Changze stood firm and steady, without even blinking. He just continued to talk about these "old things from the past" in a light tone.
"On that day, one hundred soldiers and thirty palace slaves died. His Majesty said that assassins entered the palace. I wonder if the families of these soldiers and palace slaves knew that their deaths were caused by His Majesty's murder. I don’t know what to think in my heart.”
"This is His Majesty's love for the people and courtesy."
"Shut up!!!! I order you to shut up!!!!"
Ji Changze really shut his mouth this time.
He took out a stack of paper from his arms, all of which were densely written with small characters.
Ji Changze made the front of these papers face the emperor, even though he knew he was so far away and couldn't see it: "Your Majesty didn't let me say it, so I said it. Anyway, there are so many words, and my throat hurts from talking about it. What have you done in these years? Who was wronged, who was poisoned, I found out clearly, and they are all written on it."
He took the papers filled with words, slowly turned around and faced the officials, and said loudly: "My lords, come and see how our Majesty is [diligent and caring for the people] and how [kind and courteous] he is." !!”
After speaking, he waved his hand, and the papers filled with words were thrown into the sky and fell down one after another.
Among the flying papers, Mr. Ji, who was wearing a red official uniform, had sarcasm in his eyes, and Zhou Ru's blood was at his feet.
He laughed wantonly: "Your Majesty! You have done so many bad things, it's time to pay off your debt!"
It was extremely quiet in the court, except for the emperor's heavy breathing.
Slowly, an official bent down and picked up a piece of paper.
Then, the second, the third...
"Your Majesty actually killed Mr. Liu with poison? His youngest son was still in his infancy at the time!"
"Master Wang is so loyal, why did your Majesty kill him?"
"... The food for disaster relief was stolen, and it was His Majesty who shouted to catch the thief. How unjust the officers and soldiers who guarded the food were!"
More and more voices sounded in shock, and they all felt chills all over. They couldn't believe that this was actually done by His Majesty the Wen Dynasty.
After listening to their words, the emperor's eyes were splitting. He stood up suddenly, pointed at the former confidant below and said angrily: "Ji Changze! How can you be so good?! Even if I am wrong, you are not completely innocent! Even if you sit down today, Even if you get on this dragon throne, they still won’t help you!!”
This is true, after all, Ji Changze is a treacherous minister, and everyone in the court knows it.
Ji Changze smiled again.
This laughter was full of sarcasm. After laughing for a while, I covered my stomach that hurt from laughing and looked at the emperor sarcastically above:
"Your Majesty, are you really stupid or pretending to be stupid? If you are not like this, how can you dispel your Majesty's vigilance towards me, how can you gain your trust, how can you become a close confidant of your Majesty, and how can you become an important official in the court? If you investigate this past event, how can you get the direct results you have today? What about His Majesty’s military power?”
He had laughed enough, straightened up, and said in a loud voice:
"A foolish king should be worthy of a sycophantic minister. If I really become a loyal and capable minister, can you trust me?"
"Can you expose these past events in front of my eyes? Can you safely leave these tens of thousands of horses in my hands?"
After listening to Ji Changze's words, the emperor's face was full of surprise, and something flashed through his mind, which he firmly grasped.
His face turned gloomy, and he sat back on the dragon chair slumped: "I, I know, you have been planning for today from the beginning, sixteen years ago, when you came to me, you were already planning …”
"It's all pretending. You've been pretending all these years. For the sake of my throne and the civil dynasty, you have been able to act for sixteen years!"
Ji Changze looked at the emperor coldly, and when he was desperate, he suddenly said: "I never said that what I did today was for the throne."
Not for the throne
Not only the emperor, but also all the officials on the side were shocked.
If it's not for the throne, why would you bring so many soldiers to fight with the emperor
Isn't this the same as putting out the bath water, taking off your clothes, but not getting in the tub
"In the seventeenth year of Yuan Shun, His Highness entered the court, and the whole court praised him. His Majesty gradually became wary. Just as the enemy was attacking, His Majesty ordered troops to send His Highness to quell the war, but behind his back, he deliberately held back food and fodder. Unfortunately, even so, the Great Your Highness still defeated the enemy country."
The emperor trembled all over and looked at Ji Changze in disbelief.
He already knew what this former confidant, who was wearing the skin of a treacherous minister and pretending to be beside him, was going to say next.
Sure enough, Ji Changze continued:
"Your Highness's uncle is a great Confucian of the time, and now he has been praised by military commanders. Your Majesty can no longer tolerate him, so he sent a secret message to Your Highness, saying that there is a rebellion in the capital, and asking him to quickly move troops back to the capital to support him. He can wait until the palace leads troops to the capital. But it was taken down immediately.”
"The crime is: bringing troops back to Beijing without authorization with the intention of rebelling."
Ji Changze looked at the emperor above: "Your Majesty, if you feel that my recollection is wrong, come and refute me. It just so happens that I have not wasted my time in the past sixteen years. The letter asking for help that you sent to His Highness sixteen years ago I also brought the letter."
He actually took out a letter from his arms, opened it, looked at it, and said to the emperor with disbelief in his eyes: "Thank you very much for never giving up looking for this letter. You have wasted a lot of manpower. As your My dear, how could you not know about this?"
There is overwhelming evidence, coupled with all the previous testimonies that "the emperor murdered his ministers", the emperor has nothing to say at all.
Seeing him like this, no one among the officials knew that what Ji Changze said was true.
The originally quiet court became noisy again.
"It's so true."
"Why is Your Majesty like this? Your Highness is his flesh and blood!"
"Even his own parents and children were murdered."
Listening to these voices, the emperor gritted his teeth and stared at Ji Changze, as if he wanted to eat his flesh and drink his blood.
What he had tried so hard to bury, what he had tried so hard to cover, were all exposed today. How could he not hate it
But no matter how much he hated it, it didn't stop Ji Changze from continuing.
"What kind of character is His Highness? Even if His Majesty is framed, there are still many people who don't believe that His Highness really wants to rebel. They have begged for help and testified. Many people have produced evidence that His Highness came to the capital after receiving a false letter, but His Majesty did not Still insisting on going his own way.”
"At the moment of the stalemate, my master, your highness's uncle, came back with a letter from Fei Ge because your highness was worried about the situation in the capital. He asked to see your majesty and told the matter alone. He wanted to testify for your highness. The master is a great scholar. He is quite influential among the literati, and if his words get out and convict His Highness, the matter will be left alone."
Ji Changze's voice gradually gained some emotion from its original calm tone, filled with anger and hatred: "So, our Majesty thought of a good way to forge some correspondence between His Highness and my master to frame me. Master and His Highness are plotting a rebellion, and he is His Highness’s uncle, so it makes sense to say that he is helping His Highness.”
His tone became excited, and his hatred almost rushed to the throne:
"After my master was framed, he was filled with grievances! He tried his best to prove his innocence. He was loyal, to the Wen Dynasty and to His Majesty. How could you imagine that the Majesty to whom he was loyal was going to kill him!!!"
Ji Changze's anger and his eyes that turned red instantly made it obvious to everyone that he hated the emperor deeply.
"Until the night before he went to court, he was still thinking about meeting His Majesty and confessing his innocence. His Majesty really went there. Master was so happy. He thought that his loyal Majesty was willing to believe him, willing to listen to his explanation, and willing to be like him. I trust him with all my heart, Your Majesty."
The emperor frowned.
No, he had never seen Master Ji Changze, a dying man, and what he would do if he saw him.
"But what did your Majesty say to my master? He threatened the lives of my master's family, and used the lives of his mother, wife, daughter, and my disciple as a bargaining chip to demand that the master admit that he conspired with His Highness to rebel!!!"
"Forcing him to become an unjust person with the life of his closest relative, asking him to kill his only sister's child, this is Your Majesty's kindness and courtesy!!!!"
"What can my master do?! What can he do?! You forced him to die, and you forced him to hit a pillar and die. Even in death, he can't prove his innocence!!"
emperor:"… "
"Wait...I never..."
"Shut up!!!!"
Mr. Ji, who was already lost in his memories, obviously didn't like the emperor at this moment. As soon as the other person spoke, he angrily intercepted his words, pointed at the emperor on the dragon throne, and said angrily:
"Before he died, Master was worried that the Li family would be in trouble after his death. He was afraid that I, a disciple, would be dragged down by him!!"
"Using blood as ink and clothes as paper, I left a letter and entrusted it to the jailer to give it to me. The letter told me what His Majesty said and did, saying that he could not do it to frame the palace, and could not admit the rebellion as Your Majesty wished. I don’t want to get involved with him, and after his death, I will admit these crimes as a disciple! This will protect my health and the health of the Li family members!!”
"My master!! Full of knowledge, countless books, a great scholar!! He should be a famous figure that will be passed down through the ages, but you forcefully poured dirty water on him and made him commit suicide with hatred!!! If he hadn't left me a message that night I don’t even know the next letter, because Master’s most loyal Majesty, he even died so dissatisfied!!!”
With these words, every word weeping, this appalling injustice sixteen years ago crawled out of the ground and was revealed in front of everyone.
No one can tell whether Ji Changze is laughing or crying now. All they know is that this vicious villain who has been scolded as a treacherous minister for sixteen years and who stepped on his master's position is now illuminated by the sun, which is particularly dazzling.
Under the sun, he took out a letter, his eyes were filled with tears, and he suppressed his grief and said: "This is that letter. I touch it every day, and the words are blurred, but I remember the content in my heart." , Your Majesty! You framed Zhongliang, and you did not hesitate to let the loyal minister die unjustly for your own desires. How could I tolerate you in these sixteen years of days and nights! "
Even at this moment, the accused emperor still wanted to evade: "I have never seen Li Qing..."
Before he finished speaking, he was rudely interrupted by Ji Changze:
"Enough!!! At this moment!! Are you still thinking of deceiving the world?!!!"
He took a deep breath, as if to calm down a little: "Sixteen years ago, when I received the letter, I stayed up all night. I couldn't figure out why Your Majesty is the head of the Wen Dynasty, why would you use such words? What a dirty trick to insult a loyal minister's innocent name."
"I think that if I ask your majesty to clear my master's name, your majesty will definitely not agree. Therefore, I must stand in a high position, one person must be inferior to ten thousand people, and I must have the ability to force your majesty to listen to my words. !!”
Lord Ji, who has been considered for a long time to be nothing more than a flatterer and who rose to power by flattering and undermining his mentor, sneered:
"I know that Your Majesty keeps me here just to publicize Master's [crimes] through my mouth. The more ungrateful I am, the more human-like I am, using power, corruption, perverting the law, subverting right and wrong, jealousy of the virtuous, and envying the capable. The more these ministers do, the more serious they become." The more people criticize me for being isolated and helpless, the more your Majesty will trust me."
This day is destined to be a day of various emotional ups and downs for Baiguan.
Ji Changze... He was actually pretending.
In order to restore his master's reputation, he pretended to be so for sixteen years and carried the infamy for sixteen years.
"If you want a treacherous minister, I will be a treacherous minister! If you want someone who can only rely on you, I will be inactive! If you want a knife, I will be a knife!"
Master Ji obviously didn't care about these insults. The cuffs of his red official uniform swayed slightly with the wind, and he looked at the emperor with sharp eyes:
"It's just that now, this knife should be aimed at His Majesty."
The emperor had already accepted the reality. After learning that Ji Changze launched the attack because "he threatened Master Ji Changze and forced him to die," he now had hope again.
Although he did all the previous things, he had indeed never seen Mr. Li in prison.
"Ji Qing, I did not say anything to Mr. Li about threatening his family. You are being instigated!"
Of course Ji Changze knew.
After all, the emperor went to see Mr. Li, and the letter Mr. Li left... were all made up by him.
But now, with the emperor's misdeeds in front of him, no one will believe that he is really innocent.
He only sneered: "Your Majesty, will anyone still believe what you say now?"
"Just ask the civil and military officials and see if they believe it!!"
The emperor subconsciously looked at the courtiers standing below, and the eyes of the courtiers who came into contact with his gaze flickered.
Obviously, they don't believe it.
"I really haven't, I've never met Li Qing, I haven't!!"
“I really didn’t!!!”
The emperor's voice, which seemed full of grievances, sounded in the hall, but no one believed it.
The emperor still didn't understand at this moment, they had already concluded that he had done this.
He had no more strength and leaned numbly on the dragon chair.
"I... really don't..."
The courtiers standing below looked at their noses and minds:
It's time, Your Majesty, please stop pretending.