But Fei Liu didn't wait for King Jing in the secret room that day, because Xiao Jingyan was not in the mansion at all. Although the city defense camp did not know about the bloody fight that took place in Ximen, it would not be like a blind man afterward. Soon, King Jing received a report that the Xuanjing Division escorted a felon into Beijing and was attacked at the city gate. However, because the Xuanjing Division is directly under the imperial guard and has a self-contained system, and often does not notify the relevant government divisions to act on their own, King Jing did not take this matter to heart at first, but only ordered the commander of the patrol battalion Ouyang Ji to pay attention. If the Xuanjing Division wants to deal with If the criminals who escaped after the failure of the robbery were rounded up, unless there was a clear decree, they had to coordinate their actions through the patrol camp, and not to disturb the people at will. After that, King Jing went out to visit the seriously ill royal uncle, King Li. Different from the time when he was silent and unloved, Xiao Jingyan’s status today is no longer the same as before. The other royal courtiers who visited Li Wangfu’s mansion all came to chat with him, and after socializing for a while, they were already It is noon. At this time, Ouyang Ji came to report, saying that there was no contact with the Xuanjing Division, but he did not conduct a search in Beijing without authorization. It seemed that he did not care about the escaped criminals, but instead concentrated most of the government soldiers and blocked the guards and the new prisoners. The felon who entered the city.
Only then did King Jing have a little doubt in his heart. After thinking about it for a long time, he could not think of any recent events that might be related to the repeat offender. However, he had always had a rift with the Xuanjing Division. He knew that it would be boring to send someone to ask. In addition, because of the lack of a prince at the end of this year's festival, many rituals have changed. Emperor Liang ordered him to accompany the two princes, Prince Yu, to accompany him. Unlike King Yu, he has not entered the high-level court for many years, and he is not familiar with many etiquettes in this area. He invited the successor of the Ministry of Rites, Liu Ji, to teach him personally in the inner court. Now is the busiest time, so even though Confused, he didn't go to investigate deeply, and after telling Ouyang Ji to continue to investigate the news, he went to the inner court.
After practicing the etiquette for nearly an hour, although King Jing was not tired at all, Liu Shangshu, a man in his sixties, was out of breath. He is the cousin of Zhongshu Ling Liu Cheng. He comes from a noble family. He has always been respected in the court. He has never treated any princes differently. King Jing has never deliberately won over him. , then on the pretext of asking for advice on the ordinances of the dynasties, he asked him to sit down and rest.
In fact, King Jing has taken advantage of this, that is, he has always given the impression to the courtiers that he is determined and cold-hearted, only proficient in military affairs, and ignorant of civil governance. But in fact, King Jing was taught by his mother and Concubine Chen in the palace when he was a child, and later he was brought up by his elder brother Qi Wang. Lin Shu stole all the limelight and never drew attention. In the ten or so years after King Qi's rebellious case, Xiao Jingyan did feel extremely disgusted with the court, so he was banished by his father and himself, and was somewhat abandoned. But in any case, he was also a teacher of Su Ru, a famous minister as a teacher, a person who studied with Lin Shu, and had a good homework. If he simply judged him as a martial artist, he would naturally be surprised after the deep friendship.
After chatting until recently, King Jing left Nei Shuting and happened to meet Meng Zhi outside the palace city. By the way, I asked him if he knew who the Xuanjing Division had arrested. Meng Zhi had no idea at all, and the two only talked. After two or three sentences, they dispersed. After that, King Jing returned directly to his palace. It's a pity that just before he entered the bedroom, Fei Liu, who knocked on the door for the third time but still didn't get a response, just left. Physical strength sent Fei Liu to find someone for the fourth time, but the two were not able to meet that night.
In the early morning of the next day, King Jing entered the palace early to greet him. Due to the closing of the year, the imperial court had sealed off the imperial court two days ago. The princes went directly to the Wuying Hall in the forbidden interior to greet him every day. When King Jing entered, he met King Yu, who had not been seen for a long time, outside the hall. I wonder if it was a coincidence. Still unlucky.
"Jingyan is here," Prince Yu greeted him with a smile on his face and held Prince Jing's hand, with the appearance of a friendly brother, "Looking at your red face, you must have slept well last night, right?"
King Jing never liked to be rude to him, and Mei Changsu didn't think there was any use in laughing with King Yu on the surface. When the two agreed, although King Jing's attitude was not disrespectful when he saw King Yu, it was unavoidably cold. For example, at this moment, He only bowed slightly to salute, and then slowly pulled back the hand that was held by King Yu.
"Come on, let's go in together, I heard that the royal father is very happy today." King Yu had long been used to his unsavoury and indifferent attitude, so he didn't take it seriously, raised his hand, and the two walked side by side. Entered the Wuying Hall.
At this time, there were three people in the hall, Emperor Liang, Xia Jiang, the head of the Xuanjing Division, and Meng Zhi, the commander of the Imperial Army. It seemed that they had just finished talking about something. One leaned on the dragon chair and stroked his forehead, while the other slowly stroked his beard. There is a half-smile, and one has no expression, but the skin on his face is obviously tense. When the two princes came in, Xia Jiang looked at Prince Yu and nodded slightly, while Meng Zhi frowned at Prince Jing.
"My son, please greet the emperor." The two brothers bowed down and saluted together.
"Well, sit down." Emperor Liang rubbed his forehead and slowly raised his head, looking at the two sons in front of them. They are now dressed the same, and they are more and more like brothers. A more sleek and clever. The Daliang Emperor has always favored King Yu for more than ten years. Until recently, because he was dissatisfied with his ambitious ambitions, he deliberately reduced some favors, but his love was still strong. After King Jing regained the opportunity to attract his attention, he acted. It was when his favorability increased that he was more and more in line with him, so looking at the two at this time, he couldn't tell which one he liked more. Suddenly, he thought of King Qi, the eldest son of the emperor who was so excellent that he couldn't control it, and suddenly felt a pain in his heart. I don't know if it was because of old age or because Xia Jiang had just brought back memories that he had deliberately sealed.
"What's wrong with the royal father?" King Yu bowed to him with concern. "Could it be that you were discussing some troublesome matter just now? Can the son minister share the worry for the royal father?"
Emperor Liang waved his hand: "It's a big New Year's Eve, what's the trouble..."
"Yeah," Xia Jiang saw that Emperor Liang had said this half sentence, and did not intend to continue, so he caught the stubborn, "Auspicious New Year's Day, what troubles can there be? Things like catching an old criminal offender, in fact, It's a good pick."
"Rebel?" Yu Wang showed a startled expression, "What happened recently, why didn't I know?"
Xia Jiang laughed, "Of course Your Highness knows, but it's not a recent case, it was thirteen years ago."
"Ah? Xia Shouzun is referring to..." Prince Yu glanced at Prince Jing as he spoke. As expected, the latter raised his head when he heard the words, staring at Xia Jiang with flaming eyes.
"Where were there two other cases thirteen years ago? Naturally, it was Chiyan's case." Xia Jiang said in a relaxed tone, "The Chiyan army has been accused of treason and collaborating with the enemy. Heavy snow fell and another storm broke out. Out of the seventeen generals that your Majesty intended to arrest, only four were captured alive. Eleven corpses were found, and two more had escaped or their bones were buried. The Xuanjing Division has not dared to slack off for many years. Fortunately, the emperor's holiness is blessed, Skynet cannot escape, and after thirteen years, he has got one of the rebels."
"who is it?"
Xia Jiang glanced at King Jing with the end of his eyes, and said coldly, "The former deputy general of the Chiyu Battalion, Wei Zheng."
King Jing's hands on his knees clenched into fists, and his chest rolled. But he has been suppressed for more than ten years, and he has experienced more recently. When he is not the reckless teenager from before, he gritted his teeth and lowered his eyes to cover the beating flames in his eyes.
"Oh, this is really a good thing!" King Yu's deliberately raised tone sounded sharp and harsh, "My son, congratulations to the emperor. The criminals who have been on the run for more than ten years can be arrested, which is a testament to the prestige of my court. . This Wei Zheng must be publicly punished with a heavy sentence, which is enough to deter the heart of the world's disobedience!"
Xia Jiang pretended to ask for a while, and Fang Xuxu agreed: "His Royal Highness Yu Wang really responded quickly, and this is the truth when you think about it. Any mad and rebellious thief with two hearts is useless, and it must be punished with severe punishment. It makes the world feel fearful. The prisoner of guards has been hiding for more than ten years, which shows that he has no remorse at all, and the minister thinks that it is more appropriate to be cut in half to show the public."
The muscles on Prince Jing's cheeks jumped, and he raised his head suddenly, just as he was about to speak, Meng Zhi took a step ahead of him and knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, it is the New Year's Day and the national mourning period, it's really not appropriate to give in public. Such torture!"
"Commander Meng's words are bad." Xia Jiang said lightly, "Treasoning rebellion is an unpardonable crime, so what does it have to do with national mourning? Treat traitors with harshness, be kind and gentle with loyalty and goodness, follow them and rejuvenate the country, and disobey them and destroy the country. This side is the way of not going against it, are you right, His Royal Highness Prince Jing?”
He threw the words to King Jing lightly, making it clear that he had to let him speak. And this opening, I am afraid that if it is not against the heart, it will be against the ear.
Meng Zhi was in a hurry and wanted to block the conversation again, but he was afraid that it would be too obvious to backfire. When he was at a loss, King Jing had already stopped and said clearly and frankly: "My son has an objection."