For the outside world, no one can detect what happened in the Xuanjing Office. However, the public storm of prison robbery, and the subsequent news of King Jing returning to his residence behind closed doors for self-examination, immediately spread throughout the court and the public. In the end, even Concubine Jing was banned from the inner palace, which had no trace of edict at all. Secret, but also secretly spread out.
Prince Jing is no longer the insignificant and often forgotten prince he used to be. He is the Prince of Seven Pearls, and his status is on a par with Prince Yu. His growing prestige in the DPRK has made him a strong candidate for the Eastern Palace. An incident that is at stake with such a prince's life will naturally shake people's hearts and set off a wave of terrifying chaos.
Just at this delicate moment when the rumors were spreading and the situation was stagnant outside the bureaucracy, Prince Ji's carriage drove out of his mansion and headed towards Miyagi, surrounded by a simple ceremonial team.
King Ji was the younger brother of the current emperor, twelve years younger than him. When Emperor Liang ascended the throne, he was still a minor, and he was the youngest of the previous generation. He is sassy and romantic by nature, has a straightforward temperament, what to say, but he doesn't like to play tricks, and is a natural idle prince. For any emperor who has succeeded in fighting for succession, such a non-threatening younger brother is the most favored, and King Ji is no exception. He has received more indulgence from Emperor Liang than any other prince. And privileges, happy every day, better than the gods.
But the life of the gods will not always be so smooth and smooth. In this most lively and happy New Year's Day, this prince encountered something that made him unable to stand by and ignore it.
The carriage of Prince Ji's mansion swayed along the main road of the imperial city, which was still soaked with snow. In the carriage, Prince Ji was holding a small stove with a rare deep expression. And next to him, there was another person sitting.
"My lord, should I enter the palace with you?" Yan Yujin asked tentatively.
"What are you going to do? Instead, it complicates things. Brother Huang still believes what I said. Even if he doesn't believe it, so what. I just need to say what I need to say, and I won't be able to take care of the rest." Ji Wang Chang sighed, "To be honest, I really don't want to get involved in these things, but I can't help it. I have seen it, but I can't pretend I didn't see it."
"Me too. I'm really panicking if I see it." Yan Yujin sighed with him, "It's a coincidence, if you didn't visit Miss Gong Yu with me that day, you wouldn't have just seen it. This thing is…”
"Anyway, I can't bury things in my heart. I made it clear to my brother what I saw, and I was relieved. You can get off when you cross West Street, don't go to the palace with me. That's it. Brother Huang has a heavy heart and a lot of suspicion, and he thinks about it when there are too many people talking about it."
"Okay." Yan Yujin nodded, there seemed to be something deeper and more complicated hidden under his lowered eyes, but the expression on his face was always steady. When he arrived at Xijiekou, he said goodbye at will, then lifted the curtain and got out of the car.
The carriage continued to move forward, entered the Miyagi Gate and headed east, and finally stopped outside the Danxi Gate. According to the Liang etiquette, unless there is a shoulder yoke specially gifted by the emperor to pick it up, you must walk through this gate, so King Ji only ordered someone to find out where the emperor was driving at this time, and then wrapped himself in thick fur and jumped. down. With the support of two side attendants, he strode in.
Emperor Liang met his younger brother in the warm pavilion of the main hall of Ganyi. Without the personal care of Concubine Jing, he looked more and more tired, but the pair of eyes under the thick gray eyebrows still flashed with a deterrent light that was hard to ignore. Seeing King Ji coming in, Emperor Liang had a smile on his face, half bowed his body and greeted him to sit down without courtesy, and said gently: "It's such a cold day, it's about to snow, and it's the annual holiday, so send me a message of greetings. That's alright, why run in again?"
"The younger brother should have come to pay his respects diligently." King Ji, who has never been polite, sat beside him following the place pointed by Emperor Liang, "Besides, there is still something else, if I don't report it to the emperor, the younger brother feels a little uneasy. peaceful."
"What's wrong? Who messed with you?"
"It's not that someone is messing with me," King Ji sat closer again, lowering his voice, "I saw something happened on the fifth day of the first day, and I didn't feel anything at the time. The news came out in a mess in the past few days, so I slowly returned. The taste is over…”
"The fifth day?" Emperor Liang twitched his eyebrows sensitively, "What's the matter? Speak slowly and make it clear!"
"Yes. Brother Huang knows that the younger brother has some friends in the market, who occasionally communicate with each other. On the fifth day of the first day, there was nothing in the house, and the younger brother was very quiet, so he went to visit such a friend. She lives in Dengjia Lane... Brother Huang, you don't know the place... In short, it is a secluded private house. It is very small. As soon as the window is opened, you can see the alley outside from a gap in the gable. There was some movement outside, so I looked out the window, who would have thought that I saw an acquaintance..."
"Acquaintance? Who?"
"Xia Dong, the hanging mirror. She was coming from the other direction with a group of people who were bunt in blue clothes, all of them were holding knives or swords. They carried a person among them and waited in the alley for a while, come here. After they got a carriage, they carried the man into the carriage and drove away. Because it was the one led by Xia Dong, the younger brother thought it was the Xuanjing Division who was catching criminals again, so he didn’t take it to heart.” King Ji said here , took a deep breath, "But... My younger brother learned later that the case of the prison robbery was posted that day, and that Wei Zheng who was robbed... The images were also posted all over the four doors. The person who was carried away by Xia Dong and the others is very similar..."
Emperor Liang tried his best to control the throbbing muscles on his face, and said, "Are you sure?"
"Not ten points, but nine points. While they were waiting for the carriage in the alley, the man suddenly choked on blood and was lifted up to be in a good mood, so the younger brother could clearly see his face..."
"Xia Dong..." Emperor Liang gritted his teeth. "How could the criminal who was kidnapped from the Dali Temple by the traitor be in the hands of Xia Dong? He also had to secretly transfer it in a secluded alley? What the hell is the Xuanjing Division doing?"
"I don't understand it either, so I came to report to the emperor." King Ji let out a long sigh, "After all, this is not a trivial matter. I heard that the emperor is having trouble sleeping and eating because of this, and the minister and brother are not talented. I can't share my worries for the royal brother, but I can't hide what I saw with my own eyes. But... just to be cautious, the royal brother Xuan Xiadong should come and ask, maybe she will explain it clearly?"
Emperor Liang was obviously not as optimistic as King Ji, his face was as heavy as a Wang Hantan, and after a moment of silence, he called out, "Gao Zhan!"
"The slave is here."
"Send someone to the Xuanjing Division..." Emperor Liang said only half a sentence, then stopped, thinking about changing his words, "Call Meng Zhi in first."
"Yes."
Meng Zhi was the commander of the forbidden army, and he was patrolling the defense outside the palace. Wen Zhao rushed in immediately and bowed down: "What's the matter with your majesty Xuanchen?"
"You go to the Xuanjing Division in person and bring Xia Dong to see me. Remember, you must come and go quickly, be secretive, there must be no delay on the way, and Xia Dong must not be allowed to contact anyone, especially Xia Jiang. ."
"The minister obeys the decree." Meng Zhi was a martial artist, so he stood up and left. King Ji didn't seem to be used to this kind of scene, and was a little uneasy. Emperor Liang had no time to take care of him just when the doubts were rolling in his heart. The two were silent, and the atmosphere in the hall was extremely stiff for a while.
It is obviously very wise for the commander of the Imperial Army to personally pick up the person. His action was so fast that it was too late to react. When Xia Jiang rushed over after receiving the report, Meng Zhi had already mounted the horse with the female hanging mirror, and dropped the sentence "Xia Dong is here to see you by edict", and he rode the horse like a whirlwind. Go away, leaving only a puff of smoke.
Xia Dong received the same treatment as King Jing when he entered the warm pavilion of Qianyi Hall to perform a grand ceremony. Emperor Liang deliberately waited for a long time without telling her to be flattened. When the tension and repression was strong enough, he asked sharply: "Xia Dong, where were you on the day when the fifth day transgressor was robbed?"
"The minister went out of the city to sweep the sacrifice for the deceased husband..."
"When did you come back?"
"Return till evening."
"Nonsense!" Emperor Liang said angrily, "Someone saw you in that... what lane?"
Ji Wang hurriedly reminded in a low voice, "Dengjia Lane."
"What are you doing at Dengjia Lane?"
Xia Dong's face paled a little, but he still insisted: "I have never been to Dengjia Lane, maybe someone is mistaken."
King Ji didn't have any special opinion on the whole incident. He called Xia Donglai just to hear if she could give a reasonable explanation. Unexpectedly, she even denied the fact that she had been to Dengjia Lane. It was his dignified prince who seemed to be talking nonsense, and he was immediately annoyed, and he raised his eyebrows and said: "Xia Dong, it is this prince who really saw you, absolutely right. There are no less than twenty people around you, although you are not wearing the hanging mirror. Official uniforms, but they all obeyed your assignments, and even carried a man like Wei Zheng into the carriage, do you dare to deny it?"
"Xia Dong!" Emperor Liang shouted, "In front of me, you dare to make false statements! Are you Xuanjing Division still my Xuanjing Division?! In your eyes, besides your master, is there anything else in the world? Without me?!"
This sentence is already considered extremely heavy. Xia Dong's remaining lips faded cleanly, and he immediately kowtowed again, and his fingers on the ground trembled slightly.
"I believe that Ji Wangye will not wrong you, saying, what are you going to do in Dengjia Lane?"
The pressure of the emperor's personal trial is by no means comparable to any occasion, and the one who came forward to identify the most important and trusted prince, so Xia Dong's silver teeth gritted and bitten, and finally admitted with a trembling lips: "Chen... I have been to Dengjia Lane…”
Emperor Liang's heart was full of anger, and he asked again, "Is that person Wei Zheng?"
"Yes… "
Recruiting these two is equivalent to recruiting the others. When Emperor Liang thought about the cause and effect, he was almost able to put the whole incident together.
"I was originally surprised that the transgressors are always placed in the Xuanjing Division, and hundreds of soldiers are guarding them. Unless they raise troops to rebel, who has the ability to escape, but they have to be moved to Dali Temple." Fu, almost looking at Xia Dong with murderous intent, "You...you said...the people who attacked the Xuanjing Division that day, did you also bring them with you?"
Xia Dong whispered: "Yes..."
"Okay...Okay..." Emperor Liang trembled all over, "You guys are playing a good strategy, such a strong hanging mirror division, after being invaded by the rebels, he didn't catch a single one, and finally said that it was because of patrolling. The chaos in the camp made people run away... Xia Dong, it's not worth my trust in you, you really have the ability!"
After Meng Zhi brought Xia Dong, he stayed in the hall and did not leave. At this time, he seemed a little unbearable, and whispered: "Your Majesty, I think that such a big thing is not enough for Xia Dong to plan, there should be someone behind it. Master?"
"It's needless to say!" Emperor Liang slapped the dragon case and pointed at Xia Dong, "Look who she is? Who can instruct her? You don't know who she listens to the most in her life?!" He turned it up again in one breath, choked up and couldn't speak, let Gao Zhan rub it for a while before letting go, and asked, "What about Wei Zheng? After you pretended to rob Wei Zheng, where did you send it?"
"The minister killed him?"
"what?!"
"Wei Zheng is a member of the Chiyan Army, and he is the husband-killing enemy of the minister. He has lived on for so many years, and the minister will never let him live one more day..."
"You... Wei Zheng is a capital crime, do you know that?"
"Wei Zheng is just a lieutenant, not the main criminal. Your Majesty loves King Jing so much now. If he tries his best to make a plea, it is hard to guarantee that His Majesty will not be moved by him. This minister does not want to see such a result, so the minister has to strike first. "Xia Dong said here, his face gradually returned to normal, and he raised his head and said, "These things are all done by the minister alone, and have nothing to do with the master of the minister, please don't wrong your majesty..."
"Shut up! At this time, you still have to bite King Jing. You are really your master's good apprentice! What did you do alone? Can you transfer Wei Zheng to Dali Temple without Xia Jiang?" Stretched into an iron plate, "Xia Dong, the first point of the Xuanjing Division is to be loyal to the monarch, but you... you guys have been deceiving the monarch from beginning to end!"
"Brother Huang, you can be calm, your health is not good, it is more important to take care of your dragon health. Anyway, it is a blessing to be able to find out the matter." King Ji sighed and persuaded slowly.
Emperor Liang took a deep breath, calmed down a little, and looked at Ji Wangdao, "Thank you for bumping into you, otherwise Jingyan would be greatly wronged this time. They were pulled into the confinement."
"With the emperor's brother Shengming investigating, what is Jingyan afraid of?" King Ji smiled, then turned to look at Xia Dong again, "Xia Dong has been hard enough these years, it is inevitable that he will be a little extreme, and the emperor should also be lenient. ."
Emperor Liang sneered, and his anger rose again, "I'm too lazy to deal with her now. Mengzhi!"
"The minister is here."
"You lead a thousand forbidden troops, immediately seal the Xuanjing Division, the upper and lower people, etc., are all imprisoned in the division waiting for the order, if anyone dares to move, behead!"
"The minister obeys the order." Meng Zhi bowed down and asked again, "What about Xia Jiang? Does Your Majesty want to see him?"
"He did something like this to deceive the king, what else do you see?" Emperor Liang was in a rage at this time, and he mentioned that Xia Jiang was even more angry, "He... and this Xia Dong, all of them will be sent to the heavenly prison!"
Meng Zhi bowed to take orders again, hesitated for a moment and then said: "When I went to the Xuanjing Division just now, I saw Xia Qiu taking Mei Changsu to the cell from a distance. Seeing Mr. Su's appearance, he seemed to be tortured..."
"To be punished?" Emperor Liang was startled, "I only said to ask questions, how could I be imprisoned? How could a punishment be initiated?"
"Your Majesty, you know that Xia Jiang acts in his own hanging mirror department, of course he has no scruples..."
Emperor Liang was stunned and sighed, "It seems that Mei Changsu has nothing to do with this matter at all, Xia Jiang probably wanted to pass him on the crime of sitting on Jingyan... It was I who was impatient and caused him to fall into the hands of Xia Jiang and suffer, you This time, let's go and rescue him together and send him back to the manor for a good rest."
"Yes." Meng Zhi bowed again, and was walking out. A small yellow door hurried in and said, "Your Majesty, the Minister of Punishment, Cai Quan, is waiting for an order outside the hall, saying that there is something important to report to Your Majesty."
(End of the sixth volume of swords and swords)