"I can do it!" Queen Meng replied almost without thinking, "As long as the emperor does not abolish the prince, I can do whatever I want!"
Song Wanji looked at her quietly, for a long time, and said sarcastically: "What a great mother's love. In this case, please ask the queen to stay in the side hall for two days!"
Queen Meng was stunned, and asked with her tear-stained face: "What do you mean, Your Majesty? Don't you want me to kill the King of Wei?"
"There's no rush." Song Wanji said calmly, "When the prince fails, it won't be too late for the queen to take action."
Queen Meng looked at him with wide eyes, feeling horrified: "Your Majesty, you can't do this. You can't let father and son kill each other. Your Majesty, this is too cruel. I beg you, don't do this..."
"Cruel?" Song Wanji sneered, "It's best not to let outsiders hear what the queen said, otherwise the crown prince's position will really be lost."
"..." Queen Meng shut her mouth suddenly and collapsed on the ground like a pile of mud.
"Come here, bring the Queen to the side hall so that she can serve her well." Song Wanji ordered in a loud voice.
Two guards came out from behind the curtain at the bedside, lifted Queen Meng up from the ground, and dragged her out of the bedroom.
Empress Meng never dreamed that there were guards hidden in the palace. Her surprised eyes passed over the hanging curtains, rows of bookcases, and high domes in the palace...
No wonder the emperor was seriously ill, but the guards at the Qiande Palace were so lax. She had previously thought that Si Fangzheng had lost his backbone and neglected to defend the Qiande Palace. Now it seemed that there must be hidden places where she had never noticed. There were guards with high martial arts skills. Even if she wanted to assassinate the emperor with a hairpin, even if an army came in at the same time, the emperor would be safe and sound.
Compared with the emperor, she was still too naive and childish.
Therefore, it was not unreasonable for the emperor to stand out from all the princes and win the throne. His scheming was too deep.
If the King of Wei were half as smart as him, he wouldn't be where he is today.
Queen Meng sighed sadly, and the next moment she was thrown into the cold side hall by the guards. The door of the hall was closed, and the darkness swallowed her up bit by bit like the devil's mouth.
She knew that she would never see the light again in this life.
The news that King Wei was suddenly sent to the Shenxing Department by the prince spread throughout the capital in the dark night. Many people suffered from insomnia that night.
Qiande Hall was as lifeless as usual, and the sleepy emperor didn't know that his most beloved brother was imprisoned by his son.
It was dawn, the morning court was about to begin, the prince's palace was brightly lit, Song Jingxing was furious with the fresh confession that had just been sent by the Criminal Division.
"What's the use of this kind of painless confession going back and forth? Doesn't the Criminal Division claim that they don't have a mouth that they can't pry open? Why are you using these to fool me? Go tell them. Before the end of the morning, If you can’t get what I want, let them all take off their official uniforms and leave!”
Feng Shao's waist was bent like a shrimp, with a look of embarrassment on his face: "The King of Wei is the prince after all, and some punishments cannot be used on him, because even if he confesses, he still has to go to court for interrogation. When the time comes, people will see The injury to him is detrimental to us."
"What's the disadvantage? Now Gu has the final say in the court. Who dares to question Gu's decision for him?" Song Jingxing said.
"..." Feng Shao swallowed his saliva and said weakly, "Your Highness, don't be too full. Maybe there are many people who dare. After all, Your Highness is not the emperor, and he has not yet reached the point where he can ignore the ministers, so it is better to be cautious. …”
"Shut up!" Song Jingxing grabbed the confession paper and smashed it over his face, "I don't care which side you are from. Before the end of the morning, the Criminal Division must come up with the confession I want, otherwise don't blame me for being unreasonable. noodle!"
"..." Feng Shao gingerly picked up the paper, did not dare to say any more, and bowed out.
Song Jingxing's personal attendant Zhang Yan was standing guard outside the door. When he saw him coming out, he quietly pulled his sleeve and whispered: "Master Feng, why don't you know how to adapt at all? Don't you understand what the prince wants? , you don’t care whether the King of Wei recruits him or not, just take a blank piece of paper and put his fingerprint on it, and then ask someone to write what the prince wants. Isn’t this the usual method of the Shenxing Division? As for why it is so embarrassing? "
"..." Feng Shao looked at him in disbelief, then broke away from his hand with a straight face and walked away.
It is really not a good thing for the prince to have such people around him. He is ashamed to associate with such people.
Zhang Yan had good intentions but was disgraced. He secretly scolded Feng Shao for being ignorant. Then he put on a smile and went into the palace to tidy up the court clothes for the prince. He persuaded with a smile: "Your Highness, don't be angry. Your Highness is now the one who is in charge of the family. You must learn from this." Keep your emotions and anger hidden, so that no one can figure out your thoughts, so that you can shock those cunning ministers in the court. "
Song Jingxing glanced at him, took a few deep breaths, suppressed the anger in his heart, and slowly raised his arms.
Zhang Yan hurriedly stretched out his hand to support him, bowed his body and walked out with the prince.
He is the most considerate servant of the prince. If nothing else, when the prince truly ascends the throne, Si Fangzheng’s position will be his. That is the biggest dream of every eunuch in the palace, so he will not be like Feng Shao. Silly, he always says things that make the prince unhappy. Even if he wants to make suggestions, he has to say something that the prince can listen to.
Because of King Wei's imprisonment, the atmosphere in the morning court was very depressing. Some ministers even put away the less important memorials and planned to present them another day.
Later, it was Prime Minister Meng who took the lead and asked: "I heard that King Wei entered the Shenxing Department. I dare to ask Your Highness, what did King Wei commit?"
Song Jingxing sat upright on the dragon chair and said with a serious expression: "I have been investigating the murder of Prince Dongshan for the past two days. Yesterday I received an anonymous report saying that King Wei was the mastermind behind the murder of Prince Dongshan. Therefore, I ordered someone to kill Prince Dongshan." He took him to the Criminal Investigation Department for questioning."
As soon as this statement came out, the whole palace was in an uproar, and all the civil and military officials were excited. They ignored the order of the court and started talking among themselves.
Prime Minister Meng said falsely: "Isn't the murderer Zhao Jingyu? Why did he become the King of Wei again?"
"Yes, yes, isn't it Zhao Jingyu? Why did he become the King of Wei again?" Many people echoed.
"Could it be that King Wei killed someone and framed Zhao Jingyu?"
"Impossible. King Wei and Zhao Jingyu couldn't hit each other with eight poles. Why did he kill his nephew to frame Zhao Jingyu?"
"Maybe there's something hidden in it."
Song Jingxing sat expressionless, allowing everyone to speculate.
Among the crowd, the young Duke Su Xian was looking at him with pity.
The most cruel thing in the world is the killing of flesh and blood, brother and sister, and His Highness the Crown Prince has taken all of them.
It seems that anyone who is a king must have a heart of stone.
After everyone had guessed everything they could, Song Jingxing said, "Until the matter is clarified, please do not jump to conclusions and wait patiently for the results of the interrogation by the Division of Punishment."
All the ministers were quiet and eagerly awaited news from the Shenxing Division.
Song Jingxing ordered people to invite King Dongshan to come over.
While waiting anxiously, General Wu An suddenly spoke: "Your Highness, if it turns out that the murderer is really King Wei, can Zhao Jingyu's arrest warrant be revoked?"
Everyone's eyes turned to him.
Only General Wu An dared to ask such a question.
Now everyone tacitly acquiesces to the fact that Zhao Jingyu is the emperor's illegitimate son. Even if Zhao Jingyu is not the murderer, His Highness the Prince will not let him go. Does General Wu'an still expect him to come back safe and sound
When Song Jingxing faced Xie Zhanting's question, his expression did not change at all, and he said calmly: "If the facts prove that Zhao Jingyu is innocent, the wanted order will naturally be withdrawn. When the time comes, Guhui will personally apologize to him and tell the world to clear his name."
"..." The ministers looked at each other, but no one took these words seriously.
After a while, King Dongshan hurried over, knelt in front of the palace and paid homage to the prince, begging the prince to make the decision for his dead son.
After losing his beloved son, he had gray hair and a haggard face, which made all the ministers sigh. The prince felt sorry for him and specially asked someone to move a chair for him, let him sit down with His Highness, and comforted him with kind words.
After a while, there was a report outside the palace that the king of Wei had confessed, and Chai Sheng, the doctor of the punishment department, personally sent the confession.
Song Jingxing suddenly became nervous, his heart beating hard, and he looked beyond the dark crowd of heads outside the hall.
Feng Shao bowed to him from afar at the door, and he understood that the matter was done. He suppressed his excitement and motioned to Zhang Yanxuan and Chai Sheng to enter the palace.
Chai Sheng entered the hall under the gaze of the officials, knelt down to the prince and presented his confession.
Zhang Yan took the confession from the servant and presented it to the prince.
Song Jingxing waved his hands sadly, saying that he couldn't bear to see it, and asked Zhang Yan to show it to King Dongshan first.
King Dongshan stood up tremblingly and knelt down to thank the prince. He took the confession and before opening it, tears started to fall.
Everyone turned their heads and couldn't bear to look at him.
Unexpectedly, King Dongshan suddenly changed his face when he opened the confession and read it. He seemed to be extremely frightened. He covered his heart and fell to the ground. He pointed at the prince and said "you, you, you" several times, then rolled his eyes and fainted. Death is over.
"What, what's going on?" The officials were shocked and ran to help him, shouting around him, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, wake up quickly..."
In the chaos, someone picked up the confession. A moment later, the crowd exclaimed: "What, the King of Wei said that His Highness the Crown Prince is his and the Queen's son!"
Everyone seemed to have been cast a restraining spell, standing on the spot in various postures. The entire hall was silent, and you could hear a pin drop.
Song Jingxing felt as if he was struck by five thunders, the color on his face instantly faded. After a moment, he shouted at Zhang Yan at the top of his lungs: "Get the confession back quickly!"
"Yes, yes..." Zhang Yan came to his senses, stumbled down the steps, and ran towards the ministers, "Where is the confession? Who has it? Hand it over quickly!"
For fear of setting themselves on fire, all the ministers retreated to the surroundings. The paper offering that had been thrown away by someone was lying quietly on the ground.
Zhang Yan was overjoyed and hurriedly ran over to pick it up. Unexpectedly, someone stepped forward and snatched the confession away.
"Bold..." Zhang Yan yelled angrily and raised his head, wanting to see which idiot it was that was desperate for his life. After seeing the man's face clearly, he retracted the unspoken curse words, his feet gave way, and he fell to the ground.
General Wu'an had a dark face and stared at him like an angry King Kong. His whole body was filled with a murderous aura that made him shudder.
"Huh!" Everyone secretly breathed a sigh of relief in unison. With General Wu'an standing in front, they had nothing to fear.
Prime Minister Meng's head was buzzing. He looked at the helpless prince who was sitting on the dragon chair, and stepped forward to smooth things over: "Don't panic, everyone. This matter is obviously caused by King Wei talking nonsense, or it is stolen by someone with ulterior motives." I changed my confession in order to cause chaos in the court, please don’t be deceived.”
"Yes, yes, this matter is obviously a conspiracy. When the presiding officer presented such a confession, he has unshirkable responsibility and suspicion. I think he should be arrested and interrogated first!" Qian Renli, the supervisory censor, echoed. .
Chai Sheng gave up after hearing this: "Qian Renli, who do you think you are? How dare you frame me. I personally interrogated the King of Wei, and I personally read the confession. It is not the current one at all, otherwise I would dare Bring it to His Majesty the Crown Prince?"
"Then tell me, what's the original share?" Qian Renli asked.
"I..." Chai Sheng was speechless for a moment, and then suddenly slapped his forehead, "I remembered that there was a young eunuch who bumped into me on the way here holding a stack of books. He must have transferred the confession! "
"What's the point of you arguing about this? Isn't it the most important thing to ask if it was King Wei who killed my son?" King Dongshan woke up and angrily interrupted their conversation.
"I can understand the loss of your beloved son, but compared to the bloodline of the crown prince, your matter is of course inferior." A voice from the crowd said.
"That's nonsense!" Song Jingxing stood up suddenly, veins popping out on his forehead, "Gu is the only son of the father. If anyone dares to question Gu's identity, Gu will have his head chopped off!"
There was silence in the palace.
Just as Song Jingxing took a breath, a voice suddenly cried out: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you are just ill. Look what has become of this court. The country you have worked so hard to run will fall into the hands of others." Take it, Your Majesty..."
Following the cry, the hall exploded, and another minister raised his arms and shouted: "Colleagues, there is no place for us to talk here. Let's go to the Qiande Palace to find the emperor, and to the Cining Palace to find the Queen Mother. , we have to risk our lives to protect the country for the emperor!"
"Let's go, let's go now..." A dozen veterans led each other out of the hall.
In the civil and military affairs of the entire dynasty, apart from the Meng party and the neutral faction, there were only a dozen or so left, which looked a bit desolate.
Song Jingxing suddenly calmed down. Since most people were still on his side, he had nothing to panic about.
"Come here, take down those rebellious officials and traitors who are disrupting the court!" He sat back on the throne, straightened his back and gave orders.
The guards outside the palace moved in response, holding waist knives to stop more than a dozen ministers.
At the critical moment, Xie Zhanting strode forward and stood in front of the ministers. He fished it out with his hand and easily removed a guard's waist knife.
"Let's see who dares to move!" He glared angrily and said in a loud voice, "I advise you to first think clearly about who you are loyal to, so as not to die without knowing who you died for!"
The guards were forced to retreat to both sides unconsciously due to his majesty.
More than a dozen ministers went out of the palace under the escort of Xie Zhanting.
"Wait for me!" King Dongshan shouted, stumbling after him.
"Wait for me!" Su Xian, the young prince, also chased after him.
"And me!" An Yi followed closely.
His role was to encourage the neutralists. When the neutralists saw that the officials and ministers were beginning to take sides, they naturally followed him one after another, unwilling to lag behind.
Half of the people cheering and cheering in the main hall left, leaving the Meng family looking at each other.
"Prime Minister Meng, Your Highness the Crown Prince, what should we do now?" Qian Renli asked.
"What's the rush? The prince holds the seal. As long as the emperor doesn't wake up, it's us who have the final say. If they want to go, just let them go. The queen is there to support us!" said Prime Minister Meng.
"But, the confession was taken away by General Wu'an." Chai Sheng said.
"Isn't the confession false? What's the use of it?" Prime Minister Meng said, "Hurry back to the Criminal Division now. You know what to do."
Chai Sheng couldn't help but shudder. The Prime Minister wanted him to kill the King of Wei, and he would die without proof!
But he is just a small minister. How can he bear the responsibility of killing the royal family? With the prime minister's ruthlessness and cunning, if he is pushed out to take the blame in the end, the nine tribes will be punished.
"Hurry up and go!" Meng Cheng saw him hesitating and said sternly, "We are now on the same boat, and the boat has sailed to the middle of the river. What do you have to hesitate? Do you still hope to turn back?"
Chai Sheng gritted his teeth, said nothing more, and turned to leave. However, as soon as he took one foot out, the door of the hall suddenly slammed shut from the outside.
"What's going on?" Everyone exclaimed and ran towards the door, trying to open it, but soon they backed away with frightened expressions on their faces.
"What's wrong?" Chai Sheng squeezed to the front, leaned on the crack of the door and looked out. He was horrified to find that there were archers outside, and all their shining arrows were aimed at the door.
It’s over! Chai Sheng's legs gave way and he fell to the ground.
If I had known, he would have just left with An Shangshu and General Wu An.
The ministers who had left earlier had now arrived at the Qiande Palace. They all knelt down outside the palace gate and cried loudly. They cried for the emperor's dragon body, for the country of Zhou Dynasty, for the treacherous ministers in power, for the dictatorship of the prince, and for the queen. Unfaithful, staining the blood of the royal family, the Qiande Palace suddenly burst into tears.
Empress Meng, who was locked up in the side hall, was shocked when she heard the minister's cry. It was not until this moment that she fully understood that the emperor did not have high hopes for the prince as he said. He had clearly made up his mind long ago. We must drive out the Meng family and the King of Wei.
He must have been waiting for this day for a long time, but he has never waited for the right time. This time, he just used the daughter of Phoenix Life to let Zhao Jingyu's life experience surface, triggering a sense of crisis for her and the prince, thus disturbing them. Their thoughts made them unable to calm down and expose their own mistakes, and by the way, they also got the Prime Minister and the King of Wei into this muddy water.
Not only that, he also used this trick to easily distinguish the ministers who were standing in line. Now, except for the ministers who were crying outside the Qiande Hall, it was obvious to all fools who they belonged to.
Song Wanji, he is so meticulous and ruthless!
The ministers' cries alarmed the queen mother, who hurried over in a sedan chair. She ignored the ministers and went into the hall to see the emperor's condition.
Song Wanji was leaning on the bedside listening to Si Fangzheng's report on what was going on outside. When he heard that the Queen Mother was coming, he hurriedly got into bed and lay down, closing his eyes and pretending to sleep.
The Queen Mother came in, sat down on the embroidery stool at the head of the bed, stepped back to the left and right, sighed and held the Emperor's exposed hand that was not covered.
"Stop pretending, the Ai family knows you haven't slept."
Song Wanji had no choice but to open his eyes and said with a smile: "Queen Mother, are you here?"
"You hear the crying outside is like a slaughterhouse. Can you do it if I don't come?" The Queen Mother said angrily, "How long are you going to lie down? If you continue to lie down, I'm afraid the sky will collapse."
"It won't collapse, don't worry, Queen Mother!" Song Wanji said with a smile.
"You!" The Queen Mother nodded helplessly on his forehead, "Everyone says that family scandals should not be publicized, but it's better for you. As the king of a country, if you spread the scandals of your family to the outside world with gongs and drums, you can't deal with them quietly. ?"
"Such an effect cannot be achieved quietly. Now we have achieved a comprehensive victory without spending a single soldier. Is there anything more trouble-free than this?" Song Wanji laughed.
The Queen Mother also had to admit that this was a good plan, but it would be a bit embarrassing to say it out.
"Who helped you come up with such a damaging move?"
"Who else could it be? Your grandson!" Song Wanji said.
"..." The Queen Mother was stunned for a moment, then quickly responded, "No wonder the outside world has such a bad opinion of him. He is really full of bad ideas."
Song Wanji laughed.
However, the Queen Mother raised her face and said seriously: "I don't care about anything else but one thing. You have to give Heng'er a way out no matter what. Although he is not my biological child, he has been raised by me since he was a child. He is just like his own son. This time I In order to help you, I did not hesitate to set a trap for him, and my heart really hurts like a knife. If you want his life, just take my life too. "
(End of chapter)