Tang Fan was silent for a long time and asked, "Why do you want to avenge Concubine Ji, but why did you murder Han Zao?"
Yuan Liang sighed: "I am now by the Prince's side, no matter what I do, it will always involve the Prince, so I can't do anything. Even if I hate Concubine Wan to the core, I have to endure it. But suddenly there is One day, Fu Ru, a maid next to Concubine Wan, approached me and asked me if I still wanted to avenge Concubine Ji. I said yes, and she said she could persuade Concubine Wan to send soup to the prince, and how to make a fuss at that time, It's all up to me."
"Wait!" Tang Fan interrupted him, "Why did Fu Ru betray Concubine Wan? Also, if she was also dissatisfied with Concubine Wan, why didn't she directly poison herself? On the condition that she served by Concubine Wan, It should be easy."
Yuanliang shook his head: "I don't know, Furu is a very strange person. Before His Highness was born, she was the one who came to give birth to Sister Ji under the order of the imperial concubine. She should have been beaten with sticks at that time. Sister Ji, if you beat Sister Ji to death, His Highness will not survive, but she just filled Sister Ji with medicine, and the medicine is only half a bowl, so His Highness can survive. Speaking of which, Fu Ru is also kind to His Highness. That's why I believe her words. The imperial concubine often beats and scolds the palace servants. Although Fu Ru is a big palace maid, it is hard to avoid it, but the number of times is less. Maybe she already has resentment in her heart, just for the sake of her own net worth and life, no If you dare to do it yourself, you need to rely on me to use such a circuitous method."
Tang Fan hummed: "Go ahead."
Yuan Liang said: "At the time, I thought this was a good opportunity, but the crown prince can't be in trouble. It's best for the people around him to die, and they must have a certain identity, otherwise it won't be enough to attract His Majesty's attention. In this way, there are only candidates left. The next prince's master and Han Zao."
"There are many masters who give lectures to the Prince, headed by the Grand Master of Wenhua Palace, Zhanshifu Zhanshi, Shaozhanshi, etc. They take turns to give lectures to His Highness every day, and His Highness often gives them food to show respect. , but these meals are all delivered by the pantry, and it has nothing to do with Concubine Wan. If you want to choose a certain king, then only Han Zao, who stays by the prince's side every day, because His Royal Highness and Han Zao are related. Well, the two will often share food, and the Queen Mother Zhou often prepares two. So I finally chose Han Zao."
"But the poisoning is too simple, and it's easy to be found out. It doesn't matter if I die myself, it's not good to implicate Your Highness. When I sent Han Zao into the palace, I often heard him mentioning his mother's bad things to his foster brother. , Han Zao has a good heart, and respects his brother very much. He feels that his mother is not good at doing this, and he is unable to discourage him. He is very distressed in his heart. I am familiar with him, and he will tell me."
"The more I listened to it, the more I knew that unless Han Hui was a saint, he would never hold grudges against his adoptive mother, so I went to Han Hui and told him that if Han died early and the second house was broken, he would He is the only heir, and it can also make his adoptive mother heartbroken, so that his revenge will be avenged. Han Hui was frightened at first, and I didn't send Han Zao over for a few days, so I was not worried, because he did not directly Refuting me, this shows that he still has this idea deep in his heart, and taking a step back, even if he doesn't want to, I naturally have another way."
"After a while, Han Hui really found me and agreed with my previous proposal. You will all know what happened next."
After he said this long paragraph, his face became more and more difficult to look, and the sound of gasping from his throat was like a broken bellows being pulled hard, very unpleasant.
Tang Fan couldn't help but said angrily: "In order to avenge Concubine Ji, can you kill completely innocent people? Han Zao has nothing to do with what happened back then, so what's the use of killing him! This is not the pain of relatives, Hurry up the enemy!"
Yuanliang smiled miserably and said with tears: "I know Han Zao is innocent, but he is forced to do nothing! I was originally a crippled person who was struggling to survive. I was poisoned twice when I tried poison for Sister Ji, and I was lucky enough to survive. , but my body is also abolished. The imperial doctor said that even if I take good care of me, it has only happened in the past few years. If I can't see the unfortunate situation of Wan before I die, how can I have the face to see Sister Ji when I go to Jiuquan! I can't kill Concubine Wan by myself, so I can only choose such a roundabout way! As soon as Han Zao dies, Concubine Wan will be suspected. Everyone will think that what she is going to kill is the prince. She will be abolished! The Wan family has made countless enemies in the palace. As long as she loses her position as a noble concubine and her Majesty's favor, there are so many people who want her to die, and I won't need to take action at that time!"
Wang Zhi never made a sound, and at this moment he couldn't help but said coldly: "Murdering the prince is indeed a serious crime. If it was your plan, it would have been better for the Emperor Taizu, or even in the dynasty of the previous emperor. It may be abolished as you said, but your mistake is to underestimate the weight of the imperial concubine in His Majesty's mind! For the sake of the imperial concubine, even the queen can be abolished, and even the empress dowager dare not say a word, I am afraid that His Royal Highness is in his mind It's not as heavy as you might think."
"But it's not that light?" Yuanliang's face was deeply tired: "I heard that Your Majesty had a big fight with Concubine Wan after Han Zao's death, right or not?"
Wang Zhi stopped talking.
Yuan Liang smiled: "If you don't speak, then it's true. In fact, many things are gambling. Back then, we helped conceal the existence of the prince, which was originally a gamble. Later, the identity of the prince was revealed, and we didn't know that His Majesty would How to deal with him is also a gamble. Now I just gamble with my life. If I can really pull the Wan family off the horse, then the future of the prince will be smooth, and there is no need to worry about being assassinated. It’s a pity I bet wrong."
"Forget it, as long as you don't get involved in the crown prince, I will die if I die, and Han Zao is innocent. If I die, it can be considered a death for him. Your Highness is a good person and a wise man, but it's a pity I can't see that day."
Wang Zhi sneered: "Aren't you afraid that I will shake everything you've done in front of the imperial concubine!"
Yuan Liang shook his head: "I know you won't, otherwise you wouldn't have come to ask me in advance. Thank you, Wang Neijian, I used to despise you because you were the concubine's side, but now I look at you. Come on, you still have justice in your heart."
Wang Zhi snorted: "You killed Han Zao, and you came to tell me what righteousness! Besides, I am not for you, but for His Royal Highness!"
Yuanliang's expression was gloomy: "Yes, so I'll give him my life now. I can't pay for your protection to His Highness."
Seeing that his voice was getting lower and lower, and blood was spilling from the corners of his mouth, Tang Fan couldn't help but take a few steps closer, grabbed him and asked, "What about Fu Ru, do you know the origin of Fu Ru! She really only wanted to give it to her because she was dissatisfied with Concubine Wan. Is it just a stumbling block?"
Yuan Liang shook his head, the expression on his face became more and more confused, his eyes gradually lost focus, his expression was doubly distorted due to the pain, and he finally lost his breath in the moan.
Tang Fan released him and put Yuan Liang on the bed.
This person is especially hateful. In order to avenge Concubine Ji and blame Concubine Wan, he did not hesitate to drag the innocent Han Zao into the water. In the end, it proved that all his efforts were in vain. Concubine Wan was destined to escape, and Han Zao also died unjustly.
But this person is very pitiful. Everything he does is not for himself, nor for the pursuit of fame and fortune, but for the favor of the old concubine. How many people have received the favor of others in their lives, but how many still remember the favor of others? Yuan Liang not only remembered it, but also engraved it firmly in his heart, and he did not hesitate to take his own life for this.
Wang Zhi said: "Yuan Liang died of a sudden illness, and even the imperial physician was too late to invite him. It's a pity."
Tang Fan's heart moved, and he immediately understood what he meant: "Where is Fu Ru?"
Wang Zhi was expressionless: "Because she was scolded by the imperial concubine, she felt resentful, so she instigated the imperial concubine to send soup to the prince, and used Han Zao's death to blame the noble concubine."
This is equivalent to directly eliminating Yuan Liang's role in it.
Tang Fan shook his head: "No, there are so many flaws. Don't forget about Han Hui. How could Fu Ru be connected with Han Hui in the imperial concubine's palace? Yuan Liang's role must be indispensable in the middle."
Wang Zhi thought about it for a while, then gave a high five: "That's it! It is said that Fu Ru held grudges after being reprimanded by the imperial concubine, but did not dare to take revenge. Yuan Liang was Fu Ru's counterpart. After hearing Fu Ru's complaints, Han Hui happened to be With the intention of killing his brother, he came up with the idea of asking Fu Ru to persuade the imperial concubine to send soup, and then asking Han Hui to attack Han Zao in advance.
He took great pains to remove the suspicion of the prince.
Tang Fan was silent for a moment, then said, "Will your Majesty and your concubine believe you if you say this?"
Wang Zhi asked back: "Why don't you believe it? Now that Yuan Liang is dead, there is no evidence of his death. The fact that Fu Ru and Han Hui are connected to each other is all there. No matter how they deny it, it will not cause any trouble. The matter, His Majesty never wants to create a big prison. In his heart, now that the prince is older, and he is the son he finally got, even if it is not as important as the imperial concubine, there is still a place, and he will not hope for this matter. Implicated in the crown prince. Now the key is on the imperial concubine's side, as long as there is no evidence, even if the imperial concubine has grudges against the prince, it cannot be used as an excuse."
He paused and said regretfully, "If I had just arrested Xiao Zhou and finished the matter, how could there be so much endless trouble! Tang Fan, I shouldn't have listened to your nonsense and wanted to marry the prince. What kind of good fate, the result is now good, but I can't get off the boat, so I can only go down in black. I used to be from the imperial concubine's side, but now I want to help you deceive the imperial concubine. If the imperial concubine finds out, I will end up. It won't go anywhere better than Yuan!"
Tang Fan was also disturbed by Yuan Liang's incident. Hearing this, he could only comfortably say, "Not necessarily. In this matter, I always felt that Fu Ru's purpose would not be so simple. The angry person, knowing that the left and right are dead, just bring a dagger and assassinate her at close range, why do you need to go around in a circle to frame her? If you can dig something out of Fu Ru, maybe you can get rid of it The prince is suspected."
Wang Zhi snorted coldly: "You think too simply, it's enough that Yuanliang is the prince's person, no matter what other motivations there are, it can't erase the imperial concubine's doubts about the prince. You need a reason to like someone. , do you still need a reason to hate someone?"
Tang Fan really didn't quite understand Concubine Wan's fear of being obsessed with the prince, and Wang Zhi obviously understood it better than him.
The two actually didn't say a few words. Not long after Yuan Liang's death, Wang Zhi left the East Palace and went to the West Factory to interrogate Fu Ru.
Tang Fan silently looked at Yuan Liang's body for a while, then walked out and said goodbye to the prince.
It happened that the prince didn't need to study today. He sat alone in the inner hall in a daze. When he saw Tang Fan coming in, he backed away the servants left and right, and immediately asked, "Tang pushes the official, and Yuan will serve him..."
Tang Fan cupped his hands: "Yuan Nei Shi was seriously ill and died just now." It was a default of Wang Zhi's plan.
The prince's eyes suddenly turned red.
Tang Fan said, "Your Highness condolences."
He looked calm on his face, but his heart was equally messy.
According to Tang Fan's principle of doing things, everything should be handled fairly. How Yuan Liang died, and how the matter was from the beginning to the end, should have been fully reported and dealt with by national law. How can we rest in the morning
But he also knew that if Concubine Wan knew that Yuanliang wanted to take revenge for Concubine Ji, she would definitely feel that the prince was surrounded by such people, and thus would think that the prince had always held a grudge against her because of the death of her biological mother.
Who would be so kind to keep a person who hates him all day long, let alone Concubine Wan? At that time, it would be good for Concubine Wan to not encourage the emperor to abolish the prince.
Therefore, the so-called "fair treatment" principle in Tang Fan's mind was equivalent to giving Concubine Wan an excuse to clean up the harem.
Pursuing justice in something will kill more people.
In this case, how to choose
It was because he knew this that he was very conflicted.
In such a world, how difficult it is to be an honest and selfless official who enforces the law impartially.
I only heard the prince say: "I know that everything Yuan's inner servant does is for my mother."
Tang Fan asked, "How much does Your Highness know?"
The prince said: "I know that Xiao Zao died wrongly, and I also know that this case has nothing to do with Concubine Wan. Yuan's servant refused to tell me, but I guessed it. He thought I had forgotten my mother's death, but I didn't. I know Her death has something to do with Concubine Wan, I just don't want revenge."
He sniffed and choked: "I know that revenge will kill someone, I don't want someone to die, isn't it good for everyone, why do you have to take revenge? My mother is in the sky, and I definitely hope that the inner servant of Yuan will live well. , I don't want him to kill Xiao Zao for himself!"
Tang Fan sighed: "His Royal Highness has been destined to be extraordinary since the moment he was born. Everyone has high expectations for you, and everyone expects you to become a Mingjun in the future, so they hope to use their lives to help first. You paved the way so that when you go, it won't be too hard."
The prince said with tears: "That shouldn't be bought with human life, right?"
Tang Fan was silent for a moment, then nodded: "Yes."
The world is never complicated, it is only the human heart that is complicated.
Tang Fan said: "But since Yuan's Servant has already used his death in exchange for His Highness not to be implicated, please don't let His Highness live up to his wishes. This is the end of the matter. No matter who asks, he will say that Yuan's Servant died of a sudden illness. ."
Coming out of the East Palace, Tang Fan felt that he was physically and mentally exhausted as if he was going back and forth in and out of the palace that day.
Yuan Liang's body is easy to handle. The East Palace has always been strict and loyal. The cause of Yuan Liang's death is only known to the prince, Tang Fan, and Wang Zhi. As long as the prince does not leak his mouth and reports a sudden illness to the outside world, he will be sent out of the palace for burial. .
But what Tang Fan didn't expect was that he got the news the next day: Fu Ru was dead.