Sitting up straight leisurely, Zhou Xu smiled slightly and said to the prince who was also sitting up next to him, "Good plan."
The prince stretched out his hand and patted Zhou Xu's head, and stood up. At this time, all the guards except the hidden guard had entered the room, and the one who cut off Chen Fumin's hand was Ye Qi who had just left.
"Yeqi, it's okay here, let's go."
"yes."
This time Ye Qi really left, Chen Fumin was still screaming, and Bai Zhang's head was covered in cold sweat.
Kneeling down with a "plop", Bai Zhang said: "This subordinate's crime is unforgivable, please give me death, Your Highness the Crown Prince."
"Bai Zhang, have you followed me since you were nine years old?"
"yes."
"Then do you think I don't know what habits you have for so many years?" The prince turned to the other guards and ordered: "Drag it out and chop it up."
"yes."
After Bai Zhang was dragged out, Chen Fumin stopped howling, he began to tremble, knelt on the ground, kowtowed continuously, and Zhou Xu felt pain when he heard the sound of kowtow.
"Okay, stop knocking, I'll give you a chance to tell what you know, and spare your life."
"Thank you, Your Royal Highness, thank you, Your Royal Highness."
"Speak."
"His Royal Highness, I'm just a pawn. Everything was ordered by Zhang Liuquan, Minister of Rites."
"Zhang Liuquan, Minister of the Ministry of Rites? What else did he order you to do?"
"It's nothing after that. Really, His Royal Highness, I was also forced. I have seniors and juniors, and he uses my official position to force me. How dare I disagree. I beg His Royal Highness to learn from you."
"What about the relief money that was handed out last time?"
"I really don't know about this. The money I got is only so much, and all of it was spent on the common people. There is absolutely no greed for a penny or two. Please check it out, Your Highness the Crown Prince."
The prince sneered, and directly ordered the guard: "Cut off his other hand too."
"yes."
"Ah... no, no, no, I'm greedy, I'm greedy. That's right, I still know something, and there's more, wait a minute, Your Highness, wait a minute."
"explain!"
Chen Fumin said everything. Of course, he didn't know everything because the people above him kept it secret, but he also gave the prince a lot of clues.
At the same time, Chen Fumin also said where the evidence was hidden. Just as Zhou Xu and the prince guessed, some of it was in the tunnel under the desk in the yamen.
When Ye Qi came back, he brought the evidence he found, and then found other evidence according to what Chen Fumin said. At the same time, they also knew the whereabouts of most of the relief money, which was transported to southern Fujian, and southern Fujian It was the place where the third prince raised his private soldiers.
If it was a coincidence, no one would believe it, so after Chen Fumin was imprisoned, Zhou Xu said, "Do you really want to go to southern Fujian?"
"Um."
"You also know that it's the place where the Third Prince raises soldiers, it's too dangerous."
The prince touched the small scratch on Zhou Xu's neck, and said, "If you don't enter the tiger's den, you won't get a tiger's cub."
"Don't touch it." Zhou Xu avoided the prince's hand. Although the wound was small, it hurt even to touch it. The word pain is the word he hates most in his life.
What Zhou Xu didn't expect was that the prince was so obedient that he stopped touching his small opening with his hands, and started to touch it with his tongue.
The tip of his tongue brushed against his skin, and the tingling sensation made Zhou Xu's skin instantly covered with goosebumps, and the subtle pain disappeared along with the tingling feeling, leaving only the stimulation brought by the sliding tip of the prince's tongue.
Being hugged by the prince, Zhou Xu raised his neck. The delicate and smooth neck line seemed to be carved, and there was no imperfection. The prince let go of the tip of his tongue, but the protruding Adam's apple showed that he was enduring and working very hard.
Zhou Xu doesn't need to look at his Adam's apple to know what the prince's state is, because he can't lie when he's wearing something hard against Zhou Xu.
"Why, do you want to go now?" Zhou Xu chuckled.
"No, it's just a reaction when I meet you," the prince let go of his embrace, and continued, "I can hold back."
Zhou Xu laughed out loud, because the prince's earlobe was red again.
"Apply the wound medicine, come here." The prince took out the ointment.
The cold and transparent ointment fell on the skin, causing Zhou Xu to shudder again.
It was just rubbing medicine on a small wound, and the two of them wiped out an ambiguous room. When Zhou Xu rubbed the medicine on the prince, the place where the prince's words stood turned into a magnificent tent.
After receiving the ointment handed over by the crown prince, Zhou Xu's mouth curled up, his narrow eyebrows revealing a bit of teasing, "This ointment is extremely smooth, maybe it has other uses."
The prince looked at Zhou Xu suspiciously, but Zhou Xu grabbed the prince's towering place and played it back and forth through his trousers.
Startled by Zhou Xu's actions, the prince's instant reaction made Zhou Xu more playful, because the words suddenly softened, and then slowly stood up again.
In the end, the two of them naturally didn't do it, but with the help of the ointment, Zhou Xu made the prince vent.
Later, Zhou Xu asked how the crown prince discovered Bai Zhang, and the crown prince briefly explained the reason, because Bai Zhang has always acted cautiously, but when he came to the south of the Yangtze River, he was unconsciously active a lot. Normally, the crown prince might not pay attention. But since the last sneak attack, he has noticed.
As for the antidote, the crown prince asked Chen Fumin to follow him in three shifts, so the crown prince already knew the plan he had deployed, but it was just a trick. Of course, he had already taken the antidote before Chen Fumin and Bai Zhang entered the door. So did Zhou Xu.
Zhou Xu nodded. The crown prince was born in the royal family, and Chen Fumin's tricks were pitiful and ridiculous in front of him.
After that, Zhou Xu went back to his inner room to rest, but the prince did not rest after that, but went to the prison with his sword in hand.
In the prison, Chen Fumin slumped on the spot in a sluggish state, and the crown prince asked for the prison door to be opened.
Chen Fumin thought the prince was here to let him out, and was about to kowtow when his head fell to the ground.
The head was in a different place, and the prince didn't even look at the head on the ground. He turned and went out. Most of the guards behind him were a little surprised. An excuse to oppress the prince.
But the crown prince didn't regret it at all. He dared to miss Zhou Xu. Based on this alone, Chen Fumin had already committed a capital crime to him, and the crime was unforgivable.
While the plague was being treated, disaster relief matters were also being carried out in an orderly manner. Although money was still tight, with Zhou Xu's funding, they could handle it.
In addition, they also got Chen Fumin's private treasury and the relief money of those people he donated, so the people can finally have a hot meal under the condition of hunger and cold, and when everyone knows that this is After the prince's contribution, naturally, the prince's ascension to the throne has become the popular will.
When he didn't see Chen Fumin's mansion, the prince didn't know that a magistrate could live in such luxury. After seeing it, the prince was only angry. Is this the official of their Great Left Dynasty
The mansion covers a huge area, with pavilions, pavilions, carved beams and painted buildings, man-made flowing water and waterfalls, and countless artificial mountains and strange rocks, all of which show how much thought and money the owner has spent on this yard, and this is still Just the yard.
Looking at the inside of the house, there is another luxurious scene, even the bed curtain is made of fine silk, which really echoes the poem: "The wine and meat of Zhumen stinks, and the road is frozen to death."
At the same time, Zhou Xu's scattered banks also hired some storytellers, and began to praise the prince's fairness and wisdom everywhere, and of course they would also discredit the third prince by the way.
In fact, this kind of thing doesn't take much effort, but the effect is very good. If the crown prince doesn't do it, then Zhou Xu will do it well.
By now, the disaster in Chenzhou had basically been brought under control, and what happened to Chen Fumin must have alarmed Zhang Liuquan and his upline in the capital, so they went to Qinzhou, another hardest-hit area overnight.
The plague in Qinzhou has been controlled by the medicine sent by the crown prince, and part of the food and silver has been distributed. However, the population of Qinzhou is three times that of Chenzhou, so during the food distribution process, there was a small wave of riots by hungry people. Temporarily suppressed, but after all, the population is too large, Qin Shuqiang, the magistrate of Qinzhou, can't always feel at ease.
Qin Shuqiang is over fifty years old. He has been an official for so many years and is still a breeze. He has never flattered or flattered, and he is not afraid of power. It is probably because he has reached this point of stubbornness, so at the age of fifty, he has only reached the seat of the magistrate , It is estimated that it will be impossible to climb up again.
Knowing that the prince hadn't arrived yet, Qin Shuqiang was not in a hurry to meet him, and kept processing the documents. Because Qinzhou has a large population, and there are many prefectures and counties in various places that he can't control. For example, Jiang Qifang, the prefect of Fenghuang Prefecture in Qinzhou's jurisdiction, is someone he can't control even if he wants to.
Knowing that he was a common man, but because he saved the life of the first emperor, he got a gold medal for avoiding death. This gold medal for avoiding death became a life-saving talisman. No matter what he did, he would not be punished.
No one came to greet him, the crown prince and Zhou Xu went to the Yamen by themselves, and entered the office behind the Yamen, only then did they find that Qin Shuqiang was lying on the desk, dead.
Quickly stepped forward to check the situation, Ye Qi reported: "Dead, the body still has temperature, it should have died within a quarter of an hour."
Zhou Xu also went over to take a look, and saw that the blood flowing from the corner of his mouth was not bright red, but dark red, and there were traces of black stuff in it. He concluded: "Poison kill."
Ye Qi nodded, picked up the teapot, sniffed it, and handed the teapot to another guard.
The guard took out a little medicine powder and put it in, but found out after a while: "There is poison in it."
The yamen's master and master book were all there, so the prince directly ordered: "Master, you temporarily take charge of the magistrate's affairs first, and the new magistrate should be dispatched within a month. In addition, regarding the affairs of the prefect of Qin, I will definitely give you an answer." One of you will explain."
"Thank you, Your Royal Highness."
The master is no longer young, he has been Qin Shuqiang's colleague for more than 20 years, and he is enduring grief at this moment, so is the master. Seeing that most of them are sad, the crown prince knows that Qin Shuqiang is a good official.
Let them deal with Qin Zhifu's body first, and at the same time appease his family, the prince decided to deal with Jiang Qi's release by himself, and not tell Qin Shuqiang's master and them for the time being.
The guards also helped. After a quarter of an hour, Qin Shuqiang's body was carried away. The crown prince took out the blood-stained official document. The more he looked at it, the more angry he became. Before he came, he knew that Jiang Qifang was not a good thing, but he really saw what he did. Only after those things did I know that he was simply inferior to a beast.
Let’s not talk about what Jiang Qifang did before, that is, now that there are hungry people everywhere, he can still go from house to house to search for food, saying that it is to pay taxes, but since the flood in the south, the emperor has long exempted the tax money and tax food here.
The disaster relief food and relief money issued by the imperial court, Phoenix Continent took a lot of money, but why did the residents of Phoenix Continent keep running out
This time, when the crown prince was in Chenzhou, he also ordered people to distribute some food to Qinzhou, but the rest of Qinzhou had distributed it. Why didn't it go to Fenghuangzhou, which was managed by Jiang Qi
That’s not to mention, because of hunger, some civilians in Phoenix Island began to sell their children and daughters. He was a good person. As the people’s food and clothing parents, he actually bought these young children at a low price, and then sold them back after buying them. He bought a few beautiful little girls, and kept them as maids and bed companions.
The prince looked at the official document word by word, and finally understood why Qin Shuqiang was only in his fifties, yet he already had a full head of hair.
Really can't stand it, the prince put down the official document. Zhou Xu saw that the prince looked worried, so he picked up the official document on the table and read it quickly.
"What, uncomfortable?"
The prince was silent, and after a long time, he said: "I must sit in that seat. I will correct my father's fault."
"That seat is yours." Zhou Xu could understand the pain in the prince's heart when he saw this official document, so there was no need to say anything else, because the prince knew how to do it himself.
Having seen all kinds of so-called folk attitudes, the prince now looks more and more calm, as if something deep has slowly fallen into his already extremely hard heart.
"I have an idea, let's see if it works." Zhou Xu continued.
"tell me the story."
"The gold medal for avoiding death is something that your royal family values very much. That's why your royal father can't touch Jiang Qifang. Even if you are enthroned, you definitely can't touch it. Since the gold medal for avoiding death is so important, why don't you start with it?"
"good idea."
News of the death of the prefect of Qin spread like wildfire, and the people of Qinzhou wept bitterly. On the evening of the same day, the home of the magistrate of Fenghuangzhou under the jurisdiction of Qinzhou was stolen. There are 17 crimes in the letter, all of which are capital crimes.
On the second day, when the crown prince came to visit, Jiang Qifang smiled slightly, showing his yellow teeth: "Welcome Your Highness the crown prince."
The prince was neither happy nor angry, and asked with the complaint: "Jiang Zhizhou, can you plead guilty to these seventeen charges?"
Jiang Qifang looked at the stripped paper, and showed his yellow teeth again: "But I won't let me recognize this death-prevention gold medal."
At this time, a handsome scholar beside the prince came out, his narrow eyebrows and eyes were filled with sarcasm.
"Then I ask Jiang Zhizhou, how do you explain the seven imitation gold medals for avoiding death hidden in your home?"