There was total silence in the hall, without a sound at all.
Everyone looked at Prince An, watching his face change color from red to white, and watching his eyes slowly change from shame and anger to ferocity.
"So what if I know Zuo Shun? You just said that Cheng Kaihua married the concubine of the Wu family, so he can be considered as my relative. So who is his step-wife's nephew? Of course I know. As for Zuo Shun's death, it was my guess. After so many years, if he is still alive, why doesn't he go home?" Prince An was stubborn and made specious arguments. In the end, he was convinced and his attitude returned to normal. As long as he didn't admit it, no one could pin the crime on him.
Jiang Miao also wanted to reach out and applaud King An. He had a great ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
"Does His Royal Highness Prince An agree to confront Zuo Shun? Also, are you sure that what the subordinates said when they reported back to the palace was true?" Pei Che asked.
After hearing what he said, Prince An couldn't help but have doubts. His subordinates reported back that Zuo Shun had been killed and buried by him personally, but when he asked about the token on Zuo Shun's body, the man said that the token accidentally fell off the cliff and could not be found.
At the beginning, due to the changes in the court situation, he did not pursue the matter too much. Later, Zuo Shun never came back, so he put the matter behind him.
Could it be that Zuo Shun is really not dead? But where has he been for so many years
"Stop talking nonsense. What subordinates reporting back to the palace? As for Zuo Shun, his death or death has nothing to do with me, and I naturally don't need to confront him. As a palace guard, he disappeared for so many years and refused to return to Beijing. There must be a conspiracy. He should be handed over to the Ministry of Justice to be investigated for dereliction of duty!" Prince An said righteously.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Pei Che shook his head and sighed, "How pitiful. He risked his life to work for you, Your Highness Prince An, but who would have thought that you would kill him once something went wrong. Now that you know he's still alive, you're sending him to jail. If the other subordinates of the prince heard about this, I wonder if they would feel grief for the loss of the rabbit? Especially Cheng Kaihua's step-wife, her husband worked hard for you, the prince, but got such a result, wouldn't she have second thoughts?"
Prince An froze, his expression becoming somewhat unnatural. After a moment, he snorted coldly, "Heh, I act uprightly, so what is there to be afraid of? As for you, use whatever tricks you have."
Pei Che said, "Since the prince feels that what the monk and Zuo Shun said is not trustworthy to the world, then I am afraid that only by finding Cheng Kaihua and confronting the three of them together can we figure out the matter. After all, he was a third-rank official in the court, and he has worked for the prince for many years. He must have a lot of evidence in his hands, right? As long as we bring out one or two pieces, I believe that we will make a fair judgment at that time."
"What does it have to do with me if you want to find him? Just use whatever dirty tricks you have!" Prince An looked at Pei Che with resentment, turned around and said, "Brother, if there is nothing else, I will take my leave first."
After saying this, he didn't even wait for Emperor Liang Ping to respond. He just waved his hand and walked out, no longer pretending to be submissive and respectful.
Everyone heard it clearly. Although his tone was tough just now, there was an inexplicable sense of cowardice. It seemed that Cheng Kaihua really had some leverage over him.
Pei Che's mind raced, and he thought of something. He immediately turned around and saluted, saying to Emperor Liang Ping, "Your Majesty, please send someone to keep an eye on Prince An's mansion. Also, please control Cheng Kaihua in Chaoyang as soon as possible. I think this matter is a little strange."
Emperor Liang Ping was somewhat puzzled: "Are you afraid that Prince An will send assassins to Chaoyang to kill and silence us?"
"Not only that, I wonder if the emperor still remembers the iron ore case in Cangzhou."
"Of course I remember, but the masterminds of that case have been arrested and executed before this year. What's your intention in suddenly bringing up this case?"
Pei Che hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, that case can only be said to be half solved. The seller has been found, but where is the buyer?"
Emperor Liang Ping was surprised: "What do you mean?"
"The Liu family has been mining for seven or eight years. Even if they don't dare to start a war, the amount of ore they have mined should be extremely huge. There should be quite a few ironwares smelted from so much ore. In Daliang, apart from the imperial army, who else would buy so many ironwares?"
Pei Che thought of it later. He asked someone to inquire about it at that time. It was said that someone from the Ministry of Justice found the account book of Manager Xu, and also found several buyers with large purchase amounts through the account book. However, the total purchases of these people did not add up to the huge number.
Later, he asked someone to find out the caravan's route and found that they were all active in the south, and some of their frequent locations were very close to Chaoyang.
After hearing Pei Che's analysis, Emperor Liang Ping's face became solemn. Weapons are the most important equipment of a country. If such a large number of weapons fall into the hands of a group of people with bad intentions, it will be terrible.
"Why do you connect this matter with Prince An?" Emperor Liang Ping looked at Pei Che with inquiring eyes. All the stimulation he received today came from Pei Che, and every incident shocked him.
"I am just guessing. Every time Cheng Kaihua was mentioned, His Royal Highness Prince An's reaction was very unnatural, and he even pretended to be unfamiliar. You should know that his relationship with Cheng Kaihua was not a secret. If the two of them were open and honest, why would they bother to do this? And when it came to finding Cheng Kaihua, his reaction was even more intense, and he even forgot the etiquette. If it was just that incident that year, it shouldn't have come to this. If Cheng Kaihua had other evidence, then he would probably die after leaving Liangjing. After all, only the dead can keep secrets. It shows that Prince An still has a place for him."
"Based on the scope of the activities of the Great Trading Company, it is most likely that this batch of ironware landed in Chaoyang. Most other places have smooth roads and many people come and go. If ironware is traded in those places, it will inevitably attract attention. But Chaoyang is mountainous and has always been a place where bandits are rampant. There are very few merchants coming and going. If it is traded here, it will be difficult for others to notice."
"The emperor sent someone to Chaoyang. Even if they found out that this matter had nothing to do with His Royal Highness Prince An, they could also track down the whereabouts of the ironware to prevent further trouble."
Emperor Liang Ping remained silent for a long time, his expression was unfathomable, and no one knew what he was thinking. After a while, he said, "You two should go back first. Don't tell anyone about what happened today."
"Yes!" Pei Che pulled the dazed Jiang Miao over, bowed, and left the palace.
It was not until he got on the carriage for the return trip that Jiang Miao came to his senses: "What you just said is that Prince An might want to rebel?"
"I'm not sure whether this matter has anything to do with him, but when Cheng Kaihua was mentioned today, Prince An's reaction was really wrong. He seemed to be worried and afraid of something. What kind of thing would link an idle prince who was trapped in Liangjing with an official who was dismissed and investigated and exiled a few years ago? Even if it's not about the ironware, Prince An must still have a connection with Cheng Kaihua." Pei Che said.
Jiang Miao sighed: "Aren't you afraid that if nothing is found by then, the emperor will blame you?"
Pei Che said: "I just expressed my speculation and asked the emperor to pay attention to the movements of Prince An's Mansion and Cheng Kaihua. Other than that, I did nothing. What should be done is up to the emperor alone. What crime have I committed?"
"What if the emperor doesn't care about this matter?" Jiang Miao asked again.
"Impossible." Pei Che rejected it outright. "This is a matter concerning the country, how could the emperor ignore it? So many iron artifacts are scattered around. It's okay if they are scattered, but if they fall into the hands of one person and are not investigated thoroughly, I'm afraid the country will be unstable. I don't know why the person responsible for tracking down the whereabouts of these iron artifacts concealed this matter."
Jiang Miao sighed again. He didn't expect that a seemingly simple case would be involved in such a thing.
In the following days, they did not see any movement from Emperor Liang Ping, and the people sent to monitor Prince An's mansion also said that there was no unusual movement inside. Just when the two thought that Emperor Liang Ping had other considerations, Old Master Feng sent someone to pass a letter to them, saying that Emperor Liang Ping secretly sent Guan Lianyun, the commander of the imperial palace, to Chaoyang with a team of people a few days ago to do business. He thought that this matter should be related to Cheng Kaihua, and asked the two whether they had reported this matter to the emperor.
Pei Che promised Emperor Liang Ping that what happened that day must not be spread out, so he told the old man vaguely that this matter was a little more complicated than he thought, and now was not the time to talk about it. After a few days, the truth should be revealed.
Old Master Feng felt strange, but he trusted Pei Che very much. Since Pei Che asked him to wait for a few days, he would wait a few more days.
(End of this chapter)