Tang Dynasty Mingyue Song Dynasty Pass

Chapter 898 Hesitation

At the Prime Minister Zhao's mansion, Zhao Pu received news from the imperial guards that the eldest prince was assassinated last night and was frightened. After torturing the assassin today, he learned that the mastermind behind the incident was Prince of Jin Zhao Guangyi.

Zhao Pu’s first thought was that Prince Jin was crazy. At this time, he actually dared to send people to assassinate the eldest prince. Did he really want to seize power?

But soon, Zhao Pu calmed down and felt that Prince Jin should not be so confused. It would be safer for him to attack the seriously ill emperor than the eldest prince, because the eldest prince Zhao Dezhao was gone. If he angered the emperor, he would pass the throne to the second prince Zhao Defang, and Prince Jin Zhao Guangyi would be doing nothing.

Therefore, Zhao Pu judged that it was not the King of Jin who sent people to do this, otherwise it would be a bad move.

Zhao Pu knew very well that Zhao Defang was young, had little power, and did not have the courage to do so. So it was most likely that someone from the enemy country had done it, or that Zhao Dezhao himself had used a self-torture tactic.

But no matter who it was, Zhao Pu felt that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so he concentrated his firepower and fired at the King of Jin!

Before this, Zhao Pu had been fighting openly and secretly with Zhao Guangyi for seven or eight years because he supported Zhao Dezhao, the legitimate prince. As Zhao Pu was the Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty, he had great power and had the support of Zhao Kuangyin. Therefore, even though Zhao Guangyi was the prefect of Kaifeng and the King of Jin, he still could not do anything to Zhao Pu.

Now that Zhao Pu learned the news, he naturally would not let it go. It no longer mattered whether it was Prince of Jin who sent people to assassinate Zhao Dezhao. As long as there was this suspicion, Zhao Pu could join forces with the ministers to write a letter to investigate Prince of Jin, Zhao Guangyi, and stigmatize him. Even if he could not really deal with Prince of Jin, he could reduce Prince of Jin's influence and power in advance and make the emperor decide to make Zhao Dezhao the crown prince.

"Come here, quickly gather a few ministers here, I have something to discuss!"

Zhao Pu planned to summon several trusted ministers to jointly write a letter to impeach and accuse Jin Wang Zhao Guangyi. For Jin Wang, even if yellow mud falls into his crotch, it would be called shit if it is not shit!

When Zhao Kuangyin woke up, he found that it was already past noon. In the afternoon, after having lunch, he regained some strength and spirit, got out of bed and moved around in the bedroom.

Immediately, he thought of the assassination of the eldest prince last night, which made him angry. The eldest prince was assassinated in the city of Bianjing. This was a very bad incident and a provocation to his imperial power.

After a night of thinking, Zhao Kuangyin himself thought of many possibilities, including forces within the Song Dynasty and external enemy forces.

But in the end, Zhao Kuangyin felt that these assassins were most likely from Wu or Liao because they were involved in the national war. Wu, in particular, had the greatest motive. The assassination of the eldest prince might just be a fuse. Their real target was definitely not the eldest prince. Otherwise, the eldest prince Zhao Dezhao would not have been able to get back the palace safely.

With so many assassins dispatched, it was obvious that they were well prepared and had set up elaborate ambushes. Any hidden arrow could kill the eldest prince, but Zhao Dezhao returned to the palace unscathed. This in itself showed the strength behind the scenes, and that they did not really intend to kill Zhao Dezhao.

Then the strategist wanted to stir up the internal turmoil of the Song Dynasty, so that the court of Bianjing would fall into internal strife, thereby benefiting the hostile forces. The most likely country to take action was the Wu Kingdom, which was at war with the Song Dynasty and had the greatest motive. The second was the Liao Kingdom, which intended to stir up the situation and intensify the struggle between the Wu Kingdom and the Song Dynasty. The third was the forces within the Song Dynasty, whose goal was naturally to succeed the imperial power.

Zhao Kuangyin was such a wise and brave man that he naturally saw through all these conspiracies and was just waiting for the results of the interrogation and investigation by the Wude Division and the Imperial Guards.

The reason why the two departments conducted the interrogation separately was to ensure that the results of the interrogation were objective and that there would be no concealment or deception of the emperor.

The young eunuch said, "Your Majesty, Wang Ji'en and Cui Yanjin are waiting outside the palace and are ready to receive your orders at any time."

"Okay, call them into the hall." Zhao Kuangyin guessed that the interrogation had produced results.

In an instant, Wang Jie'en, the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household and commander of the Military Virtue Division, and Cui Yanjin, commander of the Imperial Guards and Infantry, walked in side by side. "Your Highness," they saluted.

"No need to be so polite. Have you got any results on the assassination case I asked you to investigate?" Zhao Kuangyin asked.

"Your Majesty, there is a result."

The two men each took out a memorial from their cell phone, which contained the interrogation testimony.

After the young eunuch passed it to him, Zhao Kuangyin opened it and read it carefully. When he finished reading the assassin's confession in the first memorial, his face looked a little ugly. After reading the confession in the second memorial, his face became even gloomier.

Wang Jie'en and Cui Yanjin did not dare to say much. It would be inappropriate to add insult to injury or to defend Prince Jin at this moment. All they could do was to remain silent and obey the emperor's orders.

However, Zhao Kuangyin quickly calmed down and felt that all these testimonies were too complete. Although they seemed clear and corroborated each other, they seemed less real because they were too smooth. There was a possibility that the assassins had colluded with the confessions. In addition, Zhao Kuangyin had his own analysis and judgment in advance, so he did not think that Prince of Jin Zhao Guangyi was really the mastermind behind the scenes, but the greatest risk within the Song Dynasty did come from him.

This is where Zhao Kuangyin felt conflicted. Although Zhao Guangyi's suspicion was not the most important one, it was still very serious.

"You go and check the details, verify the assassin's whereabouts, household registration, etc. What's true cannot be false, and what's false cannot be true. If it is not fabricated, all the traces in the past can match. If it is fabricated out of thin air, some places will not match." Zhao Kuangyin continued to instruct the two to investigate.

"Yes, sir!" The two of them obediently left the palace and went to investigate.

After thinking about it, Zhao Kuangyin still felt that this incident might not be done by his second brother Zhao Guangyi, and he must not fall into the trap.

Just then, the eunuch entered the palace to report that Prime Minister Zhao Pu wanted to see him.

Zhao Kuangyin frowned, he didn't expect Zhao Pu to come to the palace for an audience. However, he was very familiar with Zhao Pu and they often discussed matters together all night long. So, he was not unfamiliar with him and asked the eunuch to summon Zhao Pu into the bedroom to meet him.

In a moment, Zhao Pu walked in and bowed to Zhao Kuangyin.

Zhao Kuangyin asked, "Why did Prime Minister Zhao come to the palace to see me?"

Zhao Pu took out the joint letter and said excitedly: "Your Majesty, I have learned about the assassination of the eldest prince last night. Today, I heard that the mastermind behind it was Jin Wang Zhao Guangyi. I am really heartbroken and angry. In the face of national crisis, he actually did this. It is really against morality and Your Majesty's grace. After discussing with other ministers, I decided to write a joint letter to ask Your Majesty to remove Jin Wang's prince title and conduct a joint trial on him. If Jin Wang was wronged, then he should be reinstated and restored to his position and princehood. If he is really the mastermind behind it, then he should be punished and cannot be condoned!"

Zhao Kuangyin's expression changed. He didn't expect that Zhao Pu and others had heard the news so quickly and came to the palace to make suggestions. If he really did this to Prince of Jin Zhao Guangyi, then Zhao Guangyi would be stigmatized for a while, and the eldest prince Zhao Dezhao would be closer to the position of crown prince. However, this matter would also shake the stability within the court, making him hesitant.