Jiuxi

Chapter 686 [Sorrow]

Emperor Jing's words made the atmosphere even more tense, because the emperor almost made it clear that there was an internal thief involved in this case.

This is what the important officials in the court are most worried about.

Of course the death of the crown prince must be investigated, but how to investigate is a question worth pondering. It is equally important to decide how to deal with the culprit after finding out the real murderer, because the person who dared to attack the crown prince is definitely not an ordinary person, and improper handling is likely to shake the foundation of the country.

According to the mature and prudent ideas of some civil officials, the emperor could completely control the impact of this incident within a very small range and announce to the outside world that the prince died of illness.

This can not only paralyze the real culprit behind the scenes, but also grasp the measure of handling the matter.

In short, the sudden death of the prince was a fact, and the emperor could only suppress his grief in his heart and try his best to reduce the impact of this incident on the Dajing court.

When Tian Jue revealed the identity of the clerk of Dachanghao just now, many ministers felt relieved. Even if the news of the prince's sudden death could not be suppressed, at least the blame could be put on Southern Qi, and the people could also be inspired to unite against the Southern Qi.

There has been a lot of discussion among the people due to the successive defeats in border wars in the past two years. I believe this bloody incident is enough to make the Jinglian people temporarily forget the defeat and turn their hatred towards the south.

In this way, if the emperor decides to march south, he will definitely get unanimous support from the court and the people.

However, after the emperor made that statement, the situation developed in a direction no one could have expected.

If the emperor was furious and raised his butcher knife towards the inner court, who could stop him? Who dared to stop him?

The person who stood up at this time was not Shangshu Ling Zhao Siwen, but Tian Jue who was still standing under the imperial steps.

The thin civil servant raised his head and said carefully, "Your Majesty, after the death of the Dachanghao clerk, the only clue was lost. I have thought about it carefully, and the murderer may have done it alone. His Royal Highness loves Queshanhong, and others may not know it, but the murderer, as a clerk of Dachanghao, often delivers wine to the palace, and must be very clear about this. There must be more than one spy sent by Southern Qi to Dadu, but since he has such an opportunity, he can mix that strange poison into the wine."

Emperor Jing looked at him indifferently.

Tian Jue bowed and said, "Your Majesty, judging from the murderer's poisoning process, he did not need the assistance of others."

Zhao Siwen and others couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

Emperor Jing said coldly, "Send the eunuch A Ling who is in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

A moment later, a eunuch in his forties came to the Daqing Hall, looking pale and trembling.

"My servant pays homage to Your Majesty."

"Keep your head up."

Emperor Jing looked at the sweaty and trembling eunuch in charge, his eyes sharp as a knife: "I want to ask you, should the Ministry of Internal Affairs check the items purchased outside the palace repeatedly?"

Ah Ling said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, everything must be checked at least three times, especially the wine, meat, vegetables, etc. They must also go through multiple inspections by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Imperial Guards, and the Imperial Hospital. I dare not speak rashly."

Emperor Jing took a step forward and said slowly, "In other words, there was nothing strange found in the Queshanhong that the Crown Prince drank?"

A Ling replied, "Yes, Your Majesty."

Emperor Jing sneered and said, "I handed over such an important position as the Ministry of Internal Affairs to you, and this is how you repay me? Come, take him away, interrogate him, and then execute him by slow slicing!"

"Your Majesty, please spare your life!"

As soon as Ah Ling shouted this, he was dragged out by several burly imperial guards.

Although no blood was shed directly, murderous aura was already pervasive, and all the ministers held their breath and concentrated.

Emperor Jing turned to look at Tian Jue and said coldly: "Have you ever heard of a poison that could not be detected after so many tests?"

Tian Jue bowed his head and said, "I am ashamed to say that I have never heard of it."

"This poison, which even you have never heard of, is probably quite rare in the world. The people of Qi used it on my prince, which shows that they take it seriously enough."

The ministers felt strange after hearing this. If they wanted to poison Crown Prince Dajing, of course they had to use the most powerful poison. Was the emperor praising the Southern Qi spies?

Emperor Jing turned around and sat on the dragon throne. He glanced at the princes standing in a row below him, narrowed his eyes and said, "I don't understand. Since there is such a colorless and odorless poison that cannot be detected, why didn't Southern Qi use it on me?"

The ministers were horrified.

Tian Jue's expression finally changed.

Emperor Jing asked quietly, "Could it be that in the eyes of the people of Qi, my importance is not as great as that of the Crown Prince?"

His words undoubtedly completely denied Tian Jue's speculation and also overturned the result that the prince died at the hands of Southern Qi spies.

"Mr. Tian, ​​you have been deceived." When all the officials in the hall were shocked and uneasy, Emperor Jing suddenly slowed down his tone.

Tian Jue also came to his senses at this time, and said with shame: "I am ignorant and stupid, please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

Emperor Jing said calmly, "You have been under too much pressure recently, so you are inevitably anxious. I don't blame you. The cause of the prince's death is not that simple. The guy from Dachanghao may not be the murderer, and Queshanhong may not be poisoned. This may just be a means for the real murderer to confuse you. The simplest truth is that even if the guy is the murderer, even if he can't escape the search of the whole city, he can at least commit suicide by jumping into the lake. How could it be possible for you to find the body so easily? Let me ask you, where did the main music department find the body?"

Tian Jue said with increasing shame: "Your Majesty, this man hanged himself in an abandoned Taoist temple in the south city."

"Bad trick."

Emperor Jing said, "I know what you are worried about. You are afraid that I will lose my mind and kill people in the court because of the death of the crown prince. I can understand your concerns, but I hope you can understand one thing. The death of the crown prince is the biggest provocation to our court. If you want to investigate, you must investigate it thoroughly. Why do you need to hide it from the people of the world? Can hiding it calm the discussion among the people? Will my people lose their confidence in me because of this?"

The ministers suddenly understood and shouted in great respect, "Your Majesty is wise!"

"As for Nanqi..."

Emperor Jing raised his eyebrows slightly and said sternly: "The Great Jing Iron Cavalry will conquer Jiangnan sooner or later. My men don't need any excuses. They will definitely be able to pacify the world!"

"Long live my emperor! Long live!"

The excited voices of the ministers were like a tsunami.

Emperor Jing looked straight ahead with a solemn expression, and continued: "The real murderer behind the scenes killed my prince and pushed the suspicion onto the Qi people. He did this for only one purpose, and that was to covet the position of crown prince. Speaking of which, it is my responsibility to have taught such a cruel and insane beast who disregarded human ethics."

The princes standing in a row were silent.

But Emperor Jing did not attack them. Instead, he looked at the middle-aged man standing at the head of the military honor class and said slowly, "Prince of Changshan County."

Qing Yugong came out of the class and said, "I am here."

Emperor Jing stared at his face and asked, "Which prince do you think murdered his elder brother?"

This was obviously a very serious question. Qing Yugong replied with a little panic: "Your Majesty, I know nothing about this case. How dare I arbitrarily accuse the prince without any evidence?"

Emperor Jing stood up again and walked slowly to the row of princes. He pointed at the third prince Wu Yan and asked Qing Yugong, "This man is the second son. If the crown prince dies unexpectedly, he is most likely to inherit the throne. Do you think it will be him?"

Wu Yan knelt on his knees with a thump, and kowtowed in horror, "Father, I have nothing to do with this matter. I have always respected His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, so how could I have such a rebellious thought! Please understand!"

The other princes also knelt down.

Emperor Jing ignored him and just looked at Qing Yugong not far away.

The air in the hall seemed to be stagnant, making it increasingly difficult to breathe.

Qing Yugong thought for a moment and said slowly: "Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, the Third Prince is indeed very suspicious, because he is the biggest beneficiary after the death of the Crown Prince. However, if it was really the Third Prince who did it, his suspicion is too obvious. I don't think the Third Prince would be so unwise."

Wu Yan swallowed hard, but before he could let go of the heavy stone in his heart, Emperor Jing said coldly: "How do you know that this is not a deliberate attempt to confuse people? Maybe Wu Yan is taking advantage of your mentality and doing the opposite when everyone thinks he would not be so stupid."

Qing Yugong nodded and said, "Your Majesty, what you said makes sense."

Wu Yan's face turned paler and paler.

Emperor Jing pointed at Hai Ge who was kneeling beside Wu Yan and said, "This man once deliberately showed off himself in the court to win the favor of some civil officials. Later, he repeatedly showed his favor to you under the pretext of being close to Yongping's child, which is enough to prove that he has ulterior motives. In your opinion, could it be that he wanted to kill two birds with one stone by poisoning the prince first and then blaming Wu Yan?"

Qing Yugong was silent for a moment this time.

The fourth prince Hai Ge only felt cold limbs and chill in his heart. It turned out that his little thoughts had never escaped the emperor's eyes.

Seeing that Qing Yugong did not answer, Emperor Jing said expressionlessly: "Recently, rumors have been circulating that the Crown Prince was killed by the Fourth Prince Hai Ge, and you, the Prince of Changshan, are Hai Ge's biggest supporter. When Hai Ge inherits the throne in the future, you will have the merit of following the dragon, and because of this secret known only to the two of you, Hai Ge will not treat you as harshly as I do, and will not remove you from your position as Marshal. I want to know, what does the Prince think of this rumor?"

Brother Hai's hands were shaking uncontrollably. At this moment, he could only see the hem of the emperor's dragon robe and didn't dare to look up at all.

Qing Yugong sighed and raised his head, saying, "Your Majesty, this is nonsense. Although I am no longer the Marshal of the Southern Court, I am still the Prince of Changshan and have the power to command the army. All of this is due to your Majesty's grace. How can I not be grateful? Even if I really have similar ideas, what can the Fourth Prince give me? I and the Qing Yu family would not be so stupid as to give up our wealth and glory and gamble our heads on a future that is not much different."

His words were too frank and not in line with his usual style, but that was precisely why they seemed sincere and credible.

Although the ministers did not dare to speak at this time, most of them believed Qing Yugong's words in their hearts, even Sagai.

After all, doing something that might implicate the entire family would require equal rewards, and so what if the Fourth Prince could really become the Crown Prince?
Emperor Jing looked into Qing Yugong's calm eyes. After a long silence, he suddenly sneered a few times.

The laughter was full of disappointment and anger.

(End of this chapter)