Jiuxi

Chapter 849: 847 [The King's Wrath]

Hezhou Longlin City is more than 400 miles away from the capital. Even if Yuan Yuji and the palace secret guards and imperial guards were as fast as they could be, it would take at least ten days to capture the Gao brothers.

From the moment they left the capital, the undercurrents that had been accumulating in recent months began to boil over.

For the vast majority of officials in the court, Gao Huan's previous dismissal from office for corruption was not actually a earth-shattering event, even though they knew that Gao Huan was definitely not dismissed for this reason, and it was most likely related to power struggles in the court.

As long as he was not imprisoned and merely dismissed from office, it would be a very common twist in the court. Maybe Gao Huan would have a chance to be reinstated in the future.

However, this time the emperor ordered the Secretariat to draft an edict and directly dispatch the imperial guards to arrest the person instead of going through the normal case handling procedures. This is undoubtedly shocking. You must know that just a few days ago, when the governor of Dingzhou, Ding Hui, was assassinated, the emperor was not so angry, but sent several imperial envoys to lead officials from the three departments to conduct a thorough investigation.

Even those minor officials of the eighth and ninth ranks knew that something big was bound to happen this time, not to mention the high-ranking officials in important positions.

Wende Hall, the Imperial Study.

Right Prime Minister Xu Zuo said solemnly, "Your Majesty, although Gao Huan has been dismissed from office, he was born into the Longlin Gao family, served as Minister of Justice for many years, and was one of the important officials promoted and trusted by the late emperor. Now this matter has caused a sensation throughout the city, I wonder if there is any real evidence?"

These words were a bit blunt, which was related to Xu Zuo's usual style, and also because at this moment, besides the emperor and him, only the left prime minister Xue Nanting and the Minister of Personnel Li Shizhi were present in the imperial study.

In short, this was a core court meeting of extremely high standards, and not a single word of it would be leaked to outsiders.

Li Zongben picked up a file expressionlessly and handed it to Chen Hong, the eunuch who was standing solemnly beside him, and said indifferently, "Read it."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Chen Hong rarely had the opportunity to show up in front of important officials from the outer court, so he immediately read the records in the file meticulously.

Hearing his slightly sharp voice, the expressions of the two prime ministers became more serious.

From the records in the files, we know that among the three assassins in the imperial mausoleum assassination case two and a half years ago, the eunuch Wen Changbao was instructed by the Fengguo Lieutenant Li Zongjian, while the two craftsmen Wan Yingqian and Yang Shunzi were the brothers of Ning Bugui, the traitor of the Changle Ning family.

The two groups of assassins had different origins, but after Wen Changbao took action, the other two took decisive action taking advantage of the chaotic situation.

Xue Nanting frowned slightly when he heard this. He was born into the Xue family of Qingyuan, so he had naturally heard the story of the Ning family's bankruptcy.

After the rebellion in the capital was quelled, the Ning family of Changle was liquidated, and Ning Bugui's mother chose to commit suicide, so this broken family decided to take revenge on the Emperor of Da Qi.

Chen Hong continued reading, saying that according to the accusation of the Longlin Gao family members, Ning Bugui had found the head of the Longlin Gao family, Gao Que, before the assassination attempt, and later came to the capital to find the former Minister of Justice Gao Huan, intending to coerce Gao Huan to implicate the two assassins with Li Zongjian, thereby provoking disputes within the royal family and causing a tense situation between the emperor and the Queen Mother Xu.

Hearing this, Li Zongben coughed, looked at Xu Zuo and asked, "Prime Minister Xu, do I still want to allow traitors like Gao Huan and Gao Que to go unpunished?"

Xu Zuo said calmly: "Your Majesty, I have no such intention, but this matter involves a major case of assassination and treason, and the court needs solid evidence to convince the people."

"It's natural."

Li Zongben brushed it off and then said seriously: "The three of you were summoned to the palace today. Although it is related to Gao Huan's case, the focus is not on the case itself."

The three of them looked slightly puzzled, so Xue Nanting said, "Your Majesty, please explain clearly."

Li Zongben was silent for a moment, as if he was suppressing his anger, and said slowly: "I want to ask the three of you, am I still the emperor of Da Qi?"

Li Shizhi was shocked and asked, "Why do you say that, Your Majesty?"

Xue Nanting and Xu Zuo had similar reactions.

"hehe."

Li Zongben laughed at himself and continued, "I still remember the teachings of the late emperor. As the Son of Heaven, I must consider the overall situation. I dare not forget it for a day. I believe that the three of you have seen all the disturbances in the court in the past few months. I think I have been kind to him. Even though he openly disrespected the court and walked away in front of me and more than a dozen important officials, I did not blame him. I just issued an imperial edict to reprimand him and let him reflect on himself in his mansion for a few days. If I hadn't stopped him at that time, the impeachment memorials from all the officials in the court could have filled up his Qin Guogong gate!"

At this moment, the three of them already knew who the emperor was talking about.

Xue Nanting tried his best to persuade him, "Your Majesty, Duke Qin is a military man, and he is young and hot-tempered, so it is inevitable that he has some faults, but I believe that he is absolutely loyal to Your Majesty and the court. I dare to say that Duke Qin has indeed reflected on himself recently. A few days ago, in front of Your Majesty, he faced the questioning of the Minister of Revenue, Lord Jing, and he was able to remain calm from beginning to end, which shows that he is correcting his temper."

"That's not what I wanted to say."

Li Zongben's eyebrows were full of irritability, and he said in a deep voice: "The late emperor once said that he has a stubborn personality and has not been educated since childhood. It is inevitable that he does not know etiquette and does not know how to adapt. I can tolerate all of this. To be honest with you, when I hosted a banquet in the palace to entertain Lu Chen, do you know what he said to me? He said that if Han Zhongjie had not personally covered the retreat when he was defeated, he would never let Han Zhongjie leave Jingzhou alive!"

The three important officials couldn't help but look solemn.

From the perspective of the relationship between the monarch and his subjects, Lu Chen's words were indeed inappropriate. Li Zongben continued, "Listen, is this what a subject should say?"

At this moment, Xue Nanting was very conflicted. On the one hand, he knew that he should not add fuel to the fire and let the emperor's anger continue to grow. On the other hand, he did not want the conflict between the emperor and Lu Chen to escalate further, which would do more harm than good to Da Qi.

Xu Zuo frowned and said bluntly, "Your Majesty, if Duke Qin has done anything beyond the rules, Your Majesty should punish and reprimand him according to the rules. I, Xue Xiang, Li Shangshu and my colleagues in the court will do our best to protect the distinction between the monarch and his subjects. But I do not think Duke Qin has any ill intentions. I always believe in the late emperor's vision. Even if Duke Qin has violated the rules, he will not lose the greater good."

"You may think of others as you would like, but the reality may not be what you wish."

Li Zongben took a deep breath, glanced at the file in Chen Hong's hand, and said sternly: "When the assassination case happened, Prime Minister Xu was also in Beijing. He should know that I asked Lu Chen to be in charge of investigating the case, and Gao Huan assisted him. I want to ask Prime Minister Xu, do you think that with Lu Chen's methods and abilities, he can't see the strangeness of Gao Huan?"

Xu Zuo was stunned.

Xue Nanting's expression changed slightly.

Li Shizhi frowned and said, "Your Majesty, do you think that Duke Qin may have known about Gao Huan's role in the assassination?"

"I am just guessing. Lu Chen is so smart. There seems to be nothing in this world that can stump him. How could a mere Gao Huan escape his eyes?"

Li Zongben said with a hint of sarcasm, "Of course, I know that the three of you do not believe this speculation, and it is a reckless act that will shake the foundation of the court to suspect such a meritorious duke of assassination based on mere speculation. But I can tell you that according to the other intelligence I have, Ning Bugui, who ordered the assassin to assassinate me, has had a very close relationship with Lu Chen in the past six months."

When these words came out, it was like thunderclap.

Xu Zuo immediately asked, "Your Majesty, is there any evidence for this?"

"If I had evidence, I would summon Lu Chen to the palace today and interrogate him face to face."

Li Zongben shook his head and said in a cold voice: "Ning Bugui has disappeared for a while. I ordered the Textile Bureau to do its best to capture him, but he may have completely left this world."

"This……"

Li Shizhi said with some difficulty: "Your Majesty, please forgive me for speaking frankly, but without real evidence, it is really not appropriate to start a war."

"Yes, I think so too."

Li Zongben nodded slightly, then looked at the two prime ministers and said, "I am speaking candidly today. I just want to hear the truth from Prime Minister Xue and Prime Minister Xu. Am I still the emperor of Da Qi?"

He asked the question again, and his intention was self-evident.

Xue Nanting bowed his head and said solemnly, "Your Majesty, I am deeply ashamed of what you said."

Xu Zuo was silent for a while, and finally bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I have received your grace many times, how dare I have such a treasonous and unethical thought?"

"The late emperor was not wrong about the two ministers, and neither am I."

Li Zongben seemed to relax a little, and sighed: "Of course I know the importance of the border army to Da Qi. I have never forgotten the wishes of the late emperor. No matter when and where, I will never owe the border soldiers. I will definitely ensure the stability of the border. Please rest assured about this. However, Lu Chen has great power. If he really has the intention of rebellion, how can I protect the foundation of my ancestors? Without the support of the two prime ministers and the Li Qing family, I really don’t know how to deal with this situation."

At this point his intentions were clearly revealed.

The purpose of today's secret talk was not to convict Lu Chen, but to gain the full support of the two prime ministers. Together with the trusted and direct relatives he had gained over the past two years, and the power of the Jiangnan aristocratic families represented by Li Shizhi, it would be enough to weave a huge net that covered the sky and the sun. Lu Chen, who was in the capital, would have absolutely no power to fight back.

Xue Nanting sighed softly and said, "Your Majesty, this matter should be handled with caution."

Li Zongben nodded and said, "Don't worry, Prime Minister Xue. Even if the Textile Bureau cannot find Ning Bugui, I will wait for the Gao brothers to bring him to the capital and get a firm confession from them before deciding on the next step."

Xue Nanting and Xu Zuo looked at each other and finally had to agree with the emperor's decision.

For now, they can only hope that Lu Chen has no substantial connection with the traitor who assassinated the king, otherwise the nature of this matter would be completely different.

They have been tolerating Lu Chen's tough temper over the years, and often tried their best to help him cover up and turn things around. But if Lu Chen really took Ning Bugui under his wing, as the late emperor's trusted ministers and the current prime ministers of Da Qi, could they just turn a blind eye to it?
At a moment when the two prime ministers were in an extremely heavy mood, Li Shizhi looked at Xu Zuo meaningfully.

Then he lowered his head and said to Li Zongben with great respect: "Your Majesty, don't worry. We will do our best to protect the imperial power and not let anyone take advantage of it."

Li Zongben nodded, looking relieved.

(End of this chapter)