The Red Mansion Big Liar.

Chapter 772: Just Three Things

Inside the Yangxin Hall.

Zhang Yunyi took the stack of imperial edicts handed over by Zhou Xianzu with great respect, and said threateningly: "Brother Zhou, if you want to save your life, you must remember what to say and what not to say later!"

After saying this, he no longer paid attention to the dazed Zhou Xianzu, put away the imperial edict, and winked at Yunshan, who immediately pushed him and followed Zhang Yunyi out of the Yangxin Palace and came to the side hall where the ministers were detained.

The noisy hall suddenly became quiet.

Perhaps because they had not seen the scene of Zhang Yun逸 shooting and killing people, several old officials who claimed to be upright immediately surrounded him and asked, "Duke Wei, the emperor has treated you well. Now, when the emperor's body is still warm, you lead troops to raid the palace. What do you want to do?"

Zhang Yun逸 ignored them and looked around. When he saw Qiu Duo, Gu Dashou, King Zhongshun and others in the crowd, he came to a high platform in the side hall.

He raised his hand and pressed it lightly, waiting for the hall to quiet down before he said righteously, "I am leading the troops into the palace this time for only three things, all of which are just and for Your Majesty!"

This time, he didn't talk about fairness.

Instead, he raised his index finger and said, "First, we will pay tribute to His Majesty! Although we have just seen His Majesty off in the Yangxin Palace, His Majesty has not yet been buried. This is only half done. I hope everyone can work together to do the rest!"

After saying this, he raised another finger without waiting for anyone to respond: "Second, to eliminate the rebels and wipe out the remnants of Prince Ning!"

As soon as these words came out, the hall suddenly became quiet. The court officials shrank their necks, and then burst into a clamor: "You...you are eliminating dissidents!"

"King Ning is dead, how can he still have any followers?"

"Why bother to accuse someone?"

When they first heard Zhang Yun逸 raise the banner of eliminating the rebels, they subconsciously felt panic, but then they started to suspect that this was Zhang Yun逸's excuse to eliminate dissidents.

With the idea that if they stick their heads out they will be in danger, if they hide their heads they will be in danger, and they began to huddle together for warmth.

Scholars are good for nothing. In front of the armed soldiers inside and outside the palace, they can only show off their strength and complain a few words.

Zhang Yunyi did not get angry, but looked at everyone calmly.

After a long while, he spoke again: "You dare to say this, of course you have a reason! If you still think I am framing you, it is not too late to discuss it again!"

After hearing this, the place suddenly became quiet.

On the one hand, they were also curious about what kind of excuse Zhang Yun逸 was going to make up.

On the other hand, they just wanted to avoid being implicated. Since Zhang Yun逸 had given them a way out, if they did not take advantage of the situation, they would probably be labeled as members of Prince Ning's party.

"Your Majesty is in the prime of life. I'm sure you all know the reason for his sudden emergency without me having to explain it!"

At this point, Zhang Yunyi changed the subject and said, "It's just that your majesty is the emperor, even if you take elixirs, you still need to go through layers of inspections, why did you die young?"

After raising such a question, the audience immediately started to discuss: "This is all Chongxu's evil way, deceiving His Majesty. The Jinyiwei has already investigated and it is indeed Prince Ning who ordered it!"

Zhang Yunyi's actions were well targeted and helped them figure out the direction. Whether it was to avoid suspicion or to show goodwill, some people had already begun to cooperate with Zhang Yunyi.

However, there were also people like Zhou Chengru, the Minister of Works, who had been entangled with Prince Ning and defended themselves by saying, "Your Majesty has already investigated thoroughly, and the culprits Chongxu Yaodao and Prince Ning have both received their due punishments. Duke Wei is still holding on to them. Isn't he trying to make use of this issue to make a fuss?"

Zhang Yunyi heard this, but he did not take it as an offense. He shook his head and said slowly: "You only know one side of the story. Although Prince Ning and Chongxu Yaodao deserved their punishment, there are still fish that slipped through the net. The one who really deceived Your Majesty was not Chongxu Yaodao, but someone else."

Zhang Yunyi's words were undoubtedly earth-shattering. Someone exclaimed, "How is this possible?"

However, some people thought of the scene in front of the Yangxin Palace and thought: "Could it be..."

"Yes! It is Xia Shouzhong!"

Seeing that the emperor's emotions were in place, Zhang Yun逸 did not keep him in suspense any longer and said confidently: "You may not know yet, but before His Majesty took the medicine, he asked Xia Shouzhong to find someone to test it! However, Xia Shouzhong knew that the elixir would harm the dragon's body, but he concealed it. He deserves death!" There was silence in the room.

It’s not that they believed what Zhang Yun逸 said, but seeing that Zhang Yun逸 was only pointing his finger at Xia Shouzhong who was already dead, there was no need to make themselves unhappy over a dead man.

However, Zhang Yunyi seemed to see through their thoughts and said bluntly: "You may think that I am trying to accuse you, but I have evidence in my hands."

After hearing this, some of the less sophisticated people couldn't help but exclaimed: "How is it possible?"

"Xia Shouzhong is your Majesty's great companion."

"Don't say you don't believe it, even His Majesty finds it hard to believe. But everyone, please be patient and listen to me carefully!"

Zhang Yunyi interrupted the discussion and explained, "When His Majesty learned that the acute illness was caused by the elixir, he became suspicious. However, he was afraid of alerting the enemy, so he pretended to build a plank road but secretly attacked Chencang..."

At this point, he looked around the field and said seriously, "If there is one person who could not possibly be colluding with Prince Ning, it must be me! That's why His Majesty ordered me to conduct a thorough investigation in secret."

Those who could be in the palace at this time were all important officials of the court, and they knew everything about the assassination of Prince Ning.

Therefore, they were very convinced by Zhang Yunyi's words and said, "What the Duke said is absolutely right!"

Zhang Yunyi nodded and continued, "After hearing about the case, I thought of an old story..."

He immediately recounted the whole story of how Xue Pan tested the medicine in Jinxiang Courtyard, how he went to ask Xia Shouzhong for it, and how he reminded him.

Fang said, "I reported this to His Majesty at the time, and His Majesty was shocked to find that there was a traitor hiding beside him! But His Majesty was already deeply poisoned at the time. Although Prince Ning had deserved his punishment, he was worried that someone would take advantage of the young prince to cause chaos, so he ordered me to continue the investigation in secret so as to catch all the rebels in one fell swoop! However, he was worried that there were spies of the rebels in the city, so he concealed his tracks and used the excuse of moving to a farm outside the city to act secretly."

"Did Duke Wei find out the result?"

Finally someone asked the most important question.

Zhang Yunyi nodded solemnly and said, "I have already found out that apart from Xia Shouzhong, only Jinyiwei Commander Lu Bing is a serious suspect!"

Hearing that only Lu Bing had a problem, everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, as if it was none of their business.

And with their previous experience, they stopped interrupting and just waited eagerly for Zhang Yunyi to explain.

Zhang Yunyi did not disappoint them and analyzed: "Xia Shouzhong, as a spy for Prince Ning, concealed the toxicity of the elixir, but Lu Bing, as the commander of the Jinyiwei, investigated countless cases. After learning that the elixir was poisonous, he did not dig deeper. It is really puzzling!

Although I did not alert the enemy, and Xia Shouzhong has already been executed, the innocent are innocent, and Xia Shouzhong's nephew and the madam of Jinxiangyuan are still alive, and the palace physician has been invited to diagnose the condition of the eldest son of the Xue family."

At this point, he looked at everyone with a solemn expression and said, "In these troubled times, it is better to be wronged than to let it go!"

Gu Dashou had already shown his goodwill in advance, and his own high status made him worthy of Zhang Yun逸's winning over.

However, as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Lu Bing was the eyes and ears of the royal family. The emperor also instructed Concubine Wu to entrust the secret decree to him. Zhang Yun逸 really wanted to punish him rather than let him go.

"Duke Wei is very reasonable and mature!"

"For the sake of the stability of the country, we really can't be soft-hearted!"

Seeing that everyone responded to his call, Zhang Yunyi nodded and said with satisfaction: "I am very grateful to you for trusting me!"

As he spoke, he raised a third finger.

……

(End of this chapter)