Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 450: Loyalty Is Offended

After watching Zhao Xing's carriage drive away, the Han family members entered the mansion.

"You guys go back to your room first. Qing'er, come with me to see your father!"

Mrs. Han sent her daughter-in-law and grandchildren away with a cold face, and took Han Qing to the backyard.

Because Zhao Xing kept Imperial Physician Xu, Han Zhang was still pretending to be sick in bed.

Mrs. Han entered the house and sent the servants out.

"Madam, what's wrong with you?"

Han Zhang saw that his wife looked unhappy and asked in confusion.

Madam Han said with an unpleasant expression, "Your Majesty wants to take Sister Zhu into the palace, and Qing'er has already agreed!"

"what?"

Han Zhang's face turned pale when he heard this, and he glared at his son: "You rebellious son, how dare you agree to such a thing?"

"Father, His Majesty asked for it himself, and you also said before that you would not agree if His Majesty promoted his son. You didn't say that you would not agree if His Majesty wanted to marry Sister Zhu." Han Qing said aggrievedly.

"you…"

Han Zhang pointed at his son, his face turning blue and red with anger, and he almost fainted.

"Master, are you okay?"

Mrs. Han hurried forward and smoothed Han Zhang's back.

After a while, Han Zhang finally recovered and angrily scolded, "How could I, Han Zhang, have a son as stupid as a pig like you! You just said that Zhu Jie'er has already arranged a marriage, can the emperor still take it seriously?"

"But that's deceiving the emperor!"

"Do you think the emperor can't tell that I'm pretending to be sick? Even the imperial physician is not a god. If he didn't know that I was pretending to be sick, how could Imperial Physician Xu guarantee that he could cure me? The emperor didn't expose my pretending to be sick, and he also wanted to marry Sister Zhu. Haven't you thought about the problem?" Han Zhang shouted angrily.

"Son...son..."

Han Qing opened his mouth. When he heard that Zhao Xing was going to confer the title of Defei on his daughter, he was so happy that he didn't think about these things.

"Lord!"

Just then, the voice of the attendant came from outside the door.

Han Zhang took a deep breath and said, "Come in!"

The attendant walked into the room and bowed, saying, "Just now, news came from the palace that many officials went to the Longtu Pavilion and knelt down to petition the emperor to severely punish the Minister of Justice!"

"It's too late, everything is too late." Han Zhang sighed.

Judging from Zhao Xing’s previous attitude, these people would probably not have a good ending.

But his granddaughter, Han Zhang, was canonized as Defei. How will people in the world view him then?

…………

Zhao Xing didn't know what had happened to the Han family. On his way back to the palace, he learned that many officials were kneeling outside the Longtu Pavilion to petition. He sneered and directly ordered people to arrest all those officials and put them in jail.

When Zhao Xing returned to the palace, everyone had already been taken away.

"How many people were arrested in total?" Zhao Xing asked.

"A total of thirty-seven officials!" Sanshui replied.

"Only thirty-seven people, that's a bit too few."

Zhao Xing sneered and said, "Send Yin Hanzhang over."

"Yes!" Sanshui replied.

After a while, Sanshui walked in with an anxious look on his face.

"Your Majesty, all the ministers except the Grand Minister are here, and there are also some important officials in the court who are seeking to see you!" Sanshui said. "Let them in!" Zhao Xu said.

"Yes!" Sanshui responded and walked out. After a while, he came in with a group of officials.

The officials entered the hall, saluted, knelt down, and said in unison: "Your Majesty, please release the officials who petitioned!"

"petition?"

Zhao Xing looked coldly at the officials who were there, including Yu Xianggong, Shen Xianggong, and Hai Wenyou.

"They are forcing the emperor to abdicate. Do you also want to force the emperor to abdicate now?"

"His Majesty!"

Shen Xianggong said: "We are only trying to persuade Your Majesty, and we have no intention of forcing him to abdicate."

"No intention of forcing the emperor to abdicate?"

Zhao Xing sneered, "Then why are you kneeling? Will you not get up until I agree? Or will you crash into the ground and die in this palace, leaving a good name for eternity? If I do not follow your wishes in the slightest, you will kneel down and not get up, and you still say that this is not forcing me to abdicate?"

"We dare not!" everyone shouted, but no one showed any intention of standing up.

"Tell me, what do you want me to do? I will listen to you."

After Zhao Xing finished speaking, he asked in a deep voice, "Where is the attendant?"

"Chen is here!"

The attendant at the side hurried forward to salute.

"Let me ask you, how would you record this situation?" Zhao Xing asked.

"This..." The attendant said in embarrassment: "Your Majesty, the contents of the daily record cannot be told to Your Majesty. The merits and demerits should be judged by future generations!"

"What a good thing for posterity to comment on!"

Zhao Xing smiled and clapped his hands, saying, "I guess if I agree to their request, future generations will judge me for being open-minded and willing to accept advice, and will praise them for their courage to speak out. If I do not agree, future generations will judge me for being incompetent and unwilling to accept good advice. They will still praise them for their virtue, integrity, and courage to speak out."

"Mr. Shen, tell me, if this isn't forcing the emperor to abdicate, what is it?"

"Your Majesty, honest advice is unpleasant to the ear. Those officials are certainly wrong, but..."

"Bullshit, good advice is unpleasant to the ear!"

Zhao Xing rudely interrupted Shen Xianggong's words and sneered, "The so-called honest advice is unpleasant to the ear is simply a joke. If I listen to you in everything, then what is the point of me being the emperor?
If I don't listen to you, it's called "honest advice is unpleasant to the ear". If I listen to you, it's called "open-minded and receptive to advice". If I listen to others, it's called "failure to distinguish between loyalty and treachery". All the standards are defined by you. What's the difference between me and a puppet?"

"Your Majesty, you are too kind. Nothing in the world escapes the law. When an official makes a mistake, the three courts should hold a joint trial to ensure fairness. It is not in compliance with the rules to hand it over to the Ministry of Justice. The Minister of Justice used inappropriate methods, which led to the humiliation of two colleagues, and they died to preserve their innocence. What's wrong with the officials in the court requesting severe punishment for the Minister of Justice?" Yang Shengkui said righteously.

"Why don't the three courts have to hold a joint trial when the local people break the law? Is it because the officials are more noble than the people? Don't the people need fairness? Moreover, the three courts hold a joint trial during the review stage. However, the evidence in the impeachment petition against these two people is irrefutable. The Ministry of Justice is in charge of the laws of the world. What's the problem with me letting the Ministry of Justice handle it?"

Zhao Xing said coldly: "The two of them clearly committed suicide out of fear of crime, but how come Yang Aiqing said that they committed suicide to protect their innocence? Moreover, this order was issued by me. If you want to deal with the Minister of Justice, why not deal with me first!"

"Your Majesty, even if there is sufficient evidence, it should be confirmed by the three courts before the Ministry of Justice can make a conviction. The Minister of Justice is aware of this but failed to persuade Your Majesty. Naturally, the fault lies with him, not Your Majesty!" Yang Shengkui said.

Although he wanted to force Zhao Xing to admit his mistake, he knew that these people came because Zhao Xing directly ordered the arrest of all the petitioning officials.

Otherwise these people would also be among the petitioners.

If he really did that, these people would definitely not agree.

"What a mistake it's not my fault?"

Zhao Xing sneered and said, "I just want to know, if I don't agree, is it my fault?"

"Your Majesty, the details still need to be investigated. We should release those officials now and order a thorough investigation into the two officials who committed suicide. We will know once we investigate whether they committed suicide out of fear of punishment or for other reasons." Yu Xianggong said publicly.

Zhao Xing looked at him deeply. Yu Xianggong's words were considered to be helping him.

Normally, Zhao Xing should have taken advantage of the situation to back off.

(End of this chapter)