Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 587 Secret
Li Zisheng was left behind to write a confession.

The remaining few people went outside to wait.

Du Ming seemed to be indifferent. He was the calmest among the group that day, but he could not seem to hide his inner nervousness. After all, among the people present, he was the one who had the most dealings with Li Zisheng, and he was also the one who was most afraid of Li Zisheng.

He could only use stable emotions to calm his heart and pretend to be fearless in front of Li Zisheng so as not to be taken advantage of by Li Zisheng.

"Mr. Zhang, we cannot allow Li Zisheng's confession of crimes to be directly reported to the emperor." After Feng Guan came out, he quickly found Zhang Luan who was chatting with Qin Ji, meaning that he disagreed with the previous decision.

Zhang Luan was surprised when he heard this and asked, "What does Lord Feng mean by this?"

Feng Guan glanced at Tan Ji.

Qin Ji immediately bowed tactfully and left to the side.

Feng Guan then said, "You said before that we should let Li Zisheng state his own crimes. We won't even read his statements. We should just let him present his case to Your Majesty. Do you know if he will try to justify himself? Or say something outrageous? Or complain to Your Majesty in the hope of being forgiven?"

After hearing these reasons, Zhang Luan couldn't help but frown slightly.

I thought, if you didn’t agree, why didn’t you strongly object just now?
Now you come to tell me no?

"besides."

Feng Guan added, "Li Zisheng has many followers in the court. If he escapes, he will definitely take revenge on us in the future. During the time of the previous emperor, he was very powerful and controlled the government. He even interfered with the appointment and dismissal of officials in the Ministry of Personnel. We must not let him off easily!"

Zhang Luan pursed his lips and said, "Mr. Feng Si, you are talking about another case... This time we are only investigating whether Li Zisheng is connected with Liang Fang and whether he has replaced the crown prince. As for whether he controls the government and uses his power to commit crimes, we have no solid evidence at the moment, so it is not included in today's agenda."

Feng Guan said hurriedly: "Now that we have uncovered the tip of the iceberg, we must strike while the iron is hot!"

Zhang Luan said helplessly, "Your Majesty ordered us to investigate a case. No matter what, we can't do it while it's hot, right? At least up to now, he hasn't stepped down from his post. We are here to question him, not to investigate the case. We can't torture him. But I think if Your Majesty wants to hold him accountable for the crime of linking Liang Fang to promote the change of crown prince, his other evil deeds will be exposed as well. By then, everyone will blame him, and there will naturally be plenty of evidence to prove his evil deeds."

"It seems... that's the truth."

Feng Guan thought about it and nodded slightly.

Zhang Luan said: "So we have to quickly inform His Majesty of his crime of promoting the change of crown prince, so that His Majesty can make a decision sooner."

Feng Guan asked, "Are you sure you reported it truthfully?"

Zhang Luan laughed, "Look, Eunuch Tan is right next to you... He was sent by His Majesty. I asked him all the questions in person, and he listed all the rules and regulations. As a constant servant who grew up with His Majesty, how can he say one thing and do another? After all, he will explain the details to you after we meet the emperor."

"I hope that this time Li Zi Province will be completely overthrown, otherwise... Sigh!"

Feng Guan probably also thought about how wide Li Zisheng's social circle was and how much dirt on officials he had at his disposal. It could be said that he had a good hand and any one of them he played would be enough to shock the court.

At this point, Feng Guan finally started to feel a little scared.

If he fails to bring down Li Zisheng this time, he will be in big trouble.

"Just feel at ease."

Zhang Luan consoled him, "Since he has done it and admitted it, he should have anticipated the consequences... Your Majesty will surely be vigilant and will not tolerate treachery."

……

……

Zhang Luan first sent Feng Guan away, and when he saw that no one was paying attention to him, he quickly called his youngest son over.

"My son, did I perform well earlier?" Zhang Luan said with a smile, "You witnessed everything, so please give me some comments."

Zhang Yanling said bluntly: "There is no problem in general, but you and Li Zisheng are playing a double game, and anyone with a discerning eye can still see the clues."

Zhang Luan disagreed, "Maybe not. I don't think Feng Guan saw it. He just came to discuss with me how to bring down Li Zisheng. When he came before, he was sure that Li Zisheng and I were in the same group, so he didn't look at me well. But now his attitude is much better, which shows that my performance was successful!"

"Didn't you notice that the Minister of Justice Du Shangshu's attitude was unusual?"

Zhang Yanling asked.

Zhang Luan was startled when he heard this and asked, "Are you talking about that Minister Du Ming? He didn't say anything from beginning to end. I heard from Li Zisheng before that he had something on this guy... I thought he was like me and wanted to secretly protect Li Zisheng. Could it be that I was wrong?"

Zhang Yanling sighed and shook his head: "Dad, don't you realize that Du Ming is actually one of the instigators?"

"what?"

Zhang Luan was shocked and asked in astonishment: "My son, you mean that the most dangerous person today is not the one who shouted the loudest, Feng Guan, but Du Ming? Your father... I really didn't see it. Seeing that he was so gentle and polite, I thought he was like me, a person who was cautious and self-protective, and didn't want to jump out and cause trouble, so he deliberately kept silent."

Zhang Yanling said, "Dad, you can understand it this way. You are here to investigate the case on behalf of His Majesty. Tan Ji was sent by His Majesty to be a witness. Feng Guan is here to be a witness on behalf of the upright officials in the court."

"What about Du Ming?"

Zhang Luan asked.

"He is the person your opponent sent to monitor this matter and even wanted to make trouble secretly." Zhang Yanling said.

Zhang Luan's eyes turned and he asked, "You mean to say that he is the internal minister Tan Chang's man?"

Zhang Yanling said: "These civil officials, especially those at the level of Shangshu, will not openly join anyone, so it is too far-fetched to say that he is Tan Chang's man. However, he must have communicated with Liu Ji, Tan Chang and others, and they have made some agreements on dealing with Li Zisheng and you... The main purpose is to prevent you from usurping the high position and repeating the old story of Li Zisheng ruling the world during the reign of the previous emperor. In other words, they are accomplices!"

"Oh my god, I was almost fooled by his honest performance."

Zhang Luan said in annoyance.

"Dad, he is the Minister of Justice, one of the top civil officials in the court. How could he climb to such a high position without any schemes? How can you tell that he is so honest?"

Zhang Yanling was somewhat speechless and mocked, "Are you so defenseless?"

Zhang Luan has his own set of principles in dealing with people. He immediately defended himself: "As a father, when interacting with people, the most important thing is to be sincere, that is, to return favors and win people over with virtue. He was polite to me, so I was polite to him. I saw that Du Ming was very respectful to me from the beginning and spoke kindly. How could I have thought that he was the evil wolf hidden behind the scenes?"

Zhang Yanling nodded and said, "It's not too late for you to know now. It's always better to be on guard!"

Zhang Luan asked, "Then... are we really going to hand in Li Zisheng's statement as it is, without even looking at it?"

“It doesn’t matter whether you watch it or not!”

Zhang Yanling explained, "Although you have gained your brother-in-law's trust now, there are some secrets that you shouldn't know. You asked too obviously in front of others before, and I couldn't stop you... Wouldn't it be better if you just let him write the indictment from the beginning? It would save you so much trouble!"

"I just... don't like Feng Guan and want to suppress his arrogance?"

Zhang Luan scratched his head and said, "The harvest is actually quite big. He actually thinks that I am in the same group with him and we are going to deal with Li Zisheng together. Hahahaha..."

……

After Li Zisheng finished writing his confession, everyone returned to the lobby.

Li Zisheng was already standing there, with his head held high and his chest puffed out, looking righteous and majestic: "I have listed all the things that should and should not be said. Please report them to Your Majesty. Even if I am sentenced to death, I will die without regrets."

Qin Ji laughed and said, "Minister Li, you are too kind, too kind..."

Feng Guan couldn't help but glare at Qin Ji.

Previously, Feng Guan did regard Zhang Luan as his biggest enemy, but now he has obviously turned his attention to Qin Ji, who considers himself a good guy.

"Then everyone, this interrogation ends here. How about we just wait for His Majesty's instructions?"

Zhang Luan publicly solicited everyone's opinions.

Du Ming asked tentatively: "Should we make the letter public so that the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple know the specific contents?"

Zhang Luan thought to himself, you old man are a very bad person.

I thought you were a good person just now, but now you have shown your true colors?

"Minister Du, this involves matters of the royal family, an absolute secret of the royal family. Do you really want to know about it?" Zhang Luan's hostility rose up, and he didn't give him a good look. "If this matter is reported and made public, His Majesty might hand it over to the Ministry of Justice or the Dali Temple. Isn't it a bit too early now?"

Du Ming was indifferent and said calmly, "Everything is up to Master Zhang."

Zhang Luan looked at Feng Guan again and said, "Mr. Feng Si, what do you think?"

Feng Guan hesitated for a moment, but finally said helplessly: "Let's report it to the emperor as soon as possible so that they can make a conclusion... Li Zisheng should continue to detain him, right?"

"Well, I don't know what will happen next."

Zhang Luan explained, "For now, Li Zisheng will naturally stay at the Northern Pacification Office and wait for orders... Let's wait for news. If he is pardoned by His Majesty, he can return home, but if he is questioned, then..."

Li Zisheng stiffened his neck and said, "Zhang Guozhang, you don't have to threaten me. I have made all the preparations. The worst that can happen is that I will sacrifice my head to thank the world. I have done too many wrong things in the past, and this is what I deserve."

"Well."

Zhang Luan said, "Since everyone has no objection, let's go back. Eunuch Qin, please take this document and present it to His Majesty. You also need to bear witness, as none of us have seen it."

Qin Ji said quickly: "Mr. Zhang, you have to come with me into the palace. You are the person in charge of this case, how can I face it alone? His Majesty is still waiting for your report!"

"Can I go?"

Zhang Luan looked at Du Ming and Feng Guan, who had different expressions on their faces, and then said helplessly, "Okay. I'll go to the palace right now. I wonder if my son can come with me?"

"It is reasonable for the young prince to go see His Majesty and the Queen. You can make the decision."

Tan Ji said with a smile.

But I was thinking in my heart, don't think I can't see that everything you say and do, Old Zhang, is guided by your son who is hiding behind you.

It's a good thing that both you and your son are entering the palace together, which can relieve a lot of pressure for me.

It involves the matter of whether the late emperor advocated a change of heir. Whoever is involved will not be able to get rid of it. This may be a shadow that will haunt your majesty for the rest of his life. If someone stands in this shadow...

Even if this person is dead, Your Majesty may not believe that you can take the secret completely into the coffin.

At this time Du Ming and Feng Guan suddenly realized that Zhang Luan’s youngest son had been there and had participated in the whole process.

Qin Ji knew why Zhang Luan brought his youngest son here.

But they were totally unaware of it.

I was wondering in my heart, Zhang Luan's way of doing things was very puzzling. He brought a young child to sit in on the class, and sometimes the father and son would whisper to each other... What was he trying to do?
……

……

Forbidden City.

Kunning Palace.

Zhu Youtang intentionally changed the place where he met Zhang Luan and his son to Kunning Palace. Perhaps he also felt in his heart that matters related to Li Zisheng's report on the change of crown prince were "family affairs" and it was best not to tell outsiders.

As a result, he did not call anyone else except Empress Zhang Yu, Qin Ji, and Zhang Luan and his son. Even Huai En and Qin Chang were not qualified to attend and listen to the trial.

"father in law."

When Zhu Youtang saw Zhang Luan, he looked a little nervous.

Zhang Luan was about to salute when Zhu Youtang held him back.

Zhang Yu asked, "Your Majesty, should I step aside for a moment?"

"Need not."

Zhu Youtang seemed very sincere, especially in front of his close ones, without any affectation, and said with a smile: "Yu'er, listen with me."

Zhang Yanling also said, "Then... Your Majesty, should I withdraw?"

Zhu Youtang waved his hand and said, "Yanling, you stay here too. My dear, go and close the palace door. How is my father-in-law...?"

Zhang Luan took out Li Zisheng's confession, handed it over and said, "Your Majesty, please read this. This is written by Li Zisheng himself. No one has seen it at the scene. Please read it."

Qin Ji had just come back from closing the palace door and said hurriedly, "Yes, Your Majesty, I can testify that no one has seen it."

"That……"

Zhu Youtang took it in his hand, a little hesitant, and obviously did not dare to open it.

Because he is afraid of seeing something he doesn't want to see.

Zhang Luan smiled and said, "Your Majesty, please rest assured. I have asked in advance that the decision to change the crown prince was made by Liang Fang. It may have something to do with Concubine Wan, but it was definitely not the intention of the late emperor... You can rest assured to review it. If there is any problem, you will ask me."

(End of this chapter)