Besides lying down, I also know a little about power struggles

Chapter 38 Compensation
Five days later, the Dali Temple Minister read out the results of two recent cases at the morning court.

First, the case of the assassination of Prince Ping Feng Wuqiong by Bai Niaoge.

Four assassins have been killed, but one has escaped. This case was committed by gangsters who intended to stir up disputes in the royal family. The Dali Temple has issued a warrant to capture the escaped assassin, and ordered government offices in all places to conduct strict inspections of the Bai Niao Pavilion stronghold, and to encircle and suppress it immediately once it is discovered.

Second, there is the case of the assassination of the twelfth prince by an animal trainer in Baixifang.

The two murderers were retired soldiers who knew Lin Tiande, the commander of the guards of Prince Ping's palace. The three met by chance in Beijing. The two murderers learned about the itinerary of the enclosure from Lin Tiande, and disguised themselves as guards of Prince Ping's palace to sneak into the enclosure to steal gold and silver treasures. Unfortunately, they met the twelfth prince on the way. In order to avoid exposing their identities, the two men attacked the twelfth prince but failed and were killed by the twelfth prince.

Lin Tiande leaked the court affairs privately, which was dereliction of duty. In order to evade punishment, he sneaked into Baixifang and set fire to it, intending to kill the families of the two murderers. As a result, hundreds of families in Baixifang suffered. His crime was so heinous that he was sentenced to death by slicing.

Huang Ke, the Minister of the Dali Temple, said in a deep voice in front of all the officials: "The two trial results have been reported to the Ministry of Justice and Your Majesty for approval. If there is no objection, the case can be closed."

The emperor leaned forward and said, "Minister Lei, have you read the files from the Dali Temple?"

Upon hearing the voice, the Minister of Justice Lei Yiming stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, the files of the Dali Temple have been reviewed, and the Ministry of Justice has no objection. We are just waiting for Your Majesty to make a decision."

The emperor smiled and sat back on the dragon chair: "I have to decide everything, what's the use of you six ministries?"

"Your Majesty is wise," Lei Yiming replied, "the two cases involve a wide range of issues, and the Ministry of Justice dare not take charge of them."

The emperor looked at him, patted the armrest gently, and spoke slowly: "Just follow the Dali Temple's request, kill those who should be killed, and exterminate those who should be exterminated."

After saying this, he turned his gaze to the officials of the Ministry of Revenue and said, "Lin Tiande is a subordinate of Prince Ping. When a subordinate makes a mistake, the master cannot stay out of it. I have ordered Prince Ping to donate 5,000 taels of silver and 800 dan of grain to help the people affected by the disaster in Baixifang. After the court session ends today, you can go and ask him for it."

"Yes."

"Also," the emperor said in a deep voice with a look of compassion on his face, "Pass down the decree. From today on, I will lead the royal family to fast for seven days. I will also order Shengde Temple to hold a water and land ceremony to chant sutras and hold a fast for the deceased in Baixifang, and pray for the dead souls."

As soon as the emperor's decree came out, people on the streets were talking about it.

The common people were unaware of the royal family's grudges and only hated the murderer of the Baixifang fire.

On the day of Lin Tiande's execution, there were many onlookers at Caishikou. Along with the cries and curses of the fire survivors, Lin Tiande breathed his last on the night of the execution.

In the Prince's Mansion, Feng Yunxi heard the news and first looked at Qin Shiyue.

Qin Shiyue has been suffering from severe morning sickness recently, and her cheeks look a little thin.

She noticed her husband's gaze, scooped up the porridge in the bowl and took a sip, then said with a smile, "Why are you looking at me? I'm not afraid of death, and I have a good appetite."

"But you don't feel full just by drinking porridge, and you don't like the snacks in the mansion." Feng Yunxi turned her head to look at the visitor on the other side and frowned, "Twelve, don't just focus on eating. I heard that you went to the night market that night. Tell me what delicious food there is out there. Come and listen."

Feng Twelve, dressed in a dark purple brocade robe, sat upright at the table and picked up a piece of tofu and put it into the bowl: "I didn't notice."

Qin Shiyue chuckled and scolded her husband: "Aren't you embarrassing me by asking Twelve?"

Feng Yunxi smiled and said, "You don't know, he was so powerful that night. Not only did he beat up Guo Yin in the restaurant, he also asked the Dali Temple to help him and beat Guo Yin with ten strokes of the board."

Qin Shiyue was surprised: "Is there such a thing? Wasn't Guo Yin ordered to leave the capital by His Majesty?"

"He did leave the capital," Feng Yunxi said, "but he walked on the carriage while lying on his stomach." No one dared to disobey the emperor's order. After Guo Yin was beaten with a stick that night, he set off as scheduled the next day with a wound on his buttocks.

Qin Shiyue glanced at Feng Twelve with appreciation: "In my opinion, Twelve gave a good beating. The trial of the Baixifang case was a mess, and Twelve should be allowed to vent his anger for himself."

"There's something even more bizarre," Feng Yunxi said, with a half-smile, "After beating someone up, this kid wandered around the street for a long time, and the next day he went to the restaurant again."

"What are you going to do?" Qin Shiyue was curious.

"He ordered the restaurant's signature dish, deep-fried mandarin fish." Feng Yunxi looked at Feng Twelve, somewhat amused but also full of doubts, "Tell me, which restaurant's mandarin fish is so delicious?"

Feng Twelve did not answer immediately.

He met their inquiring gazes, took a mouthful of food, chewed it slowly and swallowed it, then said, "That restaurant makes it differently."

Although he was not good at tasting delicious food, looking at the kitten's reaction when eating the fish, he felt that the dish from Xiaoyao Tower was indeed worth a trip in person.

"What's the difference?" Feng Yunxi was even more puzzled. "We have eaten all kinds of delicacies in the palace. I don't believe you would go to the streets just for a fish."

He knew how much Feng Twelve hated to go out. Not only did he know it, but the emperor knew it too.

"You know that His Majesty summoned me to the palace this morning and specifically asked about this matter. You are not Lin Yue, and a deep-fried mandarin fish cannot attract you. Is there something wrong with Xiaoyao Tower?"

Feng Twelve's eyes turned when he heard this: "So you came to me today just to find out this?"

"Of course not," Feng Yunxi sighed, "His Majesty asked you if you wanted the position of commander of the Cavalry Guard."

Feng Twelve's expression changed slightly.

Even Qin Shiyue put down her porridge spoon and looked at her husband in shock.

They had always suspected that Lin Tiande attacked Feng Twelve because of the emperor's joke, but everyone knew that the emperor would not really give the position to Feng Twelve. They did not expect that after so long, the emperor would take the initiative to bring up the matter.

"I can't guess what His Majesty is thinking," Feng Yunxi said in a deep voice, "Maybe he wants to compensate you."

"What compensation?" Feng Twelve asked.

"You are so smart, can't you figure it out?" Feng Yunxi said, "When Lin Tiande was whipped thirty times by King Ping in the enclosure, you asked Wei Baichuan to send a message to me, saying that there was something fishy about this matter. Now that I think about it, the person who ordered Lin Tiande to attack you was Sui Yongdao. After they failed, King Ping knew Sui Yongdao's plan and was annoyed that he was kept in the dark, so he wanted to teach Lin Tiande a lesson and let him recognize who the real master is."

Later, he lowered his voice and said, "If this case is to be tried to the end, Sui Yongdao is the real murderer behind the scenes, but His Majesty will not let the truth of this case surface, so he wants to give you the Cavalry Guard."

The room immediately fell silent.

Feng Yunxi was right. The emperor might have done this just to calm things down.

He didn't want to touch Sui Yongdao, so he made Lin Tiande a scapegoat. However, Feng Twelve had already found out the truth about the Baixifang. He could hide the truth of the case from others but not from him. In order to shut him up, the emperor used the Cavalry Guards in exchange.

"What about you?" Feng Twelve suddenly put down his chopsticks, "Do you want me to take it?"

(End of this chapter)