From Joy of Life, the Tian Gang is reversed

Chapter 172: Ripples Rise in Chengtian Palace

"What a troubled time!"

In Chengtian Hall, the morning court of the new day begins.

The court officials who entered Chengtian Hall all had worried and sad expressions on their faces.

Yesterday evening, while off duty, Director of the Provincial Court of Justice Guo Baokun was assassinated. Fortunately, the assassin failed, but unfortunately, the assassin also failed.

An assassination once again revealed a mysterious corner of the Eastern Palace.

Guo Baokun is actually also a ninth-grade upper-level expert.

Not only that, his methods are even more mysterious and unpredictable than those of ordinary ninth-grade masters.

He actually kept his word and his words became law. Facing five assassins, two of whom were eighth-rank and three were seventh-rank, he didn't even move a hand. He knelt down when he was asked to and confessed when he was asked to. He didn't even have the chance to commit suicide.

Not only that, the three most powerful crossbows in the army were like a joke in front of him. It is said that he just said the word "wind" and the three most powerful crossbows in the army missed the target.

Isn’t this too incredible?
They definitely don't believe this kind of thing.

But yesterday's assassination took place in public, and many people witnessed it with their own eyes. In addition to these people, the imperial guards of the Daoshensi and spies from various families hidden among the people also witnessed it with their own eyes. They all said the same thing, and they had no choice but to believe it.

After believing it, the atmosphere in Kyoto began to become hot and dry. It was simply because all the cool air had been drained away.

This method is unheard of!
Now, it has only been confirmed that the four great Vajras of the Eastern Palace are all ninth-grade masters, and they all have strange means that can easily defeat opponents of the same level. Gui Zitian is like this, and so is Guo Baokun!

How many secrets are hidden in this East Palace?

What made them even more uneasy was that the Eastern Palace had no attitude towards the assassination of Guo Baokun. It just said that everything should be done according to the rules.

What does it mean to follow the rules?

Guo Baokun handed over the assassin and evidence to Kyoto Prefecture. Since the case of the official being assassinated was the responsibility of Kyoto Prefecture, Mei Zhili, the Minister of Personnel and the Governor of Kyoto Prefecture, sent the most capable forces of Kyoto Prefecture to the scene and went to the palace to make a report as soon as possible. As a result, the authority to handle the case fell to the Ministry of Justice.

Donggong said nothing about this, remaining calm as if nothing had happened.

But will it really be so peaceful?
Seeing Li Chengqian standing in the palace early, and thinking of the Crown Prince's previous violent behavior in the court, almost everyone felt a sense of calm before the storm. The monster entrenched in the East Palace was staring at them with cold and gloomy eyes, as if it could tear them into pieces in the next moment.

But no matter what the ministers thought, the morning court was held as scheduled.

The first is the eldest prince. This gentleman has the merit of destroying a country in the northwest, and eliminated the northwest border troubles that had plagued him for three hundred years in one fell swoop. His contribution is unparalleled. Emperor Qing was very pleased and promoted the eldest prince Li Chengning as King of Chu on the spot and promoted Concubine Jin Ning as Imperial Concubine. Later, he rewarded the meritorious officials of the Western Expedition and conferred the title of marquis to three of them. These people were all confidants of the eldest prince, or the King of Chu.

The civil officials would have had something to say about such a large number of titles bestowed upon military generals. It wasn't that the purpose was to suppress the military generals, but the identity of the eldest prince was too sensitive.

A prince who has real power and military power, and who has a bunch of arrogant and powerful generals under him, all of whom have received huge rewards, but have not yet handed over their military power!

What is this for? Is it for easy storage?

Oh, I can’t give you the position of crown prince in name, so in the future you will rely on the troops I give you to seize the world by force, right?

do you mean this?

In any other dynasty, such an occasion would have seen many civil officials risk their lives to protest. But today, only a handful of insignificant individuals stood up and asked the emperor to reconsider, and the whole thing was passed. Too smooth.

After rewarding the Crown Prince, the next step was to reward the envoys from the Northern Qi Kingdom. They had successfully completed their mission, demarcating a new border and welcoming back the Princess of Northern Qi, greatly boosting the nation's prestige. Naturally, there were some rewards. While not as generous as the Crown Prince's, oh, the King of Chu's, it was still much more generous than usual.

Especially Fan Xian, who was directly promoted two levels to the fifth rank of Yuwenlang of the Ministry of Rites, and was asked to choose an auspicious date to marry Princess Chen.

This is another difference from the original novel. In the original novel, Fan Xian became a fifth-rank Taixue Fengzheng early on because of copying poems in the palace, and got married before going on a diplomatic mission. However, after Li Chengqian's interference, he did not become a poet, and his promotion was not so fast. In addition, the shameless Li Chengqian intercepted Fan Ruoruo first, and the prince's wedding occupied most of his energy before the diplomatic mission to Northern Qi. Therefore, after the diplomatic mission to Northern Qi, Fan Xian did not have time to get married.

Now that he has returned, made contributions, and his rank has been raised, the marriage has naturally become a matter of the hour.

As for the marriage between the eldest prince and the eldest princess of Northern Qi, because it was a marriage of peace and involved the sensitive relationship between the two countries, and most importantly, His Royal Highness the King of Chu did not seem to be in a hurry, so no date was set.

After discussing the two major events in the court, the third major event came up. The Minister of Justice stood up and explained what happened yesterday in a few concise sentences.

"People from Jingdu Prefecture and the Five Cities Military Commission rushed to Jinhualou immediately, but the owner, Ma Wencheng, had already received the news and disappeared. I believe Ma Wencheng was nearby and witnessed everything."

"Where are the other clues?!"

"The origins of the five assassins have been found out. They all came from Dongyi Jianlu. The only person connected to them is Ma Wencheng. As for the three military crossbows, after investigation, they are..." Speaking of the origin of the military crossbows, the Minister of Justice hesitated.

"What!?"

"After investigation, it turned out that they were the group sent from the Jiangnan Imperial Treasury to the Northwest… the Chu King's army three months ago."

As soon as the words were spoken, the whole hall fell silent.

Military crossbows are no small matter. They are strictly controlled items, especially in the Jiangnan Neiku. Each military crossbow has a unique mark to trace its whereabouts. Even if you grind off the mark, as long as the item reaches the hands of the craftsmen in the Neiku, they can tell at a glance which batch it is from and where it has been distributed without checking.

"So, was it a problem during delivery from the inner warehouse, or was it a problem within the military?!"

There is a special process for delivering weapons from the inner warehouse to the army, which can even be said to be very cumbersome, but logistics actually has only two links: one is delivery and the other is receipt.

But these two links involve two people, the eldest princess and the King of Chu.

When it comes to these two people, even the Minister of Justice dares not say much.

"After investigation, it was found that these three crossbows were taken out of the warehouse three months ago and should have been handed over to the Chu King's army long ago. As for whether they have been put into storage, we still need to obtain the approval of His Majesty the King of Chu and investigate at the Northwest Army's Quartermaster Department."

"What did you say, bastard?"

As soon as the Minister of Justice finished speaking, a loud shout was heard. It was Wang Zhuyao, who had just been named Marquis of Yongyi. He was a fierce general under the command of the eldest prince. He had made many military achievements in the northwest and was known for his hot temper. When he heard in the hall that the Minister of Justice had brought the fire to the northwest army, he exploded on the spot.

"Shut up!" the eldest prince shouted coldly, "Don't you see where we are?"

"Your Highness, please forgive me!" Wang Zhuyao was lightly rebuked by the eldest prince and quickly apologized.

The eldest prince gave him a cold look, then turned and stepped out of the line, joining the Minister of Justice. He saluted Emperor Qing on the throne and said, "Your Majesty, since this matter involves the Northwest Army, I request that you send someone to investigate thoroughly. The officers and soldiers of the Northwest Army will fully cooperate."

"Hmm!" Emperor Qing seemed very satisfied with the eldest prince's attitude. He turned to look at the Crown Prince who had remained silent and said, "Cheng Qian, what do you think?!"

(End of this chapter)