The prince is more stable

Chapter 309: Battle of the Golden Palace
The court of the Song Dynasty was a huge circle of friends.

This is not an exaggeration, but a fact.

It’s just that some friends block each other, and some friends are superficially close but actually distant.

For example, Zhang Dun and Su Shi, and also An Tao, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and Zhang Dun, etc.

An Tao and Zhang Dun were common people friends. In his early years, Zhang Dun was repeatedly demoted. An Tao helped Zhang Dun a lot and often spoke up for him in the court.

However, after Zhang Dun became prime minister last year, the actions of this already evil prime minister caused An Tao's dissatisfaction. His friend had already driven a Land Rover, but An Tao gradually became alienated from Zhang Dun, and recently there was a rift between them.

The main reason for the rift was not entirely due to Zhang Dun's cruelty. More importantly, An Tao actually did not agree with Zhang Dun's new policy proposals.

In addition to the New Party and the Old Party, there was also the neutral Xiaoyao Faction in the Song Dynasty court, and An Tao was a typical Xiaoyao Faction.

His political proposition was that the Song Dynasty should indeed reform, but the new policies had many drawbacks and were in vain.

This is not how reform should be done!
An Tao advocated integrating the new and old laws, learning from their strengths and overcoming their weaknesses, and removing the dross while retaining the essence. In this way, the new laws would be good laws that could truly benefit the people.

On this point, An Tao naturally had a conflict with Zhang Dun, and it was a fundamental conflict that could not be reconciled.

Today, An Tao came out and spoke frankly, asking for permission to allow Zhao Xiaoqian to enter the palace to petition. His words and deeds clearly showed some favoritism towards Zhao Xiaoqian, and in fact, he also wanted to make things difficult for Zhang Dun.

Since the friend circle has been blocked, there is no need to consider the other person's face and mood.

Making you unhappy is the greatest pleasure for me.

Sure enough, after An Tao made his suggestion, Zhang Dun's face in the court turned as black as charcoal, and he was indeed very unhappy.

There is nothing wrong with letting Zhao Xiaoqian enter the palace to plead his case. This is a necessary procedure.

But An Tao came out to muddy the waters, which made Zhang Dun very upset.

After Zhao Xu issued the decree, no one in the Golden Palace was in the mood to discuss other state affairs. The emperor and his ministers were all quietly waiting for Zhao Xiaoqian's arrival.

Half an hour later, Zhao Xiaoqian, dressed in official uniform, calmly entered the Daqing Hall.

After entering the hall and paying his respects, Zhao Xiaoqian stood in the center of the hall. Facing the accusing eyes of the ministers, he remained calm and composed, and his emotions were not affected by their gazes at all.

I've even taken the rank of Third-Rank Censor, what can you do? Are you going to kill me with your eyes?

Zhao Xu, sitting in the hall, looked around at the ministers and said slowly, "Zi'an, the Censorate has impeached you for questioning Huang Lu, the Chief Censor, and three others without reason. I've summoned you to the hall today to explain this matter to everyone."

Zhao Xiaoqian bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the Imperial City Bureau arrested Huang Lu because three people committed illegal crimes. What's wrong with the Imperial City Bureau investigating illegal activities?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole hall was filled with anger.

"How could Huang Zhongcheng be guilty of any crime?"

"It's easy to find a pretext to accuse someone of something. The Imperial City Bureau is clearly abusing public resources!"

"Framing court officials and killing loyal officials, the real lawbreakers are you, the Imperial City Bureau!"

Facing accusations and condemnations from the entire hall, Zhao Xiaoqian remained calm and unmoved.

There is no need for me, Long Aotian, to explain too much to you about my actions.

At this time, Xing Shu, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, stood up. The appearance of the NPC was of course to advance the plot.

"Zhao Xiaoqian, I was present when you arrested Huang Lu and the other two yesterday. Your so-called illegal crimes are a joke. When the Censorate and the Ministry of Justice were questioning Su Shi, they were blocked by the Imperial City Bureau. You arrested Huang Lu and the other two to protect the guilty Su Shi, is that right?"

Zhao Xiaoqian turned his head and looked at him with a smile: "The Censorate and the Ministry of Justice are questioning Su Shi. What does this have to do with the Imperial City Office?"

Xing Shu was confused by his words: "Since it has nothing to do with you, why are you stopping us from questioning Su Shi?"

"What did I stop? It's your business to question Su Shi. The Imperial City Division has no intention of getting involved. However, the illegal activities of Huang Lu and the other two have long been known to the Imperial City Division. Yesterday, when they were closing in on the situation, they happened to learn that Huang Lu and the other two were heading to the Su residence. They set an ambush there and captured the three men."

Zhao Xiaoqian blinked innocently: "From the beginning to the end, the Imperial City Division's target was Huang Lu and the other two. Did the Imperial City Division ask whether you would arrest Su Shi or not?" Not only Xing Shu, but even Zhang Dun was stunned.

This explanation... is simply irrefutable.

Xing Shu thought back to what happened yesterday. Zhao Xiaoqian and the Imperial City Administration did not stop anyone from questioning Su Shi from beginning to end. They even made way outside the door to let people from the Censorate and the Ministry of Justice in.

As for Wei Jie's later threat to them, it was not something that could be brought to the public. "Once you step through this door, you will bear the consequences at your own risk." This sentence can be understood in any way.

Xing Shu was stunned for a while. Seeing that all the ministers in the hall were silent and their eyes were focused on him, Xing Shu felt a little embarrassed.

"Well, even if your Imperial City Division didn't stop us from interrogating Su Shi..."

Before he could finish his words, Zhao Xiaoqian interrupted him with a wave of his hand: "In the Golden Palace, in front of the emperor and his ministers of the Great Song Dynasty, Minister Xing must speak clearly and be responsible for every word he says."

"What do you mean by 'even if'? The wording shouldn't be so ambiguous. Minister Xing, give me a clear answer. Did the Imperial City Division actually stop you from interrogating Su Shi?"

Xing Shu's words were so sharp and forceful that his face turned pale, but he really couldn't find any reason to blame Zhao Xiaoqian.

After a moment's silence, Xing Shu gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, your Imperial City Division certainly didn't stop Su Shi from being interrogated! Then I want to ask, why did the Imperial City Division interrogate Huang Lu and the other two for no reason?"

Zhao Xiaoqian sneered, "As the Minister of Justice, you use such ignorant and arbitrary words. I really don't know how you got to this position..."

Xing Shu was furious, but saw Zhao Xiaoqian calmly take out a stack of papers from his arms. The papers were densely written with words, and there was a red seal on the signature.

Holding the stack of papers in both hands, Zhao Xiaoqian bowed to Zhao Xu and said, "The Imperial City Administration has verified that Chief Censor Huang Lu, Assistant Censor Lai Zhishao, and Secretary Lin Xi have been guilty of rampant corruption since they took office. They have been involved in massive corruption, selling official positions and titles, and have been implicated in murders. There is evidence of all sorts of illegal activities."

"Here are the three men's indictments and confessions. If you have any concerns, the Imperial City Bureau can make these indictments, confessions, and evidence public for you to investigate. If there is any injustice against these three men, the Imperial City Bureau and I will bear the responsibility."

As soon as these words came out, all the civil and military officials in the hall looked at him in surprise and suspicion, and then whispered to each other.

Zheng Chunhe walked down in small steps, took the confession from Zhao Xiaoqian's hand, and handed it to Zhao Xu.

Zhao Xu carefully read the confessions of the three people, his expression becoming increasingly grim, and then he slammed the armrest hard.

"Asshole! Killing a talent! How can such a treacherous person exist in our dynasty? How can we not punish him?"

Seeing that Zhao Xu was furious, all the ministers fell silent and dared not speak.

Judging from Zhao Xu's attitude, the confession and evidence presented by Zhao Xiaoqian were probably not forged, but true and credible.

In the court, Zhang Dun's face was gloomy.

He had guessed long ago that Zhao Xiaoqian would not do anything without leaving a way out. He had made thorough preparations before questioning Huang Lu and the other two. No wonder he was not afraid of the ministers' criticism at all. With real evidence in his hands, what was he afraid of?

The ministers in the hall were silent at this time.

The impeachment of Su Shi was originally initiated by Huang Lu and three others, and now the situation is awkward.

It is not known whether Su Shi was guilty or not, but the charges against Huang Lu and the other two who initiated the impeachment were real.

A logical problem that even an elementary school student could figure out was placed before everyone.

Is the person who was impeached by three criminals a good person or a bad person?
No matter whether he was a good person or a bad person, no one in the palace was interested in him anymore.

Su Shi neither affected anyone's interests nor made any life-or-death feud with anyone. Is it necessary to fight him to the death?
As for Zhang Dun, who wanted to trample Su Shi into the dust, he did not dare to speak at this time.

The precedent of Huang Lu and the other two is right in front of us. Zhao Xiaoqian said that he would not get involved in Su Shi's case, but in fact he had made it clear that he wanted to protect Su Shi. If Zhang Dun continued to make things difficult for Su Shi, could Zhao Xiaoqian just sit back and watch?

Zhao Xiaoqian was determined to protect someone, and Zhang Dun could not bring him down.

This is the ironclad fact.

(End of this chapter)