The prince is more stable

Chapter 525: City in Turmoil
The sudden news disrupted Zhao Xiaoqian's plans.

Originally, this news was not unexpected. Zhao Xiaoqian had also calculated that the news of Han Wei's murder would definitely reach Bian Jing today.

It was just a coincidence that it came just when Liu Xianzhen was about to confess.

If the news of Victor Han’s murder came right after Liu Xianzhen confessed his guilt, the result would be different.

The two things are actually causally related.

Zhao Xiaoqian ordered Han Wei to be executed because Liu Xianzhen and other powerful people in Bian Jing instructed Han Wei and other criminal officials to seize land and harm farmers.

Now that Liu Xianzhen has not pleaded guilty, Zhao Xiaoqian's murder of Han Wei has been confirmed, which has suddenly put many people in the court, including Zhao Xu and Zhang Dun, in a passive position.

There is no point in quibbling about something that cannot be concealed.

Zhao Xiaoqian readily admitted that he had killed Han Wei, and the entire hall was in an uproar again.

Today's court meeting was really exciting.

The court officials involved in the case felt that the situation was full of twists and turns.

The court officials who had nothing to do with the case just thought that today's big melon was fresh and sweet, and they were all showing off their pants.

Zhao Xu, who was sitting at the head of the hall, had an ugly expression on his face. After hearing Zhao Xiaoqian personally admit that he had killed Han Wei, Zhao Xu gritted his teeth and stared at him with a complicated expression.

Zhang Dun, Zeng Bu, Xu Jiang, An Tao and others standing in the court decisively closed their eyes to rest, and remained bystanders as if it had nothing to do with them.

The emperor had indeed laid the groundwork when he summoned them, and Zhang Dun and others decided to do the emperor a favor by helping Zhao Xiaoqian at the court meeting, adding fuel to the fire and suppressing Liu Xianzhen and others.

But the situation is now clearly out of control.

Liu Xianzhen and others have not yet pleaded guilty, but Zhao Xiaoqian has already revealed his guilt. What can Zhang Dun do?
If he stood up to help Zhao Xiaoqian, the prime minister himself would be in trouble.

In the Golden Palace, Liu Xianzhen suddenly laughed out loud, his eyes red and filled with a deep sense of relief at having survived a disaster. He pointed at Zhao Xiaoqian and shouted, "Zhao Xiaoqian, you are arbitrarily killing officials, fabricating false evidence, and framing court officials..."

"Everyone in the palace, please look at this living, treacherous minister! I beg the emperor to be clear-minded and sentence Zhao Xiaoqian to death to correct the world's perceptions!"

Chen Huan and Qiao Rongzhi, who were originally limp and pale with fear, seemed to be suddenly injected with energy. They stood up straight and immediately agreed with Liu Xianzhen.

Zhao Xu sighed, looked at Zhao Xiaoqian with a complicated look, and said, "Do you agree to kill Han Wei and forty-two other officials?"

Zhao Xiaoqian nodded calmly: "I admit it. It was I who ordered the beheading in public."

"Why not take him to Bian Jing and have him tried by the three judicial departments?" Zhao Xu asked.

"Because Han Wei and forty-two others have aroused public anger in Zhending Prefecture, if I do not behead them publicly, I fear that the people under my rule will be incited and civil unrest will ensue. The situation will then be beyond the control of simply killing a few officials. Therefore, I have decided to use the lives of Han Wei and other criminals to avert a major disaster."

Zhao Xu sighed, turned his gaze to Zhang Dun, and said bitterly, "What did Mr. Zihou say?"

Zhang Dun said expressionlessly, "I believe that the Prince of Hejian's guilt should be handed over to the Three Judicial Departments for trial and judgment. He should be immediately dismissed from office and imprisoned."

This was a very fair statement, worthy of the Prime Minister, and there was nothing wrong with it. Many court officials in the hall nodded secretly, but most of the officials' faces were a little gloomy.

Zhao Xiaoqian is now a hero of the Song Dynasty.

The hero returned to Beijing, but was imprisoned for a crime. Emotionally speaking, it was really hard to accept.

Zhao Xu was silent for a moment, then said calmly, "Then... first, remove Zhao Xiaoqian from his posts as Secretary of the Privy Council, Governor of Hebei West Route, and Governor of Zhending. He will be imprisoned in the Dali Temple. Officials from the Censorate, the Ministry of Justice, and the Dali Temple will jointly investigate the case of the execution of Han Wei and forty-two other officials."

Until this moment, Zhao Xiaoqian remained calm. He raised his hands to take off his long-winged official hat and said, "I am willing to accept your punishment."

While the hall was in complete silence, Liu Xianzhen smiled. "Heaven does not hide treachery. Loyalty is loyalty, and treachery is treachery. Zhao Xiaoqian, you killed court officials and framed your colleagues without authorization. This is retribution!"

Zhao Xiaoqian stared at him quietly, then suddenly smiled. "Liu Xianzhen, my crime has been determined by the three judges, but you don't think that nothing happened, do you?"

"The confession and evidence are all there. Do you really think you're in the clear? Will the court really just turn a blind eye?"

Liu Xianzhen's laughter suddenly stopped.

Only then did he remember that Zhao Xiaoqian was imprisoned because he killed Han Wei and other officials without authorization, but that did not mean that he, Liu Xianzhen, was innocent.

At this moment, the confession and evidence are still in the hands of the government, written clearly in black and white.

So, I laughed too loudly just now?

Seeing that Liu Xianzhen, Chen Huan and Qiao Rongzhi's faces became stiff again, Zhao Xiaoqian couldn't help but smile.

He thought he had escaped from the Five Finger Mountain, but the Buddha was still there.

At this time, Zhang Dun said expressionlessly, "Your Majesty, I believe that this case is deeply entangled. Zhao Xiaoqian's murder of court officials is a fact, but Liu Xianzhen and more than 30 other officials are not necessarily innocent. All those involved in this case should be imprisoned and handed over to the three judicial departments for strict trial."

Zhao Xu nodded and waved his sleeves at Liu Xianzhen: "Capture them all together. After the trial, the three judicial officials will report the results to me." Soon, a squadron of imperial guards came in from outside the hall. According to the list on the confession, they arrested Liu Xianzhen, Chen Huan, Qiao Rongzhi and more than 30 other officials and escorted them out of the hall.

The imperial guards did not attack Zhao Xiaoqian, who was standing in the center of the hall.

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled freely, glanced at Zhao Xu again with a complicated expression, then turned around and walked out of the hall proudly.

Outside the hall, a squad of imperial guards was already waiting, following Zhao Xiaoqian's footsteps towards the palace gate.

Inside the Daqing Palace, Zhao Xu suddenly felt a surge of annoyance. He was in no mood to discuss other state affairs, so he waved his sleeves and said coldly, "Let's adjourn the court today and discuss everything later."

The ministers bowed and Zhao Xu stood up listlessly. Before leaving, Zhao Xu turned around and looked at Zhang Dun deeply.

Zhang Dun's expression remained unchanged, and he kept his head down and bowed, but suddenly he lowered his head even lower.

Seeing Zhang Dun's action, Zhao Xu's expression eased slightly and he turned and left Daqing Hall.

…………

Liu Xianzhen and others were arrested and imprisoned at the same time as Zhao Xiaoqian. This result was unexpected by no one.

It turns out that there is no winner in this struggle.

At least that's what it seems on the surface.

When Zhao Xiaoqian, dressed in plain white, took off his official robes and hat and walked out of the palace, the entire city of Bianjing was in an uproar.

Chen Shou and other imperial guards who were waiting outside the palace gate to take Zhao Xiaoqian back to the palace after the court was dismissed were furious. They stepped forward to stop the imperial guards who were escorting Zhao Xiaoqian, but Zhao Xiaoqian quickly rebuked them sternly. Chen Shou and other imperial guards gritted their teeth and could only retreat slowly.

The news also quickly spread to the Prince of Chu's Palace.

Wei Jie, who was in charge of the Imperial City Affairs Office, was also outside the palace gate at this time. He was still waiting for Zhao Xiaoqian to finish his court session so that he could report official matters to him.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Xiaoqian was stripped of his official uniform and hat and escorted out of the palace by the imperial guards. Wei Jie was also confused, but he was not as impulsive as Chen Shou. He stood in the distance and watched for a while, then immediately turned around and returned to the Imperial City Office.

Half an hour later, all the staff of the Bian Jing Imperial City Administration were mobilized. Countless spies were summoned into the office and then quickly dispersed.

Then, many unfamiliar faces inexplicably appeared outside the mansions of officials such as Liu Xianzhen and Chen Huan. Pairs of sinister eyes stared at the mansion gate, locking onto everyone entering and leaving.

Not only that, the news of Zhao Xiaoqian's imprisonment also alarmed the Zongzheng Temple.

In addition to his many official titles, Zhao Xiaoqian also had another identity: a relative of the Song Dynasty, and the most outstanding relative since the founding of the Song Dynasty.

Because of Zhao Xiaoqian's outstanding performance, the current emperor broke the ancestral law and appointed relatives to powerful official positions. After the Song Dynasty set the precedent of Zhao Xiaoqian, all the relatives were envious and jealous, and also began to have ideas.

It can be said that no matter whether the clan members look at Zhao Xiaoqian with jealousy or envy, Zhao Xiaoqian's existence is ultimately a beacon for all the clan members. His fate is closely related to the clan members, and they cannot sit idly by.

When the news of Zhao Xiaoqian's imprisonment spread, the old clan leader Zhao Zongsheng could no longer sit still. At the age of seventy or eighty, he personally left the house and, supported by his family, tremblingly came to the palace gate to ask to see the emperor Zhao Xu.

With Zhao Xiaoqian's imprisonment, the various forces in Bianliang were in turmoil and made frequent movements.

However, the most excited people were the common people in Bianjing.

The people have the purest minds. They don't care about the truth of things at all. They only see black and white, good and evil. Black is black, white is white, good people are always good people, and bad people are always bad people.

A hero of the Song Dynasty like Zhao Xiaoqian was arrested and imprisoned. This was undoubtedly a good man being wronged. It was like a dark cloud over the sky. Not only did a treacherous minister appear in the court, but even whether the current emperor was wise or incompetent was probably a big question mark.

Can someone who puts a hero in jail be a good person?
This is the very simple value of the people.

They fought bloody battles for the Song Dynasty on the front lines and defeated the Liao army several times. It was because of Zhao Xiaoqian and his elite troops that the Song Dynasty was able to hold its head high and be proud today.

As a result, he just returned to Bian Jing, and you arrested this hero?
The people didn't care what the Prince of Zhao had done. They only knew that there must be a traitor in the court. Why was the Prince of Zhao arrested? Is that even a question? The traitors must have been jealous of the Prince of Zhao's achievements, and they were jealous and wanted to get rid of him.

So, only one hour after Zhao Xiaoqian was imprisoned in the Dali Temple, countless people gathered at the Chu Palace. Not only that, even the students of the Imperial College took action. Countless students set out from the Imperial College and paraded through the streets to the Chu Palace.

The students, full of justice, were much braver than the common people. They raised their fists, faced the closed door of the Chu Palace, and shouted slogans in support of the Prince of Hejian. They were determined to jointly submit a petition to redress the grievances for the Prince of Zhao.

The entire city of Bianjing fell into turmoil because of Zhao Xiaoqian.

With Zhao Xiaoqian imprisoned, the three judicial departments of the Censorate, the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple were ordered to quickly form a joint trial hall, all of which were headed by the heads of the three judicial departments.

Zhao Xu issued an edict to the joint trial hall of the three judicial departments. The edict was very clear: do not be unjust or lenient, and question the prisoners with courtesy.

Zhao Xu's meaning was very clear. It was okay to interrogate Zhao Xiaoqian, but torture was not allowed, and the questioning had to be polite and courteous.

At the same time, the officers from the Three Judicial Departments rushed into the residences of more than 30 officials including Liu Xianzhen and Chen Huan like wolves and tigers, and began to search their residences.

(End of this chapter)