The Three Kingdoms: My Wife is a Great and Good Teacher

Yuan Shao, who was sitting behind the military officers, looked at Liu Zhaoqing with surprise, and then looked at his friend beside him. However, his friend closed his eyes slightly, and seemed to be not interested in what was happening in the court.

At this moment, Zhang Rang on the high platform looked at Zhang Gong again: "Zhang Gong, since you are accusing Liu Zhaoqing of deceiving the emperor, do you have any evidence?"

"This man is the evidence." Song Dian said immediately, "Yesterday someone told us that this man openly claimed that the two poems were written by him in the Henei County government. Naturally, we didn't believe it, so we arrested him and tortured him, but we didn't expect..."

“It is so.”

After saying that, Song Dian looked outside the hall and said, "Someone, bring the evidence!"

Then, two eunuchs carried several books and walked quickly into the hall.

"Your Majesty, take a look! These are his previous poems, and the style of those two poems is very consistent! And what about Liu Zhaoqing? He has no other works except those two!"

It was obvious that the man was beaten into this state by torture, but in Song Dian's words, it was upholding justice and accidentally discovering the truth.

It doesn’t really matter who this person is or whether he has talent or not.

Everyone present knew that this was a sudden frame-up of Liu Zhaoqing by the Ten Eunuchs.

Seeing Liu Zhaoqing looking at him, Song Dian narrowed his eyes slightly: "The evidence is irrefutable, do you have anything else to explain?"

"Since you keep saying that those two poems were written by this person, then this person must know the meaning of the poems and his thought state when writing the poems. Zhang Gong Song Dian, can you let this person tell Your Majesty?" Before Liu Zhaoqing could speak, Lu Zhi on the other side spoke.

"Why not?" Zhang Gong stretched out his hand and grabbed the man's hair. "Come on, tell me what your poem means."

But the man just opened his mouth but couldn't utter a word.

One minister looked worried: "It seems... this person can no longer speak."

If you can't make a sound, of course you can't express the meaning of the poem.

At this time, Liu Hong had already taken the so-called evidence, but he did not look through it. Instead, he looked at Liu Zhaoqing.

Liu Zhaoqing lowered his head slightly, as if he was just avoiding the emperor's gaze.

"Father, what do you think we should do?" Liu Hong suddenly asked.

He frowned: "I think what Zhang Gong and Song Dian said makes sense, and I also think what Lu Zhi, Wang Yun and Zhao Qing said makes sense..."

Zhang Rang bowed and said, "I think it's OK..."

"How about this?" Liu Hong suddenly said, in a calm tone, as if he had interrupted him unintentionally: "The two poems written by Zhao Qing before were indeed not written in front of you all. I actually have some doubts."

"Then let him write another good poem on the spot. This will not only prove his talent, but also give me another good poem. Mother Zhao, what do you think of my idea?"

Zhao Zhong lowered his head and said, "This old servant... thinks this is feasible."

"But..." Zhao Zhong and Zhang Rang exchanged a glance and continued, "I also know that Your Majesty is better at writing poetry than poetry."

"If Liu Zhaoqing is really talented, why not take this opportunity to have him compose a poem on the spot?"

Liu Hong frowned slightly and looked at Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong who lowered their heads.

The civil officials in the audience were looking at each other at this time, with worry in their eyes.

Poetry is different from fu. If it is not created for eternity, the difficulty of poetry is much lower than that of fu.

In order to write a good fu, one needs to have literary accomplishment, insight, and even political, military, and philosophical abilities.

It was obvious that the Ten Eunuchs were setting a trap for Liu Zhaoqing. Your Majesty had written a poem before. If Liu Zhaoqing's work was not as good as yours, then the Ten Eunuchs would be accused of "deceiving the emperor".

Even if Your Majesty intends to favor Liu Zhaoqing, there are also some ministers among the Ten Attendants in the court. They will definitely stand up and point out the shortcomings in the poem, making it difficult for Your Majesty to step down.

At this time, the best way for Liu Zhaoqing to deal with it was to take a step back and say that he was in poor health and was tired of writing for the eternity, and he would write to Your Majesty later.

In this way, the great scholar will also take this opportunity to respond, and Your Majesty will not be embarrassed if there is already intention to reward him.

This can both resolve the crisis and allow you to exit unscathed, and is the safest approach.

However, what Liu Zhaoqing wanted to do was not to "protect himself".

He went to the court just to kill the ten eunuchs one by one.

"Since Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong, two of His Majesty's favorite eunuchs, have said so, Zhao Qing has no reason to refuse."

He looked at Zhang Gong and Song Dian and said, "I will write a poem in this Hall of Supreme Harmony and present it to Your Majesty."

Zhang Gong was slightly pleased and ready to agree.

But at this moment Zhang Rang suddenly frowned and took a step forward.

"Wait!" Zhang Rang said again, "This morning court is not for you alone. If you write for three days and two nights, will you let all the ministers and His Majesty wait for you for three days and two nights?"

Liu Zhaoqing's confidence made Zhang Rang feel that something might be wrong, but it was obvious that he reacted a little too late.

"That's true." Liu Zhaoqing not only did not object, but nodded in agreement with Zhang Rang's statement.

This made Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong feel even more that something was wrong.

"Then how long do you think it will take me to finish writing?"

This was equivalent to offering his head to them for chopping off. Liu Zhaoqing was definitely not a stupid person. This unusual behavior made Zhang Rang, who was used to showing off his power, unable to answer for a moment. He began to think about the uncertain consequences that might happen.

At this time, Zhang Gong, who was standing next to him, noticed that Zhang Rang seemed to be retreating, and he became anxious.

Liu Zhaoqing is now as powerful as the rising sun, and his momentum is about to take shape. If we don’t destroy him now, it will be very difficult in the future.

So Zhang Gong immediately stepped forward and sneered at Liu Zhaoqing, "Since that's the case, and you're so confident, I think one hour will be enough for you, right?"

As soon as this was said, a minister immediately said, "How can one hour be enough?!"

"Yes, a good poem may take more than a day to write, so how can a fu poem be written in an hour?"

"Not only do we have to write it, but we also have to satisfy His Majesty and all the officials... This is totally impossible. The Ten Eunuchs have evil intentions, so don't be fooled."

……

Just when everyone was discussing and felt that the Ten Attendants' intention to frame him was too obvious, Liu Zhaoqing burst into laughter.

"Why an hour? Half an hour will be enough!"

Chapter 92: One Poem and Two Eunuchs Punished

After these words were spoken, everyone in the court had different expressions.

Xun Yu, Lu Zhi, Cai Yong and others breathed a sigh of relief. Since Liu Zhaoqing was confident, they, who had witnessed his talent with their own eyes, must believe that he had the ability.

He Jin and other foreign relatives looked interested, wanting to see what Liu Zhaoqing could do.

Yuan Wei and other forces represented by the aristocratic families continued to sit back and watch the situation develop. Only Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong from the Ten Attendants realized that things were getting out of control.

This "out of control" did not mean that they had failed, but that everyone in the court seemed to be looking at Liu Zhaoqing.

Liu Zhaoqing's words and actions made him the second most noticed person under the emperor.

Anyone who knows how to play chess knows that when the initiative of a situation is in the hands of others, one is not far from a disastrous defeat.

Zhang Gong was not a fool. When Liu Zhaoqing laughed, he quickly calmed down.

The pleasure and rage of revenge caused him to lose his judgment temporarily, and he only came to his senses at this moment.

He had lived to such an old age and had seen great scholars composing fu. He also knew that the two poems were indeed written by Liu Zhaoqing. The purpose of falsely accusing him was to lure him into the trap, just like now.

Now Liu Zhaoqing has agreed to compose the poem, and it must be completed within half an hour. This is actually the result that Zhang Gong wants to see.

He had read Liu Zhaoqing's poems and could see the arrogance in them. Zhang Gong had also seen this man and saw that he was indeed unwilling to be a subordinate. He used what he was best at to lure him into taking the bait.

Even if Liu Zhaoqing did not take the bait, the Ten Eunuchs would be able to suppress the prestige of newly emerging forces such as Liu Zhaoqing, and prevent more important enemies such as He Jin from acting rashly.

Then, judging from Liu Zhaoqing's current performance, he had indeed taken the bait.

But... now Zhang Gongxin inexplicably feels a little weak.

Because he also thought of a key point at this time, that is, since Liu Zhaoqing is not stupid, he must be able to see such an obvious bait.

Then why would it take the initiative to crash into others and even impose restrictions on itself?

Just to show off yourself and make people in the court look at you differently?

If Liu Zhaoqing was the kind of person who risked his life just to show off his talent, he would not have been able to escape from the death row alive.

Suddenly, Liu Zhaoqing turned around and looked at Zhang Gong, and Zhang Gong saw Liu Zhaoqing's eyes.

There was a hint of smile in his indifference, and his eyes were like those of a tiger or wolf staring at flesh and blood.

He took the bait voluntarily in order to... kill himself.

Zhang Gong was shocked when he realized this.

Yes, how could Liu Zhaoqing be the kind of person who likes to compose essays and poems to gain fame when he has nothing to do? Otherwise, he wouldn't have been in Pingyuan for so many years without anyone knowing him.

Everything he has done from the time he entered Luoyang to the time he was framed and imprisoned by Zhang Gong until now has only one purpose, which is to eradicate the eunuch party.

Before going to court, Liu Zhaoqing was still wondering what to do if the Ten Attendants did not take action against him, or if they endured the temptation to do something behind his back.

That would be the most disadvantageous to himself, and it would also be the safest way for the Ten Attendants to weaken their power.

Unexpectedly, the Ten Eunuchs not only took action, but also stretched their heads forward.

What kind of behavior is this? I don’t know what Zhang Gong, Song Dian and others think, but Liu Zhaoqing is happy about it anyway.

At this time, he did not take a slash, but instead retreated, compromised, and acted conservatively.

Then he was really blind and missed a great opportunity. This newly emerging force was not much different from those aristocratic families that were manipulated and suppressed by external relatives and eunuchs.

If the civil and military officials had not been watching, Liu Zhaoqing's laughter would have been much more wild.

"What's the matter? Lord Zhang Gong, do you want to take back what you said?" Liu Zhaoqing asked, glancing at him.

After Liu Zhaoqing finished speaking, he did not wait for Zhang Gong to speak, and continued: "Or are you fooling your majesty, thinking that this court is your own residence, and you can sue anyone if you want, and leave if you don't want to sue?"

Zhang Gong noticed that Liu Hong raised his eyebrows and immediately knew that His Majesty was influenced by Liu Zhaoqing's words.

He looked at Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong. They both had calm expressions and nodded to him.

Now that things have come to this, we can only continue.

"Someone, please give me some writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone!" At this time, Liu Hong spoke in a deep voice.

Suddenly, the imperial edict was spread outside the palace.

Less than ten breaths later, several palace attendants entered the hall carrying a long desk painted red and black and lacquered with writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone.

He quickly put away the long desk and the writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone, then Liu Zhaoqing rolled up his clothes and sat down in front of the main hall.

Without any further ado, he placed the white paper on the table, pressed it down, and prepared to dip it in ink.

But he found that there was no ink in the ink box. He put down the brush, reached out to grind the ink, and then frowned.

Someone had tampered with the ink, and no ink came out when it was ground. Not only the ink, Liu Zhaoqing found that the paper was also thinner than the outside.

Liu Zhaoqing's every word and action was being watched by all the officials, so this unexpected incident was naturally noticed by all the officials.

Wang Yun was so angry when he saw this that he pointed at Zhang Gong and shouted angrily with his beard trembling: "Zhang Gong and Song Dian, you are so bold that you dare to replace the things in your majesty's palace!"

"Lord Wang, what you said is wrong." Song Dian smiled, then bowed to His Majesty and looked at Liu Zhaoqing.

"All the ministers present here should all know the saying 'There is no paper in Luoyang', right?"

"This is exactly what Liu Zhaoqing stole from Wanshi, and it gradually became a symbol of the talents of famous scholars. Luoyang ran out of paper and ink because of the poem you stole, so the palace was naturally affected as well."

"How can you accuse us, the Ten Attendants, of this? It was clearly Liu Zhaoqing who did it all."

Song Dian kowtowed to Liu Hong and said, "Your Majesty, please make the decision for me."

Wang Yun gritted his teeth and wanted to refute, but Song Dian's excuse was indeed very good and it was obvious that he had prepared it in advance.

Even a skilled cook cannot cook without rice, so how could Liu Zhaoqing write a fu without paper and ink?

"How long will it take to buy it outside the palace now?" Lu Zhi asked Cai Yong.

Cai Yong shook his head: "It won't take a moment, but... the Ten Attendants will definitely stop us."

The great scholars all frowned, and Zhang Gong and Song Dian were relieved.

Liu Zhaoqing sat at the desk with an unchanged expression. He was waiting for someone.

"Hey, what are you doing?!"

At this moment, a cry of surprise came from the end of the ministers.

Then a young woman came forward, took out a piece of fine brocade from her wide sleeves, and said, "Your Majesty, I happen to have a piece of brocade here that can be used as a substitute for paper."

"Cao Cao?"

Zhang Gong, Song Dian, He Jin, Lu Zhi, Yuan Wei, and even Xun Yu were all surprised.