Chapter 1000: True and False Night Banquet Pictures, Zhou Chen’s Plan
On the bank of the river in the inner city, Zhou Chen stood on the bridge dressed in black. Standing next to him was Qin Yi, also dressed in black.
"Everyone has made arrangements?"
"It has been arranged. If Mr. Xiao is really in danger, our people will take action."
Zhou Chen agreed to cooperate with Xiao Qinyan, so he sent people to secretly protect Xiao Qinyan, and Qin Yi arranged and executed all of this.
"Master Hou, Mr. Xiao is said to have a bad reputation. We..."
Zhou Chen said with an indifferent expression: "Whether his reputation is good or not has nothing to do with us. He and I are just using each other. He has his ambitions and I have my own goals. Unless he has a broken mind, he will not follow me."
I fell out of favor."
Above the court, there are no so-called good guys and bad guys, there are only interests. He understands this better than anyone else.
Tonight's action was a trap specially set by Xiao Qinyan. On the one hand, he wanted the mastermind behind the scenes to take the initiative and expose himself. On the other hand, it was to make his eldest son Gu Qianfan return home. Gu Qianfan was very important to him.
importance.
Zhou Chen knew his purpose, and it was beneficial and harmless to him, so he followed the trend, and all he paid was to send a team of people to protect Xiao Qinyan.
It was completely dark, and there were obviously fewer people on both sides of the river tonight than before, and there was a strange atmosphere everywhere.
"Master Marquis, Gu Qianfan from the Imperial City Department is here." Qin Yi whispered.
Zhou Chen naturally saw it too. Gu Qianfan and Xiao Qinyan had gathered together and the two were talking.
"The show is about to begin. Come on, let's hide first."
Regardless of whether Xiao Qinyan is dead or alive, he will not take action today. He does not want others to know about his cooperation with Xiao Qinyan, and he does not want to be called a postal party.
With such a great opportunity to assassinate Xiao Qinyan, those people did not care about being exposed. They mobilized the entire army and countless black-clad killers attacked from all directions.
The big boat Xiao Qinyan was riding in the middle of the river immediately became a target, and the killer rushed towards the big boat in the middle of the river frantically from both sides of the river.
There was great chaos on both sides of the river. Pedestrians scattered in fear, but there were also some good people who stood and watched from a distance.
The fight is about to break out.
Zhou Chen stood in the dark, watching the fight on the ship in the distance. Although the force value in this world is not high, this kind of fight is also extremely dangerous.
Under the protection of Gu Qianfan, Xiao Qinyan and Xiao Wei's father and son reluctantly defended themselves. Although Gu Qianfan was very powerful, the opponent was outnumbered and soon fell into a passive position, with many injuries on his body.
At the critical moment, there was a sudden sound in the river, and then a group of men in black appeared from the water, rushed directly onto the boat, and launched a siege on the men in black who besieged the Xiao family and his son.
These men in black were brave and good at fighting, and they cooperated with each other tacitly. Although there were many killers, they were no match for them. In addition, they were unprepared, and they were all killed in a short time.
"Let's go."
Seeing this, Zhou Chen had no desire to continue reading, and left the scene with Qin Yi.
Because of his help, Gu Qianfan did not suffer serious injuries and was on the verge of death as in the plot. Now he is only slightly injured, but he is still alive and kicking.
Tonight's assassination caused an uproar in Tokyo.
Xiao Qinyan had just been sealed as prime minister, and he was attacked and killed in the blink of an eye, and the assassination was done in such a public way in the inner city of Tokyo. The impact of this can be said to be huge.
So in the first morning court meeting after the incident, Zhao Heng was furious because it was found out that among the people who were assassinated were people from the Dianqian Division, so the Dian Qian Division was in bad luck this time.
Starting from the commander-in-chief of Guodu, the deputy commander-in-chief and the marquis of Duyu, all the top and bottom were severely investigated. Among them, the governor-general Duyu and the deputy-commander Wanhe were directly arrested and await trial. Although the commander-in-chief Guodu
He was not captured, but he was reprimanded.
Because of this incident, the Palace Chief suffered an unprecedented blow. After all, he assassinated the prime minister of the dynasty and was arrested on the spot. This crime was really too great.
However, those assassins from the Imperial Palace were all ruthless. After the assassination failed, they simply gave up their lives and were either killed or committed suicide. None of them survived.
So in the end, even though the Palace Chief suffered disaster, Wanhe and the others refused to admit it. Even if they were sent to prison, they would not say anything.
Zhao Heng ordered the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment to handle the case together, and asked the Imperial City Department to be responsible for the investigation.
As soon as the Palace Secretary was unlucky, the Imperial City Secretary naturally rose up. Gu Qianfan even received official commendations and promotions for saving Xiao Qinyan. He was directly changed from the deputy envoy of the Imperial City Division to the Imperial City Envoy.
Lei Jing was also promoted one level, but he was no longer in charge of the Imperial City Department, but was transferred to other departments.
But at this moment, a censor suddenly came to the official house with a picture of the night banquet and reported that the queen had lost her virginity.
As soon as this incident came out, it immediately caused an uproar. Even though the officials tried their best to control the impact, the other party deliberately wanted to make a big fuss, so when the report was made, the news spread, not only in the court, but also in Tokyo.
The news has spread throughout the city.
For a time, there was a lot of discussion among the people.
After all, this is a royal matter, a matter of the queen, and a matter of chastity.
Because of this incident, Zhao Heng was so angry that he had a headache. He was so angry that he fainted on the spot.
The civil service group caught on to this matter and targeted the officials and the queen crazily. The officials were so angry that they no longer summoned the officials, and the queen was even more angry and wanted to kill someone.
The two parties involved naturally know the truth best, but this kind of thing cannot be made public at all, otherwise, it will have a great impact on the queen.
Of course, it was also because the civil servant group in the Song Dynasty had too much power, which was inherited from the Taizu period. Therefore, no matter how angry the official Zhao Heng was, he could not kill everyone, so he could only hide out of anger.
I won’t see anyone, and I won’t deal with the matter.
"The official family, because of my concubine's affairs, made the official family unwell. I really deserve to die for my crime."
If we want to say who is the most angry person because of this incident, it is definitely not Zhao Heng, but Liu Wan, the person involved.
She finally became the queen, and now she holds great power. However, this incident broke out at this time, and it made such a big fuss. If it could not be calmed down, she could not even imagine what would happen in the end.
.
So in her heart, she wanted to kill the ministers who exposed the Qingliu lineage at this time, but she could only think about it and couldn't do it at all.
Zhao Heng really fell in love with Liu Wan. When he saw Liu Wan was sad and blamed herself, he hurriedly endured the headache and comforted her.
"Queen, how can I blame you for this? I know best what kind of person you are. If you want to blame, blame those rebellious ministers. They are all causing trouble."
Zhao Heng was really angry after one wave was over, but now he really didn't have any good solution.
"Guan family, all this is caused by my concubine, otherwise you would still..."
"Queen, stop talking."
Zhao Heng immediately stopped Liu Wan from continuing and said affectionately: "I said I will protect you and love you all my life, and I will never break my promise. No matter what others say or think, you are my favorite queen.
I will never compromise with those ministers."
"But……"
"No but, give me some more time and I will be able to handle this matter."
Just when Zhao Heng was trying his best to comfort Queen Liu Wan, Cui's report suddenly came from outside the palace.
"The official family, the Zhongyong Marquis wants to see you."
Zhao Heng and Liu Wan both looked puzzled: "Marquis Zhongyong, why is he here?"
"Xuan him to go to Wende Hall to wait."
"Yes, official."
Zhao Heng stood up, and Liu Wan asked with concern: "Guanjia, your body."
"I'm fine. After taking the medicine, my headache is no longer so painful."
He has always had headaches, and this time he had an angry attack that never got better. He needed to take medicine to relieve the pain.
Zhou Chen waited for a while in Wende Hall, and Zhao Heng finally arrived late.
"I pay my respects to the officials. Long live, long live, long live."
"Get on your feet, Zhou Qing."
Zhao Heng sat in front of the dragon case, rubbed his head, and asked, "Do you have anything to say when you come here at this time?"
Zhou Chen said: "Back to the official's house, I do have something important to report to the official."
"Tell me what's going on."
"It's about the night banquet picture."
Zhao Heng's expression suddenly changed, and he asked angrily: "Why, Marquis Zhongyong, are you prepared to persecute me like those Qingliu people?"
Zhou Chen hurriedly explained: "The officials have misunderstood. I am a noble person, and I only care about the officials. How could I collude with Qingliu? What I want to say is the secret of the night banquet."
The anger in Zhao Heng's heart subsided, but his expression became more confused.
"The secret of the night banquet picture?"
Zhou Chen said: "Yes, officials, this matter is of great importance. If the officials know the truth, they can solve the current trouble without hurting the saint in the slightest."
When Zhao Heng heard this, the clouds suddenly turned sunny. He opened his mouth to ask more questions, but found that Zhou Chen looked around and understood.
"You all should step back and stay outside. No one is allowed to come near without my permission."
"Yes, official."
The eunuchs and maids in the palace all left the Wende Palace very obediently, while the eunuch Cui stayed outside the palace, not allowing anyone to approach.
After everyone left, Zhao Heng asked hurriedly: "Zhou Qing, can you speak now?"
Zhou Chen did not show off and said directly: "Guan family, in fact, I have heard about the Night Banquet Picture for a long time. When Gu Sashi went to Qiantang to investigate, I was also in Qiantang and knew about the Night Banquet Picture. It's just that I
I knew that the matter was of great importance at this time, so I never mentioned it, thinking that it would be just fine if it went away like this."
"But what I never expected was that there would be villains who would take advantage of this matter to stir up trouble and cause trouble for the officials and saints. Therefore, I must report the truth to the officials."
"The truth? What do you mean?"
"The official family, in fact, the real night banquet picture is not the one the official family saw. The real night banquet picture is in the hands of my mentor Ke Xianggong."
"Um?"
Zhao Heng looked shocked, why is this related to Ke Zheng again?
"Tell me clearly, what's going on?"
"When I return to the official house, when I talk about this matter, I have to mention Zhao Pan'er, the woman I like, because the real night banquet map once belonged to her, and later she handed over the real night banquet map to..."
Zhou Chen told Zhao Heng about the night banquet picture, one part true and one part false.
After Zhao Heng listened, his expression kept changing.
"You mean, that Zhao Pan'er once had a relationship with Tanhua Ouyang Xu? She gave the night banquet picture to Ouyang Xu, and then Ouyang Xu gave it to Ke Zheng as a apprenticeship gift?"
"yes."
"Then the picture of the night banquet in my hand is fake, but the picture of the night banquet in Ke Zheng's hand is the real one?"
"It's absolutely true. If the officials don't believe it, they can send someone to Leizhou to see Mr. Ke. Then they will know the truth."
Zhao Heng's eyes were shining. If what Zhou Chen said was true, then as long as he found the original and confirmed that the banquet picture in his hand was fake, everything would be easily solved.
but?
He took a deep look at Zhou Chen. As the person who knew Liu Wan best, how could he not know the facts depicted in the night banquet picture in his hand? In other words, the night banquet picture in his hand was the real one.
, he had never seen the painting in Ke Zheng’s hands, but it was very likely to be fake.
But, so what if it’s true, and what if it’s fake?
As long as it can be proven that the queen is innocent, the truth is false, and the false is true.
"Zhou Qing, if what you said is true, then you have made a great contribution, and the Zhao Pan'er you mentioned will definitely be rewarded heavily by me."
Zhou Chen immediately made a move to climb up: "This is my duty. Both I and Pan'er are devoted to the official family and the saint, and we don't want anyone to frame the saint."
When Zhao Heng heard this, he burst out laughing.
"Well, Zhou Qing, if the matter is resolved satisfactorily at this time, I will personally grant you a marriage to that Zhao Pan'er."
"I thank the officials for their grace. Long live, long live, long live."
Even if Zhao Pan'er's social status is very low, if she can get a marriage from the official family, the resistance to Zhao Pan'er marrying into the Hou family will be much smaller.
He planned this matter originally just to bring down Qi Mu and others, and to put himself in power. Now that he had an unexpected surprise, of course he was happy.
Zhao Heng suddenly frowned again and said: "Ke Gong is the leader of Qingliu, he can..."
"Please rest assured, officials, Mr. Ke is a true gentleman. He will never do anything villainous. He will definitely present the real picture of the night banquet."
Zhao Heng thought for a while and nodded. He was dissatisfied with many of Ke Zheng's policies, but he still recognized Ke Zheng's character.
After learning the 'truth' from Zhou Chen, Zhao Heng couldn't wait to send someone to Leizhou. Within ten days, he brought back the 'authentic' picture of the Night Banquet, and also brought back Ke Zheng's letter to prove it.
.
With the proof of the authenticity and Ke Zheng's evidence, Zhao Heng strongly determined that the picture of the night banquet presented by the censor was a fake, used by someone with ulterior motives to frame the queen.
Then, without giving a chance to refute, the officials who danced the most happily were arrested and thrown into prison.
Empress Liu Wan was even more ruthless. In cooperation with the new chief minister Xiao Qinyan, she launched a major purge in the court and killed countless officials of the Qingliu lineage.
Of course, Qi Mu and other members of the Qing Dynasty were not willing to tie their own hands, but they rose up to resist, even going to the official Zhao Heng.
But then, the matter of Qi Mu's collusion with the assassins of the Palace Division was reported and exposed, and even the Imperial City Division found conclusive evidence, which aroused the anger of the official Zhao Heng, who directly dismissed Qi Mu's official status, and
On various charges, Qi Mu's home was confiscated and he was sent to exile.
Qi Mu was indeed miserable. He originally thought that after Ke Zheng left the capital, he would become the leader of Qingliu, and he would be able to support the prince and become the chief assistant in the future.
But he never expected that in less than a month, instead of overthrowing the queen and Xiao Qinyan, he would end up being ordered to confiscate his property. This was already the most miserable punishment for the literati of the Song Dynasty.