"Father, Ma Zhiyong is outside the palace right now. Father will know the whole story after the first trial."
Emperor Zhao raised his hand and announced that Ma Zhifu would come to see him.
Magistrate Ma came in in shackles. As soon as he stood still, he was kicked by the guard next to him, causing Magistrate Ma to kneel down.
"Guilty... Guilty minister, please see your Majesty. Long live your Majesty! Long live your Majesty!"
Emperor Zhao said angrily: "Ma Zhiyong, you are so brave. You dare to hide gold mines secretly. Who asked you to do this? Is it the prince?"
Everyone's eyes are on Ma Zhiyong. As long as he admits that he is the prince and has such a big crime as hiding gold mines, the prince will be finished!
"Yes... the guilty minister did it privately and has nothing to do with His Highness the Crown Prince. The guilty minister is willing to die to apologize!"
Qi Jue narrowed her eyes slightly.
On the way back to the imperial capital, Ma Zhiyong was so scared that he did anything. But now, he said that it was all done by him alone and had nothing to do with the prince.
Along the way, Magistrate Ma had no chance to interact with others, and the only chance he had to see other people... was after entering the palace.
When did Pei Youxiang and others make Magistrate Ma change his story again?
"Your Majesty, Ma Zhiyong personally admitted that the gold mine incident was his own doing and had nothing to do with His Highness the Crown Prince. I'm afraid someone wants to take this opportunity to throw dirty water on His Highness the Crown Prince.
Once convicted, His Highness the Crown Prince's position in the East Palace will definitely be lost. This person has really sinister intentions, Your Majesty!"
Emperor Zhao couldn't help but frown and looked at Qi Jue.
Qi Jue took out the physical evidence from his sleeve unhurriedly.
"Father, these are the charges that Ma Zhiyong personally confessed to when he was interrogating me when he was in Jizhou. There is also his signature on it."
"In addition, this handwriting was written by the prince. It clearly states that the prince ordered Ma Zhi to mine the gold mine secretly and ask my father to see it."
Eunuch Liu stepped forward and took the two exhibits.
Suddenly, Magistrate Ma shouted: "The guilty minister deserves to die, so he should die to apologize!"
After shouting, he raised his hand and scratched his neck, and blood instantly splashed out, even splashing on Emperor Zhao's body!
"Escort!"
The imperial guards immediately drew their swords and stood in front of Emperor Zhao.
The two guards in charge of guarding also wanted to step forward to stop him almost at the same time, but they were still a step too late.
After taking a breath, he shook his head at Qi Jue.
"Your Highness, the carotid artery was cut and he died."
Just when the palace was in turmoil, Eunuch Liu quickly replaced one of the physical evidences.
Emperor Zhao wiped the blood on his body with a sweat towel with an impatient expression.
"Your Majesty, this is evidence, please take a look."
Emperor Zhao took it and looked at it once, and his face suddenly fell. At this time, the prince also arrived.
"My son, I see my father, may my father be blessed and safe..."
Before he finished praying, Emperor Zhao threw one of the oracles in his face.
"Sir, I see that you have been sitting in this position for too long, secretly colluding with foreign ministers to hide gold mines. Why, do you want to cultivate your own power and seize the throne? I am not dead yet!"
The prince fell to his knees on the ground with a plop, and sweat broke out on his forehead. He looked in the direction of Eunuch Liu, and Eunuch Liu gave him a look that said he had everything under control.
Picking up the oracle and taking a quick glance at it, the prince instantly calmed down.
"Father, this manuscript is fake. The pattern of the private seal on it is different from the private seal of my son!"
With that said, the prince took out a private seal from his sleeve and said, "Father, please take a look."
Eunuch Liu took it and presented it to Emperor Zhao.
Emperor Zhao took it, stamped it on a piece of rice paper, and then compared it with the handwriting.
Although the patterns are very similar, the shapes of the borders are different.
"Xiaojiu, what's going on?"
Qi Jue took a step forward, glanced at it and said, "Father, this handwriting has been subtracted from others. It is not the copy that I got from Ma Zhiyong."
"His Royal Highness King Dingbei, you just kept saying that it was you who personally interrogated Ma Zhiyong and obtained from him the so-called handwriting that His Highness the Crown Prince colluded with foreign ministers to secretly hide gold mines.
And this manuscript was presented to His Majesty from your hand without anyone else's hands in the process. Now it is found that the pattern of the private seal on it is inconsistent with the private seal of His Highness the Crown Prince, yet you claim that this manuscript was copied by someone else.
Someone arranged it,
You have told me everything, so it seems that His Highness King Dingbei is determined, no matter what the truth is, he only wants to kill His Highness the Crown Prince!"
The prince knelt on the ground and immediately cried out: "Father, even if I borrow a hundred courages from my son, I would not dare to do such a rebellious thing.
The Nine Emperors brothers have always been at odds with their son, and they often make things difficult for him. As an elder brother, he doesn't say anything and just gives in to his younger brother. But what happened today is a serious crime.
I don’t know where I offended the Ninth Emperor Brother, causing him to treat me so harshly. I ask my father to make the decision for me!”
Mingtai, who had been silent until now, suddenly said: "Your Majesty, since the handwriting is fake, it can only mean that someone wants to use the hands of His Highness King Dingbei to provoke a conflict between the East Palace and the Ninth Prince."
"Mingxiang, it is understandable that His Royal Highness King Dingbei does not recognize His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's private seal and mistakenly believes that the handwriting is authentic. However, this confession that confuses right and wrong and slanders His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, His Royal Highness Dingbei King's interrogation of Ma Zhi
Use the result,
If Ma Zhiyong hadn't been tortured to force him to admit unfounded things and put the blame on His Highness the Crown Prince, how could it have been written? The intentions of His Highness Prince Dingbei have to be speculated on!"
Mingtai retorted lightly: "Prime Minister Pei, don't change the subject deliberately. This Ma Zhiyong is a student of Prime Minister Pei. If I remember correctly, this person was able to go to Jizhou to serve as the magistrate because he was recommended by Prime Minister Pei.
Now that he has done such a disobedient thing, Xiang Pei, as a teacher, cannot escape the blame. What kind of face and qualifications does he have to accuse His Highness King Dingbei here?"
Prime Minister Pei's face darkened, "You..."
He opened his mouth to refute, but couldn't find the words for a moment.
Because what Mingtai said was absolutely correct. It was Pei Youxiang who strongly recommended Ma Zhiyong to be the prefect of Jizhou. Otherwise, given Ma Zhiyong's qualifications, he would never have had the chance.
"Father, this manuscript did not just pass through the hands of my son, Liu Dequan took over it and then presented it to my father."
Taking advantage of the opportunity and the excuse to make tea again, Eunuch Liu had just walked to the entrance of the palace with the tea, and one of his legs was about to collapse.
Upon hearing Qi Jue's words, Eunuch Liu immediately took something out of his sleeve, stuffed it into his mouth, and then quickly swallowed it!
"Liu Dequan, what did you swallow just now?"
Although Eunuch Liu moved very quickly, he could not escape Qi Jue's eyes.
"The old slave just felt uncomfortable in his throat, so he pinched his throat. What did His Highness King Dingbei mean? When he found out that the handwriting was fake, he began to seek medical treatment in a hurry. He caught people and slandered them. This old slave does not bear the responsibility!