The imperial soldier who was ordered to deliver the message finally arrived in Laizhou. But he didn't know anything about the situation here. After asking around the city, he found out that Rong Qing had gone to Dengzhou. This sudden news made him at a loss.
, I was even more confused. I couldn’t think of a solution for the moment. I was just thinking hard.
At this moment, his mind suddenly became hot, and he went directly to the palace gate to ask for an audience. He clearly said that he had been ordered by Mrs. Rong Qing to deliver a family letter and a petition. The gatekeeper quickly called the eunuch in charge, who ushered him in.
In a room, he was immediately kidnapped by the soldiers and imprisoned in a warehouse until he was released.
Niu Yuan, who was guarding Laizhou, did not dare to act independently, so he urgently ordered the eunuch to write a letter from his family and send the man to Laizhou for interrogation.
The two letters were handed over to Liu Zhennian. He thought that the complaint of grievance was nothing more than a word of begging and was not important, so he threw it into the wastebasket and went to open the family letter.
Unexpectedly, the content of this letter is just a short line: "What is the current situation in Laizhou? I hope the master can give an answer. If it is convenient, send more envoys to communicate with each other to avoid being deceived by thieves." There is no redundant words, so the order
He was greatly disappointed.
Liu Zhennian was very puzzled. Since they didn't know much about the situation in Denglai, how could they write a pleading. Curious, he turned over the pleading again, pulled open the cover, and saw that there was a good pleading inside.
A few notes and a complaint of grievance are all clear evidence of Rong Qing's guilt.
Each of these is stamped with his own seal. Some of them are for Zhang Longlu, which says, "The willow thief took the emperor on a patrol, and there must be something wrong. I have a plan to kill the thief. I will reward him with a huge reward afterwards. I hope the governor can help me.";
The order given to his confidants, saying, "You need to be extremely careful about this matter, don't alert the capital, so that I can monopolize the great achievements", etc., are all confidential documents, which are enough to kill Rong Qing.
Liu Zhennian frowned and read it several times. He became more and more doubtful and immediately called the eunuch in charge: "Take these memorandums and show them to the person who sent them quickly and ask who gave them to him!"
The eunuch fearfully took away the evidence and went to the room to hold the messenger up for questioning.
"Who gave you these things?"
The messenger read them one by one and was astonished: "This...was given to me by the servants of Si Jin's Mansion."
"What does he look like? Do you know his name?"
"He looks strong..." The messenger thought about it for a long time, but couldn't remember the face of the man. "Actually, I didn't pay much attention at the time, and I didn't even know his name at all."
"Is this handwriting banned by your family?"
"No, absolutely not."
"Is this a lie?" The eunuch felt that he had grasped the key point and asked in hot pursuit.
"This is not necessarily true. Generally, family letters are written by the Secretary of State himself, and official documents and memorials are written by subordinate officials, so their style is neat and solemn."
After listening, the eunuch felt very disappointed and examined some irrelevant topics, and then he recorded his confession and showed it to Liu Zhennian.
Liu Zhennian did not expect that a good case would become so complicated. Knowing that he had no choice but to temporarily convict Rong Qing, he and the messenger loaded it into a wooden prison truck and returned it to Laizhou again.
Even Niu Yuan did not expect that returning this time did not settle the case, but instead created a lot of problems. He quickly went to Liu Zhennian to ask for details, but the latter was still looking at the few notes in a daze.
"Just take a look," Liu Zhennian threw the thing in his hand to him, "If the good messenger is doing this, your plan won't work."
"Believe me, all these evidences were forged by others!" Niu Yuan glanced at it for a few times, then threw the note down angrily, "Shi Sijin found out earlier that this matter was caused by the prince..."
"We all understand this. The only difference is the status." Liu Zhennian waved his hand, "What's more, killing just one Rong Qing can also shock the government and the public."
Niu Yuan admonished: "This matter has not yet reached the point where nothing can be investigated, and it cannot leave any harm. If his prince can forge these pictures, I don't believe that there are no flaws!"
"What do you think of it?"
"We should take advantage of the unprepared situation of all the officials in the capital and secretly take His Majesty back to Luan. After arriving in the capital, we should first claim to be too solemn and Cun Zhao colludes with the rebels, arrest him suddenly, and kill him by surprise." Niu Yuan suggested boldly.
Liu Zhennian nodded: "This is a wonderful strategy. But the words you say are like water that is thrown out, and you can't take it back. What if they were well prepared and didn't leave any clues, wouldn't they spoil the big thing?
You need to take certain risks to serve as Prime Minister."
Niu Yuan took off his hat and kowtowed: "Since I have been with the general, I have made many suggestions, but none of them are as important as today. If Niu cannot kill the rebels and create a situation for the general, I am willing to give up my official position to others and resign and return to my hometown!"
Cunzhao waited for the messenger day after day, but never saw him come back. Only then did he conclude that he must have been buried there, and all the forged evidence must have fallen into Liu Zhennian's hands. He reluctantly relaxed.
He said that in such a confused situation, he had done everything he could, and the only thing left was to leave it to fate.
In order to prevent accidents from happening, he also specifically ordered the forbidden troops of each battalion to guard the four gates and report anyone who passes through. Cun Zhao had not slept peacefully for several days, and today he finally felt fine and light. As soon as his head hit the pillow, his eyes
Couldn't open it.
The moonlight tonight was very dazzling, and the sound of the third watch seemed to be crisper than usual, which actually made Cun Zhao wake up.
'Why didn't you close the window just now...' He muttered in his heart and wanted to lock the window, but he felt less sleepy than before, so he simply walked out of the official office and walked in the inner garden under the moonlight.
He walked to a palace gate and saw a person running towards him in the distance. He used a torch to shine nearby, and it turned out to be the forbidden soldiers under his command.
"What's wrong?"
"My lord, it looks like the emperor's chariot is coming from the south gate! The brothers are afraid that Liu Dang will cause trouble, so they dare not open the door without permission."
"What?" Cun Zhao was so surprised that he broke into a cold sweat, and his whole body came out of his drowsiness. "Why didn't I know that the emperor had returned?"
He thought anxiously for a while, then slapped his forehead and sighed: "It's bad! The Liu Party must have concealed the emperor's whereabouts. How could I have expected this move!"
"Prince, brothers are still fighting hard, please give me an explanation as soon as possible!" The soldier's anxiety was clearly written on his face, and he knelt down and kowtowed two or three times in anxiety.
Cun Zhao stretched out a few fingers, thinking about a solution in his mind, and suddenly an idea flashed, he pressed his fingers and wiped off the sweat on his head: "You just told the brothers like this, and you just said that it was midnight and you couldn't see clearly.
I don’t know if the other party’s face is deceitful, so using this as an excuse can delay it for as long as it takes!”
"What about you?" He stood up, not forgetting to express concern.
"Me?" Cunzhao's eyes only glazed over for a moment, then flashed with golden light, "I'm going to meet the prince!"