This time Wang Bo's unjust case, the one who suffered the most serious blow was not Wu Sansi, but the Crown Prince Li Hong. One of the people he relied on most, Ma Huaiyu, the left minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, was dismissed from his official position for a mere 100,000 yuan. The power he had painstakingly cultivated in the Ministry of Civil Affairs collapsed.
"Ma Zai (Ma Huaiyu's real name is the son of Ma Zhou, the Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty. The word Huaiyu is made up by the author, I'm sorry). How can this guy do this to live up to his father Ma Zhou? Alas, he doesn't look like someone who is greedy for money and silk. , why are you so confused?”
After the imperial edict was issued, Prince Li Hong couldn't help but feel strange. At the same time, he was also angry. This time, he had nothing to do. Originally, it was just Wu Sansi who wanted to take revenge on Wang Bo, but the fire at the city gate affected Chi Yu. Not only that, this "Chi Yu" The fire suffered was far greater than the fire at the city gate. It is really dumbfounding and painful.
"Well, I originally thought that Wu Sansi was just a simple-minded person with well-developed limbs and no brains at all. I didn't expect that this time it was so surprising. This guy was just pulling the sheep, and he actually pulled out one. Big insect. It seems that this person has an expert’s guidance behind him, so we have to guard against him."
As the leader of the prince's party, Dai Zhide naturally had to speak first, but his speech was actually nonsense because he did not answer the prince's question at all.
But at this time, what can Li Hong say? He naturally knew that this matter was ordered by Empress Wu to weaken him, because the results of the trial of this case can be seen that Wu Sansi, as the mastermind and culprit of this case, was just It was only a light punishment for serious crimes. What they sacrificed was only two seventh-grade sesame officials in Guozhou, but their cronies Ma Zai and Guozhou governor Liang Yi and others were severely punished. These are all big Liangs. Such a character.
Naturally, all the ministers knew that this was the result of Empress Wu's deliberate suppression, but they were unable to say it clearly. After all, the prince was a man of benevolence and righteousness, at least on the surface. If he openly provoked the prince and Empress Wu, This would be very embarrassing for the prince, not to mention that there are Wu brothers "guarding" outside. If this word reaches their ears, wouldn't it be even more detrimental to the prince?
After a period of extremely depressing silence, I heard Dr. Yuan Sigu, the Taichang doctor, say: "The prince has always been famous for his benevolence and filial piety. I believe that a benevolent person is invincible and will be cared for by God and supported by the people. Therefore, I thought that for this plan , the prince, instead of worrying about the situation in the East Palace, why not continue to do more benevolence and righteousness to benefit the people of the world."
Li Hong could hear Yuan Sigu's meaning, that is, instead of complaining here, he might as well take practical actions and once again establish trust with his ministers in order to win the support of the emperor's heart and public opinion. As long as what he does makes Empress Wu If he can't find fault, his series of small actions will be meaningless, because there will be a day in the future when the old emperor will support him to the throne who is impeccable, and Empress Wu is just a harem woman no matter what, so she can treat herself as she pleases After becoming the emperor, she couldn't interfere in the government affairs as she did when Gaozong was in power?
And Li Hong had actually done this all along, so how could he completely deny his past actions? So he immediately agreed, and at the same time he secretly decided that he must find something big to do this time. Not only did he want to show his benevolent side, but he also wanted to make Empress Wu lose face.
On this day, Li Hong came to the harem and wandered around casually, because at this time Gaozong was mainly in Hanyuan Palace (ie "Dong Nei", which was later the famous Daming Palace. It was renamed Yong'an Palace, and was renamed Hanyuan Palace during the Xianheng Period.
Palace) handles government affairs, so the actual owner of the original Taiji Palace (i.e. Daxing Palace) has been changed to Li Hong, so he can wander around here freely. This time Li Hong wandered farther and came to Yeting.
This is the place where the family members of the prison officials were detained. Although most of them moved to the east with the emperor, the original management staff still remained, and there were also some family members of the prison officials who had not moved away.
When the officials of Yeting saw the crown prince arriving, they naturally greeted him with sincerity and fear, and the order of Yeting personally accompanied the crown prince on his inspection of Yeting.
"Besides the maid, is there anyone else in this Ye Ting?" Looking at the empty Ye Ting, Li Hong felt a sense of loneliness for some reason, so he asked casually.
But I heard Ye Tingling say: "There are only a few female relatives of prisoners, and the total number is only dozens."
"Oh? Who are these criminals? What crimes did they commit?" Li Hong was immediately interested in this and asked with a faint smile.
"It's all because they obstructed the Queen's establishment of a queen, or they were members of the old Wu Wangke's rebellion. However, most of the official positions are below the seventh rank, so it doesn't matter. By the way, there is a family member of a high-ranking official among them, who is the former
The family members of Ma Shilang, who was dismissed from his post due to the case of selling his official position and getting a title."
"What are you talking about? Ma Shilang's family members? Didn't Ma Shilang just commit the crime of sighing? Why are his family members imprisoned here?" Li Hong couldn't help being shocked when he heard this and asked quickly.
But I heard Na Ye Ting Ling say: "Haha, the prince may not know that the Minister of Ma was originally demoted, but it is said that after he took office, he actually colluded with the local indigenous barbarians to rebel, and was suppressed by the imperial court's troops. Not only did he die, but his family members were killed.
He was also exiled from Yeting."
"What? How is this possible? I still don't know who Ma Huaiyu is? How can he, a small civil servant, as an official of the imperial court, collude with the local indigenous barbarians to rebel? What are the benefits of rebelling against him? This is definitely someone else's.
Framed!"
Li Hong couldn't help but become furious when he heard this, and his face turned green. But after all, he still had sense and knew that now was not the time to have an attack. After all, he didn't have any evidence. If he rashly went to court to clear Ma Huaiyu's name, he might be playing into Empress Wu's trap.
So even though I was very angry, I could only investigate this matter slowly.
Li Hongqiang suppressed the anger in his heart and decided to visit Ma Huaiyu's family first. As soon as he entered, he was surrounded by everyone crying and crying. Among them, Ma Huaiyu's little daughter who had just turned ten years old even hugged his legs and asked him to
Clear the grievances of Ma Huaiyu.
Li Hong felt ashamed and promised to clear up Ma Huaiyu's grievances in the future. He comforted everyone, gave some money and silk, and asked Ye Ting to take good care of Ma Huaiyu's family before leaving in embarrassment.
And when Li Hong just walked out of the side hall of Ma Huaiyu's family, he suddenly saw two beauties talking not far away in front of him. The two beauties looked about thirty years old, with graceful and luxurious demeanor, but there was something between their eyebrows.
It exuded a touch of sadness, and there were even faint traces of tears between his eyes.
"Who are those two people?" Li Hong couldn't help but asked strangely when he saw this.
However, Ye Tingling hesitated for a long time, and then said with a grimace under Li Hong's urging: "These two are both the daughters of the late Concubine Xiao Shu. The taller one is Princess Yiyang, the eldest sister, and the lower one is the eldest sister.
The one I ordered is Princess Xuancheng, my younger sister. Alas, these two princesses have been imprisoned here since Concubine Xiao Shu was deposed. Now they are thirty years old and none of them are married. It seems that they will die in bed."
"Is there such a thing?" Li Hong couldn't help being shocked when he saw this. He nodded quickly and said: "I know about this matter. Alas, I have pity on my two sisters. This happened to me. It's all my fault that I didn't know beforehand. But
Now that I know it, I ask you two sisters to relax. I will definitely intercede for you and ask the Holy Spirit to allow you to get married."
After Li Hong left Ye Ting, in addition to anger, there was also a trace of excitement in his heart, because he finally caught something that could not only establish his benevolence and righteousness again, but also win over the two princesses.
Giving Empress Wu a resounding slap in the face, killing three birds with one stone, is really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If the Holy Emperor suddenly discovers his conscience and pardons Concubine Xiao Shu and the Queen's clan, he will win the hearts and minds of the Emperor.
Therefore, in the morning court the next day, when the monarchs and ministers had discussed all the important matters and were about to announce their withdrawal from the court, Prince Li Hong immediately stood up, bowed to Emperor Gaozong and saluted: "My son, Li Hong has written a memorial to me."
, I hope your majesty will give you permission."
"Oh? I wonder what happened to Hong'er? Just tell me."
After all, this was his son and his chosen heir. Gaozong was quite satisfied with him, so although he was very tired, after hearing Li Hong say that he had written a memorial, he still managed to cheer up and said with a smile.
But Li Hong passed the memorial to the emperor, and then said: "Your Majesty, I had nothing to do yesterday. I happened to walk into Yeting and was surprised to find my second sister, Princess Yiyang and Princess Xuancheng.
At the age of thirty, but still unable to leave the court, the son really couldn't bear it, so he begged the Holy Father to consider the relationship between father and daughter and allow the second sister to get married. This would be a great blessing for the second sister. Even the late Concubine Xiao Shu would be grateful and benevolent under the Nine Springs.
.”
"Shu Fei, Shu Fei, I can't help you mother and daughter..." Hearing this name, Gaozong immediately fell into memories of the past, thinking of that unruly and willful but affectionate woman, and couldn't help but shed tears.
With a full face, he murmured: "I am really confused. I have even forgotten my two daughters. I am sure about this matter. It must be done in a grand way...ah..."
It turned out that Emperor Gaozong fell into his old habit again when he was in a state of excitement and could no longer support himself. However, he still endured the pain and said to Empress Wu who was listening to the government together: "Queen, I will leave this matter to you. You must do it for me."
Those two daughters chose a good family, oh, I can't help it..."
After finishing speaking, Gaozong fainted directly.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please send a message to the Imperial Medical Bureau to enshrine you quickly..." Empress Wu quickly ordered someone to invite the imperial doctor.
At this time, Li Hong was unwilling to give up. After Gaozong had finished handling the matter, he quickly stopped Empress Wu and said to him, "Brother, Your Highness, the matter of the two eldest sisters has been explained by the Holy One. I wonder when Your Highness will deal with this matter?"
"(To be continued.) This chapter has been completed!
