"Are you sure about this? I solemnly tell you that this matter involves the prince, so don't talk nonsense, otherwise it will harm yourself, and it will be too late to regret it." Li Zhaode had heard that the prince Li Xian was a wise man.
Both his personal virtues and his administrative abilities were praised by the emperor. Although there were also various unsavory rumors about the prince, he believed that they must be rumors and slanders made by others. It was out of this mentality that this man who had always been upright spoke out.
With such words, the purpose is naturally to try to protect the prince.
But unexpectedly, the man said firmly: "Jun Qi, I dare to confirm that this person is Zhao Daosheng's cousin, because Zhao Daoming lives in the same house with me, and I have seen Zhao Daosheng and him before.
We walked together, and Zhao Daosheng once called him a cousin, and the matter involved His Highness the Crown Prince. How can a villain dare to talk nonsense about such a big matter? Could it be that the villain is desperate for his life? "
Li Zhaode thought about the same truth. Seeing that the other party was so sure, he had no choice but to report to the emperor and the empress, saying that he had found a clue. However, because the suspect was a palace slave beside the prince, he did not dare to make his own decision and ask the empress for an edict.
At this time, the emperor and empress's car had already rushed from Luoyang to Chang'an. When they received the news, Gaozong and Empress Wu were already on the way. At this time, Gaozong was obviously hesitant, because the matter involved the prince, and Gaozong knew that the prince and Empress Wu were already on the way.
Because of the conflict between Empress Wu and Empress Wu, she was afraid that Empress Wu would frame the prince, so she refused to agree to publicly arrest Zhao Daosheng.
Seeing Gaozong like this, Empress Wu was very anxious, but she had no choice. In the end, she had to use a roundabout strategy and persuaded Gaozong to agree to secretly arrest Zhao Daosheng and interrogate him quietly. If it was really not the prince, then he would release him secretly.
Zhao Daosheng, who was arrested and tortured was just a slave, and the face of the East Palace was not lost. Gaozong was already soft-eared, so he reluctantly agreed to this idea after hearing what Empress Wu said was reasonable. Empress Wu then issued a decree to Li Zhaode
, requiring Li Zhaode to act quickly, secretly arrest Zhao Daosheng, and conduct a secret interrogation.
After receiving the order, Li Zhaode had no choice but to order the arrest of Zhao Daosheng secretly. It happened that Zhao Daosheng did not know how to advance or retreat, so he appeared on the street arrogantly. Naturally, Li Zhaode's officials caught him and secretly arrested him.
During the subsequent interrogation process, Li Zhaode originally thought that Zhao Daosheng would deny it, but he did not expect that after only the first round of interrogation and seeing the red-hot iron, Zhao Daosheng confessed everything and admitted to assassinating Ming Chongyan.
He was the mastermind of the prince, and he found his cousin Zhao Daoming to perform specific tasks. It was not until later that he found out that his cousin was also dead. However, he thought that no one in the world would know this secret again, so he arrogantly
Take to the streets.
In addition, Zhao Daosheng also took the initiative to admit that the dirty rumors between himself and the prince were indeed true. All this made Li Zhaode shake his head, secretly feeling pity for the prince, and at the same time he was quite indignant. He was originally like this
I was optimistic about the prince, but I didn't expect that there was such absurdity behind him.
Disappointed, Li Zhaode reported the results of the interrogation to the Ministry of Punishment, and then passed them on to Empress Wu through the Ministry of Punishment.
However, Empress Wu did not immediately identify the mastermind of the matter as Prince Li Xian. She frowned and said: "It's just a confession, how can we be sure that it was the prince who did it? Although Zhao Daosheng is a close servant of the prince, he should be loyal to the prince.
But he immediately confessed as soon as he was interrogated. Is there something hidden in this? Therefore, the matter cannot be settled as it is. If the prince is wrongly accused, it will become a laughing stock. "
Emperor Gaozong was originally worried that the prince would be convicted for this. After hearing what Empress Wu said, he nodded immediately and said: "Yes, the Empress is very reasonable. We can't unjustly accuse a good person. Mei Niang, you are so open-minded and open-minded, I really appreciate it." Appreciated.”
Empress Wu smiled when she heard this, then thanked Gaozong for the compliment, and then said slowly: "I am just talking about the matter, and I am dedicated to serving the public. However, I believe that in order to completely clear the prince's suspicion, we need to send someone. Go to the East Palace to search, Your Majesty, don’t be suspicious, this search is just a formality, I believe that after this search, the prince will be cleared."
"Haha, Mei Niang, you are Xian'er's biological mother, how can you have any ill intentions towards Xian'er? It would be weird if I didn't have this most basic trust. In this case, I'm sure, I'll kill you immediately I ride to the East Palace to conduct a search. I believe that this time the prince will be cleared. As for Zhao Daosheng, this unscrupulous slave, huh, as a slave, he dares to speak nonsense about his master, so he will be killed directly." At this point, Gaozong was already. His face was ashen, and he obviously hated slaves like Zhao Daosheng who betrayed their masters, and demanded that such slaves be put to death.
However, the prince was not convicted and the case was not yet settled. Empress Wu still persuaded Gaozong to do so. Empress Wu only heard Empress Wu say: "Your Majesty, let Zhao Daosheng live for the time being. After the case is settled, he will be punished for falsely accusing the Lord." , give an explanation to the prince, and also give an explanation to all the officials and people."
After hearing this, Emperor Gaozong immediately felt that it made sense, so he ordered Zhao Daosheng to be moved to Dali Temple for detention, and ordered Haosheng to take care of him. At the same time, he ordered Baiqi to go to the East Palace to conduct a search.
Gaozong originally thought that this search was just a routine matter, and all he got in exchange was the prince's innocence, so he didn't pay much attention to it. However, after waiting for half an hour, he suddenly saw Li Zhonglin, the commander of Baiqi, coming to the palace with a solemn look on his face. Gao Zong paused and said: "Your Majesty, I was ordered to search the Prince's East Palace. The result, the result..."
"What's the result? Don't panic, tell me slowly." Seeing the strange look on the Baiqi Commander's face and his incoherent speech, Emperor Gaozong felt his heart sinking and said slowly.
Li Zhonglin hesitated for a moment, and then said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I have found no evidence that the prince murdered Dr. Ming..."
"Since you haven't found anything, why are you so nervous? You have been with me for many years and you are so useless." Gaozong pointed at Li Zhonglin and cursed with an angry smile.
But Li Zhonglin sighed and said in a deep voice: "Although no evidence was found to murder Dr. Ming, Wei Chen discovered another big thing. The prince, the prince intends to rebel!"
"What do you mean?" Gaozong was immediately shocked when he heard this. He looked at Li Zhonglin in disbelief and asked word for word: "Tell me again, what exactly did you find in the East Palace? If you can't explain clearly, I It’s going to take your life!”
At the end, Gaozong's face was full of ferocity and murderous intent. As long as Li Zhonglin didn't handle it well, I believe his great head would be chopped off quickly. (To be continued.) This chapter has been completed!