It’s midnight, and the moon has already set. The clouds are getting thicker, covering the earth like a huge curtain. The darkness spreads to every corner of the world, eerie and dark.
The cold wind blew the branches and the eaves of the palace, making a strange "wuwu" sound, as if a ghost was crying. There were lamps all over the palace, making the light and shadow extremely long and faint. Suddenly, a breeze came into the palace, and as the shadows of the candles flickered,
The light and shadow on the ground swayed from side to side, like a group of ghosts having a carnival.
The emperor's voice was very soft and slow, as if he would consider every word countless times before speaking it out: I inherited the Qianxu, compiled the army and the great forces, and hoped to usher in a period of unification, which is the luck of the Guangxi for thousands of years. Therefore, I have long been ignorant of the future.
, like walking on thin ice... Although I admire the strict teachings, I am still afraid that if I do not extend my morals, I will be punished by the concierge.
However, the brothers are cruel and do not care about family affection. If one of them does evil, it will bring disaster to the whole family. Each important minister hides his treachery. He betrays public interests and indulges in filth. I am a brother and a king, and I deeply mourn..."
The further he went, the slower Li Chengzhi wrote, and his heart became heavier and heavier. A pen barrel weighing less than half a tael was held in his hand, weighing as much as a thousand pounds.
It wasn't just him who was so panicked. Even You Zhao, who laid the silk for him, and Liu Fang, who polished the ink, were afraid that he would write the wrong word, or he was in a hurry and couldn't remember which word was which word, which word was which word, and knelt down.
Cui Guang and others who were sitting at the desk giving instructions all had their hands and feet shaking and their beards shaking?
Just because anyone with a little brain can guess the emperor's intention: but when the imperial edict is written, the emperor will go on a killing spree. Not only does he want to kill his brothers, he is also planning to kill his ministers?
His mind was already agitated and uneasy, and now he was even more frightened. Li Chengzhi was able to control his hands from shaking and write every stroke of every word, which was a result of his exerting 120% of his concentration. After Kankan finished writing the four words "I deeply mourn", he was already covered in cold sweat. Afraid of tainting the imperial edict, he quickly asked Liu Teng for a soft handkerchief.
Just as he was about to wipe it off, he saw the emperor staring at the imperial edict he had written half-way through, as if he was gritting his teeth.
It’s true that the writing is not very good-looking: some characters are big, some are small, some are too fat, and some are too thin, just like a paved road with random stones, each one stands out.
"You are so ugly that you dare to keep it for eternity? Burn it and rewrite it!"
You are so angry that you want to kill someone with a knife, but you still care about this?
Li Chengzhi could only respond, folded the imperial edict and handed it to Cui Guang. He also asked Liu Fang to lay out a new piece of silk.
Hearing the sound of "burn", all the ministers in the palace breathed a sigh of relief. Although they tried their best to suppress their voices, they couldn't handle the crowd. It was like a gust of wind blowing from the ground, and the candle flames began to sway. The emperor's eyes flashed with cold light and twitched slightly: "It's just a piece of paper that was burned, and it's not the sin of you and other rebellious officials and traitors. How can you be lucky?"
Rebellious ministers and traitors?
The previous sentence "Everyone hides his traitor and betrays public interests and personal interests" is just that. After all, he didn't mention his name. But this sentence "rebellious ministers and traitors" scolded everyone who knelt in the palace?
Does it mean...to kill them all?
It was as if I had seen the emperor raising the butcher's knife, and everything felt chilly and hairy.
"Do you think that I think that time is running out and that I have reached the end of my path, so I order you to be stunned and become violent and wanton?"
The ministers lowered their heads deeply: "I... don't dare!"
"Haha... don't you dare?" the emperor laughed ferociously, "Yuanjia!"
"I'm here!"
"Your youngest son should be the result of an affair between Yuan Sengbao and your side wife, right?"
Yuan Jia paused suddenly, as if frozen.
"And your eldest son, Yuan Yuan, has been secretly communicating with Yuan Sengbao, and every year Yuan Sengbao secretly gifts Yuan Yuan millions of goods, do you know that?"
Millions?
How dare you accept this traitor?
Yuan Jia secretly gritted his teeth and put his head on the ground: "Old minister... I don't know!"
"Just pretend you don't know... Do you know that Yuan Yuan has been having an affair with Yu, the wife of your grandson and nephew Yuan Hui, for a year?"
Yuan Jia paused for several breaths before saying sadly: "I... don't know either!"
"I don't know? Okay, let me ask you one more question: In the third year of Zhengshi (506, three years ago), Yuan Ye and Yuan Xianhe, the sons of Yuan Xi, defected to the Southern Dynasty. After being entrusted with important tasks by Xiao Yan, they gave you several letters to repair.
, advise you and Yuan Yuan to raise an army...
Although there is no change between you and your son, there is not a word or phrase that has been conveyed to me from the beginning to the end. I ask you, just for this one thing, should you and your son be executed?"
The question is no longer "know or not", but "should he be punished?"
Yuan Jia raised his head suddenly, the corners of his eyes twitched sharply, and looked at the emperor in horror: "It should...should be punished..."
"Okay!"
The emperor gave a deep shout and then looked at Gao Zhao: "Uncle, I ask you: Before three months, did you send any of your confidants to carry a lot of money from the capital to Pingzhou Bailang Pass (the border pass between the Northern Wei Dynasty and Goguryeo), and give them to you along the way?
County magistrate, the general will bribe you with a large sum of money in order to grant you some immunity when you defect?
I ask you again, in the same month, did you go to Gao Meng? Gao Zhi sent a secret letter, ordering each of them to prepare a thousand armors and cavalry. But when there is a change in the capital, you will bring your wife and children with Gao Meng.
Gao Zhi rebelled against Goryeo?"
It was as if all the blood had been drained out of him. In an instant, Gao Zhao's face was whiter than snow.
Li Chengzhi opened his mouth in shock.
Three months ago, it was when Hu Chonghua failed to assassinate the empress that the emperor not only failed to seek justice for the empress, but became secretly suspicious because of this and imprisoned Gao Zhao in the palace in order to reduce his power.
What an old fox, I thought you had figured out that the emperor was bluffing to scare you, so you were as safe as a rock, but it turned out that you had already secretly left a way out?
He was slandering Gao Zhao. The emperor raised his hand, pointed at Li Chengzhi and scolded: "Idiot, you favor him in everything, but you don't know that your uncle has already had a second heart? You think he is asking you to train him?"
Are those two hundred people really going to be taken to Shu to serve as personal soldiers? It’s clear that he has become rebellious and wants to send Xizuo along the way... As for you?"
The emperor looked at Liu Teng, then turned around and cursed: "You just woke up today, it was only for one day. And this old slave is old after all, and he has not found out what secrets you have about this rebellious minister..."<
/p>
Li Chengzhi's hair stood on end, his heart shrank into a ball, and he stabbed the case with the brush in his hand like a knife. The imperial edict he had just copied half was completely stained by him.
"Why...why...there are still ministers?"
"Insignificant minister? It is true that your official position is too small, but in terms of authority, ask these treacherous ministers, which one is as good as you?"
The emperor breathed out slowly: "When sudden changes occur, I am like a frightened bird. The only ministers I dare to trust are Yuan Jia, Yuan Yuan and his son, Gao Zhao, Yuan Yong, Yuan Yi, and you and a few others.
If I don't know what I'm doing, how can I dare to teach it?"
"In this case, Your Majesty still dares to grant military power to us?"
The emperor's lips curled up: "Except for you, when will I ever teach anyone else again?"
A breath was stuck in Li Chengzhi's throat.
So that’s it?
Although Yuan Jia, Gao Zhao, Yuan Yong, Yuan Yi and others have military symbols, they have been trapped in the palace. As long as they can't get out for a day, they can't even mobilize half of their soldiers...
No wonder Liu Teng has been investigating for ten days, but the assassination case is progressing extremely slowly. So the emperor asked him to investigate these things first?
When I thought about it again, I felt it was natural: As the king of a country, seeing that his life is at stake, he can only stabilize the overall situation first, choose a trustworthy person, and take care of the future.
But I’m afraid that even the emperor himself didn’t expect that no matter how many times he chose, he would turn out to be all bastards?
Seeing him lost his mind and dumbfounded, the emperor snorted coldly and shouted: "Yuan Yong!"
"My lord, my lord, my lord...are here!"
"Two years ago, you went through all the trouble and traveled thousands of miles to recruit an alchemist from the Southern Dynasties. This alchemist said he could predict your fortune for ten years and had no final calculations. He was also good at the art of being tired of winning and could kill people invisible... Let me ask you,
Why do you just hide it in your house but wait so long to use it?"
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty..."
Yuan Yong was so frightened that he was reduced to a puddle of mud, with tears and snot flowing out of his nose like money: "I...I am just curious, and I would never dare to murder Your Majesty..."
"You are as timid as a mouse, so you just don't dare, not you don't want to!"
The emperor sneered and pointed behind him, "Yuan Yi, if you dare to pretend to be dead again, I will cut you into a pigeon..."
Li Chengzhi's eyes bulged out: Yuan Yi was like a corpse resurrected, he actually sat up and said: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, I know that I am guilty, and I just want to die quickly!"
"Idiot!"
The emperor cursed in a low voice, but he didn't know whether he was scolding Li Chengzhi or Yuan Yi. He raised his head and said coldly, "Let me make it clear, it's not too late for you to die... In the past year, you have often taken care of Yuan Baoyue and Yuan Baohui.
(all sons of Yuan Yu) and others, and threatened Zong Zhengqing and his subordinates, not to treat them harshly?"
Since the emperor dared to ask for the exit, he must have checked everything thoroughly. Yuan Yi did not even dare to hesitate: "Yes..."
"Then do you know that Yuan Xie was punished for this?"
How could Yuan Yi not know that it was because his sixth uncle secretly helped and protected the sons of his second uncle (Yuan Xi), and secretly released them to the Southern Dynasties, that he was killed...
Knowing that he would not be spared, Yuan Yi burst into tears for a while: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty made it clear that I only feel pity and have no intention of condoning the defection of Yuan Baoyue and others..."
"You just don't have the ability!"
Yuan Ke said sadly, "Don't you know, just like you and Yuan Xie: the more wise you are, the more violent I become. When you feel pity in your heart, have you ever thought about where this will put me?
Land?"
Yuan Yi was speechless when asked. He just kept kowtowing his head, and the "dong dong" sound was like ringing a bell.
"Don't knock!"
The emperor waved his hand in disgust, "I ask you again, when will Mrs. Hu give you the mandarin duck brocade handkerchief?"
Yuan Yi wiped away tears: "On the second day of New Year's Day, when will I pay my New Year's greetings to Qingquan Palace?"
"When did you stay with her?"
"At the end of August (the sixth day of August), Deng Zhiguo sent an envoy to pay tribute, and his Majesty ordered his ministers to accompany him to a banquet in Taiji Hall. He was very drunk that night, so he stayed in Hualin Garden. When he was half asleep and half awake, he woke up with a start.
He actually stayed in Qingquan Palace and had a good time with... and Mr. Hu..."
"You remember it clearly?"
The emperor sneered and said, "How did you get to Qingquan Palace? How did you know that it was Qingquan Palace, and how did you know that the woman was Hu?"
"I should be... he should have been kidnapped after being drunk... Although the palace was dark that night, there was moonlight shining through the windows. The decoration in the palace was the same as the bedroom where the Hu family lived... And... and that woman
His face and figure are very similar to Hu's...
After the matter was over...after the matter was over, the woman called the guards into the palace again, so I also heard her voice. Although it was a little sharp, it was sixty-seven times similar, so I thought it should be...it should be Hu Shichun.
Because the tide has not yet ended...
When the guards entered the palace and knocked me unconscious and carried me away, I took a peek outside the door under the moonlight and saw that Duanmen Bell Tower was located to the south and west of me, so I dare to conclude that it is Qingquan Palace..."<
/p>
Yuan Yi suddenly burst into tears: "Seeing that Mrs. Hu was so calm and not avoiding the guards, I thought... that it was... that Mrs. Hu was not pregnant and Your Majesty had no choice but to do this, so I didn't tell Your Majesty.
Present..."
It means that for some reason, the emperor made up a big lie. In fact, Hu Chonghua was not pregnant. But the emperor knew that paper could not cover the fire after all, so he wanted to borrow Yuan Yi's seed...
"Hahaha...hahahahaha...
The emperor was stunned, and then he laughed suddenly, the louder and louder he laughed. But as he smiled, tears fell from the corners of his eyes: "I...how could I have a brother like you? He is so stupid that he is hopeless... Yuan Yi, Yuan Yi, in your heart, I am so unbearable that I can give my concubines to foreign ministers to borrow seeds? You are so ignorant and deserve to be plotted..."
Being plotted... isn't it Hu Chonghua?
Yuan Yi was so excited that his whole body trembled, shaking like chaff. He opened his mouth for a long time, but it was like a piece of cloth was stuffed in his throat. He could only say "uh uh uh" unconsciously, but he couldn't spit out a complete byte. p>
From the emperor on down, everyone felt as if they had been hit by a thunderbolt, and they were battered on the outside and tender on the inside. Even Yuan Jia, Gao Zhao, Yuan Yong and others who were waiting to be crowned no longer cared about their fear and were dumbfounded.
looking at the emperor.
Doesn’t it mean that the fetus in Hu Chonghua’s belly is not a wild species?
Even if he really managed to get by, it was only two months ago. At that time, the fetus in Hu Chonghua's belly was already three months old...
After finally stopping his laughter, the emperor gasped and asked: "Yuanhui, what did Mr. Hu say?"
Like a ghost, Yuan Hui suddenly emerged from the darkness: "Your Majesty, Hu Chonghua only said that he was temporarily obsessed with ghosts and gave King Qinghe a brocade handkerchief, but he will never tolerate it!"
"Idiot, did you hear that?"
Yuan Ke scolded Yuan Yi, then turned to look at Li Chengzhi, "You are also an idiot. You are better than Yuan Yi, but you are still only as strong as you can be..."
Does it have anything to do with me?
Li Chengzhi wanted to argue, but when he saw Gao Ying, whose face was paler than paper, he felt guilty.
You damn woman, the emperor is talking about Hu Chonghua, not you, why are you shaking your hammer?
While he was cursing, the emperor said abruptly: "Guess for me, who was the woman who had sex with Yuan Yi that night?"
How do I know?
After entering the palace, it was like the world was turned upside down. It was not an ordinary chaos. Li Chengzhi's mind was already in a mess, and he just stared at the emperor with a pair of innocent eyes.
"It's not wrong to call you an idiot!"
The emperor sighed leisurely, "Yuan Yi said it so clearly, you couldn't even guess it? Think carefully, what you have seen...
The appearance and body shape are 60-70% similar to Hu Chonghua?
The sound is similar, but a little bit shriller?
Have you seen it yourself?
A flash of light seemed to flash in Li Chengzhi's mind, and he suddenly remembered that on the day the emperor was assassinated, Yuan Yi's wife was slapped to the ground by him, and she screamed like a ghost...