Li Chengzhi felt that his brain had lost the ability to think, his body was as wooden as stone, and his heart was as heavy as if it were filled with lead.
I knew it would be like this: If any random cat or dog could seduce the emperor and fool him like a fool, Yuan Ke would no longer be Yuan Ke...
The emperor has always been showing softness and playing hard to get.
Who was captured?
Li Chengzhi suppressed the throbbing in his heart and swept his eyes quickly. There were more than ten ministers kneeling under the steps, but they all looked like him: like wooden piles struck by lightning, stupid and stunned, stupid and dumb.
.
Looking back, You Zhao, Liu Fang, Cui Guang, and Xu Jian and Wang Xian standing behind the emperor also looked similar.
Only Liu Teng, who was kneeling in front of the imperial couch, was shivering. Big beads of sweat rolled down his forehead one after another, gathered under his chin, and dripped down.
The emperor's voice was not loud, but it was like thunder: "Liu Teng, where is Hu Xianrong?"
"Dead, sure...dead...dead..."
"It's a good death. Once you die, you'll get a hundred lives. If you die without any evidence, do you know you're guilty?"
Liu Teng was shaking like a broken leaf in the wind, about to droop, but he insisted on not opening his mouth.
"Not convinced? Not to mention today's situation, how much did you participate in it? As a prince, Yuan Yi was actually kidnapped in the palace and taken to Qingquan Palace, forcing him to have an affair with the wife of a foreign minister. As the great minister of Qiu,
, you cannot absolve yourself of the blame..."
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, this matter... this matter was definitely not planned by me... I was also deceived and fell into the thieves' scheme... Including the sudden death of Hu Xianrong on the day of His Majesty's assassination, I have never doubted that this was the case...
Things are related..."
Liu Tengtu burst into tears, "I have all thought... that the son in Hu Chonghua's belly was the work of King Qinghe..."
"Yes, the emperor's concubine can be raped in the palace and become pregnant with blood? Even if you are guilty of dereliction of duty, you will not escape death...
The thieves probably used this to blackmail you. They first suppressed the assassination case and then asked you to find them after all their efforts. They originally wanted to wait until I Bintian before using the evidence to blackmail Yuan Jia, Gao Zhao and others.
Did you tell me?
But why don’t you think about how much courage Hu Chonghua had to commit the crime of killing all nine clans? What’s more, Hu is surrounded by your Changqiu Temple’s maids day and night, and how many of them are there?
A dark man directly under my control?
If the thief really has the ability to carry out such a big thing, it would be easy for me to die suddenly, or even die of natural illness. Why would he need to go through all the trouble to assassinate me? Why would he need to let the Hu family borrow seeds from others to hide the truth? Li Daitao is dead.
Trick?
Liu Teng, Liu Teng, you are as smart as a fool, and your heart is as clear as a mirror. You should be able to imagine that there must be something fishy in it. If you step back ten thousand steps, even if it is true as the thief said, you will only be guilty of dereliction of duty.
And since you have been so kind to me many times, I may not be able to absolve you of the death penalty. But you are greedy for power and are unwilling to give up your current status and wealth, so you are willing to collude with traitors and collude..."
Liu Teng was speechless and banged his head on the stone bricks, clearly admitting it.
We can only blame Liu Teng for being opportunistic and thinking that this time he could steal the wealth and reach a higher level like before.
The former deposed prince, Yuan Xun, the eldest brother of Yuan Ke, rebelled, and it was Liu Teng who reported him, otherwise Emperor Xiaowen would not have been able to solve it so easily.
The prince was sentenced to death, and he must be re-established. However, Yuan Hong took into account that Yuan Ke had been frail and sick since childhood and did not have the appearance of longevity, so he had no intention of making him the prince.
It was Liu Teng who risked his life to make suggestions again, saying that abolishing the elders and establishing younger ones was a sign of national destruction. Yuan Hong weighed it for a long time and finally adopted Liu Teng's suggestion. Otherwise, how could Yuan Ke be crowned prince?
The third time it was Liu Teng: Yuan Ke had a feminine temperament and was not liked by Queen Feng Run. Feng Run repeatedly blew the pillow wind and persuaded Yuan Hong to depose Yuan Ke. It was almost Liu Teng who encouraged Chen Liuchang.
Princess, the two traveled thousands of miles to inform Yuan Hong, who was Zhengnanzheng, about Feng Run’s adultery with Gao Bodhisattva...
Only these three things were like kindness to Yuan Ke. Therefore, in the end, he treated Liu Teng very kindly, treating him like a confidant, giving him everything he wanted.
When he died, he was entrusted with great trust and granted great power. Otherwise, how could he, a eunuch, have the ability to imprison Hu Chonghua and control the government like the Supreme Emperor for five or six years until he died of illness?
Unfortunately, everything was messed up by Li Chengzhi who fell from the sky...
The emperor sighed sadly: "Isn't it you who leaked the edict that I and I left ten days ago to the thieves?"
"Yes...yes!"
"Haha..."
Yuan Ke looked up at the pile of people kneeling on the ground, "Have you thought of everything?"
All the ministers were as messy as the wind and as dumb as wooden chickens.
Liu Teng actually rebelled just ten days ago?
And the edict, if nothing unexpected happened, the emperor must have written that if Hu Chonghua was born a princess, he would inherit Yuan Yu or Yuan Huai's son and succeed him as Dabao.
That's why tonight's chaos happened: Yuan Yu's four sons were all killed, and Yuan Huai and his eldest son Yuan Ti escaped only a narrow escape.
If we deduce this, Yuan Yi is the most suspicious, but judging from the emperor's attitude, it doesn't look like him?
Li Chengzhi was as anxious as a cat scratching his head. He wanted to grab Liu Teng by the collar and ask who he was. But when the words came to his lips, he took another turn: "Liu Teng, why did you check me today?"
"Idiot, even I thought you would die, let alone Liu Teng and the thieves?"
The emperor cursed, then pointed at Yuan Jia and Gao Zhao who were kneeling below, "Their crimes were not committed by Liu Teng all at once, but were handed down to me one by one.
The intention is nothing more than to prevent me from giving the military power and even the responsibilities of palace confinement to others. In the end, I will only fall into the hands of thieves. By that time, I will belatedly see through the traitor and have returned.
The sky is powerless...but the sky is inexhaustible, so I let you wake up?"
Li Chengzhi suddenly realized: No wonder the emperor dared to hand over the jade seal to him as soon as he woke up. It turns out that no one can use it anymore and no one dares to use it?
"And do you know why there is such chaos tonight? It's because you faked the corpse and resurrected it, that I actually stabilized my position during the chaos, and did not prosecute Yuan Jia and others for the death penalty of these rebellious officials and traitors, and sent them to prison...
…
Because of your excuse, I did not even release the military power of Yuan Jia, Gao Zhao, Yuan Yong, Yuan Yi and others. Furthermore, because you strongly recommended Yuan Yuan to me, he led Huben to surround Qingquan Palace like an iron barrel.
, for ten whole days, the enemy was not given the slightest chance to take advantage.
And if you continue to pursue it, the thief will have no way to hide and his success will fall short, so he made a desperate move..."
Li Chengzhi's scalp felt numb: How could he be so useful? Just because he suddenly woke up, the emperor seemed to be grasping at straws, and even more so that the criminals jumped over the wall?
A dog is anxious to jump over the wall...how to jump?
Just rely on the fire at Zongzheng Temple and the assassination at Hualin Villa?
What's more, there are tens of thousands of tigers in the palace?
"Don't look at it... Do you know why I called you a fool? I clearly hinted at you, but you were like a muscle, thinking that I was showing weakness to the enemy, and actually ran back like a trap? If you insist on the Emperor's Day
Escape from the palace, no matter whether it is the Chinese army, the Tiger Guard, or the new army, they have already been mobilized..."
Yuan Ke sighed in dismay, "It's too late to say anything now. If what I expected is true, the imperial city at this time has already been surrounded like an iron barrel..."
It turns out that the emperor’s bloody mouth was sprayed on purpose?
And what Liu Teng said to him outside Qingquan Palace to persuade him to mobilize his troops was actually a test?
Liu Teng could have predicted that, not to mention the ringleader behind the scenes, if he really dared to go out of the palace to mobilize troops, he might have been shot into a sieve or minced into a pulp?
Unknowingly, Li Chengzhi broke into a cold sweat and his voice was hoarse and hoarse: "I... don't believe it!"
"Don't believe it? You think I'm playing hard to get? Haha...it's up to you!"
The emperor shook his head frustratedly, "Liu Teng, why haven't you started yet?"
As if he had received the secret signal, Liu Teng stood up suddenly and shouted: "You have already seen everything, what are you waiting for?"
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a "boom" sound, like an earthquake, and the whole hall shook.
Several plumes of dust and smoke rose from around the hall, as if it was the end of the world, covering the hall so tightly that you couldn't even see your fingers.
"Escort...Escort..."
It was Yuan Yi who was yelling, and all the ministers in the palace stood up and ran towards this side as if they were waking up from a dream. There were all figures in the smoke, and the footsteps were extremely chaotic.
God knows which of these people rushing over is loyal and which is traitor?
At the critical moment, a burst of hot blood burst out from my heart and instantly flowed through my limbs and bones. My body seemed to suddenly have strength and regained its former bravery.
"Who dares to come here, grandpa will chop him..."
Li Chengzhi drew the knife with his right hand, reached out with his left hand, and grabbed Yuan Ke's collar like lightning. At the same time, he pulled away and flew back, shouting: "Wang Xian, Xu Jian, stopped..."
Poor two old men, they were over 130 years old in total. They had to use all their strength to grab randomly, no matter what they grabbed, they just smashed it out.
I just heard an "ouch" sound, as if it hit Yuan Yi's head.
Normally, Yuan Ke, who was as thin as a handful of firewood, would be as light as a chicken to Li Chengzhi, but at this time he was as heavy as a mountain. He was only pulled back five or six steps, but he was so tired that his whole body tingled and his bones felt like
I fell apart, and my heart beat like a drum.
I can't care anymore... Even if I die from exhaustion, it's still better than being pierced by arrows and torn apart by knives.
Using all his strength, Li Chengzhi dragged Yuan Ke to the corner of the palace. He shouted at the top of his voice: "Yuan Yuan, are you a dead person..."
As soon as I finished speaking, I heard several "clucking" sounds in my ears, and then heard a "whooshing" sound, like a ghost crying and a wolf howling, and the screams at the palace door could pierce the eardrums.
"Bata..."
A few drops of cold sweat rolled down Li Chengzhi's forehead and onto Yuan Ke's face.
Crossbow?
How could such a thing appear in the imperial palace, the concubine’s harem?
Several loud roars came from above the head: "Yuan Yuan, how dare you act without permission? Do you believe that a certain general divided the emperor and your father into pieces with arrows?"
It was actually shouted from the ridge of the main hall. The key is that this voice... was actually Yu Zhong?
Li Chengzhi mechanically lowered his head and looked at the emperor like a ghost: "Why...is it him...hasn't he been imprisoned by you?"
"You dare to rebel, let alone bribe a few jailers? Humph... Rebellious minister... Do you want to kill me?"
Yuan Ke forcefully opened Li Chengzhi's hand, gasping and shouting, "Yuan Hui, Yuan Yuan, don't do anything without permission, let Yu Zhong come in!"
How dare Yuan Yuan do anything without permission?
Suddenly, as if emerging from the ground, the hall was surrounded by soldiers wearing iron armor and holding powerful crossbows. Like an iron wall, they formed a circle with three floors inside and three floors outside, surrounding the emperor and the emperor.
A group of ministers gathered in the middle, blocking Hu Ben outside the hall.
The smoke and dust became lighter and lighter. Li Chengzhi took a closer look and saw that several sections of the walls around the hall had collapsed... Is there a secret passage under Qingquan Palace?
He wants to scold his mother, but he doesn’t know who to scold?
With the two traitors, Yu Zhong and Liu Teng, it is not impossible to move the entire Qingquan Palace, let alone digging tunnels...
"Finally here?"
The emperor chuckled softly and patted Li Chengzhi's arm again, "Why are you panicking? Help me up!"
"Can you still laugh?"
"Are you making me cry? I am a noble person, even if I die, I must die with dignity... Xu Jian and Wang Xian, please bring me my royal couch..."
Li Chengzhi's teeth were almost broken: "The knife is already on his neck. If you have any backup plan, just use it quickly..."
"Back-up plan? Haha... Although I am cruel, I am not so cruel as to see all my biological children and nephews slaughtered before my own eyes. I almost want to destroy the family. If I had a back-up plan, I would have used it a long time ago. Why is it so miserable now?
”
The emperor smiled miserably and said, "I called you a fool, but actually I was also scolding myself. I should have thought it was Yu Zhong..."
"It's not too late now!"
Yu Zhong pushed aside the soldiers and walked in unhurriedly: "Your Majesty must have asked Yuan Hui to interrogate Hu Chonghua before he suddenly realized what he was doing, right?"
"Except for my sister, I can't think of anyone else who could make Yuan Yi mistakenly think that the person he fell in love with was the Hu family.
Since she is the wife of Yuan Yi, there is no doubt that Yuan Ji is a traitor. But it is impossible for a right-guard general Yuan Ji to lay out such a big situation without knowing it, so I thought of you...
By analogy, there is an explanation for the assassination: only you can let the assassin enter the palace as if there is no one else. Only you can persuade Liu Teng to frame whoever he wants to frame...<
/p>
The emperor sighed quietly, "I just didn't expect that you would launch it so easily? I didn't expect that the 30,000 Yulin that I placed in Jinyong City and Hualin Garden, which were supposed to be used as surprise troops, would turn against you so quickly? Changsun
How about Zhi, who was instigated by you to rebel like Liu Teng?"
"Just like Yuan Hui, he is also one of the commanders of His Majesty's secret guards. How can I instigate rebellion? I have no choice but to kill him... He shouldn't have died. It's all because of Li Chengzhi..."
Yu Zhong looked at Li Chengzhi with a cold look in his eyes, "I already think highly of you, but who would have thought that a combination of circumstances could cause fate to trick people?
It was you who caused the assassination to fail...
It's because of you that the military power plan of Yuan Jia, Gao Zhao and others failed...
It is because of you that His Majesty regards Hu Ben as the last barrier and abandons the Thirty Thousand Yu Lin, causing the power of palace confinement to fall into the hands of Yuan Yuan...
If it weren’t for you, the situation would never have been as dire as it is now, and Yu would not have been forced to show up and become a rebellious official and traitor named in history..."
"Haha... I never thought that Li could be a middle-class person?"
Li Chengzhi smiled so ferociously, "Your Majesty, these contributions are so great, even a vassal and a prince are more than enough, right?"
"If I can still be emperor after reaching Jiuquan, what if I make you a prince? Don't make any more noise..."
After scolding Li Chengzhi, the emperor shouted again: "Yu Zhong, as Liu Teng said, you are now in a desperate situation. What do you want?"
"Your Majesty, please do as you did just now and leave a legacy for me to pass on to you. After that, I will treat your Majesty to a glass of fine wine..."
"Fine wine? It should be Jiu Bar...Who will pass the throne to, you?"
"My surname is Yu, not Yuan. Why would your Majesty ask this question knowingly?"
Yu Zhong shouted loudly, "At this time, why should Your Highness be timid?"
Looking at Yuan Huai who got up from the ground with a stern look on his face, Li Chengzhi couldn't believe his eyes.
"Rebellious minister, I'm afraid you have one more crime?"
The emperor clenched his fists, with a cold gleam in his eyes, "If it weren't for your handwriting being too ugly, I would have left an edict that the son of the Hu family should inherit the treasure calendar. If the Hu family gives birth to a daughter, Yuan Ti, the eldest son of Yuan Huai, will inherit the throne.
Successor...
As long as you get this edict, set fire to death and then put the blame on Yuan Yi, everything will be perfect... Therefore, Yu Zhongcai said, it was you who forced him to show his face and bear the infamy of the ages..."
Yuan Ke, when I fuck you, are you afraid that my death will not be ugly enough, so you still continue to attract hatred for me at this time?
Li Chengzhi's tongue trembled: "Yuan Huai? Did he kill his son and his wife... with his own hands?"
"You idiot, of course he is trying to trick me into passing the throne to his eldest son. Do you think the imperial edict is just a piece of paper? With the edict, he has the name of orthodoxy..."
Yuan Ke gritted his teeth hard, and a trace of blood flowed from his lips, "Looking through the history books, are there many tragic incidents of fathers and sons killing each other, and brothers killing each other for the sake of the throne?"