In fact, ever since the emperor ordered him to hand over Dongchang, he had a vague premonition of something ominous.
But in the final analysis, he has not done anything detrimental to the emperor these days. On the contrary, he does his best in his work.
Therefore, Jin Ying thought that even if the emperor wanted to touch him, he would not be so anxious.
But he didn't expect that this thunderous strike would come so unexpectedly!
That matter, in normal times, is just a trivial matter.
But falling into this court battle and being connected by someone with intentions was enough to make both him and Shi Pu defeated.
All the trump cards have been revealed, and naturally the next step will be a general showdown with red bayonets.
Yu Shiyue asked the commoner woman Luliu with a serious face.
"Since you are a maid in Eunuch Jin's residence, I would like to ask you, what are you responsible for in Eunuch Jin's residence?"
Luliu seemed a little scared, but she still opened her mouth and replied: "Go back to the lord, the daughter of the people is responsible for serving tea in the mansion."
Yu Shiyue nodded, pointed at Shi Pu beside him, and said.
"You raise your head and look carefully. Have you ever seen this person? If so, when and where?"
Lu Liu boldly raised her head, followed the direction Yu Shiyue pointed, and saw Shi Pu staring at her with a gloomy expression.
That scarlet robe seemed to put a lot of pressure on Luliu. She didn't dare to look more, so she lowered her head and said.
"Sir, the daughter of the people met this gentleman. It was on the evening of the 15th of this month, at about 2:00, that he brought a small box to visit Eunuch Jin at his house."
"Nonsense, I've never been there before?"
As soon as Lu Liu's voice fell, Shi Pu stared at her and scolded her.
"Bold daughter of the people, this is the imperial court, and I am the second-rank minister of the imperial court. How can I allow you to slander me like this? Tell me quickly, who instigated you to frame me and Eunuch Jin?"
Luliu was so frightened that she immediately knelt on the ground, lowering her head and not daring to speak, and her body was trembling.
But Yu Shiyue took a step forward and said coldly.
"Shi Shangshu, you have overstepped your bounds!"
"Your Majesty has issued an edict, ordering me to preside over this court ceremony. As a suspect in this case, you intimidated witnesses in court. Based on this alone, I have reason to think that you have a guilty conscience and punish you for disturbing the court ceremony.
!”
Shi Pu snorted coldly, flicked his sleeves and robe, and remained silent.
Didn't he know that doing so was the last resort?
But now that things have come to this, how can he find another way?
As a person involved in the incident, like Jin Ying, he had already figured everything out the moment he recognized Luliu's identity.
Since the civil war, he has been trying his best to clear his relationship with Wang Zhen.
After returning to Beijing, he focused all his energy on handling this matter.
I thought that as long as they couldn't get evidence, they could escape this disaster anyway.
But who would have thought that Yu Shiyue had no intention of finding any evidence at all.
Instead, he took a different approach and focused on his actions after returning to Beijing!
In fact, there was no need for Yu Shiyue to say that Shi Pu's actions looked too much like a sign of guilty conscience.
As a result, most of the ministers in the court, although they still didn't know what happened, looked at Shi Pu with a bit more suspicion.
Shi Pu gritted his teeth and said with a serious face.
"If you want to accuse me, why bother? I and Eunuch Jin have both explained that on the night of the 15th, we were both in our mansion, but this woman was talking nonsense, saying that she had seen the two of us. Isn't this the case?
Instigated, deliberately framed?"
Facing Shi Pu's rebuttal, before Yu Shiyue could speak, Lu Zhong stepped forward and spoke.
"Shi Shangshu, it is difficult to say whether this woman was instigated by others, but it is certain that you lied and deceived the emperor."
As he spoke, Lu Zhong took out a document from his sleeve and unfolded it.
"The Jinyi Guards have been ordered by the Holy Order to assist the Third Division in investigating Wang Zhen's case. I have already suspected you, Shi Shangshu. Since the day you entered the city, my commander has sent spies to station outside your house."
"This is the itinerary document submitted by Jin Yiwei. It clearly states that on the night of the 15th, Shangshu Shi walked out of the side door of the mansion and went to Eunuch Jin's house."
"How many followers you had with you at that time, their names, where they lived, what kind of clothes you and they were wearing at the time, all are clearly written down. But I, the commander, will have to spend a lot more effort to tell you
Can you elaborate?"
Looking at Lu Zhongpi's smiling face, Shi Pu was so angry that his hair and hair were all bald, he pointed at him and shouted in disbelief.
"How dare you spy on me?"
The officials below also became frightened and confused because of this news, but this time, they were not because of Shi Pu, but because of Jin Yiwei.
Jinyiwei has been very active in the capital recently, and the court officials are aware of this, but they only think that they are assisting the Three Laws Division in handling cases.
But he never thought that Jin Yiwei was secretly monitoring the court officials.
At the thought of this, many ministers in the court broke out in cold sweat.
As Shi Pu is the seventh minister, even Jin Yiwei dares to spy on him, let alone other courtiers?
At that moment, some censors wanted to impeach him.
However, this time, before they even got out of the queue, they heard Lu Zhong speak.
"Shi Shangshu's words are serious. The Jinyi Guards have the responsibility of reconnaissance. Although the commander arranged for spies, they only followed outside the mansion and did not do anything beyond the rules."
"What's more, the chief of the Three Laws Department was notified in advance of this spy arrangement. I have documents countersigned by the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple here. Can Shangshu Shi check it?"
Since Lu Zhong dared to come to the palace, he had naturally made complete preparations.
Jinyiwei does have the power of supervision, but now is no longer the time of Taizu, so court discussions still need to be taken into consideration.
Therefore, he had long been angry with Sanfa Si Tong.
With these few words, the courtiers managed to calm down.
As long as Jin Yiwei doesn't monitor him randomly, that's fine.
The bosses only care about whether they will be targeted for no reason. As for others, go to hell!
Seeing this situation, Shi Pu was furious, but had no choice.
He really didn't expect that the Jin Yiwei, who always acted only under the emperor's orders, would actually talk about the rules this time.
Feeling the dazzling gazes around him, Shi Shangshu felt a chill in his back.
It was only at this moment that he finally understood that what was pouncing on him was not a knife, but a thin and dense invisible net.
It seems that there are loopholes everywhere to escape, but when this net is tightened, it can strangle people to death!
Ignoring Shi Pu's gloomy face, Yu Shiyue continued to ask Lu Liu.
"Continue to tell me, when Minister Shi visited Jin Gonggong's mansion, what was in the small box he brought, and what was the scene like at that time?"
As if feeling that the person he was afraid of had gained the upper hand, Luliu, who was kneeling on the ground, mustered up some courage and spoke again, saying.
"Back to the lord, there is a row of gold ingots in the small box. When the girl was serving tea, she heard the man say, 'It's just a hundred taels, it's not a sign of respect. Please accept it with a smile, Eunuch Jin.'"
After the words fell, there was an uproar below.
Hundreds of taels of gold are equivalent to Shi Pu's salary for the past two years. Although most officials at his level do not live on salary, this is not a small amount of money.
With so much money, secretly delivered late at night, and Shi Pu's denial just now, it's hard not to think of it.
Ignoring the comments below, Yu Shiyue took a step forward and continued to ask as calmly as possible.
"What else? Did you hear what the two of them talked about?"
Luliu kowtowed and said.
"After the folk girls served tea, Eunuch Jin dismissed the serving maids, leaving only two personal maids to serve him."
"However, they talked for nearly half an hour. The middle-aged girl went in to refill the tea and heard the gentleman say, 'There are traitors in the court who want to harm me. I ask Eunuch Jin to deal with it for me. If I am safe, there will be
Thank you very much'."
There was no need to say anything else. As soon as this sentence came out, Shi Pu turned pale and almost fell to the ground. His mind was filled with two words.