After the emperor left Gu Qingyan behind, he ordered Zhang De to recruit several senior court officials to the palace overnight to discuss matters.
Zhang Zaifu's disciples are all over the government and the public. If he is moved tonight, it will inevitably cause turmoil in the government and the public. How to punish Zhang Zaifu, how to stabilize the court, and how to find out whether the grain robbery case is related to him. This case will not be solved for a while, and it is always
We need to come up with a charter and a way to deal with it.
Several veterans who were called into the palace by the emperor late at night all thought that something big happened today, but they were not sure what the big thing was until they met the emperor and saw the confessions of Fang Yuan, Xu Cheng, and Anping.
And when I heard that a large number of killers had entered the An family's old house, and the survivors were taken away, and they were being interrogated, sweat began to break out on their heads, and they were shocked and shocked.
For more than ten years, Zhang Zaifu has been an unshakable tree in the court. Many people feel that they cannot shake it, so they can only hope that he will retire to free up his seat. However, they did not expect that Zhang Zaifu will not be able to escape unscathed.
That day.
"Don't say you can't think of it, I can't think of it either." The emperor suppressed his anger, "I wonder how many things he has deceived me over the years?"
Several veterans looked at each other but didn't answer.
Zhang Zaifu was personally promoted by His Majesty, and he is also the wife of the second prince. In recent years, not everyone has complained, but His Majesty turned a blind eye and was very conniving. However, those who complained did not need Zhang Zaifu to take action personally.
, someone helped him clean it up. Many people suffered losses after going back and forth. Who else dares to deal with Zhang Zaifu?
To put it bluntly, His Majesty is the one who set it all up, who is to blame?
"I asked you to come, not to blame the dumb." The emperor also knew that he was in the wrong, but as an emperor, he lowered his face and now wanted to hear what they had to say.
"The evidence for the poisoned tea case that murdered Princess Anxiao was undeniable. It was undoubtedly Zhang Zaifu's behind-the-scenes instigation. This is a crime that cannot be argued by Zhang Zaifu. It is reasonable for Your Majesty to send him and his family to the sky jail first. As for sending a killer tonight.
Entering the An family's old house to kill the young princess, if it is really Zhang Zaifu's crime, the nature is worse than the poisoned tea case, this crime is aggravated. It is enough to ask for house confiscation. If the grain robbery case is also related to Zhang Zaifu, then this is the most serious crime.
It is not an exaggerated crime to confiscate the family and exterminate the clan." An old minister spoke carefully.
The emperor nodded, "His crime is clear. I called you here mainly to target his disciples. What are the regulations?"
"Your Majesty, Zhang Zaifu's disciples are all over the government and the public, but some of them are close and some are distant. According to my experience, I want to investigate the people closest to him. This will cause instability in the government and it is not appropriate to reveal everything."
"Pull out the carrots and bring out the mud. This matter needs to be carefully controlled. I think it is better to investigate Zhang Zaifu first to see how evil his actions are."
……
Several people gave their own suggestions, and the emperor thought they all made sense. He nodded and asked Gu Qingyan, who had been silent, "Huai'an, please tell me."
Gu Qingyan said warmly, "Zhang Zaifu's incident will definitely cause an uproar tomorrow. Your Majesty, why not issue a notice to calm the people tomorrow, inform the people of Zhang Zaifu's crime, and appease the people in the capital, so as not to cause panic due to speculation. Secondly, you can
Establish a system of reporting and confessing. Those who report Zhang Zaifu and the evidence is true will be rewarded heavily. Those who follow Zhang Zaifu and take the initiative to plead guilty will be given a lighter punishment. If the government and the public continue to implement it, they will not have to invest in a large-scale investigation. Again, a few highly respected people will be
An honest official will control the case and stabilize the government. Although it may cause temporary turmoil, as long as the foundation is not damaged, the country will not be afraid of serious harm."
"Well, that's well said." The emperor appreciated that Gu Qingyan's words were concrete and concrete, "Tomorrow, let's let a few of my beloved ministers and Huai'an hear the case together."
Several veterans looked at each other and all agreed.
Gu Qingyan hesitated for a moment, "Your Majesty, with a few elders in charge, nothing can go wrong. The little princess has only been in Beijing for a few days, but so many things have happened one after another and she has suffered so much persecution. I am afraid of her mood.
She's depressed, I'd better stay with her! After all, if the little princess can't think about it, I'm afraid it won't be good."
Several veterans were stunned when they heard this.
Zhang Zaifu is determined. Next, the court will reshuffle the cards. Taking this opportunity to win over the courtiers and promote one of your own people is the best opportunity. Even if the courtiers are not won over, if the case is solved, there will be a lot of benefits, and promotion is certain.
Especially since Gu Qingyan is so young and has great potential, I didn’t expect him to refuse.
When the emperor heard this, he was actually a little happy in his rarely angry mood, and said with relief, "Huai'an understands me best, and little An'er is indeed very important. In this case, you should accompany her well as you did earlier, and
Protect her! Don’t worry about other things.”
Gu Qingyan nodded, "Yes!"
Chu Chen and Chu Yan moved very quickly. After arriving at Zhang's Mansion, they ordered people to surround Zhang's Mansion, broke open the door, and led people into Zhang's Mansion.
Zhang Zaifu did not fall asleep, but waited for news in the study. The three hundred killers were indeed sent to the An family's old house. He waited for a long time, but did not wait for anyone to come back to report the news, and his heart sank little by little.
The housekeeper heard the noise outside and came to report, "Master, there seems to be some chaos outside for some reason. It's all the sound of horse hooves."
Zhang Zaifu's heart sank even more, and he made a decision, "Go tell the madam and ask them to take the people away. Just take the secret passage."
The housekeeper was surprised, "Master..."
"Go quickly!"
Seeing Zhang Zaifu's harsh words, the housekeeper didn't dare to say anything more and hurriedly shook his legs and left.
When Mrs. Zhang got the news, she quickly summoned her eldest son and daughter-in-law with a pale face and asked them to take the people away. If the master didn't leave, she wouldn't leave either, so she stayed with him.
Zhang Zaifu's eldest son, Zhang Hu, persuaded his mother, but she refused, so he took his wife, brothers and sisters and left through the secret passage.
As soon as the family members left, Chu Chen and Chu Yan came outside with the imperial guards. Chu Chen took people to the inner courtyard, and Chu Yan took people to Zhang Zaifu's study.
Chu Yan captured Zhang Zaifu in Zhang Zaifu's study, while Chu Chen only captured Mrs. Zhang in the inner courtyard. The rest of the family members were nowhere to be seen.
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Chu Chen grabbed the housekeeper of Zhang's house and questioned him. The housekeeper was very loyal and hit his head against a pillar and died. Chu Chen also grabbed the woman beside Mrs. Zhang and questioned her. The woman also tried to hit the wall, but failed and was killed.
Chu Chen used the torture method, but the old woman gritted her teeth and stood up for half an hour without making any move. Chu Chen asked someone to find the grandson that the old woman had hidden for a long time and bring him out. The old woman then executed the attack with tears in her eyes.
The master led people through the secret passage.
The secret passage from Zhang Zaifu's house leads directly to the outside of the city. Zhang Zaifu built it many years ago, probably just to prevent today. It really came in handy for him.
Zhang Zaifu had never been defeated in his entire life. He prepared for the worst, but he did not expect the worst outcome. He did not expect that none of the 300 killers he sent came back, and not even one of the informants escaped.
Come out.
If he had known earlier, he would have sent all his children away, and there would be no need to rush down and wait for today. Because he never thought that he could not kill An Huajin, and he attracted the imperial guards so quickly. "You send someone into the palace to report to His Majesty, and I will lead the people to chase them." Chu Chen said to Chu Yan.
Chu Yan nodded, "Be careful."
Chu Chen nodded, led the people to find the secret passage of the Zhang family, and chased after it.
Chu Yan sent someone to the palace to report to the emperor. After the emperor heard about it, he was furious. He originally only gave the order to arrest people, but not to confiscate the house. Now in anger, he issued the order to quarrel.
Now, even if the evidence of Zhang Zaifu's other crimes has not been found, just seeing everyone in his house running away, that means he must have a guilty conscience and commit a serious crime, otherwise, people will not run away, so it is important to argue vigorously.
Chu Yan soon got the emperor's order to confiscate his house and led his men to confiscate Zhang's house.
At five o'clock in the morning, the second prince, who had received the exact news, rode into the palace with a look of despair on his face. He knelt in front of the emperor and asked what crime Zhang Zaifu had committed? Why was his house ransacked in the middle of the night?
The emperor scolded the second prince, furiously enumerated Zhang Zaifu's sins, and then threw some testimonials into his face. The second prince seemed to be stunned, and he muttered that it was impossible.
Looking at him, he looks like three souls and seven souls have been lost.
The emperor looked at him, as if he was cheating, and asked him angrily, "You really don't know?"
The second prince was stunned and almost cried, "Father, have you made a mistake..."
The emperor wanted to kick him to death, so he ordered the second prince to be driven out, telling him to reflect behind closed doors from today on. He was not allowed to come out to dance without an order.
This means that no matter whether he is innocent or not, the emperor will not ask him about his guilt, but he will not let him save Zhang Zaifu. Today's emperor hates Zhang Zaifu.
Zheng Jiugong interrogated him for most of the night and used all kinds of torture instruments before he pried the confession out of the mouth of the living target. The three hundred killers were indeed the dead men raised by Zhang Zaifu. They had been raising them for many years. This time they used them on Anhua Jin.
He just wanted to kill her, kill the old Nanyang King, and then take the opportunity to gain more military power from the Nanyang Army.
Zhang Zaifu had been worried about the military power of the Nanyang Army for too long. Three years ago, when An Huajin came to Beijing, he wanted to take action. However, because An Huajin did not stay in the capital for long, he beat Chu Chen without even showing his face.
He went back to Nanyang directly without giving him a chance. Now that the opportunity came again, he just wanted to let An Huajin die quickly. He couldn't wait any longer.
