On this day, King Zhao was reading a book in his mansion. Someone came in and said, "Your Majesty, the messenger sent by Mr. Liu Quan is outside the mansion asking for an audience."
King Zhao hurriedly said: "Pass it in quickly!"
"As commanded."
Not long after, the man came in. His head was covered with dust, and his eyes and brows were all smiles. He knelt down and shouted: "Go back to the prince. Thanks to your great blessing, the peak of the flood has passed and the embankment has been saved!"
King Zhao was overjoyed: "Did you save them all?"
"Your Majesty, great blessings have spread to heaven! They were all saved, and none of them burst the embankment!"
"Hahahahaha..." King Zhao slapped the case, "Liu Quan has made a great contribution!"
The man said: "We adults can't go back to Handan for the time being. The people of the four counties have to evacuate. Master Su of the Yan State said that it was the Zhao State's business to evacuate the victims, so she led the people of the Yan State back directly. Our adults advised
, let the civilian husbands under him go back to Yan State first. Mr. Su has to have a cup of celebratory wine before leaving. Mr. Su said, Mr. Liu wants me to help guide the victims back home. Our adults smiled and said, Mr. Su is really a
A man with a heart of crystal and a glass heart. He helps people to the end and sends Buddhas to the West. Master Su has organized disaster victims to return home in Jiangxi, so she must have quite experience. Master Su then agreed. She asked her men to go back first and stayed to help herself."
King Zhao smiled and said, "This female official is as good as a male official." Then he ordered the matter to be announced to both the government and the public.
Two or three hours later, the streets and alleys of Handan were covered with notices. Everyone in the city knew that the floods had been eliminated this summer, and the officials and the people were relieved.
Unexpectedly, extreme joy can lead to sorrow. King Zhao was so happy that he drank two more glasses of wine that night and suddenly fell ill. He couldn't get up in just three or four days. The palace hurriedly sent people to the capital at night to call the prince back to the country; he also rushed to deliver a message to Lord Liu An.
After hearing the report, Prince Zhao did not bother to take the concubine with him and hurried back alone. The prince was still a step too late after all. When he arrived at Prince Zhao's Mansion, King Zhao closed his eyes. The prince burst into tears, accompanied by a group of important ministers.
cry.
Now that the prince has left, the funeral arrangements naturally have to be taken care of. Yu Minzhong got up and left the house to prepare for the funeral. He saw a man emerge from the crowd and gave him a tug, calling in a low voice, "Master!" Yu Minzhong took a look.
It was a steward of the Prince's Mansion who married his daughter back then. The steward said: "The Crown Princess sent a villain to follow the Crown Prince back, just to have something to say to the Master."
Yu Minzhong frowned: "The prince is seriously ill. It's not far from the capital to Handan. She should come back with the prince. What are you talking about?"
The steward said in a low voice: "The regent of the Yan Kingdom asked Concubine Shi to tell me that he knows that I am a pillar of talent, and it would be a pity to stay in the Zhao Kingdom. I want to ask if I want to go to the capital? I know the territory of the Yan Kingdom."
Yu Minzhong was shocked: "What nonsense! The prince has just left, and the prince is my son-in-law. Can I go to another country?"
The steward sighed and told in a low voice that the prince had falsely advertised for him to Xuenai, Jia Cong, and Kong Yunxian, that the couple was increasingly at odds, and that the prince's biological mother was just a female actress. Finally, he said: "Now those people around the prince are all
Master Liu Quan arranged it for him, and he was also the one who helped rescue the prince's biological mother. Liu Quan also had a close relationship with General Guan. On this flood control trip, he was surrounded by guards sent by General Guan. The prince's concubine said,
Your Majesty belongs to the lower realm of heaven and earth. As soon as I hear my name, I will say that you will be a supreme minister and leave your name in history."
Yu Minzhong took a breath: "Seriously? How did the Crown Princess know?"
The steward said: "The Crown Princess recognizes a woman who usually works in the Forbidden City. Her hands and eyes are astute. If I don't believe it, I can check and find out the authenticity."
Yu Minzhong stroked his beard and thought for a long time: "I know." He turned around and went to arrange funeral arrangements for King Zhao.
Then the whole place was white, and the whole country was in mourning. All countries sent people to express their condolences, and the special envoys from the Chu Kingdom came the fastest. The princes of Wei, Zheng, Zhou, and Cao came to Handan in person, and the king of Chu also came the next day.
The State of Yan directly sent Su Cheng, who was still arranging post-disaster reconstruction in Zhao State, as a special envoy, and rushed back to Handan at the same time as Liu An. Dai Quan, the former head of the Daming Palace, was ordered by the Empress Dowager and the saint to come to sacrifice on Yan's behalf.
Kong Yunxian, the direct son of Shenggong, came to pay his respects on behalf of Shenggong Yan. Others, including Liu Qian, the Secretary of the Lu State, and Zhen Zangzhu, the Protector of the Yue State, all came to the scene.
On the first seven days, everyone came to pay homage in front of the soul. Seeing that all the kings were there, Mr. Zhang suddenly knelt down in front of Wang Zhao's soul and cried: "Everyone thought that the prince died because of illness. Only the ministers knew that the prince was angry to death."
!”
Everyone in the audience was shocked. The prince immediately asked: "Why did Mr. Zhang say this!"
Mr. Zhang wiped his tears, glanced at Yu Minzhong coldly, and said: "Bring it up!"
I saw two strong men yelling and pushing up three men wearing magistrate robes. All of them had lost their official hats and threw themselves in front of Zhao Wangling. The three of them cried to Yu Minzhong: "Sir, the lower officials are incompetent...
"
Yu Minzhong was shocked: "Master Zhang, what is going on?"
Mr. Zhang smiled and said: "Master Yu has a huge appetite. In just four years, he took advantage of disasters and provided relief six times, and got two to four hundred thousand yuan in relief." He clapped his palms twice. Someone outside brought in a pile of account books.
"Master Yu, take a look for yourself." He raised his hands to the surroundings and said, "You princes' special envoys should also take a look. These are the white jade pillars that support the sky and the purple gold beams that frame the sea."
The whole hall was in an uproar. Several Zhao ministers actually came forward to check the account books. It turned out that Yu Minzhong colluded with the three county magistrates to lie about the flood and locust plague. The county magistrate sent a letter to ask for help, and Yu Minzhong himself approved the disaster relief funds, and
Taxes were exempted. In fact, there was no disaster at all. The county government clearly kept the tax account books. All the disaster relief funds and taxes went into their pockets. Yu Minzhong got the big head and the county magistrate got the small head. Yu Minzhong kept complaining.
A minister held up the account book and said: "With all the personal and material evidence, why should I be wronged? Your Majesty is not far away, so you can cry out to him that you are wronged?" Yu Minzhong was speechless.
King Zheng couldn't help but whisper to the person next to him: "This Boss Zhang still has some ideas."
The man said with a smile: "This matter is the work of a villain. Jia Cong of the Yan State is not a mortal. When he was chatting with the Crown Prince of the Zhao Kingdom, he mentioned the Crown Prince's father-in-law Yu Minzhong. He said that this man was not worthy of being an important minister.
He wanted to fabricate disasters and pretend to provide relief. But it happened that the prince had a spy who was sent by a villain, so he sent a message back. The villain hurriedly relayed it to the Zhang family and asked them to focus on just investigating the disaster and pretending to provide relief. Sure enough, it was found out." King Zheng snickered.
Now that the matter has come to this, Yu Minzhong's talk is useless and he is immediately taken to prison. Mr. Zhang kowtows before Zhao Wang's spirit and cries: "Your Majesty, you can rest in peace."
Before he finished speaking, another person shouted: "How can the prince close his eyes?" Everyone turned around and saw that it was Mr. Li, who had always been on good terms with the Zhang family. Mr. Li shook his head and said, "Although the prince is angry to death,
, but it’s not what made Yu Da popular.”
Master Zhang was stunned: "Master Li, what did you say?"
Mr. Li sneered and said: "Mr. Zhang, Mr. Yu's case was just investigated two days ago. I haven't even had time to get back to the prince. Why did he get so angry? Isn't it another matter that made the prince so angry?"
Mr. Zhang frowned: "How can there be another thing?"
Mr. Li said loudly: "You Zhang family stole the dragon and turned the phoenix into a phoenix, using your own son in exchange for the daughter born to the princess!"
"Coax..." There was a big commotion below.
Mr. Zhang was stunned: "Mr. Li, what are you talking nonsense about? Do you have any evidence? Don't spit on others with blood!"
"Evidence? Isn't the Taoist nun named Wei in Baiyunguan in the capital the evidence?" Master Li said, "She is the concubine of Ling's second brother and the biological mother of the prince!"
Suddenly, another adult stood up and wiped his tears and said: "The prince has known it for a long time. Due to the love between the couple, he never revealed it. The prince is so wise and powerful, but the prince is just a playboy. As the saying goes, dragons give birth to dragons and phoenixes. The prince and the
Mr. Zhang is so similar, he is not like the prince at all."
Another one said: "The reason why the prince has been in decline for several years is because he learned about this matter." He sighed deeply.
Zhen Zangzhu, an important minister of the Yue Kingdom, flashed out from the crowd. This man looked honest and loyal. He looked at them and said, "I have confused you. Did King Zhao die of illness or anger?"
Two shouted: "You're so angry!" The other two shouted: "You're sick!"
Zhen Zangzhu said: "Is it the one who was made famous by Yu Da, or the one who stole the energy of a dragon and turned into a phoenix?"
Mr. Zhang shouted: "You are so popular!"
Mr. Li shouted: "The Zhang family is so angry with the princess!"
"If you were so angry with the princess and the Zhang family, how could you 'know it a long time ago'? Because of this, you have been in a state of depression for several years, and then you have regained your composure recently."
The three of them were silent for a moment. The prince lazily said: "Can we collude with the confessions in advance? Who wrote this playbook with a preface that does not match the subtitles?" He pointed to the pile of account books that were tricked by Min Zhong, "Then
You still have to check whether the stuff is genuine or not.”
Mr. Zhang said coldly: "That is true, Your Majesty, you don't have to worry about it anymore."
Before the prince had time to answer, he heard King Wei sigh: "Brother King Zhao has indeed known it for a long time." Everyone looked over at once. An official beside King Wei took out a letter from his arms. King Wei said, "King Zhao
My brother has noticed that the illness is coming fiercely this time, and I am afraid that there is something wrong in writing this letter to the lonely king." The official looked around for a few times, not knowing who to give the letter to.
Su Cheng from Yan State said loudly: "Leave it to the King of Chu, sir."
At any rate, the State of Zhao was separated from the State of Chu. The King of Chu hurriedly walked out. The officials of the Wei State handed the letter to the King of Chu. The King of Chu opened it and read it, and it read: King Zhao knew that his son was a descendant of the Zhang family.
Unable to inherit the State of Zhao, he is willing to entrust the State of Zhao to the State of Wei.
Then I heard several people say in unison: "Fake!" The people around King Zheng, King Zhou and King Cao all shouted, "King Zhao has clearly entrusted the Kingdom of Zhao to our prince!"
The hall immediately became lively. The three kingdoms took out all the letters from King Zhao, all of which were entrusted to the country. The four letters were completely different, but they were all written by King Zhao and all had King Zhao's gold seal. The five major families of Zhao country, except those who had just been imprisoned,
Yu Minzhong, the other four families each supported one country. The Zhao ministers looked at each other in confusion and didn't know what to do. The crowd of spectators were happily waiting for the excitement, and the King of Chu had no way to make a decision.
I saw the old eunuch Dai Quan slowly walking out of the crowd and said: "Everyone, can you listen to the Zajia family?"
The King of Chu hurriedly said: "My father-in-law, please speak."
Dai Quan said: "You can't just listen to one side of the story. The Za family thought, let the four adults each explain the death of King Zhao and the story of stealing the dragon and turning the dragon into a phoenix, and they should also listen to the prince to explain a few words. What do you think, the prince?"
The King of Chu nodded and said: "The matter is urgent and a bit messy. It's really time for everyone to speak." Then he asked the prince.
The prince said lazily: "Let them speak first."
According to the Zhang family, King Zhao made Yu Minzhong angry to death. The eldest son was the biological son of Princess Zhang, but he was useless. King Zhao entrusted the Kingdom of Zhao to King Zheng. According to the Li family, King Zhao made the Zhang family angry to death. The eldest son stole the dragon and turned into a phoenix.
King Zhao entrusted the Kingdom of Zhao to King Wei. The other two families said that King Zhao died of illness, but they already knew that the prince was a descendant of the Zhang family, so they entrusted the Kingdom of Zhao to King Cao of Zhou. Finally, the King of Chu asked the prince of Zhao.
The prince said: "I am really not born from my mother's concubine." Many Zhao ministers suddenly changed their faces. The prince continued, "My mother is a concubine next to my father. Have you ever heard that the mother left the son?" He turned to Zhang Da
The master bowed and said, "Thank you, Mr. Zhang, for only sending my biological mother out of the house. I know that most such women will die."
The Weiguo official said: "Your Majesty, do you have any evidence?"
The prince said: "Everyone in the world knows that I am the son of my father. Do you have any evidence to prove that I am not?"
An official of the Zhou Kingdom loudly said: "Your Majesty has no evidence, but our prince has a letter written by King Zhao!"
The prince smiled and said: "You mean, my father wrote four letters to the four princes and entrusted them to the State of Zhao respectively? Do you believe it yourself?" The four countries suddenly started to quarrel.
The King of Chu was lost in thought while looking at these four letters. Zhen Zangzhu of the Yue Kingdom suddenly clapped her hands and said: "Everyone, does anyone still remember the case that happened in the Kingdom of Wu a while ago? There was a eunuch named Guo who was next to the King of Wu and pretended to be the King of Wu.
His handwriting imitated the gold seal of the King of Wu, and he defrauded 80 million taels of silver from the Wu treasury, and no one has been caught yet." Everyone looked at the four kingdoms with doubts on their faces. The four kingdoms and the four families hurriedly claimed their innocence.
Kong Yunxian, the young master of Yanshenggong Mansion, thought about it for a long time, walked to King Chu and cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, can I let Wan Sheng read those four letters?"
The King of Chu hurriedly replied: "Mr. Kong, please take a look."
Kong Yunxian took the letter and looked at it carefully for a long time and said: "Wan Sheng has been living in a posthouse in the capital recently. He is a neighbor of the Crown Prince of Zhao, so he is familiar with it. Wan Sheng once saw a fan somewhere else, stamped with the gold seal of King Zhao.
The seal is very complete."
The King of Chu was puzzled and asked: "What do you mean by this, sir?"
"The gold seals on these four letters," Kong Yunxian pointed to the hook in the character "Zhao", "are a little thinner here, as if the stamp was made with less force. The seal on Prince Zhao's folding fan is thicker.
.”
Liu Qian from the State of Lu had already walked up to the two of them, stretched out his head to look at it, and said with a smile: "These four seals are exactly the same, how can it be that each one is stamped with less strength? Even if they are, is it possible that they are less powerful?
Is it the same degree? It’s obvious that these are made with the same fake seal. You’ll know by comparing it with the real seal of King Zhao.” The expressions of the four princes changed.
Zhao Guotong's political envoy Liu Quan said loudly: "Where is the prince's golden seal now?"
Liu Quan and Yu Minzhong were two important ministers of the Zhao State. Lieutenant General Yu Min was about to be imprisoned. Unconsciously, the Zhao State ministers, led by Liu Quan, responded: "Get the prince's golden seal quickly!"
Su Cheng from Yan State whispered: "I have never seen such liveliness before, even more lively than flood control." She was a woman, and her voice was more prominent. Many people around heard it and looked at them quietly. Su Cheng covered his mouth, and there was
A bit embarrassed. The King of Chu couldn't help but glance at her. Zhao's neighboring countries all sent their ministers to express their condolences, and even the prince came in person. However, Yan only sent a young female official casually, which seemed to be a bit contemptuous.
Not long after, the eunuch Wang Gonggong, whom King Zhao had always trusted, came out with the gold seal. The four princes looked at this man with a little doubt.