"Has Marquis Yongping been caught?" Duke Zhou Wu of the Zhou family was not surprised when he heard the news. He waved his hand and said, "This lunatic dared to assassinate even the right minister and King Huai. He deserves it!"
Marquis Yongping was arrested, which was naturally a good thing for the Zhou family.
He didn't have to worry about being implicated by Marquis Yongping. What really worried him in the past two days was the assassination of Tang Ning and Prince Huai. The imperial court would kill the Zhou family, Marquis Yichun and others indiscriminately.
Given the importance His Majesty attaches to Tang Ning and Prince Huai, it is extremely possible for him to do such a thing.
Now it's better, Yongpinghou has been arrested, the truth of the matter has been revealed, and the Zhou family can be freed from suspicion.
Zhou Wu breathed a sigh of relief and just sat down, ready to drink tea. At this moment, a servant of the Zhou family ran in and said in a panic: "Master, it's bad, a group of forbidden troops came outside and surrounded us!
"
Snap!
The tea cup in Zhou Wu's hand fell to the ground and shattered into pieces. He stood up suddenly and asked, "What are the forbidden troops here for?"
A general of the Forbidden Army walked in and said: "Marquis Yongping has confessed. Please go back to the Ministry of Punishment with Duke Zhao."
Zhou Wu looked stunned and asked: "Confession, what are you confessing to?"
The general of the Forbidden Army said: "The plot of Duke Zhao Guo and Marquis Yongping of Yichun to murder the right prime minister and King Huai has been exposed. If you have any questions, let's talk to the Ministry of Punishment."
"Plot, plot to kill the Right Prime Minister and King Huai..." Hearing this, Zhou Wu's eyes darkened and he suddenly felt dizzy. He said sadly and angrily: "Yongpinghou, you are not a human being!"
At the same time, at the Yichun Marquis Mansion, Yichun Marquis looked at the guards outside the door and said loudly: "This is slander, this is pure slander..."
…
Marquis Yongping hid for two days, but was still caught.
He could not escape the death penalty for assassinating the prime minister and the prince. Before he died, he also surrendered all his accomplices, including Duke Zhao, Marquis of Yichun and others.
These people were all related to Chen Guo's new policy on the Western Regions and had great motives for committing crimes. After Yongping Marquis confessed, the Ministry of Punishment asked His Majesty for instructions and immediately arrested Zhao Guogong, Yichun Marquis and others. However, these people refused to acknowledge them.
He was an accomplice of Marquis Yongping and was temporarily detained in the prison of the Ministry of Punishment.
In the imperial study, Emperor Chen looked at Tang Ning and Prince Huai below and asked, "Are you two okay?"
King Huai cupped his hands and said, "My son, I'm fine."
Tangning raised her hand and said, "I'm fine, too."
"If you have nothing to do, go to Shangshu and save yourself the trouble." Chen Huang waved his hand and said: "Remember to bring more guards when you go out in the future, and be careful..."
Tangning and King Huai walked out of the imperial study, and a palace maid walked in from outside.
When he passed by her, Tangning paused slightly, wrinkled her nose, sniffed, and then looked back.
King Huai looked at him and said, "If Mr. Tang likes this maid, tell your father and he may give her to you."
Only then did Tang Ning realize that what she had just done seemed a bit lewd. But at that moment, he smelled a smell from the palace maid's body. Although the smell was very light, Tang Ning was sure it was some kind of incense smell. He
In order to practice my sense of smell, I have smelled countless incense, but I have never smelled this kind of incense.
He waved his hand casually and said, "I wonder what kind of spice she used, but it smells pretty good..."
King Huai smiled and said: "Shang Shu Sheng has two errands. One is to investigate the people from the Western Regions who were captured in the capital, and the other is to interrogate Zhao Guogong and others. Which one should Mr. Tang choose?"
Tangning thought for a moment and said, "I'll choose the former."
When the court formulated this rule, some envoys from small countries in the Western Regions also came out of Beijing to praise the Chen court and also asked the court to release the captive slaves.
If there is no buying and selling, there will be no killing. There are still many people from the Western Regions in Beijing, living as slaves and maids in the homes of the powerful.
In the past, the court would naturally not have spent so much effort on such a thankless task.
But at this moment, they planned to cooperate with these small countries in the Western Regions, so they could not ignore their demands. Emperor Chen used money from the inner palace to redeem the Western Region slaves from the powerful families.
Of course, the premise is that they are willing.
This matter was relatively simple, because it was done by the junior officials below, so they would not encounter any resistance. It was different when interrogating Zhao Guogong and others, and they might not be able to produce any results. Tang Ning decisively chose the easy job.
King Huai had no objection to this and nodded: "The interrogation will be left to me."
Penal Department Prison.
Zhao Guogong Zhou Wu grabbed the railing of the cell, looked across, and said angrily: "I have no grudge against you, why do you do this!"
There was a hint of ridicule on Marquis Yongping's face, and he said: "You are not willing to help me for a mere hundred thousand taels. Are you satisfied now?"
Duke Zhao gritted his teeth and said, "That's why!"
"With these one hundred thousand taels, I won't be forced into this dead end." Marquis Yongping looked at him and said, "When you lent me one thousand taels of silver, I told you that you would regret it.
of……"
Zhao Guogong said angrily: "So you framed us!"
"I said, we are grasshoppers on the same boat. If I die, you won't be able to live. We will walk together on the road to the underworld..." Marquis Yongping twitched the corner of his mouth and said: "Everyone on the left and right is dead, why should I
Why don’t you find yourself some more companions?”
Zhao Guogong said: "We did not murder the Right Prime Minister and King Huai!"
Marquis Yongping sneered and said, "Who knows?"
Zhao Guogong held the bars of the cell and said loudly: "Did you hear it? Did you hear it? He is making a false accusation. He is making a false accusation. Come and listen!"
Two guards from the Criminal Department came over, opened the cell door, and said, "Please come with Duke Zhao and us."
Zhou Wu's expression changed and he said warily: "What are you doing? Do you want to be lynched? I tell you, I am the brother of the Queen Mother. If you dare to do anything to me, you will be finished, and the entire punishment department will be finished..."
Zhou Wu, who was shouting, was taken to a quiet cell. Looking at the figure in the cell, Zhou Wu was startled and immediately said: "Your Highness, King Huai, I was wronged, I was wronged, how could I
Maybe someone will assassinate His Highness..."
King Huai smiled and said, "Don't be afraid, Duke Zhao. I will not make casual assumptions about things without evidence, nor will I wrongly accuse you."
Duke Zhao was relieved and said: "That's good, that's good..."
King Huai looked at him and asked, "What's the matter between Duke Zhao and Marquis Yongping?"
Zhou Wu nodded and said: "Yes, he borrowed one hundred thousand taels of silver from me, but I didn't lend it to him, so he held a grudge. He wanted to die, and he wanted to drag us together. Your Highness Mingjian..."
"I understand." King Huai nodded, asked him a few more questions, and asked the officials from the Ministry of Punishment to take him back.
After a while, Marquis Yichun was brought up.
After Zhao Guogong returned just now, he had already gotten angry with him, so the Marquis of Yichun did not panic. He walked into the cell, bowed respectfully, and said, "I have met His Highness King Huai."
King Huai looked at him and said, "I haven't seen him for many years. The Marquis of Yichun is much more haggard than before."
The Marquis of Yichun laughed dryly and said: "Your Highness is becoming more and more heroic, we are already old..."
King Huai breathed a sigh of relief and said: "When I first met the Marquis of Yichun, you were still the imperial physician in the palace. So many years have passed in the blink of an eye, and you have been a Marquis for so many years..."
The Marquis of Yichun said: "It's all your Majesty's love."
"No." King Huai shook his head and said: "You earned this title with your medical skills. When the prince, Concubine Yang, and the queen were seriously ill, you were the ones who diagnosed and treated you. My father was indeed very kind to you.
trust……"
When the Marquis of Yichun heard this, his body trembled and his pupils shrank suddenly.
