That smiling face seemed to be laughing at the world and at itself, full of sarcasm.
Kou Ji was holding Concubine Yang in his arms, feeling a little at a loss.
He did not expect that Mrs. Yang would be so strong-willed and would die immediately without giving others a chance to save her.
More importantly, he still had unsolved doubts in his heart, and he still needed help from Concubine Yang to resolve them. Concubine Yang was now dead, and if he asked Liu Congmei, Liu Congmei might not tell him the truth.
Kou Ji looked at Chen Lin.
Chen Lin also looked at Kou Ji at this time.
The two looked at each other and sighed inwardly.
When they arrived, the two of them hated Concubine Yang so much that they all wanted to kill Concubine Yang and seek justice for Zhao Zhen.
But now that Concubine Yang hanged herself to death, they couldn't be happy at all.
"Privy Councilor Kou, please hand over your empress to your servant..."
The female officer next to Concubine Yang came to Kou Ji's side at some point. There was no emotion or anger on her face. She squatted down slightly and whispered in a low voice.
Kou Ji thought about it and felt that the female officer next to Concubine Yang should be a close confidant of Concubine Yang and would not mess with Concubine Yang's remains, so he handed Concubine Yang's remains to the female officer next to Concubine Yang.
The female officer looked very delicate, but her arms were very strong.
After Kou Ji handed Concubine Yang's remains to the female officer, the female officer easily picked up Concubine Yang's remains and walked to the beauty's couch in a corner of the palace.
Kou Ji watched the female officer place Concubine Yang's remains on the beauty's couch, then turned back to stare at Liu Congmei and said, "I still have doubts in my heart. I wonder if you can clear them up for me?"
Liu Congmei's mouth was sealed and he could not speak. He stared at Kou Ji with eyes full of mockery.
Seeing this, Kou Ji frowned slightly, "It seems you don't intend to tell me..."
"If Privy Kou wants to know anything, just ask my servants. They all know."
After placing the remains of Concubine Yang, the female officer of Concubine Yang returned to the palace. After hearing Kou Ji's words, she bowed and spoke softly.
Kou Ji was stunned for a moment and asked: "How could I be threatened by Liu Congmei with the methods used by the concubine? If I were the concubine and encountered Liu Congmei's threat, I would definitely act decisively. Except for Liu Congmei, Liu Congmei would not have a chance to threaten me."
The female officer gritted her teeth slightly and said: "My queen was just kind-hearted at first. Liu Congmei has been by her side since she was sensible, and she was trained by her. She would occasionally give some advice."
To put it into perspective, Liu Congmei can be regarded as half of the empress’s disciples.
Liu Congmei was at the end of his rope and turned to the empress for help. The empress had the ability to protect him, so naturally she would not refuse to save him."
When Kou Ji heard this, he roughly understood the whole story.
Concubine Yang initially only pitied Liu Congmei and protected Liu Congmei secretly.
Liu Congmei took advantage of the situation and hid in the palace, and quietly contacted some of the remaining troops left by Liu E, including some people Liu E sent to lurk under Princess Yang.
Liu Congmei has someone in his hands, so naturally he won't stay in the palace in a proper manner, and will inevitably make some small moves.
But even so, Concubine Yang still had enough power to deal with Liu Congmei. Why did she let Liu Congmei be so arrogant in the palace?
Kou Ji looked at the female officer suspiciously.
The female officer seemed to have read Kou Ji's thoughts, and sighed slightly: "The handle Liu Congmei controls will not do much harm to the empress. Even if it is exposed, the empress will only be stigmatized.
Whether it's a clear name or a stigma, I don't care.
Even if the officials knew about the empress’s past actions, would they really expel the empress from the palace because of her past events?
Although the empress has harmed other people, she has never harmed the official family. She even single-handedly protected the official family as they grew up.
The reason why the empress was controlled by Liu Congmei was because the things in Liu Congmei's hands were very harmful to the official family.
Once the information in Liu Congmei's hands spreads out, the reputation of the late emperor, Empress Liu, Empress Liu, and even many people in the palace will be ruined.
The officials will lose face because of this.
If it were in the past, the official family's face would be hurt.
But at that time, I couldn’t.”
"What's not possible?"
Chen Lin couldn't help but ask.
Kou Ji took a deep breath and sighed: "Because at that time, I was conquering Hexi. The officials relied on their majesty to suppress the opposition in the court and dispatched food and salary from various places to support me.
If the harem scandal is exposed, not only will the official family be disgraced, but they will also lose their dignity.
Once the official family loses its dignity, people in both the government and the public will lose their respect for the official family.
Opposition to the war started by officials in Hexi will form a wave overnight.
The officials may give up their support for me under pressure from the government and the public.
My war in Hexi will most likely fail."
The Hexi War was a crucial war in the Song Dynasty.
The Song Dynasty completely straightened its back because of the war in Hexi.
The Song Dynasty also completely embarked on the road of expanding its territory because of the Hexi War.
Before the Hexi War, the Song Dynasty guarded one-third of an acre of land and did not dare to go out.
After the Hexi War, the Song Dynasty immediately had the courage to challenge the Liao Kingdom.
When the Song Dynasty launched a war against the Liao Kingdom, nearly half of the officials in the Song Dynasty court spoke out.
Before the Hexi War, once the Song Dynasty encountered war, there were not so many officials in the court who spoke out.
Once encountering a war, half of the officials will ask for peace, some officials will remain silent, and only a few officials will talk about war.
Therefore, the Hexi War can be said to be a battle related to the national destiny of the Song Dynasty.
Concubine Yang probably didn't see it that deeply. She probably felt that Zhao Zhen was young at the time and it would be very difficult for him to persuade the officials while sitting on the throne. If there was a big victory close to him, it would be easier to persuade the officials, so she didn't want to
At that time, drag Zhao Zhen back.
That's why she was blackmailed by Liu Congmei.
Even if the female officer didn't tell what happened next, Kou Ji could probably guess it.
After the war in Hexi, Concubine Yang probably wanted to find some time to deal with Liu Congmei quietly.
However, after the Hexi War, Kou Ji and Zhao Zhen chose to launch a war against the Liao Kingdom without hesitation.
In order to prevent the fire in the backyard from affecting the war ahead, Princess Yang could only continue to be coerced by Liu Congmei.
Kou Ji stared at the female officer, "After all the war has settled, why did the concubine..."
The female official glared at Liu Congmei and gritted her teeth and said: "The official took the female family members out of the palace several times, and Liu Congmei took the opportunity to send the things in his hands out of the palace. The empress wanted to calm down the matter quietly, but she couldn't find him
Naturally, it’s hard for him to touch the things in his hands.”
Kou Ji pondered: "Have you found the things he sent out of the palace?"
The female officer nodded slowly.
Kou Ji frowned and said, "Since the concubine is always watching, how could he get involved with Chen Meiren?"
The female officer glanced at Kou Ji and said, "When he was hooking up with Chen Meiren, we sisters were secretly protecting the Zhang sisters."
Speaking of this, the female officer glanced at Chen Lin.
"Your Majesty can't cover the sky with one hand in the palace. During those days, Eunuch Chen kept crowding people into the palace and keeping an eye on every place in the palace. My Majesty didn't want everyone to know about this, so she let the rest
The sisters restrained their whereabouts.
Liu Congmei seized that opportunity and hooked up with Mr. Chen.
After Mrs. Chen became pregnant, the empress knew that the matter could not be solved quietly.
The empress feels guilty towards the officials and has no face to face the officials. She is not willing to make things difficult for the officials and wants to die on her own initiative, so she set up this situation to let you reveal this matter.
Now, the things in Liu Congmei's hands have been burned, and Liu Congmei himself has fallen into your hands.
After Liu Congmei and Chen's death, all the people and things that are unfavorable to the official family will disappear."
When Kou Ji heard this, he was filled with emotions.
The words of the female officer and Mrs. Yang's words, taken together, should be the truth of everything.
Except for Concubine Yang's selfish motives regarding the late Concubine Zhang, she was always thinking about Zhao Zhen in all other matters.
It's just that she did bad things with good intentions.
Things that could obviously be done across the board, ended up in today's situation because of her procrastination.
Some people may question why Mrs. Yang, a smart person who doesn't leave any beginning or end in her work, would make such a stupid mistake in this matter.
Kou Ji has an answer to this.
It's just a matter of scruples and restraint.
Those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes.
In the past, Mrs. Yang was a barefoot person. She was not afraid of doing wrong things, let alone being exposed.
Because she was a loner in the palace.
Even if someone exposes her face, she will only die.
No one else is implicated.
But after she had Zhao Zhen in her heart, she put on her shoes and had concerns.
She considered the problem from Zhao Zhen's perspective, always thinking of minimizing the harm of everything that happened in the palace so that Zhao Zhen would be less injured or not injured.
It is precisely because of this that she was unable to cut through the mess quickly, and eventually things got out of hand.
Kou Ji has seen many similar examples.
A poor person, before he or she has a family or children, can freely do anything, even if it is to poke a hole in the sky, he or she still has the courage to try it.
But once you have a family and children, you will always have some concerns when doing anything dangerous.
He or she may be afraid that his or her head will get hot for a while, leaving the child alone and helpless.
It's a pity that worries can be tolerated among the people, but not in the harem.
Once you have concerns, others will take this opportunity to tear into pieces what you want to protect.
"call……"
Kou Ji let out a long breath and looked at Liu Congmei.
"Harming others and harming yourself! You really deserve to die! The concubine sacrificed her own death to save a life for the others in the palace. Shouldn't you also sacrifice your own life to seek a life for the people of the Liu family?"
Concubine Yang hanged herself to prevent Zhao Zhen from having a difficult time, and to prevent Zhao Zhen from causing too much evil.
But what she can protect is only some people in the palace.
Such as the people under her.
Concubine Yang could not protect people outside the palace.
Liu Congmei heard Kou Ji's words and glared at Kou Ji fiercely. He seemed to have something to say, but Kou Ji didn't want to hear it.
Even if what Concubine Yang and the female officials in Concubine Yang's palace said were not the truth, even if there were doubts, Kou Ji would treat them as the truth.
Because the truth they gave would cause the least harm to Zhao Zhen.
The less damage Zhao Zhen received, the less chance of mass killing.
After all, this matter is a troublesome matter for the royal family, so too many people should not be involved.
After Kou Ji questioned Liu Congmei, his eyes fell on Liu Mei.
Liu Mei was trembling all over and stood there refusing to move even half a step.
Seeing this, Kou Ji frowned and said, "Uncle Liu, you are also a person who has served in the court. You should understand that what Liu Congmei did is not punishable and will bring disaster to the nine clans."
"Is Privy Kou forcing father and son to kill each other?"
Liu Mei did not respond to Kou Ji's words, but Chen Lin said something sinisterly.
Kou Ji's brows wrinkled for a moment.
Chen Lin continued: "Father and son killing each other is a tragedy in the world. If word spread that Privy Kou forced father and son to kill each other, I'm afraid it will give rise to a reputation for being unkind."
Kou Ji snorted coldly, "I am a privy envoy and a person in charge of the army. What's the use of a reputation for kindness?"
Chen Lin said coldly: "Our family knows that you want to protect Liu Heng, but the decision-making power on this matter is not in your hands, but in the hands of the officials. So whether Liu Heng can survive or not, the officials have the final say. Even if you are here
Forcing father and son to kill each other, if the officials don't want Liu Heng to live, everything you do will be in vain."
Kou Ji frowned and said, "Liu Heng didn't know about this. Anyone who doesn't know is not guilty."
Chen Lin said with a stern face: "Do you want to make the decision for the official family?"
Kou Ji frowned and said nothing more.
Chen Lin said in a deep voice on the side: "In order for you to find out this matter, I will give you a face this time. You take the Liu family and his son to see the official family. Whether Liu Heng can survive depends on whether you can serve as an official."
The family members requested a pardon for Liu Heng.
Our family will first go to the Queen Mother’s Palace to see Mrs. Chen, and after our family has confirmed whether Mrs. Chen is alive or dead, we will then go to meet the officials."
Kou Ji glared at Chen Lin.
Chen Lin smiled coldly, her eyes lingered on Liu and his son for a moment, then took a deep look at Kou Ji, then she left the palace of Concubine Yang and went straight to Concubine Li's palace.
After Chen Lin left, Kou Ji's eyes fell on Liu Mei, he opened his mouth, but stopped talking.
He specially summoned Liu Mei to the palace in order to let Liu Mei kill her relatives and help Liu Heng find a way out.
Liu Mei was standing aside just now and had listened to everything.
But he did not choose to annihilate his relatives out of justice, but stood still.
Kou Ji wanted to force Liu Mei to take action, but finally gave up the idea after thinking about it.
Chen Lin is right, Zhao Zhen has the final say whether Liu Heng can live or not.
Even if he forced Liu Mei to kill Liu Congmei, if Zhao Zhen felt upset, Liu Heng would still not be able to survive.
Whether Liu Heng can survive or not depends on Zhao Zhen, not Liu and his son.
If he wanted to protect Liu Heng, he could only find a way to help Liu Heng find a way out from Zhao Zhen.
"Take them with you and follow me to the official palace..."
Kou Ji gave instructions in a deep voice.
The eunuchs guarding outside Concubine Yang's palace escorted the Liu family and his son out of Concubine Yang's palace.
After leaving Concubine Yang's bedroom, Kou Ji ordered people to temporarily seal off Concubine Yang's bedroom.
Although Princess Yang had hanged herself, how to deal with her remains and the people in her palace still depended on Zhao Zhen's wishes.
After Kou Ji sent people to blockade Concubine Yang's palace, he led his people to Zhao Zhen's palace.
When Kou Ji arrived at Zhao Zhen's palace, it was late at night and Zhao Zhen had already gone to bed.
Kou Ji ordered someone to report.
Zhao Zhen was woken up in the middle of the night and summoned Kou Ji in the side hall next to the palace.
Kou Ji took the Liu family and his son to the front of the side hall, leaving the Liu family and his son outside, and entered the side hall alone.
As soon as he entered the side hall, he saw Zhao Zhen staring at him with bright eyes.
"Fourth brother woke me up in the middle of the night, but the clues to the case were found?"
Kou Ji bowed solemnly to Zhao Zhen and said, "I have found out the case."
"Tell me quickly!"
Zhao Zhen seemed to have two balls of flame rising in his eyes as he stared at Kou Ji and asked.
Kou Ji bowed to Zhao Zhen again and said, "Before I report the real situation to the officials, I would like to ask them for a special order."
Zhao Zhen raised his eyebrows slightly and stared at Kou Ji without saying a word, waiting for Kou Ji's next words.
Seeing this, Kou Ji said in a deep voice: "I hope that the officials will issue a special decree to spare Liu Heng from death. I can ask the officials to guarantee that Liu Heng was not aware of it from beginning to end, let alone participated in all the things in the harem.
.
I sincerely ask the officials to spare Liu Heng's life for the sake of his contribution to the Song Dynasty and the sake of my honor."
Zhao Zhen stared at Kou Ji, took a deep look, and said: "According to fourth brother, all the things that happen in my harem are related to the people of the Liu family."
Kou Ji didn't hide anything and nodded decisively.
Zhao Zhen sat on the chair, was silent for a long time, and then said: "Fourth brother opened his mouth to plead for Liu Heng. I think the people of the Liu family are deeply involved in all the things that happened in the harem."
Kou Ji nodded again.
Zhao Zhen asked in a deep voice: "I have lost two princes. Fourth brother, do you think I should let Liu Heng go, or should I not let him go?"
Kou Ji sighed deeply in his heart and did not speak, but bent down deeply.
Zhao Zhen's question is difficult to answer and cannot be answered.
Seeing Kou Ji's silence, Zhao Zhen spoke again: "If I refuse to let Liu Heng go, will the fourth brother tell me the truth?"
Kou Ji raised his head slightly and said solemnly: "I dare not hide anything."
Zhao Zhen nodded slightly, sat in silence for a long time, and said: "Fourth brother has never asked me for anything since he entered the court. On the contrary, I have been begging him to do things. After careful calculation, I owe
There are many fourth brothers.
Now the fourth brother asks me for help for the first time, I have to give him face.
As long as Fourth Brother can ensure that Liu Heng has nothing to do with this matter, I can let Liu Heng live.
However, death penalty can be avoided, but living crime cannot be avoided.
How I will deal with him will have to be made after hearing about the evil deeds of the Liu family."
Kou Ji bowed deeply to Zhao Zhen and said, "I would like to thank the officials for their love."
Zhao Zhen stared at Kou Ji and said, "Can you tell me the truth now?"
Kou Ji pondered for a moment and then spoke slowly.
As soon as Kou Ji spoke, Zhao Zhen's expression changed.
While observing Zhao Zhen's face, Kou Ji slowly told Zhao Zhen all the things that happened in the harem.
During this period, Zhao Zhen did not get angry, but his face kept changing, the veins on his forehead kept beating, and his palms subconsciously clenched into fists.
After Kou Ji finished telling everything, Zhao Zhen didn't say a word.
When Kou Ji reached the end of his story, he took a deep breath and whispered: "The concubine hanged herself to death in order not to make things more difficult for the officials, and also to prevent them from committing murders."
After finishing the last sentence, Kou Ji stared closely at Zhao Zhen's expression.
Zhao Zhen didn't shout or make a fuss. He was so calm that it was a bit scary.
After listening to Kou Ji's story, his cold eyes fell on Kou Ji. As soon as he opened his mouth, his words were as cold and sharp as ice.
"Can Mrs. Yang's words control those outside the palace? I remember that when I first came to the throne, I said that the harem was not allowed to interfere with politics, and everything in the harem was not allowed to leave the palace."
When Kou Ji heard this, his heart skipped a beat.
Zhao Zhen called Concubine Yang "Little Empress" for more than ten years.
Now he has changed his name to Yang, which shows that he is extremely angry.
He didn't explode on the spot, probably suppressing the anger in his heart.
When he breaks out, it will definitely be a storm.
Faced with Zhao Zhen's question, Kou Ji took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "The concubine will naturally not be able to leave the palace. She doesn't want the officials to commit more killings, but she hopes that the officials will not kill without permission because of her fault.
Palace man..."
"I know..."
Zhao Zhen's cold words silenced the rest of Kou Ji's words.
Kou Ji opened his mouth, and thousands of words finally turned into a deep sigh.
When Kou Ji sighed, Zhao Zhen stared at Kou Ji and said, "Fourth brother, you have given me a difficult problem."
When Kou Ji heard this, he sighed in his heart.
The problem Zhao Zhen mentioned was naturally referring to the fact that Kou Ji asked for a special order to survive for Liu Heng in advance.
"I feel ashamed..."
Kou Ji cupped his hands and said.
Zhao Zhen waved his hand and said: "This matter is indeed as what the fourth brother said. Liu Heng was not aware of it from beginning to end, and he was not involved from beginning to end. I saw the scene where Liu Heng risked his life for my country.
Pass.
It's not impossible for me to spare his life.
Fourth brother, there is no need to blame yourself."
When Kou Ji heard this, he was about to bow and thank him, but after thinking about it carefully, he found that Zhao Zhen was not comforting him, but seemed to be comforting himself.
He was convincing himself not to hurt Liu Heng's life.
In other words, Zhao Zhen has already had the idea of going on a killing spree.
Liu Heng is obviously on the list of must-kills.
But Kou Ji was the first to plead for mercy, and he agreed.
So he was trying to convince himself to let Liu Heng die.
Zhao Zhen's tranquility at this moment is just the tranquility before the storm.
When the storm comes, I'm afraid it will be a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
Zhao Zhen's current performance is completely different from the previous performance after the Korean beauty lost two lives.
After Han Meiren was killed, Zhao Zhen locked himself in the palace while crying and shouting, loving and pitying himself.
Today, it is unprecedentedly calm and unprecedentedly abnormal.
Kou Ji felt that the calm Zhao Zhen was far more dangerous than the crying and shouting Zhao Zhen.
Kou Ji hesitated for a moment and then said: "Guan family, this matter..."
Before Kou Ji could finish speaking, Zhao Zhen interrupted Kou Ji's words with a stiff tone.
"Fourth brother is investigating cases in the palace, working day and night, and must be tired. Fourth brother should go back home and rest first. I will send an order to the four gates, asking them to open the door and let fourth brother leave."