Zhao Tong didn't say much, and the guards behind him carried Zhang Xian on their backs and walked out.
Only halfway through, I saw a group of people coming in front. The leader was wearing an official robe, with a ruddy complexion and a black beard. When he saw Zhao Tong, he hurriedly saluted: "King Qi, please stay. King Qi, please stay."
Zhao Tong took a look and saw that it was Fu Qingshu, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice. This person was a close confidant of Cai Jing. Although he was in the court, this person was the one who settled all the official disputes involving the Cai family in Jinfeng Hall in Tokyo. As a chief official of the imperial court, it is rare to have such a lack of dignity.
Zhao Tong said calmly: "I don't like being called Liu Bu the most. Fu Shangshu, what did you just say?"
Fu Qingshu was stunned. He originally heard that the King of Qi was amiable, but later found out that he was tyrannical. Now it is clear that he is arrogant and domineering!
He was dissatisfied, but his face did not show it at all. When he reached his position as an official, his personality had already been established. Since he had done many shameful things, why did he care about this? He hurriedly said: "What the prince said is absolutely true." , I don’t dare to mention it anymore, I don’t dare to mention it anymore.”
Zhao Tong looked at him: "Fu Shangshu, have you never been to the prison of the Ministry of Punishment before?"
"Ah?" Fu Qingshu was stunned again. This guy really didn't follow the rules when he spoke. Why did he come to this prison for nothing? It's unlucky. He usually walks around here.
Zhao Tong continued to move forward. Fu Qingshu's forehead was sweating. He glanced at Zhang Xian behind the guard and whispered: "Your Majesty, this is a murder suspect. Where do you want to take him?"
Zhao Tong ignored him, and Fu Qingshu wiped his sweat: "Wherever the prince wants to take him, why not tell the official and he will send someone to take it there. Why bother with the prince?"
Zhao Tong looked at him and said with a smile: "Do you really want to send it away?"
When Fu Qingshu heard the words, he suddenly remembered that this person liked to hang out in the market and did not play his cards according to common sense. What if he deliberately misunderstood his polite words and asked me to send him off as soon as he was thrown away? "
"Master Fu..." Someone next to him suddenly whispered and gently pulled the corner of Fu Qingshu's clothes.
Fu Qingshu frowned and secretly thought that he was too ignorant and just ignored him.
Zhao Tong said: "Who interrupts?"
The man also regretted it at this moment, why couldn't he hold it back, but he had received the order from King Yun to come to pick up the person, but now he saw that it would not happen, and he was panicking in his heart. King Yun had been planning for a long time and only waited for today. If I go back and revive like this, I'm afraid I'll have to peel off my skin even if I don't die.
He didn't dare to say anything. A guard had already come forward to find him out. Zhao Tong looked at him and said, "Is he from the Imperial City Department?"
The man hurriedly knelt down and said, "Second King, the younger one is too talkative. Please forgive me."
Zhao Tong sneered and said: "Is the Imperial City Secretary still brave enough to apologize? You've been hanging around the front and back of my residence a lot lately, and now you actually dare to say something offensive?"
This man did not dare to defend himself. He was in the Imperial City and knew the nature of these princes and princes better than Fu Qingshu. He raised his hand and slapped him: "Second King, the younger one knows his crime. Second King, should he beat or punish the younger one?" .”
Zhao Tong said: "Throw him into jail and hang him up."
Immediately, a guard dragged the leader of the Imperial City Division down. Fu Qingshu's eyelids twitched, he glanced at Zhang Xian, pondering his words in his mind, and walked up to the top with Zhao Tong.
Outside the prison of the Ministry of Punishment, Zhao Tong asked someone to place Zhang Xian, and behind him Fu Qing wrote: "Your Majesty... I have something to ask of you."
Zhao Tong glanced at him and said, "Isn't it because I took someone away and you want me to leave a note for you from the Ministry of Punishment?"
Fu Qingshu twitched his skin and said: "Don't dare, don't dare, the prince is virtuous. This man was delivered by the Kaifeng Mansion. He is just a formality in the Ministry of Punishment. Prince Yun..."
Zhao Tong sneered and said: "Fu Shangshu, I know that you have always been able to bend and straighten, but... if I ask someone to hang you down in the prison below for a few hours, I'm afraid that you will never be straight again in the court. Don’t get up!”
Fu Qingshu immediately said: "Your Majesty, that's not what Qingshu meant. Qingshu just wants to explain the whole story to the prince. Please don't misunderstand me. Qingshu will send you off respectfully."
Zhao Tong sneered in his heart, even if these court officials have reached such a status, wearing purple and gold, and holding the rank of minister, few of them have straight waists. Why? Just because what you do is full of loopholes and ignores the law, there is absolutely no reason to rather die than surrender and argue with reason.
The group returned to the palace, and Zhao Yu ordered Zhang Xian to be put in place, and called for the imperial doctor to examine his injuries. Over there, Zhao Kai was furious in Prince Yun's palace.
Even though he was not originally such an outgoing person, the anger in his heart was beyond description at this moment. Even the picture of birds and rocks that he had worked so hard to draw before, he reached out and tore it into pieces.
After a long while, he sat on the chair and calmed down slightly, and ordered to the door: "Go and get all Zhang Xian's confession. Fu Qingshu asked him to write a note and hand it over immediately. Later, I will go to the palace to see the official. When I tell you this, I won’t believe that King Qi can tell the difference between right and wrong!”
The people outside the door hurriedly ran away to do things. Zhao Kai stood up and walked around the room twice more. He gritted his teeth and whispered: "You are ambitious and arrogant. I don't believe you can convince the officials every time. This time you dare to rob the prison of the Ministry of Punishment. I think you will dare to rebel next time!"
When the word "rebellion" was mentioned, Zhao Kai was suddenly startled. He frowned, as if he thought of something, and his expression gradually calmed down. Then he returned to the chair and sat down, frowning and thinking.
Just after noon the next day, Zhao Tuan received the imperial edict to declare his pilgrimage at his residence. He asked Su Shi to load some Longyou specialties into the car, and also brought over the box of orbs that Linggaba Na presented to him when he met him. I picked out a few strange things from it that not many people knew about, and put them in a jeweled brocade box. I also brought my credentials and so on, and then I entered the palace.
After entering the imperial city, he went straight to the Chengping Hall of Yanfu Palace. The eunuch announced that he walked into the hall, but he saw that he was not the Daojun Emperor. Not only Zhao Kai was there, but there was also a man about forty years old, with a very elegant appearance and a slight beard. man.
Zhao Tong recognized this man as Wang Fu. He had outstanding eloquence and a sharp mind, but had no real knowledge. He was good at flattery and had set a record of being promoted to the eighth level of officialdom.
Now Wang Fu has the position of Zuocheng of Shangshu and Minister of Zhongshu, which is equivalent to deputy prime minister. However, this person has a problem. He is a grassroots. He is often willing to leave a back-up in everything he does. On the one hand, he relies on Liang Shicheng , On the one hand, he hooked up with the Cai family.
However, Liang Shicheng supported the prince, and the Cai family supported Zhao Kai. As a result, he became a rare commodity and became the object of attraction for both parties.
However, as soon as Zhao Tong saw him, he knew that there was a foreign matter, otherwise Emperor Daojun would not be able to summon people to the court when he saw him.
After everyone greeted each other, Emperor Daojun looked kindly: "King Qi has had a hard time on this trip. I have read yesterday's report. I originally wanted to call you in a few days and let you rest in the house for a while, but with Prince Yun and The Minister of Punishment jointly sued you, so I called you over to ask."
Because Wang Fu, a foreign minister, was present, Zhao Tao naturally followed the court etiquette and said: "It is a matter within the minister's duty to share the worries of the officials and family. How dare I call it hard, but I am grateful that I have troubled the officials and family."
Emperor Daojun nodded and said: "Let's talk about the matter at hand first. I have read the excerpts of King Yun and the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, and I have a rough idea. Since it was a murder in a downtown area and there were oral confessions and testimonies, why did King Qi still ignore the law? Does the King of Qi know that it is a serious crime to go to the prison of the Ministry of Punishment to forcibly arrest someone?"
Zhao Tong said: "Do the officials still remember what I once said about Gao Qiu's son?"
When Emperor Daojun heard this, he immediately became interested and said, "Could it be related to this?"
Zhao Kai's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. He secretly thought that he was making up stories to deceive the officials again. Zhao Tong was really a treacherous person. He couldn't help but cast a sharp look at Wang Fu beside him.
Wang Fu understood it and nodded slightly.
Zhao Tong said: "The young man who committed the murder was the younger brother of that young lady at that time."
Emperor Daojun said: "King Qi, this is your fault. Isn't this the same as what you did when you made trouble in Prince Yun's Mansion? And he is still a white-bodied commoner. Where did you take someone away by force? ?
Zhao Tong said: "What the official said is true, but what I wanted at that time was not to save him at all!"
Daojun asked curiously: "If you weren't saving people, why did you forcefully carry them away?"
When Zhao Kai heard this, he immediately screamed, he knew Zhao Tan's tricks very well. Every time, he would first talk to the officials, then arouse the officials' interest, and finally use conspiracy to deceive him to achieve his goal.
At this time, Wang Fuli said: "In the official family, I have something to say."
Emperor Daojun said: "Wang Qing can say that I asked you to come here just to make a decision."
Wang Fu bowed to Zhao Tong again, and then said: "I have offended the King of Qi, so please don't blame the King of Qi."
Zhao Tong looked at him with a smile and said to himself that even if I don't kill you, someone will kill you in the future.
Wang Fu continued: "I think that the country has national laws and the family has family rules. No matter what the reason is, the King of Qi should not go to the Ministry of Punishment to mention someone on his own, and the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment is still there. Doesn't the King of Qi disregard the face of the court?"
He didn't say anything, and that was also his style. If he was someone with a harsh tongue, he would have said things like, where is the face of the court, and where is the face of the officials.
Zhao Tong nodded and said: "What Mr. Wang said is reasonable, but Mr. Wang may not know that the sister of the murderous boy is from the queen's house. Since Mr. Wang said that the country has national laws and the family has family rules, then these are the family rules. I think it’s better to handle the royal family affairs on my own, otherwise it will damage the royal family’s face if the news spreads.”
Emperor Daojun said: "Then how are you going to handle it yourself, King Qi?"
Zhao Tong said: "Reporting to the official family, murder is a capital crime. Since it is an internal matter of our government, I should take it back and beat it to death with sticks. Even if I have violated the court regulations, for the sake of the royal family, I... have to do this." !”
As soon as he said this, the three people across from him were slightly stunned. Zhao Kai thought to himself, how can he be so vicious? No, no, the tongue is as sharp as a reed, and the tongue blooms like a lotus, there must be a trick.
Emperor Daojun asked curiously: "Can the King of Qi use lynching?"
Zhao Tong said: "The official wanted to kill him directly, but unexpectedly he complained about injustice. I didn't want to pay attention to it. Then I thought that if this matter was all confused, there would be nothing else to do, so I asked a few questions. Upon questioning, it turned out that there was something fishy about it. He was actually being bullied, and he resisted and killed in self-defense to protect himself!"
As soon as Zhao Tan said this, Zhao Kai immediately said: "Officials, please don't listen to King Qi's nonsense. This matter not only contains confessions, but also witness testimonies. In any case, a deliberate murder cannot be hidden."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Tan looked at Zhao Kai and said, "What does King Yun mean by this? Is the witness's testimony credible?"
Zhao Kai sneered and said: "King Qi, please don't deceive me because I don't understand. A witness is called a solitary witness. I have three witnesses, all of which can prove this matter."
Emperor Daojun said: "King Qi, what do you have to say?"
Zhao Tong thought for a while and said, "I also think what King Yun said is reasonable."
Zhao Kai's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. For some reason, even though he seemed to have the upper hand at the moment, he always felt a little weak for no reason.
"It's just an official. Since what King Yun said is reasonable, then here..." Zhao Tao suddenly stretched out his hand and took out a whole stack of paper filled with words from his arms. He held it forward and said, "Here is the scene at that time." The testimonies of dozens of ordinary people can prove that the killing was committed in self-defense, and I hope the officials can make a clear decision."
Emperor Daojun and Wang Fu looked at the thick stack of testimonies in Zhao Kai's hand and couldn't help but widen their eyes at the same time. Zhao Kai's face instantly turned pale, he suddenly took a step back and shouted: "This, this is impossible! "
(End of chapter)
