The emperor leaned on the pillow and stared at the roof, his deep eyes flickering, and he said for a long time: "Are there no other clues? For such a big matter, you are in charge of the Imperial City Department, but you only found such a few clues?"
Ma Shunde's face turned pale and he kowtowed quickly: "I am a slave who is incompetent! Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"
Seeing Ma Shunde kowtow repeatedly, sadness emerged in the emperor's heart.
However, the sadness that arose in his heart was not due to Ma Shunde's miserable appearance at the moment. He was just a domestic slave, so what dignity did he need?
"Alas, King Qi..."
The emperor thought of his family's mess, and he usually doted on King Qi, but what did this son give him in return?
The King of Qi secretly stockpiled armored soldiers, but he actually believed it.
To put it bluntly, false accusations are based on those areas that are difficult to implement and frightening to contemplate.
It is rare to start with an armored soldier who can be found out at a glance.
The emperor stared at the silk curtain with gloomy eyes and remained silent for a long time.
Although he was clear-minded in his heart, he almost preferred to believe that it was a lie. Otherwise, as a father and an emperor, wouldn't he have failed completely in some aspect?
Nowadays, people outside dare not say anything about him openly, but he knows what they think of him in their hearts without having to guess.
Do you even want your own son to turn against you?
Those old eyes had narrowed when they looked at Ma Shunde again.
It cannot be said that this slave is not loyal enough.
But even if he knew that Ma Shunde was loyal to his duties and was involved in the private accumulation of armored soldiers by the King of Qi, when this person reported it, he still couldn't help but feel a bit cold.
Yes, his son King Qi's private accumulation of armor had nothing to do with Ma Shunde. Ma Shunde even reported the matter to let himself know, so that he could make preparations in advance so that he would not make mistakes when it happened.
But what is a slave? It is used by the master to vent his anger.
For a moment, the emperor even wanted to kill the crow with a stick.
The world lacks everything but loyal servants.
"I am incompetent! Your Majesty, forgive me!" Ma Shunde knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly, his forehead turned blue, and naturally he could not see the Emperor's eyes.
Zhao Bingzhong stood bowed and said nothing. Looking at this scene, he just felt like he had seen it before.
His eyes also fell on the kneeling Ma Shunde, and a feeling of relief and a little sadness rose up mixed with it.
You, Ma Shunde, have this day too!
After all, when he was in trouble, Ma Shunde directly added insult to injury and even robbed the Imperial City Division, causing his status to plummet.
Seeing what happened to Ma Shunde, I naturally felt that retribution had arrived.
But it's more sad.
"Alas, the power of the Emperor is unpredictable..."
Zhao Bingzhong bowed and stared at the candles silently, his childish eyes shining brightly, and he knew clearly in his heart that the situation he ended up in was just Ma Shunde adding insult to injury?
It's not that the emperor gave up on himself and didn't even care about the hard work, he wouldn't have let himself fall into that situation.
"Flowing water does not rot, door hinges do not become beetles. This is a nice saying, but to a certain extent, it is just like the merits and demerits do not equal each other. It is nothing more than crossing the river and burning the bridge."
"Ma Shunde is dead."
Be loyal, and whoever is disloyal will still die if you are loyal.
"Your Majesty, if you hadn't left any room for your empress, grandson, or slaves, how could you have reached this point?"
Zhao Bingzhong felt sad in his heart. He had no room for regrets since the last time he submitted his petition. As he turned his eyes, he thought of the words sent by the Empress.
At that time, I felt something in my heart - were the grandson and the empress finally going to take action?
At that time, I was still thinking about what kind of lead would be used to launch it.
Unexpectedly, it was such a big move from the beginning.
Let’s start with the story of the King of Qi privately accumulating armor. What a great move!
Ma Shunde was kneeling on the ground with a bruise on his forehead. Feeling the emperor's gaze, his heart felt cold.
"Where's the date?" Finally, the emperor said coldly.
When Ma Shunde heard the emperor asked about the file, he kneeled down and crawled a few steps as if he had been granted amnesty. He hurriedly took out the file and presented it to him.
Zhao Bingzhong took it and handed it to the emperor who was sitting on the bed.
"Let me see, which guard is from Qianhu..."
The emperor opened the file and looked over with squinted eyes.
At first glance, he couldn't see it clearly, but when he got closer and finally saw the content clearly, the emperor suddenly changed his color.
In the palace, one could still hear Ma Shunde kneeling there and kowtowing repeatedly, saying: "...Your Majesty, please forgive me. I ordered someone to check carefully. There is only this file, and there is no specific number of the guards. I must have said." It was because the filers were negligent in their duties, so they didn’t record which guard they belonged to... But since they have names, surnames, and era numbers, if we check the files in detail, we will definitely find out..."
Ma Shunde's forehead was already bruised, but he still kept kowtowing: "Your Majesty, if you give me a few more days, I will definitely lead the Imperial City Department to find out all eight generations of this person's ancestors..."
"shut up!"
The emperor suddenly roared, and Ma Shunde was so shocked that he froze there. He even forgot to kowtow, and even looked up subconsciously.
Looking around, he saw that after the emperor roared, his face turned pale and his cheeks were slightly flushed. The madness mixed with pathology made Ma Shunde tremble.
He didn't understand at all that his words could cause such a big reaction from the emperor.
Is it because he didn't find out which guard unit Huo Lianqi was in?
No, probably not!
Ma Shunde was deep in thought while the lightning was flashing. He was trying to figure out what he meant, and he also had some insights. He could not fail to see that he did say something wrong, but it was not because of what he said, but because of the person he said it to.
Huo Lianqi, is there really a big problem?
The problem is so big that even the records of which guard army he was in have been wiped out?
In hindsight, Ma Shunde vaguely guessed something, and suddenly his back became wet.
"Your Majesty, please stop being angry!"
The emperor shouted at the top of his lungs and was about to say something, but immediately lost his temper and gasped for breath. Zhao Bingzhong on the side had already been prepared and had come over with a jade cup and carefully served the emperor to drink it in one gulp.
The wine with a strong medicinal smell flowed down the throat and soon exerted its power. The warmth spread along the stomach and spread everywhere.
Zhao Bingzhong put the empty cup aside and helped the emperor slowly lie down.
Ma Shunde was kneeling on the ground, as stiff as a stone statue. He didn't dare to get up or say a word, just lying there.
Hu Huaian did not dare to move. He had Zhao Bingzhong to take care of the emperor, and Ma Shunde to report the matter. He would rather be invisible at the moment and not be remembered by the angry emperor.
Although he did not report this matter, who knows if the emperor will also be angry with himself when he is furious?
However, when the emperor defeated Ma Shunde, his opportunity came.
Thinking this, Hu Huaian glanced at Ma Shunde and stood aside, motionless.
After a while, the lying emperor's expression gradually improved, but he did not get up immediately, and just lay there.
"Shence Army Qian Huo Lianqi!"
The moment he saw the document, the emperor remembered it as if he was enlightened.
Among all the armies of the founding of the People's Republic of China, this is the only one that not only had its numbers removed, but also its history. Even if it had to be recorded, the number of the people it belonged to was not mentioned.
Twenty years later, the emperor thought that he was gradually forgetting, but at this time, he realized that this was Taizu's thorn and his own thorn.
It was so vivid and painful that the emperor couldn't help but murmur.
It’s been thirty years, and you’re still not willing to die obediently?
