"Song Wenyi?"
In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Qiyu couldn't help but frowned when he heard Huaien's words.
Wynn nodded and repeated it again.
"Yes, Your Majesty, what I just received from Cining Palace is that since the death of Eunuch Ruan Lang, Nangong has been lacking a chief eunuch. Our Lady feels that Eunuch Song, who has both civil and military skills and a proven sense of loyalty, is the most suitable one. .”
So, Zhu Qiyu lightly knocked on the table in front of him, thinking about the intention of Queen Mother Sun's move.
Song Wenyi had been promoted by the Supreme Emperor before, and he knew this very well. When he brought Song Wenyi back, he actually wanted to test him. But later, Song Wenyi obviously realized the situation in Beijing, so he quickly drew a clear line with Nangong.
At least in the past few years, there has been no sign that Song Wenyi secretly defected to Nangong. So, what was Empress Dowager Sun's consideration in asking him to come over at this time?
You know, although Song Wenyi is now in charge of the imperial palaces in various places, once he arrives at Nangong, Zhu Qiyu will definitely not leave this errand in his hands again. After all, he is a eunuch, and unlike the ministers of foreign dynasties, Zhu Qiyu wants to use Just use it, don't use it if you don't want to use it, and give up his errand without any pressure.
But if Empress Dowager Sun asked Song Wenyi to come to Nangong not for her errands at the Imperial Palace, then why?
"Your Majesty, do you want to find a reason to decline this proposal?"
Seeing Zhu Qiyu hesitate, Wynn asked cautiously.
This time, the Cining Palace did not issue an edict, but only ordered people to pass on the message. It can be seen that the nature of the test is mostly probing. Of course, it is also possible that after all the recent events, the Empress Dowager Sun has clearly realized that Cining Ning Gong's Yizhi has no effect at all in front of the emperor, so he might as well not ask for the trouble.
After hearing this, Zhu Qiyu shook his head and said.
"No need, it's just Song Wenyi. He will be sent to Nangong. It doesn't matter. You can go to Cining Palace to reply to the Holy Mother and ask for a decree. Then I will issue an order to summon Song Wenyi back to the capital."
After thinking about it again and again, Zhu Qiyu didn't think about the Queen Mother Sun's intention of doing this, so in the end, he could only choose to wait and see what happens.
Asking Cining Palace to issue an edict means that this transfer was not proposed by him. If Song Wenyi wants to hold a grudge, let him hold a grudge against the Empress Dowager Sun...
However, despite his words, Zhu Qiyu always felt a little uneasy in his heart, as if he had overlooked something. Seeing that Wynn was about to retreat, he thought for a moment and then ordered.
"Call Shu Liang over..."
"yes……"
Wynn's footsteps stopped, and then he stepped back.
The restless New Year is finally over, and the court gradually returns to normal order amidst the noise. After all, no matter how big things happen, for ordinary officials, they still have to go to the Yamen and live. The only difference is that all kinds of rumors are flying around.
However, for middle- and low-level officials, this is just more talk, and there is not much change in their lives.
Of course, some people are calm while others are not. For example, right now, a certain newly appointed Minister of the Ministry of Justice is having quite a headache.
Ever since the Emperor made a big fuss at the banquet on Zhengdan day, in accordance with the emperor's will, he and the Jin Yiwei arrested all the people in Nangong.
However, that was the weird thing. During these days, he basically checked everyone who had access to food, but he found nothing.
According to the current interrogation situation, every step of the process from the time the food left the kitchen was in accordance with regulations. There were no problems during the drug test in the middle. But just before it was served, the person who tasted the food for the Supreme Emperor Tested for toxicity.
Of course, what is even stranger is the two servants who disappeared inexplicably, but if they were really the ones who poisoned her, it would be impossible to escape the poison testing process.
If it is said that the poison was administered after a poison test, then, not to mention that during this process, the dishes were always delivered by at least three palace ladies and chamberlains. It is basically impossible for this situation to happen, even if it is true. , but how to explain the two servants who disappeared in Nangong?
In the public room of the Ministry of Justice, Yu Shiyue carefully reviewed the case files, his brows furrowed. However, in contrast, Lu Zhong, the commander of the Jinyi Guards who was cooperating with him, spoke calmly after reading the case files.
"Yu Shangshu, the matter is very clear. The Jin Yiwei found poison in the residence of the two servants. There is no doubt that the poisoners were these two people. As for the motive, it is also very clear. These two people were involved in the Civil War. A family member of a prisoner who escaped during battle has no relatives alive now."
"Jinyiwei has investigated and found out that these two people often complained about their miserable life experience in Nangong. They also once said that if it were not for the civil war, they would not be in such a situation. Then, it is very likely that they deliberately poisoned. The reason is To take revenge..."
It should be said that these words were very unprofessional. Judging from Yu Shiyue's many years of experience in criminal cases, the conclusion drawn by Lu Zhong was really too hasty.
but……
"Then how should we explain these people serving in Nangong?"
"According to their confessions, they were poisoned twice before the dishes were served, but there were no problems... Moreover, the two missing poisoners have not been found yet!"
Yu Shiyue frowned and asked.
However, the tone of his words clearly did not mean to deny Lu Zhong.
You must know that although he is the new person to take over the Ministry of Punishment, he has been serving in the cabinet before, so he naturally understands the current operating system of the Ministry of Punishment.
Although it is said that the Criminal Department and Jinyiwei jointly handle cases, in fact, the two sides have completely different systems. Most of the time, they are actually negotiated.
Moreover, the circumstances of this case are very special.
Although Lu Zhong's statement contained too many conjectures, one advantage was that it described the matter as a personal act, which was undoubtedly the best statement for the court in front of him.
Yu Shiyue is not a pedantic person. He is very clear about the impact of this case, so he has never meant to get to the bottom of it. However, precisely because the impact is too great, the final conclusion is at least that there is no Obvious loopholes.
So, Lu Zhong took out another case file, handed it over, and said.
"As for the poisoner, early this morning, Jin Yiwei fished out two corpses from a well in the Nangong Palace. Although the two corpses were swollen with water and could not be identified, but from the clothing, It is judged that the two poisoned palace men committed suicide out of fear of crime."
"Besides, this is the purchase record of Nangong in recent times. Lord Yu knows that the utensils of the nobles in the palace include silver bowls, silver plates, and porcelain. Needless to say, the former is used. If the latter is used, it will be used for poison testing. The most common method is to drop a silver medal into the porcelain, and this is what was used at the Emperor's royal banquet."
"This kind of silver medal is made entirely of silver. Therefore, it is often stolen by greedy people and melted for profit. After this case occurred, I specially ordered people to investigate the matter. Not surprisingly, these poison-testing The silver medal used had been secretly replaced a long time ago. The one used in Nangong now is just an ordinary iron medal. It is just because the silver medal will naturally turn black after being used for a long time, so no one has ever questioned this matter. "
"I think they didn't expect that someone would really dare to poison the Supreme Emperor, so..."
"So, what happened this time was an accident?"
Yu Shiyue looked up at Lu Zhong, with a hint of thoughtfulness in his eyes, and asked.
Lu Zhong nodded slightly and said.
"Yes, it was just an accident. The two poisoners had a grudge against the Supreme Emperor. They took advantage of the Nangong family banquet to poison secretly. The eunuchs responsible for testing the poison and in charge of the silver medals neglected their duties and secretly resold the silver medals, so that the poison was not detected. , after this incident, Yu Shangshu thinks, is there anything else that needs to be investigated?"
Hearing this, Yu Shiyue frowned and thought for a moment. Finally, he nodded slowly and said.
"If that's the case, then Commander Lu is asked to seal up all the evidence, and then he and I will jointly report this matter to His Majesty."
"It's natural..."
Lu Zhong nodded, and then, without staying much longer, he handed over and left. So, Yu Shiyue stayed in the public room and flipped through the case files at hand. There was a hint of worry in his eyes.
The next day, go up early in the morning.
After the beginning of the new year, the court meeting remains unchanged and is still Shen Shangshu's repertoire. Compared with previous years, the situation in various places is finally better this year. There has been no large-scale snow disaster. However, the situation is not optimistic either. , just entered February, news came from Su, Song and other places that this winter's warm weather failed to freeze insect eggs to death. As a result, after the beginning of spring, pests gnawed on crops in many places.
Although the local government has organized efforts to eradicate the disease, the effect is not great. If nothing else, many places will not be able to harvest this year's summer grain.
"...Your Majesty, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development estimates that many areas will be affected by the pest disaster this time, including Shandong, Shanxi, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and many other places. Under the most optimistic scenario, these places may only be able to save 30 to 40% of their income. The Ministry of Household Affairs is still counting the harvest and specific conditions, but eleven prefectures have already submitted requests to exempt them from this year’s summer grain.”
Shen Shangshu frowned, looking terribly worried.
However, the ministers in the palace have become accustomed to it. In the past two years, they have seen more disasters than this. This insect disaster is different from other floods and snow disasters. It is not considered an emergency. Therefore, the local The state capital has enough time to deal with it, so naturally, the court does not need to spend too much thought.
Of course, there are still problems. For example, food for disaster relief still needs to be allocated. Moreover, according to the tone of the Ministry of Household Affairs, tax exemption is inevitable.
However, this is something that the Ministry of Finance should worry about, and it has nothing to do with them. What they are more concerned about is... the Ministry of Punishment, it is said that they have already planned to close the case.
Unsurprisingly, the emperor ordered the Ministry of Household Affairs to strictly verify the disaster situation in various places, and then formulate new disaster relief regulations. This matter was considered over. So, soon, the new Minister of Punishment, Yu Shiyue, stood up and took out a plan. The memorial was handed over and he said.
"Your Majesty, according to the imperial decree, the Ministry of Punishment, together with the Jin Yiwei, thoroughly investigated the Nangong poisoning case. Now that the case has been concluded, your Majesty, please take a look."
A chamberlain came down the imperial steps and presented the memorial to the emperor. As the emperor unfolded the memorial, Yu Shiyue's voice sounded again.
"After investigation, it was found that the people who poisoned this time were the family members of two criminal officials who had been imprisoned in the palace for crimes. Later, the matter was exposed and they committed suicide in fear of crime. Jin Yiwei found a bottle of Hedinghong from their room, which can be used as evidence. thing."
"According to the confessions of other palace residents in the Nangong Palace, these two people were implicated in the civil war. Therefore, they always had resentment towards the Supreme Emperor, so they poisoned them in order to plot rebellion and revenge."
"In addition, according to the regulations of the palace, the dishes must be tested for poison with silver medals. However, after a detailed investigation by Jin Yiwei, it was discovered that due to lax control, an eunuch in Nangong stole the silver medals for profit, so he replaced them with iron medals. Therefore, no one was found to have poisoned it until the palace officials tried it."
"There are a total of forty-two people involved in this case, two of whom were poisoners. The criminals are traitors, but they have already committed suicide in fear of crime, and there are no family members alive, so they cannot continue to deal with it. The remaining forty servants of the palace, including Eight eunuchs neglected their duties and secretly sold silver medals used for drug testing. Fifteen palace officials did not report the knowledge. Seventeen palace ministers failed to detect in time that there was something wrong with the silver medals. As a result, the Supreme Emperor almost lost his dragon body. How to deal with it? Please tell me. Your Majesty decides."
What Yu Shiyue said was concise and to the point, but it immediately aroused whispers from all the ministers present.
Many of them had expected that this matter would eventually turn into a minor matter, but they did not expect that Yu Shiyue would marry so simply.
The two poisoners are dead, and there are no relatives to pursue them. The remaining people are jointly and severally liable for dereliction of duty at best, and their crimes will not lead to death.
So, such a major case of assassinating the Supreme Emperor was ended so hastily in the end?
At that moment, a minister stood up and questioned, saying.
"Yu Shangshu, the assassination of the Supreme Emperor is such a big case. How can two palace men do it? The Ministry of Punishment is so perfunctory. Is this a sign of Yu Shangshu's loyalty to the emperor and the country?"
I followed the voice and looked over, and sure enough, the person who spoke was none other than Dongge University Scholar Zhu Jian.
He said this with anger, obviously extremely dissatisfied with Yu Shiyue's plan to close the case this way.
On the other side, Yu Shiyue looked at him like this, and in a daze, he seemed to have returned to the time when the two of them were wrestling in the cabinet.
With a bitter smile in his heart, Yu Shangshu sighed secretly, why does this person not have a long memory? Then, he said with a straight face.
"What does Mr. Zhuge mean by this?"
"The Criminal Department is handling the case according to orders, how dare we slack off?"
"Every detail of this case is recorded in detailed case files, and all witnesses and evidence are complete. If Mr. Zhu Ge feels that something is wrong, he can request an order from His Majesty and go to the Ministry of Punishment to check all the case files. If he can If you point out errors or incomplete evidence, I am willing to submit my service to Your Majesty and abdicate in favor of someone worthy of my honour!"
"you!"
These words obviously meant something, and they were so sarcastic that Zhu Jian was so angry that he almost jumped up.
"alright……"
At this time, the emperor finally put aside the memorial and spoke.
"Now that the matter has been investigated clearly, the case will be closed accordingly. Except for the two people who committed suicide by poisoning, the remaining 23 people involved, who neglected their duties and concealed their knowledge, will be expelled from the palace and assigned to guard the border. Seventeen people who failed in their duties will all be punished with fifty sticks, demoted to lower-level palace servants, and handed over to the inner court for further distribution."
