"Kill him! Kill him!"
Just on the road leading to the forbidden area, Liu Zhennian was escorted by several forbidden soldiers and walked slowly. He could no longer wear the official uniform of the prime minister, so he put on a shabby dark brown cloth, with his white hair hanging down, and wearing straw sandals under his feet. He actually lacked the majesty of the past and looked like a beggar. All the officials crowded in front of Zhongshu Province. Seeing him coming, pairs of red eyes stared at him, and pairs of arms frantically grasped outwards. Not to mention the bursts of fierce insults, which seemed to have disappeared. If anyone stops him, they will eat the great traitor alive.
It was difficult for Liu Zhennian to ignore their noisy voices. He turned around and saw that those wide-open eyes contained not only endless hatred, but also strong excitement, as if they had some expectations for his fate.
"Go, go, go!"
Every time he took a step, a group of officials and gentry were trembling and counting with trembling fingers. Their smiles gradually grew crazier, and their eyes glowed with gold. They were looking forward to Liu Zhennian walking through the palace gate, looking forward to him never coming back, looking forward to getting some credit and a little bit of wealth - -In short, no one can disagree with them anymore. Everyone has the same interests, and things will naturally fall into place. If we work together, the future will be infinitely brighter.
The door of the side hall is opened, and when you enter the hall, there are three long tables placed inside. On the left are people from the Ministry of Punishment, and on the right are the ministers from Dali Temple, Guoxiang people, each with several clerks, and all papers and pens. , Sitting posture is strict, like stars over the moon, setting off the aloof emperor.
The emperor was sitting in the middle of the hall. Today, there was no curtain or screen to block it. It was really strange that he actually looked down at the courtiers with his holy face.
Liu Zhennian was now shackled and kneeling on the ground, but regardless of the etiquette of a monarch and his ministers, he looked up at the emperor and saw his haggard expression.
"Presumptuous," Guo Xiangren put the pen in his hand on the inkstone, "You are so used to being domineering. When you meet the emperor, you don't even know how to bow your head and answer!"
Liu Zhennian did not respond to the rebuke from the Hunan people. He just smiled and said: "I haven't seen your majesty's face for a long time. How about three years? Two years, right? Time flies, and your majesty has aged much... ...You have endured for thirty or forty years and finally eradicated a powerful official like me who has done many evil things. You should be very happy, right? It’s time to show off your talents and become the emperor of the future!"
The emperor usually had such fear and disgust towards this old man, but now that he saw him again, for some reason, his mood was completely different. He suddenly lost his hostility towards Liu Zhennian. Instead, he seemed to be looking at an ordinary old man and was happy to listen to him talk to him. Although he still had to maintain his previous cold-bloodedness and was unable to respond even a single sentence, he just listened and felt at ease all over his body. When he heard Liu Zhennian say "much older," he subconsciously touched the wrinkles on his forehead, but it was only for a moment in his mind. Even his expression did not change at all. He still held the dagger tightly in his hand, numbly. Watch.
"Presumptuous, presumptuous!" The Guoxiang man yelled twice more, pounding the table and said, "How dare you speak to the emperor like this! Give him a good beating and you'll be honest!"
"No need," the emperor said in a calm tone, "This person's arrogance is a bad trait in his nature. Why are you wasting your time? Just start the interrogation."
At this point, the soldiers outside the door pushed Guisuke in again. Guifu kowtowed obediently and knelt aside.
"Ask me about the year of Liu Zhen." A man from Guoxiang asked the book office to take out a stack of documents and asked while flipping through them. "The only people who plan to usurp you are Gui Fu, Niu Yuan, Hong Lizhen, Yan Wen and other civil servants in the government." Sixteen members, but?"
Liu Zhennian understood their purpose very well, so he replied softly: "Yes."
"Tsk, there are a lot of military attachés." Guoxiang turned another page, "Let's do this. I'll read the names of these people, and you will answer your relationship with them one by one. Record it in your confession so that you can give it to them in the future. Fulfill the charges."
Liu Zhennian still nodded lightly, but Guifu had a look of doubt, and immediately became indignant and argued with his words: "My lord! You are young and there are things you cannot consider when handling the case, and we can understand that; but You must not do this nonsense! When you ask the civil officials, you only ask about treason and ignore everything else; when you ask the military attachés, you tell them everything, very carefully. I don’t know what the basis is?"
Before Guoxiang could reply, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment blushed and started to curse: "Fuck slave! You are just a prisoner now, how dare you disobey the holy will! This is a good law of the imperial court. First, you group of treasonous people will be punished." After finding out the true Dharma and comforting the hearts of the people all over the world, they can then slowly worry about the minutiae."
Gui Fu sneered: "After we are all killed and there are no witnesses, who will still be tried by the Liu Party? Why don't we just let you talk nonsense! The court's laws have never been such a 'good law', it is simply ridiculous!"
"You still have the nerve to say such things!" Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice stood up and glared angrily, as if he wanted to bring out all their old accounts. However, the people from Hunan couldn't stand this verbosity, so they hurriedly handed him a With a wink, he said coldly: "No matter what they are talking about, why bother talking about morality now? Continue!"
Liu Zhennian was extremely cooperative with the Hunan people's questions, and kept going back and forth. Within half an hour, the clerks had prepared the confession. The people of Hunan were very happy. They immediately held a few files and bowed to the emperor: "Your Majesty, after the efforts of ministers and others to verify, it has been found that there are a total of 85 members of the traitor Liu Zhennian, among whom there are only 16 civil servants. , most of them have passed away, and their power has been weakened for a long time. I sincerely ask Your Majesty to abide by the laws of the country and the emperor's constitution, and deal with these remnants and defeated generals. Once the decree is made, the willow party in the court can be eliminated, the world will be clear, and a prosperous age can be expected!"
The emperor took the letter and nodded with satisfaction. Then he waved his hand and asked His Highness's soldiers to come up. He carried Liu and Gui and walked out. Guifu was unwilling to give up. He grabbed the arms of the soldiers and kept pushing his body forward, shouting: "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! These ministers are extremely evil! What kind of princes are in the court? Who hasn't leaned against the big tree of Liu Gong, and who hasn't had any contact with Liu Dang? Today, I didn't ask any questions, as if I had never done anything before! What is this called purification, what is this called clarity, the prosperous age..." The words have not yet been finished. , the palace door closed tightly with a bang, and was replaced by an overwhelming roar of mountains and tsunamis:
"Long live my emperor, long live, long live..."
The lights in the hall went out.
"Is the discussion over?" Ye Yongjia asked Chen Tongpao, holding the letter and looking into the distance.
"Yes, you can finally go to the emperor." Chen Tongpao said calmly with a calm face.
