The clerk repositioned the paper, grabbed the pen, and looked up at Cun Zhao and Tai Su, ready to record.
Cun Zhao caught a glimpse of it with his peripheral vision, lowered his head and said slowly: "I didn't want to testify against the prince, but now that the old emperor's uncle is in danger, if you watch him die, you will really be betraying your highness' trust."
"What has your Highness entrusted you with? Tell me one by one." Guoxiang asked.
Cun Zhao replied: "It's like this. Yesterday, I went to the palace with the emperor's uncle to see the prince and begged him to intercede for us. His Highness knew that the emperor's uncle was not guilty, but he still treated him with courtesy. He sighed that the emperor's uncle was really pitiful. ', and agreed to our request. However, due to the current situation, we were prepared to wait a few days before making any suggestions to the emperor. How could we have known that we had hurriedly arrested him today and there was nothing we could do. What's the point of being ashamed of the prince's order? My face lives on in this world! Please, you two, also condemn me to death!" After saying that, he stretched out his hand slightly from the wooden shackles, reluctantly made a bow, and lay on the ground for a long time.
Guo Xiang was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said: "You really didn't want your life to bring the prince in. That's fine, let's put this case on hold for now. I will go back and ask His Highness. If it is the truth, Guo will personally report to the old emperor." Uncle, I apologize; if you lie, I will be guilty even more and you will be executed too late!"
After hearing this, Cun Zhao couldn't help but feel shocked. There were big beads of sweat on his head. He answered softly: "Yes..." Then he was escorted out by several pawns. Looking back, Tai Su was already there. fainted.
"Sir Ye," Mr. Guoxiang took the confession from the clerk's hand, put it on the table, and smiled strangely at Ye Yongjia, "I have been ordered by you to finish all the trials. You are the chief case officer. You picked up the pen and started playing."
Ye Yongjia glanced at the confession for a few times and said calmly: "I will give it to the emperor, so the temple minister can rest assured."
Xiangren was about to nod, but he saw that the clerk next to him looked flustered. He kept winking at him and seemed to want to speak, so he leaned back on the chair and asked: "Secretary, do you have something to say to Mr. Ye?" Say something?"
The clerk hesitated and rubbed his hands uneasily: "I, I want to boldly say something, but I'm just afraid..."
"What are you afraid of? Just tell me." Ye Yongjia raised his hand to indicate.
"The villain thinks that this is a trivial matter. He can just ask the prince with this confession. Why bother the emperor? Not only will it delay the progress of the investigation, but it may also make the emperor suspicious, and he will lose contact with his highness and his son. And yeah."
Ye Yongjia said sternly: "I came to investigate the case under the emperor's imperial decree. As a human minister, if I don't report my feelings and instead discuss with the prince privately, wouldn't it make the emperor even more angry? The book office must not have such thoughts!" After hearing this, Wei Wei remained silent.
"Master Ye still understands the courtesy of a minister. There is no need to blame him if he is a humble official. I hope you can write a memorial as soon as possible so that the case can be settled." After that, he asked Ye Yongjia to take the memorial and Sent to prison.
The clerk followed Guo Xiang and asked anxiously: "Just now it was obvious that Cun Zhao was slandering the prince. Why did you allow Ye Yongjia to pursue him to the end? How great would it be if your majesty could read the memorial?"
The Xiang people laughed and said: "The clerk is overly concerned. It's not like Ye Yongjia is crazy. As a minister, how dare he confront the prince? The reason why he wants to pursue the question is just to intimidate Mr. Chen. Who can't see this little trick? Anyway, he is the one who offended His Highness, so just let him be!"
"Are you really crazy?" Cai Xianqing glanced at the confessions and stared at Ye Yongjia with wide eyes, "I have said it 10,000 times before, the prince cannot be implicated. This is what you think!"
"The arrow is on the string and must be fired," Ye Yongjia rubbed his brows and said, "The prince has long been in conflict with Chen Dang, and his eyes cannot tolerate us. He has repeatedly tried to cut off our momentum before, will he continue to do so? Are you going to swallow your anger? Why not seize the emperor's suspicion and shake the crown prince's position as the heir apparent? This is our only chance to win..."
"Tinglong's words can be described as treasonous." Cai Xianqing said.
Ye Yongjia laughed at himself and said: "It seems that I have never understood the four words 'loyalty to the emperor and patriotism' that I have learned from elementary school. Which of the things you and I want to do is not treasonous? Do you still remember that you once advised me, saying We can't steer this ship, so we can only make small repairs to it. But after all these years, I still can't stand this so-called fact. It seems that only giving the people an inch of favor can make them feel at ease and feel that they are right. Keep your conscience and be at ease from now on.”
At this point, he sighed again: "But I will only feel pain for this. Now there is an opportunity to get rid of this ending, and it is setting off a storm to destroy the original order... Even if the risk is extremely high, isn't it possible? Is it worth the risk?" After saying that, Liu Zhennian's face flashed through his mind, and he seemed to have some understanding of the former prime minister.
Cai Xianqing's heart trembled for a long time, and he was moved by it: "Tinglong, I respect you for having such an ambition. But if you plan to depose the prince, you must first make someone fight with him. How can we fight with him if we don't have a prince to support him? ?”
"I have a candidate!"
The two of them took a closer look and saw the principal, Wan Yu, opening the curtain and breaking into the back room, waving a paper fan in his hand.
Cai Xianqing immediately burst into laughter, stood up, pulled Wan Yuzhi over, and said to Ye Yongjia: "Master Wan is always good at inquiring about news from various places, and he is full of gossip. I am sure there is nothing wrong with asking him!"
Wan Yuzhi sat down, held up one leg, and spoke slowly: "I don't know, my benefactor, there is a King Yi who lives somewhere outside Beijing. He is the eldest son of your Majesty's concubine. He has a very heroic temperament. He often gathers people to hunt in the mountains. , galloping fast. He also likes to recruit talented people from all over the world. He has hundreds of literati guests in his house, and he spends all his wealth on them, and feels comfortable and contented."
"From what you said, this person is really unruly and unruly. I'm afraid he has no interest in the position of prince." Ye Yongjia said immediately.
Wan Yuzhi shook his head: "There is another story in this. When the prince was still King Xu, he had a disagreement with King Yi. Although the two were not far apart, they never met several times. King Xu was a solemn and serious man. Naturally, he couldn't stand the behavior of King Yi, so he secretly wrote down all his daily actions, made a report, and asked local officials to report to the emperor on his behalf. Later, for some reason, King Yi learned about this matter, and he personally went to Xu There was a lot of curses in the palace, and the two of them were regarded as enemies from now on."
"If the emperor has doubts about the prince, he can be invited to be his heir. This prince has gained a lot of respect in the world by adopting many literati. If this idea can really be raised, there will be many supporters!"
