Lan Yuan immediately returned to the East Palace and reported the news of persuading Cheng Cunzhao to the prince. The prince was very happy after hearing this and asked him what he should do next. Lan Yuan thought thoughtfully and replied: "Your Majesty is deeply suspicious now, and the first thing to do is to eliminate the estrangement. Why don't you persuade the emperor to let Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment interrogate the two nobles in front of the emperor, so that no one can interfere, and it is also a way to prove his innocence. .”
The prince looked up to the sky and sighed, stroking his sleeves and said: "This is indeed a good strategy, but I... really don't want to meet my father. The last time I went to visit the palace, it was like going to the gate of hell. I am still afraid of it."
Lan Yuan glanced at him meaningfully, coughed twice, and said coldly: "Your Highness, you should be ready for everything. Although His Majesty's body is still very strong, he is almost fifty years old after all. You are an old man, and I am afraid that you will not be able to hold on for too long. You must stabilize your emotions and bear any suspicions. You do not have to go astray in order to obtain the throne, just to survive safely... To sum up, it is nothing more than a Word: Endurance!”
The prince touched his chin thoughtfully and showed a sharp gaze: "I seem to have gradually understood..."
Without too much hesitation, the prince put on his clothes and went to the palace alone, facing his father again. This time, the prince was not as panicked as before, and responded more calmly. Although he deliberately acted frightened and awed, he never let his father's voice truly land, and he took it all in with relaxed words. The emperor finally agreed to his request, and the two of them left without saying anything, as if they were meeting with ministers. There was no trace of tenderness between father and son.
"My ministers Ye Yongjia, a native of Guoxiang, and Ming Huiguang, bow to the emperor! Long live my emperor!"
His Majesty gave a neat shout, and the three officials put their hats in front of them and respectfully completed the three bows and nine kowtows. The prince motioned for them to get up, and ordered the three of them to stand on the left and right. He also asked the eunuch who was with him to prepare paper and pen, and then he brought the criminal up and knelt in front of the emperor's gauze tent.
"Too solemn, Cun Zhao!" Ye Yongjia shouted in a suppressed voice, "Don't you two say that we wronged our loyal ministers and hindered the holy hearing? Now you have fulfilled your wish and let you two redress your grievances in front of the emperor. How can you still return the favor? Do you have anything to say?”
Taisu's face was pale, his legs were shaking nervously, and he and Cunzhao looked at each other for a long time, unable to hold back a word for a long time.
Ye Yongjia laughed: "If you are not ready to overturn the verdict, then I will ask your Majesty to issue an edict and sentence you to death!"
"No way!" Tai Su stared at him and shouted, "Your Majesty, that guy Lu Xinzhong is talking nonsense just to drag someone into trouble. How can this be confirmed! There is no trace of this Ye Yongjia in the local area. How can you trust this confession? He is clearly going to be the next Liu Zhennian!"
Ye Yongjia smiled nonchalantly, but a passerby from Hunan jumped out and asked: "Cun Zhao, you are also accused of being an accessory to the conspiracy. Do you agree with Tai Su's excuse?"
Tai Su also looked at Cun Zhao subconsciously, expecting him to retort resolutely, but instead he saw him with his head sullen and motionless.
Tai Su felt that he was asleep, so he bumped him lightly with his shoulder and shouted in a low voice: "Cun Zhao, Cun Zhao." Cun Zhao remained motionless.
"It seems you agree?"
"I have something to say," Cun Zhao suddenly spoke, "but I can only tell it to the Emperor."
The emperor's figure faintly appeared in the gauze tent, as if he was turning his head to signal to everyone.
"Even if the emperor doesn't believe it, I will risk my life to say it." Cun Zhao saw the emperor's reaction, he swallowed his saliva and touched his forehead lightly to the ground, "Wei Chen was forced to do so."
The emperor once again shook his head and faced the Hunanese.
"Speak quickly! Who forced you?" Guoxiang people asked hurriedly.
"To be honest, it is Tai Su who is beside me!"
Tai Su's eyelids turned white, and he almost lost his breath. Fortunately, he still managed to stay awake, and he kowtowed without saying a word!
Cun Zhao cried with a little sob: "Wei Chen didn't know about the emperor's uncle's exploitation at first, but later because the eunuch Lu repeatedly sent his confidants to imprison him, he became suspicious, so he questioned Tai Su a few words. That Tai Su is not Angry, he comforted me and hesitated, so I didn’t take it to heart.”
"Unexpectedly, tomorrow, he came to me aggressively and said that he had informed the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the news about me collecting money, and it soon came into His Majesty's ears. Eunuch Lu's hands and eyes were astute, how could I dare to offend him? I was in a panic. , and quickly begged him for forgiveness. This person did not give up, and threatened me to be his accomplice, and to keep the gold and silver treasures sent by the eunuch Lu. Because of this, not a single piece of goods or a single amount of silver came to Weichen Mansion. Yes, people from Dali Temple can testify!"
"Your Majesty..." Taisu didn't even have the strength to refute, so he could only crouch and beg.
The man from Guoxiang bowed to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, I gave the list of confiscations to the Ministry of Punishment that day. I wonder if you have seen it."
"I saw it," the emperor said in a tired voice, "I really didn't see Si Jin Cun's name."
Seeing the situation, the prince hurriedly turned around and scolded Tai Su: "You are an old thief. Not only are you ruining the emperor's reputation everywhere, but you are also colluding with the servants and threatening your colleagues! If you don't Ling Chi, you won't be able to satisfy the world's anger!"
Then he looked at Cun Zhao excitedly: "You confessed the truth at the last moment and made a great contribution. Otherwise, it would have been an unjust, false and wrong case! You have suffered enough in prison these days. With Tai Su telling so many false confessions, just to wait until today, I can speak frankly in front of the emperor, I admire you so much! Please your majesty, please issue an edict immediately, reinstate the loyal minister to his old position, and chop the old thief to death!"
"Wait a minute." Seeing that the 'loyal minister' was about to be revealed, Ye Yongjia suddenly spoke at this time, his sharp eyes piercing Cun Zhao, "I will ask you again, please listen carefully and answer carefully: Attendant of the East Palace Lan Yuan went to the imperial prison to see you?"
After saying this, the whole place fell into silence.
Cunzhao shuddered and laughed guiltily: "What do you mean by your nonsense?"
Ye Yongjia didn't say much, but still asked the same question: "Don't worry about these, you answer carefully! I can see Master Lan is gone!"
"Ye Yongjia!" The Guoxiang man became furious in an instant, his wide-open eyes almost bursting into tears, "If you don't like the prince, just say it directly. Who are you trying to throw at someone with such a secretive attitude?" Dirty water? Do you also want to imitate Tai Su and be executed by the Emperor Lingchi?"
Ye Yongjia ignored him, turned around and knelt down towards the emperor: "If your majesty is willing to dismiss me from office and execute me, I will not complain at all! Please judge whether Ye has the right to ask this question!"
