Cai Xianqing retreated for the time being. Without waiting to discuss with Ye Yongjia, he summoned the attendants and whispered: "The Taoist priest should have gone to see the emperor immediately, but now he is secretly discussing with Chen Tongpao in the room. There must be something fishy in it. I'll lead him away. Go take a look at the people at the door and report to me after you leave the court."
Then he walked up to the little Taoist priests and said, "Everyone, I'm afraid your master will be delayed for a while. Why don't you follow me to the court and tell the emperor your origins first, so as not to miss the time."
The disciples looked at each other and replied: "We are willing to go. But do you want to inform them?"
"Of course. Just say: 'The Emperor asked us to go and answer the question.' Don't mention anything else."
The disciples only obeyed the order, knocked on the door and shouted this sentence, and then left.
At this time, all the officials had passed through the Meridian Gate and were preparing to perform Hajj, and the square was deserted. The clerk arranged by Xian Qing just came out from the corner, tiptoed to the front of the house, lifted up the sill window, but saw that the house was blocked by curtains, and no sound could be heard. Fortunately, there was a window that wasn't closed tightly, leaving a gap, so he slowly reached in, pushed the window open, turned over and jumped into the house.
When he raised his head, he was facing the inner room and saw two people sitting there talking. He quickly turned his body to one side and listened secretly.
"The money you gave me is too much, I really can't bear it..." Chang Zhenren stood up and declined.
Tongpao Chen held a cloth bag and approached with a smile: "I ask you to do something. If I don't use a generous gift, how can I show my sincerity? If you don't accept it, I will have a bad conscience."
Master Chang reluctantly accepted the bag and sighed: "I am a cultivator and never love things outside my body. Your Excellency wants to trap me into injustice, but there is nothing you can do."
With a happy face, Chen Tongpao immediately took out a pen and paper, wrote down a few big characters, and showed him to read. After reading, he hurriedly crumpled the paper into a ball, threw it into the brazier and burned it clean.
Chang Zhenren nodded cheerfully: "This matter is easy to handle. When I leave the palace, I will go to your house to discuss it in detail."
"Thank you, then..." Tongpao Chen was about to send him out, but saw that he was motionless, staring directly behind him. The colleague was puzzled, and when he looked back, he saw the plate of duck meat.
"What? Are you not full?"
Chang Zhenren had accepted his bribe and no longer cared about his face. He bowed down and said with a smile, "Sir, no one is here anyway, and I'm still hungry. Can you..."
Chen Tongpao gently waved his hand and then placed the duck meat in front of him: "Taoist priest, eat it." Chang Zhenren didn't say a word and ate hungrily; while the sill window behind him was quietly closed.
After having a full meal, Chang Zhenren felt that the smell of meat was lingering in his mouth, so he rinsed his mouth several times before going to the hall to pay his respects. The emperor asked about Bei's details and comforted him greatly. He rewarded him with thirty taels of silver and ordered Chen Tongpao to bring the necessary magical tools and escort him and his disciples to the inner garden to perform the ritual.
Chang Zhenren and others successfully arrived at the prince's residence. Looking at the towering bedroom, they were about to climb up the steps when they suddenly heard Chen Tongpao say: "Master, wait a minute. The prince has not seen anyone for two days. Ruotang suddenly entered the palace and disturbed him." Your Highness, isn't it my fault? I'll go check out the situation, and it won't be too late for you to follow."
So the colleague went in first and gave the prince some instructions. Then he led the real person in, and he leaned down, closed the door and window, and waited for the spell to be cast.
After a while, all the lights in the dormitory were extinguished, and there was only a sudden ringing of a bell, followed by an incomprehensible spell. Various sounds were mixed together, and it lasted for almost half an hour. There was a moment of silence and warm candlelight. They lit up one by one again.
'Squeak--' The two door panels moved, and Chang Zhenren walked out calmly, holding a tightly sealed note, and handed it to his colleague: "The method is completed. This is the reason for the evil spirit I found. , Your Majesty, please do not open it lightly, until tomorrow morning, the white paper inside will be able to reveal the words."
The comrade thanked him and conveyed his feelings to the emperor. The emperor was overjoyed. He left the note in the palace and put it on the imperial desk. He wandered around it and couldn't sleep all night. Seeing that the sky was gradually broken by a layer of red light, he eagerly opened the note and took a closer look. It was like a thunderbolt falling from the sky, and his whole body was shocked:
'Jingcao Min used magic to force the prince to say: Lan Yuan is wronged, this king is wronged, and we don't want to die! This matter must be the inner demon of His Highness. The common people don't know who Lan Yuan is, but they ask the emperor to search for recent files to resolve the unjust case so as not to blame ghosts and gods. '
"Summon people from Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment," the emperor pinched a corner of the note and slowly put it down, "I... have important matters to discuss."
"His Majesty!"
The voice of the people from Guoxiang was like a loud bell, and their shouts resounded throughout the whole hall for a while, "I have said before that Ye Bingbu misdirected the country, and now it seems that it is indeed true!"
"Yes," Hanlin Ge Mingwei, who was standing nearby, also spoke up, "who doesn't know that Lan Yuan was once a subordinate of the Crown Prince. Ye Yongjia has not settled the case for a long time, causing His Highness the Crown Prince to be worried all day long, fearing that he might be implicated. , which resulted in this situation.”
Ye Yongjia did not panic, only looked at him coldly, and reported: "Your Majesty must know the loyalty of this humble minister. I will not argue."
"I didn't call you here to make excuses," the emperor said in an extremely serious tone, "my son, the country's current supervisor is still sick!"
The people at the palace steps prostrated themselves.
He sighed and suddenly changed the subject: "Of course, the point of this matter is not actually here, but whether Lan Yuan's case is an unjust case. If there is an injustice, it should be tried quickly and announced to the world, otherwise he will It’s hard to get rid of the heart disease; if there is no injustice, I will not ignore the establishment of this dynasty because of the life of this son. Do you understand?"
"clear……"
Before the words came out, the Xiang people couldn't hold it in anymore, and continued: "But this matter must be settled this month! The longer it is delayed, the more opportunities it will give others to forge and burn evidence!"
Ye Yongjia knew who his last sentence was directed at, and quickly said: "I should be careful to investigate..."
"No!" Guo Xiangren's 'offensive' obviously had no intention of stopping, and he resolutely interrupted his answer, "Isn't the reason why some people are calling for injustice precisely because Mr. Ye acted arbitrarily and secretly discussed it with his confidants all day long? Your Majesty, please Give me the power to cooperate in handling the case, firstly to supervise his behavior, and secondly to close the case as soon as possible."
Faced with the sudden proposal from the Hunan people, the emperor was hesitant at this time. He turned to Ye Yongjia and asked, "Are you willing?"
Ye Yongjia didn't know the purpose of the emperor's question. He was afraid that it was a test, and he was afraid of losing the chance to reject it. He couldn't help sweating, and kept swinging between these two ideas.
"I... am willing to follow the advice of a good prince."
He finally gave in.
