The imperial edict prison is a prison under the direct control of the emperor. The criminals inside must be convicted by the emperor himself. The imperial guards are directly under the control of the inner court. The Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate also have no authority to intervene in the prison. "Water and fire cannot enter, and the atmosphere of epidemic and disaster fills the prison." The criminal law in the prison is extremely cruel, and there are many types of torture instruments. It is said in history that "the criminal law is self-evident because of its creation, and those who do not follow the ancient system, such as Tingzhang, Dongxichang, Jinyiwei, Zhenfusi Prison is already here. [Read the full text] These are the few who have committed terrible murders, but are not beautiful in the eyes of the law."
After Zhao Junchen saw the four words "Prison Order and Strict Investigation" on the secret fold, he quickly understood what Emperor Deqing meant.
He ordered the prison to be imprisoned without a fair trial, and did not allow the intervention of the three judicial departments of the outer court. The case was only reviewed and finalized by the inner court. I am afraid that Emperor Deqing himself understood that King Gong'an was just a scapegoat. Such a conviction could not withstand rigorous investigation and scrutiny. However, Emperor Deqing also made up his mind to take this opportunity to completely destroy King Gong'an.
The secret was sent to the palace by Zhao Junchen overnight, and was approved by Emperor Deqing overnight.
With a slight sigh, Zhao Junchen looked out the window and saw the bright moon in the sky.
But Zhao Junchen did not intend to delay, and just raised his voice and called: "Qin Wei."
Following Zhao Junchen's call, Qin Wei, dressed in the attire of a hundred households in Xichang, pushed open the door and entered, knelt down and saluted: "Qin Wei is here, please give me your instructions."
Zhao Junchen handed the secret fold in his hand to Qin Wei and said quietly: "Go to the Xichang Yamen now, give this fold to Wei Huai, and tell him that I will not care about this matter from now on. He'll take care of it himself."
After Qin Wei respectfully took the fold, he was about to turn around and leave. After Zhao Junchen hesitated for a moment, he added: "By the way, remember to tell Wei Huai that your majesty is benevolent, loves the emperor's relatives, and is the best. In consideration of His Majesty’s posthumous reputation, although this case must be investigated strictly, it should not be too widely implicated.”
"I understand."
Qin Wei nodded in agreement, waited for a moment, and saw that Zhao Junchen had no other instructions and finally left.
After Qin Wei left the study and closed the door, Zhao Junchen was the only one left in the room.
Looking at the clear moonlight outside the window, Zhao Junchen looked a little relaxed. After taking a long breath, he murmured: "These days, the situation has been complicated, there have been many changes, numerous big and small things have happened, and now it is finally over. One piece.”
It's a pity that although one thing is over, there are still many things, such as the layout for the prince, the spring examination of the current department, and Emperor Deqing's southern tour, one after another, Zhao Junchen cannot help but relax.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three days later, in the middle of the river, there was the palace of Gong'an.
In the Ming Dynasty, the power of the emperor's relatives was extremely limited. When the princes reached a certain age, they would be granted the title of king and leave the capital. From then on, they could not leave the capital without an edict, discuss political affairs, make friends with officials, or even just treat the people better. Some good reputations will arouse the emperor's suspicion. Only a prince who is not involved in political affairs, indulges in drinking and sex, behaves absurdly and unruly, and even bullies the people will be regarded as a "good king".
Since Emperor Deqing ascended the throne, King Gong'an's external image has been that of a standard "sage prince" of the Ming Dynasty. He never discussed political affairs, never made friends with courtiers, sang and sang every night in the palace, and married every year. One or two concubines sometimes did things to oppress the people and caused trouble.
Therefore, although King Gong'an was the "virtuous king" of the Ming Dynasty, his reputation in the hearts of the people in the fiefdom was not good.
On this day, outside Prince Gong'an's Mansion, a large group of royal guards wearing round-collared armor suddenly arrived.
After the Jin Yiwei arrived, they were not polite or said hello. They just surrounded Prince Gong'an's palace and only allowed entry but not exit. They also dispersed the surrounding people. They looked like they wanted to capture the key criminal, but they were obviously It was aimed at Prince Gong'an's Mansion. When the people in the Prince's Mansion saw something was wrong, they came out to ask questions, but they were rudely driven back by the royal guards, with no intention of giving Prince Gong'an any face.
In fact, although they still don’t know the whole story, the Jin Yiwei understand one thing. Once the matter reaches this point, I am afraid that only King Gong’an will ask for their favor in the future, so why give him any more face? .
After the Jinyi guards surrounded Prince Gong'an's palace, they stopped taking any action. They just controlled the situation and did not take any action, as if they were waiting for someone. This made everyone in Prince Gong'an's palace panic and didn't know. How long I have to wait, I don't know what I will wait for in the end.
But before long, I saw another group of people outside the palace of Gong'an. This group of people looked like the costumes of Dongchang's stall fans, but there were some subtle differences upon closer inspection.
Seeing this group of people, the attitude of the originally arrogant Jin Yiwei suddenly changed, and they turned out to be extremely respectful. Obviously, this operation against Prince Gong'an's Mansion was mainly based on the new team, and the Jin Yiwei was only a support. .
As for the new team, the leader was a skinny, pale, and gloomy lame man. He was sitting in a wheelchair and was pushed outside the gate of Prince Gong'an's Mansion.
This lame man is none other than Wei Huai, one of the four current heads of Xichang.
"Oh, isn't this Mr. Wei Huai? I have met Mr. Wei Huai in my humble position as a Jinyi Guard Qianhu Jinquan. Speaking of which, I haven't had time to congratulate you on your promotion to the West Factory."
After seeing Wei Huai appear, Qian Hu, the leader of the Jinyi Guards, rushed up to greet him, saluted Wei Huai, and said with a flattering look on his face.
Speaking of which, Jin Quan and Wei Huai were quite familiar with each other when they were at Jinyiwei Yamen.
However, Wei Huai had no intention of reminiscing with Jin Quan. He just gave Jin Quan a gloomy look. That gloomy look was like the gaze of a poisonous snake that wanted to bite people. Even though Jin Quan was well-informed, he couldn't help but His body trembled.
"Everyone is here?"
Wei Huai asked slowly in his unique hoarse voice.
Seeing Wei Huai's appearance, Jin Quan did not dare to delay or neglect, and quickly replied: "Sir, the three general flag teams transferred from the capital, as well as the imperial guards from the four prefectures and eighteen counties around here, have all arrived. "
Wei Huai raised his head and looked at the luxurious gate of Prince Gong'an's Mansion in front of him. With a sneer on his face, he asked: "Since everyone is here, what are you waiting for? Call the door!"
Jin Quan quickly agreed, stood up, and wanted to send his men to break into Prince Gong'an's palace.
However, before the royal guards could call the door, the door of Prince Gong'an's Mansion suddenly opened by itself.
Then, I saw a group of people from Prince Gong'an's residence, old and young, high and low. At this time, the Marquis was at the door.
Looking at the wolf-like Jin Yiwei and Xichang fans in front of them, most of these people looked panicked and pale.
Only the leader, who was wearing a yellow python robe, had a face similar to that of Emperor Deqing, but was a few years younger, and his temperament was also full of majesty. At this time, he did not show any panic at all, and just looked at him with contempt. His eyes scanned everything in front of him coldly.
This person is the main target of Xichang and Jinyiwei's trip - King Gong'an Zhu Cihuan.
As the saying goes, a phoenix on the ground is not as good as a chicken. Even though Jin Quan was groveling and extremely humble in front of Wei Huai just now, that was because Wei Huai was in Xichang and there was Zhao Junchen standing behind him. He couldn't afford to offend him. But now facing King Gong'an, Jin Quan, who was well aware of King Gong'an's future fate, was rude.
With a false smile and a perfunctory courtesy, Jin Quan said to Prince Gong'an in a sarcastic tone: "Oh, isn't this Prince Gong'an? Jin Quan, who is a low-ranking Jinyi Guard Qianhu, I have met the prince. We are acting according to the order today. If there is any offence in the future, I hope you will not blame me, prince."
However, King Gong'an paid no attention to Jin Quan in front of him. He just glanced at Jin Quan as if he were a clown, sneered, and then turned his attention to Wei Huai.
After looking at it for a few times, King Gong'an asked coldly: "Are you from Xichang?"
Wei Huai nodded and said softly: "Your Majesty is really well-informed. This West Factory has only been built a few days ago, and yet Your Majesty already knows about it. Since Your Majesty is so well-informed, I am afraid he also guessed that I am waiting for my visit this time." Is it your purpose to meet the prince?"
Hearing Wei Huai's rhetorical question, King Gong'an's sneer grew thicker, and he also asked: "So, you are Zhao Junchen's man? I have long heard that that guy is a flattering villain. In today's situation, He must have figured out Deqing's thoughts and put the He Ming family murder case on my head, right?"
"Bold!" As soon as King Gong'an finished speaking, Jin Quan jumped up, pointed at King Gong'an and loudly accused him: "Can't you see clearly the current situation? You are just a sinner now. I'm afraid Soon, your title will be taken away by His Majesty, but now you have no repentance, not only slandering Mr. Zhao, the director of the West Factory, but also calling His Majesty by his name. Aren't you afraid of getting a higher penalty for your crime!?"
King Gong'an sneered and said: "Whether my crime is true or false, whether it is big or small, I am afraid that Deqing and Zhao Junchen will not let me go. In this case, how can I be afraid of committing more crimes?" Wait a minute!?"
"you……"
Seeing King Gong'an like this, Jin Quan became even more angry, but he pointed at King Gong'an and didn't know how to refute.
Wei Huai, on the other hand, showed a hint of admiration at this time and asked softly: "Your Majesty opened the door to welcome you without any resistance, and did not take the time to destroy the correspondence evidence in the palace that might cause trouble. I'm afraid it's the same. You know that you are bound to be doomed, so you simply don’t resist, right? I admire the prince’s open-mindedness and his humble position.”
King Gong'an still snorted, looking at Wei Huai and Jin Quan with more contempt, and with a hint of sadness, he said slowly: "The physical evidence, whether it is true or false, your Mr. Zhao is afraid Are they already prepared for me? In this case, what difference does it make if the things in my palace are destroyed or not? I only hate that my great reputation in my life will eventually fall into the hands of a villain like Zhao Junchen , God is treating me unfairly!"
Having said this, King Gong'an looked up to the sky and sighed! Finally, he showed some weakness.
"My lord, I'm afraid you have wrongly blamed my lord." Seeing that King Gong'an repeatedly offended Zhao Junchen, Wei Huai's expression finally flashed with a cold look, and his expression became even more gloomy and cold: "Although your Majesty has obtained this matter, I agree with the adults in my family, but everything is handled by me, my humble servant, from beginning to end. However, before leaving, Mr. Zhao once told me that this case should not be too involved, but seeing that the prince is now With such an attitude, I have no choice but to go against Master Zhao's wishes once."
As he spoke, Wei Huai waved his hand and shouted in a cold voice: "Search the palace! Don't miss any clues! Everyone in the palace, from King Gong'an on down, is under control. After the search is over, they will be escorted back to the capital for interrogation. !”
"yes!"
After receiving the order, the surrounding Jinyi guards all showed excitement and responded loudly.
Then, like wolves and tigers, the royal guards rushed into the palace one after another, bringing a lot of crying and chaos.
When Zhu Cihuan, Prince of Gong'an, who had always tried to keep his composure, saw this scene, his face could not help but turn pale, as if he had suddenly aged a lot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Soon, the entire staff of Prince Gong'an's Mansion were controlled by Jin Yiwei and imprisoned in other places.
Wei Huai came to the main hall of the palace and watched the royal guards in the palace running around in a mess. His expression remained unchanged, but he was quietly waiting for the result.
After about two hours, the search finally ended.
Most of the places in the palace were searched by Jin Yiwei, but some important places, such as King Gong'an's study, secret room, accounting room, bedroom, and warehouse, were personally taken care of by Xichang's trusted followers.
Because there were fewer places to search, the search by the stall owners in the West Factory ended first.
I saw a foreman from the West Factory, Bai Hu, hurrying to the main hall. He first looked at the Jin Yiwei waiting around. Wei Huai understood what he meant and waved to the Jin Yiwei. The Jin Yiwei left with understanding. For a while, there was only one person in the room. The people from Xichang were left waiting.
Even so, Baihu, the foreman, still did not dare to neglect. He came to Wei Huai's side, bent down and whispered: "Master Wei, in this humble position, I led people to search the study, dark room and King Gong'an's bedroom. Sure enough, I found something. Quite a few things.”
Wei Huai's expression did not change, as if he had expected this, and asked: "What is there?"
"In the cellar and the wall, I found a lot of gold and silver jewelry. Because the quantity is too large, I am still counting it, but I made an estimate and found that the total value is probably no less than five million taels. And in the warehouse , and found more than 300 pieces of armor and weapons, all of which were excellent and well-preserved. If these were all, that was all. In the secret cabinet of the study, Beizi also found a stack of secret letters. Because Beizi felt that it was a secret, he also I don’t dare to check, so I ask you, sir, to make the decision.”
While talking, the man from the household took out a bunch of secret letters, about twenty of them, from his arms, held them in both hands and presented them to Wei Huai.
Wei Huai took the bunch of secret letters, took out one and glanced at it, then sneered.
"There is no smoke without fire. The rumors among the government and the public about King Gong'an's secret friendship with the court ministers now seem to be true. Unexpectedly, this time we can find secret letters between King Gong'an and some officials and ministers in the court. This is a good thing. Harvest, if these secret messages are put into the hands of Mr. Zhao, they will definitely be put to good use..."
Thinking like this, Wei Huai no longer looked at it. He just took the secret letter into his arms, then looked at the Xichang Baihu who was in charge of the search in front of him, and said slowly: "There is no other matter about these secret letters." People know, right?”
Baihu said quickly: "Sir, apart from the two stall owners and three fans who searched together with Bei Zhi, Bei Zhi did not let anyone else know."
Wei Huai nodded and said coldly: "From now on, you will forget about this secret letter and just pretend that you never knew about it. The factory supervisor and I will never treat you badly. Do you understand?" ?As for those stalls, you should also make it clear to them."
Baihu nodded repeatedly to express his understanding.
Wei Huai pondered for a moment and then said: "You can pick out some of the gold and silver jewelry you just found in the wall and cellar and take them back, so you don't need to record them. In addition, those two stalls and three fans, each rewarded with five hundred taels of silver."
Hearing what Wei Huai said, hundreds of households were overjoyed and expressed their gratitude. Seeing that Wei Huai had no other instructions, they turned around and left, presumably to look for a big box.
Just as Baihu, the foreman of the West Factory, left, he saw Jin Quan entering the main hall with several Jin Yiwei accountants. After saluting Wei Huai, he said: "Sir, the gold and silver in Prince Gong'an's Mansion have been counted. Finished, here is the account book, please take a look at it."
While talking, Jin Quan held the account book in the accountant's hand and handed it to Wei Huai.
The account book contained nothing more than a record of how much gold, silver, pearls, and antiques were found. Wei Huai only glanced at it roughly, even though he knew that the number in the account book must be untrue, and that Jin Yiwei and his subordinates must have stolen a lot of money. , but I don’t care, you always have to give some benefits when people do things.
What's more, the real treasures in Prince Gong'an's palace are those found by the Xichang gangsters in the secret room of the cellar.
After putting the account book aside, Wei Huai frowned when he saw Jin Quan's expression of hesitation and asked, "What? Could it be that there was an accident?"
After Jin Quan hesitated for a moment, he still replied: "Returning to your lord, everyone in Prince Gong'an's palace, after being imprisoned and controlled in his humble position, counted the number of people and found that one person was missing."
"Oh?" Wei Huai frowned more tightly and asked, "Who is he?"
"I heard that she is the adopted daughter of King Gong'an, with the same surname as King Gong'an, and her name is Jiayi. I heard that she went to the Tiange Temple here today to offer incense, but I sent someone to the Tiange Temple to inquire, and I found out that she should have He came back, but now there is still no trace. I am afraid that Zhu Jiayi ran away privately after seeing the bad situation in Prince Gong'an's Mansion."
After hearing that she was just the adopted daughter of King Gong'an, Wei Huai frowned a little and didn't care. He just said: "Issue an arrest warrant and ask all places to pay attention and catch her as soon as possible."
Seeing that Wei Huai didn't care, Jin Quan felt relieved and quickly agreed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A big chapter of 5,000 words, please continue to ask for recommendations! Seeking Like!
