It's night, outside the prison.
Yang Yong and Zhao Kun were on guard with injuries.
"Who did His Highness ask us to wait for?"
Zhao Kun said in confusion.
Yang Yong: "It doesn't matter who you are waiting for. What matters is who comes. His Highness said, we just need to find out the identity of the other party, don't try to alert the enemy!"
"All right!"
"Brother Yang, look, someone is coming!"
Yang Yong's eyes lit up.
"You guard the carriage, and I'll sneak in and take a look!"
"good."
In the sky prison, Yang Yong used Qin Yun's token from the Dali Temple Shaoqing to successfully enter the prison. He followed the man from a distance.
It was obvious that the man did not want anyone to know his identity, as he was wearing a turban throughout.
When he came to Tianzi No. 1 room, he stopped, and the man handed the food box in his hand.
"Father-in-law, you are suffering!"
The father-in-law he mentioned was none other than Chen Shutong.
Chen Shutong muttered: "Your Highness, you shouldn't have come!"
The man said: "Father-in-law, I can't just watch you suffer. Don't worry, I will tell my father everything tomorrow morning!"
When the emperor Chen Shutong was mentioned, his eyes dimmed. He shook his head and warned: "Your Highness, you don't have to think about me, but please be kind to my daughter. I also left something for you. Please pay attention." !”
The man came forward, but Yang Yong didn't hear what they said specifically.
The two chatted until late at night, and Yang Yong followed cautiously.
…
The next morning, an exclamation came from Room 1 of Tianzi.
"No, Mr. Chen is dead!"
The prison boss who came to deliver food saw Chen Shutong hanging from the crossbar.
Qin Yun received the news immediately, but he was not surprised.
On the contrary, the ministers in the DPRK were panicked.
Why did Chen Shutong commit suicide?
But a bloody letter was left in the prison.
"Your Majesty, I deserve to die for my crime. Over the past few years, 300,000 souls who have been drowned in rivers in Jiangdu have come to seek my life day and night! I am so worried that I can only die now to thank God for my kindness. I can only die to comfort the souls of the deceased. Please also remember that for the many years of hard work I have done, please forgive my family. There is another person involved in the embezzlement of money back then, and this person is the prime minister of the dynasty, Yang An!"
At the court meeting, Qin Yun read the suicide note expressionlessly.
Everyone's eyes were on Prime Minister Yang An, but the fourth prince beside him was uneasy. Grandpa was his biggest supporter.
He immediately stood up and said: "Father, this is slander, pure slander!"
The ministers of the Yang Party also stood up and criticized: "Your Majesty, the Prime Minister has been loyal to the public and abided by the law throughout his life, and has never been corrupt. Someone must have framed this!"
"Besides, how could Mr. Chen, the dignified Minister of Rites, die in prison so aggrievedly without waiting for Chen's request? There must be something hidden in this. Please send someone to investigate."
"Your Majesty, I suspect that the Ninth Prince Qin Yun deliberately designed to kill Mr. Chen!"
"I also have these questions."
…
For a time, everyone pointed their fingers at Qin Yun.
Qin Ying raised his hand and suppressed it, and all the ministers were silent.
"Qin Yun, what do you think?"
Qin Yun raised his hands and said in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Father, I think it is true that Mr. Chen committed suicide, but as for the corruption of Mr. Yang pointed out in Mr. Chen's suicide note, it is not true."
"Yesterday, I thought that someone must go to communicate with Mr. Chen, so I sent someone to squat outside the prison. However, I found someone going to the prison to see Mr. Chen. That person must be one of the root causes of Mr. Chen's suicide!"
"Oh, then who is this person?" Qin Ying asked.
Qin Yun looked around, and finally his eyes fell on Qin Hao.
"Father, this person is the second prince Qin Hao!"
Qin Hao's face was as pale as paper.
"Father, I didn't! I just asked Mr. Chen for information last night. I really didn't force Mr. Chen to commit suicide!"
Qin Yun sneered: "When did I say that you forced him to commit suicide?"
"Besides, what ability do you, a prince, have to dare to force the dignified Minister of Rites to commit suicide?"
"There was someone else who forced him to death!"
Qin Hao: "Then who are you talking about?"
Qin Yun looked around and finally set his sights on Qin Ying! "
"The person who forced Mr. Chen to death was none other than my father."
As soon as this statement came out, everyone in the court was shocked.
The eldest prince seized the opportunity at this moment and stood up and said: "Father, Ninth Brother is so brave, he actually dares to arrange for father!"
The fourth prince also stood up and said: "Father, please punish the ninth brother!"
Qin Hao wanted to speak, but for some reason he backed away.
Qin Ying also frowned, but he was not angry. Instead, he asked with great interest: "Qin Yun, you said that I forced Chen Shutong to death! Why don't I remember this?"
Qin Yun said word by word: "Of course! That year, Jiangdu was flooded, but at the same time the Northern Qi invaded the border, and the court fought for years, and could not come up with sufficient money to pay the border troops."
"At that time, my father happened to be the vanguard general of the border army. In order to raise military salary for my father, Mr. Chen had to embezzle money from building river embankments for military salary."
"Most of the people in the imperial court knew about this matter, but only Mr. Liu Shiqi Liu didn't know about it."
"Because he is an upright official."
"Because there was no money to build river embankments in Jiangdu Luochuan, 300,000 people were made homeless! But if the frontier army had no military pay, the iron hooves of the Northern Qi Dynasty would have already invaded the hinterland of Daxia. By then, there would be only 300,000 people. The pain!”
"All nine states in Daxia will fall, and tens of millions of people will be affected by the war."
"Father, I dare to ask, was Master Chen's death forced by my father?"
Qin Ying stood up slowly.
"Yes and no!"
"I have never forced anyone. I protect this country and the country."
Qin Yun met his eyes: "However, the 300,000 people in Jiangdu Luochuan are innocent, and Master Liu is also innocent."
Qin Ying laughed loudly: "Qin Yun, I ask you, if you were to sit in my position, what would you do?"
As soon as these words came out, the whole hall was shocked.
The princes were beating in their hearts, but Qin Yun was unusually calm.
Qin Yun smiled: "Father, there are no ifs in this world. But if I were really in my position, I would definitely do better."
Qin Ying snorted coldly: "Then what should you do? If you can't explain why, I will give you the throne."
Qin Yun said: "Father, if I can convince you all by telling my story, can you agree to a condition?"
"Okay, I promise you!"
"Father, you must not do this!"
"Your Majesty, no!"
Everyone tried to persuade him, but Qin Ying seemed to have made up his mind. He didn't believe that anyone could do better than him.
"you say."
Qin Yun slowly said: "First, if faced with the same situation, I would never disregard the life and death of 300,000 people. That year, it rained heavily and many places were reported to have been flooded."
"It's a pity that in the eyes of the ministers, the common people are not as good as the mountains and rivers of Sheji! Therefore, they only care about the border army fighting. If they had organized the evacuation of personnel in advance, there would be no such tragedy."
"Second, I will provide work in exchange for relief. I will use the money that was originally reserved for disaster relief for nearby victims to use it as wages, so that the victims can strengthen the river embankment in advance."
"Father, the country and the country are not only mountains and rivers, but also the people!"
"The people are here, and the country is here!"
"Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it!"
