The sky is dark and the rain is gradually stopping.
Outside Pingkangfang, a whole team of Jinwu Guards appeared outside Qinxiangyuan, standing three meters outside the gate of Qinxiangyuan, holding long spears in their hands, lined up in a row, with cold expressions on their faces.
In front of Qinxiang Garden, Jinwu Guard directly occupied half of the long street, blocking all the ways in and out of Qinxiang Garden.
He Qiniang slowly walked out from behind, walked to the front of the Jinwu Guards, and then knelt towards Qinxiang Garden, looking at the door in front of her with sobbing eyes. However, inside the door, there were countless eyes falling on her in the dark at this moment. , but still no movement at all.
Across the street on the east side of Qinxiang Garden, a black carriage parked there silently.
Li Xuan sat in the carriage opposite, looking coldly at the luxurious Qinxiang Garden opposite.
Baiying has been sent to Qianniu Prison by him, and now the only thing missing is Qinxiang Garden.
Qin Ming sat opposite Li Xuan, wearing blue clothes and gold armor. His brows were furrowed. He looked at Li Xuan with worry and asked, "Do you really want to take action?"
Li Xuan nodded gently: "Of course, but do you have to wait?"
Qin Ming was stunned and asked subconsciously: "What are you waiting for?"
"The decree." Li Xuan raised her head, looked through the car window in the direction of the Daming Palace in the distance, and said softly: "I have already gone to ask for the decree."
…
Daming Palace, outside Zichen Hall.
Zhao Gong stood with his hands tied up with a stern expression, veins popping out from time to time, but he quickly calmed down, and the tension and solemnity in his eyes were clearly visible.
A chamberlain in green clothes quickly walked out of the inner hall, glanced at Zhao Gong, then raised his head and looked into the distance, shouting loudly: "The Queen of Heaven has issued an order to announce that Dr. Zhao Gong will be present at court."
Zhao Gong immediately bowed and held his hands in front of him, saluting and saying, "Your Majesty, Zhao Gong, accepts the decree."
The moment he lowered his head, all the expressions on Zhao Gong's face disappeared. When he raised his head again, his face was filled with solemnity and fear.
Zhao Gong was dressed in a crimson official robe, with two cyan jade ornaments hanging around his waist. He raised his head and stepped forward. He walked leisurely and every step seemed to be measured and regular.
In the solemn Zichen Hall, countless candles have been lit at this moment.
Zhao Gong stepped forward and stood in the center of the hall. Without raising his head, he cupped his hands directly to Empress Wu who was sitting behind the imperial cabinet and said, "I will send you the official, Zhao Gong, the commander of the secret guards, to pay my respects to the Queen of Heaven. May the Queen be safe."
After the court case, Empress Wu was reviewing the memorial. When Zhao Gong came in, she didn't even raise her head and asked directly: "What's the matter?"
"Reporting to the Queen of Heaven, just half an hour ago, the subordinate minister, Zhou Zhi, was assassinated by Bai Ying, the deputy head of Wanxiang Pavilion." As soon as Zhao Gong finished speaking, Empress Wu, who was behind the case, had already raised his head, his face Brings up a trace of doubt.
Zhao Gong quickly continued: "Reporting to the Queen of Heaven, the King of Nanchang happened to be passing by at that time, and finally defeated Bai Ying and killed him."
After reviewing the case, Empress Wu frowned, put down the fine jade-tube pen in her hand, and sighed softly: "What's going on?"
"Reporting back to the Queen of Heaven, it was Zhou Zhi who was involved in the incident and secretly communicated with Tubo. Through the hands of Wanxiang Pavilion, he resold the details of my western front and arranged them in Tubo. However, the King of Nanchang found out in advance." Zhao Gong said, taking out a bag from his sleeve. This memorial is handed forward slightly.
The chamberlain on the side quickly came down, took the memorial, and finally handed it to Empress Wu.
Empress Wu opened the memorial and said at the same time: "You continue."
"Here!" Zhao Gong quickly handed over his hand and said at the same time: "Reporting to the Queen of Heaven, after the King of Nanchang strangled Wanxiang Pavilion Ming'an a few days ago, he targeted Zhou Zhi, but because there was no evidence, he has been secretly monitoring the outside. Half of Hours ago, after Zhou Zhi left Qujiang Pool, he made a deal with Bai Ying and was captured on the spot by the King of Nanchang."
Empress Wu nodded slightly and said calmly: "This matter has been reported to Mingqing before."
"Yes!" Zhao Gong bowed and continued: "But today, during the fight, Bai Ying used the secret method of all things to replace Zhou Zhi. In the end, Zhou Zhi was injured by Bai Ying and died of serious injuries, but Bai Ying had been captured alive. !”
"Oh?" Empress Wu suddenly raised her head, looked at Zhao Gong in surprise, shook her head slightly, and said: "I have always thought that when the King of Nanchang takes action, he is always either dead or injured. It is rare, rare, to be able to catch someone alive."
Zhao Gong immediately said in panic: "Reporting to the Queen of Heaven, Bai Ying knew that he could not escape, so he used tricks to cheat his death, but he didn't know that he had already been seen through by the King of Nanchang and easily captured. Now he has been locked in Qianniu Prison, waiting for him to wake up. We will strictly investigate the secrets of Wanxiang Pavilion."
"Well, good job!" Empress Wu nodded with satisfaction, and then said: "It must be Yuchi Xunyu who is led by the right guard of the East Palace. According to the decree, Yuchi Xunyu is promoted to the right guard of Prince Yuchi and leads the Sima."
"Here!" Zhao Gong immediately handed over his hands in a solemn voice. How could the Queen of Heaven not know about such a big thing as the East Palace's troop deployment?
Empress Wu read the memorial, put it aside, and then looked up at Zhao Gong: "This matter can be reported to Qianniu Guards and Dali Temple for handling. Why did you come to the palace in such a hurry? What is the specific matter?"
"The Queen of Heaven has insight!" Zhao Gong bowed slightly, and then said carefully: "The Queen of Heaven, the King of Nanchang also found a female...envoy on the carriage where Zhou Zhi and Bai Ying were captured?"
"Female envoy?" Empress Wu immediately raised her head and looked at Zhao Gong with disbelief.
Zhao Gong immediately held up his hands and said: "Report to the Queen of Heaven, she is the female prostitute He Qiniang from Qinxiang Garden in Pingkangfang, but in fact, her true identity is He Miao, the criminal daughter of the Yeting Bureau, and her father is Xianqing Si The daughter of He Yang, the number one scholar in that year, He Yang was accused of conspiring with Shangguan Yi in the first year of Linde's reign to conspire with the deposed prince Zhong. She was exiled to Bozhou and died for several years. The person who originally reported He Yang was none other than Zhou Zhi."
As soon as Shangguan Yi's name came out, behind the curtain on the right, a female officer in her thirties suddenly raised her head, but then quickly lowered her head.
…
Empress Wu's brows furrowed tightly, and her right fist couldn't help but clenched: "The person who ranked second in the fourth year of Xianqing, the first year of Linde, was no more than sixth grade."
Zhao Gong cupped his hands and said: "Reporting to the Queen of Heaven, it is Zuo Lang who is from the sixth rank. At that time, He Yang was about to move to the right to Tongshi Sheren."
"How can a scholar Zuo Lang be qualified to associate with the prime minister, and he is also a deposed prince." A trace of disgust flashed in Empress Wu's eyes.
Of course, not to mention He Yang, even Shangguan Yi was framed back then.
The one who framed Shangguan Yi's deposed prince Li Zhong for treason was the Empress Wu in front of her.
It's just that although everyone knows that Shangguan Yi's death was unjust, everyone also knows that Shangguan Yi's death was not unjust.
Empress Wu shook her head, shook off the thoughts in her mind, and then snorted disdainfully: "Ah, it's really a good trick. Through the court struggle, he framed his colleagues, and then put his daughter into the bed... Wait, the guilty daughter of the Yeting Bureau , how did she become a female prostitute in Qinxiang Garden, and how did she get sent to... Come on, tell me, the young eunuch Xu Zhong."
"Here!" The chamberlain on one side bowed immediately when Empress Wu shouted coldly, and then trotted out of the palace.
Empress Wu looked at Zhao Gong with a livid face and said, "Keep talking."
"Here!" Zhao Gong bowed and continued: "The female prostitute He Miao confessed that Zhou Zhi often had private meetings with others in Qinxiang Garden, often commented on government affairs, vented dissatisfaction, slandered the emperor and empress, and conspired..."
With a "crash", the countless memorials on the Imperial Case were violently swung to the ground. Empress Wu gritted her teeth and said, "What did you say?"
"Reporting to the Queen of Heaven, four of her disciples, Zhongzhou Zhi, Cui Fan from Zhongshushe, Hu Zai from Prince Zhongshe, and Zheng Fan, secretary and young eunuch, often met together in private meetings to comment on government affairs, and from time to time they made wild remarks...here What a wonderful confession, please preview it by the Queen." Zhao Gong immediately took out a piece of paper from his sleeve and handed it over.
The chamberlain on the side carefully delivered the paper to Empress Wu.
Empress Wu read it roughly, and when she saw the words above, the paper in her hand was immediately clenched tightly into a ball.
Zhao Gong immediately continued: "Because the matter involves the palace, the King of Nanchang asked for a report. Should the Qianniu Guards use the assassination to inspect Qinxiang Garden, or should it be handed over to the internal guards for review?"
The inner guards rarely leave the palace, but illegal things in the palace have always been investigated by the inner guards.
"What are you asking the internal guards to investigate? Don't you think this matter is not chaotic enough?" Empress Wu rolled her eyes at Zhao Gong angrily, then took a deep breath, calmed down, and then chuckled lightly and said, "It is the King of Nanchang who wants to investigate Qinxiang." Garden right?"
"Reporting back to the Queen, the King of Nanchang heard that officials often met secretly in Qinxiang Garden, threatened to play with female prostitutes, discussed government affairs, and slandered the emperor... He was extremely angry. He had already rushed to Pingkangfang, but he was worried about the palace being involved. That’s why I didn’t make any rash progress…”
"There is nothing arrogant. If he wants to investigate, let him investigate carefully. I will dig out all the filth here. All the officials involved will be arrested and sent to Qianniu Prison." Empress Wu Gritting her teeth, the anger in her heart was already somewhat unspeakable.
The people in the palace sent the guilty girls from the Yeting Bureau out of the palace to work as prostitutes, and the Qinxiang Garden secretly established became a secret place for some people to secretly meet to slander themselves. However, due to the special location, those people's Words, almost unknown.
Empress Wu felt that her face was red from being beaten.
We must investigate, we must investigate ruthlessly. If we don’t investigate, how can we know how crazy and rebellious those people are.
"I obey the order." Zhao Gong breathed a sigh of relief. Now, this matter is finally settled.
At this moment, a chamberlain came in and said in a careful and low voice: "The Queen, the chamberlain's young eunuch Xu Zhong has arrived."
Empress Wu raised her head and looked at Zhao Gong.
Zhao Gong immediately took out a bunch of bloody money orders and a wooden hairpin from his sleeves and handed them to the chamberlain beside him.
Empress Wu looked at the things in the hands of the chamberlain, then sneered and said, "Zhao Qing, your sleeves are almost a treasure bag. If you have anything in the future, just take it all out and it won't be the same for a while."
"It's because I didn't think well." Zhao Gong immediately handed over his hands in fear, and then watched Empress Wu begin to open the money order and the hairpin. Zhao Gong quickly said: "This is the 30,000 Yuanfang money order that the Tubo people used to bribe people to buy information. The wooden hairpin was unscrewed, and what was inside was the intelligence information that Zhou Zhi sold to Tibet... However, neither the minister nor the King of Nanchang have ever opened it, so it is inevitable..."
"What's going on? Will he kill the wrong person?" Empress Wu raised her head and rolled her eyes at Zhao Gong, and said angrily: "Just see what you need to see. You will know these things sooner or later, and you will not sell this information to Tubo .”
"I don't dare!"
Seeing Zhao Gong's overly cautious look, Empress Wu couldn't help but shake her head and said, "You are just too cautious in doing things."
"I will remember the teachings of the Empress of Heaven." Zhao Gong raised his head and looked at Empress Wu with a bitter look on his face.
Empress Wu sighed softly and waved her hands. Zhao Gong immediately lowered his head.
Empress Wu opened the wooden hairpin and glanced at the words recorded on it, then put it aside casually.
Zhao Gong noticed this scene with his upward gaze, a flash of horror flashed deep in his eyes, and he quickly lowered his head.
Empress Wu flipped through thirty pieces of money orders page by page, each with a thousand guan in blood, and couldn't help snorting coldly: "Thirty thousand guan, 30,000 guan will sell the entire Western Front Army, and one will give In this incident, he sold his own future just for 30,000 yuan. You think it is strange but not strange."
Zhao Gong immediately handed over his hand: "The Queen of Heaven, I asked you to investigate Tongyuanfang. If the Tubo people can deposit 30,000 coins in Tongyuanfang to bribe Zhou Zhi for information, then there must be other money among them." , stored in it... The Queen of Heaven, according to the law, all the property of a rebel will be confiscated to the imperial court."
After taking a deep look at Zhao Gong, Empress Wu shook her head slightly and said: "Only check if it is related to Tubo, and do not expand it at will."
"Here!"
(End of chapter)
