Inside the court meeting, there was dead silence.
Those courtiers who didn't know the truth couldn't imagine that the death of Zhennan Hou was because he wanted to kill the Crown Prince.
The second half of the Dali Temple Minister's sentence explains the problem even more.
Marquis Wenru must have been involved, and even wanted to kill people and silence them.
Although the Minister of Dali Temple has made countless enemies in the court and many people want to kill him, some courtiers can still understand the difficulties of sitting in that position, and the position of Minister of Dali Temple is so important. The balance of Kyoto is always about right and wrong.
If we really want to say that the Dali Temple Minister chose to stand behind the prince, then if we don't provide substantive evidence in the previous paragraph, it probably won't be very convincing.
But in the later part, Marquis Wenru wanted to kill the minister of Dali Temple.
This really means that there are no more than three hundred taels of silver in this place.
The old emperor just nodded slightly and asked, "Is everything you said true?"
The Minister of Dali Temple immediately knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, I am willing to guarantee with my life that everything I said is true and there is absolutely no lie."
Yuan Zuo was the first to jump up and pointed at the minister of Dali Temple's nose and cursed: "That's nonsense. The Marquis of Zhennan and His Highness the Crown Prince have no grudges at all, so how come they want to assassinate the Crown Prince?"
Before the Minister of Dali Temple could speak, Gu Xiaotian interjected first: "Oh? Commander Yuan seems to have forgotten that there are many people in this court who don't want to see His Royal Highness sitting in that position."
Yuan Zuo said disdainfully: "Where did you come from, you little bastard? What position or official do you hold? How dare you speak arrogantly to my commander in a court meeting?"
Gu Xiaotian chuckled, "It's true that I don't hold any position, but I was also a victim of assassination that night."
"Mr. Dali Temple, do you have any substantial evidence to prove that the Marquis of Zhennan assassinated His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"
At this moment, the old emperor still knew that in order to convict someone, there must be evidence first.
The Minister of Dali Temple nodded and immediately replied: "Your Majesty, Dali Temple found out that all the subordinates commanded by Zhennan Marquis disappeared in Kyoto overnight. No one knows whether they are dead or have escaped."
Hearing this, Yuan Zuo sneered repeatedly and retorted: "What a joke. The person is missing. Maybe he went out to perform some mission. This alone can be used as evidence. Isn't it too hasty?"
Now Yuan Zuo is determined not to admit it.
The old emperor also knew that this was too hasty and asked again: "It is indeed as Yuan Aiqing said, if you don't see people, it is difficult to determine what they are like."
During the court meeting, the officials all started whispering. Now this case has reached its most complicated stage.
In fact, some officials have already guessed the specific details.
However, everything requires evidence.
Without evidence, all that talk is in vain, even if it breaks the news, it won't be of any use.
Gu Xiaotian suddenly stood up, cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, don't you just want evidence? I have evidence. I wonder if you can let me bring the person here?"
The old emperor nodded in acquiescence.
Gu Xiaotian clapped his hands, and soon two guards from the Gu family came outside the hall and walked into the court.
And this person was none other than the person who assassinated the Minister of Dali Temple that day.
What's more, he has a special status, he is a soldier under the Wude Camp.
This soldier was retained by Gu Xiaotian from the beginning. After all, Wude Camp was also involved in the assassination that night. In order to survive, he naturally confessed everything.
Seeing this soldier, Yuan Zuo frowned slightly, as if he had some impression of him, but he couldn't remember when he had seen him.
Gu Xiaotian looked at Yuan Zuo with a smile on his face and asked: "Commander Yuan, this is your subordinate, don't you recognize him?"
Yuan Zuo waved his hand and said disapprovingly: "The Wude Battalion under my command has many soldiers. Don't just pick anyone up on the street and say that he is a subordinate of my Wude Battalion."
Gu Xiaotian felt funny in his heart when he saw Yuan Zuo's expression of not crying even without seeing the coffin.
If that's the case, then I'm going to give you a good slap in the face.
Gu Xiaotian turned around and saluted the old emperor: "Your Majesty, this person is a subordinate of Wude Camp. He appeared when he assassinated the Minister of Dali Temple that day. Before that, Wude Camp had a brief transfer. People can also testify.”
The old emperor nodded, looked at the soldier and asked, "Let me ask you, are you a soldier under the Wude Camp?"
The soldier nodded repeatedly, "Yes, Your Majesty, I belong to the Wude Camp."
"Is there anything you can prove?"
"Of course, Your Majesty, this is my Wude Camp waist badge."
All soldiers under the Wude Camp, regardless of their position, will be issued Wude Camp waist badges as a symbol of status.
The soldier immediately took out his waistband and presented it in his hand.
Yuan Zuo knew that if he allowed the situation to continue, it would only get worse.
At this time, he became murderous.
A flow of Qi flowed through his body, and then he slowly walked towards the soldier, with every step he took carrying great pressure.
In an instant, he suddenly took action and wanted to crush the soldier's throat.
Gu Xiaotian was shocked. He did not expect that Yuan Zuo would really dare to take action at the court meeting.
However, Yuan Zuo's speed was too fast, and it was too late to stop him.
Just when Yuan Zuo thought he was about to succeed, a knife suddenly appeared in the air, followed by a strong sword strike, slashing towards Yuan Zuo.
Blood splattered everywhere, and Yuan Zuo's wails echoed throughout the court meeting.
His entire arm was chopped off with a knife, and now he was covering his severed hand, wailing in pain.
The person who appeared there was General Guan Jing, who had been silent during the dinner.
Guan Jing looked indifferent and said softly: "Commander Yuan, if this was not at the court meeting, I am afraid it would not be as simple as losing an arm."
The old emperor ignored the incident and just asked the soldier, "I ask you, are you sure that it was the Marquis of Zhennan who assassinated His Royal Highness that night?"
The soldier nodded and said immediately: "Your Majesty, on the night when Zhennan Hou died, one of the most elite troops in the Wude Camp, under the command of Commander Yuan, disappeared into the Wude Camp for a period of time and never returned."
Of course, there is no need to elaborate on what happened next.
Almost everyone knew clearly that the Marquis of Zhennan must have assassinated His Highness the Crown Prince that night.
The reason is very simple. Yuan Zuo is the most loyal subordinate of Zhennanhou. He was promoted by Zhennanhou all the way. The most elite troops of Wude Camp have always been responsible for guarding Kyoto. If there is no war, they must never leave. From Kyoto.
But now, this most elite force suddenly disappeared in Kyoto. Where exactly they went, there is no need to tell the answer clearly.
The old emperor took a long breath, looked at Zhang Xi, and said in a cold tone: "What else do you want to say?"
Zhang Xi knew that the big thing was over. The fact that Guan Jing could stand up and cut off Yuan Zuo's arm at that moment already showed his attitude.
But at this moment, Zhang Xi refused to give up for some reason. He just replied timidly: "Your Majesty, I really didn't know that the Marquis of Zhennan wanted to assassinate His Highness the Crown Prince. Now that the evidence is conclusive, I propose to kill the Marquis of Zhennan." Eradicate them all to inform the people of what Zhennan Marquis has done, in order to establish the status of His Highness the Crown Prince."
During the dinner, a sneer came.
All the ministers followed the sound and looked, it was from Gu Xiaotian.
Gu Xiaotian sighed and said: "Master Zhang, you really don't cry until you see the coffin. Do you dare to say that you were not involved in the assassination of the prince?"
Zhang Xi pretended to be stupid and said, "I don't know what you are talking about."
Gu Xiaotian shook his head. He originally wanted to give Zhang Xi a chance. In this case, don't blame him.
He just clapped his hands gently in the direction, and soon another person was brought up.
He was the leader of the assassination of the Minister of Dali Temple that day.
The leader didn't even wait for the emperor to speak before he spoke directly.
"Your Majesty, the assassination of the Minister of Dali Temple that day was all under the instructions of Marquis Wenru. I was just using money to do things. I volunteered to accept the punishment, but I hope that Your Majesty will recognize my merits, dare to stand up and accuse me, and be lenient to me."
In order to save his life, the leader naturally vomited out the most important thing.
Zhang Xi suddenly turned pale. Now the evidence is conclusive. Even if he had a hundred mouths, he would not be able to explain clearly. Killing the minister of Dali Temple may not seem as serious as killing the prince, but the minister of Dali Temple was ordered by the emperor to conduct a thorough investigation. This matter, and by doing so, it showed that he was going to go against the emperor. 33
Zhang Xi hurriedly knelt down on the ground, his face was pale, and he begged for mercy: "Your Majesty, I have been coerced by the Marquis of Zhennan!"
Listening to Zhang Xi's feeble explanation, all the courtiers no longer believed a word he said.
Now putting all the blame on the dead Zhennan Hou is nothing more than a last ditch effort.
The old emperor sighed: "You are all heroes who followed me to conquer the world, but you have failed me."
Zhang Xi kept kneeling on the ground and did not raise his head for a long time.
The old emperor stood up and made a decision: "In this case, the Marquis of Zhennan will be deposed, and the descendants of Zhennan Marquis will be expelled from Kyoto. Wenru Marquis Zhang Xi will be deposed from the title of Wenru Marquis, and he will be imprisoned in the Dali Temple Prison. The rest of the people involved in this matter will be deposed." , Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment will review the judgment together, and there is no need to ask me for instructions."
"From now on, Crown Prince Sun Gusheng will take charge of affairs in the DPRK on my behalf."
The initial punishment was still within the acceptable range of these courtiers.
But the latter words shocked these courtiers.
The old emperor is preparing to abdicate.
However, even if some people are still slightly dissatisfied and opposed, they really dare not say anything at this moment.
Those dissatisfaction and opposition are no longer important. With the lessons learned by Marquis Zhennan and Marquis Wenru, no one dares to do anything extraordinary.
"Now that everything has been cleared up, let's leave the court if there is nothing else to do."
The old emperor waved his hand and was the first to leave the dragon throne and walk outside the palace.
After crossing the threshold, the old emperor just looked up at the sky, sighed, and then left, accompanied by Zheng Dehai.
…
…
The courtiers slowly dispersed.
Li Xiang and Guan Jing waited until the end and came to Sun Gusheng.
Li Xiang smiled and said: "Congratulations, Prince. After today, you will have the final say in this world."
Sun Gusheng shook his head repeatedly and said modestly: "Xiang Li thinks too highly of me. From now on, we still need to work together to govern the world."
Li Xiang smiled and said nothing.
Guan Jing looked at Sun Gusheng, nodded repeatedly, and finally said softly: "The body has been polished well, but the path of cultivation is slow, you still need to keep moving forward."
Sun Gusheng quickly clasped his fists, "That's natural. Thank you General Guan for your concern."
Guan Jing nodded, looked at Gu Xiaotian, and then said: "Prince, you have a good friend."
After that, he didn't say anything more and just left the court meeting with Li Xiang.
Sun Gusheng suddenly turned to Gu Xiaotian and thanked him: "Thank you for your help."
Gu Xiaotian breathed a long sigh of relief, looked at Sun Gusheng, and said with a smile: "Your matter is over, now let's talk about my matter?"
Some people died, but not completely...
