Accompanying the two adults into the palace, there was also the emissary who finally rushed from Emperor Qiu to the royal capital.
Yang and Du knelt on the ground and cried bitterly, refusing to get up, vowing to ask the emperor to seek the truth for their daughter.
The emperor flipped through a thick stack of letters, reading from beginning to end. His expression remained unchanged, but his eyes became darker and darker, as if a storm had condensed.
Liu Xiangzhi quietly glanced at Yang Du and the two of them, shaking his head in his heart. The timing of their arrival was unlucky, and they happened to get caught up in the emperor's anger.
Ten thousand "new troops" disappeared inexplicably, the emperor's well-planned plan could not be carried out, the dojo was about to end, and the students from Jixia Palace were about to come back, and the next such a good opportunity was unknown when, and the recovery of the northern territory was once again far away.
Liu Xiangzhi and the emperor both suspected that the disappearance of the "new army" was caused by the Yin family's alliance with Shengle County, which was closest to Chicheng. As a result, the emperor's plan not only failed to work, but also lost his wife and troops.
Among the seven counties of Mengzhou, Lu Xun, the capital of Mengzhou, is indifferent to foreign affairs; Wuna of Lanzhou County is cowardly and useless; Manxi County is simple-minded; Mingshu County has grass on both sides of the wall. The most troublesome one is Anxia County, which has great ambitions and secretly raises a private army, and its plans are not small; Luochuan County and Shengle County are in-laws. Although Shengle County is only an empty shell, Luochuan County It is the city that currently holds the largest number of troops except Anxia County.
Fortunately, the people in the seven counties are not united, but if a strong enemy attacks, they may become united.
The most likely foreign enemy is Zisang Jiuxiu, who is determined to conquer the north and unify the interior.
Therefore, dealing with the northern border issue is not as easy as imagined.
As expected, the emperor read half of the letter, slammed the letter in his hand on the ground, and said coldly and angrily: "For fun and hunting, should I let them listen to the Tao and learn the Tao, or should I let them travel according to the order?"
Before Yang and Du could hold back their tears, they were so frightened by the roar that they were stuck in the middle of the road. They really couldn't imagine why the emperor suddenly attacked the two victims.
"Your Majesty, my daughter is always the most obedient at home and will never do anything inappropriate. She must have had some unavoidable reasons. Now she is gone and her death was miserable. She doesn't even have a intact body..." Mr. Du said. Seeing that she was getting more and more sad, she raised her hands to cover her face and sobbed: "Wei Chen's wife fainted on the spot and sheds tears every day. Please ask the Emperor to make the decision."
Mr. Du's cry was so sincere that the man over fifty couldn't help crying, and the emperor's anger behind him could not be rekindled no matter what.
Seeing this, Mr. Yang continued to say: "It's said to be hunting, how can it be possible to really let a group of students go to a dangerous place? I heard that they are just making a show outside, and there are guards to guard them. Even if the beasts want to attack, they should break through." This is the level of the escort. But the strange thing is that the beast went directly over the escort, and they fired arrows, so why no one rescued them in time."
There were several ups and downs in the emperor's eyes. He had learned about these through Nangong Zhi's letter earlier. Although Nangong Zhi spoke in a reserved manner and truthfully presented the interrogation records, the emperor could see the loopholes at a glance.
Now that Yang Du is making trouble again, he is even more certain that Yao An made his own decisions and everything was done by Ding An.
What kind of character was Ding'an, and how loyal was Yao'an? The emperor had a clear conscience, but just as Yun Qi had guessed, he would certainly not take any action for the sake of the foreign minister's daughter and tell the world that his son Sang's daughter had committed a murder.
This is imperial power.
Liu Xiangzhi saw through half of it, but he also knew that the Yang and Du families could not get any justice. The best outcome is just to be able to see the reality clearly in advance. Perhaps in the future, the emperor will consider the debt and give some face to the Yang and Du mansions, and if young talents emerge, they can be promoted.
"Since the guards are in trouble, I will kill them to keep your daughter company. What do you think?" The emperor said these words with an expressionless face, which was colder than the late winter wind.
Yang Du trembled at the same time and kowtowed: "I don't dare."
"The wild beasts are harming people, and the guards didn't keep an eye on them. Which one do you want me to punish?"
Lord Du wanted to say something else, but Lord Yang had the foresight to tug on his sleeve secretly and said before he could speak: "Your Majesty, although I and Lord Du have lost their beloved daughter, we must distinguish right from wrong. If someone is unjustly killed for some reason, wouldn't it mean that they will have no peace under the Nine Springs. The ferocious beasts are ignorant, and they are familiar with the deep mountains and dense forests. They only hate the ruthless beasts. My little girl...my little girl's fate is not good."
The emperor's eyes warmed a little because Master Yang had such knowledge, "I express my condolences to you, so I will give you two luminous beads to protect the body from decay."
"Thank you for your great kindness, Your Majesty!" Master Yang pulled Master Du and kowtowed together.
After sending Yang Du away, the emperor asked Diqiu's messenger to come in. In addition to the detailed trial transcripts of the Zhou family's case, the emperor also sent a profit book. It was this book that involved many officials, and there were also Yu Fangjing narrated the incident orally.
On the palace road, Lord Du asked in confusion: "Master Yang, didn't you agree to find out the truth of the matter? Why did you..."
"If I hadn't reacted quickly just now, you would have offended the Holy Spirit!" Lord Yang frowned.
Mr. Du's eyes were red, he looked silently at the setting sun on the horizon, and sighed: "The people you and I sent out clearly said that this matter seems to be related to the men of Prince Xing's Mansion."
Mr. Yang snorted coldly and said: "Then, do you force the emperor to punish a servant of Prince Xing's palace, and then make Long Yan unhappy, or do you want the emperor to remember that we can understand the general situation today and do something good for future generations in the future?"
Mr. Du had already understood it after some advice, but when he thought that his beloved daughter was not in such a miserable state, he felt a lump in his chest and could not get out.
"Master Du." Master Yang patted his shoulder sincerely, "The king is above and the minister is below. That's it. I hope you don't go astray."
Originally, Mr. Yang would not say so much, but he was afraid that Mr. Du would not be able to think of anything to do and hurt himself, so he had to mention it again and again.
The turbid light in Mr. Du's eyes slowly dissipated and became clear again. Even the last tears in the corners of his eyes were dried by the wind. He paused for a moment and started to walk out of the palace again. His hesitation at the beginning slowly turned into determination in the end.
—
The emperor held the jade seal and stamped the imperial edict. When the ink was dry, he rolled it up and called the king to come in. He threw it to him and said, "You personally take it to Emperor Qiu and deliver the edict to the prince."
The last two words were written very coldly, obviously dissatisfied with Zi Sangjin.
Wang Qie hunched over and hugged the imperial edict, carefully choosing his words and saying: "This old slave is not with the emperor. Please keep the dragon body."
"I can't eat or drink without you, old guy?"
The king couldn't tell what the emperor was feeling, so he couldn't figure out whether his trip to Emperor Qiu was a good thing or a bad thing, so he bowed respectfully and left.
The emperor said to Liu Xiangzhi: "Have you seen that no matter how many years someone has been with me, they are always careful in what they say."
"You should be cautious when serving the emperor. The emperor has the world on his shoulders and cannot be careless." Liu Xiangzhi said with a smile.
"You are the only one who can talk to me." The emperor sat down and stretched out his hand to rub his eyebrows, "Wangshu, how many years have we known each other?"
Liu Xiangzhi lowered his chin and half-squinted his eyes, recalling the past, and said with a gentle smile: "Back to the emperor, by the early spring of this year, it was exactly twenty-three, and the Jixia Palace was also opened on the eighth day of the lunar month that year."
The emperor closed his eyes and leaned back, "It's been so long. I still remember that you didn't smile as much as you do now, and you often had a gloomy face."
"The Emperor has a very good memory."
"Wangshu in the front is the leader, and Fei Lian is the messenger behind. Wangshu is the emperor of the moon."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"The person who gave you the name hopes that you will be brighter every month and stay away from the darkness." The emperor stopped his movements, opened his eyes and asked, "Who gave you the name?"
Liu Xiangzhi's smile paused, and then he quickly replied as if nothing had happened, "It's Princess Wuyang."
As soon as the name came out, the emperor didn't speak for a while, looking at one place as if he was in a trance.
Liu Xiangzhi stood aside quietly, his expression unchanged, but his right thumb pressed heavily on a Buddhist bead.
What broke the silent atmosphere was the news from the chamberlain that King Xing and his daughter entered the palace to pay their respects.
—
It is not easy for others who want to enter the palace. They have to ask for instructions from the top level. But for Prince Xing and his daughter, there is no difference between entering the palace and returning to the palace.
Zisang Jiuxiu only had one biological brother, Prince Xing, so he was very indulgent towards Princess Ding'an. It was even spread throughout the king that Princess Ding'an was favored more than many princesses and princes.
This statement is true, as can be seen from Princess Ding'an's daily behavior.
This time Princess Ding'an was seriously injured and had to be carried back. When she woke up and saw her own face, she almost went crazy and stabbed the face of Huan Zhu who was waiting for her with scissors.
Not only that, no matter who came to serve her room after that, one of them did not have a good face when they left, and their bodies were full of holes. Nine out of ten were carried out sideways.
In the end, the princess gave the order and found two female secret guards who knew kung fu.
Princess Ding'an couldn't do any tricks, and she became more and more gloomy as she huddled in her room all day long. Her eyes were so gloomy that when she looked at him, it made people tremble all over.
She entered the palace today because she overheard Yang Du and Yang Du entering the palace in the afternoon to ask for an explanation while Prince Xing and Princess Xing were talking. The fire in Princess Ding'an's heart was also ignited, and she put on her hat and rushed out of the palace.
King Xing finally caught up with her in front of the palace gate. Seeing her crying, he couldn't help but feel distressed and said: "Father, I will go with you."
Kneeling on the ground, Princess Ding'an lifted up the curtain and said, "Uncle Huang, look at Yan'er's face. Yan'er's life is ruined. Wuwuwu——"
The injured area is in sharp contrast with the original skin. I don’t know what stuff was used to fill the missing area on the face to make it smooth, but the traces of sutures are obvious, like several circles of different sizes, and the level of sutures is limited, so Those circles were like centipedes crawling on her face, and matched with her fierce eyes, they looked like ghosts.
After all, the emperor had seen many people, and he could not be shocked when faced with such a face. "I will ask the imperial doctor to develop some medicine to remove scars."
Liu Xiangzhi shook his head, even if the Medicine Saint was reincarnated, he couldn't save his face like this.
"Uncle Huang, Yan'er must kill the person who harmed Yan'er first!" Princess Ding'an said fiercely with a fierce look in her eyes.
The emperor frowned and said, "Who did you say harmed you?"
"It's fine that Du Man and Yang Xue'er are already dead." In case the emperor was misunderstood by Yang Du's interference, she did not forget to take a preemptive strike and said in a cold voice full of hostility: "Lu Anran, she was the one who conspired to kill Yan'er. !”
