Because most of the people present were involved in the matter, Ji Zun did not hide it, but directly told the truth.
"Reporting to your majesty, just now Yuan Shanjian, the servant of the Tingwei, reported to me that Tian Shuo, the shopkeeper of Tianjia Restaurant, was a chamberlain during the lifetime of Emperor Rui. He had been hiding in the capital and wandering among the dignitaries for many years, so he wanted to cholera the imperial court.
Now that I have captured Tian Shuo and brought him back to prison, many ministers have been implicated in this matter. I dare not take charge of it, so I came here to ask your Majesty how to deal with it. "
Emperor Wen rarely left the palace on weekdays, let alone dine in restaurants outside the palace, so he naturally had no impression of Tian Shuo.
But Ling Buyi, who had been checking Xiao Yuehou for so long, had some guesses about his relationship with Tian Shuo, so after hearing this sentence, he subconsciously looked at Xiao Yuehou.
Moreover, it was the soldiers and horses of Emperor Ru that broke through the isolated city that year. It was difficult for Ling Buyi not to connect the two things.
On the other hand, Xiao Yuehou himself also thought of this, but the conscience of heaven and earth, although he delayed the rescue of Gucheng and cooperated with Tian Shuo to some extent, in essence, he really never thought of taking refuge in Emperor Ru.
After all, he was a relative of Emperor Wen, but if he went to Emperor Rui, with the few people he had and not many outstanding talents, his life would probably be worse than it is now.
But the problem now is that it was revealed that he delayed the rescue of Gucheng, and Tian Shuo was confirmed to be a remnant of the ruthless emperor. However, he and Tian Shuo had contacts again, which is hard not to make people wonder.
Just when Xiao Yuehou was frightened by this, Ling Buyi suddenly asked: "Master Ji, I wonder if there is a Yuehou among the people who have colluded with Tian Shuo."
Emperor Wen was shocked when he heard this. He couldn't help but look at Xiao Yuehou, and then looked at Ji Zun, waiting for a reply.
Ji Zun replied: "Based on the existing evidence, there are indeed more than 20 people including the Marquis of Yue, the Marquis of Chengyang, Zuo Yushi, Shouchun Guardsman Peng Kun, etc. The specific lists have been listed. Your Majesty, please read it."
As he spoke, he took out a memorial from his sleeve and held it in front of him with both hands.
At this time, the expressions of everyone present suddenly changed. Xiao Yuehou's face turned pale, obviously realizing that something was extremely bad.
Ling Buyi almost showed joy here. He had been looking for evidence of Ling Yi's crime, but now he didn't need to make all kinds of plans, the evidence came out on its own.
Emperor Wen was the one who had the biggest ups and downs in his heart, because through Xiao Yuehou's rogue behavior just now, he had roughly determined that Xiao Yuehou deliberately delayed the rescue.
But even so, Emperor Wen only thought that he had other difficulties or was motivated by anger, and did not expect that he would betray him.
But Ji Zun's words had to make Emperor Wen wonder whether his original actions were because he had already taken refuge with Emperor Ru.
If this is the case, the problem will be huge. After all, Xiao Yuehou has been in a high position for more than ten years, and the relationship between the DPRK and China is deeply intertwined. Will those people also have problems?
Moreover, Concubine Yue was involved. Although Emperor Wen was willing to believe her, how could she really get away with her brother's treason?
In addition, as for the third prince, Xiao Yuehou is his uncle and his consistent supporter. Is he involved in this matter?
Among the three, Xiao Yuehou was the first to react. He immediately shouted, "I am wronged. I have never had the intention to rebel. Please trust me."
Although I did have contact with Na Tian Shuo, it was because I didn't know that he was a remnant of the ruthless emperor, otherwise I wouldn't have dared to lend him a favor. "
He kowtowed while talking about Xiao Yuehou. It seemed that this incident really frightened him.
Emperor Wen also came to his senses at this time, but faced Xiao Yuehou's plea, he did not respond. Instead, he asked Cao Cheng to take Ji Zun's memorial and read it.
As a result, the more he read, the more angry he became, because many of the people listed above were important officials in the court, whom he had always trusted.
At that time, Emperor Wen made up his mind to investigate this matter strictly, but who should investigate became a problem.
Although there are not many people on the list, if you look closely at these people, it is immeasurable that the courtiers involved will be immeasurable, so Emperor Wen had to consider the impact.
And even though Xiao Yue
Hou was really guilty, and Emperor Wen didn't want to kill him. In this case, Emperor Wen couldn't come forward directly, so he had to have someone as a buffer. In this way, the kind-hearted prince came into Emperor Wen's sight.
Then he ordered: "This matter must be investigated strictly to the end. The prince will personally preside over the trial. The Tingwei Mansion will assist the prince in handling errands. When Lord Huiji leaves the palace, he will take the Xiaoyue Marquis with him and take him directly to the Tingwei Mansion for trial. Bar."
Ji Zun had no objection to Emperor Wen's decision and agreed directly.
But Xiao Yuehou and Ling Buyi had a big opinion. Xiao Yuehou didn't believe the prince. After all, he had done a lot against the prince before, so he was naturally afraid that the prince would take the opportunity to retaliate and kill him.
Ling Buyi, on the other hand, was unhappy that he was excluded and could no longer be in contact with this case.
So the two of them spoke almost at the same time. Xiao Yuehou said: "Your Majesty, for the sake of Concubine Yue, please spare my life. I really have no intention of colluding with the remnants of the ruthless emperor. Please understand clearly."
Ling Buyi said: "Your Majesty, I have been investigating Xiao Yuehou's son, and it also involves the incident in Gucheng. I sincerely ask your Majesty to let you participate in this incident."
After saying that, the two couldn't help but look at each other in tacit understanding, and then Xiao Yuehou became even more panicked.
It is already difficult to deal with a prince, but if you add Ling Buyi, who wants to avenge the lonely city, there will still be death or life.
Immediately, she cried even more miserably and began to talk about the sacrifices made by the Yue family over the years, and how well the Yue concubine treated Emperor Wen, just to make Emperor Wen soften his heart.
It seems that this is really effective for Emperor Wen. He is still relieved about the prince. But Ling Buyi is different, so he said: "Zicheng, I have other things to arrange for you here, so I'd better leave this matter to you." Check it out for others.
Moreover, this matter involves the Marquis of Chengyang. After all, your identity is too sensitive, so don’t get involved.
Don't you still trust the prince and Master Ji? They will definitely tell the truth. "
But Ling had no doubts about how he was willing to give up for this, and replied directly: "Of course I believe the prince and Master Ji, but I still want to find out the truth personally, so as to comfort my uncle and the spirits of the dead in the lonely city.
As for the Marquis of Chengyang, no one in the capital knows what my relationship is with him, and I will also pay attention to my discretion when investigating, so as not to attract anyone's attention. "
After saying that, he looked directly at Emperor Wen, obviously revealing a spirit that would not give up until he achieved his goal.
After the two looked at each other for a while, Emperor Wen had no choice but to say: "Well, you can also assist the prince, but remember that the prince is the chief judge here, and you must not overstep his authority."
Ling Buji naturally agreed upon hearing this. Anyway, he knew the prince's character and was confident that the prince would probably not be able to stop him whatever he really wanted to do.
After the goal was achieved, Ling Buyi wanted to conduct the interrogation as soon as possible so that the truth of the year could be known as soon as possible, so he wanted to say goodbye to Emperor Wen and take the person back.
Emperor Wen replied: "Okay, you can take the person back first, but the specific interrogation cannot be carried out until the prince arrives. I will send someone to inform the prince later."
Ling Buyi and Ji Zun responded in unison, and then asked Xiao Yuehou to escort Xiao Yuehou, who was still begging for mercy, away.
After they had gone far, Emperor Wen immediately sent someone to invite the prince, and by the way, he also asked Li Hao to come.
Because Emperor Wen also understood that with the character of the prince, it was difficult to directly deal with the strong character Ling Buyi, so he thought of adding Li Hao to the list. In this way, with Li Hao restraining Ling Buyi, he would not cause any trouble. Big news is coming.
In order to keep it secret for the time being, he did not tell anyone directly about the situation when he sent the message. Therefore, when he came, the prince was full of questions and asked Li Hao beside him: "Father suddenly summoned us today. Why do you think it was? Could it be related to the incident in Tingwei Mansion just now? Hasn't Zicheng been cleared of suspicion?"
As for Emperor Wen's purpose, Li Hao could naturally guess it, but there was no need to tell the prince, so he replied: "I can't guess the specific situation at the moment, but I think it won't be a bad thing, otherwise why would your Majesty do it?" Call me too."
listen to this
, the prince also nodded slightly in agreement. If Emperor Wen really wanted to teach him a lesson, he definitely couldn't do it in front of foreign ministers.
So he didn't say anything, and just went straight to Emperor Wen.
After seeing the ceremony, the prince asked, "Father, I wonder if you have any instructions for me and Ziyang to come here?"
Emperor Wen said: "It's like this. Today, a case was reported in Tingwei's Mansion, which involves many people. I have ordered you to be the presiding judge. Tingwei's Mansion and Zicheng will assist you."
But I still hope that you will take the lead in this matter. Let Yuan Ziyang come here just to let him help you with things. "
After finishing speaking, Emperor Wen first asked Li Hao: "I heard from Mr. Ji that this case was discovered by Yuan Shanjian. Do you know the specific content?"
Li Hao replied: "Reporting to your Majesty, my brother has been quite busy recently, so I asked him about it, but he only told me that he was investigating a big deal recently, but he kept the details secret, so I didn't know. Details of the case."
After hearing Li Hao's answer, Emperor Wen was still very satisfied. At least the official attitude was very good.
Then he talked about the situation with the two of them and showed them the roster just now.
After reading it, the prince looked in disbelief. He didn't expect that so many people would be implicated in the remnants of the ruthless emperor.
Li Hao naturally knew the names on the roster, but since he said he didn't know, he had to pretend to be surprised.
Fortunately, Li Hao has lived for decades and still has some acting skills. At least there is no problem with Emperor Wen of Hu Nong.
"Prince, you must examine this matter carefully and give an explanation to me and the court." Emperor Wen said to the prince after seeing the two of them reading, and then told Li Hao: "Zi Yang, this time you What we have to do is to help the prince to find out this case, and remember not to be deceived by others."
After hearing this, the two of them agreed in unison. Later, Emperor Wen asked them to go to Tingwei's Mansion first to check the specific evidence.
Because the prince obviously wanted to ask something this time, he took the initiative to pull Li Hao into a carriage and asked after leaving the palace:
"I'm afraid there are quite a few people involved in this case. What should you do when the time comes? You can't handle them all strictly. Is there a Yuehou among them?"
After hearing this, Li Hao did not answer directly, but first asked: "Your Highness, why do you think His Majesty specially asked you to preside over this case? Is it true that Ling Zicheng and Master Ji can't handle it?"
After hearing this, the prince fell into deep thought, and after a while he came to his senses: "You are saying that my father had planned to let some people go, but he couldn't come forward directly, so he wanted me to do it."
The prince still understood his own character, and after some extension, he came to his senses.
"I think so. Of course, as His Majesty said, this case has far-reaching implications after all. In order to give the world a warning and let them know the boundaries, severe punishment is definitely necessary. This is why Lord Ji and Ling Zicheng came to help. s reason.
Of course, some people should be protected, which is why His Majesty asked His Highness to come down. As for me, I should be there to help His Highness block people, so that if there is something that His Highness would not be comfortable saying, I can do it for you. Li Hao replied.
After determining the main policy for this operation, the prince knew what to do next.
But in the end, Li Hao made a point: "By the way, Xiao Yuehou is the only one on the list who has been arrested. Without His Highness's order, Master Ji and Ling Zicheng would not be able to arrest anyone.
But now that Tian Shuo has been arrested, if time goes on for a long time, he will probably become alert, and destroying the evidence will be troublesome.
Therefore, if the evidence is conclusive for those on the list in the capital, they need to be controlled as soon as possible to prevent them from escaping early. "
The prince agreed with Li Hao's opinion, so after arriving at the Tingwei Mansion, the prince immediately summoned Ji Zun and Ling Buyi and said, "Although my father asked me to preside over this case, But how to interrogate specifically, I still have to trouble Mr. Ji.
I'm just here to listen. As for how to convict in the future, we can discuss it together after all the cases are cleared. What do you think? "
The two of them replied in unison: "I have no objection."
After establishing the guiding ideology, the prince asked about the people on the list and found that it was indeed as Li Hao said, and they had not arrested anyone yet.
In fact, according to Ling Buyi's idea, he had long wanted to mobilize the black armored guards to come directly to the door, but was blocked by Ji Zun.
After all, Emperor Wen had specifically warned that the interrogation would have to wait until the prince arrived, let alone the arrest.
The prince said: "I think you know more about the specific evidence than I do, so let's arrest those with solid evidence first.
As for the others, just send someone to keep an eye on them, but be sure not to let them leave the capital, and arrest any escapees immediately. "
After this matter was agreed, Ji Zun and Ling Buyi were about to go down to arrange the arrest. At this time, Ling Buyi suddenly turned around and asked:
"By the way, what are you doing here today? Is it also to help with the investigation?"
The prince heard this and explained: "Zi Yang was called by my father to help me. After all, I am inexperienced and need his help."
After confirming the situation, Ling Buyi's eyes seemed to flicker at Li Hao for no apparent reason, but he left without saying anything.
Later, the prince planned to look through the eucalyptus papers. After all, even though Ji Zun was in charge of the trial, he couldn't know everything.
