The life of a man on the road of film and television

"Your Majesty, this must be a false accusation. I have never left the capital since I became an official, not to mention corruption and murder. I would never dare to instruct my son-in-law to commit such a heinous crime, even if you kill me."

As he spoke, a sudden idea flashed in Ling Zhu's dull mind, and he changed the subject and threw the blame to Ortai who was frowning at him not far away.

"Besides, Zheng Yanfu was personally selected and assigned by Lord Ortai. Maybe he was forced to do things for others and become a scapegoat."

Although Ling Zhu's voice became smaller and smaller, everyone in the hall heard it clearly, and everyone's expressions were varied for a moment.

They have been officials for many years, but they have rarely seen people throwing dirty water on others in public. If they did not have strong self-control, they would have almost laughed out loud.

But Nianqin, who had just pleaded for Ling Zhu, was so angry that he almost vomited blood.

He now wished he could find a hole to crawl into, and he felt even more regretful in his heart. Why could he be so stupid as to beg for mercy for such a fool?

Now, their Niuhuru clan was completely at odds with the Xilin Gioro clan. Thinking of this, Nianqin closed his eyes.

Really, there is no point anymore, just destroy it.

Unlike the other adults who had different expressions, Ortaili, who had just been transferred back to Beijing and had not yet secured his position as a Grand Secretary, sneered and asked.

"Haha, then according to what Lord Ling Zhu said, I was once the governor of Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi provinces, and I appointed at least 80 exiles, if not 100. So are they all embezzling money for me?"

His question was so sharp that Ling Zhu didn't know how to answer for a moment.

After all, what he said in the first place was untenable, and now that he heard the other party ask him this, he was even more afraid to agree.

Although most of the officials sent out were students from poor families, it does not prove that there were no children of aristocratic families or disciples of some great scholars among them.

He was not afraid of offending Ortai just now, after all, he still had Nianqin to protect him no matter what.

Even though Nianqin ignores him now, if something really happens, he will not ignore him because they are great-grandfathers.

But if he agreed to Ortai's words, he would be pushing the Niuhuru clan to the opposite side of all the ministers. After all, every family has a relative who is an official.

But he was the one who started the matter, so if he didn't say anything now, he would be slapping himself in the face. There was no way Ling Zhu could only ask back with his neck stiff.

"You'll have to ask yourself, Lord Ortai."

Ling Zhu's reckless attitude almost made Ortai laugh. The two of them started arguing as if no one was around, and from time to time, Zhang Tingyu and others would interject.

As a result, the Yangxin Palace was as noisy as if five hundred ducks had entered.

Finally, Ortai was so angry that he lifted his robe and knelt before Yongzheng to prove himself. Only then were the people in the hall finally quieted down by his sudden action.

"Your Majesty, although Zheng Yanfu was appointed by me, I have only met him a few times, and there were witnesses to testify every time I met him. I have never done anything that would harm the Qing Dynasty. Please be clear about this, Your Majesty."

But Zhang Tingyu disagreed with what Ortai said.

"Your Majesty, I think it is inappropriate for Lord Ortai to say that he has never done anything to harm the Qing Dynasty. As Lord Ling Zhu said, Zheng Yanfu was personally appointed by Lord Ortai. Even if Zheng Yanfu did not do this under Lord Ortai's instructions, does that mean Lord Ortai has no responsibility at all?"

This was a roundabout way of saying that Ortai had made the wrong choice of person. After hearing this, Ortai was so angry that he almost gritted his teeth. Zhang Tingyu, this old man, just loved to focus on these details.

But Ortai had to admit that there was nothing wrong with what he said. After all, it was he who appointed Zheng Yanfu to go to Guzhou.

If no one mentioned this matter and the emperor didn't blame him, that would be fine, but Zhang Tingyu has already said it today, so no matter what, he is already wrong.

Since the emperor will convict me no matter what, I obviously cannot escape this fate. It would be better for me to plead guilty first, at least leaving a good impression in the emperor's mind.

Thinking of this, Ortai made up his mind and changed from kneeling on one knee to kneeling on both knees and kowtowed to confess his guilt.

"Your Majesty, I was not careful in employing people. Please punish me."

Seeing Ortai like this, Zhang Tingyu no longer had any objections and stopped talking.

Seeing that the people below were finally quiet, Yongzheng rubbed his forehead which was swollen and painful from their noise.

In fact, he had been observing the expressions of the people below since just now.

To be honest, when he saw the letter sent back by Yinqi, he did doubt Ortai.

Of course, Ling Zhu and Neqin were also within his suspicion.

So when showing them the letters sent back by Yinqi, Yongzheng pulled out the ones that Jinzhong had investigated that were related to Zheng Yanfu and Zhang Zhao, who had been dismissed from office by Zhang Tingyu.

At the same time, he also secretly sent Prince Dun and Prince Yi to investigate Zheng Yanfu's interpersonal relationships before he was sent abroad. Otherwise, how could Prince Yi not be present at an occasion like today.

But now, after observing them all, he did not see any guilty or panic expressions on the faces of the others except Ling Zhu.

Does that mean that this matter may really have nothing to do with Ortai and his companions?

No, Yongzheng shook his head in his heart. No matter what, he would have to wait and see the final result before making a decision.

After making up his mind, Yongzheng stood up from behind the dragon table and walked between the people.

"E'ertai, please get up first. We have to wait until the matter is thoroughly investigated before deciding what to do with this matter.

Of course, I naturally believe in my heart that you, my dear ministers, will not do anything that is harmful to the Qing Dynasty.

But Ertai, you and Nianqin are both involved in this matter, so please don’t go out recently.”

After saying that, he patted both of them on the shoulders and spoke again.

"To avoid suspicion, both of you should go back today."

Seeing that Yongzheng said so, there was nothing else that Ortai and the other two could do but to kneel down immediately to thank him and then carefully retreat.

As for Ling Zhu, Yongzheng didn't even look at him. He thought that such a fool would be wasted his time as a councilor.

Because of Yongzheng's oral order, when the three people came out, the imperial guards followed them and sent them back to their respective residences.

During this period, Ling Zhu wanted to talk to Nianqin many times but hesitated, wanting to discuss how to save Zheng Yanfu. However, he was frightened by Nianqin's look and had to swallow his words back in disappointment.

After they confirmed that they would return home, Prince Dun quickly led his troops to surround the residences of the three of them. Afterwards, ministers came to the residences of Neqin and Ortai one after another to hand over the unfinished official business of the two.

After all the people who were outside the mansion of the three people were asked to return home, the mansion of the three people was directly locked and closed, and no one was allowed to enter or leave without the order of Emperor Yongzheng.

In the Hall of Nourishing Heart.

Although Ortai and his companions left, Yongzheng did not ask them to disperse. Instead, he discussed with Zhang Tingyu and others how to deal with Guzhou next.