The General Is As Urgent As Law

The next morning.

Hundreds of civil and military officials lined up in several long lines at the Yizheng Hall, the emperor's face turned pale, and the eunuch in charge helped the emperor all the way to the dragon chair and sat down.

When there are too many people, there will be unavoidable whispers.

Seeing the emperor's current expression, his health was not as good as before, and the people below couldn't help worrying a little more about the establishment of the reserve, for fear that the emperor would drive west of Hexi before he had time to establish the reserve.

The emperor coughed twice, and the eunuch in charge immediately pinched his throat and said, "Xuan—General Xue Changfeng is here—"

After a while, Xue Changfeng came up in court clothes.

Yuan Zhi slightly turned his head and looked into his eyes for a moment, Wei Yuanting, who was standing in a row opposite, had a panoramic view of this small movement.Although it has been several days since the incident, and the emperor has been overly cultivated for a few days because of Shangxin, everyone present knows that whether the Xue family will survive or the general trend is over, it depends on today.

Shang Xu stood at the front of the line, without saying a word, and there was no abnormality in his eyes - he has always been like this, unless there was a dispute in the court, Shang Xu would usually not open his mouth.

But often as long as he speaks, the matter will be concluded, and the effect is outstanding, and the emperor relies heavily on it.

"Your Excellency, Xue Changfeng, kowtow to the Holy Majesty." Xue Changfeng's voice was loud, and he knelt down to salute.

The emperor was really not in good health. He wanted to speak at this moment, but his chest felt tight. He resisted the urge to cough, and was about to speak, but was robbed by Zhongshu's servant Liu Yunshan.

"The eldest prince was killed in the northern army, and the whole country is in great grief. General Xue's ineffective protection gave the villain an opportunity. I implore the emperor to punish him severely!" Liu Yunshan stood up and said.

The emperor glanced at him and clenched his hands into fists around his mouth, but he still couldn't hold back and coughed twice.

Wei Yuanting first glanced at Liu Yunshan, and then glanced behind him for a while. The imperial censor, Ren Gui, immediately understood and stood up: "I think it's just a severe punishment, it's too hasty! Right now the reserve position is pending, whether the murder of the eldest prince was caused by someone fighting for it?" Reserve the position and kill the killer, I hope the emperor will find out!"

Xue Changfeng knelt on the ground, but was not called to get up by the emperor.He didn't say a word, as if he was watching a play, and only waited for the group of people in front of him to finish what they had to say before he could exert his strength.

After Ren Gui finished speaking, Wei Yuanting added unhurriedly: "Reporting to the Holy Majesty, I think this matter is quite meaningful, but whether it is related to General Xue or not, General Xue is not good at protecting him, and he is actually dereliction of duty."

Xue Changfeng knew about the fact that Ren Gui and Wei Yuanting shared their nostrils, and so did the emperor.

But now Zhongshu Shilang is also involved, and the three of them are determined to punish Xue Changfeng... I am afraid that they are trying to take the opportunity to bring down Xue Changfeng, and they no longer hide the fact that they have formed a party member.

The emperor still did not speak.But most of the time he is also like this, first listen to what the ministers have to say, the more people talk, the clearer things will be, especially about the faction of the courtiers, as long as you listen more, it will be clear who is with whom .

After Wei Yuanting finished speaking, Yuan Zhi, the right minister in front, stepped out of the line unhurriedly.

What Yuan Zhi wants to say, the ministers below the hall and the emperor above, everyone almost understands in their hearts.He will definitely speak for Xue Changfeng, this is not something unpredictable.Just like Wei Yuanting is in the Queen's faction, Yuan Zhi and Xue Changfeng's company is not a day or two.

Yuanzhi smiled slightly, and said calmly and calmly as always: "I think that General Xue's crime of protecting against nature is unforgivable... But this matter is not only that, it is more necessary to investigate and deal with who deliberately murdered the eldest prince. There are many involved, But if we don’t find out who is behind the scenes and kill them as a warning to others, there will be even more people coveting the crown prince’s position!”

Although these words didn't plead for Xue Changfeng a single word, but it can be regarded as avoiding the important ones.Going deeper, maybe it was to give Xue Changfeng a chance to make a contribution.

Listening to these people coming and going and talking, the emperor only felt a sudden pain in his forehead, his chest seemed to be constricted, and his throat was itchy from time to time, and the injury was still unhealed.

The emperor didn't speak, but everyone in the hall was waiting for him to speak.He coughed twice, his eyes suddenly sharpened, he stood up from the dragon chair, walked all the way down the hall, looked at the courtiers who came out of the hall, and Xue Changfeng who was kneeling on the ground.He looked at it for a while as he walked, and the courtiers dared not show their air, nor did they dare to discuss in private.

The atmosphere was tense for a while, and the emperor suddenly said: "Every one of you is right, and you are all eager to establish a reserve." When he said this, he turned around facing the dragon chair, his voice was not Da Que almost roared and cursed: "I'm not dead yet!"

As soon as the roar came out, everyone in the hall knelt down in unison: "The emperor calm down—"

"Xue Changfeng."

"The minister is here."

"Xue Changfeng's protection of the prince is not good, so he was resigned to the post of Great General of Peking and banned from the General's Mansion. Wei Yuanting will investigate the murder of the great prince, and we must find out who is behind the scenes. I will never let it go!"

These words made Wei Yuanting smile as expected.Although Xue Changfeng didn't raise his head, he still looked at Xue Changfeng with a little complacency.

It doesn't matter to Wei Yuanting who is responsible for the murder of the First Prince.The most important thing is that since the prince who is most likely to compete for the crown prince is dead, it is the most important thing to pull Xue Changfeng down.

Xue Changfeng said in a deep voice: "Chen, thank you."

Wei Yuanting continued: "I will definitely live up to it..." "But I have something to say."

Before Wei Yuanting finished speaking, Xue Changfeng continued.He interrupted Wei Yuanting like this, which really made Wei Yuanting lose face, but in front of civil and military officials, especially the emperor, Wei Yuanting could only smile slightly, and held back the second half of the sentence.

The emperor walked back to the dragon chair and sat down. He was so angry just now, but now he has regained his composure. Hearing Xue Changfeng's words, he waved his hand gently: "Get up and talk."

If it was not Xue Changfeng, but other ministers, the emperor would not have been so angry.It happened to be Xue Changfeng, he couldn't have done too much.

Xue Changfeng's father, Xue Yuanshan, used to be a great general in the former dynasty with great military exploits, especially when the current emperor was still a prince, marrying his beloved daughter Xue Jin to him was tantamount to showing his position.

He was able to become the emperor, Xue Yuanshan contributed a lot.

But also because of this, the situation where the Xue family covered the sky with one hand was inevitable.

Xue Changfeng stood up from the ground

Standing up, he said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. Regarding the murder of the eldest prince, I have already investigated clearly. The murderer committed suicide in fear of crime, and the body is now outside the city."

"Oh?"

"The murderer is Quanzi's lieutenant general, Guo Linchong." Xue Changfeng said, looking at Shang Xu intentionally or unintentionally.

Shang Xu's face was expressionless, as if he didn't feel any emotion because of this sentence.It's not been a year or two since everyone was an official in the same dynasty. Anyone can do a good job of superficial skills. Therefore, even if Shang Xu kept his face, Xue Changfeng could guess that he should be on pins and needles right now.

Wei Yuanting was not in a hurry to refute, on the contrary, the censor hurriedly continued: "General Xue said so, did he mean to hand over his subordinates to take the blame? This is too..."

If he didn't finish speaking, he would naturally let Zhongshu Shilang finish it for him.One or two of these routines of fighting dissidents are very proficient.However, before Zhongshu Shilang answered, Yuan Zhi spoke first: "I think what Sir Ren said is true. If General Xue instructs his subordinates to take the blame like this, forgive me for making bold guesses," he said, watching He continued to Xue Changfeng, "Could it be that General Xue is the mastermind behind the scenes, so he is so anxious to find someone to take the blame?"

As soon as this statement came out, the audience was in an uproar.

This was completely beyond everyone's expectations.The friendship between Yuan Zhi and Xue Changfeng was known to all the officials in the court, even the emperor was like a mirror in his heart.However, the words that would put Xue Changfeng to death now came from Yuan Zhi's mouth.

Could it be that the two of them are already at odds?Many people speculate so.

Even Wei Yuanting thought about it for a moment.But after a while, he knew it was impossible. If Yuan Zhi and Xue Changfeng were still on the same side, then he said this for...

"Don't worry, everyone, wait until I finish." Xue Changfeng said unhurriedly, "Your Majesty, the evidence for Guo Linchong's murder of the eldest prince is solid, and it is reasonable for you to be suspicious. However, during the investigation, I accidentally discovered that The person behind Guo Linchong's instigation."

As he spoke, he took out a letter and a jade pendant from his court clothes, and bowed to present them upwards.The eunuch in charge immediately stepped forward to get the result and presented it to the emperor.The emperor opened the letter to read, and Xue Changfeng said: "Four years ago, in the battle of Yan Hangu, it was the spies of the Sui Kingdom who mingled in our army camp and stole the information, which resulted in the failure of the war, and even nearly being invaded by the Sui Kingdom into Shangzhou. This spy , and Guo Linchong happened to be from the same sect."

He said, looked at Shang Xu, and continued: "And they are two outstanding disciples of Mr. Zuo Xiang Shang. The letter presented to the emperor earlier is the ironclad evidence. The person in the letter called himself Zhong An, and it was the same person four years ago. A spy, after checking by the minister, Cao Zhongan is now one of the few famous generals in the Sui Kingdom. This letter was intercepted from the congratulatory gift on Master Shang's birthday, and the jade pendant was exactly what Guo Linchong wore with him. There is the same jade pendant on Cao Zhongan... and Mr. Shang should also have this jade pendant."

Everyone thought that whether Xue Changfeng was the chief envoy or not, he was responsible for the crime.But Xue Changfeng's words actually made him fight back desperately, and the situation pointed directly at Shang Xu in an instant.

Shang Xu raised his head and glanced at Xue Changfeng with deep meaning in his eyes.But Xue Changfeng looked away and didn't look at him.

Seeing the current situation, a certain courtier who had not spoken all this time suddenly stepped forward and said: "The source of the letter is difficult to verify, and it is always the best to forge. Even if the content of the letter says so, it is difficult to determine whether someone framed it , the veterans of the two dynasties, Shang and Prime Minister, must investigate this matter carefully."

"That makes sense." After reading the letter, the emperor handed it to the eunuch in charge.He looked at Shang Xu and asked, "Master Shang, do you have something to say?"

Shang Xu never said a word today, he took a step out of the queue, bowed deeply to the emperor, and said: "Let's not talk about whether the evidence is true or not, just based on this alone, we can say that this official is the one who murdered the eldest prince. Fierce, I'm afraid it's not fair. This minister is the teacher of the First Prince, so he naturally trains him carefully, and hopes that one day the First Prince can be crowned the Great Commander, so why would he instruct someone to kill him? I hope the Emperor will see clearly."

After speaking, he knelt down and kowtowed deeply.

Xue Changfeng had expected that he would say that, so he went on to say: "If Shang Xiang is dedicated to the country, he will not do such rebellious things, but what if Shang Xiang has the heart of treason?"

"General Xue is too alarmist." Wei Yuanting said bluntly.His premonition was indeed correct, Yuan Zhi would say that purely for the sake of cutting grass and roots, he must first raise and then lower.

Xue Changfeng ignored it, and continued on his own: "If the emperor has doubts, he only needs to search the prime minister's mansion to find evidence. I believe that the prime minister has proved his innocence, so naturally he will not refuse. If the prime minister is really innocent, then The minister is willing to offer the head to the merchant to make amends."

"Since General Xue is so sure..." the emperor said, "This matter is no small matter, so Prime Minister Yuan Zhi and General Wei are going to search Zuo Xiang's mansion together. Before the suspicion is cleared, Prime Minister Shang and General Xue are grounded."

"Sir, obey the order."

"Retreat."

After retreating from the court, the eunuch in charge quietly left Yuan Zhi behind.Yuan Zhi was taken to the side hall, the emperor was sitting on the couch drinking tea, but his complexion was even worse than when he was in court just now.Obviously, if it wasn't for the murder of the eldest prince, the emperor would have to recuperate for a few more days before he recovered.

"Your Prime Minister." Seeing Yuan Zhi approaching, the emperor took the lead and said, "What do you think of today's events?"

This is an understatement, if you say it to a courtier who has nothing to do with this matter, it is just a casual question; but if you ask him now, there may be some questioning here.

Yuan Zhi bowed slightly and replied: "Today's incident... I think that General Xue must have verified it before he dared to say so."

"The right minister means that Shang Xu did indeed act in collusion with the enemy and traitor to the country?"

"I don't dare to speak nonsense, everything will be decided by the emperor after the search."

Yuan Zhi's words were impeccable, the emperor paused, picked up the tea on the table, lifted the lid of the cup and stroked it, and then said: "I remember that the commander of the imperial guards in the palace is Xue Changfeng's old department."

"Exactly."

"Xue Changfeng's protection is not good this time, maybe it's because of his old age. I want him to have a good rest, so let his old department go to the general's mansion for protection."

Hearing this, Yuan Zhi was startled, but she didn't dare to have any doubts on her face, so she could only follow the emperor's words and ask: "The palace ban..."

The emperor took a look at the eunuch in charge, and said to him: "Go, let Wei Yuanting recommend someone to be the commander of the imperial guards."

"Yes."

"Your Prime Minister..." the emperor continued, "I rely on you a lot, so don't let me down."

"Yes."

"Go down."