turmoil

When the sky lighted up again, the assassination case in the Shangshu Mansion shocked the government and the public. No one expected that there would be such a bold young man under the feet of the emperor's capital and the emperor, and his rampant arrogance was unimaginable.

Jian Shangshu is the father-in-law of the Son of Heaven, and the Sanfa Division did not dare to neglect, so they sent people to inspect the scene that night.The chief catcher saw the face of the deceased, and his heart skipped a beat. If he remembered correctly, this person was an important member of the Ministry of Industry—this is not the point, the point is that this person seems to be different from Jian Shangshu on weekdays. Great deal, how could he visit Shangshu Mansion in the middle of the night and be killed by an assassin?

Thinking of this, Catcher looked suspiciously at Jian Shangshu.

The assassination case at the Shangshu Mansion alarmed Liu Yanzhao, who lived deep in the palace, and he came to the Shangshu Mansion in the afternoon of the next day to visit Jian Sihui, who was said to be sick from fright.

What Weng and son-in-law said after closing the door, outsiders have no way of knowing, only know that after Liu Yanzhao left, Jian Sihui handed over a sick note to the palace, and the old colleagues never saw each other, and just stayed in the mansion to recuperate every day.

At this point, anyone with a discerning eye can see that Shangshu Jian felt that the life and death of the disputes between courts and courts was unpredictable, and he deliberately hid his strength and bide his time to avoid the sharp point of view today.

At the same time, the progress of the investigation by the Three Law Departments has reached a deadlock. After identity verification, most of the people who died in the Shangshu Mansion that night were important officials from the court, and all of them were officials from the aristocratic family.These people are not close to Jian Sihui on weekdays, why they gathered at the Shangshu Mansion that night, and how they were taken over by the assassins is really intriguing.

More importantly, the assassin turned Shangshu's mansion into a slaughterhouse, except for Jian Sihui who was the owner of the house. If Jian Shangshu didn't know about it in advance and had no contact with the assassin, no fool would believe it.

Reminiscent of Jian Shangshu's identity and the most honorable person behind him, Jingzhao Fuyin and Xingbu Shangshu broke out in a cold sweat at the same time, and no one dared to trace the origin of the man in black.

Jian Sihui said that he couldn't get sick, and the old man in Beijing seemed to have heard something, and invisibly distanced himself from him. The voices criticizing Zhang Jingche in the court were much weaker. Well, still babbling.But this time, the new emperor, who has always accepted advice with an open mind, no longer intends to spoil this group of people. Jin Yiwei came out in full force, and smashed down the ten crimes that had already been collected, and invited them into prison on the same day.

At this point, Chaozhong understood two things: First, the new emperor is by no means a soft persimmon.He may be generous and benevolent, or he may be good at accepting advice, but there is a prerequisite for all of this, that is, others have not violated his bottom line of rebellion.If you have to test back and forth on the edge of the cliff, the new emperor has Jinyiwei and Youyunwei inside, and the military support represented by Dingbianhou outside, and he will never be afraid to wrestle with anyone.

Second, the new emperor unleashed his thunderous rage, and even resorted to massacres to frighten the officials, just to tell everyone that Zhang Jingche in prison belongs to him, and only the emperor has the final say on Zhang Jingche's life and death.

For a while, the aristocratic family in Beijing was extremely dissatisfied, and they were afraid of angering the new emperor and following in the footsteps of their colleagues who died in vain, so they had to swallow their anger and retreat a city first.

Liu Yanzhao is well versed in the way of relaxation, seeing the aristocratic family being pushed to the extreme, he voluntarily backed down.He first comforted the family members of the officials who were killed, gave many precious rewards, and then made some concessions on the matter of annexing the people's land. Although he took back some of the land, he stopped in time and gave the aristocratic family room to breathe.

The aristocratic family savored the actions of the new emperor, and gradually understood the intention. Liu Yanzhao was telling them: when the water is clear, there will be no fish. He understands this very well. If the aristocratic family is willing to give the emperor enough face, then he will not hesitate to let the aristocratic family go .But if he acts against the trend and is stubborn to the end, the blood color of Shang Shufu is a precedent!

With the new emperor's kindness and power, the opposition in the court completely subsided. Except for a few officials who thought they were clean and would not be soft and hard, no one dared to mention Zhang Jingche.

After the wind gradually subsided, Liu Yanzhao, who hadn't slept well for a long time, came to the imperial prison again.

Although Zhang Jingche was in prison, he was not ignorant of the news from the outside world.When he heard that the new emperor used thunder to frighten the family, but he stopped at the matter of recovering the people's land, he couldn't help but sneered.

Xu Shen looked at his expression, and said cautiously: "Isn't it a good thing for your majesty to subdue the aristocratic family? In the past few days, no one has impeached your lord. Finally, you can breathe a sigh of relief."

What Zhang Jingche was thinking was not this: "Since you have made a move, you should do it right, and force the family to spit out the meat they have swallowed all these years. No matter how bad it is, you should set clear rules for them, knowing that some fat meat is untouchable." .To do so now seems to be vigorous and resolute, but in fact, it is not up to the top and the cart before the horse. When the aristocratic family takes a breath and makes a comeback, it will not be so easy to deal with."

Just as Xu Shen was about to say something, his ears moved suddenly, and he stood up to hide in the shadows.Not long after, footsteps came, and the first person to wear the yellow dragon robe was the new emperor who was rumored to be the bloody storm.

With his hands behind his back, Liu Yanzhao looked at Zhang Jingche calmly through an iron fence.

Zhang Jingche suddenly felt something strange—the last time we met, Liu Yanzhao was still a young man full of anger. Although he was young and took it for granted, he always had the vigor and spirit of a young man.But this time, there was a haze between Liu Yanzhao's brows, his handsome eyebrows and eyes were shrouded in shadows, even with Zhang Jingche's eyesight, he couldn't guess what he was thinking.

Of course, Commander Zhang was not interested in guessing.

"That's the end of Pei Guogong's business." After a while, Liu Yanzhao said coldly, "He harmed your sister, you killed his father and son, and you killed two virtuous concubines in the palace. Pay off."

Zhang Jingche frowned slightly, always feeling that there was something in Liu Yanzhao's words.

Sure enough, I heard the next sentence of the new emperor: "But I am not trying to show the law. Pei Guogong and his son disregard the law. Of course, there will be a price to pay. If you abuse the lynching and take life and death, you will not be immune to the sanctions of the state law."

Zhang Jingche rolled his eyelids indifferently: "What does the emperor want? Beheading, Ling Chi, or killing all the family? Oh, I forgot, the nine clans of my ministers have all died in the hands of the royal family, and there is no one left."

Liu Yanzhao hated seeing him like this the most, and the anger that he had suppressed suddenly rushed to the top of his head: "How dare you say it? You have kept it from me for so long...it is so hard to hide it from me!"

Zhang Jingche snorted lightly, "So what if you tell Your Majesty?"

Liu Yanzhao showed astonishment.

"If I tell Your Majesty, will Your Majesty let Chen and Jing Suyuan go away?" Zhang Jingche looked at him mockingly, "It's obviously impossible... If that's the case, why should I bother and leave it in His Majesty's hands for nothing?"

Liu Yanzhao was furious at first, but after thinking about it, he had nothing to say, because what Zhang Jingche said was right, it was really impossible for him to let the brother and sister escape into the world.

Not to mention Zhang Jingche's ability and skill, the new emperor would feel uneasy if such a person was allowed to go far away.Based on the privacy he has mastered in the court, it is impossible for Liu Yanzhao to let Commander Zhang escape from his control.

Not to mention, Liu Yanzhao still has a constant cutting and chaotic love for him, and he doesn't know where it came from.

The new emperor put his hands behind his back, and subconsciously squeezed his fingers tightly: "I have treated you very seriously these years... You, you are so dismissive? Do you want to leave me so much?"

Zhang Jingche sat cross-legged in the haystack, a ray of skylight fell on his head, enveloping his eyebrows, eyes and temples.This man just has the ability to maintain his demeanor in any situation, even if he is imprisoned, he is still calm.

"How much do you treat me?" He smiled, "It's only natural... Even a good knife must be carefully maintained. I am still useful to His Majesty, so of course you must take good care of it."

Liu Yanzhao suppressed his anger: "Although I use you, I don't just use you..."

Zhang Jingche calmly interrupted him again: "Yeah, you still treat me like a kitten or dog by your side, tease me when you're happy, and let me out to bite people if you're not... After all, life and death are in the hands of the master." Well, if you want me to go east, I can't go west, can I?"

Liu Yanzhao was so angry that he couldn't speak, and when he wanted to refute, he couldn't find an excuse—even if he didn't want to, he still had to admit that although he admired and moved his heart, when he looked at Zhang Jingche, he took a somewhat condescending perspective .

Maybe it's because the words "Jin's body is not right" blinded his eyes, or maybe it was because Liu Yanzhao was a high-ranking person since he was a child, and he was used to being surrounded by stars, so he didn't intend to target him.

The new emperor pinched out the marks with his fingers, and finally said patiently: "I know you are wronged, but if a talent like you disappears in the Jianghu, you will be really wronged... What's more, you are carrying a life lawsuit on your back." , now you have become a thorn in the side of the family, and you may not live long if you go out, so you might as well stay by my side with peace of mind... You have made great contributions, even if you enter the palace, I will not treat you badly."

Zhang Jingche quickly raised his eyelids, and stared at him coldly: "Entering the palace?"

Liu Yanzhao only felt that this look was surprisingly bright, and those unknown and hard-to-express thoughts were dragged out naked and spread out under the blue sky: "Although I tried my best to suppress the material opinions of the court, but your abuse of lynching is the law of the country after all. Unbearable..."

He spared the circle for a long time, but Zhang Jingche didn't have that much patience, and said coldly, "Say it straight, what do you want?"

Liu Yanzhao shook his fingers fiercely: "The three jurisprudences have agreed that capital punishment is unavoidable, living crime is unavoidable... I will give you a palace sentence, and you will be confiscated into the court!"

After the words fell, Zhang Jingche narrowed his eyes slightly, his eyes were as sharp as a knife's edge.

Liu Yanzhao felt chills all over his body, and at the end he felt some indescribable joy, as if he had finally pulled back a victory.He paused, and changed into a sarcastic tone: "Why, do you know you're afraid? You should have thought that there are punishments in this world that are more terrible than murder!"

Zhang Jingche took a deep breath, and finally suppressed the killing intent in his chest.

Liu Yanzhao didn't listen to him for a long time, thinking that this man was scared, and besides his anger, there was also some indescribable pity.

"You don't have to worry too much, I have already arranged it, but it's just a formality, and there is no need to really cleanse yourself," the new emperor softened his tone, "When you enter the palace, you will serve in front of the imperial court, and your rank is only in front of the imperial supervisor. Next... I will take care of you, and I will never let you be wronged."

Zhang Jingche couldn't bear it any longer, and said with a sneer, "Then should I thank Your Majesty for finally being willing to keep the last bit of my dignity as a human being?"

Liu Yanzhao thought about it for many days, and finally came up with a solution that he thought was the best of both worlds. Unexpectedly, Zhang Jingche was not only ungrateful, but instead sneered and ridiculed.He thought of all the hard work he had been doing these days, the difficulty in sleeping and eating, that in order to save Zhang Jingche's life, he did not hesitate to support the family, and even temporarily put aside the pursuit of the people's land... He thought to himself that he had never cared so much for anyone in his life, Clinker people don't appreciate it!

At that moment, Liu Yanzhao's veins twitched violently, and his eyes became visibly cold.

"You said that I treat you like a cat or dog... I feel that I have indulged you too much these years, even though you are so lawless and without a king!" He said solemnly, "You have committed such a serious crime, and I will pay you no attention!" You put all your heart and soul into planning for you, but you speculate on my intentions like this... Well, that's great! Since you don't appreciate it, I don't need to bother!"

He snapped: "Moonshine!"

The little eunuch who had been accompanying him all the time stepped forward, bowed his head and lowered his eyebrows: "Your Majesty."

Liu Yanzhao said coldly: "Tell Dali Temple that you can do whatever you want, without looking at my face."

Yuezhao was stunned, and glanced at Zhang Jingche hesitantly: "Yes... the slave obeys the order."

The new emperor left in a rage, and stayed until the footsteps were far away. Xu Shen turned out from his hiding place and said helplessly, "My lord...is also a good intention. Why does your lord need to show His Majesty face like this?"

Zhang Jingche didn't take it seriously: "I'm leaving anyway, and we will never see each other again in the future, what face do we have?"

Xu Shen knew that he had been aggrieved for many years and hated the capital and the Forbidden Palace, so he didn't dare to persuade him, but said tactfully: "Your Majesty is willing to protect you even in such a field... He is not ruthless to you."

Zhang Jingche squinted at him: "Sentimental? After keeping pets for a long time, as long as they are not cold-blooded, there will always be some friendship."

Xu Shen remained silent.

Zhang Jingche took a breath, and managed to suppress his sharp anger: He knew that in the eyes of others, he might be too extreme and too ignorant.He also knew that in the eyes of others, Liu Yanzhao's actions could indeed be called "benevolent and magnanimous".If it had been someone else, he would have been tearful with gratitude and cast his body to the ground, crying and shouting to die for the new emperor in order to repay the great kindness of life and body.

It's a pity that Zhang Jingche is not a native of Dayin, nor does he have Stockholm Syndrome, so he can't be grateful to the culprit who imprisoned him.

I could have endured the darkness...if I hadn't seen the light.

Liu Yanzhao went back to the palace angrily, turned his head and shut himself in the Qinzheng Hall without seeing anyone.He sat from noon to evening, and stayed until the night was dark. The little eunuch knocked lightly on the door of the hall, asking if he wanted to have dinner, only to hear the hall was silent for a long time, and finally there was a deep voice: "...Come in."

The moon shines step by step, carefully avoiding the messy broken porcelain all over the floor.Liu Yanzhao sat alone in the shadow behind the case, his face was frighteningly cold: "Is there any news from the prison?"

Yuezhao said cautiously: "No...does the emperor have something to order?"

Liu Yanzhao waited all afternoon, thinking that Zhang Jingche would take the initiative to plead guilty and ask for peace after thinking clearly about his interests and interests. Who would have thought that the man was so rebellious, he would rather enter the palace cleanse than give in a little bit.

For a moment, Liu Yanzhao was filled with anger and anger, and the hand holding the inkstone trembled slightly, wishing he could smash it to his heart's content.

Yuezhao was trembling, and after a while he said cautiously: "Your Majesty... do you still need to go to Dali Temple?"

Liu Yanzhao was stunned for a moment, and then realized that the eunuch was referring to the matter of informing Dali Temple that torture would still be used.Although he was angry, he still pondered and couldn't make a decision, got up and walked around twice, and was about to speak, when suddenly a figure crawled in at the door of the hall.

"Your Majesty, it's not good!" The man was also an eunuch serving in front of the palace, but at the moment he was sweating coldly and his expression was flustered. "The news came from the prison, Commander Zhang ordered him..."

Liu Yanzhao got up suddenly, and vaguely realized something in his unusual panic: "What's wrong with him?"

The little eunuch was sweating coldly: "Commander Zhang made him...he cut himself off!"