Reincarnation of the powerful minister

After being ashamed by the prince's horse's hoof, Su Yan finished wiping her face with drooping eyebrows. She didn't want to catch up, so she sauntered forward.

Not long after, I saw Juechen riding in front of me, it was Zhu Helin who had gone and returned.

Zhu Helin reined in beside him, still with a swollen face.Su Yan laughed dryly: "Master, why are you still angry with me? It was my words that were rude, and I committed the crime next time. I will apologize to you."

Zhu Helin lashed Su Yan's thigh with a horsewhip, his face softened a little amidst his "hissing" in pain, and he said in a muffled voice, "You didn't speak rudely, but you spoke out to test. In this kind of thing, you are the first to suspect me, and I know why."

He had always been in a flashy mind. After flying out in anger, he was calmed down by the wind. He felt that he should explain it to Su Yan, so he turned around decisively.

Su Yan also restrained his smirk, and said sternly: "Because this kind of thing spreads, it is easy to be turned into a prophecy directed at the second prince. The people are superstitious, and even if they are not superstitious, they still hold 'I'd rather believe it. If it exists, it cannot be trusted with its attitude. If it continues to develop, it will deal a big blow to the second prince's reputation, and may even cause turmoil in the people of the ruling and opposition parties. This point must be clear in the prince's heart."

Zhu Helin nodded, and added unwillingly: "I really didn't arrange it."

Su Yan said: "But who will listen to my defense? After all, you are the first beneficiary. When something or a case happens, the beneficiary will be the first to become the object of suspicion because he has motives. This is human nature .Even I am not close to my young master. My first reaction was, 'Could it be that my young master has been neglected by the emperor recently and I feel depressed, and I was inspired by the red lotus nursery rhyme, and learned the tricks I shouldn't have learned'?"

"—I'm really depressed, and I absolutely don't want to talk about humility with my second child." Zhu Helin said decisively, "But even if this method works, I don't care about it!"

Su Yan asked: "Why?"

Zhu Helin was full of thoughts and couldn't figure out how to express it for a while, and finally choked out a sentence: "The trick of pretending to be a ghost, like a cold and slimy snake, is disgusting to death."

He liked all kinds of animals with fur since he was a child, especially the tigers, leopards, and hunting dogs raised in the West Garden of the Imperial City, but he was very disliked by reptiles such as snakes and lizards. Using this as a metaphor shows that he hates them deeply. .

Su Yan laughed loudly, then cupped his hands at the end, and saluted solemnly: "For my doubts and temptations, I apologize to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Zhu Helin was relieved, but still with a straight face, he threatened: "This is not an example. If you doubt me in the future—even if it is only a little bit, I will use this—" He raised the horsewhip in his hand, "Hell!" Give you a hard meal. Remember?"

Su Yan was not afraid of him at all, and said with a smile: "Remember, remember."

Only then did Zhu Helin calm down completely, and laughed with a "chi" sound.He turned his horse's head and continued walking side by side with Su Yan.

However, Su Yan didn't seem to intend to let this matter go, and was still pondering: Since the rumor of the stone pillar prophecy was not done by the prince, then there are two other possibilities.First, it is the political opponent of the Wei family and the supporter of the crown prince, who was inspired by the Vacuum Sect and returned the same way to him.The second... is what Vacuum taught himself to do, with the purpose of blaming the prince and trapping him in injustice.If this is the case, it seems that the second prince is just a tool that can be sacrificed at any time in their eyes.

No matter what it is, the most important thing is that the emperor must believe that the prince has nothing to do with this matter.

If this happened before the fire in Kunning Palace, Su Yan believed that the emperor would definitely protect the prince, but now there seems to be a rift between the father and son.How the emperor will react to this... Even he can't tell right now.

Su Yan sighed silently.

Zhu Helin seemed to have guessed what he was thinking, and comforted him instead: "Don't worry, I will report the matter to my father according to the truth. Those who are cleared will clean themselves, and my father will believe me."

The two returned to the palace, and under the order of the prince, the guards parked the carriage loaded with stone pillars in the outer court, and went to the imperial study to face the saint together.

When they were walking along the palace road, they met a leader of Jinyiwei, who immediately retreated to the side of the road and saluted: "His Royal Highness is a thousand years old." Zhu Helin asked: "Come out of the imperial study?" The man said: "Yes." Zhu Helin nodded and continued walking forward.

"Father must have known about today's events, and the details are similar to those of the people present." When the Jin Yiwei walked away, Zhu Helin stopped and turned to look at Su Yan. Do you believe me?"

Su Yandao: "Your Majesty knows better than me what my temperament is. When I ask you later, I don't need to hide anything to avoid suspicion—but remember to only talk about what you have seen and heard, and don't mention all speculations and conjectures."

"Why?"

"How should I put it... If words are also a war, first revealing one's intentions or hole cards is tantamount to revealing one's position first."

Zhu Helin smiled wryly: "Recently, I can't speak in front of my father. I used to think that we are father and son, but now I suddenly realize that before 'father and son', there are 'monarchs and ministers'. Alas, the emperor's family, why is it so difficult?" Can't you be like a commoner?"

Su Yan thought about it, and finally he only answered one sentence: "There is a proverb in Xiyi - 'If you want to wear a crown, you must bear its weight'."

Zhu Helin pondered for a moment, then nodded slowly.

When they arrived at the Imperial Study Room, Emperor Jing Long didn't summon him immediately, and the two waited outside the palace gate.

Not long after, several guards in Jinyi carried the stone pillar together, stood in the open space under the steps, lifted the cloth covering the pillar, and then lined up outside the field.

The two walked over and carefully looked at the stone pillar again in the bright light, and saw that the Kui Niu Lei pattern at both ends of the pillar was covered by mottled algae marks, and it seemed that the handwriting scratches cleaned out in the middle were also very old.

"The old-fashioned method is quite sophisticated." Su Yan muttered.

"Then what kind of trick do you think?" A voice suddenly sounded from behind.

Su Yan was startled, turned around and saw that Emperor Jing Long had left the hall at some point, standing behind them, and hurriedly greeted him.

"I'm just talking casually, and I'm still at a loss now." He replied cautiously.

The emperor asked again: "If it is not man-made, then it is God's will?"

Zhu Helin suddenly opened his mouth and said decisively: "I don't think it's God's will!"

The emperor turned his gaze to him: "Oh, what does the prince think?"

Su Yan hid his hands in his sleeves, and quietly pulled the hem of the prince's robe, signaling him to do Tai Chi first and not express his opinion.But the prince continued: "Father, do you still remember that the Vacuum Sect used nursery rhymes to spread rumors of treason everywhere? My son thinks that today's pillar has the same song and the same effect, and it is likely to be written by the same person."

Su Yan sighed secretly, stepped forward and was about to speak when the emperor said to him: "Qinghe, you go to the study and wait for me first."

But the prince was still a little worried, he hesitated to find an excuse to stay, the emperor's voice sank: "—Su Shaoqing."

Knowing that the holy will had been decided, Su Yan had no choice but to cup his hands and said: "I obey the order." He took a deep look at Zhu Helin, stepped up the steps, and entered the imperial study.

The emperor said to the prince, "Go on."

The prince turned his gaze back from Su Yan's back, and said: "Today's matter began with the transfer of rice relief bags. The official involved has already died in a well. There is no proof of his death, but I feel that the investigation must continue. Mi, how many checkpoints have you passed? Who took over? Which checkpoint may have been overlooked, or made unusual movements? What is the background of the official, and who does he usually communicate with? If you trace them one by one, you will definitely Discovered something."

The emperor nodded: "That's right, I have indeed improved. Continue."

"The person who transferred the rice to the package must also be related to this stone pillar. Otherwise, why did the official commit suicide in public? Why did he choose to die by throwing himself into a well? It seems... as if... he wanted to use his own life to draw out this stone pillar. "

The emperor sighed: "Yes. Why did he choose to throw himself into the well, and knowing that he would die, why did he kowtow to you before throwing himself into the well?"

Zhu Helin was stunned.When begging for mercy in panic, the act of kowtowing was not abrupt, so he didn't notice it at the time, but now he vaguely remembered it when he heard the emperor mention it.That's true, since the official has the will to die, why should he kowtow?

"Is he expressing his will, or explaining his last words?" the emperor asked.

The prince answered blankly: "I... I don't know. I really don't know..."

The emperor further asked: "What is his last words? Is he pleading: 'The king's order has been fulfilled, don't harm my relatives and clansmen'?"

The prince took a step back abruptly, and his expression changed suddenly: "Father, is this—is this an interrogation of my son?!"

"If we really want to interrogate you, you will be handed over to the three divisions of punishment, temple, and court according to the law. If they dare not interrogate, there will be Jinyiwei North Town Fusi, why should I ask in person?" Emperor Jing Long took a deep breath, as if holding back Angry in his heart, his voice was low and majestic, "I came to ask you, do I still regard you as my son! But you came to ask me instead, do you not regard me as a father?"

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the young master was severely reprimanded by the emperor unprecedentedly. All the servants present held their breaths and lowered their heads, bowing their backs in fear, even the royal guards showed suspicion in their eyes.

Speaking of this, the prince had no choice but to kneel down and plead guilty, begging his father to appease his anger.

The emperor sighed: "He Lin, He Lin, you have been taught the way of a sage since childhood, but you have no interest in studying. Even if you pick up a book, it is either a book of stories or a book of war. Now the evil results are finally apparent. Don't do to others what you don't want it to be done to others', but I have learned a lot from "doing to others in the same way."

"...The meaning of the father's words, could it be that he already knew where the previous rumors about the cruelty and inhumanity of his subjects came from? Otherwise, where did he come from 'the way of the other'!" The prince's eyes widened, startled and angry He asked rhetorically, "Father knew the truth, but he didn't uphold justice for his son and minister, and dealt with the rumorer according to the law, but instead let him shoot his son and minister one after another?"

The emperor leaned over and pinched the prince's chin: "Who is the 'he' you are talking about? Your younger brother? He is not yet two years old, so you can't tolerate it like this?" I haven't read the book in vain, at least I know how the previous dynasty was destroyed—"

The rule of the previous dynasty was tyrannical, natural disasters and man-made disasters caused the people to live in dire straits.The imperial court forcibly recruited civilians to repair the breach of the Yellow River. As a result, when the migrant workers dug the river, they dug up a one-eyed stone man with a sentence engraved on his body: "The Mo Dao stone man has one eye and provokes the Yellow River to rebel."As soon as this prophecy rumor came out, it spread all over the world immediately, and the people responded one after another. Several uprising teams emerged and raised the banner of rebelling against the imperial court.

Afterwards, some people verified that the cyclops men were planted by the two leaders of the first rebel army. They were particular about "a vision from heaven, and their masters are famous", and the people all over the world also followed this pattern.Although the uprising army led by the two men was unsuccessful, they became whistleblowers for the change of dynasties.Therefore, Emperor Taizu of Daming rose from the coldness of the common people, quelled the troubled times, and finally ruled the world.

Countless lessons learned in history made the emperors extremely sensitive to prophecies and visions, and many emperors were keen to praise and create "auspiciousness" in order to prove that they were orthodox in line with the will of heaven and followed the way of heaven.

In the same way, they hate the forces that use prophecies and visions to stir up people's hearts—this is one of the reasons why the Vacuum Sect was banned by the Emperor Taizu in the early years of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and the leader was suppressed by the court.

The prince heard the seriousness of the matter from the words "the former dynasty collapsed", and knew that this matter touched the point that the emperor was most disgusted with.With tears in his eyes, he said loudly: "My son did not! They used this kind of ghostly trick to deal with my son. No matter how angry I was, I never thought of retaliation, because I also hate and despise this kind of trick. Why doesn't my father believe it?" My son?"

In the end, the stubborn tear in his eyes finally fell down and dripped on the emperor's finger.The emperor frowned as if being scalded, retracted his hand, and softened his tone: "Since you said so, I will give you a chance to clarify yourself - you said this was done by the Vacuum Sect, then Bind the culprit to me, and you will know the truth if you ask me."

Capture the vacuum leader?The world is so big, there are so many living beings, where are the people?After a very brief moment of astonishment, the crown prince released a firm and sharp light from his eyes, and said solemnly: "I am willing to take on this important task, and I will not disappoint my father!"

"Don't make it sound like I've entrusted you with a heavy responsibility. You haven't cleared up your suspicions here." The emperor poured a basin of cold water on him, "Over there, in order to avoid suspicion, you don't want to see him anymore. Today After this matter spreads, there must be rumors unfavorable to him inside and outside the court, you must find a way to stop them, if you allow the rumors to spread, I will default to your instruction—”

The prince felt extremely uncomfortable, but he had to accept this harsh condition.

Before turning around, the emperor said again: "Besides, don't drag Su Qinghe with everything, he is too busy with his own affairs, let alone clean up the mess for you."

The emperor returned to the imperial study, but the crown prince was still kneeling at the foot of the steps.Fu Bao trotted over from the corner of the corridor where he was hiding, and hurriedly helped him up: "Young master has been busy since dawn, and I haven't had a mouthful of water yet. The servant asked the little chef to make a nourishing soup, or it would be a waste of time." Go back to the palace?"

The prince didn't seem to hear what he said, and looked a little confused.

After Fu Bao brushed the dust off his knees, he asked worriedly, "Master's complexion is not very good, are you okay?"

"It's okay." The prince looked at the closed door, "Qinghe is still inside..."

"Hey, young master, you should take care of yourself first." Fu Bao persuaded, "Master Su will come out after a while after answering the emperor's lord. The slaves and maids will be guarded outside the gate of the palace. As soon as Master Su comes out, please come out." He's going to the East Palace."

The crown prince thought for a while, then shook his head and said: "No need. The last sentence of the father is clearly warning me not to drag Qinghe into the water. The father is right to think about it. If this matter goes wrong, the city will be full of storms. I can't implicate him."

He glanced at the palace gate again, turned around and walked a few steps, and murmured to himself: "My birthday gift hasn't been delivered yet, so Father can't remember anything?"

Fu Bao's eyes suddenly became moist, he resisted the soreness in his nasal cavity, and said: "The emperor is probably too busy at the moment, so why don't you wait until nightfall to go to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to greet you and give gifts."

The prince closed his eyes for a moment, then quickly opened them again, straightened his waist, and walked towards the East Palace with a manner that even the most verbose old minister of the Ministry of Rites could not be picky about.

In the imperial study room, Su Yan peeped out of the courtyard through the open window, and tried to eavesdrop with his ears up.This behavior was very rude, but he didn't care about the eyes of the people in the palace.

Seeing the emperor walking up the steps, he quickly returned to his seat and sat upright, picked up his teacup, and pretended to be calm.

When the emperor entered the hall, Su Yan immediately put down his teacup and got up to salute.The emperor told him to sit down: "Continue to drink your tea." Then he ordered the palace servants, "Give me a cup of pineapple with olives."

The palace people hurriedly replaced the prepared Pu'er with freshly brewed Usnea, and the emperor waved his sleeves to signal them all to retreat.

"Peeping at the window?" asked the emperor.

Su Yan smiled embarrassedly: "You can't hide anything from the emperor."

"I guessed it. According to your temperament, you can't let go of anyone if you worry about this or that. How can you let go of the prince?"

It was just far away, so I couldn't hear clearly, I only saw the prince kneeling, thinking that the emperor was angry.At this moment, I couldn't see the reason from the emperor's face, Su Yan answered in a nonchalant manner: "I still have the position of servant of the Eastern Palace, so I must do my duty to the young master. However, no matter whether it is a servant or a young minister, First of all, they are the servants of the emperor, so naturally they should be on the emperor's errand first."

"Slippery!" The emperor smirked, turned around and asked, "How's the shoulder injury? I heard that you had a fever after you went back and lay in bed for two days."

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