Empress Chu

"Longwei Army obeyed the last emperor's last order to protect the country forever. Today, it is ordered to investigate the case. The idlers should retreat as soon as possible. Otherwise, they will be regarded as conspiracy and will be killed without pardon."

Accompanied by his movements, more than a dozen Longwei troops drew their waist sabers, and in the other direction, there were also horseshoes stomping, and dozens of Longwei troops came to support them.

"Investigate the case according to the order, retreat quickly, otherwise it will be regarded as treason."

"Kill without mercy!"

"Kill without mercy!"

Accompanied by shouts, Ding Dachui took the lead, and the Longwei army with only dozens of people behind him rushed towards hundreds of Jing soldiers without the slightest fear.

There was an explosion on the street.

"Fight up—"

Seeing this scene, the officials standing on the sidelines couldn't bear it any longer, these lunatics!This is not human at all!

"Stop it all—"

……

……

Deng Yi stepped into the emperor's study in the harem, and looked at Chu Zhao who was sitting and writing with Xiao Yu.

Chu Zhao smiled and said, "Why is Tai Tuo free to come here today?"

Deng Yi ignored her laughter.

"Queen, what do you want?" He just asked.

Chu Zhao put down his pen with a smile, and said, "I just want to investigate the case."

Deng Yi said: "Are you investigating a case? You are ignoring the law, disobeying the law, conniving at the Longwei army to ask for credit and reward, and to act recklessly."

"Teacher, I am not ignoring the law." Chu Zhao said, "It is the law that is ignoring the law. It is you who ignore the suspicion of the case, the lack of evidence, and the suspect's grievances. Otherwise, I would not have asked me to investigate the case."

Deng Yi looked at her coldly.

"Also." Chu Zhao looked at him without hesitation, "Teacher, you were ordered by the late emperor to supervise the country, and so was this palace. It was this palace that saved your majesty. It was the late emperor who personally ordered to seal the palace for the sake of the eternal state. The palace is the queen."

Deng Yi said: "So?"

Chu Zhaodao: "So whenever there is any matter that endangers the Qingming of the Great Xia Kingdom, this palace has the right to intervene."

Deng Yi glanced at her blankly, turned around and strode away.

Chapter 35 The Matter

In summer, the dawn was early, when Zhu Yong walked to the palace gate, not many officials came, just in twos and threes.

Seeing Zhu Yong approaching, everyone was slightly startled.

Although they belonged to the same court, not everyone knew everyone before, especially Zhu Yong, the humble Xiaobian Xiu.

Now Zhu Yong said in the court hall that the empress is holy, and everyone knows it.

When Zhu Yong came over, all the officials turned aside, some were indifferent, some were disgusted, and some sneered.

"You still have the face to come to court?"

"Why haven't you been dismissed and arrested?"

"He won't be arrested, but he can let the queen arrest people everywhere."

"Let's worry about ourselves, maybe one day the Dragon Guards will break into the door."

Zhu Yong was a little embarrassed to be alone in the same place. In fact, after the incident happened, he never came to court. He packed his luggage at home, dismissed his servants, and waited to be dismissed from the capital or arrested, but he waited and waited, and no one came to the door. , until a few friends secretly ran to send a message.

"The empress has gone crazy in order to try Zheng Xia's case for you."

Zheng Xia, who was supposed to be executed immediately, was snatched away by Longyiwei. Longyiwei rushed into the Guoziji Restaurant to arrest people. Get up - this is said.

The matter is not over yet, Longyiwei went to Jingzhou, Longyiwei arrested many people in Jingzhou, Jingzhou was in chaos——

It was only then that Zhu Yong knew what was happening outside. He didn't know whether it was excitement or shock and trembling, but no matter how he trembled, he decided to go out of the house and come to court.

The queen did such crazy things for him, he couldn't stay at home and wait.

More and more officials came to the palace gate, and they all avoided Zhu Yong. Countless eyes stared at him, and the low-pitched discussions condensed and buzzed together. He could hear all the ugly words clearly, but Zhu Yong just pretended not to hear them. , standing motionless, he saw his colleagues and friends coming, but he didn't dare to approach him, only winking quietly.

The time to go to court finally came, Zhu Yong walked at the end of the queue, walked into the court hall silently, bowed down to greet the emperor and empress, everything was as usual.

The hall is the same as before, but not quite the same.

Standing at the end, Zhu Yong heard an official report that "Jingzhou city guards clashed with imperial guards, and ten people were injured."

The officials only reported, and did not question the queen, and when the queen said, "I know about this—" they immediately remained silent as before.

The queen seemed to be talking to herself, but she didn't pause at all and finished what she wanted to say.

The officials continued to remain silent until Deng Yi said, "This matter is the court's fault. The Ministry of Officials has selected personnel today to go to Jingzhou to appease the people and bring order out of the chaos."

The officials responded yes.

Zhu Yong was terrified when he heard it, he didn't seem to be arguing, but the meaning he expressed was scarier than the quarrel, the next thing the Tai Tuo wanted to do to appease the people was also to incite them - the Queen's reputation was about to suffer.

The so-called ordering out of chaos, the Tai Tuo's side is righteous, and the queen is chaotic.

He is used to this kind of framing and fueling the flames. Most of this method is used on officials, and now it can also be used on emperors.

It's all right if the emperor's reputation is not good, the empress is not an emperor after all, if the reputation is really bad and the people complain, the Tai Tuo is qualified to abolish the empress.

Zhu Yong stood at the end of the line, his lowered hands trembling slightly.

On that day, shouldn't he stand up impulsively——

Zheng Xia has already accepted his fate and waited for death.

He also thought about how to take care of Zheng Xia's family.

Now that Zheng Xia is dead, so is he, and there is no one to take care of his family.

The officials in the court began to discuss new topics, the queen stopped talking, Zhu Yong was at a loss, he was really finished this time.

"Report—Longwei Military Academy Lieutenant Ding Chui, Counselor Yin Tong asks to see His Majesty." The servant's loud shout overwhelmed the voice of the court.

There was a silence in the hall.

The censor was stunned for a moment, stood up and scolded: "Don't make noise, interrupt the court meeting!" "Longwei's army is not allowed to enter the palace unless it is promoted to court officials."

The faces of the servants who walked in were slightly pale. These ministers restrained their temper and did not scold the queen face to face, but they did not have to be nice to the servants.

Don't talk about scolding, it's okay to drag them out and beat them.

"This is not to interrupt the court meeting." The queen's voice sounded, "They are here for the court meeting."

Yu Shi paused, thinking that everyone had discussed, ignore what the queen said, and pretend that he didn't hear it, then he just needs to continue to scold and tell the servant to "quickly step back—"

But the queen was one step ahead of him.

"pass--"

The servant who couldn't wait to leave immediately turned around and ran out of the hall, shouting loudly, "Bi—"

In fact, there is no need to shout loudly, the two Longwei soldiers were already standing outside the hall, they stepped in when the Queen's voice sounded.

Seeing the two imperial guards walking in, they were actually armed with weapons—these Longwei troops were on duty in the harem, and they did not need to remove their weapons when entering the imperial city. Thinking about the performance of the Longyi Guards these days, Yu Shi thought for a while, if Call the guard on duty in the hall to drive the two out, and you may see the scene of the guards fighting in the hall.

It's ridiculous.

That's it.

Whatever they say, just ignore it.

Ding Dachui ignored the green-robed and red-robed officials in the hall, and went straight to the front: "I was ordered to investigate the Jingzhou Zhongzheng's visit to Zheng Xia and the result has been reached."

It was faster than expected, Chu Zhao said happily: "Okay, tell me quickly."

Ding Dachui stepped aside, he was not good at the next thing, Counselor Yin opened the box he was carrying, took out the file and began to introduce.

"After retrieving the case files, visiting Jingzhou County, looking for relevant people, etc., the real criminal was found out. Jingzhou Zhongzheng later confessed."

"It's a crime."

He showed it to everyone, Chiyu's handwriting and bright red handprints.

There was silence in the hall, as if talking to the queen, no one responded.

But it was different from before. Many officials moved slightly, made eye contact, and were a little restless.

Counselor Yin didn't care that no one responded, he took out the documents one by one from the box, told about the investigation process, questioned the records, evidence, a slightly feminine voice echoed in the hall, the tone didn't fluctuate, and flowed through everyone's ears like running water .

Standing at the end of the queue, Zhu Yong, who was dazed and dazed, gradually gathered together. He couldn't help leaning forward and looking forward. Not only him, but the officials standing in the back all shook their bodies and looked forward.

Jingzhou Zhongzheng sells exam questions, and three candidates bought them, but one of them was not very smart, and was discovered by a scholar. A blood book was hung by the bridge, and he committed suicide by throwing himself into the river.

After the incident got serious, Jingzhou Zhongzheng would certainly not confess his guilt and use Zheng Xia as a scapegoat.

"Later, knowing that Zheng Xia can write with his left hand, he instructed the guard to break Zheng Xia's left hand during the questioning. This is the guard's confession."

"We found Zheng Xia's collection of poems and essays from the academy where he studied when he was young. Among them, there are handwritings written by the left hand, and the handwriting of the left and right hands is indeed different. This is evidence."

"In order to convict Zheng Xia, I sent the son of the country a hundred taels of wine and gold later. This is the evidence of the correspondence between the two."

This case is not complicated, it can be said to be very simple.

The only thing that is complicated is the people.

Those who can buy the test questions are the children of the Jingzhou aristocratic family, and they have connections with the officials of Jingzhou.

The Zhongzheng official who sells the exam questions comes from a famous family and has a prominent reputation.

Not to mention Guozi Jijiu, a high-ranking official far away in the capital, a scholar in a state and county, is as inconspicuous as an ant in his eyes.

Officials will not question them carefully, let alone torture them.

So these people moved their hands at will, and Zheng Xia, a petty official with a weak background and powerless background, would die.

"Now all the criminals are being escorted to the capital to wait for release."

Counselor Yin said, put the last physical evidence into the box, and ended the lecture.

Chu Zhao looked at the box full of evidence and testimonials, his face was heavy, and there was a bit of sarcasm: "I see, let's say they take this as a trivial matter, rating products, literary sages, favoritism, and the death of scholars. If you know that you have to convict the officials and put them to death to warn you, let’s say it’s a big deal, don’t take it seriously, just push people to die—”

She looked back at the officials in the hall.

"Lieutenant Ding, hand over all the evidence and criminals you have verified to the Ministry of Punishment, and the Ministry of Punishment will issue it again."

Ding Dachui replied yes.

The servant of the Ministry of punishment was silent, but he thought, is it right to be silent at this time?Does silence mean acceptance?Do you want to say something against it?He couldn't bear to see the Taifu.

Deng Yi didn't look at him, just looked at everyone, and said: "What else is there to start?"

As before, at this time it was time for the officials in the hall to answer the call immediately.

"Minister—there is a play."

Someone shouted loudly and came out at the same time.

The officials in the front look at you and I look at you, but you can't see the other party coming out, and then look at Deng Yi, looking past them to the back, all the officials also looked back one after another.

At the end of the queue, Zhu Yong stood up with big strides and took a few steps forward.

It was him, the expressions of the officials changed.

Deng Yi looked at him: "What's the matter with you?"

Zhu Yong didn't look at Deng Yi, but looked at the woman behind the dragon chair.

He leaned down and kowtowed: "I ask the queen to send me to Jingzhou as the imperial censor, and together with the Ministry of Punishment, settle the case."

As soon as this remark came out, the courtiers were even more shocked than when he stood up and said the unjust case.

If it is said that it is impulsive to cry out for a friend, then at this time he did not ask His Majesty for permission, nor did he vaguely ask for a word of instruction, but asked the queen to give——

This is clearly taking refuge in the queen, showing that he only listens to the queen.

Crazy!

The hall could not maintain the previous silence, there was a slight uproar, and the officials standing around Zhu Yong even hid aside.

Deng Yi looked at Zhu Yong with a blank expression and remained silent.

"Quite." The queen's voice fell loudly.