The first poisonous scholar in Daxia, starting from the abdication of the prime minister

"Does Your Majesty believe that the Crown Prince will rebel?"

Gu Jingzhi asked calmly.

Emperor Xia put down his chopsticks and picked up a glass of wine, drinking it all in one gulp. He then said calmly, "The matter is very clear. Huo Wenwu is also the prince's man, and relevant evidence has been found in recent days!"

"Then may I ask Your Majesty, does this evidence directly prove that the Crown Prince instigated Huo Wenwu to rebel?"

"That's not the case, but the crime of treason will not be tolerated. All the court officials have submitted memorials asking me to depose the crown prince!"

"Your Majesty! If I am not mistaken, Huo Wenwu's family is no longer in the capital, right?"

Gu Jingzhi smiled and said, "As a lord, you are about to rebel, yet you let your generals' families leave, while your own wife and daughter remain in the city..."

"Rebellion is risky, and as the crown prince, the throne is within easy reach. Why would you rebel? Besides Huo Wenwu leading the rebellion, is this plan well-planned?"

"Even the founding dukes wouldn't recognize this as something gained through rebellion. If it were me, I would have directly detained all the ministers' families, forced them to acknowledge it, and then killed the Second and Third Princes!"

"But what about now? This rebellion has brought no benefits, and instead it has put him at risk. I truly do not know why the Crown Prince would take such a huge risk and plan something doomed to fail."

"But now the prince himself can hardly defend himself!"

Emperor Xia said in a deep voice: "Many ministers have submitted impeachment memorials, and I..."

“It’s just those people!”

Gu Jingzhi put a piece of meat into his mouth and said, "Besides, why does the prince need to prove his innocence? If others say he is rebelling, just produce actual evidence. As the saying goes, whoever makes the claim must provide the evidence."

"There are often people who falsely accuse others and destroy their reputations. Often, those who are falsely accused will commit suicide to prove their guilt. This creates fertile ground for crime!"

"I am curious, why are those who are wrongly accused often punished for the words and actions of others?"

Emperor Xia: “…”

British Duke: “…”

Although it seems to make sense, does this mean that everything will be ignored?

Emperor Xia hesitated and said, "But Huo Wenwu's words have never been overturned! And the ministers continue to impeach him..."

"Why do we need to verify it? Without substantial evidence, the accusation is weak. Now the entire court is trying to frame the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince has been confined to his palace by His Majesty. How can we investigate?"

"In my humble opinion, the best approach is to presume innocence!"

"fart!"

Emperor Xia said unhappily, "So, a rebellion killed three founding nobles, and we're just going to let it go like this?"

"What else? How about... Your Majesty, have the Inner Guards make some effort to find that woman, Jin Lehuang? That way, the truth will be revealed!"

"..."

Emperor Xia suddenly remembered what Duke Yingguo had said to him. These were the words that Gu Jingzhi had told Li Ye on that snowy night. Li Ye told Emperor Xia exactly what he had said.

Emperor Xia asked, "How can you be sure that this matter is related to Le Huang?"

"Who else but her?"

Gu Jingzhi spread his hands and said, "She can even interfere with the inner guards who are loyal to His Majesty. Is it difficult for her to control others?"

Emperor Xia finally understood!

Gu Jingzhi doesn't want to get involved in this matter.

Looking at the silent emperor, Gu Jingzhi said silently: "Your Majesty, all you ask for is that the Crown Prince does not have any stains that can be attacked. However, unless Jin Lehuang can be found, the Crown Prince will have to bear this stain!"

"Of course, what I said about whoever makes the claim must provide the evidence is not without reason. This incident was deliberately orchestrated by someone, and I have long reminded Your Majesty that if it weren't for the death penalty, Jin Lehuang would not have been able to escape from the capital!"

"She had great ambitions for interfering with the inner guards! Although I had no evidence at the time, I still believed that the only solution was military rebellion. I don't think Your Majesty believed me!"

"The Internal Security Bureau discovered that someone attempted to poison the annual banquet. Poisoning the royal family or even the nobles is a capital crime, so..."

Emperor Xia was silent.

Gu Jingzhi said: "So Your Majesty thinks that this is all Jin Lehuang's tricks!"

"But Your Majesty! Poisoning is inherently full of uncertainties, and the procedures for palace banquets are incredibly complex. Even without the internal guards' special investigation, success would be difficult!"

"The palace banquet was just a prelude to allay Your Majesty's doubts!"

"Indeed, the Internal Guard discovered that someone had poisoned the palace banquet. This is an unforgivable crime. I think the thieves made such arrangements because they must have exhausted all possible means, but..."

However, he didn't expect that this was just a smokescreen!

Emperor Xia naturally understood this principle now, but...

Now, as Gu Jingzhi said, even if the blame is put on Jin Lehuang, there will still be people who think that Jin Lehuang deliberately rebelled in order to help the prince ascend to the throne.

As long as Jin Lehuang does not appear in court to explain the reason, the prince will never be able to restore his innocence.

For a while, the scene fell silent.

Gu Jingzhi opened his mouth and finally said, "Your Majesty, whether it was poisoning or inciting rebellion, the thief never thought of succeeding. Everything she did was just to cause civil unrest in our Great Xia!"

"Now that she's achieved this, she must have other options. Otherwise, if this chaos breaks out, it won't benefit her at all!"

"I believe that those who attempt to stir up chaos in the world must be motivated by their desire to seize the entire world, or perhaps even power. However, as long as Great Xia remains in chaos, her desire will be impossible to achieve. Therefore, forcing the Crown Prince to step down is only the first step in her plan."

"However, now that she's exposed, it won't be difficult to track down this matter. It just takes a little time!"

"So, what we need most right now is time?"

After watching Emperor Xia and Gu Jingzhi's conversation, Li Ye roughly understood what was going on. He thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, at this moment, I'm afraid the only way to solve the problem is to burn our boats and cross the river!"

"burn one's boats?"

Emperor Xia looked at him curiously and asked, "Does Mr. Li have any suggestions?"

"Your Majesty complied with their wishes and deposed the Crown Prince..."

"What kind of advice is this? Wouldn't deposing the crown prince satisfy their wishes? Do you want me to depose the crown prince and then establish the second or third son?"

How is doing this any different from giving the entire world to aristocratic families?

"Your Majesty, this statement about deposing the Crown Prince is of course not a true dethronement. Your Majesty only needs to..."

Emperor Xia and Li Ye stayed in Gu Jingzhi's house for two hours. After they had eaten and drunk their fill, they returned home. Looking at the convoy of the two going away, Gu Jingzhi sighed in his heart.

To be honest, Li Ye’s method is indeed feasible, but the risk is too great!

If things go wrong, Daxia will fall into civil strife.

But Emperor Xia finally chose this method.

Lin Feng stood aside, seeing Gu Jingzhi's melancholy, and couldn't help asking: "Cousin, what did His Majesty and the Duke of England say just now? Why did you become like this..."

"Ugh……"

"He is the founding emperor after all. Such courage is truly unmatched by ordinary people!"

I just hope you can win!

Gu Jingzhi shook his head and finally walked towards the backyard, leaving Lin Feng with a confused look on his face.