Prince! The political conspiracy is not a play, the show is real

Song Zhishou went to the imperial study with the emperor.

Chu Huanjun found an excuse to leave and wandered around the palace aimlessly.

When Song Zhishou appeared in front of Chu Huanjun with a deathly pale face, Chu Huanjun was playing with a dog on the lawn of the imperial garden.

Song Zhishou walked up to him silently, the expression on his face was hard to describe - his eyebrows trembled, which showed surprise; tears welled up in his eyes, which showed horror; the corners of his mouth twitched, which showed fear.

Chu Huanjun stood up slowly, brushed off the dust and grass scraps that the puppy had kicked up, threw a piece of licorice candy into Song Zhishou's arms, and said calmly, "What's going on? You look so distracted."

Song Zhishou was still in shock and fear. He approached with his head lowered and whispered in Chu Huanjun's ear, "You've been tricked."

Chu Huanjun's heart tightened, but his expression remained calm. He said, "Let's talk about it after we leave the palace."

He paused, then secretly elbowed Song Zhishou, reminding him, "Put away that frightened expression on your face! Don't be so obvious, or you're afraid others won't notice."

It turned out that the emperor took Song Zhishou to the imperial study and met with Prime Minister Zuo Tang.

Another person came into the room, claiming to be the manager of Tonghui Bank. Song Zhishou placed the stack of bills Chu Huanjun had given him on the table, and Zuo Tang also placed a stack of bills on the table.

The shopkeeper of Tonghui Money House took out the house's specially made seal, dipped it in red clay and pressed it on the paper. He then compared the newly pressed seal with the seals left on the two stacks of bills and discovered that the stack of bills that Song Zhishou handed over was indeed fake.

But the stack that Zuo Tang has is the real one.

Zuo Tang sternly and righteously pleaded guilty to the emperor: "My brother has committed a crime, and I am deeply saddened. Not only do I grieve over his treacherous, foolish, and disloyal behavior, but I also grieve over my failure to discover his mistake sooner, to give him warning and admonishment, and thus to allow him to fall into depravity and thus to cause such a disaster.

"I believe that Brother Di has become a disgrace to our Zuo clan, and I dare not shield his crimes out of brotherly affection, thus bringing shame upon our entire clan. I beg Your Majesty to make fair judgments and punish both me and Zuo Di."

The emperor was very pleased after hearing this and was deeply moved by Zuo Tang's righteousness. He immediately rewarded Zuo Tang generously, not to mention the "same crime" -

According to the laws of the Chu State, corrupt officials were unforgivable. However, the emperor, grateful for Zuo Tang's great contributions, pardoned Zuo Di's death sentence and only punished him by confiscating all the money he had embezzled and sending him to the southern barbarian land to do labor, with no right to return to the country for the rest of his life.

On the corridor leading to the outside of the palace gate, Chu Huanjun and Song Zhishou were galloping side by side.

After Song Zhishou finished telling Chu Huanjun everything that happened in the imperial study, he couldn't help but pull the reins hard, causing the horse to let out a shrill scream.

Chu Huanjun snorted coldly and said with a wry smile, "Zuo Tang played the 'sacrifice of relatives for the sake of justice' very well. I'm afraid he almost believed himself."

Song Zhishou sighed deeply, his face filled with shame, and suddenly said, "It's just exile to the border... Fortunately, he has a good brother like Zuo Tang. Zuo Di is really 'lucky and lucky'."

Chu Huanjun threw a gravel at him, warning him to be careful with his words outside the imperial city. He then asked in a low voice, "Did Zuo Tang say anything else?"

Song Zhishou shook his head and said nothing more.

Chu Huanjun recalled the brief meeting with Zhining that day when he was traveling to the south of the Yangtze River, and a vague answer came to his mind.

This Zhining actually dared to play tricks under his nose.

This time, Chu Huanjun wanted to take advantage of the Zhou Yan case to catch the tortoise in the jar, and at the same time destroy Zuo Di, severely hit Zuo Tang's power in the court. However, he never expected that Zuo Tang's act of sacrificing his own relatives for the sake of justice got him there first. Not only did he fail to destroy Zuo Tang's prestige, but it also boosted Zuo Tang's power.

Fortunately, Zuo Tang did not kill him and was willing to expose the crimes of his own brothers. The words of his accusation were consistent with what Song Zhishou said. The emperor, in consideration of their sincerity in working together to solve the case, exempted Song Zhishou from the charge of submitting false evidence.

If Zuo Tang chose to protect Zuo Di, as expected, Song Zhishou would become the scapegoat.

Chu Huanjun was secretly complaining, but he couldn't help but tighten the reins. The horse under him was startled and let out another sharp neigh.

Song Zhishou couldn't help but advise, "Your Highness, if you continue like this, the horse will suffocate and die on the way before we even leave the palace."

As soon as he finished speaking, he couldn't help but think that he was just like the horse, who almost died unjustly because he allowed himself to be ridden by others. He couldn't help but feel terrified and fell silent.

At the end of the corridor, the two guards at the city gate saw the two of them and hurried forward to greet them.

Chu Huanjun took out two ingots of broken gold from his bosom and threw one to each of them. He ordered in a deep voice, "Lord Song and I will be leaving this gate together today. Do not let anyone know."

Outside the city, Shi Lanxin was still standing in front of the carriage, staring blankly at the closed city gate in front of her.

She grew tired of waiting and took out her anger by beating the servants. She beat the servants and maids until they lay on the ground with bruised faces and noses, crying out in pain.

In order to avoid suspicion, Chu Huanjun and Song Zhishou went their separate ways after leaving the palace and returned to their respective homes.

Chu Huanjun had taken a side road, so he wouldn't have run into Shi Lanxin, who was waiting patiently on the main road in front of the palace's main gate. However, Shi Lanxin dispatched two grooms to search the streets for Chu Huanjun. As soon as they saw him, they rushed forward recklessly, each holding onto one of the horse's front hooves.

Chu Huanjun was afraid that someone would be killed, so he quickly tightened the reins.

Poor good horse, it let out another long and high-pitched neigh, this time it seemed even more tragic and miserable.

The two grooms raised their faces, which had been beaten by their young lady and had their eyes squinting and teeth broken. Seeing Chu Huanjun was like seeing a life-saving straw, and they cried out with tears streaming down their faces: "Your Highness Prince Yi, please, please see our young lady."

Chu Huanjun was already disturbed by Zuo Di's affairs, and now two desperate people came out for no reason to stop his horse. He was so furious.

But who in the world doesn't say that His Royal Highness Prince Yi is humble, courteous, gentle, and kind? It's said that he has the heart of a bodhisattva, so compassionate that even a passing ant wouldn't dare tread on him.

The two grooms really believed that these rumors were true, and they were sure that Chu Huanjun would be soft-hearted.

So, when Chu Huanjun's cold voice sounded from above their heads, they had no idea what would happen next.

"Whose lady is this? She's so annoying."

Although his voice was cold, the smile on his face was bright and warm, and anyone who saw it would be intoxicated.

The grooms have been pulling carts for half their lives and have only ever dealt with horses. They only know that horses will cry when they are thirsty and kick their hooves when they are hungry. How could they have known that the sign of His Royal Highness Prince Yi's anger would be a gentle smile like a spring breeze?

So, the two grooms quickly introduced themselves: "Your Highness Prince Yi, we just met at the palace gate. We are the coachmen of General Shi's family. Our eldest daughter asked us to come and see you..."

"Oh."

Chu Huanjun put away his smile and responded expressionlessly.

"Well, since your young lady wants to see me so much, then I have no choice but to obey your order..."

Chu Huanjun jumped off the horse, raised his two big hands, and slapped the shoulders of the two grooms with force.

He curled up the corners of his mouth, and on his face, which was as pure and kind as a Bodhisattva, an evil smile like a demon appeared.

"Then I'll trouble you two to lead the way."