Time Travel: The Useless Prince, First Destroy the Princess

Five days passed in a flash, and Sima Yu had moved to Jinyuan City.

Liu Zhao was quite quiet. He just stayed in the study, eating, reciting scriptures and sleeping.

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Liu Yan and his ministers offered sacrifices to heaven at Lingyun Terrace, and Liu Zhao of course participated.

Also participating were the kings of the fiefdoms and officials of the third rank and above in Luojing.

Of course, the procedures have been established long ago, and you just need to follow the process of the priest.

It was just that Liu Yan was worried that his son would make a fool of himself, so he specifically told Liu Zhao not to speak.

This was exactly what Liu Zhao wanted. He remained silent during the sacrificial process, and the ministers naturally had no chance, or were not in the mood, to talk to him.

After the sacrifice, they returned to the Linde Hall. According to custom, a banquet was held after the sacrifice.

In line with the principle of economy, the dishes were not rich. Each person had one meat dish, two vegetable dishes and a soup, and there was not even any wine.

Liu Fu was old and did not participate in the heaven sacrifice.

The kings sat on the left side of the banquet hall.

Sitting at the chief seats were Liu Xuan, King of Jingnan, and Liu Shuo, King of Zhenbei.

Next in order were the King of Song and Liu Yan's brothers and kings.

On the right side of the banquet were other ministers, chief among whom were Grand Tutor He Zhi and Ma Bei of Qi State.

The other ministers took their seats in order according to their ranks.

Liu Yan pulled Liu Zhao to sit in the center of the upper seat. As soon as they sat down, the Chief Censor Yu Taiqing stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to report!"

Liu Yan didn't look at him, but said coldly: "Today is not a court meeting, let's discuss it at the court meeting!"

"Your Majesty, this matter is extremely urgent and cannot wait until the court meeting. Please allow me to make this report!"

"Since you're in such a hurry, then go ahead and tell me! But I'm very hungry, so I'll eat something first. In case you say something unpleasant, I won't be able to eat later!" Liu Yan picked up the chopsticks, picked up the bowl and started eating.

Everyone looked at Yu Taiqing. We are having dinner, what are you talking about?

However, the position of Chief Censor was originally responsible for supervising all officials, so some people naturally felt dissatisfied.

But they were indeed very hungry. Seeing the emperor pick up his chopsticks, most people started eating too.

Liu Zhao was very curious. If the Chief Censor insisted on talking about something, it must be a big deal.

"Your Majesty, the Prince of Hejian is in the capital to offer sacrifices to heaven. Crown Prince Liu Xian has raped decent women in Kyoto and murdered Patrol Censor Chao Tong!"

"Is there such a thing?" Liu Yan frowned and put down his chopsticks. "King of Hejian, do you know?"

The Prince of Hejian, who was in his fifties, slowly stepped forward, his chubby body swaying. He bowed and said, "Your Majesty, there is no such thing!"

"Isn't this true?" Liu Yan looked at Yu Taiqing again.

"The Prince of Hejian may not know, but there is solid evidence that the Crown Prince raped a commoner girl. I have already investigated it thoroughly!" Yu Taiqing stared at the Prince of Hejian with his eyes wide open.

"Master Chief Censor, you have impeached hundreds of officials and cleared them of injustice. My son, Liu Xian, although he came to Luojing with me, he did not stay long and returned to Hejian last night. Master Yu, you have framed my son. What is your intention?"

"Prince of Hejian, Yu has not made any false accusations. The facts are solid!"

Liu Yan shook his head and said, "Yu Taiqing, you step back first!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Yu Taiqing returned to his seat helplessly.

Liu Zhao didn't understand. The Chief Censor seemed to be in charge of supervising all officials. Even if he wanted to sue Prince Hejian, he had to have evidence!

Just say a few words and leave it at that?

Doesn’t that mean I didn’t say anything?

It's really baffling.

"Xu Zhi, do you know about this?" Liu Yan frowned and asked the Inspector of the Capital.

The Inspector of the Capital Region was not only the highest administrative officer of Sizhou, but was also responsible for monitoring the behavior of all officials, so Liu Yan asked this question.

This was also Liu Yan's way of balancing his ministers and supervising all officials by letting both the Chief Censor and the Inspector of the Imperial Guards do the job.

Only by checking and balancing each other can the emperor hold great power.

"I don't know!" Xu Zhi stepped out and answered.

"Master Xu, as the Commandant of the Sili Army, this incident happened right here in Sizhou City. How could you not know about it?"

Yu Taiqing stood up again and said.

"Sir Yu, I have been appointed the Inspector of the Sili Prefecture by the Emperor's grace, but I am not a master of many powers. The Sizhou Prefecture governs a hundred miles. How can I possibly know every detail?"

"You!" Yu Taiqing was very angry, but he couldn't refute it.

"Xu Zhi, please step back!" Liu Yan said coldly.

"Your Majesty! I have something else to report!" Yu Taiqing stood up again.

"Okay, Yu Taiqing, there's no evidence, what else do you want to say?"

Liu Yan was a little angry and put down the chopsticks he had just picked up.

"Your Majesty, the Hejian prince had been apprehended by the patrolling censors and was to be sent to the Zongzheng Mansion after the sacrifice, but he was kidnapped midway!"

"Robbed on the way? Could it be that the patrolling censor went alone?" Liu Yan asked in a deep voice.

"Chao Tong only brought ten people, while the other side had a large number of people, more than a hundred, and they were very fierce. Chao Tong could not resist!" Yu Taiqing said word by word.

"What about Chao Tong?"

Liu Yan's expression changed slightly.

"Chao Tong was beaten to death by the prince's guards! The rest of the men managed to escape, but they were all seriously injured and are still receiving treatment!"

"What? Chao Tong was beaten to death?" Liu Yan raised his voice.

Liu Zhao just listened, with a look of shock on his face.

Listening to Yu Taiqing's confident words, it can't be false!

But why does Prince Hejian look so calm and composed, as if he doesn't care at all?

By the way, he said that the prince has returned to Hejian, so it is obvious that he cannot be caught!

If we can't catch anyone, then it's okay!

Just say you don’t know!

"What about the commoner girl you mentioned?"

"He was also killed by the Prince of Hejian!" Yu Taiqing's face was already dark, and it became even darker now.

Liu Yan snorted and talked for a long time, but it was as if he had said nothing.

"Your Excellency, the patrolling censor was beaten to death, and the whereabouts of the others are unknown. How did you know this?"

One of the kings stood up and spoke.

Liu Zhao didn't know who this person was, but he was sure that he was also a king.

"Lord Shanyin, the sky is clear and bright. There are hundreds of onlookers, not to mention ten injured constables. It has been ten hours since the incident. I can naturally investigate thoroughly!"

Yu Taiqing said coldly.

"Everyone says that the Chief Censor is the most capable minister of our Jing Dynasty, so why not arrest the hundred people you mentioned and confront them together?" King Shanyin said with sarcasm.

"King Shanyin, the net of heaven is vast and nothing can escape it. If my guess is correct, these over a hundred people have been arrested by now. King Shanyin doesn't need to worry about it!"

"Haha, you are so arrogant!" King Shanyin's face changed and he looked at King Hejian.

"Although I speak in a big tone, my momentum is not as great as that of the King of Shanyin entering the capital!" Yu Taiqing raised his voice.

"Yu Taiqing, you are talking nonsense!" King Shanyin raised his voice.

"According to our dynasty's custom, when a king enters the capital, he is accompanied by no more than a hundred guards. This time, the King of Shanyin is accompanied by no less than ten thousand guards, all of them strong men. Isn't that a big enough display?"

"What? Ten thousand people with an entourage?"

As soon as Yu Taiqing said this, there was a lot of discussion in the hall.

Liu Zhao's heart sank. He was accompanied by tens of thousands of strong men.

Are they going to rebel?

Is this the main point that the Chief Censor wants to make?