Chapter 65: Court Dispute

According to the rules set by the emperor, at 2:45 on April 20th, Prince Yu, who was appointed as regent, led important officials from the six ministries of the cabinet into the palace to meet the emperor, report on the military and national affairs since the shocking incident in Xiyuan, and listen to the emperor's teachings in person.

Perhaps it was the decades of practicing Taoism that allowed Lao Deng to develop some extraordinary magical powers. Even though he was buried in the dirt and roasted in fire for dozens of days and was furious with the prince, under the meticulous care of the imperial physician, the extremely tenacious Lao Deng actually gradually recovered. Although he still could not speak or write, he was able to turn over and sit up on his own, and with the help of a young eunuch, he could barely get out of bed and walk a few steps.

This was certainly a remarkable progress. Seeing that there was hope for recovery, and there was also news about Li Shizhen, the emperor was naturally very pleased. When he met with him today, he did not even make things too difficult for his resentful son. After listening to a few words, he just hummed, and then Li Zaifang came out to use the seal. He also awarded additional gifts to express his appreciation for the new cabinet's way of governing. Anyway, these past ten days were like walking on thin ice, but I finally got through it smoothly.

After reporting on a few trivial matters, today's audience finally came to the main part. Commander Lu, who was ordered to take charge of the Yin Wang rebellion case, stepped forward and respectfully reported the results of several recent interrogations. Probably because the case of rebellion was too simple and stupid, the result of the interrogation was nothing new. The repeated reports were actually just an attempt to find out the emperor's trump card - how should the royal family members involved in the major case be sentenced?

Prince Yu had to uphold the principles of respecting one's elders and relatives as a member of the royal family, so of course it was not appropriate for him to ask about such a bizarre thing as killing one's uncles and uncles and chopping up one's own household registration booklet. So he basically just shook his head and said he knew nothing when asked, and was just a tool in the interrogation throughout the process. The Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, the Censorate and other departments took on this hot potato, racked their brains and mobilized all their political wisdom, intending to convict according to the standards of the Ning Wang rebellion case during the reign of Emperor Wuzong.

"The three judicial officials mean to demote all the royal family members involved in the case to commoners, and remove their names from the imperial genealogy; the mastermind will be beheaded, and the coerced ones will be forever imprisoned in Fengyang, and their descendants will be guarded by the local authorities." Lu Wenfu said with his hands down: "This is a judgment made in accordance with the precedents of past dynasties. However, I dare not interfere in the affairs of the royal family, and can only pray for your majesty's holy judgment."

The so-called "holy judgment" is nothing more than the emperor exercising a little discretion to increase or reduce the crime. Of course, the supreme ruler must always be merciless, not to mention that the people being punished are relatives of the same clan, so when such words are spoken, there has always been leniency and no heavier punishment. Therefore, the officials of the Ministry of Justice followed the convention and actually left the emperor enough room to reduce the sentence.

But today... Today, Old Deng, who was lying on the bed, had a changing expression on his face, but he didn't say a word.

...As for why he didn't say anything, just looking at the emperor's buttocks which couldn't even implant in the bed, everyone would have some clues. It can only be said that the level of the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple was still a little low. It is estimated that they did not inquire about the latest situation in the palace before making the judgment, and even came up with such a trial result that did not take the overall situation and politics into consideration, which naturally made the sick emperor extremely angry.

When Master Feixuan was able to run and jump, he was already one of the best hermaphroditic old immortals in this dynasty. Now that he has been lying in bed for so long, his mentality is distorted and his emotions are probably no longer able to be satisfied by normal punishment. But as an emperor, he had to have some dignity after all. He couldn't just order his relatives to be hacked into pieces to vent his anger. So only Li Zaifang stepped forward and took the initiative to ask:

"Commander Lu said there was a principal culprit and an accomplice. I wonder who the principal culprit is?"

Lu Wenfu bowed his head and said, "According to the confessions we have made, among all the rebels, the rebel Yin Zhu Dianyu and the general Zhu Chongzhuo should be the leaders."

Hearing this, the Prince of Mu, who had lowered his brows and looked submissive, couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth. He had personally participated in the court meeting a long time ago, so he certainly knew the tricks of this list of main culprits. After Can Yunzi died in prison, the only person the emperor could vent his anger on was Prince Yin Zhu Dianqun, for whom even slow slicing to death would not be an exaggeration. However, in such a huge case, simply arresting a prince who came to Beijing as the mastermind seemed too thin and could not reflect the court's determination to severely punish him. So several important officials in charge hit their foreheads and simply added Zhu Chongzhuo, who had a close relationship with Prince Yin, to the list.

Of course, if you want to say whether Zhu Chongzhuo actually rebelled, we can only say yes. Zhu Chongzhuo himself was indeed very keen on joining Prince Yin's rebellious circle, and he always liked to make some outrageous and outrageous remarks; he even secretly robbed government supplies and obtained intelligence on the garrison, as if he was really planning a rebellion.

But to say that he really did something extraordinary... Judging from the current interrogation results, Zhu Chongzhuo's only actual act of treason was to send someone to deliver a letter to the northern desert, agreeing to work with the Mongolian prince to attack from both inside and outside to restore the Yuan Dynasty, and he was willing to be the Mongols' guide. As for why the Mongols needed a useless guy like him who had nothing to eat and could do nothing to lead the way, that was not within the scope of consideration.

...How should I put it? After this extremely abstract confession was brought out, even the cabinet was speechless. All the important ministers are well-informed, but even if they think about it for ten days and ten nights, they probably cannot figure out how such a person could dare to rebel?

——Who gave him the courage?

However, no matter how abstract a traitor is, he is still a traitor, and no matter how funny a traitor is, he is still a traitor. Since you and Emperor Jiaomen are so close, then go to the underground and talk to Baozong. So, although the actual threat was zero, the cabinet still unanimously agreed to put this person on the list of main culprits and kill him directly.

However, this list did not seem to satisfy Master Feixuan. The emperor just said "hmm". Li Zaifang immediately spoke out:

"After such a long time, the Imperial Prison has only found these few?"

This is going to be an expansion! Lu Wenfu shuddered slightly, quickly reviewed the list in his mind, and bowed again:

"In addition, General Zhu Qilin seems to be the mastermind as well."

The reason why it was only "seemingly" was purely because even the experts in the Ministry of Justice could not find any conclusive charges. Judging from the current evidence, Zhu Qilin had only exchanged a few treasonous drunken words with Prince Yin, and stole a copy of "The Mortal Cultivation of Immortality" from the Prince of Duke Mu while attending a banquet. Based on this little bit of physical evidence alone, it seems - probably - not convincing enough to label him as the leader of the anti-bandit group.

But who made His Majesty the Emperor unhappy? Since His Majesty the Emperor is unhappy, it doesn't matter if he chop off two more heads. Everyone just shut up.

But Feixuan Zhenjun Wanshou Emperor still glared at his subjects coldly and remained silent. After all, he is the emperor who has been on the throne for decades. His majesty can command everyone. If he was not lying on the bed with his butt raised high, this look would actually be very intimidating.

Li Zaifang coughed:

“…That’s all?”

Even someone as steady as Lu Wenfu was stunned for a moment. He racked his brains and thought for a moment, and finally came up with two more heads for the emperor to vent his anger on:

"There are also Zhu Qijian, the auxiliary general, and Zhu Fengqi, the commander, who are both involved in the treasonous plot."

One prince, three generals, one captain, plus the deceased Can Yunzi, a powerful combination of six and six, this number should allow the emperor to kill to his heart's content. After all, times have changed and worldly affairs have shifted. Now is definitely not the era of Gaozu and Taizong after the chaos when human lives were worthless. Both social customs and past practices would never support the emperor to kill people indiscriminately - let alone kill members of the royal family! The fact that they were able to free up five heads in one go was a testament to the bravery and responsibility of the cabinet and the three judicial officials, who had fully taken into account the emperor's special state of mind. After all, the "Hubei rabbits" were something that ordinary people could not tolerate.

Lu Wenfu held his breath and lowered his head, waiting for the emperor's instructions. As a minister, the pressure of drawing up a death list for the royal family was too great and too intense. Even though Lu Wenfu had already made the decision, he couldn't help but have vague fantasies in his mind at this moment. He really hoped that the emperor would follow the old practice and suddenly speak out to stop it, so as to at least save his life.

Unfortunately, he was disappointed. After waiting for a while, the emperor still didn't speak!

Well, now all preparations are useless and all fantasies have to be shattered. Li Zaifang could only speak again, her voice trembling:

"Is there anything else..."

Before he could finish his words, Eunuch Li's throat was blocked and he couldn't say any more!

——It really can’t be blamed on Eunuch Li being timid and weak and not daring to take responsibility, but the matter is too big and he really can’t handle it anymore. You know, two hundred years after the founding of Da'an, the last emperor to massacre members of the royal family was Emperor Jianwen!

Of course, the current vassal states are a mess and they definitely don’t have the ability to quell the rebellion like Emperor Taizong did. However, the reputation of massacring the royal family was too great and too bad, and every detail was contrary to the ancestral teachings of Emperor Gaozu. Now they are forced to obey because Master Feixuan is furious. If the emperor gets angry in the future, will they be pushed out to take the blame?

Judging from Zhenjun's usual character, this is extremely possible!

The palace was silent for a while. All the ministers held their breath and stood in silence, watching the situation, not daring to show any sign of abnormality, for fear that Lao Deng would use him as a tool to shift the blame. But it was not a good idea to remain in this state. After a moment of silence, Elder Yan suddenly spoke:

"It is indeed difficult to convince the public that such a large-scale rebellion was instigated by only a few princes and generals from other places. In my opinion, and in the opinion of the cabinet, the Ministry of Justice should conduct a detailed investigation to ensure that nothing goes wrong."

As soon as these words came out, the remaining people in the palace immediately changed their expressions, and at the same time, they cursed this shameless and flattering old minister in their hearts!

What is “difficult to convince”? This is clearly an attempt to throw a few more heads into the rebellion! I never expected that even Li Zaifang couldn't lick the groove, but you, Yan, could lick it so happily!

When you see something wrong with the emperor, you should flatter him! How come the court got the turn of such an old man to be the Prime Minister? It is truly the destiny of the country, the destiny of the country!

Of course, it would be fine if it was just licking, after all, everyone in the cabinet licks, and Lord Yan was just licking a little bit extra today. But apart from his disregard for human life, this person mentioned "detailed investigation by the Ministry of Justice" in a sarcastic tone, which clearly showed that he had sinister intentions and wanted to shift the blame. If anything is really discovered by then, the Ministry of Justice will be held responsible for being unkind to the royal family and instigating the emperor to be mean and ungrateful, while the benefits of pleasing the emperor will be taken by Yan Fenyi alone. Killing two birds with one stone by attacking and destroying at the same time is indeed a despicable and vicious method.

Unfortunately, no matter how angry his colleagues looked, Lord Yan remained calm and composed. Of course he knew what his old friends were resentful about. He also knew that since he had climbed to the position of the head of all ministers, he should serve the emperor and all officials below. He should balance the court affairs and should not be such a shameless and fawning minister. To put it even more, when Yan Ge Lao became the Prime Minister, he actually thought about restraining himself a little and not continuing to lick his boots without any bottom line...

However, this thought of reforming himself only lasted for a moment; after the prince of Duke Mu came from behind and was able to climb over him, the Prime Minister, and abuse his power, Lord Yan's mind suddenly changed!

——If I can’t even subdue a brat like this, what’s the point of being the Prime Minister!

——If even my son is taken away, won’t I be left alone? !

It must never be tolerated, never accepted, and never compromised. After much deliberation, Lord Yan decided to try to get the skin of the tiger once again. He must use the undeserved favor gained by flattering Master Feixuan and Emperor Wanshou to overwhelm this kid in one fell swoop.

Having made this ruthless decision, Lord Yan must of course make full preparations to ensure that everything is safe. He had already asked the eunuchs he was familiar with about Master Fei Xuan's true intentions, so he was able to say the right words at the right time. The emperor's wrath caused the death of millions. No one dared to criticize him at this time, and no one dared to refute the orders of Lord Yan. The fox borrows the power of the tiger to make the final decision, this is the great power of the Prime Minister!

Sure enough, no matter how dissatisfied they were, the important ministers remained silent and remained absolutely docile in front of the sinister Master Feixuan. Even the Prince of Duke Mu...even the Prince of Duke Mu, who was always crazy and weird, now just stood there quietly without saying a word.

What? Does Dian Gong also know how to be afraid?

Unfortunately, Lord Yan’s methods are certainly not limited to this. The top expert who had been adept at handling affairs of state for decades slowly shifted his gaze and spoke coldly:

"Come to think of it, the Crown Prince seems to have been in charge of this case as well, and even extracted testimony from the traitor Can Yunzi... I wonder what the Crown Prince thinks?"

Any insights? If one dared to answer "no", the emperor would immediately become furious and no one would be able to withstand it; if one answered "yes", it would mean that one was obeying the orders of the chief minister of the cabinet and his senior in the court. The difference in power would be clear at a glance, and one could wipe out the humiliation of being usurped in the past and at the same time drag others into the muddy water and force them to share the big blame.

When it comes to being sinister, scheming, and being so disgusting that it kills people, who else in the world can compete with Lord Yan, except Lord Xu who is now as quiet as a chicken?

Sure enough, the prince looked at Elder Yan deeply, and could only nod his head in acknowledgment:

"I agree with everything the Lord said."

After Pingping said this, the prince took a step back, closed his lips tightly and said no more.

Just as the past facts revealed to Chan Yunzi in the imperial prison, this kind of high-treason case has always been about characterization, not facts; even if every effort is made to shift the focus of the case from the common people to the princes and vassals, it is ultimately just a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils - perhaps after weighing the pros and cons, the best choice has been made, but the necessary harm cannot be avoided at all. Punishing the common people will inevitably affect the innocent and implicate millions; but isn’t cleaning up the royal family also a deep and unfathomable murky water in the government? But the water was so stormy and the waves so high that Mu Qi found it difficult to even resist!

——Of course, if one could have protected himself in advance and stood by and watched, even if one could have just avoided the imperial prison and not tried the imperial case, it would not have been difficult to keep oneself out of trouble; at worst, one could have used the excuse of being young and ignorant and forced himself to lie down. But now that he is involved with Can Yunzi, he can't avoid it even if he wants to.

Thinking it through is one thing, being able to understand it is another. Even though Lord Yan was standing high above, he could still feel a faint resentment behind him. It was precisely the feeling of this resentment that made Yan Ge Lao feel refreshed and unable to stop, and a surge of vitality emerged from the bottom of his heart!

I told you not to bully the seniors all day long!

I told you not to hook up with my big son!

No matter how crazy you are, you have to eat a basin of foot washing water from me today!

So Lord Yan smiled and continued smoothly, his tone faintly revealing a lightheartedness:

"Since the Crown Prince agrees, then from the perspective of this old minister and the Crown Prince, we should still supervise the three judicial departments and send a clear imperial edict to Henan, asking them to respect the court's efforts and make the case an ironclad one. Not a single traitor should get away. This is the most important thing in this matter."

——Here it comes, here it comes, this trick of misattributing something and calling a horse a zebra again. When did the prince express his own views? But this old Deng forced the bond in a light sentence, as if the two of them were really familiar with each other and had a secret relationship. He quietly and lightly stated it and pinned his opinion on others. But there was no trace of it in his words, as if it was really said casually, which made the victims feel very uncomfortable and had no way to explain it. Since Lord Yan came to power, he has used this set of tactics to perfection, and I don't know how many people have been trapped so that they can't say anything. It has really effectively increased the degree of mental consumption in the court.

Now the old tricks are used again with perfection and the effect is still the same as before. At least the prince is still as obedient and quiet as a quail, silently enduring Lao Deng's invisible workplace bullying. At this time, all the ministers were helpless, and of course no one dared to uphold integrity and speak a fair word in a righteous and stern manner.

But in the silence, the emperor, who had been lying there for half a day, suddenly reached out his hand and knocked on the bed a few times.

Apparently, during the dozen days when the emperor was recuperating from his illness, Li Zaifang and Huang Shanggang worked hard and developed a more useful and concise code system. The emperor no longer had to type until his fingers twitched and foamed at the mouth, as the eunuchs could quickly translate the divine meaning in the code.

Eunuch Li was slightly startled, then he immediately reacted and turned to look behind everyone:

"May I ask, Your Highness, is what Lord Yan said true?"

Mr. Yan:?

Yan Fenyi was caught off guard and his breathing stopped for a moment!

His evil trick of fabricating facts and forcibly binding people has always been effective, because it relies on being unexpected and difficult to refute. Outsiders are clueless about the facts, and the parties involved’ own explanations will appear to be petty and disregarding the overall situation, unless someone of higher level comes out to point out the truth and forcibly interrupt the explanation. You can see that Master Feixuan and Emperor Wanshou are mean and ungrateful. Even if you can see through the insidious and private calculations of the Prime Minister and the important ministers, why should you waste your energy thinking about outsiders? Therefore, his wrist was always quite safe, unless, unless...

——Unless the emperor’s favor towards this person far exceeds Lord Yan’s expectations, and is even enough to make the emperor break convention and take special care of it!

But this shouldn’t be the case!

Well, this Mu fellow did have the merit of saving the emperor, and his family background was also extraordinary; but there were more than one civil and military officials in the court who had the merit of saving the emperor. Didn’t Lu Wenfu, who was beside him, once rush into the fire and risked his life to save Master Feixuan? But the emperor later rewarded his brothers with high positions, generous salaries, power and status, but he was never considerate enough to take care of even such small matters!

The emperor is not some brain-dead domineering president. Why should he spend so much time and effort on a minister?

——But now, now, something that theoretically should never happen has actually happened. An exception that has never happened in decades of politics has actually happened. The surprise and horror that Lord Yan felt at that moment were truly indescribable. He quickly realized that he might have greatly underestimated the weight of the Prince of Mu in the emperor's heart!

Although no one knows where this amount comes from, as long as the emperor is willing to rescue the people, all of Lord Yan’s plans will collapse in an instant. At this extremely tense moment, he had to use his brain and think quickly about how to get out of this rare Waterloo in his career. At present, it seemed that he had no choice but to pretend to be confused and admit defeat. After Mu Qi denied it, he would immediately use the excuse of old age and deafness to shirk responsibility. At worst, he could just say that he had heard it wrong.

"In reply to your Majesty," the prince bowed respectfully, "Every word that Lord Yan said is true. I have indeed discussed this with him, and I do agree with your opinion."

He looked up and saw Yan Fenyi's astonished old face. He obviously didn't expect that he would change his confession at the last minute. He even completed his sinister lie and took the initiative to get involved in the muddy water of the royal family.

Unexpected, isn't it, Lao Deng?

The prince raised the corners of his mouth and showed a gentle smile to the surprised Elder Yan, which made Elder Yan feel horrified and he almost instinctively felt that something was wrong!

"I have discussed this case with Lord Yan earlier and listened to his teachings." He said sincerely, "Lord Yan told me personally that he read the files of the rebellion and felt worried and couldn't help himself. Since the Anhua Rebellion in the early years of Emperor Wuzong, the royal family and vassal states have rebelled three times in the past sixty years. Each time, the whole country was in chaos and it almost threatened the emperor's body! One or two rebellions can be attributed to accidents, but repeated rebellions, should we turn a blind eye and deal with them hastily? The Lord Yan said that we should have used heavy hands to rectify the situation, but he was worried that he was not strong enough, so he could only use some conservative means to deal with it..."

Lord Yan, who listened to the entire process without missing a word, said:? ! ! !

As an old villain who has been in the court for decades, he finally experienced the pain of being called a horse a zebra - when did I ever say these words? !

And - and it would be fine if you made up something else, but what do you mean by "conservative means"? ! My words and deeds are full of ironclad facts. It's obvious that I'm going to take major action and would rather kill someone innocently than let him go. And you still accuse me of being "conservative"?

Are you fucking too extreme? !

Lord Yan was devastated, Lord Yan was frantic, and Lord Yan was terrified - to be honest, having previously advised the Emperor to make a big case, he had already run the huge risk of being purged and counterattacked afterwards; it was just that the Lord was skilled and bold, and had set up many lines of defense in advance, so he was confident that he could throw this huge pot at any time. But now that the prince has intervened, even with Yan Fenyi's skills, he really doesn't have the ability to deal with it!

Damn it, if you want to die, don’t drag me into it!

Unfortunately, the previous moves had blocked his room for maneuver. No matter how many curse words ran through Yan Ge Lao's mind, he had no way to refute a single word at this moment. He could only stare and look around helplessly. But just like countless ministers who have been framed now, the emperor didn't even look at him.

——Although they are all favored ministers, there is still a huge difference in favor.

Master Feixuan pondered for a moment, then played out another long section.

Li Zaifang quickly translated it: "Since you say the current method is too conservative, what was your original plan?"

Mu Qi bowed his head respectfully: "To cure the disease, we must treat the root cause. Killing two people alone will not help. The elder and I still want to change the system."

Master Feixuan raised his eyebrows and knocked a few more times.

Li Zaifang said: "Someone has already said these words of yours."

"Yes. Previously, Grand Secretaries Zhang Cong and Xia Yan had both discussed this. Lord Yan told me everything." The prince was humble and docile, but every word he said was still based on Lord Yan's instructions: "But have all these measures really worked? So Lord Yan meant that if we want to make changes, we have to make drastic changes, to the root, and change the world in one fell swoop..."

Before he could finish his words, he heard a clang. It turned out that Lord Yan's legs went weak and he leaned to the side unconsciously, and actually knocked over the teacup on the small table next to him.

The prince turned around and looked at the minister with a strange expression in surprise:

"What happened, Lord?"

Yan Fenyi's throat gurgled and he was speechless for a while.