Chapter 175

"It tastes really good. I'm not full, Xiaoqi, I'll go to your house to eat after the court session," the Sixth Prince touched his stomach, "and try the hand-pulled pancake by the way."

Qu Watanabe: "Of course, you are welcome anytime."

The bell rang, and it was time to go to court.

The officials went to line up at the small doors on both sides of the Meridian Gate, and a few of them also stood up to say goodbye.

"We should go now."

"Go ahead, go ahead."

Some officials passing by the stall saluted from a distance, while others did not notice and hurried past.

When almost everyone had gone in and the stall next door was about to close, Xi Zixing came. He was dressed in a formal official uniform and put a few copper coins into Qu Du's small basket for collecting money.

He stared deeply at the boy in the wheelchair.

"Stall owner, are you still going to do it?"

Qu Dubian was slightly stunned: "Xi Zixing? The bell has been ringing for a long time, it's too late for you to eat now."

Xi Zixing: "I've paid for it. I'll come and have dinner with you after the court session."

Qu Watanabe: "That's fine, I'll give you a luxury package then."

Seeing that there was no depressed look on his face, Xi Zixing smiled slightly, nodded at Ye Xiaoyuan, and hurried into the palace.

Ye Xiaoyuan: "It's also interesting. Master Xi went to the Ministry of Justice to serve as a secretary. The son served as an inspector for his father. I thought he would join the Ministry of Personnel."

Qu Duanbian thought for a moment and said, "Maybe it's a family tradition."

B12: "Your Highness, shall we wait here?"

Qu Watanabe: "Push the stall to sell somewhere else."

-

Court.

Emperor Chongzhao sat at the top with a gloomy expression.

The ministers below reported the matters that needed to be reported in the grand court meeting as usual, and everything seemed calm as usual.

No one took the initiative to bring up the issue of using paper money to seek redress.

Whoever speaks at this time is a fool. How can he bring up something without any evidence?

Until there was a sound of hurried footsteps outside, and a messenger eunuch came in, knelt down and shouted: "Your Majesty! The military equipment supervisor of the Zhennan Pass Armory is looking for an audience! I have something important to report!"

Emperor Chongzhao's heart skipped a beat, thinking that the battle at Zhennan Pass had started again, so he waved his hand and said, "Announce!"

The director of the Military Equipment Bureau was named Liu. He was in charge of the production, storage and custody of wartime weapons. He was a respectable official, but when he came in, he was dirty and even covered in blood, as if he had just escaped.

When Liu Jianzheng came in, he knelt down and cried, "I almost didn't get to see Your Majesty!"

Fang Taifu was incredulous and said, "You are an official appointed by the imperial court, how did you become like this?"

Emperor Chongzhao said in a deep voice: "Did something happen at Zhennan Pass?"

Liu Jianzheng said: "Everything is safe in Zhennan Pass. I looked like this because I was being chased while investigating a case. I just wanted to come back and expose the true face of the traitor, so I tried my best to escape back to the capital!"

The Second Prince: "Hunting?" He frowned and said, "To be more specific, the entire court, including the civil and military officials and His Majesty, are all here. No one dares to touch you."

"Yes," Liu Jianzheng said, "I found out that General Li Fanyun, who was stationed at Zhennan Pass, was actually reselling weapons during the war with Da Zhou and Nanning!"

"He secretly transported the rusty weapons from the Zhennan Pass armory, and after grinding off the rust and removing the imprint of the Great Zhou weapons on the swords, he disguised himself as a weapons dealer in Nanning and sold the Great Zhou weapons back to the Great Zhou, thus making a profit!"

The court officials were in an uproar.

"Are you serious?!"

"How dare you! You have no evidence at all and yet you talk nonsense in front of His Majesty in the court!" The Sixth Prince's party was furious.

Because Li Fanyun is the sixth prince's maternal cousin, he represents their military power in Zhennan Pass.

Liu Jianzheng's words seemed to be intended to directly undermine the Sixth Prince's foundation. How could they just sit there and watch?

"Your Majesty! This person is lying and slandering a good general. He deserves death!"

Liu Jianzheng: "I am not making up stories. I have evidence."

Trembling, he pulled out a long strip of brocade from his bosom. When he opened it, inside was the evidence he had collected, including the names, hometowns and confessions of the witnesses, the retreat route of the fake Nanning traffickers, and so on.

Eunuch Yu came down and presented the evidence.

The Sixth Prince's face had begun to turn pale.

Liu Jianzheng: "It is common for dealers in enemy countries to make a fortune. Officials like me who are in charge of wartime weapons are aware of this unspoken rule, but, but this is the first time I have seen someone do this..."

Emperor Chongzhao looked through the evidence and his expression became more and more unpleasant.

The Sixth Prince's brain was urgently online, and he said sternly: "Father, you slander my cousin based on this person's one-sided words? This matter has not been filed. As an external official, he met the emperor on the day of the grand court meeting, which is against the official system! The court is not a place for you to make noises!"

"Yes, and how can a military inspector who is in charge of weapons investigate a case? Even if there is something wrong, it should be reported to the Dali Temple for handling!"

The Second Prince: "Yes, if it is said that General Li sought personal gain from this, has the Supervisor found where the money General Li embezzled is? This is the ironclad evidence."

Liu Jianzheng: "This, this..."

He stuttered for a long time, and Emperor Chongzhao put down the evidence in his hand, "Just as the Second Prince said, have you found any concrete evidence?"

"If not, I can only put you in jail first. Don't worry, I won't make things difficult for you. I will just hand the case over to the Dali Temple for handling."

Liu Jianzheng said: "We haven't traced the hidden place of the stolen money. It seems, it seems that it is not in Zhennanguan..."

The Sixth Prince breathed a sigh of relief and became more confident: "How dare you say something in the court that you haven't verified!" He cupped his hands and said, "Father, my cousin has made great contributions to the Great Zhou and should not be framed by villains. Please look into it."

I have to go back and discuss with my mother and the fifth brother to see how to resolve this matter. A layer of cold sweat broke out on his palms. If this matter was exposed, my grandfather's family would definitely be punished by my father.

Why don’t my cousins ​​be more careful?

Emperor Chongzhao narrowed his eyes and said, "One-sided statements from one person are indeed unreliable. The case should be investigated by the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice to see the truth..."

"Father!"

The fifth prince suddenly stood up and said, "Your son has something to say."

Hearing him speak, the Sixth Prince subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. After all, the Fifth Prince had helped him a lot over the years, and he had developed a habit of looking for his fifth brother whenever he had problems.

Now that the fifth prince has stepped forward, he doesn't have to worry about anything else.

Emperor Chongzhao paused, "What else do you have to say?"

The fifth prince raised his head and looked at the sixth prince, who was pouting, just as he was bossy when he was a child.

He lowered his eyes, lifted up his skirt, knelt down and said in regret: "I know where the dirty silver that Liu Jianzheng didn't find is."

The second prince's lips curled up slightly.

The good show he had been looking forward to for many years finally began.

At this time, before the Sixth Prince's party could react, the Fifth Prince had already quickly pulled out a letter from his arms and said in a deep voice: "Li Fanyun and the Li family resold weapons during the war between Great Zhou and Nanning, and all the money they earned from their own country went to the capital and into the Sixth Prince's mansion!"

"The letter in my hand is the proof of contact between the Li family and Concubine Lan at that time. It also has the Sixth Prince's personal seal on it. It cannot be faked!"

From the moment the Fifth Prince said the second sentence, the Sixth Prince's party was completely confused.

The Sixth Prince's mind went blank.

He stood stiffly in the court, feeling the cold air rushing into his body from all directions through the soles of his feet.

Then he began to tremble all over, his face flushed, and he pointed at the Fifth Prince: "Qu Du Shen! Qu Du Shen!! What nonsense are you talking about?!"

The Sixth Prince kicked the Fifth Prince to the ground, "You bastard!!"

The fifth prince held the letter tightly and coughed twice.

Emperor Chongzhao said angrily: "Pull them apart!"

The guards immediately separated the fifth prince and the sixth prince.

The fifth prince knelt down again and said, "Father will know whether what I said is true or not at a glance."

The letter was presented to him. Emperor Chongzhao read it from beginning to end, slammed the table, and looked at the Sixth Prince: "Do you have anything else to say?!"

The Sixth Prince: "Your son..."

Emperor Chongzhao: "Old Fifth, you and Little Six have a very good relationship, so why did you hand over this letter today? Moreover, if you knew about this earlier, why didn't you tell me about it at the beginning? Why wait until now!"

"I regret it," the fifth prince said in agony, "I didn't expect that my sixth brother and Concubine Lan would do such a thing. I didn't expose them because of the brotherly love. But afterwards, every time I think of the fact that I didn't stop my sixth brother, I feel ashamed of my ancestors... I can't sleep at night."

"I originally thought of letting it go, but when I saw Liu Jianzheng risking his life to deliver the evidence of the Li family's crimes, I was deeply shocked and submitted the letter."

Everyone knew that he was acting, and his acting was very fake. After all, if he really didn't want to say it, who would carry the letter with him?

But many times, acting is just a poor excuse to keep the show on stage going.

The Fifth Prince: "In the accounts of the Sixth Prince's Mansion's expenditures, many details are clearly traceable. Most of the hundreds of thousands of taels of silver that were resold from Zhennan Pass were used to bribe officials and sell official positions and titles. Everything I say is true, and I am willing to guarantee it with my life."

Master Fang said solemnly, "Fifth Prince, if what the Sixth Prince did is true, you are also suspected of shielding and condoning him."

The fifth prince kowtowed to Emperor Chongzhao and said, "I understand. But as long as my conscience can rest in peace, I am willing to accept the blame."

He turned his head and looked at the Sixth Prince whose hands and feet were stiff and cold. His dark pupils were dark and dark, but his tone was compassionate and sad. He slowly uttered:

"I just hope that Sixth Brother will turn back and never give up."

The noise in the court was like that in a vegetable market.

When the Sixth Prince's gaze met the Fifth Prince's eyes, he felt as if a cold, dormant scorpion was slowly piercing its poisonous tail hook into his flesh.

Emperor Chongzhao looked at the chaotic scene of quarreling below, took a deep breath, and said coldly: "The case will be handed over to the Dali Temple and the East Factory for review, and the relevant people will be temporarily imprisoned."

Zuo Tianlang hesitated and asked, "Two princes...?"

The Minister of Revenue was filled with righteous indignation and said, "Before the suspicion of treason, the princes are equal to the common people."

The miserly old man was a little stressed. No one knew better than him how difficult the treasury of the Great Zhou was at that time. He fiddled with the abacus and haggled over every penny. It took the entire country's strength for the Great Zhou to win the battle between the two countries.

Now you say that there were people who made money from the national disaster?

Bah!

Emperor Chongzhao: "The Fifth Prince is under house arrest, the Sixth Prince and all those related to him are imprisoned and awaiting investigation!"

At the critical moment when the two countries were at war, reselling weapons to earn gold and silver from the already difficult Great Zhou would be impossible without severe punishment, and there would be no explanation to the soldiers of Zhennan Pass.

Someone pleaded for mercy, and Emperor Chongzhao said: "All those who plead for mercy will be imprisoned."

There was an instant silence in the court.

At this time, who dares to speak?

Emperor Chongzhao pinched his forehead, and the veins on his forehead throbbed. "If there is nothing else, then--"

A calm voice came from behind the civil and military officials, and a young official in blue bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to report."

"……explain."

The young official in blue stepped forward and bowed, "Your Majesty."

It was Xi Zixing.

Emperor Chongzhao looked at him for a moment and said, "I remember you."

He glanced at the Minister of Justice Xi Shiqiu, who stood still as a mountain.

"What's the matter? Tell me."

Xi Zixing said, "As an official of the Ministry of Justice, I know that the Ministry of Justice is in charge of criminal cases, litigation, and justice, and cooperates with the Dali Temple to investigate the people's sentiments and protect the fairness of the laws of our Great Zhou. But just yesterday, paper money for "revenge" was flying all over the capital. His Highness, the Seventh Prince, Prince Yong, has made great contributions to the country and has a great reputation in the northern border, but he returned to the capital with injuries and blindness. I thought he was injured on the battlefield, but if there is no other hidden reason, why would paper money be flying everywhere?"

"However, I stood in the palace until the court was about to end, and I did not hear anyone from the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court, or the Censorate mention this matter! The paper money said that it was someone from the royal family who framed His Royal Highness Prince Yong. You dare not mention it. Are you afraid of offending the powerful and losing your life?"

Xi Zixing raised his head and spoke clearly amid the stunned cries, "If it's not fear, then it's because you are deaf and blind, and you didn't notice this much."

"Therefore, as the Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, I have to shoulder my responsibilities. I have no right to govern the Dali Temple and the Censorate, but I am qualified to impeach the Minister of Justice, Lord Xi, for dereliction of duty and failure to punish!"

The supervisory power of the Censor-in-Chief of the Ministry of Justice was used to the fullest extent.

Many people looked at Xi Shiqiu with sympathy.

On the first day of his new job, my son not only trampled on the Dali Temple and the Censorate, but also shit on his own head. It's really terrible.

No matter what Xi Shiqiu was thinking, his expression remained unchanged.

Behind Emperor Chongzhao, Eunuch Yu wiped the sweat from his head.

Oh my God, is this something that should be brought up at this time?

Emperor Chongzhao: "Based on what is written on the paper money, you want to investigate all the members of the royal family?"

Xi Zixing said: "I request Your Majesty to open a case and conduct a thorough investigation!"