Chapter 120 Chapter 120: Redress of injustice, what is there for me not to...

This was not Zhao Mingsheng's first time entering the palace. She had previously attended banquets in the palace with her grandmother and other sisters of the Zhao family, but this was her first time stepping into the hall where the emperor handled official business.

Out of curiosity, she looked around briefly.

The sun shines through the window grilles onto the six beams supporting the hall, on which hover six five-clawed golden dragons. They become gleaming with golden light, as if every scale on their bodies is glowing. It is unknown whether they are solid or just coated with a layer of gold powder.

In the middle is a dragon throne, with a Hexi-style painted carving on the back, in which the figures of dragons and phoenixes are intertwined.

Everything you see is magnificent, but they are all old styles, as if they have been placed here a long time ago.

I've heard that the treasury was extremely empty during the first few years of His Majesty's reign, but he didn't impose massive taxes to fill the treasury. Instead, he repeatedly reduced taxes, giving ordinary people a break. Even the Empress in the harem promoted frugality, and now the harem's food and clothing expenses have been reduced by more than half compared to the previous emperor's time.

Zhao Mingsheng gazed at the palace, which hadn't seen many new luxury items since the new emperor ascended the throne, and felt a slight touch of emotion. No wonder the treasury had been able to immediately allocate a large amount of food aid to the Yanzhou disaster. This was all thanks to the new emperor's diligence and frugality in the years since he ascended the throne. If the previous emperor were still alive, the treasury would have been lucky to have a surplus of food; it would have been impossible to allocate such a large amount for disaster relief.

The people are fortunate to have such a king.

After waiting for a while, two guards led by Jing Liu escorted three people who were tied up to the main hall. Their heads were covered with black cloths and they had no idea where they were.

"Let me go! I'm the Prime Minister! You can't do this!"

"I am the prince!"

Two of them struggled violently, shouting and making a lot of noise. Jing Liu only regretted not gag them earlier.

"Let them go." A voice that was intimidating without being angry came from the highest point in the hall.

Dong Songfeng, who had been struggling desperately, froze instantly upon hearing the voice. The black cloth on his head was removed, and he immediately looked up as he regained his sight.

In the bright yellow hall, the young emperor sat on his dragon throne, looking at him with a half-smile.

Dong Songfeng's legs went limp and he collapsed.

"Your Majesty, while searching for traces of the assassin, I discovered these three men sneaking around the city gate. Their behavior was extremely suspicious. I suspect they are colluding with the assassin, so I brought them back."

Yan Yu nodded, indicating that he understood. His eyes fell on one of them, as if he had just seen him, and he pretended to be surprised and said:

"Hey, isn't this Prime Minister Dong? If I remember correctly, Prime Minister Dong should still be under house arrest right now. How did Guard Jing run into him at the city gate?"

Dong Songfeng was in tears; he didn't want to be here. Seeing the imperial guards capture the assassins, he knew the assassination plan had failed. He and Prince Jin discussed their plans and were about to flee when they were caught by the sullen-faced guard. Now that he was here, what was there for him to understand? Everything was under the control of the young emperor.

Dong Songfeng's face turned pale. If he hadn't seen his methods before, he would have thought it was just a simple question from the monarch to his subjects. Beside him, the Prince of Qi was now slumped on the ground with a pale face.

Seeing Dong Songfeng speechless with fear, Yan Yu turned his gaze to Prince Jin beside him. He twirled the ring on his hand while pretending to speak casually.

"And Prince Jin, I haven't issued an order to summon you back to the capital. Aren't you afraid that I'll charge you with desertion?"

Prince Jin's expression tightened, and he lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, the Qianqiu Festival is approaching, and I simply wanted to return to the capital to celebrate with you and the Empress."

Zhao Mingsheng, who was standing by, blinked in surprise. Prince Jin's words were very nice, but he was setting a trap for the emperor.

If he really came to celebrate the birthday, the emperor insisted on blaming him for it. Although it is legal, it is unreasonable.

If the interrogation wasn't ongoing, Zhao Mingsheng would have liked to applaud him.

Yan Zhuo sneered at the side. Prince Jin was indeed an old fox. He lied without blinking.

The Prince of Qi beside him was much worse than him. At this moment, he just collapsed on the ground and shivered.

With a snap.

A copper token was thrown in front of King Jin.

"Is this the gift you gave me?" Yan Yu narrowed his eyes and spoke in a cold tone.

The token was found on the assassin, and the evidence was irrefutable. He wanted to see how this old fox would argue.

"I accidentally lost this token a few days ago. It seems that a thief stole it and deliberately framed us."

Prince Jin pretended to be calm, but the slightly trembling hands in his sleeves revealed his forced pretense.

"Oh? Really?" Yan Yu leaned forward slightly, staring into Prince Jin's eyes. As if believing what he said, he smiled and said, "Did I misunderstand Prince Jin?"

When Qi Shang heard that things might turn around, he immediately became excited and started talking nonsense.

"That's right! Someone must be trying to frame us father and son! Your Majesty, please help us!"

That day, Qi Shang, believing Zhao Mingzhu's words, immediately informed his father that Prince Heng might have contracted an illness and died in Yanzhou. Prince Heng was the emperor's right-hand man; his death would remove the stumbling block to their success.

The father and son made a plan and secretly colluded with Prime Minister Dong, waiting for the news of Yan Zhuo's death to come so that they could start a rebellion.

But no matter how long they waited, there was no news of Prince Heng falling ill and dying. Instead, good news kept coming in that the epidemic in Yanzhou was under control. In the end, there were even rumors that the epidemic in Yanzhou had been eliminated, and Yan Zhuo's troops would return to the capital in a few days.

Prince Jin was so angry that he couldn't sleep well for several days and was not in a good mood towards Qi Shang. Qi Shang knew that he had given the wrong information, so he didn't dare to offend him again. Instead, he took out his anger on Zhao Mingzhu and didn't even set foot in her courtyard for several days.

Although he was angry, Prince Jin was unwilling to give up. He was now in a difficult situation. He had been planning for so long, and now the duck was about to be put into the pot. If he gave up now, the losses would be more than a little bit.

At this time, the spy planted by Prince Jin in the palace brought news that the emperor planned to personally go to the city gate to greet the relief team when they returned to the capital. He even planned to bring only a few guards and eunuchs with him. The guards were very lax, which was a perfect opportunity to take action.

This was Prince Jin's last resort. How could he, so ambitious, pass up this opportunity? Even Dong Songfeng, who had lost the emperor's favor and was still under house arrest, was tempted. Prince Jin then seized the opportunity to promise him numerous benefits. Unable to resist the temptation, he gritted his teeth and agreed, risking the execution of his entire clan.

After the three of them discussed it, they hit it off and took action!

And then today's incident happened.

Qi Shang was just about to take this opportunity to say something nice so that His Majesty would let him go. But the next second, he felt a sharp gaze fall on him, as if to pierce him. Qi Shang looked up and saw the man on the throne still had a smile on his face, but that smile made him feel as if he was on the edge of an abyss.

"Then did I wrongly blame you for the five thousand soldiers outside Jingxi City?"

Prince Jin suddenly looked up.

How could His Majesty know about his troops hidden outside the West City!

Coincidentally, Huang Furen left Yanzhou first because he missed his daughter at home. When he returned to Beijing, he found some unusual traces outside the west city and immediately reported it to Yan Zhuo.

With advance planning, the five thousand soldiers had been subdued at this moment.

"I accept your generous gift."

The emperor's child's smile seemed so ironic to Prince Jin that he stumbled, almost losing his balance. The five thousand soldiers outside West City were his last resort! He had originally planned that if the assassination plan succeeded, those five thousand soldiers would, at his command, storm the imperial city and help him seize the throne. If the assassination plan failed, with those five thousand soldiers, he could escape the capital, return to his fiefdom, proclaim himself king, and wait for a comeback.

But now he was caught before he could escape from the city.

He finally realized that this was probably a trap set by the emperor from the beginning. The so-called "reliable information" was probably released intentionally by the emperor in order to lure him into taking action.

"These are all traps you set! Are you deceiving me?!" Prince Jin struggled angrily, unwilling to accept such an outcome.

Yan Yu narrowed his eyes and smiled like a fox: "All is fair in war."

"If you didn't harbor heresy, how could you have fallen into my trap?"

Prince Jin glared at him for a long time, but was finally defeated.

He thought he had dug a pit for the emperor, but in the end it was himself who jumped into it. Prince Jin collapsed to the ground with a pale face.

Yan Yu said coldly, "I hereby order that Prince Jin and his son, who are plotting treason, be detained at the Dali Temple for interrogation. Their female relatives are confined to the Jihou Temple to await their fate. As for the soldiers who participated in the treason, those who give up resistance will be dealt with leniently, while those who stubbornly resist will be killed without mercy."

The guards took Prince Jin and his son away, and Yan Yu turned his gaze to Dong Songfeng.

"Your Majesty, I was just confused for a moment!" Dong Songfeng trembled. Seeing that Prince Jin had no chance of recovery, he couldn't wait to put all the blame on him. "These were all Prince Jin's ideas. He forced me to do them!"

He knew that this was a serious crime punishable by the death of nine generations of his clan, so he put on a sad face and hoped that the emperor would show leniency to him.

Yan Yu stared at him, expressionless, and said, "Prime Minister Dong, do you still need me to remind you of what you did?"

"Twenty years ago, out of selfish desire, you framed then-Prime Minister Su and caused his entire family to be executed. After so many years of ups and downs in officialdom, haven't you committed enough similar sins?"

Dong Songfeng fell silent. He hadn't expected the emperor to know everything. But even if he had done it, so what? Without solid evidence, he couldn't be convicted based on just these few words.

Having made up his mind, he denied it outright.

"I am innocent. Prime Minister Su's affairs have nothing to do with me. How could I not know when I framed him?"

Yan Yu sneered in his heart, thinking that he would not cry until he saw the coffin and would not give up until he hit the wall.

He said, "Call Cui Kan in."

Cui Kan, who had been waiting outside the hall for a long time, immediately lifted his robe and walked in.

Originally, Cui Kan should have been awaiting trial in the Dali Temple at this time, but Yan Zhuo wrote a letter to bail him out first and gave him the task of investigating the truth of what happened to Su Chengshang that year.

The robbery of Yanzhou's grain and grass failed, but Cui Kan came back alive. Dong Songfeng was suspicious of this, but Cui Kan claimed that he escaped in time and was not discovered, so Dong Songfeng put aside his suspicion.

Because of the previous cooperative relationship, Dong Songfeng had more trust in him, which made his actions more convenient.

Cui Kan lived up to everyone's expectations and quickly investigated the matter of Prime Minister Su.

"Your Majesty, I have evidence that Prime Minister Dong framed his colleagues and accepted bribes."

After handing over the evidence in his hand, he turned around and saw Dong Songfeng looking at him in disbelief, as if he couldn't believe that he would betray him.

Cui Kan secretly clenched his fists.

The man before him, for his own selfish desires, had framed his colleagues and even led to the execution of the entire Su family. And he, as a descendant of the Su family, had once been complicit in this corruption. Cui Kan couldn't help but tremble in his heart at the thought of this. He hated Dong Songfeng, and he hated himself too.

Yan Yu quickly scanned the evidence Cui Kan handed over, then snapped the book shut. He stared at Dong Songfeng's pale face and said,

"I hereby declare that Prime Minister Dong has framed his colleagues and disrupted the government. He is hereby dismissed from office, and all proceeds of his corruption and bribery over the years are confiscated. His entire family and relatives will be punished according to the law..."

"Wait!" Dong Songfeng suddenly spoke. He raised his head, his eyes were red as if blood was about to drip out, and a strange smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

When Cui Cen heard him speak, he had a bad feeling.

"Since the Emperor thinks I deserve death, what about him?" Dong Songfeng was almost frantic. "If you want to kill him, then kill us all together! Otherwise, I will let everyone in the world know that the current Emperor is protecting the Cui family!"

He just wanted to drag someone to be buried with him on the road to the underworld.

Without waiting for the emperor to speak, Cui Kan knelt down.

"I confess all the crimes I have committed. You may execute me or cut me into pieces as Your Majesty desires. I only ask that Your Majesty allow me to see the thief Dong brought to justice before I die, so that the souls of my Su family can rest in peace."

"Su family?!" Dong Songfeng's face was filled with horror. "Could it be that you are the little grandson of the Su family back then?"

"That's right. It was General Cui who saved me and brought me back to the Cui Mansion as his illegitimate child."

General Cui resolutely brought Su Kan back to his mansion and saved the last bloodline of the Su family, but this also destroyed the relationship between him and the princess.

Cui Kan lowered his head. After knowing all the truth, looking back at his ridiculous ideas, even he himself felt ashamed to call General Cui "father" again.

Dong Songfeng felt a little dazed. He had framed Su Xiang's family and now he fell into Cui Kan's hands. It seemed as if there was a karma and reincarnation in the dark.

He looked at Cui Kan's face and saw that it was terrified the next second. "You are Prime Minister Su, right? It's Prime Minister Su who is looking for me to kill me!"

Dong Songfeng tried to escape from here by rolling and crawling, screaming as he crawled: "I was wrong, I was wrong, please let me go!"

He looked crazy and extremely excited, and his shouting was very harsh.

Yan Yu was about to order someone to take him away when he saw Dong Songfeng falling to the ground with his hands covering his chest. His face began to twitch in pain, and after a few twitches he became motionless.

The guards nearby were ordered to check, only to find that Dong Songfeng had been frightened to death. After reporting to the emperor, they quickly dragged his body out.

He has done so many bad things and has a guilty conscience that he can scare himself to death.

Seeing Dong Songfeng's fate, Cui Kan closed his eyes. With the thief Dong dead and the Su family's revenge avenged, he could finally rest in peace.

He knew that the mistakes he had made were enough for the emperor to order his execution in the autumn. When the last autumn leaf swirled down, it would also be the end of his life...

Zhao Mingsheng watched the young man beside him walk towards Cui Kan. He walked silently to Cui Kan's side and called out:

"Big brother."

Cui Kan raised his head, his eyes were a little evasive, and he himself didn't even know what he was avoiding.

"Don't call me big brother anymore. You know now that I'm not actually your big brother."

"No." The boy's distinct black and white eyes were resolute. He stared into Cui Kan's eyes and said word by word, "In my heart, you will always be my big brother."

Cui Kan's eyes moved slightly, and after a long silence, he spoke:

"Second brother, I'm sorry."

He finally said the sorry that had been buried in his heart.

The boy grinned at him and knelt beside him.

"I am willing to use the Cui family's hereditary title to ask Your Majesty to spare my elder brother's life."

Yan Yu touched his chin and looked at the two brothers in front of him.

"Do you know how rare this title is and how important it is to the Cui family?"

"I know." The young man said without hesitation. He was full of pride. "Since my ancestors were able to obtain a hereditary title through their hard work, then I can naturally use my own abilities to win another title for the Cui family."

Before Cui Kan could stop him, he heard the emperor say:

"Okay, I agree."

After saying this, the emperor drove the Cui brothers out of the hall on the pretext that he had other matters to discuss in secret, as if he was afraid that Cui Cen would go back on his word if he was any slower.

Cui Kan hadn't expected to leave the palace alive, and he hesitated as he stepped out of the hall. The sun was exceptionally bright today, enveloping him the moment he appeared, its brilliant light dispelling the last vestiges of gloom from his heart.

He couldn't help but raise the corner of his mouth into a smile that he hadn't seen in a long time.

The young man next to him couldn't help but yell.

"It's fine to leave Prince Heng in there, but why is Zhao Mingsheng in there too? Why are they kicking me out?"

Cui Cen was so angry that he jumped up and down.

"Is there anything I can't listen to?"