Chapter 168 Chapter 168 is the only genuine version...
A chill rose from the emperor's tailbone and carved into the bones of his limbs.
He tried to snatch it back, but his limbs twitched uncontrollably as if they were frozen.
In the eyes of others, the emperor tacitly agreed.
Xie Yingchen opened the confession and read it quickly. A thought flashed through his mind: Could it be that Yaoyao went to the Prince of Jin's Mansion with Shen Xu? This handwriting doesn't look like Shen Xu, it looks more like Yaoyao's.
When he thought of Gu Zhizhuo, the sharpness in Xie Yingchen's body subsided slightly, and he became incredibly gentle.
“Great uncle.
Xie Yingchen handed the confession to Prince Li.
Prince Li took it in doubt, his hands shaking as he read through the letter word by word.
This sudden confession made Prince Li dizzy and unbelievable.
A few days ago, Miss Gu said that the late emperor's change in temper was related to the demon Changfeng. Now, Prince Jin is saying that Changfeng poisoned the late emperor...
In his confession, Prince Jin said that when the late emperor was on his southern tour, he visited several famous Taoist temples nearby to listen to teachings.
Changfeng was staying in a Taoist temple called Qingxu Temple at the time, where he met the late emperor and had a very pleasant conversation with him.
However, why did Changfeng, a good Taoist priest, poison the late emperor? The King of Jin did not say a word about it, which inevitably makes people feel that his confession is not entirely true.
Prince Li felt heavy in his heart, as if a huge rock weighing a thousand pounds was pressing on him.
Thinking about the emperor's hysterical look just now, an unsettling thought came to his mind.
He shook his head desperately and handed the confession to Prime Minister Song.
"Give it to me."
The emperor managed to squeeze out a sound from between his teeth.
He just wanted to know what else the King of Jin had written.
After reading the confession, the Prime Minister sighed softly and handed it to the next person. Soon, the confession was passed through everyone's hands, even Gu Yican read it, and finally it was given to Prince Li.
Prince Li read the confession from beginning to end. He swallowed, his throat dry. "Your Majesty, what does this mean?"
After hearing this, the emperor felt relieved that Prince Jin was quite sensible.
"I don't know."
Prince Li stared at the emperor in surprise and doubt.
The crown prince was deposed for regicide, and the late emperor died suddenly.
Even now, Chen'er is the regent and is far more outstanding than the emperor. However, there are always voices both in the court and among the people who question him, the son of the deposed crown prince, and believe that the son should be implicated for the father's crimes.
Even just now, the emperor was still insisting that the deposed prince had committed regicide and insisted that Xie Yingchen hand over the regent position to Xie Jing.
Chen'er is restricted in every way.
But if the poison that the late emperor was poisoned with had nothing to do with the deposed crown prince, and the deposed crown prince was simply wrongly accused, then Chen'er's title as the crown prince is legitimate, and no one can find fault with him.
"Your Majesty, this matter must be investigated." Prince Li no longer hesitated. "Prince Jin was at the emperor's side before his death. He must have a reason for what he said now."
"The Changfeng Demon Daoist is at the Meridian Gate. I beg the Emperor to conduct a thorough investigation."
The emperor's heartbeat quickened, his breathing became disordered. "This is just the one-sided statement of the Prince of Jin. It cannot be trusted."
"It's precisely this one-sided account that warrants a thorough investigation." Xie Yingchen's smile vanished. "Your Majesty, without even asking, has already concluded that Prince Jin is lying. Therefore, please punish Prince Jin. Prince Jin has been spreading alarmist rhetoric, framing others, and using the cause of the late emperor's death in a vain attempt to sway public opinion. He deserves the death penalty."
The emperor's breathing stagnated, and he suddenly clutched the quilt around him.
"Are you going to ask questions or punish me?" Xie Yingchen asked aggressively. "Your Majesty, you should choose one, right?"
"Xie Yingchen, are you forcing me?"
Punish the King of Jin? The King of Jin has too many handles on him. If he pushes him too hard, he might be doomed to failure.
If there is no punishment, then I can only do as Xie Yingchen said and personally investigate.
The emperor's breathing became more rapid after stagnating for a moment.
"I only want to know the cause of the late emperor's death. Doesn't the emperor also want to know?"
The emperor's eyes were blazing with fire, his chest was heaving, and he wished he could eat him alive.
Xie Yingchen met his gaze without hesitation and asked again, "Or is it that the Emperor already knew about this and therefore doesn't care?"
The emperor roared, "Thank you Yingchen!"
Xie Yingchen's long eyelashes drooped, and his face, gentle as warm jade, rarely showed such emotions.
Prince Li looked back and forth at the two of them, as if thinking about something.
Xie Yingchen seemed to have known that there would be such a confession.
Originally, Prime Minister Song and his men had only heard that the emperor's mind was clear and had come to see him. However, Xie Yingchen took the initiative to tell the emperor not to worry and to get more rest, as he was in charge of the regent. This immediately infuriated the emperor, and he has been furious ever since, preventing anyone from leaving.
Could it be that this confession was secretly planned by Xie Yingchen?
It’s very likely…
As long as the deposed crown prince's injustice is not redressed, Xie Yingchen will not be able to make any further progress.
If Xie Yingchen wanted that chair, he had to clear himself of the crime of deposing the crown prince, regicide and patricide.
"Come here," Xie Yingchen said coldly, "come to the Meridian Gate."
"Xie Yingchen, do you dare to make decisions for me?"
"Is the Emperor too ill to walk?" Xie Yingchen refused to give in. "If so, please take good care of yourself. I will continue to work hard and serve as regent on your behalf."
When Xie Yingchen just returned to Beijing from Liang State, everyone thought that he was like his father, kind and gentle.
Until recently, he had firmly suppressed the three factions in the court, far from the arbitrary manipulation they had imagined. What used to take half a month to reach a decision now only took half a day.
Many people have become accustomed to the emperor's style and have long been secretly complaining.
Now seeing that even the emperor was forced into a corner with just a few words, he was dumbfounded.
I can only go.
Yin Xin and Sheng Jiang looked at each other for a moment, and then went down to ask people to prepare the imperial carriage.
The emperor said nothing, his mind in turmoil.
Xie Yingchen's every word was meant to pressure him, to deceive the emperor, yet the others just watched, not a single one saying a word. It had only been a short time, and Xie Yingchen had grown to this point right under his nose, step by step.
He regretted it.
He shouldn't have spared Xie Yingchen's life, let alone let Xie Yingchen leave the palace.
To the extent that Xie Yingchen had completely escaped his control.
Soon, a eunuch came in and reported that the imperial carriage was ready.
Prince Li noticed the emperor's glare, which seemed to want to tear him apart, and silently stepped in front of Xie Yingchen. "Your Majesty, please go to the Meridian Gate."
"Once this incident happened, a joint trial by the three courts will no longer be enough to appease the people. The emperor should investigate personally."
The others nodded silently.
Yin Xin helped the emperor get up, helped him out of the inner room, and got on the imperial carriage.
The Jinwu Guards immediately surrounded the emperor.
Xie Jing also happened to rush back at this time.
"Father!"
"Jing'er," the emperor said, "you come up too."
Xie Jing still didn't know what was going on.
He was originally preparing for his marriage to Ji Nan Ke in a few days at the imperial farm in the suburbs. He could not give her the title of legal wife, but he did not want to let her down, so he did everything himself.
After receiving the news, he hurried back and became the last one to arrive.
Seeing that the emperor was still as kind to him as before, Xie Jing was delighted. His father was really getting better!
Ever since Xie Yan was brought back, Xie Jing was always worried that his father would suddenly make Xie Yan the crown prince. Xie Jing and Ji Nan Ke had quarreled several times over this matter.
Xie Jing got on the imperial carriage, asked about the emperor's health, said some kind words, and his face was full of worry.
The emperor also showed his first smile after waking up, showing the love between a loving father and a filial son, and they were very happy.
When the imperial carriage left the palace gate, the students who were writing and chatting at the Meridian Gate also noticed the emperor's pomp and turned their heads to look at him.
The bright yellow canopy and the accompanying imperial guards and eunuchs made it clear that the person sitting in the imperial carriage was the emperor.
Everyone was shocked.
God knows how long it has been since they first sat here in silence and then offered suggestions. This is the first time the emperor has appeared.
That’s right. It wasn’t just the first time; they had also seen the emperor when he brought his adulterous wife back to the palace.
For so long, the emperor has not reflected on himself and examined himself regarding his adultery with my wife, and he has not even made a single comment in response to the letter of admonition they sent him. Now that he has come out, does he think the storm has passed?
The students looked at each other. They had not forgotten their original intention of sitting in meditation here. Their eyes were all cast towards the imperial carriage.
Being stared at like this, the emperor felt a little creepy. He asked, "What's going on?"
His mind was still not very clear. The memory related to Ji Shi was like a dream, quite unreal. Whenever he tried to recall it carefully, he could not help but think of Ji Shi's festering face, and he couldn't help feeling nauseous.
The only good thing about vomiting was that he became more sober and no longer suddenly became obsessed with Ji and the bastard she gave birth to.
He only vaguely remembered that when he brought Ji back to the palace, these students were making a fuss here.
It was still the hottest day of the year.
It's September now, why are they still here?
"Father," Xie Jing replied cautiously, "It's for the Ji family."
The emperor was silent for a moment, then clapped his hands on the imperial carriage, as if he had finally found something wrong and was extremely excited: "Is this how Xie Yingchen governs the country?"
"It's shameful to let them mess around here and do nothing about it."
Xie Jing also felt that it was inappropriate, so he went to find Xie Yingchen and calmly discussed with him how to let the students leave. However, Xie Yingchen did not listen to him.
The emperor snorted coldly. He took Xie Jing's hand and patted it lovingly: "Jing'er, you have to be tougher. You are my son, and you are legitimate. You can't let Xie Yingchen, a traitor, sway you."
Jing'er has a good temper and is too lenient towards others. He is not as cunning and scheming as Xie Yingchen.
Therefore, after she fell ill, Jing'er was easily suppressed.
What qualifications does Xie Yingchen have to bypass Jing'er and become the regent on behalf of the emperor?!
"I've thought about it. You can't do without someone else. I have 26 guards in my personal army, and I'll give you the Palace Guards."
The Imperial Guards consisted of three battalions, the 26 personal guards were the emperor's backbone, and the Palace Guards consisted of four guards, front, back, left, and right. Each guard consisted of 5,600 men, or more than 20,000 men.
Xie Jing's face lit up with joy, and he was so excited that he didn't know what to say.
He had previously resented and felt jealous of the emperor's preference for Xie Yan, but now thinking about it, he felt extremely guilty.
The emperor was not in good spirits and felt a little tired after saying these words.
The imperial carriage passed among the students.
As they walked away, the students' voices finally became louder and louder, and someone asked, "What happened?"
At first they thought that the emperor came either for their letter of advice or to drive them away, but the emperor didn't even look at them and just left.
It felt like a punch on cotton.
"It seems he went to the upper floor of the Meridian Gate wall."
"Are you going to see that demon?"
On the first day Changfeng was sent to the Meridian Gate, some students followed him up to see it.
Before reading it, they were convinced that the eunuchs were abusing their power, disrupting politics, excluding dissidents, and destroying the way of Taoism. They even thought about how to write the petition.
After reading it, they realized for the first time that their prejudice against the East Factory was too deep, and they reflected on it from the bottom of their hearts for a long time.
"I found out."
A student in blue clothes came hurriedly, mixed in with them, and said, "The East Factory has just concluded the investigation."
He was running out of breath, and when he heard him still panting, someone couldn't wait to ask, "Tell me quickly, what did you find out during the interrogation?"
The voice was a bit high-pitched, and immediately, the students in the distance also looked over.
The blue-clothed student's eyes flashed, and he immediately said, "The late emperor was not killed by the deposed crown prince!"
"It's related to the demon on the city wall. The emperor wants to personally investigate."
What! ?
The deposed crown prince spied on the late emperor's daily life with evil intentions. In order to seize the throne, he plotted to murder his father, causing the late emperor to die from poisoning. He was despised and cursed by the world.
The Great Qi ruled the country with filial piety, but the crown prince was such a despicable, shameless, disloyal and unfilial person that many scholars wrote articles to criticize him.
Even though Prince Chen treats them quite kindly now, because he is the son of the deposed crown prince, there are still people who openly spit on and curse him.
They believed that he should ask for imprisonment to atone for his father's sins. How could he stand in the court with such a sinful face and give orders about state affairs? If the people followed his example and killed their fathers and then inherited their father's property, wouldn't that cause chaos?
Besides, the emperor has a son, and his nephew is usurping the throne, just like the deposed crown prince, coveting the throne and having evil intentions.
Because they were unwilling to be associated with Xie Yingchen, after Xie Yingchen became regent, some upright civil servants in the court resigned in anger.
And now.
Suddenly, he told them that it wasn't the deposed crown prince who killed the late emperor! ?
"Quick, go and see what's going on."
"Did you really say that?"
"Of course I'm not kidding." The student in green said righteously, "I'll go over and take a look. It's up to you whether you want to go or not."
As he said this, he ran away first, quietly falling behind the emperor and his entourage, and walked up to the city wall.
Seeing that the officers and soldiers did not stop them, the other students also followed them secretly.
When the student in blue walked past Gu Zhizhuo, he nodded secretly to her, indicating that he had done everything she instructed, and quickly mixed in with the students who followed him up.
Gu Zhizhuo leaned against the wall and looked towards the iron cage. Her eyes met Gu Yican's for a moment in mid-air, and she curled the corners of her mouth in pleasure.
Gu Yican came over calmly and told him everything that had just happened in a low voice.
Gu Zhizhuo also told him about everything in Prince Jin's Mansion. The two of them leaned their heads against each other and whispered to each other.
“It stinks.”
It is a strong rotten smell that lingers in the nose and cannot be shaken off.
Gu Yican frowned in disgust, took his sister's round fan and helped her to disperse the smell.
It really stinks, Gu Zhizhuo nodded silently, so Chen Xu refused to come over no matter what, and only lent a few people to her.
Ever since Changfeng was imprisoned in the Meridian Gate, Gu Zhizhuo has never seen him again.
But in just a few days, Changfeng seemed to have changed again.
Previously when he was in Prince Jin's Mansion, he was just aging rapidly.
But now, after being extremely old, he is like a dead person buried in the ground, half dried and half rotten.
The wide Taoist robe he was wearing did conceal it a little, but it could not cover his face.
Half of his face was dry, leaving only a layer of skin clinging tightly to his bones, making his eyes look particularly large. His skin was covered with black spots of varying sizes, like a dried corpse just dug out of a grave.
The other half began to rot, the rotten flesh turned white, pus oozed out, the stench was overwhelming, mosquitoes and flies buzzed around him.
Even his exposed hands were the same, half dry and half rotten.
Not only that, there are also scorch marks and burns caused by lightning, which are unbearable to look at.
But even so, Changfeng is still alive, watching himself decay and rot, but he can't die.
This is a pain comparable to lingchi.
Seeing this, many people couldn't help but turn sideways and cover their noses, and even Xie Jing couldn't control the urge to retch.
The emperor was so shocked that his mouth opened and closed.
He had only met Changfeng once and promised to make him the Imperial Master. How could it have turned out like this after several years of separation?
"Long wind."
Prince Li interrupted the emperor's thoughts and asked bluntly: "Changfeng, did you kill the late emperor?"
Changfeng slowly raised his head. The two eyes on his head looked particularly concave and convex. Even his throat began to rot, and he made a sharp buzzing sound when he breathed.
"yes……"
Did he admit it?
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