Chapter 94 Would he be so wicked as to dig up his ancestral grave?

The Golden Throne Hall.

Twelve gilded stone pillars with dragon carvings and golden bricks on the floor made the hall magnificent and gorgeous.

In the center of the hall stood an old coffin, which was covered with mud and the paint on the corners was almost peeling off.

It was out of tune with the whole hall.

The civil and military officials standing in the hall looked at the shabby coffin with doubts and confusion in their hearts.

"What's going on? Why did this coffin appear in the Golden Palace?"

"Isn't it too unlucky to see a coffin so early in the morning?"

"Seeing a coffin brings wealth! Seeing a coffin brings wealth!"

Wen Xingjian, who was standing at the back, listened to the discussions of the old ministers and whispered to Zhang Huaimin beside him, "The Golden Palace is a place for discussing state affairs. Sir Zhang, what do you think is the purpose of placing this coffin here today?"

Zhang Huaimin replied, "The coffin must have been placed in the Golden Palace at the behest of the emperor. I'm afraid the person in this coffin has suffered a great injustice."

He knew the pain of being wronged, and fortunately, at least he was able to clear his grievances while he was alive.

And looking at the rotten appearance of the coffin, I'm afraid the person inside has passed away for many years.

Lu Jinqiang looked at the black coffin, and his right eyelid twitched.

A strong sense of uneasiness spread in his heart, and the more he looked at it, the more familiar the coffin looked.

Would Sikong Xian be so wicked as to dig up his family's ancestral grave?

Could the person lying in this coffin really be his brother?

When this thought popped up in his mind, Lu Jinqiang denied it immediately.

Impossible!

Absolutely impossible!

His brother died thirty years ago, and his body had long since turned into a pile of bones!

Besides, even if it was his brother, what did it have to do with him?

That happened thirty years ago, could this pile of bones still jump out of the coffin and identify him?

Thinking of this, Lu Jinqiang straightened his back a little.

But he looked elsewhere, unwilling to look at the coffin again.

At this moment, a loud voice suddenly resounded throughout the hall.

"The Emperor has arrived—"

In the court, the voices of the civil and military officials who were whispering to each other immediately disappeared. Everyone straightened their official robes and kowtowed to the man on the dragon chair. "Long live the Emperor!"

Sikong Xian glanced at the crowd and raised his hand lightly, "Everyone, please stand up."

"Your Majesty!"

The Minister of Rites pointed at the conspicuous coffin in the hall and walked out of the queue. "The Golden Palace is such a sacred place. I wonder what the Emperor's intention is to park an old coffin in the palace?"

"Yes, coffins are unlucky. How can they be parked here?"

"I'm not the only one who is curious about who is lying in the coffin, am I?"

As soon as the Minister of Rites spoke, everyone couldn't help but be curious and stretched their necks to look at the coffin.

Unfortunately, the coffin was sealed tightly, and it was impossible to see what was inside.

Sikong Yan glanced at the curious expressions on the officials' faces, and raised his voice a few notches, "My dear ministers, I received an anonymous petition a few days ago. The other party claimed that an official in the court was a fake, pretending to be the new champion, and then he schemed step by step, and finally became the most popular and trusted official in Daxia. Not only that, he also allowed his family to break the law knowingly and take human lives lightly."

These words were no less than a thunderbolt out of the blue, which made everyone's eyes widen.

"What do you mean? Could it be that someone killed the newly crowned number one scholar and then impersonated him?"

"Impossible, right? The imperial examination is no joke. The candidates who can enter the palace examination have clean identities. Who can do such a big thing as killing the number one scholar without anyone knowing?"

When the officials were discussing, they couldn't help but cast their eyes on Zhang Huaimin.

After all, before his palace examination, a murder case had occurred in Li Ze Academy, and the dead candidate was a hot candidate for the number one scholar this year.

Zhang Huaimin was suspected of committing the crime at the time, but later, after the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice Shen Qingyuan took over the case, he caught the real murderer and proved his innocence.

Is there a hidden story behind this matter?

Lu Jinqiang stood at the front row of officials.

When he heard what Sikong Yan said, the blood on his face instantly faded away.

Sure enough!

The emperor really knew what happened that year!

At this time, Sikong Huang said this in front of all the officials. Was he trying to warn him or to convict him in front of everyone?

After thirty years, Lu Jinqiang had already forgotten what kind of coffin his elder brother was buried in.

However, when he looked at the coffin again, he seemed to see a figure climbing out of the coffin, "Second brother, save me, my head hurts, pull me out! Second brother!"

Lu Jinqiang staggered back two steps, and even his breathing became rapid.

"Prime Minister Lu, what's wrong with you?"

Shen Qingyuan, who was standing in a row behind him, saw that Lu Jinqiang's face was pale and his legs kept retreating, so he immediately helped him.

Lu Jinqiang recognized Shen Qingyuan's voice, and there seemed to be a smell of herbs floating through his nose.

His mind suddenly became clearer and he calmed down. "I didn't have breakfast this morning and I'm hungry."

The more times like this, the more he had to stay calm.

After all, he had sent someone back to his hometown to check and everything was normal.

Maybe Sikong Yan and Shen Qingyuan had no evidence at all and were deliberately deceiving him.

Shen Qingyuan rolled his eyes after hearing what he said.

How thick-skinned must Lu Xiang be to be able to make such a lame excuse without changing his expression or heartbeat?

Sikong Yan saw Lu Jinqiang's reaction and spoke again, "I believe that all of you are as curious as I am about who lies in the coffin."

Having said this, Sikong Yan said to Shen Qingyuan, "Minister Shen, open the coffin."

"Yes!"

Shen Qingyuan immediately called the guards waiting outside the hall. In front of everyone, the guards pried out the nails on the coffin and slowly pushed open the coffin lid.

Everyone listened to the sound of the coffin board sliding, wishing their necks were a few inches longer, and stood on tiptoe to look into the coffin.

They saw that the body in the coffin had already decayed, leaving only a skeleton.

Seeing this, Lu Jinqiang secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

With only a skeleton, who would know his identity?

As long as the identity of the deceased cannot be found out, he is still 'Lu Jinsong'!

"Your Majesty, there is only a skeleton here, how can we determine his identity?"

Wen Xingjian turned his head and glanced at the person standing next to him, and said loudly, "Yes! The owner of this skeleton has been dead for at least 20 to 30 years, right? How old is the new champion Zhang Huaimin? He can't be the murderer!"

Just now Sikong Yan mentioned that someone was pretending to be the new champion, and most people looked at Zhang Huaimin with suspicion.

However, Wen Xingjian had worked with Zhang Huaimin for some time, and he knew Zhang Huaimin's character very well.

This man had the character of a scholar, and he was very upright in his conduct and work. It was impossible for him to do such a thing as killing people!

Upon hearing this, Sikong Yan twitched his thin lips and said bluntly, "The number one scholar I'm talking about is not this year's new number one scholar, but the new number one scholar thirty years ago, Lu Jinsong! I believe Lu should know more about this matter than I do!"

Lu Jinqiang really didn't expect that Sikong Yan would directly name him in front of all the officials.

What's the difference between this and the current dynasty announcing that he was the murderer?

And Sikong Yan's behavior also made Lu Jinqiang more certain that Sikong Yan was just suspecting himself and had no real evidence.

He fell to his knees beside the coffin with a thud, pounding the ground with his head, and loudly pleaded for his innocence, "Your Majesty! I am not a minister, I do not know!"