Chapter 048 Traitorous Minister 48
Neither Xiao Yan nor Xiao Chen wanted to see the Fifth Prince ascend to the throne, so they had to know this secret that could very likely threaten the Fifth Prince in order to gain the upper hand!
Even if Emperor Xiaozhi wanted to, they couldn't let him succeed. After all, the Fifth Prince wasn't a wise ruler! If he ascended to the throne, it would likely be their death. Therefore, no matter what, this secret must be known!
After Xiao Chen understood what was going on, he joined the investigation. They actually found some clues.
For example, Emperor Xiaozhi and Jin Changzai's relationship was not harmonious when they were young, and they almost disliked each other. Perhaps as they grew older, their love blossomed, and they began to become more ambiguous.
It was normal that matters between men and women were inherently unstable, but what surprised Xiao Yan was that, according to insiders, Jin Chang had been domineering and arrogant when she was young, but after falling into the water, her personality had suddenly changed and she had become sensible, and her reputation as a talented woman began to emerge.
A person's character can change so much. One reason is that he is sensible and can think things through. The other reason is that he encounters unexpected changes. Since Jin Chang is still young and ignorant, even if he suddenly encounters a matter of life and death, his character should not change so much. After all, he is still that old. How can a little kid who is only a few years old understand so many ways of dealing with people?
Not to mention that after she fell in love with Emperor Xiaozhi, she came up with a host of astonishing feats, including unprecedented military strategies, far-sighted political vision, and policies that benefited both the nation and the people! She was intelligent and courageous, and all signs indicated that this woman was completely different from the love-brained woman she later became!
This feeling made Xiao Yan feel that there seemed to be three people in Jin Chang's body! One was the domineering and arrogant Jin Chang in his childhood, the second should be the soul from another world, and the third could be another soul from another world, or Jin Chang himself took back control of his body from the original body.
This also explains why Emperor Xiaozhi loved Jin Changzai deeply in the early days, but later he just said it and actually allowed the concubines to bully him.
In addition, Xiao Yan also found out the reason why the Fang family's side branch separated from the main family!
The Fang family was a prominent clan with a deep foundation, having weathered many dynasties before finally declining. No, it wasn't decline, but rather they wanted to withdraw from the public eye, thus willingly accepting decline!
This is because the Fang family was the confidant of the previous emperor!
Before the previous dynasty was overthrown, the Fang family was ordered to take a little princess from the deep palace and flee the capital.
The fact that the Fang family was the confidant of the previous emperor was rarely known. If it were not for Xiao Yan's twists and turns, he would not have found out that the Fang family was a powerful official of the previous dynasty, and then retired from the court and the public eye due to political differences. Within just a few years, the previous dynasty had collapsed.
People only think that the Fang family is lucky, but Xiao Yan thinks that the emperor of the previous dynasty may have known that the fall of the dynasty is irreversible, so he is looking for another chance of survival?
Thinking of this, Xiao Yan paused, and suddenly had a guess for no reason.
Is there a possibility that Jin Changzai is a descendant of the previous dynasty?
Perhaps Jin Changzai deliberately replaced Jin Chang in his original position, and then fell in love with Emperor Xiaozhi, intending to let Emperor Xiaozhi know his extraordinary talents and show his extraordinaryness, in order to seize the throne through the royal heir?
But why did Jin Chang become so obsessed with love later on? Or did something unexpected happen that forced her to pretend to be in love to protect herself? To convince Emperor Xiaozhi of her true identity?
The logic was a bit confusing, and Xiao Yan tried to sort out the relationship.
First, Jin Changzai replaced the identity of the daughter of the Grand Tutor and deliberately approached Emperor Xiaozhi to plan for the throne for him. However, Emperor Xiaozhi preferred power to love and chose the current queen.
Of course, it is not ruled out that Jin Changzai was trying to retreat by persuading Emperor Xiaozhi to marry the queen, and she herself compromised, deepening Emperor Xiaozhi's guilt and affection for her.
Since ancient times, emperors have often been ruthless, believing only the dead can achieve eternal perfection. Jin Changzai decisively chooses death, remaining perfect in the heart of Emperor Xiaozhi, who harbors guilt and unrequited love. Only in this way can the Fifth Prince become the future crown prince. Haven't you seen how Emperor Xiaozhi was like this in his previous life?
but……
Xiao Yan suddenly thought of something. Even the dead would become more beautiful with the passage of time, but a person's life is very long and there are always too many uncertainties. How can Jin Changzai guarantee that her plan will succeed?
Furthermore, if Concubine Jin was truly a descendant of the previous dynasty's royal family, according to ancient Chinese thought, even if the Fifth Prince was born to Concubine Jin, his bloodline would still be mingled with that of the current dynasty's royal family. In that case, what difference would it make whether the country was restored or not? You can't just try to diminish someone else's bloodline for a moral victory, right?
Thinking of this, Xiao Yan felt a chill in his heart.
Is it possible that the Fifth Prince is not of royal blood? And that Jin Changzai is not dead, but has escaped?
If he were Jin Changzai, before his great cause was accomplished, he would definitely not die for a possibility full of variables. He would definitely choose to lead everything from the rear.
Thinking back to the events of my previous life, after Emperor Xiaozhi's death, the court was in chaos, with all the princes dying in the struggle for the throne. Originally, the crown prince was supposed to succeed him, but who would have thought that the will designated the fifth prince as the new emperor...
The most important thing is that even with Emperor Xiaozhi's secret planning, it was impossible to guarantee that the court officials would be united at that critical moment. But what is strange is that, except for the prince's party, no one expressed any objection to this.
When this question arose, Xiao Chen in his previous life was already imprisoned. He also used Xiao Chen's vision, so he didn't know the reason.
However... if one wants to silence everyone, only powerful military power can make them retreat. In other words, in addition to Emperor Xiaozhi's connections, the Fifth Prince also has his own power!
A prince wants to build up his own power under the emperor's nose. Even if Emperor Xiaozhi intends to pass the throne to him, the emperor's nature will not allow him to develop his power secretly, otherwise he may be kicked off the throne at any time while he is still alive.
So there is only one possibility, there is someone behind the Fifth Prince, and this person is most likely Jin Changzai or the forces of the previous dynasty!
From this point of view, it is very likely that Jin Changzai is a descendant of the royal family of the previous dynasty, and the fifth prince is not of the royal bloodline of this dynasty!
That night, Xiao Yan wrote a letter and quietly placed it on the wall of the courtyard. Not long after, a black shadow flashed by and the letter disappeared.
-
It was still late at night, and the palace was brightly lit.
Under the bright candlelight, Emperor Xiaozhi sat on the dragon throne, half of his face shrouded in shadow.
At this moment, Emperor Xiaozhi was holding a letter, his expression unfathomable, his imperial majesty becoming increasingly intimidating. As time passed, silence could be heard all around.
"Envoy Yunhui, where is Ling Yunfan?"
Eunuch Tao replied, "Your Majesty, Lord Ling is waiting outside the palace."
"Xuan."
Ling Yunfan was a tall and strong man, over thirty years old, a member of the Ling family in Yangzhou City. He was also the uncle of Brother Ling, known to Xiao Yan and Xiao Chen.
Entrusted by his nephew, Ling Yunfan took extra care of the Xiao brothers. However, the Xiao brothers declined the invitation and found a place to stay temporarily.
The Xiao brothers have already sided with the emperor, and to prevent them from being harmed by traitors, Ling Yunfan had no choice but to send someone to protect them. Unexpectedly, tonight the Xiao brothers asked him to help deliver a letter, saying it was extremely urgent...
Originally, he was reluctant about this. After all, the Xiao brothers had not yet held official positions. Even if they had caught the emperor's eye, there were people his emperor admired every year, and it was common for new people to replace old ones, let alone a young boy?
This was one reason. The other was that he was worried that the Xiao brothers would become arrogant due to their favor and thus anger His Majesty, which was why he hesitated for a moment. But then he thought that the Xiao brothers were able to produce such amazing works in writing that they must not be fools, so he helped to present it.
At this moment, Ling Yunfan was standing outside the palace gate. The cold wind was howling, making his hands and feet cold, but he did not dare to move a step.
Finally, footsteps were heard from inside the palace, and a palace attendant carefully lifted the door curtain. "Lord Ling, His Majesty invites you."
Ling Yunfan moved his legs, and his cold and numb legs finally regained blood circulation.
There was a charcoal fire burning in the hall. As soon as I entered the hall, a warm breeze blew towards me.
"Your humble servant, Yunhui Envoy Lingyunfan, pays homage to His Majesty! Long live His Majesty!"
Emperor Xiaozhi did not wake up. He stared at Ling Yunfan with half-closed eyes for a long time, and asked casually, "Who wrote this letter?"
Ling Yunfan didn't know whether Emperor Xiaozhi was asking for accountability or for some other purpose, but he didn't dare to hide anything. "Your Majesty, this is written by Xiao Yan, the top scorer in this year's imperial examination."
"Oh?" Emperor Xiaozhi's expression was indistinguishable. "I didn't know you were so close to this year's top scorer."
Ling Yunfan quickly lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, I have never been close to Xiao Yan. It's just that my nephew has always liked to meet talented young men. I am helping to pass on the book at his request."
"If I have offended Your Majesty in any way, I beg Your Majesty to forgive me."
Emperor Xiaozhi had a strange expression on his face. "Is your nephew the one who raised chickens last year?"
Ling Yunfan: “…”
Just… Good news doesn’t travel far, but bad news travels a thousand miles! Even this matter has spread to the capital!
"It's my nephew."
Emperor Xiaozhi lowered his voice, looking quite gossipy, "Did your nephew really go and raise chickens?"
Ling Yunfan smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty, that's exactly what happened."
At this point, Ling Yunfan also complained: "After the provincial examination last year, my nephew, probably inspired by the test questions, went to learn how to raise chickens, trying to figure out which came first, the chicken or the egg."
"Have you figured it out now?" asked Emperor Xiaozhi.
Ling Yunfan shook his head, "No, the eggs are being laid more and more."
At this time, Ling Yunfan saw that Emperor Xiaozhi looked cheerful and not angry, and he felt a little relieved.
"I wonder what you think of this book?" Emperor Xiaozhi asked suddenly.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, not to mention that this was written by Xiao Yan and Your Majesty, just speaking of the letter, how could I, a humble official, do such a mean-spirited act without the permission of others? Therefore, I have no opinion."
He wasn't stupid. If it wasn't a major event, Xiao Yan wouldn't have sent a message in the middle of the night, and the recipient was Emperor Xiaozhi! He wasn't very brave, so how could he dare to peek?
Emperor Xiaozhi was just asking a routine question, and he knew that Ling Yunfan had not peeked. After all, the letter was engraved with Yin Xianxian's signature and inlaid characters, and it also had the date and time of signature. In addition, there was no sign that the letter had been read, so he knew that Ling Yunfan had definitely not peeked.
But... books are inanimate objects, while people are alive. He wanted to see if Xiao Yan had told Yu Lingyunfan about this.
Indeed, in the letter, Xiao Yan stated that he had inadvertently heard that the descendants of the previous royal family seemed to have a close relationship with the Fang family. The matter was urgent, and since he was just an unarmed scholar, in order to avoid delaying the important matter, he asked Ling Yunfan to help submit it.
Xiao Yan knew that Emperor Xiaozhi was a very suspicious person. If he directly told him his suspicions about Jin Changzai and the fifth prince, Emperor Xiaozhi probably would not believe it. On the contrary, he would suspect that Xiao Yan had defected to other princes and came to him to stir up trouble.
In this case, Emperor Xiaozhi will certainly no longer trust and value him, which will be a loss!
If you want others to believe something, telling them directly is the worst option. The best way is to reveal the clues and let them investigate on their own.
Since ancient times, the emperor's mindset has always been that Emperor Xiaozhi might not necessarily trust others, but he would definitely trust himself! That's why Xiao Yan made this move.
The Fifth Prince is not a wise ruler, and the two sides are naturally on opposite sides, so Emperor Xiaozhi must dispel his preference for the Fifth Prince!
The door curtain was lifted, and the cold wind blew in. There was no smile on Emperor Xiaozhi's face anymore. Upon closer inspection, there was even a hint of bloodthirstiness on his face as a superior.
"A centipede is still alive even after death!"
"Tao Geng, what do you think of the Fang family?"
Eunuch Tao immediately understood the meaning of Emperor Xiaozhi's words.
Although he didn't know what the letter contained, the saying "a centipede dies but its legs remain stiff" often implies that a power, despite its collapse, still retains its influence. To have Emperor Xiaozhi utter such words was likely someone who had once been equally powerful, and who, even in their current state, would still instill fear in Emperor Xiaozhi.
You have to know that Emperor Xiaozhi is now the emperor of a country. Anyone who could make him feel apprehensive had already died in the battle for the throne. Even if they were from aristocratic families, they would not make Emperor Xiaozhi so apprehensive and disgusted.
Then the only possibility is the remnants of the previous dynasty!
Now the Fang family is mentioned again... Is the Fang family involved with the remnants of the previous dynasty?
The Fang family...
Eunuch Tao was horrified when he thought of the Fang family's side branch who had accidentally come into contact with the royal secrets and was used by His Majesty to kill someone.
Could it be that the Fang family has long harbored ulterior motives and deliberately sought to get close to Your Majesty?
In just a few breaths, Eunuch Tao's heart was already in turmoil. He didn't dare to think any further and quickly bowed his head. "Your Majesty, I think the Fang family knows how to adapt, but their judgment is not very good."
If the Fang family had not known how to guess the emperor's intentions, they would not have been used as a weapon by Emperor Xiaozhi to deal with the aristocratic families. Therefore, they knew how to adapt.
But the Fang family may have been so eager to make a contribution that they actually touched things they shouldn't have touched and knew things they shouldn't have known. Being silenced can be considered a lack of tact.
But… now that I think about it, if the Fang family had long harbored ulterior motives, could it be that they did this on purpose? Or perhaps, another group wanted to conceal the events of the previous dynasty, deliberately leading the Fang family to their doom, thus ensuring that no one could testify against them?
Being able to silence someone without arousing His Majesty's suspicion is like killing two birds with one stone!
Emperor Xiaozhi thought more.
Back then, the Fang family had merely been used as a tool for murder, with his tacit approval. He knew the Fang family wasn't directly responsible, but they had been committing numerous crimes in recent years, exploiting the locals and causing widespread grief. Therefore, even though he knew the Fang family's direct descendants were being blamed, he didn't investigate further and only spared their descendants.
Emperor Xiaozhi gripped the armrest, a fierce look flashing in his eyes. "Wei Shisan, you go to Lingnan and bring the direct descendants of the Fang family back to the capital and keep them under strict guard!"
"I will obey your order!"
That night, a team left the capital under the cover of darkness and headed towards Lingnan.
January has arrived and the palace examination is coming.
The Palace Examination, also known as the Imperial Examination, was a test of success, allowing candidates to be appointed to official positions. It consisted solely of policy questions, mostly about political affairs or the interpretation of classics.
"The Classic says: 'When there is doubt about guilt, give it a light punishment; when there is doubt about merit, give it a heavy punishment. It is better to kill the innocent than to commit an offense...' Question: Which is higher, benevolence or the law? If we follow this example, what is the meaning?"
The meaning of this question is that when there is doubt about the severity of someone's crime, it is better to give him a lighter punishment than to kill an innocent person; it is better to be guilty of dereliction of duty than to kill an innocent person. This is a display of benevolence, just like the principle of "innocent until proven guilty" in the modern world.
The question is, if someone imitates this and exploits loopholes in the law, how can we prevent others from imitating them?
From ancient times to the present, the practice of presumption of innocence has always existed in order to prevent wrongful convictions.
Xiao Yan thought carefully and wrote:
The Classic of Internal Medicine states: "When there is doubt about guilt, give it a lighter punishment; when there is doubt about merit, give it a heavier punishment... This is a benevolent and righteous act. Treating a suspected crime as innocent does not necessarily mean condoning crime. Re-investigating when there is doubt and evidence is strong, and allowing both sides to defend themselves... is the only way to effectively reduce the risk of wrongful convictions."
Even Xiao Yan had no confidence in guaranteeing that he could completely stop this phenomenon of exploiting loopholes in the law for this almost unsolvable question.
The presumption of innocence usually refers to the situation where the available evidence is insufficient to prove a suspect's guilt. However, human nature is unpredictable, and judgment cannot be based on subjective assumptions. No one can guarantee a suspect's guilt, so he can only effectively reduce the incidence of wrongful convictions, which is considered his best effort.
Xiao Yan also incorporated measures to strengthen his political stance, which were desirable to Emperor Xiaozhi. This included establishing an inspection office to investigate suspicious cases, which would be supervised by Emperor Xiaozhi. This provided Emperor Xiaozhi with an additional set of eyes and ears, while also providing a deeper constraint on local officials, reinforcing imperial power and preventing the dominance of one single authority or the rise of local tyrants.
This policy discussion was extremely difficult, and Xiao Yan did not have much confidence.
When the time came, the palace maid collected the papers, had them reviewed by the minister in charge of grading the papers, and then presented them to Emperor Xiaozhi.
The results of the palace examination were usually announced three days later. Only then did Xiao Yan and Xiao Chen return to their courtyard, which had been almost renovated. Xiao Chen couldn't wait to ask.
"Brother, how do you explain this?"
Xiao Yan did not answer but asked, "How do you explain it, little brother?"
Xiao Chen wanted to check his answers to see if he had made any mistakes: "..."
Xiao Chen repeated his interpretation. Xiao Yan pondered for a moment before replying, "Very good."
Of course, Xiao Chen couldn't believe it. He just thought Xiao Yan was looking at him through a filter, thinking he was just looking at his younger brother. After all, he knew the difficulty of the test question. How could one give a perfect answer to an unsolvable question?
Therefore, Xiao Chen had a very clear idea of his own test paper and naturally could not believe what Xiao Yan said.
"How does Big Brother explain it?"
Xiao Yan: “…”
Xiao Yan had no choice but to speak out as he saw that he was asking for trouble.
After hearing this, Xiao Chen sighed for a long time: "Big brother is worthy of being the big brother! I am far inferior to you!"
He only thought about how to solve the problem, but did not consider the monarch's perspective. Big Brother is indeed worthy of being Big Brother!
But... I'm afraid I won't be able to beat Big Brother in my lifetime! Woohoo, he also wants to beat Big Brother just once, even just once!!!
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