Guo Juli was anxiously waiting for Mu Zhuohua at home. She couldn't help much, so she could only make a good breakfast for her when she came home.
When Mu Zhuohua came back, the steamed buns on the stove were just cooked. Guo Juli brought out the steamed buns, but Mu Zhuohua had no appetite.
"Juli, I'm going to see the Grand Princess."
Guo Juli was startled: "Grand Princess?"
"Yes, the prince would not commit treason. I suspect that Shen Jinghong framed him, but I don't understand why His Majesty would believe him. His Majesty is stubborn by nature, and the only one who can persuade him is the Grand Princess."
Seeing that Mu Zhuohua had just entered the house and was about to leave, Guo Juli immediately grabbed her sleeve and looked at her with a firm face: "Miss, I know that you will not change your mind. Since you want to go, I must follow you!" Without waiting for Mu Zhuohua to say no, she said, "I have learned kung fu from Brother Zhimo, I can protect you! The first two times you got into trouble, I failed to protect you... I will never leave you no matter what!"
Mu Zhuohua's eyes were hot, she sighed, and rubbed her head: "Stupid girl..."
Mu Zhuohua took Guo Juli with her, and the two hired a carriage to rush to the royal villa. However, when they arrived at the villa, they heard the gatekeeper say that the Grand Princess Zhenguo and Princess Roujia went to the imperial tomb. They had just set off yesterday and would not be back for several days.
Mu Zhuohua was shocked when he heard this. Without saying anything, he immediately asked the driver to turn around and head towards the imperial mausoleum.
In the hall, all the ministers were silent.
Shen Jinghong had just read out the seven major crimes of Prince Ding, including extortion, killing innocent people, and violating military orders... However, the most fatal one was treason. After
Shen Jinghong finished speaking, the emperor did not speak, and no one dared to speak.
The young emperor on the throne had lost his past arrogance and arrogance, and was more gloomy and sinister, which invisibly put more and more pressure on people.
The breathtakingly oppressive atmosphere spread in the palace. Only Shen Jinghong slowly said, "Your Majesty, there is news from Juliang Pass that Liu Yan
's cronies led the crowd to start a riot and plotted against the law. It can be seen that he has a wolfish ambition. Please make a quick decision, Your Majesty!" Liu Chen clenched his fists fiercely, took a deep breath, and said in a deep voice, "Announce Liu Yan's crimes to the world, order the Dingjing garrison to strengthen its defenses, and suppress any unusual movements at Juliang Pass by force!"
Shen Jinghong bowed his head and said, "Your humble servant obeys the order!"
The crimes of Prince Ding Liu Yan were quickly posted all over the city, and at the same time, the horse galloped out of the capital to spread the news throughout the country.
The people did not know Prince Ding that well. The only thing they knew was that Prince Ding was good at fighting. He fought Beiliang for eight years and drove Beiliang away thousands of miles away. Such a meritorious prince can be said to have power over the court and the country, almost covering the sky with one hand. It seems natural that he should bear so many crimes. The people always judge the powerful with the most sinister heart. Whether it is out of hatred for the rich or hatred for officials, they always feel that there are no good people in power and that the rich must be unkind. Therefore, most of the people who heard about this were indignant and wanted to kill King Ding as soon as possible. Even if there were a few sober and rational people who felt that there were many doubts about this matter, the weak voice was soon drowned in the waves.
Those who really felt injustice for King Ding were the soldiers who had followed him in the south and north. They knew King Ding's character very well. Many people were deeply indebted to King Ding and did not believe these crimes at all. Liu Chen thought that after announcing Liu Yan's crimes, he could make the soldiers of Juliang Pass give up resistance. Unexpectedly, the charges were posted at Juliang Pass and were torn off one by one by the soldiers
. Countless people shouted indignation for King Ding at the pass, shouting "King Ding is innocent, treacherous ministers framed, and the incompetent monarch is unjust"! When Liu Chen heard about this, he smashed the paperweight in the imperial study.
Shen Jinghong said, "Your Majesty, Prince Ding has too high a prestige in the army. If he is publicly executed, it may provoke a mutiny. The people of the noble families are eyeing him covetously. You must not create more unrest, otherwise Your Majesty will be caught in two difficulties and the situation will become even more difficult."
Liu Chen said in a deep voice, "How do you think the Shen family can turn the situation around?"
Shen Jinghong bowed his head and
said, "Let Liu Yan plead guilty!" "Will he admit it?" Liu Chen sneered, "Does he dare to admit it?"
Shen Jinghong said, "Your Majesty still doesn't want to see him? Maybe if Your Majesty asks, he will admit it."
Liu Chen froze and his breathing stagnated.
The door of the Tiger Prison opened again, and this time the footsteps were still one person.
When the prison door opened, Liu Yan was still sitting in the same posture as that day, with his eyes closed, calm and composed, as if he had never changed.
"Your Majesty, you are finally here." He closed his eyes and smiled slightly, and spoke first, "Your footsteps have changed a little, and you are hesitant."
Liu Chen held a lantern and stood alone at the door of the cell. Half of his face was illuminated by the dim light, and the other half was hidden in the darkness. He stared at Liu Yan's face, his throat tightened, and there were many things he wanted to say, but they were all stuck in his throat.
Liu Yan's eyes had been in darkness for a long time, and he could not open his eyes to see the light. He faced the direction of Liu Yan and could feel the firelight reflected on his eyelids. Liu Chen did not speak, but the sound of his breathing betrayed what he was thinking.
Liu Yan sighed softly: "Shen Jinghong finally told you about that matter, and between you and me, we have to come to this point."
"What the emperor's uncle said means he admits everything." Liu Chen's voice was cold and hoarse, full of disappointment and resentment, "It was you who killed my father and my grandmother!"
"Is this the truth that Shen Jinghong found out?" Liu Yan smiled faintly, without any surprise or anger. He used a very calm tone to seek justice for himself, "Your Majesty, I did not kill the late emperor, and the death of Empress Dowager Zhou had nothing to do with me."
"I know, I have found it all out clearly." Liu Chen interrupted him, "There was a fire in the palace that day, and I had doubts in my heart, but I never thought that it would be you who did it. Over the past year, I asked Shen Jinghong to investigate openly and secretly, and finally found the real murderer and your motives."
"Uncle, I know that you have never given up on investigating the truth of the defeat in the past three years. You always suspect that it was your father who was afraid of you and secretly planned these conspiracies, which almost cost you your life and killed the guards you cared about most on the battlefield. You want to ask for the truth and justice for them, I know everything!"
Liu Yan interrupted Liu Chen and said, "It was not the late emperor who did it."
Liu Chen sneered, "I know that Shen Jinghong found out the truth. All this was done by the Zhou family. The Zhou family contacted all the noble families with the intention of confronting me. I asked Shen Jinghong to thoroughly investigate the Zhou family. Unexpectedly, under torture, I got an unexpected surprise. The Zhou family told a secret. The defeat in the past was the work of the Zhou family and Xue Xiaotang."
Liu Yan sighed, "Yes, it was planned by the late empress dowager. The ones who really fear me are the Zhou family."
"After knowing this, Shen Jinghong followed the clues and found the palace gate record of the night of the incident, which recorded the time when the emperor's uncle entered and left the palace that night. But the emperor's uncle lied to me that day. You said that you were recuperating in the mansion and knew nothing about it!" Liu Chen said grimly, "In order to silence him, the emperor's
uncle burned the palace and killed all the palace maids who knew about it. But the people who knew about this were not only the people in the palace. Shen Jinghong also asked about your whereabouts that night from the servants of Prince Ding's Mansion!" "Imperial uncle, even though the imperial grandmother harmed you, she raised you. Father covered up her crimes, but father treated you better than us sons! You redressed the grievances of those soldiers and investigated the truth. Are they more important than us? In your eyes, are we, your flesh and blood relatives, not as good as those soldiers?" Liu Chen asked Liu Yan excitedly. His eyes were red and bursting with hatred. "I don't want to believe that the emperor's uncle, whom I have always respected and loved so much, didn't regard us as relatives at all!"
"No! Chen'er, I didn't kill them!" Liu Yan suddenly opened his eyes, the firelight stung his eyes, but he still looked directly at Liu Chen, his chest heaving slightly. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down, and said in a hoarse voice, "That night, it was the late Queen Mother who intended to poison me. After my royal brother knew about it, he hurried back from the palace. He... In order to save me, to resolve the hatred between me and the Zhou family, he drank the cup of poisoned wine himself."
"Do you think I will still believe it..." Liu Chen looked at Liu Yan with disappointment and cold eyes, "What difference does it make whether my father drank the poisoned wine himself or was forced to drink it by you? After all, you killed him, your brother, my father."
Liu Yan lowered his head, he had no way to refute. Yes, his royal brother died because of him. Every time he thought of this, he felt a piercing pain in his heart.
Liu Chen's whole body couldn't stop trembling. He looked at Liu Yan's lowered head. His heart was extremely cold and hard. He slowly closed his eyes and raised his face. He felt tears brewing in his eyes. He really didn't want to shed another tear...
"I don't want to make such a royal scandal public. Uncle, do you want all the people in the world to know?" Liu Chen said indifferently, "Please confess yourself. The soldiers in Juliang Pass rioted because of you. I know that you care most about your subordinates. If you don't want to cause fearless sacrifice, then you go to quell the riot yourself. I... for the sake of our uncle and nephew, I will give you an intact body." After
Liu Chen said this, he seemed unwilling to stay in this dark and cold cell anymore, and even more unwilling to look at Liu Yan again. He strode away, taking away the only light in the darkness.
After a long time, another footstep slowly came to the door.
Liu Yan looked at Shen Jinghong who appeared at the door with cold eyes. Shen Jinghong held a lantern with a smile on his lips, but his eyes were the same indifference and coldness.
"Your Highness Prince Ding, oh no, it should be the criminal Liu Yan. You wanted to see His Majesty, so I brought him here. Are you satisfied?" Shen Jinghong looked at Liu Yan with a smile, "You said I deceived the emperor, you are wrong, I just told some truths to let His Majesty know the truth he should know. Although it is a bit cruel, growth always requires experiencing such heart-wrenching pain, doesn't it?"
Liu Yan looked at Shen Jinghong coldly: "No wonder you are fearless, you know His Majesty will not believe me anymore."
Shen Jinghong brushed his sleeves and said slowly: "This is also your own fault. You can't blame others for leaving such a big handle. His Majesty came here today to ask you to plead guilty. You can force your brother to death for the dead soldiers. I believe you can also die calmly for the living soldiers."
Liu Yan sneered: "I have thought about it for a long time in prison these two days. Why did you deliberately get rid of me?"
"Of course it's because you are guilty." Shen Jinghong smiled.
"No, you are cutting off His Majesty's arms step by step. You promoted the reform of the system of favoritism, ostensibly to cultivate power for His Majesty, but in fact you were forming a clique for personal gain and establishing prestige. You took advantage of His Majesty's dissatisfaction with the aristocratic families, lured the Sun family into the trap, framed the Zhou family, and almost wiped out the aristocratic families. It seemed that you were selfless and not afraid of the powerful, but you acted in the name of His Majesty, and the real resentment fell on His Majesty. It seemed that you were killing traitors for His Majesty, but in fact, you were using His Majesty to kill people! Although the Zhou family has a grudge against me, they are related to His Majesty. You have alienated the relationship between His Majesty and the Zhou family, and designed His Majesty to kill me. You have eliminated His Majesty's right-hand men and made him make countless enemies. If the day comes when the mountain collapses, who can protect him?"
Liu Yan stared at Shen Jinghong's face and rebuked him harshly.
Shen Jinghong listened quietly to Liu Yan's accusation, clapped his hands lightly, smiled and nodded: "You are worthy of being His Royal Highness Prince Ding, I really admire you, but it's a little late to understand now, I am fortunate that I announced your crimes in time. Now the world calls you a traitor, and I am the leader of the poor family and the confidant of His Majesty. Who will believe you when you say this?"
Liu Yan closed his eyes and said coldly: "I will not plead guilty. If I die, no one can protect His Majesty."
Shen Jinghong's eyes flashed with murderous intent: "Do you think you don't have to die if you don't plead guilty? In my Tiger Prison, you want There are many ways for a person to die, not to mention that I still have many hostages in my hands. The two young men captured in Prince Ding's mansion must be your confidants, they seem to be called Zhijian and Zhimo... You say, if I cut off their hands, can I still use Zhijian and Zhimo in the future?"
Liu Yan opened his eyes and glared at Shen Jinghong, and said coldly: "Despicable villain."
Shen Jinghong laughed: "Thank you for the compliment. In this court, a gentleman like Prince Ding will not live long. Being too soft-hearted is a flaw. His Majesty wants to kill you, but you still think about him in every way. I really don't know whether to laugh at you for being stupid or respect you for your loyalty. "
"It's quiet here. Prince Ding should think about it carefully. Tomorrow I will bring Zhijian and Zhimo. Whether to leave their hands or the prince is willing to go to Juliang Pass to confess his guilt, I hope you can give me a satisfactory answer by then."
Shen Jinghong said, closed the door and left.
Liu Yan did not close his eyes. Although he could not see anything clearly in the pitch-black darkness, he still opened his eyes and stared at the endless darkness.
Liu Yan lowered his eyes in pain and slowly clenched his fists.
He hid all this from Liu Chen just because he did not want the child to be hurt again. He did not expect that he would be hurt in the most tragic way in the end.
Maybe he could not escape, but if he died, Liu Chen would probably fall completely into Shen Jinghong's control.
And Zhuohua...
In the darkness, he gently said her name - Zhuohua...
Just saying her name, he could not help but raise the corners of his mouth, but in the end he closed his eyes sadly.
She should know that he was in prison, where is she now?
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