Chapter 441 Restore King Xuan’s position as Chief!

In the East Palace.

When the palace maid informed the left prime minister Shen Li'an that he wanted to see Xiao Bicheng, he was drinking and having fun with the concubine Shen Shuyu.

Shen Shuyu held the wine in her mouth and kissed him with her lips. She looked so charming, "Your Highness..."

With such a soft sound, Xiao Bicheng's bones almost softened.

It is said that young ladies from aristocratic families are dignified and elegant, and their every move is like that of a lady from a noble family.

But Shen Shuyu was a wonderful person with endless new and unique tricks that made him love her very much.

He gasped heavily twice, pinched her waist and turned her over. Just as he was about to do something, he was interrupted by the palace maid's message.

He gritted his teeth in annoyance, his expression clearly tinged with displeasure, "That old bastard Shen Lian, he better be in real trouble!"

Waving his hand for everyone to leave, Xiao Bicheng tidied up his appearance and asked someone to call Shen Lian in.

After entering the hall, Shen Lian bowed to the prince first, and then explained his purpose without beating around the bush.

"Your Highness, this matter is of great importance. Please make the decision, Your Highness!"

Xiao Bicheng was already holding his breath, and when he heard that it was just a trivial matter, he became even more angry. "A sixth-rank Zhenwei school lieutenant dared to commit treason and accuse important officials of the court. This is simply lawless! Prime Minister Shen, as the head of the civil and military forces of the Manchu court, did not think of stopping it, but instead tolerated such a treacherous villain. I am really disappointed!"

When Shen Lian heard this, he almost doubted his own ears.

It was clearly Meng Xing who allowed others to do evil and abused his power, but how come when the Crown Prince said it, it became Han Ding's fault?

He was heartbroken and said, "Your Highness, Han Ding has already sounded the drum to file a complaint in front of all the civil and military officials and the people of the capital. If this matter is not handled properly, it will make the generals and the people of the world feel disappointed!"

Xiao Bicheng still cared about his reputation after all. Although he was unwilling to be coerced, he still asked someone to summon Meng Xing for an audience.

Soon, Meng Xing entered the palace: "Your humble servant pays respect to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Okay, get up." Xiao Bicheng raised his hand to let him get up, and said in an unhappy tone, "I'm sure you've heard about the drum being knocked at the palace gate. You too, can't handle such a small matter, and you let people make such a fuss?"

In terms of kinship, Xiao Bicheng has to call Meng Xing his cousin-in-law.

In terms of the relationship between the monarch and his subjects, Xiao Bicheng cultivated Meng Xing as his trusted general, otherwise he would not have handed over such an important position as the Yufusi to him.

So when this happened, Xiao Bicheng did not intend to ask for blame and simply gave a few words of reprimand.

Meng Xing quickly admitted his mistake, "Your Highness is reprimanding me for my failure in my duty."

Xiao Bicheng waved his hand and said, "Forget it. Go back and ask someone to release that..."

"Han Ding."

"Release Han Ding's father, send his sister back, and deal with your concubine and her brother to make amends, and pay some gold and silver, and then you can make a big deal out of a small matter."

Meng Xing stammered, "His father...his father is dead."

Xiao Bicheng was stunned. "What?"

Meng Xing immediately said: "I didn't do anything to him. He was in poor health and died of a sudden illness!"

"Give me more compensation." Xiao Bicheng pinched his brows, not wanting to get entangled in such a trivial matter anymore.

At worst, I can just mention Han Ding's official position again, which will be considered as doing him justice.

"Yes." Meng Xing was still nervous at first, but when he saw the prince's attitude, he immediately felt confident.

After leaving the palace, he immediately ordered people to carry Father Han's body out of Yu Fusi's cell and directly carry it in front of Han Ding.

Also carried over were ten trays of gold ingots.

He was arrogant and looked disdainful. "Your father was too weak and died as soon as he entered the Yufusi. Although it is none of my business, I am kind-hearted and am willing to pay one thousand taels of gold as your father's funeral expenses."

Han Ding trembled as he lifted the white cloth covering his father's body. Seeing the scars all over his father's body, he felt a surge of grief and anger in his heart.

Died by himself? Haha, died by himself?

He was injured like this, but he actually said that he died on his own?!

It's simply the most ridiculous thing in the world!

Han Ding held his father in his arms tremblingly, a tear of blood falling from the corner of his eye.

Meng Xing looked down at him and sneered, "Boy, you can't earn this much money even if you sell your life on the battlefield all your life, right? You can get wealth and glory by killing your father's bones. It's really a bargain for you!"

Han Ding seemed to have made up his mind and said through gritted teeth, "I want to perform an autopsy!"

Meng Xing was stunned. "What did you say?"

Han Ding repeated word for word, "I. Want. An. Examine. The. Corpse!"

Meng Xing sneered, "Okay, I want to see which coroner dares to examine this corpse!"

No one around spoke, and no one from the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court, or the Censorate dared to respond.

Prime Minister Shen went to the palace in person to submit a complaint. The Crown Prince summoned Meng Xing, but in the end, neither a case was filed nor anyone was arrested. He was only asked to send silver as compensation and apologize, which in itself was very telling.

Who would risk offending the crown prince to help Han Ding?

Meng Xing looked around smugly. The common people clenched their fists in anger, but could do nothing.

At this moment, a man suddenly spoke up, "I am Cao Ji, the coroner of Jingzhao Prefecture, and I am willing to perform an autopsy on the body of the innocent man!"

This sound is like the sound of something falling to the ground.

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw Yang Fangwen, the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture, walking out of the crowd with an old man carrying a wooden box.

Meng Xing gritted his teeth and threatened fiercely, "Master Yang, are you going to go against me?"

Yang Fangwen looked at him fearlessly, "I believe that in this vast world, it is not the turn of Lord Meng to cover the sky with one hand!"

"Well said!" There was a burst of applause from the crowd.

Soon after, more and more ordinary people joined the ranks of support.

"Test! Test! Test!"

Meng Xing brought not many guards with him, and not only could they not stop the rebellion, they almost got squeezed all over the place.

He held the crown and said angrily, "Okay, very good. I want to see what you can do to me even if the body is autopsied!"

Yang Fangwen waved his hand and asked people to build a small house on the street as quickly as possible.

The cottage has a platform inside and is surrounded by curtains.

Everyone was shocked when they saw this scene.

They actually wanted to perform an autopsy on the street!

Cao Yu changed his clothes and tools, bowed to the dead man, and said, "I'm sorry."

Then, the curtain was lowered, and only sounds could be heard coming from inside -

"The skull was fractured... the shape of the wound... was struck repeatedly by a heavy object..."

"Torn skin and flesh...whip marks...burn marks..."

"The tendons in my hands and feet were torn... my hand and leg bones were shattered..."

"Eyeballs burst..."

Every word and sentence made the onlookers' hearts beat with fear.

After being tortured like this, Meng Xing still called it death due to poor health?

Does he think everyone is blind?

When Cao Ji wrote the last word, the record was already densely written.

Han Ding knelt on the ground, covering his cheeks, tears streaming from between his fingers.

What child could remain indifferent after hearing about how much his father had suffered?

Yang Fangwen opened his mouth, wanting to go forward and say a few words of comfort, but in the end he didn't say anything.

There are some things that he can only get through on his own.

Soon, Han Ding raised his head, knelt down toward the palace gate, and tore off his clothes, revealing the scars on his back and chest.

"I followed the Marquis of Changxing to help Xichuan, and wiped out the mountain bandits. I survived many dangers and made great military achievements. I thought I could go home and reunite with my family, but in the end, my family was destroyed and everyone died."

"Today, I am using this scar from serving the country to beg Your Majesty to give me justice!"

…

"How dare he seek return of favor and threaten me?"

Inside the East Palace, Xiao Bicheng threw things all over the floor with a sinister look on his face.

There are tens of millions of lands in the world. If anyone who suffers a little injustice is treated like this in the future, how can the world be governed?

"Where is the commander of the imperial guards?"

"I am here."

"Order 5,000 imperial guards to suppress this matter and capture Han Ding for me..."

Before he finished speaking, a palace maid hurried into the palace and said, "Your Highness, this is bad. Many generals are kneeling outside the palace gate, all begging Your Highness to investigate this case thoroughly!"

Han Ding's actions aroused the blood of all the generals.

Someone shouted, "We fought hard to protect our country, but our families were insulted and harmed by the powerful. This is an insult to all of us soldiers!"

"Damn it, who will dare to go to the battlefield in the future? Who will dare to fight to the death with peace of mind?"

"Your Highness, please give me justice!"

"Your Highness, please give me justice!!!"

Not only that, those who did not kneel in front of the palace gate to petition also submitted their petitions.

Seeing things get to this point, Xiao Bicheng finally started to panic.

He hurriedly summoned Sima Youxiang and Zuoxiang Shen Li'an, as well as a group of important ministers into the palace.

"Please give me some advice quickly, my dear ministers!"

One person said, "At this point, we can only abandon the car guard. Please ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to immediately order a strict investigation of this case, give justice to the Han family, and stabilize the people's hearts!"

"That's right, that's right..." Xiao Bicheng raised his head and said to Sima Youxiang, "Who do you think should be the most suitable person to handle this case?"

"Your Highness!" Shen Lian raised his voice in disapproval, "Meng Xing is the grandson-in-law of the Right Prime Minister. Logically, the Right Prime Minister and his related personnel should all stay away, otherwise they will be criticized!"

The candidate for the right prime minister was rejected, and Xiao Bicheng proposed several of his own confidants, but they were all rejected by a group of ministers led by Shen Lian on the grounds that "people might think that the prince is partial and unjust and cannot serve the people."

Even Sima Youxiang did not question this.

After all, he was an easy choice between a grandson-in-law who was a crown prince and a grandson-in-law who had incurred public anger.

Xiao Bicheng was a little annoyed, "This is not okay, that is not okay, then who will try this case so that no one can say anything!"

The ministers looked at each other and spoke almost at the same time, "I think that Your Highness Prince Xuan can take on this important task!"

First, Xiao Jinxuan was originally the first chief of the Probation Department. He has always been in charge of interrogating official cases and is very experienced.

Secondly, he has always been fair and just and is the most popular among the people. If he were to judge the case, the people would not have any objection.

Xiao Bicheng had no choice but to wave his hands helplessly, "Then let Prince Xuan handle the case."

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince has no name or power. How can King Xuan handle this? Please restore King Xuan's position as the chief of the Sustainment Department!"

All the ministers followed Shen Lian and petitioned together, "Your Highness, please restore Prince Xuan's position as the chief of the Ministry of Sustainment!"

Xiao Bicheng clenched his fists, feeling extremely angry and hateful.

He argued with Prince Yong for a long time and finally managed to drive Xiao Jinxuan out of the Yufusi.

Soon after Prince Yong fell from power, he immediately took control of the Yu Fusi.

Before he could even warm up to her, they asked him to return the company to Xiao Jinxuan?!

How can this be possible… How can this be possible!

But even though he was trembling with anger, facing the situation, Xiao Bicheng had to grit his teeth and give the order, "Then restore Prince Xuan's position as the chief of the Yufu Division, and let him preside over the Han family case. If he can't give me a satisfactory explanation, I will hold him accountable!"

The decree quickly spread from the palace to Prince Xuan's mansion.

In Prince Xuan's mansion, Xiao Jinxuan was sitting in the living room. He had already changed into his official uniform, as if he had expected this.

As soon as the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict arrived, he immediately stood up and strode out of the door.

"Prepare your horses and return to Yufusi!"