Concubine Chu's maid personally escorted Chu Qianhuang to the main hall entrance and reminded her, "Miss Chu, don't forget the Concubine's instructions."

Thinking of Concubine Chu's ecstatic expression and the earnest instructions just now, Chu Qianhuang smiled meaningfully and said perfunctorily: "Tell my aunt, I understand."

Chu Qianhuang walked down the white marble steps without any reluctance and walked towards the four Black Armor Army soldiers who were waiting for her. From beginning to end, she never looked back.

When she walked down the last step, her expression changed completely, and there was no trace of a smile at the corners of her tightly pursed lips.

Now, she just wanted to leave the palace as soon as possible and leave this place of confinement.

Then, she had to think carefully about what she should do next.

Of course, she would not believe Concubine Chu's words. She knew that the other party was just using her. Concubine Chu was not much better than Jiang Minshan and Chu Lingxiao. They were all the same! She would never let it go!

Chu Qianhuang kept repeating the names of Chu Lingxiao and Jiang Minshan in her heart. She followed several Xuanjia Army soldiers out of the palace absentmindedly, got on the carriage absentmindedly, and sat absentmindedly against the wall of the carriage...

After a long time, she suddenly realized that something was wrong.

She had taken the route from the palace to the Chu family many times and knew it by heart. Even in the carriage, she could feel that something was wrong with the route.

Chu Qianhuang quickly drew aside the curtains and looked out of the carriage. The street outside was not unfamiliar, but this was definitely not the road leading to the Chu family.

On each side of the carriage, there were two Black Armor Army soldiers riding their horses, closely guarding it.

Chu Qianhuang couldn't help but clench the curtain with her right hand and asked, "Where are you taking me?"

No one answered her question.

The carriage continued to gallop along with the sound of whips.

When the carriage stopped outside Baiyun Temple, Chu Qianhuang was dumbfounded and asked again: "Why did you bring me here?!" They wouldn't bring her to the temple to get ordained... No, they should take her to the nunnery.

This time, someone finally paid attention to her.

"Miss Chu, please get off the car." One of the square-faced generals said indifferently, "From now on, you will listen to the sutras and purify your mind every day in Baiyun Temple."

Chu Qianhuang couldn't believe her ears.

But it was indeed the case. The square-faced young general contacted the monks of Baiyun Temple and rented a room for her to stay in for a long time. He also made an agreement with the monk in charge of receiving guests to take her to the Dharma Hall to listen to sutras every day, and left two soldiers of the Black Armor Army to look after her.

Not only that, they also provided her with a maid to do the rough work of sweeping and cleaning.

Until Chu Qianhuang was brought into a remote room in a daze, she still had no sense of reality. She felt that everything was strange and not at all as expected.

With a creaky sound, the door of the wing room was closed, and the surrounding windows were all locked, leaving the room in darkness.

The air was filled with the unique smell of temple cigarettes.

Chu Qianhuang turned around blankly, looked around, and felt breathless.

Except for going to the Dharma Hall to listen to the sutras, she couldn't even leave this room. It was like being locked up in the palace. She was just being locked up from one cage to another.

Chu Qianhuang wanted to escape, but didn't know how.

She felt like she was trapped in an endless nightmare, and every time she thought she had woken up from it, she would find that she had just entered the next nightmare, over and over again.

At this moment, Chu Qianhuang felt exhausted.

She fell into confusion again, not knowing what the meaning of her journey through this scene was.

She seemed to know the plot, and many things proved this. However, the plot seemed to be shrouded in a hazy veil, and she often only saw five points. Therefore, the development of events would always deviate, resulting in the opposite of what she wanted in the end.

Until now, she didn't know what to do.

She thought she was doing everything right, but now it seems like nothing is right.

What on earth had she ever done right?!

A few gusts of wind blew in through the gaps in the window, making the already dim candlelight flicker and making the atmosphere in the room seem a little eerie.

Not only did Chu Qianhuang leave the palace, but Concubine Chu and other concubines also moved out of the palace today and moved to Huifu Garden, a temporary palace on the outskirts of Beijing.

As a result, most of the people in the harem were gone all of a sudden, and everything became completely quiet.

The entire capital city also returned to its former tranquility.

After dealing with the affairs in the palace, he began to deal with the affairs in the court one by one.

The first person to be dealt with is Kang Hongda.

Early in the morning, Kang Hongda was personally escorted to the Huagai Palace by Xue Fengyan and Tang Yuchu.

Kang Hongda was still wearing the robe he had worn when he went to Prince Chen's Mansion eight days ago, but the robe had become wrinkled and gave off a strange smell like pickles.

His handsome face was covered with dark stubble, no longer as elegant and graceful as before.

However, his eyes were still dark and bright, and even when he was brought in front of Gu Jue, he still looked free and arrogant.

He stopped five or six steps away from Gu Jue, looked him in the eye, and clapped his hands twice with a smile instead of anger:

"Hasn't His Royal Highness Prince Chen always acted like a carefree wanderer, not caring about the throne? What's going on now? Isn't he forcing the emperor to take the throne?"

"From now on, Prince Gu Jue will be recorded in history books as a traitor who usurped the throne and murdered his brother, and will bear eternal infamy. Your glorious past will no longer be preserved!"

Kang Hongda did not kneel down. He just stood with his head held high, looking at Gu Jue with eyes as sharp as arrows. His expression was fearless, like a rock standing firm in the wind and rain.

"Alas, the winner makes you a king and the loser is a bandit. I, Kang, would like to congratulate His Royal Highness Prince Chen." He even pretended to bow to Gu Jue, with sarcasm evident in his words.

"Eternal infamy?" Gu Jue raised his eyebrows, his eyes calm, "Gu Lang favored Taoist priests and was obsessed with elixirs. He deserved his own death. If a tyrant emperor died, everyone would applaud. History books would record his arrogance and debauchery in great detail."

"Restoring chaos and restoring order is a meritorious service, and future generations will be able to judge for themselves."

When saying these words, Gu Jue's tone did not fluctuate, his voice was neither light nor heavy, very calm and cool.

Kang Hongda's face turned pale and blue. Seeing Gu Jue's calm look, he knew that his words were of no use to Gu Jue.

Gu Lang wanted to go down in history and become an emperor of all ages, but Gu Jue didn't care about these empty names.

Gu Jue thought it was ridiculous and said calmly, "Master Kang, how do you think history books will evaluate you, Kang Hongda?"

Kang Hongda: “…”

There was silence in the hall.

Kang Hongda smiled coldly, his back still straight, and said in a tough tone: "Even if I die today, the history books will clear my name. I am a loyal minister who tried to stop the traitor King Chen from forcing the emperor to abdicate!"

"Do you dare to tamper with history books?!"

Gu Jue found it extremely ridiculous.

He even dared to force the emperor to abdicate, so what could not be changed in the history books?

But he did not discuss these trivial matters with Kang Hongda. His voice was light and pointed directly at the opponent's vital points: "For your own selfish interests, you instigated the emperor to kill the prince and punish loyal ministers, resulting in the unnecessary deaths of 60,000 imperial guards of the Great Qi!"

"He is just a defeated general!"

"You..." Kang Hongda's face turned pale and his whole body was as tense as a sculpture.

He wanted to say that Gu Jue was confusing right and wrong, and wanted to say that Gu Jue was the culprit who caused the death of 60,000 soldiers, but before he could say the rest, he heard a "puff" and Xue Fengyan laughed out loud.

In this empty hall, his laughter seemed particularly abrupt.

Xue Fengyan has always been bold and not fussy about details. Seeing that Gu Jue did not look displeased, he boldly interjected: "In ancient times, there was Zhao Kuo, and now there is Kang Hongda!"

Speaking of Zhao Kuo, the most famous idiom is "talking about war on paper". When people mention him, they all despise and ridicule him. This name will be infamous for thousands of years! Tang Yuchu almost laughed when he heard this. He felt that Xue Feng's speech was really mean! Well, he liked it! Kang Hongda: "!!!"

Kang Hongda's face was filled with anger, shame and hatred, his face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and the hypocritical demeanor he had managed to maintain could no longer be maintained at this moment.

“Gu Jue,” he glared at Gu Jue angrily, his voice rising three points, “I respect you as a person of character. If you have the guts, just kill me now. Why let your subordinates humiliate me like this!!”

"Humiliation?" Gu Jue raised the corners of his lips, his eyes as cold as cold dew, "It's just that the truth hurts the ear."

This Kang Hongda is really the same person as Gu Lang. He values ​​fame over money. In order to keep the power in his hands, he does not hesitate to instigate the father and son to kill each other, and does not even care whether the Da Qi Dynasty will be in turmoil because of this.

Kang Hongda: “!!!”

Kang Hongda's chest rose and fell violently. Gu Jue actually compared him to Zhao Kuo, saying that he would be infamous for eternity! Kang Hongda opened his mouth slightly, and his chest seemed to be hit hard by a heavy hammer. His throat felt sweet, and a mouthful of blood spurted out...

A pool of glaring blood sprayed on the mirror-like golden brick floor.

Xue Fengyan and Tang Yuchu exchanged glances with a smile.

This is how you kill someone and destroy their heart!

Kang Hongda is a narrow-minded person who is very petty. With his temperament and conceited character, if he really went to the battlefield, he would have defeated the Great Qi Dynasty long ago!

Even though Kang Hongda was so angry that he vomited blood, Gu Jue's expression remained calm and he ordered: "Send Kang Hongda to the three courts for trial, and the results of the trial will be announced to the world."

There is no point in arguing too much. The three courts will be able to make the final decision after the trial.

Since Kang Hongda has a good reputation, then I will just do as he wishes.

Kang Hongda was taken away again by several Black Armor Army soldiers. This time he was transferred to the Tianlao of the Ministry of Justice. The three-court trial was held in the Dali Temple early the next morning.

In order to show fairness, the three-court trial also allowed ordinary people to watch.

There were so many people who wanted to watch the excitement that the entrance of the Dali Temple was crowded with people early in the morning. Most people wanted to know what truth was hidden behind this sudden forced abdication, and they were even more curious about what happened on the day when Emperor Zhongzong Gu Lang passed away. Today's joint trial of the three courts can be said to have caused a sensation in the whole city.

Only thirty people can enter the Dali Temple courtroom and watch the trial up close. These thirty places are selected by drawing lots, which depends entirely on luck, so people from all walks of life are included.

The Chief Justice, the Minister of Justice and the Left Censor-in-Chief gathered together to try the case.

The atmosphere in the court was solemn.

Kang Hongda was an official. Even if he was temporarily detained, as long as he was not convicted and there was no imperial edict to dismiss him from his official position, he would still be a first-rank official and would not have to kneel in court.

Even when facing three presiding judges, Kang Hongda remained unafraid and stood proudly, seemingly having recovered from yesterday's blow.

In response to the presiding judge's questioning, Kang Hongda refused to admit his guilt.

But the evidence was irrefutable and he had no choice but to admit it.

Pieces of evidence were presented in the court, including witnesses and physical evidence. The commander of the Fifth Army Camp He Guangheng, the eunuch Ni Xiang, the lieutenant general of the Fifth Army Camp Du Huatang, the commander of the Huben Guard Dai Hua and others all came to court. Among them was the imperial edict from Emperor Zhongzong Gu Lang to the Fifth Army Camp as physical evidence.

There are both witnesses and evidence. Even if Kang Hongda does not plead guilty, everyone knows what happened, and the three presiding judges can convict him based on the evidence.

After all, whether Kang Hongda was guilty or not had already been determined before the trial began, and the three presiding judges had also discussed with the prime minister and other cabinet elders on how to convict him.

“Bang!”

The gavel was banged loudly, and the judge of the Dali Temple made a verdict in public, convicting Kang Hongda of the crime of inciting the late emperor to kill the crown prince, murdering loyal ministers, and intending to provoke a civil war.

Each of the charges was enough to sentence Kang Hongda to death. He was sentenced to beheading, and the entire Kang family was implicated and sentenced to exile three thousand miles away.

The whole room was in uproar.

Those who were listening to the trial outside the court finally understood the whole story. For a moment, they talked about it a lot and felt that this reality was even more exciting than the play script.

"The late emperor actually killed the crown prince with his own hands. Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs. How cruel of a heart!"

"It was the treacherous ministers who took power and bewitched the late emperor!"

"If it weren't for His Royal Highness Prince Chen's support for the orthodoxy, wouldn't those treacherous villains have succeeded?!"

"I have to set up a longevity tablet for His Royal Highness Prince Chen when I return..."

The people were talking incessantly, their expressions were excited. To these people, the truth was not that important. The key point was that this coup had no impact on them.

As long as there is no war next, everything is fine! As for Kang Hongda, he is not afraid of death. What he hates is that these people cannot distinguish right from wrong and praise Gu Jue to the throne of god, while he himself has become a treacherous minister beside the tyrant.

These discussions were like whips that hit Kang Hongda again and again, making his ears buzz, his eyes go dark, and he spurted out another mouthful of blood...

No one cared whether Kang Hongda was dead or alive. He was now just a convicted prisoner and half dead.

The three-court trial ended in a lively manner.

Today's trial is an open trial, so the results of the trial will be announced to the world by the court so that everyone in the world will know Kang Hongda's guilt.

Before the court's announcement, the scholars and students who attended the trial wrote relevant articles to express their opinions, circulated them to each other, and discussed with each other. Most of the scholars did not dare to comment on the emperor who had just passed away, but they had no scruples about Kang Hongda. They discussed and condemned his various crimes and even called him a traitor of all time, comparable to Qin Hui!

The people were also talking about this matter, exaggerating it more and more, and making it more and more bizarre, almost turning Kang Hongda into a demon, and Gu Jue into the incarnation of Wu Quxing! The day after Kang Hongda was convicted, Chu Lingxiao was released back to the Chu family.

(End of this chapter)