They looked at each other and said with their heads down, "Go back to the palace. There is nothing wrong with the Crown Prince Ding and his wife. Since the Crown Prince's leg healed, they often travel together, but they usually come back in one day. We once secretly followed them and found that they were just going to the town or the county town to visit shops."
He Lingsheng's eyes were cold and stern: "So, during the time you guys were hiding in the Dingguo Palace, apart from growing a lot of weight, you didn't bring back any useful information?"
When the people heard this, they all lowered their heads in guilt and said, "I am useless, please punish me, Your Highness."
"Waste!" He Lingsheng clenched his fists. He wished he could chop them to pieces, but the Dingguo Palace was impregnable and there was no way to place spies there. They followed the Dingguo Palace back to Beijing and were the only ones who could pass on news from the palace.
"I will give you one last chance. From now on, pay attention to all news from Prince Ding's Palace and report to me at any time."
"yes!"
As they left the Prince's Mansion, a guard came over and said, "Your Highness, Prime Minister Shang is here."
He Lingsheng frowned and said in a deep voice: "Let him in."
Soon, Shangnian came hurriedly: "Your Majesty." He knelt down on the ground with a plop: "Please, Your Majesty, save this old minister!"
He Lingsheng sat in the main seat, looking coldly at Shangnian who was kneeling on the bed: "Why do you say that, Lord Shang?"
Shangnian said with a bitter face: "Your Highness, Your Majesty has issued an edict of repentance, this old minister, this old minister..."
"Is the Prime Minister involved?" He Lingsheng whispered, "I see that the Emperor has no intention of punishing me."
The emperor had no intention of punishing him, because he wanted to keep him to vent his anger on the Dingwang Palace.
After all, he was the one who gave the advice on the deaths of tens of thousands of soldiers, the massacre of several great families, and the exile of King Ding's palace.
"Your Highness, my daughter is about to marry into the Crown Prince's Mansion. As long as you can protect my family, I am willing to serve you without hesitation." He took out a map from his arms and handed it to He Lingsheng: "Your Highness, this was obtained by me by accident, and I am willing to present it to you."
He Lingsheng looked at the blueprint and his pupils shrank: "This is..."
"Yes, what is drawn on this map is the treasure left by the previous dynasty." Shangnian said in a low voice: "This is what I found accidentally. It is said that the treasure map was divided into four parts, and this is one of them."
He Lingsheng couldn't help but smile when he heard this: "I didn't expect that the Prime Minister would have such a good thing in his heart."
"Your Highness, you know that my house was robbed before, and there is nothing I can take out. I'm sure you won't look down on these vulgar things. I can only bring this blueprint to honor you."
He Lingsheng had heard a long time ago that the previous dynasty left behind a huge fortune before its fall, but no one knew where it was hidden. The emperor of the previous dynasty left his descendants a treasure map, which was divided into four parts. As long as the treasure map was put together, the treasure of the previous dynasty could be found. However, these were all rumors. He Lingsheng did not expect to see the fragment of the treasure map.
"Since Lord Shang is so kind, I can't help but refuse." He smiled and said, "I will tell the emperor what Lord Xiang wants."
Shangnian was delighted when he heard this: "Thank you, Your Majesty!" He smiled and said: "I will do my best to assist Your Majesty, and I will also find a way to put together this treasure map."
After Shangnian left, He Lingsheng looked at the treasure map on the table and narrowed his eyes. He thought he knew the old man Shangnian's character very well. He definitely would not have only one copy of this treasure map.
At the morning court on the next day, all the civil and military officials dared not speak, and their eyes would occasionally fall on He Yuwen and He Jingheng, who were in the front row.
"Your Majesty, I beg you to punish Zhongshu Zheng Qi, Dingjun Wang He Zhiyuan, and Prime Minister Shangnian, to comfort the souls of the soldiers who died tragically at Qijing Pass."
Zheng Qi and He Zhiyuan were thrown into the Tianlao early in the morning. Now there was only Shangnian kneeling on the bed.
He kept wiping the sweat off his head and said, "Your Majesty, please have mercy on me. I know I am wrong."
The veins on Emperor Tianshun's forehead were exposed, and he said in a deep voice: "You people come to the court so aggressively to ask for punishment for your first return. Do you still want to punish me?"
He Yuwen was speechless, only hearing He Jingheng say: "Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, but even the Son of Heaven shall be punished with the same crime as the common people if he breaks the law. As for me, I am only investigating the initiator of the Qijingguan case." He Jingheng's eyes fell on Emperor Tianshun, and his eyes were as sharp as a knife, making Emperor Tianshun's scalp numb, as if the word "initiator" meant whether he was kneeling on the throne for years.
In fact, who among the civil and military officials didn't know what He Jingheng meant?
The person he was referring to was Emperor Tianshun.
“Tens of thousands of soldiers died tragically at Qijing Pass. How can such treacherous and cunning people who abuse their power for personal gain and pervert the law have the dignity to live in this world?” As soon as He Jingheng finished speaking, many generals stood up. Some of them had gone to Qijing Pass with He Yuwen's son. No one knew better than them how tragic the battle was. If it weren't for their sons and sisters, all the soldiers would have died there.
"I beg your Majesty to punish me severely!"
"I beg your Majesty to punish me severely!"
"Please, Your Majesty, punish Shang Cheng with the death penalty to comfort the spirits of the generals in heaven."
He Jingheng stepped forward and said, "Not only that, Your Majesty should also provide pensions to the families of those soldiers who died tragically."
His words made Emperor Tianshun, who was already on the verge of a rage, even more angry.
There are more than 60,000 people. Even if each person gets 10 taels, it will cost more than 600,000 taels. This is definitely a huge expense for the court.
At this moment, He Lingsheng stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to say."
"What?"
"Your Majesty." He Lingsheng said in a low voice: "Although Prime Minister Shang made mistakes, he has devoted himself to the court over the years and has made great contributions. I think he should be dismissed from his post as Prime Minister and demoted to a remote place, allowing him to make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence."
"If what the prince said is true, as long as one has made meritorious deeds, one can offset the sins, then all the people sentenced to death can be exempted from punishment." Xu Yuan said in a cold voice: "Although Prime Minister Shang has made contributions to the court, it is difficult to offset his merits and demerits. Moreover, what Prime Minister Shang has done has shaken the foundation of the country. His crime should be punished, and not killing him will not be enough to appease the public anger! Please make a decision, Your Majesty!"
All the civil and military officials knelt before him and said, "I beg your Majesty to make the decision."
He Lingsheng had not expected that the Dingguo Palace had been away from the court for so long, but it would still have such a strong appeal. Emperor Tianshun held the dragon throne tightly with both hands and said in a cold voice: "Come here! Drag Shangnian away, put him in the sky prison, and execute him in the autumn!"
Shangnian's heart instantly sank to the bottom when he heard this. He looked at He Lingsheng in shock, but when he saw that he just looked at him coldly, he quickly lowered his head.
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