141. Gaming
Zheng Fu began to hesitate, and his eyes began to flicker.
Rong Se laughed out loud, "It seems that there is no more."
The only one who knew that the original owner was involved was Zhao An. Unfortunately, Cao Yumin was eager to silence Zhao An and killed her. Even she herself didn't know that the original owner was also involved in her plan to kill Rong Xu and seize the throne. That's why Cao Lun was determined to put the blame on the current Regent.
Rong Se was now sitting on the Qilin throne in the Xuanzheng Palace, calm and composed, and sneered at Li Yanheng, "Since you want to convict me, there should be more than one witness. Summon them all to the palace."
It was as if he was not the one being impeached for regicide. He spoke calmly, as if he were an outsider, watching this farce that had nothing to do with him with a sneer.
Li Yanheng broke out in a cold sweat, feeling for no reason that this game, which he had planned for a long time and was sure to win, had suddenly become someone else's home court.
So he looked at Cao Lun vaguely.
Cao Lun nodded slightly in response.
All of this fell into Rong Se's eyes. His eyes gradually turned cold, but there was no sign of panic. He just watched, analyzed and responded calmly. This was the situation he had been waiting for since he came to this world.
He had already rehearsed this countless times in his mind.
With Cao Lun's tacit approval, Li Yanheng pretended to ask Rong Jing for permission to summon more witnesses.
This time, two people went to the palace together and kowtowed to the monarch, and one of them attracted Rong Se's attention. As he stared at him, his eyes became colder.
Rong Se would not mistake that handsome and gentle face; it was Yan Shuning.
He was actually still in Jinjing, but he looked extremely poor. Back then, Fushenglou could tell at a glance that he was a rich young man, but now he was dressed shabbily, which showed that he was not living a happy life.
"Your Majesty, I, Zhao Yun, can testify that the Regent poisoned the late emperor and usurped the throne." Another young man who was kneeling said, but he looked timid and didn't dare to raise his head. He wished he could lie on the ground. "My father used to work in the Imperial Hospital. He was sentenced to death for failing to treat Your Majesty. In fact... in fact, it was because the Regent bribed my father to poison Your Majesty, and my father was silenced!"
With his testimony, the originally silent hall suddenly became as hot as boiling water, and the ministers whispered to each other. In fact, most people had already believed the truth of the matter. After all, before this, they had already suspected that the cause of death of the late emperor was related to the regent.
What the ministers are worried about today is not the real murderer who killed the late emperor, but who will win or lose in the game between the regent and the relatives of the emperor's mother!
Rong Se nodded slightly, but his eyes fell on Yan Shuning, and he asked with a smile: "He came to testify, so what are you doing here?"
Yan Shuning no longer had the high spirits he had that day. Now he looked at Rong Se with inexplicable hatred. He said coldly, "The Zhao family was born in Xiangzhou. After Zhao An died, Zhao Yun returned to his old home in Xiangzhou. I couldn't bear to see the treacherous people running rampant in the court, so I found him. I learned from him that the previous emperor was murdered, so I immediately brought people to the capital to ask for an audience with Li Yushi. I only hope that I can do my best to help my great Jin Dynasty and eliminate the traitors around me and rectify the government."
The words sounded nice, but Rong Se just nodded perfunctorily, and asked as if he didn't take it seriously at all: "Li Yushi, is that all?"
Li Yanheng stiffened his neck and said righteously, "The evidence is there. The eunuch who served your majesty personally and the descendants of the imperial physician who was killed, the regent must have killed the king. Do you still not admit it?!"
"That's interesting." Rong Se crossed his arms over his shoulders, his expression indifferent, "When His Majesty passed away, Empress Dowager Cao was furious and resented the incompetence of the imperial physician. She ordered Zhao An to be executed. When I heard the news and entered the palace, Zhao An's body was already cold. Even if he was silenced, what does it have to do with me?"
Zhao Yun was so frightened when he heard this that he kowtowed repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, please judge, Your Majesty, please judge, I dare not deceive Your Majesty, I have never lied to you! My father said it himself, that the Regent gave him money to poison the late emperor, so that he could die without anyone noticing!"
"Okay." Cao Lun interrupted him in a deep voice, and said solemnly: "Does your Highness have any evidence to prove that Zhao Yun deliberately framed me?"
Rong Se looked back without flinching, and said with a half-smile: "Then Lord Cao, do you have any evidence to prove that what Zhao Yun and Zheng Fu said is the truth?"
"These two are witnesses, not to mention what the prince did, don't you know it in your heart?" Cao Lun's words were fierce and sharp, "Given the prince's background, how can he take on such a big responsibility? Your Majesty has been on the throne for nearly half a year, and he is not a young emperor, but the prince is unwilling to return power to Your Majesty. How is this different from treason? Disrespecting the emperor and controlling the government, don't you admit your guilt?!"
Not only did he want to kill Rong Se, he also wanted to have a legitimate reason for doing so. This way, the Regent King would be a traitor, while his Cao family would be innocent.
"What a joke."
Rong Sesi was not affected by the tense atmosphere in the palace, and said in a deep voice: "What crime have I committed?! Should I return power to the emperor, or to the Cao family? The relatives of the emperor are interfering in politics, and they have the nerve to scold others as treacherous. I have the blood of the Rong family, and I am in power because the current emperor is incompetent! I am greedy for pleasure and don't care about the suffering of the people. I regard the lives of the people as worthless because I am proud of my noble status. If the emperor takes power personally, the Jin Dynasty will be in danger!"
Rong Se had endured for so long, and finally cursed out loud. He did not care about Rong Jing's extremely ugly eyes at the moment. After cursing thoroughly, he sneered: "They said that I killed the king, so I killed the king? Witnesses can be bribed, and this is considered ironclad evidence? Minister Lu——!"
Rong Se turned to look at Lu Shangqian and asked, "Lord Lu is in charge of the Ministry of Justice. May I ask if this evidence is enough to convict me?"
Just as Lu Shangqian was about to speak, Cao Lun spoke first, saying in a pointed way: "Lord Lu, be careful with your words. Whether you leave your name in history or be infamous for eternity is up to you."
"Thank you, Lord Cao, for your reminder." Lu Shangqian was not fooled. "We cannot convict the prince based on testimony alone. We should at least conduct an investigation. Since the son of the imperial physician Zhao said that the late emperor died of poisoning, we may need to perform an autopsy to know whether it is true or not."
Cao Lun narrowed his eyes slightly, but Li Yanheng retorted: "Lord Lu, the body of the late emperor has been buried in the imperial mausoleum. How can we disturb the peace of the underground palace? Isn't what Zheng Fu and Zhao Yun said enough to convict them?!"
Lu Shang glanced at him humbly, "Not enough."
"You!" Li Yanheng's expression changed completely.
"In my opinion, there is absolutely no other possibility for this case." Cao Lun was decisive, and his murderous intentions were revealed in his words. "The regent is tyrannical and unjust. He killed the king and usurped power. He should be executed!"
As soon as he finished speaking, many guards holding swords suddenly came in from outside the hall. The ministers were immediately in an uproar. There were cries of surprise in the Xuanzheng Hall. They were all surprised by Cao Lun's posture. He was not going to bring an army to punish them at all. He just wanted to find a legitimate reason to kill the Regent King!
Yu Qingzhou's face changed drastically, and he said in astonishment: "Master Cao! What do you mean?! Whether the prince is guilty or not has not yet been determined, are you trying to kill him to silence him?!"
"The Regent should be executed for his crimes. Do it!" Cao Lun ordered, but his eyes were fixed on the Regent who was not panicking. He felt uneasy for no reason and said coldly as if to comfort himself: "The imperial guards have been detained outside the palace by the Xuanji Camp. Today, there is no chance for you to leave the palace alive!"
“That’s not necessarily the case.”
A teasing laugh sounded, and Rong Zhan, who had been hugging his shoulders and not interjecting, said leisurely, "Mu Xiao, what are you waiting for!"
In a moment, Prince Ning's accompanying guards drew their swords and confronted the palace guards.
Although the situation was tense, it changed in an instant.
Cao Lun and Rong Jing's faces changed drastically, and Rong Jing even cried out in disbelief: "Prince Ning! What are you doing?!"
"Oh, this." Rong Zhan gave a harmless smile, a little innocent, "Your Majesty sees what you see. The prince came from Danzhou, the journey is long, so he naturally has to bring some life-saving guards. Look, isn't it used now?" He showed a helpless look to Rong Se again, "Right, uncle? I told you long ago that you were so reckless to enter the palace today. If the prince wasn't here, wouldn't you be in trouble?!"
This sudden change left all the ministers stunned.
So when did the Prince Regent get in touch with Prince Ning?
"Who are you looking down on?" Rong Se was still calm and composed. He put his finger on his lips and blew a loud whistle. After a moment of silence, a group of people dressed in different clothes suddenly rushed into Xuanzheng Gate. Even the weapons in their hands were mostly strange. They were not regular troops, but they were not scattered sand. They rushed into the front of Xuanzheng Hall with fierce momentum and strong murderous aura. The leader was actually a young girl with a fur collar and a lake blue short skirt. She had a short knife on her waist and a soft whip in her hand. She rushed up the steps with great momentum and said loudly: "My lord, I have been waiting anxiously at the foot of the wall. You are not slow, right?"
"It's just the right time." Rong Se smiled, then glanced at the pale Rong Jing with a playful look on his face, and said slowly: "Who said that the only troops under my command are the imperial guards and palace soldiers?"
In addition to the two Yun brothers, one is an official and the other is a businessman, he also has Lan Ying, who has been in the underworld for many years.
Although the gangsters under Lan Ying's command did not like dealing with the imperial court and were used to living in seclusion, they dared not disobey the orders of their leader, Lan Ying.
This group of people hiding among the people are Rong Se's eyes and ears in various places, and they are also his trump card that he has never revealed to the public.
Rong Zhan was also a little surprised. He remembered what Rong Se had told him to take care of himself and not make trouble. Now he realized that the words were true.
They were indeed prepared.
Cao Lun was also shocked at this point, and knew that it would be difficult to kill the Regent. He gritted his teeth and said fiercely, "So what, Regent? Do you dare to kill the king in front of all the ministers?!"
"It was Lord Cao who started it." Rong Se stopped laughing and looked indifferent, "But I don't have any intention of killing the king for the time being."
Rong Jing breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this.
Then, Rong Se said in a sarcastic tone: "Today is New Year's Eve, a good day, and I don't want to see the flash of swords and shadows of swords. On New Year's Day, I have brought Queen Mother Cao back to the palace."
Cao Lun felt that his words were full of ill intentions, and said with a sullen face: "What do you want to do?"
"Nothing." Rong Se said in a dull tone, "It's New Year's Eve, and the family should be reunited, but I'm not very happy now. Lord Cao, Li Yushi, do you still want to investigate the case of poisoning the late emperor?"
Cao Lun's expression changed unpredictably; he had already been defeated without a fight.
Li Yanheng's face turned pale, and he even slid off the chair, shaking all over.
"It seems that you don't want to investigate anymore. What can I do?" Rong Se spoke clearly and said loudly: "If you want to let it go, then don't. But I want to look into the past!"