Chapter 91: A Battle to Decide (Part 3) Update
In the Chongzheng Hall of the Imperial City of Yanjing.
After the court meeting was over, Liu Jian kept several ministers in charge of the court and Crown Prince Liu Ziling in the back hall.
Since that day, Liu Jian invited the great master Xuan Jing to preach to the royal family and important officials. It was from Master Xuan Jing that he heard about the rise of the Great Zhou in the northwest. That day, Liu Jian, in order to maximize the influence of Master Xuan Jing's advocacy for the royal family, specially appointed a preacher.
Every word Xuan Jing spoke in the main hall of the temple was transmitted outside the temple in real time, so that the common people, students and officials' families gathered outside the temple could all get a glimpse of the prosperous times.
On that day, Yanjing, with a population of hundreds of thousands, was almost empty.
The temple is solemn and dignified, and there are crowds of people outside the temple.
It can be regarded as a great golden age in the Buddhist world during the Zhou Dynasty’s few decades of existence.
This is exactly the effect Liu Jian hopes to create.
He had never expected that the great Master Xuan Jing would so aptly reference the northwest of the Great Zhou Dynasty several times during his lectures. However, Xuan Jing, being quite cunning, hadn't stated it directly. He only felt a momentary surprise at the time, but because he had never heard of the popular rumors about Xiguan County, as he hadn't previously been involved in the court, he didn't find it amiss.
However, when the great master Xuan Jing's lectures reached ordinary people outside the temple.
The name of Xiguan has always been circulated only among the most ordinary people.
Anyone who is attentive will discover the mystery in it after a little thought.
Everyone looked at each other and finally confirmed a fact—
Even the Buddhist disciple Xuan Jing pointed out the path to Buddhism for these people, and it was also in the northwest! In Xiguan County!
It was after that day that a court official who knew about the events at Xiguan reported it to Prime Minister Chu Bozhan overnight. It was then that Liu Jian learned for the first time that his good nephew, whom he had neglected and forgotten for many years, had quietly caused such a big commotion in that desolate border area.
Liu Jian never expected that the royal lecture he had spent so much energy organizing would be secretly carried out by this so-called Buddhist master, who smuggled in his own private goods!
If Chu Bozhan hadn't repeatedly stopped me, I would have wanted to catch that damn monk on the spot!
These days, he began to let the court officials and the imperial guards report the facts he had found out about Xiguan County and the young Marquis Liu Ziye. It must be said that the more Liu Jian heard, the more shocked he became!
Back then, his extremely intelligent third brother was trapped in Xiguan by him because of his cowardice and couldn't even make a difference.
This useless son left behind by the clinker actually caused such a mess!
However, what he did not expect was that before he could extricate himself from the war in the northwest and the struggle with the prince, such an unexpected surprise came.
It turns out that his third brother doesn't have a son at all!
The one who is now called his son is just a girl who is still wet behind the ears! Hahahaha
It's really God's will.
Third brother, oh third brother, you are so childless! Hahahaha
In order to disguise herself, she actually came up with this thing of a woman dressed as a man. But a girl is a girl, she will never be able to show up on stage! Hahahaha
Whenever he thought of this, Liu Jian almost laughed out loud again in front of his ministers and even his good son, the prince.
Liu Jianqiang restrained himself and made himself look solemn and angry.
He glanced at the ministers and spoke with an expression of deep indignation and affront, "You all must have heard that the King of Xiguan actually used his daughter in place of his son, deceiving the emperor and stealing the title of marquis of the Great Zhou Dynasty for twenty-one years! Upon hearing this news, I am heartbroken! I have treated my third brother and his adopted son well, so why did he treat me this way?"
After he finished speaking, Crown Prince Liu Ziling curled his lips slightly and said nothing.
Although he and Liu Jian were on the same page regarding the matter of the young Marquis of Xiguan, it was rare that they were on the same page.
But he had no interest in continuing to act with Liu Jian, even if it meant "treating him well".
Chu Bozhan, however, could not let Emperor Liu Jian's words go unfulfilled. He immediately became furious: "Don't even mention Your Majesty, even I, this old minister, upon hearing this news, cannot help but feel angry on Your Majesty's behalf. I am filled with indignation on Your Majesty's behalf! The King and Marquis of Xiguan have committed deceitful acts against the Emperor. Their crimes are unforgivable! I implore Your Majesty to issue an edict to strip the King and Marquis of their titles, and to escort the young Marquis of Xiguan, Liu Ziye, to the capital for trial!"
Also present were two Zhongshu Sheren, Chi Zhan, and the Crown Prince.
After Chu Bozhan finished speaking, one of the two secretaries immediately expressed his agreement.
Liu Jian looked at Chi Zhan and Liu Ziling again and asked, "What do you think, Crown Prince and General Chi?"
Liu Ziling then said, "I have no objection to the young Marquis of Xiguan entering the capital."
Chi Zhanyi dragged out his voice and said, "I also agree with this proposal."
Liu Jian felt slightly satisfied and hummed softly. Zhu Bozhan was about to make a summary of his speech on the matter, and then issue an order to strip him of his title and send troops to Xiguan to capture the Marquis of Xiguan.
"Ahem... I think..."
At this moment, Ma Shurong, the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, who had been silent until now, interrupted hesitantly.
Everyone in the hall instantly focused their attention on him. Clearly, no one had expected such a situation, which had already been agreed upon, to be so unexpected.
Besides, Ma Shurong is not young anymore. He is an old minister who is almost seventy years old. He has long since closed his eyes and never taken care of affairs in the court.
If it weren't for the fact that he was a founding minister who had assisted Emperor Shengzu, and that he had been very prudent since Liu Jian ascended the throne, unlike some of Emperor Shengzu's former ministers who constantly antagonized Liu Jian, Liu Jian would have placed him in a high position as a living signboard of his respect for the late emperor and the founding ministers.
Whenever important matters were discussed, he would often be invited to join the discussion.
But Ma Shurong obviously knows his position very well and never speaks on his own initiative.
What I want to talk about today is the matter of the King of Xiguan and the young Marquis of Xiguan. It was originally a matter that both he and the prince had almost no objection to. However, I never thought that Ma Shurong would suddenly jump out.
Liu Jian frowned and a frosty look covered his face. It was obvious that he was very unhappy with his sudden remarks.
However, today, Ma Shurong seemed to have taken some medicine and could not recognize Liu Jian's expression at all.
Under the stares of the crowd, he continued, "This rumor that the young Marquis of Xiguan is a woman has suddenly spread throughout Yanjing and even the four borders of the Great Zhou. It is too bizarre at this time. I think we should first verify the source of the news and allow the young Marquis of Xiguan to defend himself, so as to prevent the direct descendants of the Great Zhou royal family from being maliciously slandered for no reason and thus convicted, which would also damage the bloodline of the royal family!"
What Ma Shurong said made sense.
Logically speaking, how could those people in the temple not know about this kind of news coming from the people? If they wanted to question Marquis Xiguan, rumors alone were not enough, and they had to have complete evidence.
But both Liu Jian and Crown Prince Liu Ziling knew that this was just an excuse for them to completely bring down Liu Ziye, who had been causing trouble in the northwest for some time.
Chu Bozhan immediately disagreed and refuted: "Ma Zhongshu's words are wrong!"
He was about to argue, but Chi Zhan said solemnly, "Chi has the evidence in his hands, and there are both witnesses and physical evidence."
These words shocked everyone in the hall again.
Chi Zhan turned to Liu Jian with great certainty and said, "Your humble servant has solid evidence to confirm that the young Marquis of Xiguan, Liu Ziye, is indeed a woman. Your Majesty, there is no need to hesitate. The young Marquis of Xiguan is guilty of an unforgivable crime. Please punish him severely according to the previous agreement!"
After he finished speaking, he glanced at Ma Shurong, who had just made an opinion, with an extremely intimidating look.
The wrinkles on Ma Shurong's face were now adjusted back into quail-like lines. He lowered his eyes slightly and did not dare to confront Chi Zhan head-on.
Chi Zhan, however, was not going to let him off easily. He looked at him and asked, "Does Secretary Ma have any other objections?"
"oh."
Ma Shurong quickly turned to Chi Zhan and said in a very humble tone, "I didn't know that General Chi had already found the evidence. General Chi is loyal to the emperor and the country, and his methods are ruthless. He is worthy of being the mainstay of the two dynasties of the Great Zhou Dynasty. I admire him very much!"
Chi Zhan gave him a cold look and didn't respond.
Ma Shurong laughed apologetically and shrank back again.
Seeing that the matter was settled, Chu Bozhan immediately concluded decisively: "Now that the matter has been settled, once His Majesty issues the decree, it will be time for all the Marquises of Xiguan to enter Yanjing!"
·
Xiguan County.
After discussing with Du Hui, Jin Jie and others, Liu Ziye decided to lead his troops personally to the Xiguan border to meet Chi Mu's army.
However, when Liu Ziye stepped into her own car, she had just left Yucheng.
Du Hui, who was stationed in Yucheng, received the news from the investigation team of the Marquis's private guards who had conducted investigations in the territory of Da Zhou.
The person who delivered the message was Zhang Shan.
Zhang Shan is also one of the veterans of the Marquis's private guards. After years of experience, he has been in charge of secret investigations. Du Hui believes that he is a reliable person.
However, when Zhang Shan was driving at full speed to deliver this news, his face was filled with panic, and when the carriage stopped in front of the Marquis's mansion, he almost fell off the ground.
Everyone still didn't understand what was going on, but Zhang Shan ignored everyone and just asked, "Young Marquis...Are Young Marquis and Guard Captain Jin at home?"
The gatekeeper trotted in after him and said, "The young marquis left the city with Captain Jin just before noon!"
Zhang Shan paused, his expression changed for a moment, as if he was struggling over whether to turn around and chase after him.
After a moment, he asked again, "Is Mr. Du at home?"
"Mr. Du is here!"
"Okay, I'll go see Mr. Du!"
After a while, Du Hui temporarily sent Fu Yuqing, who was taking an academic examination, back to his room, leaving Zhang Shan behind and locking his office study.
Zhang Shan finally blurted out what he had been holding back all the way, "Sir, something terrible has happened!"
When Zhang Shan rushed into the yard, Du Hui had already guessed that the spies from other counties that Zhang Shan was in charge of must have found out some information.
He calmed himself down and asked, "What happened?"
Zhang Shan: "Our spies in Yanjing have reported back, saying that the Emperor of Yanjing has issued an edict to strip our young marquis of his title and salary, and to take him from Xiguan County to Yanjing!"
Du Hui looked stern and asked, "Why?"
"because……"
Zhang Shan suddenly began to stutter, his brows twisted into a knot. "Because the Emperor of Yanjing said that our young marquis... our young marquis is not actually the son of the Prince of Xiguan, but is, is the daughter of the Prince of Xiguan! The young marquis is actually a woman!"
Hearing Zhang Shan's words, Du Hui looked over suddenly, his eyes as sharp as a knife, cutting through Zhang Shan.
Then, Du Hui stood up, opened the door, and shouted toward the yard: "Qing'er!"
Fu Yuqing, who was in the opposite wing, came out upon hearing the voice and said, "Sir, what can I do for Qing'er?"
"Go and invite the steward Liu Bo to my courtyard and tell him to come over now. I have something important to discuss with him!"
"Okay, Qing'er will go right away!"
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