Chapter 250: Chapter 250 Brainstorming

Chapter 250: Chapter 250 BrainstormingAt the beginning of the morning hour, the side door of the Meridian Gate slowly opened, and the old eunuch walked to the door and said loudly: "Go to court!"

The noise stopped immediately, and the civil and military officials entered the side door in an orderly manner, with civil officials on the left and military officials on the right, with clear distinctions.

After entering the Meridian Gate, those above the fourth rank entered the palace, those below the fourth rank were at the palace gate, and those below the sixth rank were on the square.

The ministers entered the main hall and waited for a quarter of an hour before Emperor Yuan Jing arrived late.

A group of eyes fell on the king of a country, trying to get a glimpse of clues from his eyes and expressions.

All failed. Emperor Yuan Jing had been in power for 37 years. He was so scheming and experienced that there were very few people in the temple who could compete with him.

Only Wei Yuan and Wang Shoufu.

This court meeting was no different from the past, and the king and his ministers played as usual.

"Your Majesty, tens of thousands of people in Chuzhou froze to death in the dead of winter. The provincial government has run out of money and grain to provide relief to the victims. I beg Your Majesty to draft an order to have the Ministry of Revenue allocate funds..."

"The treasury is empty. We can raise funds from local gentry for disaster relief..." Emperor Yuan Jing replied.

"Your Majesty, the northern barbarians have repeatedly invaded the border. Since the beginning of spring, border conflicts have become more intense. We must be on guard."

"Your Majesty, the King of Zhenbei ignored the barbarians' looting of the border and stubbornly guarded the border town without sending a single soldier, causing the people on the border to be displaced and suffering heavy casualties. Please punish me."

Hearing this, Emperor Yuan Jing looked at Wei Yuan and said in a voice without joy or anger: "Wei Aiqing, what is the situation with the northern barbarians?"

Wei Yuan frowned and said: "At the end of last year, heavy snow fell in the north for several months, freezing countless livestock to death. I expected the barbarians to go south to loot."

Emperor Yuan Jing suddenly remembered that there was such a thing, frowned and said: "What's the follow-up? The barbarians went south to invade the border, why didn't the night watchman receive the news in advance?"

"It was my negligence." Wei Yuan said.

In fact, he took back the hidden man in the north and transferred him to the northeast.

Emperor Yuan Jing said calmly: "The northern barbarians invaded from the south, and Wei Yuan was negligent in not noticing. He is dismissed from his post as the Left Censor-in-Chief. He will be fined one year's salary."

The palace was quiet for a while, and dense question marks floated through the minds of the ministers.

Although the night watchman had the duty of spying, that was a side job. Moreover, the northern barbarians invaded from the south, and the King of Zhenbei refused to go out and did not fight. Even if he knew in advance that the barbarians were going to invade the border, what was the point?

How could this blame not be put on Wei Yuan?

However, it was rare for Emperor Yuan Jing to turn his guns on Wei Yuan. Although he was confused, the civil officials immediately seized the opportunity to attack Wei Yuan and shouted that the saint was wise.

An imperial censor stepped out and emphasized: "Your Majesty, the King of Zhenbei watched the people suffer from the disaster of war and was indifferent. Please punish him."

Emperor Yuan Jing's response was just four words: "I know."

The imperial censor retreated unwillingly.

The court meeting gradually came to an end. After dealing with the government affairs that had been squeezed during this period, the ministers stopped reporting. Emperor Yuan Jing raised his index finger and tapped the table lightly.

The old eunuch in a dragon robe stepped out and looked around at the ministers.

Here it comes... The officials in the palace were moved.

Just now, they were all normal reports. Although it was unexpected to remove Wei Yuan from the position of Zuodu Yushi, Emperor Yuan Jing suddenly convened a court meeting, but it was definitely not because of this "small matter".

The old eunuch unfolded the edict in his hand and said loudly: "I have investigated the whole story of Concubine Fu's case. Empress Shangguan ordered the maid Huang Xiaorou to kill Concubine Fu and frame the prince...

"After my repeated questioning, Shangguan confessed to her crimes. The queen is out of order and unworthy of her position. She cannot accept the mandate of heaven. She will be removed from the seal and retired to Changchun Palace. "

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There was a dead silence inside and outside the palace.

From the three officials of the first rank to the ministers outside the palace, everyone who heard the content of the imperial edict was stunned.

In the silence, a low voice sounded:

"Your Majesty, this is not allowed."

Emperor Yuan Jing narrowed his eyes and looked at the person in blue clothes who came out of the line expressionlessly.

Wei Yuan's temples were gray, and his eyes were filled with the vicissitudes of life washed by the years. He looked straight at Emperor Yuan Jing.

After an unknown period of time, the Minister of Justice and the Minister of the Dali Temple came out at the same time and said loudly: "Your Majesty, the case of Concubine Fu has not been tried by the three courts, so it cannot be easily concluded."

Emperor Yuan Jing said word by word: "This is my family affair."

The new Minister of Rites rushed out, bowed, and said loudly: "Your Majesty, deposing the queen is also a national event and cannot be taken lightly. Please submit the case of Concubine Fu to the three courts for review before making a decision. "

Although the imperial edict said that the queen had pleaded guilty. But the matter of deposing the queen is of great importance. Without knowing the situation, the officials will not agree to Emperor Yuan Jing's deposing the queen.

"Yes!"

...

In the morning, after Xu Xinnian finished washing up, he went to the back hall to have breakfast. From a distance, he saw Xu Lingyin, who was wearing a small skirt, sitting on the

steps outside the hall, puffing her cheeks in anger.

The small figure looked lonely and pitiful.

"Lingyin, why are you sitting here?" Xu Xinnian asked.

Xu Lingyin looked up and ignored him.

"My second brother is asking you a question." Xu Xinnian frowned.

"Mom drove me out and beat me." Xu Lingyin complained, "Can my second brother help me

scold my mother?"

Xu Xinnian shook his head.

The little bean had an expression on his face that was just as expected, and wrinkled his nose and said, "It would be great if my eldest brother was at home. My eldest brother likes to bully

my mother the most."

Xu Xinnian entered the hall and sat in a familiar position. He waited for Lu'e to serve him a bowl of porridge. While eating, he said, "Mom, did Lingyin make you angry again?"

"No, your eldest brother made me angry." Aunt said coldly.

"Brother hasn't come back yet..."

Aunt sneered: "This is your brother's ability. He can still make me angry even when he's not

around."

Xu Xinnian glanced at his sister and father who were drinking porridge with their heads down, and asked: "What's going on?"

Xu Lingyue whispered: "Lingyin ate buns today, and spit out one bite after another. She said that this way she wouldn't be hungry and could keep eating forever."

"...Brother taught you that?" Xu Xinnian's mouth twitched.

Xu Lingyue nodded.

Second Uncle Xu added: "After Lingyin vomited, she felt sorry and wanted to pick it up and eat

it, but was beaten by your mother."

Xu Xinnian:...

He looked down at the table and found that he had indeed spit out a lot of chewed bun

residue.

"Brother didn't come home again today." Xu Lingyue said depressedly.

Xu Erlang and Xu Pingzhi said in tacit agreement: "It must be in the Jiaofangsi."

...

Xu Qian'an woke up in the wing room in the backyard of the yamen. The huge yard was quiet, with only an old clerk hunched over and sweeping the floor in the yard.

"This quilt hasn't been washed for a long time, it smells weird, and the public dormitory is

garbage."

He lifted the quilt with disdain, got out of bed with weak steps, and pushed open the window

to let the sunlight in.

This is the public dormitory of the night watchman's yamen, for clerks and night watchmen

who work overtime to rest. Except for Jinluo, who has a dedicated room, the rest of the rooms

are shared.

The sanitation is not good, and I don't know how many people's descendants are buried in the

thick quilt. Thanks to the magical medicine of the Sitianjian and his own strong physique, the penetrating wound on his left shoulder has scabbed and will heal in two days. However, Tiandi Yidaozhan's overdrawn energy has not yet recovered. He is as exhausted as a

leaf with seven thorns, and his body is hollowed out.

Xu Qi'an poured a cup of tea to rinse his mouth, went to the yard to get a bucket of cold and

clear well water, washed his face, and went to Chunfengtang.

"Huh, comfortable..."

After eating the big meal brought by the clerk, Xu Qi'an touched his swollen belly, and lay on

Li Yuchun's chair with satisfaction, with his feet on the desk.

At this time, he had time to think about the assassination last night. "Usually I leave the palace on time at the beginning of the Shen time. Yesterday, because I

checked the list of people entering and leaving the imperial pharmacy, I left the palace after

the You time.

"It's not surprising that the assassins who ambushed me knew my route home. I take that road every day, but how did they calculate the time so accurately?

"The night watchmen often look out from the rooftop, so the three assassins couldn't have

been lying on the rooftop waiting for me, otherwise they would have been discovered by the night watchmen on patrol.

"Obviously, they knew when I left the palace... The mastermind behind the scenes is most likely someone in the palace, otherwise there is no way to explain this.

"Is it the queen? I just found out the clues that were unfavorable to her yesterday, and she turned around and sent someone to assassinate me... Didn't want me to investigate further? "If it was really the queen who did it, then Huaiqing and I would have no choice but to

divorce."

Xu Qian'an pinched his eyebrows.

At this time, a black-clothed official entered Chunfeng Hall and saw Xu Qian'an in the hall,

and he was immediately relieved: "I went to the backyard to look for Lord Xu just now, but I didn't find him. I thought you had left the government office."

Xu Qian'an still put his legs on the table, half-squinting his eyes, "I won't go into the palace to investigate the case today. I'll talk about it after I recover from my injury."

The clerk nodded and said, "Duke Wei is looking for you. Please go to Haoqi Tower first."

Ha, it seems that Wei Yuan knows about the assassination yesterday. He must be stunned by my achievements...Xu Qian'an put down his legs and stood up from the chair, "Lead the way." Following the clerk to the Haoqi Tower, he went up to the seventh floor with ease. Unexpectedly, in addition to Wei Yuan, there were two guests in the tea room that he had not

expected.

The princess Huaiqing, who was as elegant and noble as a snow lotus; the handsome and restrained son of Emperor Yuan Jing - the fourth prince.

As Huaiqing's elder brother, the fourth prince's facial features were not similar to his sister,

but he was somewhat similar to Emperor Yuan Jing.

Huaiqing was somewhat similar to the queen, but the temperament of the mother and daughter was so different that the slight resemblance could not be seen.

The faces of the three people were extremely ugly. Wei Yuan held the teacup in his hand,

bowed his head and said nothing, as if he did not notice Xu Qiyan's arrival. The fourth prince looked over and nodded slightly to him.

Huaiqing also did not look at Xu Qiyan, frowned and pondered.

"Duke Wei." Xu Qiyan clasped his fists.

Wei Yuan then raised his head, pointed to the seat next to Huai Qing, and said gently: "Sit

down."

Xu Qiyan took a seat.

"Did you get assassinated last night?" Wei Yuan pushed the teapot to Xu Qiyan, indicating

that he should pour the tea himself.

Wei Yuan's words were too straightforward. Xu Qian'an didn't know how to respond for a moment and looked at Huai Qing cautiously.

Huaiqing still didn't look at him, looking like he was worried.

The eldest princess now looks like a woman facing a divorce agreement... Xu Qian'an

muttered to himself.

"Today, His Majesty proposed to depose the queen at the court meeting because the real

culprit behind the Fufei case was the queen." Wei Yuan said.

"???"

Xu Qian'an stared at him blankly, and the first thought that came to his mind was: How long

have I slept? Why did I feel that everything had changed when I woke up, as if I had slept for a century. He personally investigated the case of Concubine Fu, and he had figured out every step and

every clue. He was still not sure that the queen was the murderer, so what was Emperor Yuan Jing's basis?

Did he think he was Conan or Di Renjie?

But then, Princess Huaiqing's words made Xu Qian'an confused again.

"The Queen Mother admitted it."

What are you talking about?

Xu Qian'an waved his hand, "Sorry, I want to calm down..."

He thought for a long time and asked tentatively, "Your Majesty wants to depose the Queen

because the real culprit behind the Concubine Fu case is the Queen, and the Queen really admitted it?"

The fourth prince nodded.

"Was it forced?" Xu Qian'an guessed.

"No." Wei Yuan shook his head, looking at him with his vicissitudes eyes, and said in a deep

voice:

"You investigated the case of Concubine Fu yourself. No one knows any clues or details better than you. Think about it again. Is there anything suspicious or unreasonable? Today, the two princes came to the yamen, in addition to discussing the matter of deposing the queen with

me, they also wanted to ask you for help.

"Your Majesty has not taken back your gold medal. You need time to confirm this matter. You

still have time to investigate this case."

Huaiqing and the fourth prince looked at Xu Qian'an at the same time.

The fourth prince bowed and said, "Thank you, Lord Xu."

Xu Qian'an ignored him and turned his eyes to Huaiqing.

The princess, who was as elegant and noble as a lotus, carefully examined him with her eyes

like autumn water, "How is your injury?"

She did not bring up the case, but was concerned about Xu Qi'an's injury.

Since you sincerely admitted your mistake, we will not divorce... Xu Qi'an said "hmm",

"Thank you for your concern, Princess. I will do my job."

After a pause, he continued, "In the case of Concubine Fu, the Queen did have sufficient

motives and reasons to frame the Prince. And according to the clues I found yesterday, the real culprit behind the scenes did point to the Queen."

The Fourth Prince interrupted excitedly: "Impossible, the Queen Mother would not do such a

thing."

"Don't worry, Your Highness, I haven't finished yet." Xu Qi'an looked at Huaiqing and asked, "Does Your Majesty have any evidence?"

Huaiqing shook his head: "No, it was the Queen Mother who admitted it herself." Xu Qi'an frowned: "This is strange. If Your Majesty has no evidence, why would the Queen

admit it? Since the Queen has admitted it, why did she send someone to assassinate me?" This is a paradox.

The Fourth Prince sighed and said, "It's precisely because I don't know that I came to you.

Lord Xu, you have solved many strange cases. If there is anyone in the capital who can find out the truth in a short time and clear my mother's name, then it is only you. " Xu Qian'an drank the first sip of tea after sitting down, and said slowly: "When I first took

over the case, I thought there were only two possibilities for the Fufei case: one, the prince did have sex after drinking and killed Fufei.

"Two, someone framed the prince and tried to seize the position of the East Palace. "After inspecting Fufei's Qingfeng Palace, I can conclude that the prince was indeed wronged. Then this case belongs to the second possibility, someone wants to frame the prince. "Following this line of thought, all kinds of clues point to the queen. To be honest with the

two princes, just now, I also suspected the queen and suspected that she sent assassins to assassinate me.

"But when I learned that the queen admitted that she was the real murderer behind the scenes, I suddenly became suspicious of this case. Then the purpose of the queen mother's messenger is not as simple as framing the prince. It is killing two birds with one stone.

"But I have a question. The queen lives in seclusion and the fourth prince is not the crown

prince. Why does the master behind the scenes point the finger at the queen? What is he after? It can't be the position of the master of the harem."

For an emperor who has been abstinent for more than ten years, does the throne of the master

of the harem make sense?

Wei Yuan put down his teacup and sighed: "First of all, whether the fourth prince is the crown

prince or not, he is the eldest son of your majesty. Secondly, the master behind the scenes is coming for me."

"???" Xu Qian'an looked at him blankly.

Wei Yuan was silent for a while and explained: "The Wei family and the Shangguan family are

old friends, and the queen's surname is Shangguan."

So, that is to say, Wei Yuan and the queen are political allies and belong to the queen's "relatives"... No wonder Princess Huaiqing is half of Wei Yuan's apprentice... So the case of

Concubine Fu, on the surface, is a frame-up of the crown prince, but in fact it is aimed at Wei Yuan? Wei Yuan undoubtedly belongs to the Fourth Prince's Party... One Concubine Fu case dealt

with both the Prince's Party and the Fourth Prince's Party at the same time, amazing... Xu

Qiyan was secretly shocked.

"Father dismissed Duke Wei from his post as Left Censor-in-Chief at the court meeting today." Princess Huaiqing said.

Hey, this is unreasonable... Even if the mastermind wanted to weaken Wei Yuan by overthrowing the Queen, it would be to weaken Wei Yuan's "allies" and weaken his power in disguise.

Why did Emperor Yuan Jing immediately dismiss Wei Yuan's important identity as soon as the Queen got into trouble, making it seem as if Emperor Yuan Jing was the mastermind behind the scenes... Wait a minute, suppose the Queen was the mastermind behind the frame-up of the Prince, with the intention of supporting the Fourth Prince to become the Prince. After Emperor Yuan Jing knew about this, he immediately weakened and hit Wei Yuan... What

does this mean?

It means that Emperor Yuan Jing was very afraid of Wei Yuan.

Xu Qiyan suddenly understood why Emperor Yuan Jing chose to make the illegitimate prince

the Prince instead of the Fourth Prince born by the Queen.

The Queen and Wei Yuan are political allies. If the Fourth Prince is made the Crown Prince, I

would also be unable to sleep and eat well if it were me.

Retracting his scattered thoughts, Xu Qian'an focused on the case and re-sorted out the Fufei

case in his heart.

As Xu Qian'an fell into thought, the tea room fell silent, with only the gentle breathing of the

four

people. "After the Crown Prince had a drink with Concubine Chen, he met Huang Xiaorou on the way back and was invited to Fufei's Qingfeng Palace... The Crown Prince did have evil thoughts

about this woman of his father at that time.

"Then Fufei fell to her death, and the Crown Prince became a suspect and was detained in the

Dali Temple.

"After I found out that Fufei was murdered and the Crown Prince was framed, the next day,

Huang Xiaorou's body was found in the Crab Pavilion... What a coincidence, what a

coincidence.

"No wonder I felt something was wrong at the time. Huang Xiaorou was silenced instead of committing suicide, so why did the murderer choose the Crab Pavilion?

"If you want to silence someone, burying them secretly is better than throwing them into a

well. To put it another way, there are at least dozens or even hundreds of stone wells in the

inner courtyard of the palace, but they chose a densely populated and easily discovered Crab

Pavilion.

"This is intentional, deliberately letting us discover the connection between Huang Xiaorou

and the queen. "Is my initial guess wrong? Huang Xiaorou is not the murderer who killed Concubine Fu. She

is just a prop, a prop for us to lock our suspicion on the queen? "No, it was Huang Xiaorou who tricked the prince into going to Qingfeng Hall. The prince will

lie, but the guards around him will not lie. This is too easy to identify. Moreover, she can arrange the scene, secretly destroy the guardrail, and know Concubine Fu's habits and know

that she wants to be affectionate with her fake husband. All this must be done by a close-

fitting maid.

"If the queen didn't do all this, why would she admit it? Maybe there is some reason that makes her have to admit it.

"What is the queen afraid of? This must be related to this case. The three main people involved in the case are Concubine Fu, the Crown Prince, and the maid Huang Xiaorou.

"And among the three, the only one who is connected to the Queen is Huang Xiaorou..."

Huang Xiaorou?!

Various chaotic thoughts and guesses flashed through his mind. Xu Qi'an combined the clues

The got and pondered the case step by step.

Thinking of this, Xu Qi'an suddenly realized something and took out a piece of dull yellow silk

from his arms.

It was embroidered with bright red lotus and a line of words: Spring of the 31st year of

Yuanjing.

Princess Huaiqing stared at the yellow silk and said, "This is from the maid Huang Xiaorou." "Yes!" Xu Qi'an nodded, looked around at the three people, and finally fell on Huaiqing, and

said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, we only know that the Queen saved Huang Xiaorou, but

there are two doubts. I don't know if you have noticed it."

Huaiqing shook his head.

"First, why did the Queen want to save Huang Xiaorou?" "My Queen Mother has always been kind-hearted. It's not surprising that she would use

elixirs to save a maid." Huaiqing said.

The Queen may be a good person, but that's not the point... Xu Qian'an shook his head and

said, "Why did the Queen pay attention to a maid? And she sent He'er from Fengqi Palace to

keep an eye on her?"

"I asked my Queen Mother, but she didn't say anything." Huaiqing frowned.

"Second, why did the maid Huang Xiaorou commit suicide?" Xu Qian'an pointed at the yellow

silk cloth and said in a deep voice, "The answer is here."