bastard seizes tang

Chapter 784 Condemnation
The official Ma Zhou worshiped the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, and he was also the prime minister of the court. The matter of Ma Zhou entering the palace and Wu Weiliang this time is just one of them. Naturally, there are other matters of appointment and dismissal of other officials that need to be discussed with Li Ke. Not for a while Just leave the palace.

Li Ke and Ma Zhou were still talking in the Ganlu Hall, but at this moment a servant sent a message that Empress Wu Meiniang and her elder brother Wu Weiliang are now outside the Ganlu Hall.

It has been some time since Ma Zhou entered the palace. It is not difficult to guess why Wu Meiniang brought Wu Weiliang to see Li Ke at this time, and it is naturally related to Wu Weiliang's matter.
"Your Majesty, do you need to take refuge temporarily?" Ma Zhou asked Li Ke when he heard that Wu Meiniang brought Wu Weiliang to see him.

Li Ke waved his hand and said: "The queen brought Wu Weiliang here. After all, Wu Weiliang is the queen's cousin, that is, my cousin. It would be difficult for me to be here alone. You are the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, and this matter is up to you You don't have to evade within your duties."

Ma Zhou is a smart man. As soon as he heard Li Ke's words, he knew Li Ke's meaning. Wu Weiliang was a foreign relative. Although he was at fault, he deserved to die. There is always a need for someone who will pursue Wu Weiliang's crimes, and the most suitable person is undoubtedly Ma Zhou.

Ma Zhou was Minister of the Ministry of Officials, in charge of this matter, and he was the prime minister, his words had enough weight, and he was quite popular in the court, even Wu Meiniang could not ignore Ma Zhou's attitude towards this matter.

After a while, Wu Meiniang brought Wu Weiliang into the main hall. Wu Meiniang entered the hall, first saluted Li Ke, and when she got up, she saw Ma Zhou standing in the hall, and said, "It turns out that King Bin is here too."

Wu Meiniang took the initiative to mention Ma Zhou, but it was not good for Ma Zhou to appear too distant, Ma Zhou bowed his hands and said: "The minister Ma Zhou pays homage to the queen, and the minister is discussing matters with your majesty, and the queen arrives, what a coincidence."

Wu Meiniang said: "Although it's a coincidence, it's also a good time for King Bin to be here. King Bin is in charge of the Ministry of Officials and also serves as a minister. I just happened to bring my brother, who is worthless, to show King Bin."

As Wu Meiniang said, she winked behind her. Seeing this, Wu Weiliang, who was behind Wu Meiniang, hurried forward, knelt down in front of her, and fell face down on the ground without saying a word.

Wu Weiliang was not a person who could talk well, now that he committed a crime, he felt fear in his heart, and he didn't know what to do, but fortunately, Wu Meiniang had already explained it before coming, and he had to say everything Wu Meiniang said. And agreed, so Wu Weiliang could only kneel in the hall and let it go.

Li Ke looked at Wu Weiliang kneeling on the ground, so he naturally knew what it meant, but in front of Wu Meiniang, Li Ke couldn't say that Ma Zhou came here to complain to Li Ke about the Wu family, and Li Ke still had to protect him a bit. Ma Zhou's.

Li Ke smiled, pretending to be ignorant and asked: "Is this Mei Niang's cousin Wu Weiliang? Why is this so nice?"

Wu Meiniang didn't care whether Li Ke really understood or pretended to be confused, but after all she was concerned about her face as a queen. Wu Meiniang pointed at Wu Weiliang and said, "This concubine brought him here to ask His Majesty to punish him."

Hearing this, Li Ke asked in puzzlement: "Punishment, I don't know what crime my cousin committed, but the queen brought it here in person."

Wu Meiniang replied: "This guy cheated in the imperial examinations in Bingzhou, and deserved his fame. His crime will not be forgiven."

"There is such a thing!" Li Ke's face was obviously angry when he heard that it was about the imperial examination.

Wu Meiniang said: "That's exactly the case. This crime can be said to be a violation of the court's guidelines, and even suspected of deceiving the emperor. I hope that His Majesty will severely punish Wu Weiliang and set the record straight."

Wu Meiniang naturally wanted to protect Wu Weiliang's life, after all Wu Weiliang was from the Wu family, if Wu Meiniang didn't care about his life or death, there would be a rift in the hearts of the Wu family in the future, and they would have more scruples when doing things for Wu Meiniang.

But it is not difficult to distinguish the importance of Wu Meiniang and Wu Weiliang. Wu Meiniang is the queen, and the foundation of the Wu family's foothold in the court. The most basic requirement in this matter is to keep Wu Meiniang, even if they give up Wu Weiliang, it is reasonable.

So at the beginning, although Wu Meiniang wanted to save Wu Weiliang's life, but she didn't know Li Ke's attitude towards this matter, so she said it a little more seriously, and tried to test Li Ke's meaning first. , has protected himself, if Li Ke is not tight-lipped, and there is still room for change, Wu Meiniang will try to intercede with Wu Weiliang.

Li Ke looked at Wu Weiliang, who was kneeling on the steps, not daring to say a word, and asked Wu Meiniang, "This happened suddenly, how did the queen know about it?"

Wu Meiniang replied: "He never told my concubine about this matter, and my concubine didn't know about it, but now that the suffering master of Bingzhou has complained to Yushitai, he knew it was difficult to hide it, so he reported it to his concubine, and my concubine When I first heard about it, I was very surprised and very angry.”

Li Ke paused for a moment, and seemed rather embarrassed, and said to Wu Meiniang: "As a foreign relative, my cousin has no shortage of opportunities to be an official. It is really wrong for him to do this. If this gets out, the court and I will fall into disrepair." Face off."

Wu Meiniang also responded: "Your Majesty is absolutely right, and this concubine also thinks so, and because of this, this concubine personally brought Wu Weiliang to plead guilty."

Hearing this, Li Ke nodded in praise and said, "The empress understands righteousness deeply, and I am very relieved."

Li Ke said, and then asked Ma Zhou: "King Bin, you are the Minister of the Ministry of Officials. You are in charge of scientific research and proficient in the law. How do you think this matter should be handled?"

After hearing what Li Ke said, Ma Zhou knew what Li Ke meant, and replied without hesitation: "Cheating in scientific examinations can be punished by beheading at most."

Ma Zhou was kept here by Li Ke to make a fool of himself, Li Ke asked Ma Zhou, Ma Zhou naturally wanted to be a good villain, and made the crime more serious.

Wu Weiliang was obviously shocked when he heard Ma Zhou's words. He trembled first, then raised his head to look at Wu Meiniang, seeing that Wu Meiniang hadn't spoken, he hurriedly complained to Li Ke, "Your Majesty, please forgive me, I won't dare again!" .”

Ma Zhou was the prime minister, so his words carried a lot of weight. Wu Weiliang was afraid that Li Ke would really listen to Ma Zhou's words, so he agreed to kill him. Wu Weiliang was so frightened that he burst into tears and kowtowed.

It is not difficult for Li Ke to kill Wu Weiliang, and indeed he can gain power, but Li Ke can not ignore the influence. If Li Ke insists on killing Wu Weiliang, it will definitely make the officials of the DPRK, Chinese and foreign relatives alienated, and drive them to the aristocratic family. I'm afraid the loss outweighs the gain.

Li Ke showed a look of surprise, and asked Ma Zhou: "My cousin is a relative of the state, how could it be so serious?"

Ma Zhoudao: "Wu Weiliang's crime is the fundamental way for us to select scholars in the Tang Dynasty. If we take it seriously, there is nothing wrong with it."

As for Wu Weiliang, Li Ke naturally wants to kill him, but Li Ke is not an ordinary man, he is the emperor, and everything he does must take into account the impact and weigh the pros and cons. He wants to kill Wu Weiliang, but he can't kill him yet, at least not right now .

Li Ke asked: "Then if I care about family affection, can I show mercy outside the law and give you a little relief?"

Hearing this, Ma Zhou seemed rather unwilling to reply: "If His Majesty is merciful, the death penalty may be spared, but this official will definitely not be able to continue."

Li Ke nodded, and asked Wu Meiniang, "What do you think of Meiniang?"

Li Kezhi's words caught his ears, and Wu Weiliang immediately caught a glimmer of life, he quickly raised his head, and looked at Wu Meiniang eagerly, the sincerity in his eyes could not be more.

(End of this chapter)