The ministers begged me to ascend the throne

Chapter 367 The Prince Is Under House Arrest

As Zhao Yao expected, the emperor did not depose the prince, but deposed the Duke of Zhenguo and imprisoned him in the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

Although the prince was not deposed, he was still under house arrest in the East Palace and no one was allowed to visit.Not only that, all his duties were removed.In addition, many ministers who supported the prince were also punished, some were demoted, some were dismissed, some were exiled, and some were beheaded.

Because of this incident, the prince's party in the court was severely weakened.

If something happens to the prince's party, the happiest party will naturally be the king's party.

In the palace of Prince Dai, Prince Dai was drinking and chatting with Marquis Xuanping and his son.

"Uncle, I have never been as happy as I am now." King Dai felt a wave of bad breath coming out of his heart, "It's a pity that my father didn't abolish him."

Marquis Xuanping was also in a good mood.He smiled and said: "Although the prince has not been deposed, he is in name only." Today, the prince only has the false name of a prince, but does not have the rights of a prince.

"Now we are waiting for the fourth child to come back." King Dai has never looked forward to King Chu's early return to the capital as he is now. "As long as the fourth child comes back with evidence of Zhao Xuan stealing copper, Zhao Xuan will be completely destroyed." Almost everyone Everyone believed that King Chu would be able to bring back evidence.The ministers who supported King Chu were also waiting eagerly for King Chu's return.Although it was previously said that King Chu was assassinated and sank into the river, and his whereabouts were unknown, most people believed that King Chu was not dead. After all, King Chu's body has not been found so far.

"I don't know when the King of Chu will come back?" Xuanping Hou frowned slightly, his expression a little solemn, "I'm worried that the King of Chu will not come back so easily, and I'm also worried that the King of Chu has fallen into the hands of the prince and the others."

When King Dai heard what Marquis Xuanping said, he stopped drinking.He quickly put down the wine bottle in his hand, his face changed drastically and he said, "Uncle, why do you say that?"

"In the court, when the prince was under house arrest and the Duke of Zhen was deposed, did you see any panic on their faces?" At that time, Xuanping Hou specially observed the expressions of the Crown Prince and Duke of Zhen. "They seemed to be early. I just expected that such a day would come.”

King Dai carefully recalled the situation at that time. The prince and Duke Zhen were indeed too calm.

"Uncle, do you mean that the prince and Duke Zhen don't care at all about being punished by their father this time?"

"Yes, they have long expected the result of this time." The more Xuanping Hou said, his face became more solemn, "The prince and Duke Zhen do not take this punishment seriously, that is, the King of Chu has fallen into In their hands, either the King of Chu has been killed by them, or the King of Chu has never found the whereabouts of the stolen copper."

After hearing this, King Dai frowned and his face became heavy: "The fourth child won't be so useless and will be caught by Zhao Xuan and the others, right?"

"If the King of Chu did not fall into the hands of the prince and the others, there is only one possibility. The King of Chu did not find the whereabouts of the stolen copper." Xuanping Hou said with a thoughtful look, "The copper stolen from Pengcheng is related to The fate of the Crown Prince and Duke Zhen's palace. The Crown Prince and Duke Zhen will definitely hide the copper in a secret place and will not be easily found. No matter how talented the King of Chu is, it will be difficult to find it."

He added: "As long as the stolen copper cannot be found, the prince will not be deposed. Although the prince is now under house arrest in the East Palace, it is impossible for the emperor to keep him under house arrest for his whole life. After a few months, the emperor will release the prince. Under house arrest, the prince will still be the prince at that time. This is the confidence of the prince and the Duke."

King Dai was originally in a good mood, but after hearing these words from Marquis Xuanping, the joy he felt just now completely disappeared.He had a gloomy face and his tone was full of unwillingness: "It's just one step away."

"I hope the King of Chu can find the whereabouts of the stolen copper." Xuan Pinghou said this, but he did not hold out any hope in his heart.

"That guy, the Fourth, is very cunning and cunning. He might have found the whereabouts of the stolen coppers long ago." King Dai said these words very loudly, as if he was bluffing.

"All we can do now is wait for King Chu to come back." If King Chu really didn't find the whereabouts of the stolen copper, then the prince would not be deposed this time.If I miss this opportunity, I will find another opportunity to depose the prince next time, I'm afraid...

Dai Wang prayed in his heart: Fourth child, please don’t let me down.You have to come back with the truth and whereabouts of the stolen copper, and then I can treat you to a drink.

Marquis Xuanping guessed it, and the reason why the prince and Duke Zhen did not panic was because they felt that King Chu had not found Mount Wuhua.

When the King of Chu left Wuhua Mountain, he arranged for some people to stay in Guihua Village. Among these people were the King of Chu's own people and the prince's people.The purpose was to make the prince and Duke Zhen think that there was nothing unusual in Mount Wuhua, and to make them think that he had not found the whereabouts of the stolen copper.

In addition to this matter, there is another thing that also gives the prince and Zhen Guogong their confidence, and that is the Zhenxi Military Camp.Once the emperor really deposes the prince, the Zhenxi military camp will rebel.However, the path of rebellion should only be taken if you have no choice but to do so.

The duke and the prince would not rebel until they were desperate.Not only is rebellion a grave sin, but it can also lead to a bad reputation.Even if their rebellion succeeds, people all over the world will still call them rebels, and they will have to bear the charge of treason for the rest of their lives.

The Xie family of Zhenguo Palace is a century-old family with a good reputation. Even after experiencing the troubled times of the previous dynasty, they did not rebel.Because once they rebel, the centuries-old reputation of the Xie family will be completely destroyed, and they will be known as traitors from now on.

Besides, there are only 10,000+ soldiers in the entire Zhenxi Military Camp, which is no match for the four major generals.

Duke Zhen Guo knew that it was impossible for the rebellion to succeed with just one Zhenxi military camp.Let’s not talk about the four generals, just the Imperial Guards under the emperor. They all fought against the emperor in the past, and all of them were brave and good at fighting.Although they have not been on the battlefield for more than ten or twenty years, it does not mean that they have all become sick cats.Once someone rebels, these imperial guards will become the most ferocious warriors in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Now is not the best time to rebel, but in a few years, it will be hard to say.By that time, Zhenxi Military Camp will be able to compete with the emperor's imperial guards and the soldiers of the four generals.

In the mansion of Duke Zhen Guo, Duke Zhen Guo, no, he is no longer Duke Zhen Guo. The head of the Xie family is talking to his son, the newly appointed Duke Zhen Guo.

The head of the Xie family did not become haggard or depressed after being deprived of his title of Duke of Zhenguo. On the contrary, he looked very good and looked very relaxed.

"Dad, there is news from the palace that the prince is fine."

The head of the Xie family nodded slightly and said, "It's good that the prince can calm down this time." Zhenguo Zhengdao, who had just taken office, said with some worry: "Dad, I'm afraid the prince won't be able to bear it for long."

"You have to endure it if you can't bear it. If he wants to keep his position as prince, he must endure it."

"Dad, you also know the prince's temperament. If you ask him to endure it for a month or two, he can bear it. But if you ask him to endure it for several months, he probably has no patience anymore." The young Duke Zhen said, "By the way, The prince also asked us to kill King Jing quickly, otherwise he will not be able to swallow this breath."

"Prince Jing is in charge of the next government and college examinations in Jinling. We can't kill him. We can only wait for him to come back from Jinling before we can get rid of him." Regarding this nephew who ruined their affairs, the head of the Xie family I hate it very much, but there is really nothing I can do against King Jing now.

"Dad, if we don't find a way to get rid of King Jing immediately, I'm afraid the prince will think too much." The young Duke of Zhenguo hesitated for a moment and then said, "The prince will think that we gave up on him and supported King Jing instead."

Hearing this, the head of the Xie family was silent for a while.After a while, he said: "Make him suspicious."

Seeing that his father didn't care about this, the young Duke Zhen couldn't help but have a look of astonishment on his face.

"Dad, if you make the prince suspicious, the prince will do bad things."

"He doesn't dare to do bad things because he still needs our support." The head of the Xie family didn't take the prince seriously. "There are really no problems over there in Wuhua Mountain?"

"Dad, everything is normal over there at Mount Wuhua." Seeing his father's serious expression, the young Duke Zhen's heart sank slightly, "Dad, do you suspect that something happened over there at Mount Wuhua?"

The head of the Xie family nodded slightly: "Yes."

"Dad, you are worrying too much. Nothing will happen over there in Mount Wuhua." The young Duke Zhenguo comforted him, "If something happens over there in Mount Wuhua, there's no way we wouldn't know about it."

"I don't trust King Chu." Reason told the head of the Xie family that it was impossible for King Chu to find Wuhua Mountain, but deep down in his heart he couldn't help but doubt. "There is still no news about the whereabouts of King Chu."

"Dad, no matter where the King of Chu is now, he cannot be in Wuhua Mountain." Wuhua Mountain is extremely secretive, and no one except the Xie family can find it.

The head of the Xie family became more and more uneasy as he thought about it, "It's better to send someone to take a look in person."

The young Duke Zhenguo understood his father's worries, "Then I will send someone to Mount Wuhua right away." If he didn't send someone to Mount Wuhua to confirm that there was no problem there, his father would never be able to feel at ease.

"I hope I'm overthinking it." King Chu didn't show up for a long time, which made the head of the Xie family very worried.However, if King Chu returns to the capital, the head of the Xie family will still feel uneasy.However, if the King of Chu does not come back from Wuhua Mountain, then he does not have to worry.

"Dad, too many things have happened during this period, which makes you think too much." The young Duke Zhenguo said filially, "Dad, please take this time to have a good rest."

"If something happens to the Duke of Zhen, you will have to suffer a lot in the court." The ministers in the court are accustomed to praise others and look down on others. Now that something happened to the Duke of Zhen, what kind of treatment will the young Duke receive in the court? , you know it without even thinking about it.

"Dad, don't worry, I can handle it." The young Duke Zhen Guo has been praised since he was a child.All this time, when he was outside, outsiders would be very polite to him when they learned that he was the prince of Zhenguo Palace.This time, something happened to the Duke of Zhen's palace, and he took over as Duke of Zhen. He suffered a lot of glares and grievances in the court. This was the first time in his life that he was treated like this.He had already known it, so when faced with such a situation, he didn't feel uncomfortable in his heart.

The head of the Xie family smiled happily: "I have always been at ease with you." He taught his son, although he is still a bit immature in his behavior.

"Dad, while you are not in the court now, are there some things that should be done..." The young Duke Zhenguo did not finish his words, but the meaning was obvious. "Before, you were stared at by countless people in the court. Now that you have returned to the Zhenguo Palace, no one will be watching you anymore. You can do those things."

The head of the Xie family nodded and said: "I have this plan." He said with a look of contemplation on his face, "After a while, I will announce to the public that I am sick." He cannot be sick now.If he is sick now, it means that he is dissatisfied with the emperor's punishment.After a while, if he gets sick again, the time will be perfect, and it will not arouse suspicion, but will only make people feel sad.

The father and son talked about other things again, and the conversation lasted for a long time before it ended.

Over at Jinling, the emperor sent Chu Ying and Shen Hu there.One is to arrest the people who committed crimes over there, and the other is to suppress them.

The people from the Cao Gang and the Yan Gang are ruthless people. If Chu Ying and the others are not sent there, but other ministers are sent there, I am afraid they will never come back.Sending Shen Hu and the others there will not only catch them, but also eliminate the Cao Gang and the Salt Gang.

The Li family and the Fang family listened to King Jing's words, abandoned some members of the family, and asked them to go out and take the blame.They thought that in this way they could protect their family and themselves, but they never thought that the people sent by the emperor would not let them go at all.

All the aristocratic families in Jinling, the Cao Gang and the Yan Gang were all taken advantage of, and no one was spared, even the Song family who supported King Jing was no exception.

They resisted, but they were no match for Chu Ying and Shen Hu.

What happened in Yangzhou that year happened again in Jinling.However, the situation in Jinling this time is more serious than that in Yangzhou.

During this period, the land at Caishikou in Jinling and the Jinling River were dyed red with blood.

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(End of this chapter)