Fortunate Young Gentleman

"Marquis Yongping was arrested?" Zhou Wu, Duke of Zhao, was not surprised to hear the news. He waved his hand and said, "This madman dared to assassinate the right prime minister and King Huai. He deserves it!"

Marquis Yongping's arrest is naturally a good thing for the Zhou family.

He doesn't have to worry about being implicated by Marquis Yongping. What really worries him these two days is that Tang Ning and King Huai were assassinated. The court will not distinguish right from wrong and will catch the Zhou family and Marquis Yichun and others in one fell swoop.

With the importance that His Majesty attaches to Tang Ning and King Huai, it is very likely to do such a thing.

Now that Marquis Yongping has been arrested, the truth of the matter has been revealed, and the Zhou family can also be freed from suspicion.

Zhou Wu breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he sat down and was about to drink a cup of tea, a servant of the Zhou family ran in and said in panic, "Master, it's not good. A group of imperial guards came outside and surrounded us!"

Snap!

The teacup in Zhou Wu's hand fell to the ground and shattered. He stood up suddenly and asked, "What are the imperial guards doing here?"

A general of the imperial guards came in and said, "Marquis Yongping has confessed. Please ask Duke Zhao to go back to the Ministry of Justice with us."

Zhou Wu was stunned and asked, "Confess, what to confess?"

The general of the imperial guards said, "Duke Zhao and Marquis Yichun and Marquis Yongping have been exposed for plotting to murder the right prime minister and King Huai. If you have anything to say, you can talk about it in the Ministry of Justice."

"Plot, plot to murder the right prime minister and King Huai..." Zhou Wu heard this, and his eyes went dark. He felt dizzy and said angrily, "Marquis Yongping, you are not a human being!"

At the same time, in the Marquis Yichun's mansion, Marquis Yichun looked at the imperial guards outside the door and shouted, "This is slander, this is pure slander..."

...

Marquis Yongping hid for two days, but was still caught.

He could not escape the death penalty for assassinating the prime minister and the prince. Before he died, he also confessed all his accomplices, including the Duke of Zhao, the Marquis of Yichun and others.

These people were related to the interests of the new policy of the State of Chen towards the Western Regions and had a strong motive for committing the crime. After the Marquis of Yongping confessed, the Ministry of Justice asked His Majesty and immediately arrested the Duke of Zhao, the Marquis of Yichun and others. However, these people refused to admit that they were the accomplices of the Marquis of Yongping and were temporarily detained in the prison of the Ministry of Justice.

In the imperial study, Emperor Chen looked at Tang Ning and King Huai below and asked, "Are you two okay?"

King Huai bowed and said, "My son is fine."

Tang Ning raised his hand and said, "I am fine too."

"If you are fine, go to the Shangshu Province to get busy." Emperor Chen waved his hand and said, "Remember to bring more guards when you go out in the future, and be careful..."

Tang Ning and King Huai walked out of the imperial study, and a palace maid walked in from outside.

When passing by her, Tang Ning paused slightly, sniffed, and then looked back.

King Huai looked at him and said, "If Lord Tang likes this maid, tell your father, and he may give her to you."

Tang Ning realized that his previous action seemed a bit obscene. Just at that moment, he smelled a smell from the maid. Although the smell was very faint, Tang Ning could be sure that it was the smell of some kind of incense. In order to practice his sense of smell, he smelled countless incense, but he had never smelled this kind of incense.

He waved his hand casually and said, "I don't know what kind of fragrance she used, it smells pretty good..."

King Huai smiled and said, "The Shangshu Province has two tasks, one is to investigate the Western Regions people who were captured in the capital, and the other is to interrogate the Duke of Zhao and others. Which one will Lord Tang choose?"

Tang Ning thought for a while and said, "I'll choose the former."

When the court formulated this rule, some envoys from small Western Regions countries in the capital also came out one after another. In addition to praising the court of Chen, they also asked the court to release the slaves who had been captured.

No buying and selling, no killing. There are still many Western Regions people in the capital, living in the homes of the major dignitaries as slaves and maids.

If it were in the past, the court would naturally not spend so much effort to do this thankless task.

But this time is different. If they plan to cooperate with these small Western Regions countries, they cannot ignore their demands. Emperor Chen will allocate silver from the inner court to redeem the Western Regions slaves in the homes of those dignitaries.

Of course, the premise is that they are willing.

This matter is relatively simple, because it is done by the lower-level officials, and there will be no resistance. Interrogating the Duke of Zhao is different, and it is not certain that any results will be obtained. Tang Ning decisively chose the easy task.

King Huai had no objection to this, and nodded: "Then leave the interrogation to me."

Ministry of Justice Prison

Duke Zhou Wu of Zhao grabbed the bars of the cell, looked across, and angrily said, "I have no grudges against you, why are you doing this!"

Marquis Yongping showed a trace of sarcasm on his face and said, "You are unwilling to help me with just 100,000 taels. Are you satisfied now?"

Duke Zhao gritted his teeth and said, "Just because of this!"

"With these 100,000 taels, I would not be forced to this desperate road." Marquis Yongping looked at him and said, "When you lent me 1,000 taels of silver, I said that you would regret it..."

Duke Zhao was furious and said, "So you framed us!"

"I said that we are grasshoppers on the same boat. If I die, you can't live either. We will go to the underworld together..." Marquis Yongping pulled the corner of his mouth and said, "Either side is death, why don't I find a few more companions for myself?"

Duke Zhao said, "We didn't murder the right prime minister and King Huai!"

Marquis Yongping sneered and said, "Who knows?"

Duke Zhao held the bars of the cell and shouted: "Did you hear it? Did you hear it? He is a false accusation. He is a false accusation. Come and listen!"

Two jailers from the Ministry of Justice came over, opened the cell door, and said: "Please come with us, Duke Zhao."

Zhou Wu's face changed, and he said vigilantly: "What are you doing? Do you want to lynch me? I tell you, I am the Queen Mother's brother. If you dare to do anything to me, you are finished, and the entire Ministry of Justice is finished..."

The yelling Zhou Wu was taken to a quiet cell. Looking at the figure in the cell, Zhou Wu was stunned and immediately said: "Your Highness Huai Wang, I am innocent, I am innocent Ah, how could I let someone assassinate Your Highness..."

King Huai smiled and said, "Don't be afraid, Duke Zhao. I won't make random assumptions or wrongly accuse you without evidence."

Duke Zhao was relieved and said, "That's good, that's good..."

King Huai looked at him and asked, "Did Duke Zhao have any grudges with Marquis Yongping?"

Zhou Wu nodded and said, "Yes, he asked me to borrow 100,000 taels of silver, but I didn't lend it to him, so he held a grudge and wanted to die, and even dragged us with him. Your Highness, please understand..."

"I know." King Huai nodded, asked him a few more questions, and asked the yamen runners of the Ministry of Justice to take him back.

A moment later, Marquis Yichun was brought up.

Duke Zhao had already informed him after returning just now, so Marquis Yichun was not panicked. He walked into the cell, bowed respectfully, and said, "Meet His Royal Highness Prince Huai."

Prince Huai looked at him and said, "It's been many years since we last met. Marquis Yichun looks much more haggard than before."

Marquis Yichun laughed dryly and said, "Your Highness is becoming more and more heroic. We are already old..."

Prince Huai breathed a sigh of relief and said, "When I first met Marquis Yichun, you were still the imperial physician in the palace. So many years have passed in the blink of an eye, and you have been a marquis for so many years..."

Marquis Yichun said, "It's all because of your majesty's favor."

"No." Prince Huai shook his head and said, "This title was earned by your medical skills. When the crown prince, Concubine Yang, and the queen were seriously ill, you were the one who treated them. My father really trusts you..."

Hearing this, Marquis Yichun's body trembled and his pupils shrank suddenly.