As Jiang's mother said, Miss Zhu Ying and Zhu did enter the palace in the afternoon that day, and she was indeed left in the palace for dinner at this time. However, she was not at the Empress Dowager of Qingning Palace, but at the Emperor of Qianqing Palace. It's not her alone, there is another person to accompany her, it is her fiancé, Zhang Shou, who will be officially promoted to husband in a few days.

And the other person who was called by the emperor to accompany him was the third prince who was the crown prince.

The emperor obviously didn't pay attention to the rules of eating, sleeping, and silent, and while eating, he asked Zhu Tingfang with great interest about the wedding yesterday, as if to make up for the regret of not being able to go to the scene in person. So, Zhu Ying talked about the layout of the new house with relish, said that her sister-in-law, and Zhang Shou supplemented the appearance of all the people in the wedding banquet outside, including the "early birth of a noble son" given by the emperor, and laughed and laughed for a while.

However, the third prince was obviously absent-minded, and even missed the words of the three of them several times, so that when someone mentioned him, he was at a loss and didn't know what to do. In the end, the little crown prince finally found that the surroundings were quiet, and when he looked up, he saw that the emperor and Zhang Shou Zhu Ying were all looking at him.

After the initial stunned, he knew that he couldn't hide his distraction, so he simply put down the dishes and chopsticks and stood up, took a step back and knelt down. Seeing this scene, Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying naturally couldn't sit still, so they both got up and stood behind the emperor. Anyway, the two of them are not restrained people, they just accompanied the emperor to talk, but they didn't eat less, so they finally didn't have to stand hungry at this time.

And the emperor didn't seem surprised by the actions of the three princes. He just put away his smile and put down his chopsticks, and then asked lightly, "San Lang, what are you doing here?" Is it difficult to have a good meal with me? ”

"Erchen ......" The third prince also instinctively withdrew from the table and got up and knelt, and then realized that he suddenly made such a move when his father had a rare meal of peace of mind, which was really too unobservant. However, in the past few days, he has spent a lot of effort on the previous thing in addition to studying, but he has indeed gained something, but he feels that it is difficult to speak.

Therefore, he calmed down his mind and said honestly: "My father is in a depressed mood these days, and his sons and daughters can't share your worries, but they also disturb your rare good mood, which is really against filial piety." However, Erchen couldn't help it. Someone in the good hall under the jurisdiction of the celebrant succumbed to the thief, and almost harmed the teacher's family, and the retainers were ordered to visit for a few days, and the results have already been achieved. ”

Zhu Ying originally thought that the three princes had always been more like father and son than like monarchs and ministers with the emperor, why did they suddenly take it so solemnly today...... Or maybe it's honestly scared. But at this time, when she heard someone talk about the unsolved case that had not yet been investigated, she couldn't help but forget the suspicion just now, and her attention was completely focused on the word "result" that the third prince said.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, have you really found out the results?"

"Hmm." The third prince's voice was low and soft, and his head hung down unconsciously. After a long time, he whispered: "It was said that those thieves were instructed by the eldest brother, and later there was a thief on Huairou's side who instigated the people to surround the Huangzhuang, and the eldest brother committed suicide, and the outside world inevitably said that this confirms that the person behind the scenes is the eldest brother." ”

"I also heard that Zhu Dagongzi, who was in charge of the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses, wrote a letter to ask for guilt, saying that there was a fake messenger at the city gate to publicize the death of the eldest brother, and later after he was arrested, he personally interrogated, but people said that the eldest brother sent him, and then he suddenly died inexplicably."

Listening to the third prince stating these facts that can be said to be well-known, and rarely calling the eldest prince the eldest brother, Zhang Shou couldn't help but have a faint feeling, that is, ...... The third prince, who is now becoming more and more stable and reliable, couldn't help but lose his mind while eating, and then resolutely got up and said that what people are about to say is probably not trivial.

However, Zhu Ying didn't think about it so much. She thought that the third prince was selling off, and at this time she couldn't help but ask eagerly: "Can His Royal Highness the Crown Prince say the point?" You're going to die in a hurry! ”

Seeing that Zhu Ying had already started to urge impatiently, and Zhang Shou was silent, as if he had guessed something, the third prince wanted to look up and see what his father's expression was at this moment, but he was more worried that he would not dare to continue to speak when he saw it, so he simply forced himself not to peep, but to reveal the mystery directly.

"Erchen checked from the previous Jimin Shan Tang layer by layer, followed the vine and touched the melons, and found out several big rats in the celebrant supervisor, but in the end, it proved the innocence of the celebrant eunuch to seal Qian Ren."

"Qian Ren has not been in charge of the celebrant for a long time, and he has no quarrel with the world in the past, and he has nothing to do with the eldest brother and the second brother, but he is too old, and his personality is too loyal and plain, this palm print deserves to be in name only, and the people below just treat him as a bodhisattva on the Buddha shrine, and they do their own thing, and they don't listen to him at all. He didn't even know much about the existence of that good hall. ”

"And those guys who are mixed in Shantang but are really thieves, although they pushed the blame on the eldest brother under torture, but after Erchen personally went to ask, he felt that what they said was not true, so he asked for the guard surnamed Shi next to the eldest brother from the side of the Soldiers and Horses, and the scholar named Mohai next to the second brother."

Erchen ordered someone to wash the guard surnamed Shi, ask someone to put on makeup for him, put on clean and tidy clothes, and blackened Mo Hai's face, and put on a tattered shirt that seemed to be torn after a fight, and then tied up the two of them together and brought them to the thieves. As a result, these people spoke in unison, identifying the guard surnamed Shi as Mo Hai, and identifying Mo Hai as the guard surnamed Shi. ”

When the third prince said this, Zhang Shou finally couldn't help but blurt out a good sigh. Immediately after, as if he had just realized that this was the Qianqing Palace and not the Ciqing Palace, he bowed to the emperor apologetically.

"The emperor forgives the sin, but the minister just didn't expect that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was so young that he could use a good strategy to attack his heart. Compared with torture, this trick is indeed used brilliantly. Speaking of this, he looked at the four princes with a smile and said, "Do those thieves insist that the so-called guards surnamed Shi they identified are the ones who contacted them on the orders of the great prince and instructed them to sneak into our mansion through the secret passages?" ”

"Not bad. Since they can admit that everyone is wrong, the so-called instructions are, of course, nonsense! ”

The third prince didn't expect that his simple trick could be praised by Zhang Shou, and after being slightly stunned, he said with some shame: "The teacher is too famous, I just came up with this idea on the spur of the moment......

He hesitated for a moment, but he didn't say that it was because during the personal interrogation, he saw that the thieves who tried to sneak into the Heavenly Workshop from the secret passage were covered in bruises, which were obviously caused by torture, and he couldn't bear it for a while—even if he knew that the gentleman was far away from cooking, in fact, he didn't have to face such a cruel scene in person, but he still hoped to be able to fight wits and not strength.

However, at this time, the third prince knew that he was not happy to be affirmed by the teacher, so he just said in a humble voice and said: "Therefore, it was proved that the matter instructed by the eldest brother was nothing, so I interrogated them sternly, and the Duke of Chu who followed him was tortured through ancient and modern times as a threat, and it really scared them to death. ”

Of course, at that time, he was even scared to death......

And Zhu Ying couldn't help laughing when she heard it: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is hiding from the sky and the sea, and Father-in-law Chu is bluffing, and you guys are really good at cooperating." Those people were frightened, but they spoke the truth? ”

This time, the third prince finally mustered up the courage to raise his head and look at his father. Seeing that the emperor was still sitting there quietly, with no joy or anger on his face, and he couldn't even tell if he had already known because he had received the reward, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

"Because these people were exposed to the lie and were tortured and intimidated by Gonggong Chu, they confided the truth, saying that those tricks of Shantang were manipulated and coerced, so they had to listen to the instructions of others to sneak into Zhang Yuan, and they were about to set a fire and leave, who knew that they just ran headlong into the net. Gonggong Chu sternly asked them who was the person who was coercing, but they couldn't say. ”

This is a very normal result - after all, wouldn't it be a joke if the person who was holding the blackmail was found out who it was? Zhang Shou turned such a thought in his heart, and was thinking about whether the emperor could be guilty of one less crime because of the eldest prince, so his heart was better, who knew that after the third prince cleared the eldest prince of a crime, he suddenly changed his words again.

However, after the son, he transferred a few attendants from Jiuzhangtang, and when he suddenly went to audit the accounts of the celebrant supervisor, he found that a large amount of money in the Jimin Shan Hall was unknown, but the death of several ceremonial supervisors and the return of the hometown were found to be impossible to verify in a short period of time. Fortunately, Zhu Dagongzi found out another thing, saying that the scholar Mohai was from Jimin Shantang. ”

And Mohai claimed that he was still studying in the inner study hall, but because of his appearance, he was given to his second brother by a certain father-in-law. Erchen asked Gonggong Chu to go to the inner study hall of the celebrant to check, and there was really a name and surname of this person. Moreover, Mohai is indeed ...... It is indeed a eunuch. ”

At this moment, Zhang Shou suddenly saw that the emperor's face originally looked cold...... In other words, the cold face finally revealed a bit of anger that could no longer be concealed. Especially when the third prince said that the person was actually a eunuch, the emperor finally couldn't help but slap the table hard, and swept a cup in front of him to the ground in a fit of anger.

"It's bold...... It's ridiculous! ”

When the third prince said this, and saw his father so angry, he finally mustered up the courage to say: "Actually, at the end of the investigation, Gonggong Chu said to his son that he suspected that the second brother was actually still alive in the world. ”

At that moment, even Zhu Ying couldn't help but widen her eyes. And Zhang Shou smiled in his heart. He didn't think so, but ...... A person whose life and death are difficult to prove, whether he is really the mastermind behind the scenes, or he is thrown out as a black pot, it is very suitable.

The emperor, who had only listened to the third prince quietly just now and never interjected, finally opened his mouth and asked, "That's what Chu Kuan said, then, what do you think, San Lang?" ”

"Erchen...... Erchen felt that what Gonggong Chu said was taken for granted! The third prince finally mustered up the greatest courage, and looked directly at the emperor's suddenly fierce eyes without fear at this time, "The eldest brother and the second brother have indeed done a lot of wrong things in the past, and they can't be regarded as good brothers, and even the sons and daughters are still haunted by the old things, but ......"

But the sons felt that they had made mistakes again and again, and had been dealt with so harshly by their fathers, and if they were really loyal and righteous, they should all follow them, instead of stirring up the storm in secret. Because it costs money to do those things, after the father was furious, killed and chased the people around them, and then confiscated all their private property, the eldest brother and the second brother had no money. ”

"If you don't have fame, you don't have money, why can you do those things? If you want to grasp the key point of Jimin Shantang and coerce the people inside to run for it, you may not need money, but why do you leave such a handle at this time to use it, use it earlier, whether it is the eldest brother or the second brother, won't they be able to better grasp the mind of their father, so that they will not often anger their father? ”

"Maybe it's because the wall is falling down and everyone is pushing it, maybe someone is trying to please the minister...... Or maybe someone has ulterior intentions, so they simply set up layers of traps and blame everything on the eldest brother and second brother, who are already at fault......"

He himself felt that the more he spoke, the more incoherent he became, so he simply stopped those speculations, lowered his head and said: "Erchen was panicked, and he failed to find out, but instead checked himself to prevent chaos. The son failed his father. ”

Zhu Ying woke up like a dream. She was about to speak, but she didn't expect her sleeve to be pulled by someone, and when she looked sideways, she found that she didn't know when, Zhang Shou, who was supposed to be standing on the other side of the emperor, actually went around to her side.

Seeing that the eldest lady cast a puzzled look at her, Zhang Shou shook his head, and then said softly: "It is said that young people don't know the taste of sorrow, and they are worried about the new words." But His Royal Highness the Prince's sorrow is not that he thinks too much. Your Majesty, the minister actually wanted to say it a long time ago, whether it was the assassination of the minister and Yingying in the bamboo forest in the village, or the ...... later."

"Some may really be the eldest prince and the second prince, but some may not be what they did. It's just that if they do too many wrong and evil things, even if they don't admit it to death, some cases will not be found out, and they will be used to planting them naturally. Of course, if the emperor wants to ask for any evidence, the minister can only say no. Chen just felt that some things were not so natural. ”

Seeing that the emperor's sharp gaze finally turned to him from the third prince, Zhang Shou looked back calmly.

Anyway, he has never directed and acted by himself, and there is nothing to lose, even if he has pit the eldest prince and the second prince a few times, it is all frank and unrestrained, and he has already told the emperor. Since he didn't do anything wrong, what was he afraid of Long Yan's anger?

And Zhu Ying didn't expect that the brothers of the eldest prince and the second prince obviously said that they were dead, but now they still pulled out such a bunch of disputes. Especially seeing that the third prince was still kneeling on the ground at this time, with a bit of indescribable sadness on his face, although Zhang Shou was indifferent, but the emperor's eyes seemed to be about to kill, and she finally couldn't help coughing heavily.

"Whether it's Ah Shou or His Royal Highness the Prince, he is not a master who specializes in investigating cases, there are masters in this world who are good at investigating difficult cases, since there are doubts, then send such a master to investigate!"

"Regardless of whether the eldest prince and the second prince are dead or alive, isn't it possible to find out the truth to have peace of mind?"

Hearing this suggestion in the style of Zhu Ying, the emperor thought that he would be angry, would angrily denounce the naïve, and would accuse him of being an afterthought, however, he had been in a bad mood for several days, and he couldn't help laughing: "Yingying, among the people who are good at this kind of chaos in the capital now, there is your eldest brother, do you still want the newlywed Yan'er to wade into this kind of troubled water?" ”