In the second half of the night, it snowed lightly, just like the pear blossoms in spring, blown by the wind, sprinkled with a few white flowers, full of innocence, but under this innocence and whiteness, it was countless people who stayed awake all night.

Especially the two alleys of Zizhu and Liuye, which are very close to the small courtyard of Shanwenbai, as the residence of the imperial court officials, there are naturally guards at home who are extraordinary, so they can faintly feel that under the big array, they are almost completely imprisoned, and the flow of heaven and earth vitality and void has stopped.

Under such circumstances, those guards opened the door one after another to find out the news, but as soon as the door of the house was opened a little crack, the bright red armor belonging to the Japanese army came directly into view, like a knife that had been unsheathed, carrying an unparalleled evil aura that almost wanted to pierce the enemy's hot chest.

In the ninety years since the establishment of the Great Xia Dynasty, the Fourth Army has always been the strongest Dinghai Divine Needle in the entire Great Xia, on the contrary, once it is dispatched in person, it will almost certainly be a major event that will shake the whole country, so these guards directly closed the door without saying a word, turned around and walked to the main house where the head of the house was, and raised their hands to knock on the door without hesitation.

Throughout the second half of the night, until the first rays of morning light pierced the darkness, the court officials sat in their studies and waited, but the outside world was extremely calm, without any sound, explosions, and fluctuations in the fighting, but it was this silence that made the sense of oppression deepest.

Finally, in the Shangshu Mansion of the Criminal Department, the old housekeeper knocked on the door of the study and said:

"Master, when it came to the last court, the carriage was already prepared outside. ”

"What's wrong out there?"

Shang Shufang of the Criminal Department returned to his senses, looked at the old butler and asked softly, and then the latter bowed down again and said:

"Back to the master, everything is normal on the outside, and there is nothing unusual. ”

Fang Qian nodded, put down the book he was holding, got up and walked outside the study, took a deep breath, and pushed the door directly.

About half an hour later, at the door of the two alleys of Zizhu and Willow Leaves, the long queue-like carriage began to line up and slowly move forward, and when it reached the front of the Ministry of Rites, almost every wide carriage would stop for a few breaths, and then the officials inside lifted the curtain, looked at the dazzling red seal on the door, and their faces changed slightly.

"Old swimmer, hey!"

Some people who are familiar with You Tingjian, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, couldn't help but sigh.

The light shining from the east became brighter and brighter, and then at the gate of the Imperial Palace, the old eunuch who seemed to be like a sculpture opened his mouth and let out a shout that pierced the sky:

"On the tenth day of the first month of the ninetieth year of the Great Xia calendar, the early dynasty opened, and hundreds of officials were invited to enter the palace to train their classes. ”

The unique voice of the old eunuch was extremely recognizable, and it clearly lingered in everyone's ears, and then the civil and military officials, who had already lined up in the square under His Royal Highness the Emperor, carefully adjusted their court clothes under the flying snowflakes, and raised their feet to step on the ninety-nine white jade steps with a solemn face.

In the solemn and solemn palace, where the phoenix of the nine heavens and the four-winged bird soared and danced, all the officials knelt down in front of the young emperor above, and the sound of greetings was echoed in the hall:

"The ministers greet His Majesty the Emperor, long live Your Majesty, long live the Empress Dowager, the Great Xia National Mourning, and hope for Your Majesty's mourning. ”

The officials who can go to the morning to face the saint in Daxia are at least the head of the first division of the four grades, so they are also quite old, and their feelings for the old queen mother are also very deep, so at this time, the voices in the hall echoed, with full grief, they have forever lost an elder who cares for them on weekdays.

On the throne of the Imperial Palace, Zhao Yu, who was wearing the crown of the Emperor of Heaven and wearing plain white mourning clothes, looked at the hundred officials kneeling below, his lips opened slightly, and the emperor's voice rolled down:

"Everyone, get up. ”

The voice of the young emperor is calm and majestic, without the slightest trembling, he has not seen him for a few days, and the young emperor who is one year older on the throne, but has experienced the death of his loved ones, is becoming more and more mature, and the emperor's authority is becoming more and more vast.

Then Baiguan stood up, bowed his head and stood up, and then Zhao Yu continued to speak:

"The New Year's holiday is closed, and the early dynasty is temporarily closed, but there are not many things that have happened during this time, and I am in the middle of the summer, and I have officially entered the ninetieth year, and this is the first early dynasty this year, there is one thing I want to explain. ”

After the emperor finished speaking, the old eunuch directly opened his mouth and shouted:

"Your Majesty will join the Manchu Dynasty civil and military forces to personally interrogate and bring the sinner to the palace with Shangshu You Tingjian, the original Ministry of Rites!"

As soon as these words came out, there was a commotion directly in the ranks of the civil and military officials, and then the other five Shangshu standing at the front glanced at each other, and they all saw the horror in each other's eyes.

The Ministry of Rites is a rare second-class civil official in Great Xia, and after Zhao Yu ascended the throne, there was no phase in Great Xia, and only a cabinet composed of ten people exercised the power of the minister, so from the second-grade Ministry of Rites Shangshu, it can be said that he is a very popular minister.

At the same time, the emperor tried with hundreds of officials on the first day, which shows that the crime committed by You Tingjian was either treason or collaborating with the enemy, and the crime was extremely heinous!

Thinking of this, the officials of the various ministries and the generals in the army all felt a chill behind their backs, and after a few breaths, the gate of the Imperial Palace opened again, and You Tingjian's somewhat emaciated figure stepped in from the outside, his feet dragging extremely heavy anklets, rubbing against the obsidian ground in the hall, making a piercing sound.

In front of everyone's eyes, You Tingjian walked slowly in front of the hundred officials of the cultural relics, his face was expressionless, but his eyes were full of complicated colors, and then he came to the front of the Imperial Palace, knelt down slowly, slowly kowtowed to Zhao Yu, and said:

"Your Majesty, minister, the sin deserves death!"

After You Tingjian shouted with guilt, the entire Imperial Palace fell into a silence where the needles fell, and the officials in the hall all held their breath, waiting for the judgment from the young emperor.

Zhao Yu also stared at You Tingjian, who was kneeling below and unwilling to get up, for a long time, and he was also thinking about how to get up.

The silence of time passed for a moment, Zhao Yu stood up from the throne, slowly walked to the edge of the high platform, looked down condescendingly, the gaze shot from the black eyes seemed to have thousands of weights, and then the voice of Emperor Huanghuang came out of his mouth:

"After Si Tianta and Dire Division investigated, Shan Wenbai was the remnant of the Ying Dynasty who troubled the southwest frontier, and he was ambushed last night, and You Tingjian, the former secretary of the Ministry of Rites, shielded Shan Wenbai for ten days a year, suspected of collaborating with the enemy and harboring treason, You Tingjian, you have something to say, I give you the opportunity to tell yourself. ”

The young emperor's constant voice in the Imperial Palace was as smooth as usual, but to the rest of the people, it was already the greatest kindness and reasonableness.

Therefore, everyone shifted their attention to You Tingjian, who was kneeling on the ground, and wanted to hear how he would speak, after all, he had been an official in the same dynasty for so many years, and he was extremely familiar with the character of the former.

But then You Tingjian's words made everyone's brows jump fiercely.

"I, You Tingjian knows that the crime is extremely evil, and he has no words to defend himself, so he can only apologize for his crime by death!"