Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 84 Liu Wentai's Sins
There was naturally a reason why Zhang Yu confessed so frankly. He knew his current situation and that he would not escape death whether he confessed or not. There was no other way. The late emperor died in his hands and died on the eighth day. If Zhu Houzhao wanted to investigate strictly, he would be to blame!
Besides, Zhang Yu didn't want to suffer physical pain anymore, and he knew that even if he could endure the physical pain, based on his understanding of Liu Wentai, he would still confess his conspiracy to murder the late emperor. Besides, why should he suffer physical pain? There was no need to cover up the crimes of Li Dongyang and others who wanted to silence him.

With the mentality of dying together, Zhang Yu and Liu Wentai confessed honestly and gave away Li Dongyang and Xie Qian. At this time, it was naturally Li Dongyang's turn to be summoned. Xie Qian had resigned and returned to his hometown, so he could not be summoned for the time being. However, Li Dongyang was enough, as everyone knew that these three cabinet ministers were in cahoots.

Ma Wensheng was so angry that his lips were shaking. He had the deepest feelings for Emperor Hongzhi. In his heart, he even felt that Emperor Hongzhi was undoubtedly wiser and more respected than Emperor Zhengde who came after him. But now the Emperor Hongzhi, whom he respected the most, was killed, which made the political vision he placed on Emperor Hongzhi go down the drain. Naturally, he was furious and slapped the back of the chair: "Bring Li Dongyang here!"

It was the coldest time of the year and a sunny day. Everything was quiet and the view was excellent. All the officials saw Li Dongyang being escorted in from afar.

Some civil servants began to secretly think that they should wait until they returned home to burn the poems they had written for Li Dongyang.

Some civil officials began to worry that the fact that they had submitted a petition to increase the rank of imperial edict for Li Dongyang's mother would become a handle for them to be convicted.

Some civil servants secretly thanked their luck that they had little interaction with cabinet ministers like Li Dongyang. They came here today just to join in the fun. Although they might have offended Ma Wensheng, they would not commit a capital crime.

In fact, most of the civil servants present did not have much interaction with Li Dongyang and others. Those officials who really had interaction with Li Dongyang rushed to plead for mercy last night. It could be said that they were rushing to be reincarnated and have now been thrown into the imperial prison.

Even Jiao Fang and Xu Jin were secretly thankful at this moment that His Majesty had insisted on his own opinion and took a gamble and ignored their opposition to put the officials of Li Dongyang's faction into the imperial prison first. Otherwise, they would not be sure whether the interrogation at this moment could proceed smoothly.

When Li Dongyang came over, all the civil servants present lowered their heads, avoiding being seen by Li Dongyang as if they were avoiding the plague god, for fear that Li Dongyang would accuse them of being involved in the regicide case.

Li Dongyang also noticed the expressions of the officials present. Naturally, he was no longer in the mood to thank these officials for coming to plead for him. He could only sneer, sneering at these officials for being too hypocritical. They clearly came to plead for him, but now they were trying to avoid him as much as possible.

Before this, Li Dongyang had never thought that he would have this day, never thought that he would enter the Forbidden City and walk through the Fengtian Gate as a serious criminal. He suddenly remembered the scene when he passed the imperial examination and wore flowers in his hair, and the scene when he was summoned by Emperor Hongzhi. He suddenly remembered the first day he entered the cabinet. How ambitious and proud he was at that time!
But he didn't know when it started, his thoughts went back to the night when he, Liu Jian and Xie Qian had quarreled with Emperor Hongzhi, and how they watched Emperor Hongzhi point at him angrily before he died.

The harsh clanging sound of the heavy shackles on the bluestone floor brought Li Dongyang's thoughts back to reality. He looked at Zhu Houzhao sitting behind the curtain of the jade chariot, and also at Ma Wensheng wearing the seven-beam crown. He couldn't help but smile bitterly. He had to admit that he lost, and lost miserably!

"According to the imperial decree, Li Dongyang is suspected of treason. He is to be dismissed from all official posts and demoted to a commoner. He will be executed according to the imperial decree after review!"

Liu Jin, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, stepped forward first and read out an imperial decree. According to the procedure, Li Dongyang had to be interrogated and removed from his official position. This decree had been drafted as early as when Li Dongyang was thrown into the imperial prison. Liu Jin read it out again now, naturally to inform all the officials.

After Liu Jin finished reading the imperial edict, Ma Wensheng shouted, "Kneel down!" Li Dongyang smiled slightly, without any hesitation, and immediately knelt down like pushing down a golden mountain and pushing down a jade pillar. This kneeling naturally meant that he had lost all the majesty of the prime minister in the court for decades. This kneeling naturally meant that the power of the original three cabinet ministers had been eradicated, which was an irreversible fact!
Ma Wensheng repeated Zhang Yu's confession to Li Dongyang, and then asked Liu Wentai: "Liu Wentai, is the Li Gefu you confessed to this Li Dongyang Li Gefu?"

Liu Wentai nodded and lowered his head.

"Answer me loudly, yes and no!"

Ma Wensheng roared angrily. At this moment, he was almost on the verge of an emotional outburst, and his heart was already more furious than Zhu Houzhao.

Liu Wentai shuddered: "Yes, it's Li Dongyang!"

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but shook his head upon seeing this, and also looked at Li Dongyang. Although he had already expected this outcome today, he still felt sorry for Emperor Hongzhi at this moment. Frankly speaking, Emperor Hongzhi had an unfortunate life. His mother was murdered, and he had to face the crisis of being assassinated since he was born. However, after he became emperor, he did not choose revenge nor did he turn himself into a vicious person. But in the end, he still could not escape the fate of being murdered.

Ma Wensheng obviously felt the same as Zhu Houzhao, and he gritted his teeth and asked Li Dongyang: "Why did you want to kill the late emperor?!"

Li Dongyang kept silent!
Ma Wensheng almost went crazy. He stood up, totally disregarding his image, and pointed at Li Dongyang: "Answer me!"

Li Dongyang laughed and said, "Ma Wensheng, don't rush to ask me. You should first ask Zhang Yu why he wanted to harm the late emperor. You should ask Liu Wentai if he was telling the truth. Why didn't he tell Your Majesty when he was coerced and just listened to us? You should ask him how he managed to kill two generations of kings!"

Killing two generations of kings?!
Li Dongyang's words were like a bolt from the blue. All the officials present were horrified. Even Zhu Houzhao himself was extremely shocked. Killing one generation of emperors was shocking enough, but he actually killed two generations of emperors!
Only at this moment did Zhu Houzhao suddenly realize how unsafe it was for him to sit in this position.

Zhu Houzhao could not help but ask in person: "What exactly happened, Liu Wentai, tell the truth!"

"He won't confess. Liu Wentai is obsessed with power and has put a lot of thought into becoming the chief judge of the Imperial Hospital. However, during the reign of Emperor Xianzong, he failed to cure Concubine Wan and was angered by Emperor Xianzong, so he took the risk of killing Emperor Xianzong. Emperor Xianzong was a ruthless and incompetent ruler, and everyone hoped that he would die soon, so naturally no one would pursue the matter. Now, Your Majesty intends to replace Li Yanwen with the chief judge of the Imperial Hospital because Li Yanwen understands medical principles better. Liu Wentai is willing to listen to us in order to protect his position and is afraid that we will expose him!"

Li Dongyang said it very naturally, and Liu Wentai got angry on the spot: "You are talking nonsense!"

Regarding the evaluation of Emperor Xianzong, this chapter is about Li Dongyang's evaluation of Emperor Xianzong, not the author's evaluation of Emperor Xianzong. I hereby declare this! Thank you to the book friend Liuli Zhazha for the 100 book coins reward. Thank you to the book friend Jiuhaojiu for the 100 book coins reward.
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(End of this chapter)