Bastard's Counterattack [Rebirth]

"Really?" Rong Youtang's face was as usual, politely revealing a little curiosity, quietly examining the expression of the three princesses.

Girls in boudoir are sometimes extremely sensitive.

Zhao Yiqi didn't dare to look at each other, lowered her eyes shyly, played with the silk handkerchief, and nodded lightly: "Yes. When I was young, I often played hide-and-seek, and no one who followed could find my brother, unless he was willing to come out."

"So that's how it is." Rong Youtang nodded, and sighed with emotion: "The official is preparing to go to Lanyuan, but I didn't expect there is a shortcut."

"Yes!" Zhao Yiqi raised her head, she was very sure, her big eyes were fluttering, her eyes were bright, and she told her in a brisk tone: "Don't walk along the lotus embankment, go up the deer slope, walk through the small road behind the half-waisted scenic pavilion, and go down the mountain. Taiqing Pond, across from Quqiao is Lanyuan."

Rong Youtang had seen the planning map of the Imperial Garden in advance, he thought about it for a moment, and immediately realized that it was indeed a convenient and straight road!When ordinary people visit the garden, they tend to advance along the corridors and corridors carefully laid by craftsmen. Only children playing hide-and-seek or people with ulterior motives will give up the beautiful scenery along the right path and choose to climb mountains and copy paths.

Zhao Yiqi saw that the other party bowed her head and remained silent, and mistakenly thought that she hadn't expressed clearly, so she apologized and asked, "Did you remember? Didn't you understand?"

"Oh." Rong Youtang hurriedly raised his head, and replied gratefully: "I understand, thank you Princess for your guidance."

His Highness the Eighth Prince was so tricky and mean, he never expected that his own sister would be so quiet and gentle, not like a high-ranking golden branch and jade leaves, but like a small family jade raised in a deep boudoir.Rong Youtang felt sincerely.

"You're welcome." Zhao Yiqi smiled slightly, the tension gradually subsided, she let go of her throat a little, and said softly and sadly: "The eldest sister was killed suddenly, we were all terrified, I hope you can solve the case as soon as possible, catch the murderer, please father Severely punish him, and return the palace to peace and tranquility."

"I hope that the princess's day will change, and His Majesty has issued an order to assist His Highness Prince Qing in solving the case. I will do my best." Rong Youtang said seriously.Compared with the deceased eldest princess, he couldn't help feeling fond of the little princess.

When Wang Zhaoyi was young, because her family was poor, she was sold to a tooth shop by her parents, and then entered Han Taifu's mansion as a maidservant. When she finally earned a pair of children with the surname of the emperor, her mother's family was no longer available, and she refused to look for it.Therefore, the third princess had no chance to get in touch with a foreigner. It was the first time she had a face-to-face conversation with a gentle and elegant young man of similar age, and she felt that it was very novel and interesting.

Zhao Yiqi looked like she had gotten a beautiful pearl hairpin, her cheeks were slightly flushed, her eyes sparkled, and she asked shyly, "Then, can you catch the murderer? That man is so terrifying that we are scared day and night."

"Princess, don't be afraid—" Rong Youtang comforted politely, but a stern voice came from behind to stop: "Rong Youtang, you are presumptuous!"

The eighth prince, Zhao Zening, came stridingly from the direction of the discussion tent, his face was frosty, he could be called menacing, like a gust of wind, he rushed towards his younger sister, gouged him hard, and stared at her so that the younger sister flinched back, then without saying a word, raised her hand A heavy slap across the face, with a crisp and loud "slap", slapped on the face of the third princess nanny!

"Ignorant fool."

Zhao Zening reprimanded angrily: "The princess is a golden branch and jade leaf. How can she be approached by strangers? What's the use of raising you? Why don't you warn the princess or beat the outsiders away? Damn it!"

"I know I was wrong, Your Highness, calm down, please forgive me." The nanny trembled like chaff, her cheeks were red and swollen, but she didn't dare to cover her face, let alone explain that the three princesses approached spontaneously, plopped down on her knees, and begged desperately for mercy.

"Your Highness, spare your life!"

"Your maidservant knows your mistake." The rest of the court ladies and eunuchs knelt down on the ground in an instant, knowing the sternness and cruelty of the Eighth Prince, they scrambled to beg for mercy.

"Brother, brother, don't be angry, it's none of Jia Nanny's business, it's me—" Zhao Yiqi mustered up her courage, and wanted to speak for her own people, but she was shut up by her brother's sharp eyes, and she didn't dare to contradict her. He tightened his grip on Sipa, and lowered his head anxiously.

Rong Youtang stepped back a bit, watching quietly, turning a deaf ear to the Eighth Prince's sarcasm.

"Sister, what are you doing here?" Zhao Zening asked solemnly.He didn't hear the previous conversation, but he found Rong Youtang brazenly approaching his younger sister from a distance, and immediately filled his chest with anger.

"The empress asked me to bring cakes to my brothers. She asked you to take care of your father, seek justice for your elder sister, and capture the assassin." Zhao Yiqi explained timidly, looking down at her skirt.

Hmph, the queen is so hateful!She knew that the imperial garden was in a mess, but she sent Yiqi to express condolences, why didn't she call others?Will bully the weak!

"Oh. Why are you alone?" Zhao Zening asked casually.

"Others are not free. Many maidens fell ill from fright, and the second sister and the others are busy serving the elders." Zhao Yiqi whispered to inform, she took the opportunity to hold up the nanny, and urged: "Hurry up and send in the freshly baked cakes. Not tasty."

"Yes." The servants held the food boxes respectfully as if they were being pardoned tremblingly.

Zhao Zening was suspicious by nature. He lifted the lids of several food boxes and checked them one by one. After a long while, he waved his hands with a straight face: "Go. Go back to Qixia Palace immediately after delivery. You are not allowed to step into the Imperial Garden in the near future. It's a mess here. What are you talking about?" Everyone has it."

Zhao Yiqi hesitated to speak, and finally nodded in compromise: "Okay, I'll go right away. Brother, don't be angry." She led the crowd to the discussion tent, and when she passed by Rong Youtang, she glanced apologetically.

It's a pity that Rong Youtang was bowing his head in deep thought, his heart was surging, and he didn't notice it.

The eighth prince, the eighth prince... He played in the imperial garden since he was a child, and he is familiar with every corner——

"Master Rong, are you convicted?" Zhao Zening approached him abruptly and asked.

"I don't know what's wrong, Your Highness, please make it clear." Rong Youtang answered neither humble nor overbearing.

"Hmph." Zhao Zening sneered, raised his head proudly, and sneered dismissively: "Do you really think you look better than Pan An? Relying on your skin, you seduced the third brother, and dare to pester my sister? Once you stab the imperial court, Let's see how you argue!"

Rong Youtang frowned incomprehensibly, and said righteously: "His Royal Highness, please be careful. The officer just speculated on the attack process when the case happened last night. How can the princess not answer the question? In the eyes of everyone, the princess is just asking about the progress of solving the case. That's all, nothing else. Even if you stab the imperial court, the next official will say the same thing."

It's ridiculous!If you stab the imperial court, whose reputation will be damaged?

Zhao Zening unconsciously kicked the ground lightly with the toe of his shoe, and said coldly: "It's best if you don't have anything to do. You know what's going on with my third brother, you know best in your heart, why bother to pretend? My Highness is too lazy to meddle in my business, but I will never allow you to covet my sister !” After finishing speaking, he turned around and returned to the tent with a frosty wind all over his body.

The "brazen" Rong Youtang was left standing there.

"Ah~"

Rong Youtang shook his head, smiled instead of anger, and thought to himself: It turns out that His Royal Highness the Eighth Prince loves his sister so much, takes good care of and protects her, and when the Third Princess speaks a few words to a stranger, he becomes extremely annoyed.

But do I look like a slut?

It's unreasonable, the Eighth Prince is always mean and hateful!

Rong Youtang also raised his head, dismissively returned to Hedi where the crime happened, searching back and forth for clues.

A moment later, King Qing and the Fifth Prince came side by side, and greeted from a distance in a deep and deep voice: "Master Xiao Rong, come here and go and see the other suspects screened out by the guards."

"Yes." Rong Youtang clapped his hands, followed quickly, and a group of people rushed to investigate the palace ladies and eunuchs who had entered and left the imperial garden last night and had not yet proved their innocence.

With a sound of "shua", the fifth prince opened the folding fan habitually, fanning the wind hastily, and said annoyedly: "It's September, why is it still so hot?"

"Qiuhuo." Rong Youtang answered casually absent-mindedly.

"Really?" The fifth prince was also absent-minded, frowned and said: "Third brother, in my opinion, although those eunuchs and maids entered and exited the imperial garden last night, most of them were on errands such as lighting lamps, how could they have the guts to kill the princess? "

"That being said." King Qing pointed out solemnly: "But it is not easy to find the murderer. It is inevitable to investigate the suspects. I am afraid that the real murderer will be let go carelessly."

"Those imperial guards are afraid that they will be accused of crimes, so they won't be punished, right? Torture is a trick?" the fifth prince wondered.

King Qing shook his head, and said in a deep voice: "I have instructed Commander Cao in advance not to use punishment at will. No matter whether the murderer can be caught or not, the imperial army will not escape punishment. After all, the safety of the inner court is guarded by them. Within half an hour of Yilin's accident, It is obvious that the arrangement of patrolling and changing defenses was improper, and the murderer seized the opportunity to commit the crime."

"Tsk, from this point of view, Zhuo Zhiyang, the former commander who took the initiative to sue the old man, escaped? The crime of dereliction of duty can only be borne by the current commander." The fifth prince sighed and curled his lips.

King Qing was striding forward, but he glanced at Rong Youtang from the corner of his eye from time to time, and when he was about to ask why the other party was so silent, Rong Youtang asked without thinking: "Your Highness, when will the court painter be able to process the palm prints on the coarse cloth?" ?”

The fifth prince wisely shut up and shook his fan.

King Qing replied: "They say it is very delicate and complicated. It will take at least two days to restore the ancient silk paintings of the previous dynasty."

Rong Youtang resolutely asked again: "Then, who attended the family banquet last night?"

King Qing paused involuntarily, thoughtfully, and asked in a low voice, "Why did you remember to ask this?"

"I, I'm curious." Rong Youtang explained vaguely.

The fifth prince replied casually: "Hey, who else can it be? It's nothing more than the empress, princes and princesses, and some concubines."

"There must be many maids and servants, right?"

"That's natural."

Rong Youtang nodded, turned to look at King Qing, and cautiously suggested: "After the painter repairs the fingerprints of the murderer's palm, can you...?" He stopped talking, but did not say anything.

"You think it's easy to check the maids, but others are a bit difficult." King Qing told the truth, and warned: "Fifth brother, Mr. Rong is young and reckless, and his words are neither serious nor serious. I hope you will take care of them."

"Okay." The fifth prince responded politely unconsciously, and then realized, he asked in shock: "Master Rong, do you want to try one by one? Everyone present at the family banquet has a head and a face, and Yilin is a princess and a relative. It's really hard to prove your innocence with your palm prints and fingerprints."

"I'm just saying it casually, and it's up to your Highness to decide the details." Rong Youtang said anxiously, he also knew that his proposal would definitely offend the public, but unfortunately he had no choice but to look around, King Qing understood, and waved his hand to dismiss his followers.

Rong Youtang pointed out solemnly: "Your Highness, please think about it: Although the royal family banquet is fixed once a month, the victim does not visit the garden every time after the banquet is over. She did it on a temporary basis. Then, assuming that the murderer is a vendetta, how can he get it in time?" Did you know that the victim entered the imperial garden? I doubt—”

"Cough cough!"

King Qing suddenly coughed as a warning, Rong Youtang stopped immediately, and saw the eldest prince who had left the early court leading his people striding forward, with a smug look on his brows and eyes, as if he was overwhelmed with ecstasy.

"Big brother."

"Did the morning go well?"

The eldest prince stopped with his hands behind his back, full of energy, and cordially responded to the greetings of his two younger brothers, saying: "Everything is going well, my brother just came out of the imperial study. Where are you going?"

"Go and see the court lady and eunuch who was screened as a suspect by the forbidden army. She was released innocently, so as not to cause a backlog of grievances." King Qing briefly answered.

The fifth prince knew it well, and deliberately asked: "Brother, did the father really personally interrogate Guanying, the leader of the corrupt party?"

"You are not joking, of course it is true." The eldest prince couldn't help but slightly raised the corners of his mouth, feeling happy.

"That fellow You Guanying is greedy, deceives his superiors, conspires with bandits to murder imperial envoys, what face does he have? Just behead his head." The fifth prince reprimanded impassionedly.

The eldest prince tried his best to tighten his face, put on the high airs of his elder brother, and earnestly taught: "Fifth brother, as the saying goes, 'If you are close to the vermilion, you will be red, and if you are close to the ink, you will be black'. The court officials who have dealings with corrupt and chaotic parties may not be clean." , It’s rare for the imperial envoys to seize the ironclad evidence of the party’s crimes, so how can they not follow up? It must be thoroughly investigated! Severely punish corrupt officials and eliminate officials.”

"That's right, it's the elder brother who has insight." The fifth prince nodded, but doubts about the royal family relationship couldn't help surging in his heart: Yilin was buried to be buried, and the two elder brothers ignored justice for their younger sister, and only cared about fighting for power and taking advantage of the opportunity Suppressing political opponents, wishing to put the opponent to death and then quickly... Sigh!

King Qing took a deep breath and asked, "Brother, how is your father?"

"Don't worry, the imperial doctors are waiting outside the imperial study room. I wanted to accompany you, but the emperor announced a secret trial, so I had to give up and come to see your situation." The smiling face that showed.

"So that's how it is." King Qing replied dryly, "Then do it yourself, let's handle the case first."

"Okay, let's go."

The two sides don't pass each other, and walk away with their backs.

"Alas~" The fifth prince felt emotional, shook his fan lazily, and for the umpteenth time thought of staying away from the cold-blooded and ruthless emperor's house, muttered in a low voice: "So, I prefer to travel in mountains and rivers, be free and unrestrained. "

King Qing sternly reminded: "You have to keep your home safe and sound, so that you can rest assured of your love for the mountains and rivers."

"I understand." The fifth prince smiled wryly and nodded.

Right now

Cheng Tiandi personally interrogated Guan Ying, the leader of the corrupt party in the imperial study.

"You have the face to ask me for forgiveness?"

"dream!"

"Out of trust, I handed over the people of Hejian to you as the governor. Over the years, the disaster relief has never stopped, but you have pocketed them all! You Guanying, you are so courageous, you are so bold, you are greedy and shameless, even I The imperial envoy sent to investigate the case, you dare to collude with the bandits to murder?" Emperor Chengtian was furious, slapped the table violently, and with a wave of his hand, knocked over a cup of ginseng tea, the tea soup overflowed, and quickly wet the sleeves of the dragon robe.

"Your Majesty, calm down, you must take care of the dragon's body." Li Deying tried to persuade him, but he was very worried, and rushed forward to clean up the mess.

"The guilty minister knows that he has failed your high expectations of Long En, and ten thousand deaths are not enough to atone for the crime."

You Guanying wept bitterly, and she was a different person from a month ago: the rich and fat meat had been boiled dry in the prison of the Ministry of Justice, she was very thin, and her face was sallow. It can't wash away the invisible, rancid and dead air.He kowtowed and repented: "Your Majesty is the most benevolent lord in the past and present. The guilty minister was lucky enough to face the Holy Lord before he died. He will be grateful for life and death. The guilty minister has won your trust and was entrusted with the governorship of Hejian." In the first few years, I remembered the oracle day and night, and I only wanted to make a real achievement, and I was not afraid of poverty and poverty, and I never thought of corruption."

"Hmph, it's too late to regret."

Emperor Chengtian sat on the dragon chair with a dark face, furious and scolded loudly: "If I hadn't sent imperial envoys to Guanzhou to investigate the case and caught you by the way, you would still be the governor today, bullying the common people! I knew how you were at the beginning, so I entrusted you with a heavy responsibility; but after you were released to the outside world, you were addicted to wine, sex, gold and silver, willing to degenerate, and you have long forgotten the words "serving the country and the people"! Today, you are dereliction of duty and corruption The rebellious party has been imprisoned, and the evidence is overwhelming, so what is there to justify?"

"Criminals, criminals don't dare to explain." You Guanying was so thin that his eyes were sunken, and his forehead hit the ground heavily. After a long while, he cried out regretfully: "Your Majesty, I have my own reasons! If I didn't send out the first tribute back then, I wouldn't have used it at all." Do everything possible to search for gold and silver treasures."

Sure enough...?

Emperor Chengtian's heart sank gradually, he clenched his fist, retracted his fist into his sleeve, and asked majesticly, "Corruption and chaos, what's your reason? Could it be that someone forced you with a knife?"

——This problem, the old emperor actually knew it well, but in order to maintain a stable overall situation, and to preserve the face of a certain prince and maintain the dignity of the royal family, he originally decided to deal with two cases: the corruption case will be judged first, and the bribery case will be dealt with at a later date, so as not to prevent the court Too much turmoil.

But after the eldest princess's accident, family ugliness broke out one after another. Emperor Chengtian was greatly stimulated, learned from the pain, and finally changed his mind.

You Guanying burst into tears, first nodded, then shook his head, confused.After being put in prison for trial for a long time, his spirit was completely destroyed and his energy was low, but it is a human instinct to survive, so he tried his best to defend himself, choked up and revealed: "Your Majesty does not know something. Although you have been appointed governor, Hejian Notoriously poor since ancient times, it is incomparable with other wealthy places of the same level. When I go to Beijing to report on my work every year, how can the magistrates not move around? How can they walk around empty-handed? It's difficult, so I can only bite the bullet and manage relationships. At first, I just respected the local land and objects, but later..."

The leader of the corrupt party confessed everything, and Emperor Chengtian leaned back in his chair, turned his face away, and looked at the blue sky outside the window, as if listening attentively, but also as if he was in a daze.

"...In the middle of last year, the guilty minister accidentally heard the news that His Royal Highness the Second Prince was buying high-quality jade at a high price, and after carving it to congratulate you on your birthday. , I got a piece of good material, and when I went to Beijing to report on my duties, I honored it to the Second Highness in the way of the Double Ninth Festival—" You Guanying rambled, pouring beans into the bamboo tube, and said heartily before he died.

"Ceremony? Who gave it to you that day? Just you?" Emperor Chengtian asked blankly. Out of the corner of his eye, the servant of the Ministry of Punishment who accompanied him understood, immediately picked up a pen and dipped in ink, and began to record.

You Guanying sat on her knees limply, shaking on the verge of falling, with a dazed expression, and smiled wryly at herself: "How is it possible? You have to put your heart into giving gifts every year. The second prince's residence is full of guests, and there are many people. There is no one in the court. If you don't go to the door of the First Prince's Mansion, especially the door of Prince Qing's Mansion, you can only cling to the Second Highness, hoping that he will cover up He Jian."

This person must die, and he must be punished by the Nine Clans.

Emperor Chengtian's eyes were terrified, and he simply opened his eyes and asked: "The eldest son of the emperor and King Qing refused to accept your filial piety?"

"Your Highness doesn't care about the governor of the poor province. I guess he thinks he's losing his status." You Guanying smiled lightly. His body, which had been punished by prison, was wrapped in a loose robe. He shook his head frequently and sighed angrily, "King Qing Has always been unkind, the prince who played on the battlefield is cold and icy. He was in the Northwest before and had no chance to get close. He stayed in Beijing for the past year and also behaved uniquely: he did not hold festivals and birthday ceremonies. There is no excuse for people to want to be filial. I heard that he is martial arts Gao Qiang, if there was a disagreement, he killed the court official on the spot—”

"nonsense!"

"Where did you hear the rumors? How did King Qing wantonly kill the imperial court officials!" Emperor Chengtian frowned and scolded angrily.

After begging for a long time, You Guanying knew that death was inevitable, but there should be a large number of colleagues buried with him, so it was worth it.For the first time in his life, he looked at the emperor openly and squarely, and said bluntly: "When King Qing was in the northwest, didn't he kill a group of grain guards? It is said that he also detained the corpses and whipped them to vent his anger."

It is extremely absurd to spread false rumors.

Emperor Chengtian had no choice but to refute it sternly: "Don't talk nonsense, Prince Qing clearly only beheaded a person who embezzled military supplies, a dignified prince, how could he whip the corpse to vent his anger?"

"Oh." You Guanying's expression was sluggish, his eyes glazed over.

"You Guanying, if you can carefully confess that you bribed the powerful officials, I will spare you the pain of Ling Chi and behead you instead, how about it?" Emperor Chengtian asked without haste, determined, and decided to use ruthless hands to clear the court.

Cut to pieces by a thousand knives and put to death Ling Chi?

When You Guanying thought of it, he was so scared that he wanted to escape by suicide, but he couldn't bear to die early. At this moment, when he heard the emperor's promise to beheaded quickly, he nodded immediately without thinking: "I obey the order, and the guilty minister thanked your majesty for your magnanimity!" After speaking, he thought hard and confessed A string of familiar colleagues who quietly bribe together.

The dark tide surged in the imperial study room, and many people were in fear; the imperial garden was also not at peace.

At this moment, Lupo is halfway up the mountain behind the lotus pond.

"Hey, I have climbed this hillside hundreds of times, but I have never walked this way." The fifth prince sighed in amazement.

"Be careful." King Qing returned his hand, "Thank you, Your Highness." Rong Youtang used his strength to jump down the steep slope, kindly did not confess the three princesses, and explained: "The authorities are obsessed. Your Highness is used to the existing Naturally, I won’t bother to take small roads.”

Several tight-lipped guards accompanied the guards, on guard.

The forest was lush and overgrown with weeds. King Qing took the lead and walked slowly. He carefully inspected the trail and pointed out solemnly: "This road has obviously been walked recently, and the footprints are clearly visible."

"Is it left by the gardeners or craftsmen? Maybe they are too lazy to make a detour." The fifth prince asked reasonably.

"I'll find out when I look back." Rong Youtang's heart was beating wildly, and he became more and more shocked, and he couldn't help guessing: the death of the eldest princess may be a fratricide!

The fifth prince said "Yes", he was vaguely suspicious, but since it was too shocking and unfounded, he didn't dare to say a word.

King Qing, who was walking forward, suddenly stopped and squatted down. He picked up something from the grass and remained silent for a long time.

"Your Highness, what do you find?" Rong Youtang was nervous and excited, and approached quickly.