Overlord's Road to Ancient Emperors

The news of King Shun's arrival in Beijing spread like wildfire. Many people regretted not being able to see King Shun's demeanor for the first time. It is said that when King Shun was still the prince, he was the most beautiful man in the capital. After a few years, Shouldn't her demeanor be less than it was back then?

"Wei Xiangye, Mr. Kong, Mr. Zheng, I haven't seen you for many years, so you're all right." Li Xu stood in the lobby of the Tingwei Office, trying to identify the people who surrounded him.

The three adults met with King Shun first, and greeted in a familiar tone: "My lord is back. You have been out for a few years, and your majesty is even better than before."

Li Xu's impression of them is already very shallow, but he can recognize them based on his impression. Prime Minister Wei has a shrewd face and is quite old. At first glance, he can tell that he is a sophisticated old fox. Kong Jing is older than him. He is still a few years older, but he has a peaceful face. It is hard to see that he is definitely not an easy person to control the Ting Wei Department for decades. Zheng Can is the youngest of the three, just over [-] years old, and his eyes are uncertain. , looked anxious, and was a little less sophisticated than the first two.

It is said that Jingzhaofu Yin is the position with the most frequent changes, and he can change two or three positions every year, which shows how difficult this position is.

"This king has just entered Beijing, are the three adults sure that the trial will start today? Can I let this king enter the palace to greet Father?" Li Xu was stopped as soon as he entered the city. None of the soldiers they brought were allowed to enter the city. Being placed in the Gyeonggi Camp twenty miles away, Li Xu and Kou Xiao brought a total of [-] guards into the city.

And after they entered the city, they were taken to the Ting Wei Office without even going to the foothold, saying that the emperor had explained that the case should be tried as soon as possible. Obviously, Li Xu's delay in going to Beijing caused the emperor's anger are gone.

Prime Minister Wei said neither humble nor overbearing: "Please forgive me, the case has dragged on for too long. The emperor is anxious for an answer, and it is related to your innocence, so he ordered the trial of the case as soon as possible after entering Beijing. Don't worry." , today is just going through the process according to the procedure, and it won't take too much time for you."

"Alright, if the case is not investigated, this king will feel uneasy, and he will have no face to see his father."

There was charcoal burning in the hall, Li Xu felt a little hot after standing for a while, Kou Xiao took off his cloak for him, and stood silently aside.

Prime Minister Wei took a secret look at the man, stroked his beard, and said with a smile, "This must be General Kou, right? He really is a young talent."

Kou Xiao also greeted the three adults. He is tall, handsome and imposing in armor. Standing next to Li Xu will not block the limelight. The three adults have been secretly looking at him for a long time.

Kou Xiao, no one paid attention to him in the early years. In a place like Nanyue, the imperial court would not pay much attention at all. He was almost left to fend for himself. Go down silently and namelessly.

"Then... this is the beginning?" Kong Jing looked around. Although he was the presiding judge, in this hall, Minister Wei's official position was higher than his, and King Shun's rank was also higher than him. According to my master's understanding, he should not be in the Shun Wang faction, so this case will have something to do with it.

Li Xu nodded to him, then whispered something to Kou Xiao, and the latter withdrew from the courtroom.

"Come here, give King Shun a seat." Mr. Zheng didn't want to offend both sides. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that this case was against King Shun.

Kong Jing sat in the middle seat, patted the gavel lightly, coughed twice, and said loudly: "Come here, bring the witnesses and evidence to the hall."

Li Xu put on a bewildered expression and asked: "My lords, I wonder if I can let someone explain the origin of this case first. My king is far away in South Vietnam, and the news is blocked. I really don't know the reason, let alone how it is related to this king."

"Of course, my lord, please wait a moment. I will read the file of this case. If you have any questions, feel free to ask." Kong Jing has worked in the court for decades, and he understands a truth. Don't easily offend anyone, even He is about to be unlucky.

Li Xu sat very upright, naturally he couldn't see any nervousness, as if he was not sitting in the courtroom for trial but in the flower hall of the palace. The expressions of the first three adults were different, but they soon returned to normal.

The case of embezzlement of military salary has been deadlocked for several months. More and more evidence has been collected, and the involvement has become wider and wider. Apart from Li Xu, dozens of officials have also been implicated. They have all been arrested and sent to prison, and several of them have already been convicted.

The case of corruption of ink has existed since ancient times. Even if it is not greedy for military salary, it may be other money. After a thorough investigation, few people are innocent. The emperor was furious and ordered several officials who had a large amount of corruption to be executed after autumn. I'm still checking it out.

The dossier is very long, the content begins with the Yingchuan mutiny, and it records in great detail a series of evidence found later. Among them, the only thing that is really related to Li Xu is the line of Zhu Yongle, if it were not for his correspondence with Zhu Yongle and Li Xu couldn't think of any relationship between this case and him.

The Zhao family is also very smart. They know that too many witnesses and material evidence will appear false. How could such a cautious person like Li Xu make such a mistake? The two or three letters are the ones found in the Zhu family's secret room, which are the most likely It was Zhu Yongle who was destroyed and did not stay in time. As for the witness, it was Zhu Yongle's confidant who refused to speak up at first, and only confessed after he was sentenced. Moreover, his life is safe, and there is no possibility of torture.

This kind of evidence can be settled by another person, but it is related to King Shun, and he has to be more cautious. It is enough to show that the emperor does not want to abolish King Shun.

After listening to the long file, Li Xu's eyes flashed, and with a relieved smile on the corner of his mouth, he asked: "So, this case is very involved. No wonder I am so eager to announce the king's entry to the capital. There's no denying it."

Kong Jing reassured: "If your lord has any evidence to refute it, just submit it. The handwriting of the three letters has also been checked by several adults, and it is confirmed that it is consistent with the handwriting of the lord when he was in the East Palace a few years ago."

"Oh? Then you have seen the handwriting of this king in recent years?"

The three adults thought: Sure enough, King Shun will definitely mention this point, Wei Chengxiang coughed twice, and said in a steady voice: "My lord, your memorials for the past few years are not written by yourself, right?"

Li Xu showed appropriate surprise, "Master Xiang even found this, so what else did he find?"

Xiangye Wei stroked his beard, and the old god replied at ease: "My lord, why don't you talk about it yourself, if you let me finish talking, won't you have a chance to talk about it?"

Li Xu can be sure, this old guy really doesn't intend to help him, he may even be on the opposite side of him, he has no deep hatred or great hatred with the Wei family, the only entanglement is that he beat a descendant of the Wei family when he passed Cangzhou back then , it is said that Wei Dalang died at the hands of Ning Yun, he killed Ning Yun, and indirectly avenged Wei Dalang.

However, the court camp will not be determined by the life and death of an unworthy child. It is still unknown which side Wei Xiangye is from.

Li Xu nodded, stood up and said, "When it comes to handwriting, it's reasonable not to know how to verify it. If this king says that these handwritings are different from my current handwriting, how can you verify it? Besides, if this king Wang Zhen did such a rebellious thing, how could he write a letter to Zhu Yongle in his usual handwriting, leaving evidence of his guilt, isn't that a bit stupid?"

Wei Xiangye retorted: "There are still your private seals on those letters. As for why, of course it is to win Zhu Yongle's trust. Does anyone send him a letter and he will do it? Zhu Yongle doesn't stupid."

"It's impossible to settle such a big matter with just a few letters. It stands to reason that this king should send a confidant to Yingchuan to meet Zhu Yongle and have a detailed discussion with him. How much money should be greedy every year? How to divide the money should not be so easy to decide. As we all know, the only trustworthy person around this king was Liu Shu, and Liu Shu has not stepped out of South Vietnam in the past few years, you can check."

"But Eunuch Liu disappeared for half a year for no reason during your first year in South Vietnam. Half a year is enough time for him to go back and forth from Yingchuan. Why don't you tell me, where did Eunuch Liu go during those six months?"

Li Xu froze for a moment, then remembered that Liu Shu had not been by his side for a while, but was sent by him to visit Yantian. These people really found a lot of things.

"My king gave my father a book a few years ago. About the method of drying salt in the salt field, I wonder if the three adults have read it?"

The three of them nodded at the same time. Of course they have seen such important things. The emperor was very excited when he received this booklet. He kept the booklet by his side for several days, looking at it from time to time, and even brought out this method. Discussed with several ministers, although none of the ministers understood the truth of this, the emperor still enjoyed it, like a child who got a treasure to show off.

It was also at that time that they got a glimpse of the emperor's attitude towards King Shun. The emperor must not be willing to give up this prince. Looking at several adult princes, which one is as capable as King Shun?Scholars, farmers, businessmen are proficient in everything, and they can do everything well. If they have such an excellent son, they can't help but show it off.

"Your lord, just say what you want." Lord Kong smiled slightly at Li Xu, obviously knowing that Li Xu came prepared.

"Liu Shu was sent by the king to supervise the salt field in those six months. At that time, the king first arrived in Nanyue, and there was no one around to use, and salt was the most important thing, so he had to be sent to supervise it. This matter cannot be faked. Near Yantian, the king also built a naval base, also to protect Yantian from outsiders' interference, several adults can send people to investigate."

Kong Jing immediately picked up the words, saying: "With so many witnesses, it must be untrue. It seems that this doubt is clear..."

"Wait!" Prime Minister Wei's eyes flashed sharply, and he pressed Li Xu to ask, "I wonder if the lord has heard of another case? Years ago, a case of illegal salt trafficking was reported in many places, and it was said that it had been in operation for two years." , the price of salt is lower than the official salt, and the quality is high, which is exactly the same as the fine salt sent to the palace by the prince. After calculating the time, it should come from the Nanyue salt fields. Could it be that Eunuch Liu sold the salt to private salt dealers everywhere without telling His Highness?"

Li Xu replied calmly: "Since Mr. Wei said that this is another case, it has nothing to do with this case. If there is evidence, another case can be filed. It will not be too late for the king to clarify it when the time comes. Today, we should hurry up and clear the ink corruption case." Let's deal with it, this king still wants to enter the palace to pay his respects."

Xiangye Wei's face turned red and then pale, and Li Xu was secretly relieved by the look of being angry and afraid to speak. He took the initiative to explain to the three presiding judges: "The king was seriously injured back then, and he was traveling on bumpy roads and couldn't take a good rest. After recovering, my right hand became very weak. At first, it was difficult to hold a pen. I couldn’t write the characters of the past after several years. Not only that, but my martial arts skills have also been abolished. Why don’t I write a few words on the spot? You see?"

Kong Jing immediately asked someone to bring a brush, ink, paper and inkstone, and put it in front of Li Xu. Li Xu picked up the brush, his posture was bold, and he wrote smoothly. , soft and weak, the font is invisible, not to mention the charm of style.

"This..." Mr. Zheng twitched his mouth, looked at the other two adults, and asked hesitantly, "My lord is saying that your hand was injured, so you can't write?"

Li Xu shook his head, "It's not that I can't write, it's that my wrist is weak and I can't write the old characters, and writing with a brush is too laborious. This king has been using a quill for the past few years, and all official documents are written with a quill. That's it. Didn't the adults find out?"

Of course Zha found out, but they only thought that King Shun had changed the writing tool, and they didn't think it could be taken as evidence. If King Shun's hand was really injured, it would be solid evidence.

Master Kong suggested: "Why don't you announce some imperial physicians to show the prince's hands?"

Prime Minister Wei went through the medical craftsmen of the Imperial Medical Office in the palace. Among them, there must be some who are familiar with Shun Wang, but there are also new ones in the past few years. Shun Wang has just entered Beijing, and it is obviously impossible to buy them all, so he nodded. , Said: "Then go invite, invite a few more."

Li Xu shrugged, rubbed his wrists, sat in his seat and waited calmly.

At this moment, a majestic voice came from outside, "Xu'er's hand was injured? When did it happen?"

Everyone followed the sound and saw the emperor in a normal uniform walking in with his hands behind his back. His expression was solemn, the corners of his mouth drooped, and his steps were huge, but his steps were flimsy. It could be seen that he was not a strong person.

The few people were startled, they hurried forward and knelt down to salute, shouting long live three times, Li Xu knelt at the front, and after saluting, he looked up at the original owner's father, his eyes turned red, and he yelled sadly: " Royal Father..."

The emperor stretched out his hand to help him up, looked at the son with emotion, and said three "good" words in a row. Prime Minister Wei, who was kneeling behind him, felt a chill in his heart, knowing that this case could not have a great impact on King Shun.

"Did you just say that your hand was injured?" the emperor asked again.

Li Xu turned his head and wiped his eyes secretly, then smiled back and said, "That's not the case, it's because the arrow injury he suffered back then affected the tendons of his right hand, so his right hand was weak, and his hand was not injured."

The emperor hurriedly ordered Eunuch Zhao who was standing aside: "Go and call some of the Doctors, and ask for the pulse of King Shun."

"Here." Eunuch Zhao looked up at Li Xu with a smile in his eyes, and then backed out.

Seeing that the trial court became the place where the father and son recognized their relatives, the three presiding judges looked at each other and silently stepped aside, not daring to disturb them, but they could also see that the emperor's attitude towards King Shun was very close , obviously still loves this son very much.

Speaking of it, King Shun was brought up by the emperor, and he was also the only prince who was personally taught by the emperor. His feelings were extraordinary. If it wasn't for the rebellion of the Han family, King Shun would still be the stable prince of the East Palace.

In fact, Li Xu didn't know the emperor well, and he didn't like such an emperor in his heart, but in this situation, he had to pretend to be a father and son with him.

He had no doubt that as long as the emperor felt that he was a threat, he would definitely abolish his son without hesitation.

Several doctors came very quickly, each carrying a medicine box, followed by a medicine boy. On the way here, they already knew that they were going to ask for the pulse of King Shun, but they didn't know what the problem was.

"It's a good time to come. Show King Shun that he was seriously injured back then. Take a good look and see if King Shun's injury has healed." Everyone present knew what happened back then and how King Shun's injury came about. .

The doctors didn't dare to delay, they lined up to check Li Xu's pulse, they used everything they heard, heard and asked, and then wrote down their diagnosis results on paper.

Since the emperor summoned several imperial physicians, it was obvious that they had doubts about this matter, so everyone consciously wrote down the answers and handed them over to Eunuch Zhao.

The emperor didn't take over, he frowned and said, "Old Zhao, your eyesight is dim, show the medical certificate to the three adults."

Several answers were read by the three presiding judges in turn, and the faces of the three were unpredictable. Li Xu stared at Prime Minister Wei for a few times, and when he saw his brows furrowed, he knew that this test had passed.

After the three of them had seen it, the emperor ordered a doctor to come out to answer. The man took a step forward, bowed his waist and said, "My majesty, King Shun's body is fine, and his injuries have healed. Too heavy, hurt the foundation, King Shun's physique is not as good as before."

The emperor sighed heavily, and asked again: "Will that affect the future?"

"Don't worry, King Shun will not be able to continue practicing martial arts, and it will not affect his daily life."

Wei Xiangye then asked: "Does that affect the use of the pen by the prince?"

The doctor was stunned, and thought for a while before answering: "I can't tell about this humble job, the prince's physique is weak, and his martial arts is completely useless. It is reasonable that there will be some impact, but if you don't write too hard, the impact will not be great."

A young doctor stood up beside him and said: "I once diagnosed a patient who was seriously injured and affected the tendons of his hands. It can't be seen in daily life, but he can't fix a position for too long. Things like writing with a pen , I can only write a few words, and my writing power is not as good as before, and my hands will shake if I can't write a few words."

Kong Jing handed the few words written by Li Xu to the emperor, who was stunned for a long time after reading it, then patted Li Xu on the shoulder and said, "I have wronged you."

Li Xu didn't feel wronged, but his handwriting was indeed poor. He had this problem when he was practicing handwriting, and he lost his patience after practicing a few handwriting. After all, it's not that he can't write, it's just that he can't write calligraphy. So the more you write it, the uglier it becomes, just like a ghost drawing.

Kong Jing immediately handed the letters found from Zhu Yongle's house to the emperor, "Your Majesty, look, these letters are fluent and powerful, and it is absolutely impossible for them to come from the hand of King Shun."

The emperor didn't answer at all, and angrily scolded: "Since it's fake, then let me find out who is planting and framing the prince, who dares to slander the prince, you are not small! There is also that witness, who is full of lies, and let me go deeper Check it out, we must check it out!"

Kong Jing's legs trembled, he felt that he might lose his life at the end of the day, after investigating this case for so long, he had a vague guess in his heart, it was just an open and secret fight between the princes, it was not so easy to find out.

But he couldn't refuse, he could only obey obediently, and promised to find out the truth as soon as possible.

Li Xu knew that this matter could not end so quickly, the other party just didn't know that he couldn't write calligraphy, otherwise this physical evidence would be difficult to refute.

But since he has come to the capital, he is not afraid of being deceived by the other party. He was far away in South Vietnam before, so it was not easy to take the initiative to attack. Now that he is here, he has to see what the Zhao family has to do next.