Broken Iron Clothes

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In the Hall of Yingchen, the cabinet civil servants attended the court, Liu Zhaoyu sat on a high position and listened to the affairs, Xu Fing was listening on the side, and what was being discussed below was the matter of Cen Yu's escape from prison.

Yan Youqian said: "Since the trial of the assassination case began, the Ministry of Criminal Justice has repeatedly used the prisoner's refusal to confess as an excuse. In the past, the chief judge failed to interrogate the criminal and handed over the criminal to the Dudu Mansion. Later, there was a prison chief who failed to supervise him and asked Fortunately, the prisoner, Cen Yu, is dead, but now that the evidence is convincing, the chief judge is silent, Cui Shangshu, as the minister of the Ministry of Punishment, should come out and give an explanation."

"Yu Guogong's words are wrong. The trial department does not rely on a single confession to hear the case. This case is related to the safety of the emperor. Naturally, it must be safe. Lai Chang is very skilled. Although he was in prison, he was injured during the trial. There are a few prison officials, so it is more appropriate to hand them over to the Governor's Mansion." Speaking of this, Feng Ruoping glanced at Yan Youqian before saying, "Besides, the prison department is heavily guarded, and how did Cen Yu communicate with outsiders and take the opportunity to escape from prison? What? There are still doubts about this matter, how can we make a conclusion lightly?"

Xu Bing, who had been calm all the time, said slowly: "What Yi Zhonghou said means that Cen Yu still has accomplices in the court?"

"Yes." Feng Ruoping said.

Yan Youqian's heart jumped, and he replied: "If there is an accomplice, why did Cen Yu's arm be broken by one of his own? In my opinion, it seems that the two of them failed to communicate in advance, so they had a temporary dispute, or Someone designed to frame Cen Yu and deliberately created the illusion that someone was robbing the prison. Yi Zhonghou also said that he should not draw conclusions lightly, so what he said would not count when it comes to others."

As soon as Yan Youqian said this, he turned the blame on King Yin again.If someone framed Cen Yu, others would definitely not think of the Yan family that Cen Yu clings to, but the King Yin who is far away in Ningzhou.Yan's framing Cen Yu, in the eyes of outsiders, is superfluous, and if he does not do it well, he will be burned, because once something happens to Cen Yu, Yan's will be involved to some extent, and Yan's will inevitably attract criticism even if he is not charged with a crime.

But if this person is King Yin, then it would be perfectly normal.When Cen Yu was convicted, King Yin could escape, and at the same time hurt Yan's reputation, killing two birds with one stone.

The thrown arrow was thrown back to him, Feng Ruoping secretly resented, if he wanted to push the blame away from King Yin, he could only admit that Cen Yu was indeed an accomplice of the traitor and that the court had no accomplices.

Seeing that Feng Ruoping had nothing to say, Xu Bin said: "Your Majesty's words are reasonable, but the prison department still has Lai Chang in custody, the trial department must have its own plans, if you give it some more time, your majesty, if there is no result , the trial chief should close the case as soon as possible to comfort the king."

Although this matter was related to Liu Zhaoyu's own safety, he felt a little headache when he heard the gossip going around in the palace, so he accepted Xu Bin's words and wanted to turn the matter over as soon as possible.

"Taiwei is right. The Ministry of Criminal Affairs is in charge of this case, not the Dudu's Mansion. Although Lai Chang was handed over to General Lu, the trial department should be responsible to the end. I will give the trial department another half a month. Nothing can be done."

After Liu Zhaoyu spoke, he didn't mention it anymore.

Seeing that the atmosphere in the hall was a little slow, Yan Youqian took the opportunity to nod Song Bing: "After this, the Ministry of War has been cleaned up inside and outside, and Song Shilang led the guards to take down the two prisoners, which is considered a redemption."

Liu Zhaoyu nodded: "Song Shilang has made meritorious service this time, and he really deserves to be rewarded."

He said he would reward him, but he didn't think about how to reward him, so he asked Wen Yao who hadn't spoken: "What did Wen Cifu say?"

Wen Yao lowered his head and said, "I dare not speak nonsense."

As the second assistant of the cabinet, Wen Yao's words should have a certain weight, but since the death of the first emperor, he rarely spoke on government affairs, Liu Zhaoyu did not pursue his responsibility, but kept his second assistant position.Although Wen Yao's younger sister, Wen Yu, is Yuan Haoxun's first wife, Wen Yao has not participated in the dispute between Feng and Yan for many years, so he has not attracted any attention, and has only guarded his Wen family for these years.

Therefore, Liu Zhaoyu was not surprised by Wen Yao's answer, so he raised his sleeves and said: "Then the penalty salary of the personal guards will be exempted first, and the rest will be discussed later."

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The discussion finally came to an end, Liu Zhaoyu was very bored, so he turned to Shangxi Garden to relax, but on the way, he heard about Yuan Mucheng's stay in Zuoli Lane from the palace population, and he was very interested, so he summoned Yuan Mucheng.

Just as Yuan Mucheng showed his body, Liu Zhaoyu greeted him with a smile, but Chang Yi beside him didn't have time to stop him.

"Xiao'an, the sun is just right in Shangxi Garden, come and walk with me." Liu Zhaoyu supported Yuan Mucheng's saluting hand, and pulled it forward.

Yuan Mucheng walked behind and said, "Your Majesty looks very interested today, but is there a happy event?"

Liu Zhaoyu sighed with his hands behind his back: "I have been listening to the cabinet talking about the assassination case early in the morning, and I am upset and depressed. No, I am looking for you to relieve my boredom."

Yuan Mucheng said: "Your Majesty is worried, it would be great if I could help to relieve some of it."

As if he suddenly remembered something, Liu Zhaoyu turned to look at him, and said, "By the way, someone shot you outside the city that day, but are you all right?"

"Your Majesty is concerned, I am fine."

"I knew it, they can't hurt you." Liu Zhaoyu walked to the stone bench in front of him while talking, and sat down next to the edge of the table.

After sitting down, he also signaled Yuan Mucheng to sit down beside him, and then asked when the person sat down firmly, "You are in the prime of life at your age, do you have a girl you like in Yuzhou?"

Yuan Mucheng was asked suddenly, he was taken aback, and then replied: "This matter, I have no plans for the time being."

Liu Zhaoyu said with a smile: "You said that in your family, your eldest brother and eldest sister have already passed the marriageable age, but there is no one around you. How come you are just like them."

Yuan Mucheng also laughed: "The war is not over yet, and the Yuan family's sons and daughters should take protecting their family and the country as the most important thing, so they don't have the heart to care about these things."

Liu Zhaoyu said: "Now that the Pakistani Wolf Department has suffered heavy losses, and the northern border has been temporarily pacified, it is time to think about it."

Yuan Mucheng lowered his head and said, "On behalf of my elder brother and elder sister, I would like to thank Your Majesty for your concern."

Liu Zhaoyu took a few glances at Yuan Mucheng's expression, and finally asked what he hadn't asked after going around.

"Then, is there a girl you like in this city?"

Yuan Mucheng was stunned, and asked, "Why did Your Majesty suddenly ask these questions?"

"It's not good for you to deceive anyone about this matter, you have to deceive me," Liu Zhaoyu saw that he was not enlightened, so he pointed it out directly, "I have heard a lot about the Zuoli Lane matter, which girl is it?"

The palace man beside him listened and lowered his head tacitly.

Liu Zhaoyu went on to say: "It belongs to the Qinlou Chuguan, you can just have fun, but if you are a decent girl, you have done everything, and you have to give her a name if you don't talk about it?"

Yuan Mucheng raised his eyes to look at the palace servants around him, all of them blushed with their heads down and holding back their laughter.

He wanted to admit it, but there was a big man hiding in his arms that night, even if he made it up, he couldn't make it up for a while. Indulging in sexual desires is a decree, once he admitted it in front of these palace people today, and then spread the word, even Prince Jingping's mansion was splashed with dirty water.

Yuan Mucheng lowered his eyes and remained silent, Liu Zhaoyu thought he was in trouble, so he explained, "If you are worried that King Jingping will not allow it, I will make the decision for you."

Seeing that he hesitated to speak, Liu Zhaoyu understood, turned his head to Chang Yi and said, "Chang Yi, take someone to find some food, I will wait here with Flying General Yun."

Chang Yi has served for many years, so he naturally understood that what Liu Zhaoyu said meant that he had something to say with General Yun, and it was inconvenient to say this in front of outsiders in order to save General Yun's face.So he took all the palace people around him and retreated away.

Seeing that the person had gone far enough, Liu Zhaoyu said softly, "Can we talk about it?"

In the silence, Yuan Mucheng listened carefully to the sound in his ear, looked around again, and said seriously: "Your Majesty, we will talk about the girl's matter later."

After finishing speaking, Yuan Mucheng knelt down on one foot, his face full of respect.

"Xiao'an, what are you doing?" Liu Zhaoyu was baffled by his sudden kneeling.

Yuan Mucheng knelt down and refused to get up, saying: "Today I was going to enter the palace, but now that I have been summoned by His Majesty, I am here to plead guilty."

"What crime please?" Liu Zhaoyu asked.

Yuan Mucheng said: "In the assassination case, the minister and General Lu have discovered something, but this matter is related to Da Li's safety, so it is not appropriate to disclose it to others. The minister kept his words light, so he concealed the matter. Previously, he was afraid of attracting people's attention, but now he has found an opportunity to face the saint. I can only ask Your Majesty to forgive me here."

Liu Zhaoyu pulled him up: "Get up first, and speak clearly."

Yuan Mucheng got up and said: "The person who assassinated His Majesty that day was probably a hidden pile sent by Damo to enter the city, named 'Sand Snake', and the sand snake has the mark made by Damo on its body, and the mark is a 'snake' The word "snake" was branded. Earlier, Sand Snake mixed into the musician team, and probably branded the iron mark on the musician's body in a coercive manner. Kill Le Ren, pretend to be a personal guard and enter the Changming Palace to assassinate."

Liu Zhaoyu asked: "If you are a big man, why can't you find any problems in this book?"

"I'm afraid there are people in the Ministry of Households who are acting as internal responders, but the people in the court and the Sand Snakes are definitely not the only people in the Household Department. The records show that these Sand Snakes have been lurking in the city for several years. The forces behind them must be not simple. Someone in the cabinet and the six ministries must be involved, and even the people around His Majesty cannot be trusted."

The words heard in the Yingchen Hall today are still ringing in Liu Zhaoyu's ears, but every word and every word disturbs his ears.

"In this case, isn't Cen Yu..." Liu Zhaoyu thought deeply, and suddenly raised his head to look at Yuan Mucheng, trying to find some answers from his eyes.

Yuan Mucheng understood his eyes, and nodded: "The people behind the scenes are trying to cover up the identity of Sand Snake, and Cen Yu will definitely be the first choice to be the scapegoat. To tell you the truth, these days, the minister and General Lu have already found out the identity of Sand Snake in the city. There are quite a few sand snakes, fearing to scare the snakes, and the corpses brought back from the attack outside the city that day, I also pretended to miss and burned all of them."

Liu Zhaoyu sorted out his thoughts, and immediately got angry in his heart, and he could only whisper angrily: "There are such villains in Dali who hook up with foreign countries!"

Yuan Mucheng knelt down again.

"Cen Yu is dead. The assassination case needs to be concluded as soon as possible to temporarily calm the hearts of the rebellious officials and thieves. But Lai Chang can't die right now. I implore His Majesty to issue a secret decree to allow Lai Chang to be secretly transferred from the prison department to the governor's mansion."

"I issued a secret decree, but the Ministry of Punishment didn't know about it. The man disappeared in prison. Aren't they looking for trouble with the Governor's Mansion?" Liu Zhaoyu asked.

Yuan Mucheng said: "They will look for trouble, so I want to set up a situation of suspended animation, hereby Bingming Your Majesty first, so that they can also find a way out when they are punished in the future."

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New characters in this chapter

Wen Yao: Second Assistant to the Cabinet.He is Wen Kaisen's father and Yuan Mucheng's uncle.The younger sister, Wen Yu, is Yuan Mucheng's mother.