Clan House

Song Yi had been waiting for this day for a long time, no matter how neatly he arranged his clothes and kept his face calm, his trembling fingers also revealed the tension in his heart. "I have a grievance, please Your Majesty make the decision."

Emperor Xuanqing was very soft-hearted, and seeing Song Yi's pitiful look, he felt a little tolerant.He sat back in front of the imperial case, waved his hand to admire Song Jing, sat down, and then went to hear the grievances of the King of Chu. "You said, I have plenty of time today."

However, Song Yi was not surprised and continued to die: "Your Majesty, Weiyu's murder of the clan was instigated by the Gu family. Today, I not only avenge justice for the biological mother Xiao, the late crown princess, but also for the late emperor and your majesty."

Song Jingshi swallowed, his legs moved alternately and he felt uncomfortable sitting.She took a peek at her father, and saw that the emperor also had a choked expression on his face: "Prince Chu, I know that you always like to do things that are different from ordinary people, but do you know what you are talking about?"

"I naturally know what I'm talking about, Your Majesty, please let me finish." Song Yi said, "This matter should start from the day when the emperor passed away five years ago."

At night, Yingzong's mourning hall was deserted.Song Yi drank the honey water Song Jingshi handed over, and warmed up a little.He thought that he would watch the whole night with this young prince, but for some reason, the emperor's brother Song Xu also came.

Song Yi and Song Xu are not familiar with each other, but they have maintained a brotherly and respectful appearance over the years, and they care about his younger brother very much when they meet each other rarely, so Song Yi still has a good impression of this elder brother.This day was also normal, Song Xu saw that the clothes of the two children were thin, so he ordered the eunuch to fetch the cloaks, before he knelt down beside Song Yi.

The two brothers knelt side by side, chatting gossip while burning paper.Song Jingxin was very afraid of the prince's grandfather, so she knelt carefully in the distance behind, and didn't hear what the two said.

"Brother Huang, why are you here? It would be good if there are younger brothers here. Brother Huang, let's go back and rest."

"Brother Huang also wants to stay with Emperor Father."

Since Song Xu had mentioned Shouling, Song Yi did not suspect him, so he didn't know what to say, so he continued to burn the paper quietly.

The room was silent for a while, but Song Xu suddenly said: "Father has always had high expectations for us princes, but unfortunately too few survived. Over the years, some people have selfishly instigated, making Father think that I have a suspicion against him. .Fortunately, you are by my father's side..."

Song Xuxu talked a lot, some things Song Yi knew, some things were different from what Song Yi had heard, and some things were so far back that he was not born yet.

"Brother Huang is sorry for your biological mother. Now that the Gu family is powerful, it is difficult to overturn the case." Song Xu whispered something Song Yi did not understand, and grabbed Song Yi's hand through the cloak.The boy's hands were cold, so Song Xu gave him the stove in his arms, and handed him a key.Song Yi smelled a warm aroma, which was the charcoal fragrance coming from the hand stove. "Brother Huang can't help you, but I have something to trouble you, please keep it safe."

"What... is this?" Song Yi looked at his brother's pale face by the light of the candle, and the warm hand stove couldn't cover his hands at all.The aroma is obviously very sweet, but after smelling it for a long time, it has a hint of bitterness.

"I left a letter and some other things for King Qingjiang. Put it in a box and hide it under the fourth brick from the south in the northwest corner of Wenhua Hall." Song Xu said, "This thing can't be taken out right now. , I'm afraid this body won't last long, so I'm going to trouble you."

"Brother Huang..." Song Yi wanted to stop Song Xu's ominous remarks, but was interrupted by the other party's rapid panting.

Song Xu coughed a few times, and said again: "Listen to me... If there is a misfortune caused by witchcraft in the future, or the king of the future generation has thoughts of dealing with the Gu family, you can take this thing out and give it to the ruler The emperor. The thing is stored in the East Palace, and when it is taken out, someone will witness it, so you won’t be accused of being a forgery... When you hand over the key to the emperor, don’t look at it, let him decide what to do.”

Seven years later, 13-year-old Song Yi met the emperor and said, "Now that the disaster of witchcraft has come out, the time has come for the emperor to speak. Please send someone you trust to go to the Wenhua Palace to fetch the things. It will take time to come back, and I will explain this matter to His Majesty in detail."

"My son, go." Song Jingshi stood up and asked for an order. She probably guessed what the King of Chu was going to say, after all, it was not something she, a junior, should listen to.

Emperor Xuanqing also realized that the matter might be a little serious, so he agreed to Song Jingshi's request.Only he and Song Yi were left in the hall, and he, the emperor, felt a little empty beside him, and was a little scared.

"You want to say that it was the late emperor who reminded Gu that he harmed your biological mother, so you went to investigate?" Emperor Xuanqing asked forcefully, "Then you have been working hard all these years to reverse the case for your biological mother?"

"I'm terrified, I don't have that much ability," Song Yi choked up, "I'm just a patriarch with status but no real power, how can I do so many things. I've thought about it in my heart, but I can't do it."

Emperor Xuanqing saw how pitiful he was, so he didn't have any troubles: "Okay, you can continue talking, get up and talk."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Song Yi supported his numb knees, got up from the ground after a while, and still waited until he corrected his posture before speaking, "I will report to Your Majesty according to the order I checked and verified."

"Brother Huang passed away suddenly, and I was also a little frightened at the time. After returning to the bedroom for a while, I remembered to tell the matter to the queen mother. After the mother listened, I ordered the minister to put the key away, and don't mention it to others. He also said After the emperor's brother died, he was afraid of the chaos in the palace, so he took his ministers to the Beihai palace under the pretext of illness, but he really didn't want them to be involved in the dispute over the throne." Song Yi said: "But the queen mother did something before she left the palace. After defeating that incident, the emperor's brother I have been in poor health. At that time, the emperor's brother left in a hurry, so no one suspected it. The queen mother transferred the medical records of the emperor's recent years, and the imperial physicians have read them. It is said that the palace servants and the emperor's brother who served closely in the East Palace used The used equipment has been checked, I wonder if Your Majesty still remembers it?"

"It is true," Emperor Xuan Qing frowned, "Didn't you want to say that there was something strange about the late Emperor's death? At that time, nothing was found out."

"I didn't find out because I missed a key thing at that time, the hand stove that the emperor gave to the minister." Song Yi raised his head, looked directly into the eyes of the emperor, and wrote clearly: "The incense charcoal is added with herbs. The aroma is in conflict with the medicine that the emperor took at that time. It is non-toxic when used alone, but the combination of the two is highly poisonous. People often put poison in the incense, and the senior palace people have the means to detect poison, but To poison in charcoal fire and no one notices."

Emperor Xuanqing's eyes widened in shock, and he heard His Highness Song Yi say: "The person who did this should have thought about destroying the corpse, but unfortunately, the emperor gave the hand stove to the minister, and was taken to the Beihai Palace by the minister. The queen mother sent someone to investigate the matter in private, but she kept it under control until she was dying. She told the minister alone. The charcoal ash in the hand stove is still there, and the imperial physician who inspected it is also in charge. Your majesty can send witnesses to verify it. Authenticity."

"Father, although he was jealous of the Gu family, should never have suspected it. According to my opinion, it was the emperor's brother who first wanted to deal with the Gu family. Because of what the emperor's brother said to the minister before the trip, the empress dowager He became suspicious of the Gu family, so he secretly sent people to investigate." Song Yi continued, "The affairs of the inner palace were handed over to the female official Cheng Gongyue, and the affairs outside the palace were arranged for the former chief eunuch Derun who went out to guard the spirit. It’s just that until the Empress Dowager passed away, I didn’t find a good time to mention it to His Majesty, and the two have been returning to my ministers since then.”

Emperor Xuanqing heard that there were all witnesses and material evidence, and knew that the Empress Dowager had already found out the truth, so he wanted to ask why he hadn't mentioned it in the past few years.I also remembered that when the first emperor passed away, the court was in chaos. Thanks to Gu Li's support for his succession, the court was able to stabilize the court.Thinking about coming to the Empress Dowager is also a helpless move, it is indeed not a good time to turn against the Gu family.

"What happened next, you continue to talk."

"After that, I followed the instructions of the former emperor and the empress dowager, and kept this secret in my heart. The Gu family tree has deep roots and is really hard to shake. It happened that I was a few years older and didn't want to sit around all day long, so I took it over. In order to get acquainted with official duties, I have read a lot of old files, and I also saw the case of Xiao Shi, and I feel that there are many doubts in it." Song Yi frowned deeply, and pulled the emperor into a deep depression. in the memories.

Although Song Yi was wise early, he would not overthrow the existing conclusion just because of a few words in the old case.It was because he already knew that Song Xu was poisoned, and he also investigated Gu's secrets in private. Looking at the old case again, he found that many things were related.Facing the emperor at this time, he did not hide anything, and expressed all the doubts in his heart at that time and his sympathy for the Xiao family.This feeling strengthened his determination to reopen the old case.

Thanks to Yingzong's protection of Concubine Xiao, most of the palace servants in Yanxi Palace were preserved except Hu Ting.The people around Song Yi were even more gracious and followed the prince to Kunning Palace.In this way, it is also convenient for Song Yi to inquire about the details of the year.

Hu Ting's testimony, upon closer inspection, has many oddities.The eunuch confessed voluntarily without being punished, so he didn't drag out other people.According to his confession, Concubine Xiao Gui and him discussed and completed many things about the art of subjugation back then, without any other helpers, even the maids who came over as dowry from the Xiao family had never heard of it.Song Yi suspected that Hu Ting was instructed by others to give false testimony. Even Yingzong had doubts about this point, but the man bit his tongue in prison, and there was no evidence to prove it.

Until the nanny who served him back then mentioned a detail, after the prince's accident, Manager Hu often came to His Highness's side to instruct the nanny and maid.At that time, Mammy only thought that Manager Hu was worried, but now that he thinks about it, he seems to often find opportunities to get close to Song Yi's diet.Fortunately, the palace people around him were careful and did not give this man a chance to touch the food alone.

"At that time, I thought, maybe we were all wrong in the past. In fact, even the emperor thought that someone was going to murder the emperor's brother, and after the failure, he put the blame on Xiao. Is it possible that that person was trying to frame Xiao from the beginning? After all, the crime of murdering the crown prince is enough for a noble concubine with a son." He called her the sinner Xiao Shi, and he couldn't even call her mother.Song Yi's eyes were a little red, but he held back his tears: "I thought that if Hu Ting was malicious to me, then he might be instigated to frame Xiao Shi. Xiao Shi is a woman, and I am just an ignorant person." Childish, probably because he blocked the way of others. Thinking about it this way, it is not hard to guess who is behind the scenes. In the end, it was the minister who got Xiao Shi involved."

Emperor Xuanqing heard what Song Yi was referring to, and immediately yelled, "Who do you mean?"

Song Yi blinked vigorously, still looking directly at the emperor: "I was born late, and I am fortunate to be favored by the emperor. The emperor is wise and healthy. Before the witchcraft case, the father never had the intention of changing the crown prince. At that time, there was no quarrel between father and brother, and brother treated his ministers very well, and he would not poison himself. Then who can't tolerate the ministers, and who has the most trouble after the accident?"

"It's nonsense!" Emperor Xuanqing was furious, "Barely relying on your imagination, how dare you slander the Empress Dowager's virtue at will! That is the Empress Dowager, my mother's empress, the first wife of the first emperor! How could she hurt her husband!"

"I have evidence!" Song Yi also raised his voice, "I went to check the people around the queen mother, and found that Pei Ning, the female officer who served the queen mother in the past, died, and happened to die after the witchcraft case. After Pei Ning died, The female officer in charge of the Compassionate Ning Palace is called Su Wen. Su Wen has a ghost in his heart. Not long ago, the minister sent a smart palace servant to scare her. He didn't say much, but mentioned that Pei Ning died strangely. Su Wen frightened her. I had to run away overnight, and was caught by Xuanwei halfway, and now she is still alive, and has been handed over to King Jin. Your Majesty can listen to her statement later, she knows Xiangtan very well..."