It's the fourth watch, when the cock crows.

It was still dark, and lanterns were lit under the eaves of the main courtyard. The newly arrived maid was waiting in the courtyard with a lantern. When she saw the two people coming out, she held a lantern to lead the way.

Ye Yunting sent Li Fengqi to the gate of the palace and then stopped.

Although his expression was calm, Li Fengqi knew what he was worried about. He gently patted the back of Ye Yunting's hand, moved from the wheelchair to the sedan, opened the sedan curtain and waved to Ye Yunting: "Go back and rest."

Ye Yunting nodded to him and saw the bearer lift up the sedan chair, Wu Geng pushed the wheelchair behind him, and the group headed towards the palace.

It takes about two-quarters of an hour to go from the Royal Palace via Zhaohe Main Street to the former Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Showa Main Street, which is bustling during the day, is very quiet at this time. As the old saying goes, "People come at the first watch, gongs at the second watch, ghosts at the third watch, and thieves at the fourth watch." This is when people are sleeping the most. There are only lanterns on the street.

The glimmer of light and the dull sound of footsteps.

Occasionally, I would meet other officials who were going to court. Officials who were familiar with each other would say hello sleepily.

The closer you get to the palace, the more sedans there are in each palace. A group of officials, big and small, rolled up the curtains of the sedans to talk and talk. The most mentioned topic was yesterday evening, when King Yong'an left the palace to greet the old princess.

It was said that King Yong'an, who had been fatally poisoned for a short time, actually recovered so quietly.

Not all officials knew what happened in the palace before. But the people who served as officials in the court, not to mention all the elites, also knew how to observe the situation. Even if they did not know the situation in the palace, they looked at the emperor.

You can guess a little bit about his attitude these days.

Everyone is secretly guessing that the Yong'an Palace, which was once prosperous, will collapse from now on.

Some people lamented, and some gloated. But everyone remained silent. After all, King Yong'an was only about to die soon. It was not a wise move to offend the emperor for a dying man. What's more, all the officials who were close to King Yong'an in the past were the same.

They are as silent as a cicada, so it is not their turn to show off.

Everyone took a stand, just waiting to see the final outcome of King Yong'an.

Unexpectedly, he was caught off guard by King Yong'an in the blink of an eye. The officials, big and small, had their own positions and factions, and they were all discussing the subsequent impact of this incident in a low voice.

Qi Shao, Minister of the Ministry of War, put his sleeves on his sleeves and said, "You adults must be more cautious in what you say today."

All the officials tacitly understood that King Yong'an was doing well, so His Majesty's mood would certainly not be much better. If something bad happened at this time, there would be no black gauze hat and a human head on his neck.

"I'm afraid things are going to change today." The old imperial censor held the heater and squinted at the brightly lit imperial city.

Rabbits die when dogs are cooked, and birds disappear and hide in their bows. This is a common occurrence throughout the ages.

However, the power gap between the emperor and King Yong'an is too huge. If you can't kill a snake now, there will be endless troubles.

King Yong'an is not a clay Bodhisattva who cannot fight back.

Everyone was silent for a moment, silently speculating on the future situation in the court.

Someone in the darkness suddenly exclaimed: "Is that the sedan chair of King Yong'an?"

Everyone was startled and followed the sound to look.

Then I saw a sedan that was taller and more spacious than ordinary sedans parked silently on the side. I don’t know when it came. The curtain of the sedan was hung down so that I couldn’t see what was going on inside, but the word "Yong'an" embroidered on the lower right corner of the curtain could be seen.

Extremely eye-catching.

All the ministers stared at the hanging curtain of the sedan chair, wishing they could see a hole in it.

Qi Shao, who was good friends with Li Fengqi, raised his eyebrows and asked loudly: "But is the King of Yong'an your master?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a clear voice reply: "Long time no see, my lords, are you all okay?" At the same time, the low curtain of the sedan slowly rolled up, revealing Li Fengqi's face that seemed to be smiling but not smiling.

It’s really King Yong’an!

All the officials were so shocked that they could hardly maintain the emotions on their faces. They only heard the good news about King Yong'an last night, and they came to attend the court meeting before dawn today.

It's clearly coming with force.

I remembered what the imperial censor had just said, and I was afraid that things were about to change.

The officials had different thoughts. Ministers who had always been close to Li Fengqi all came up to chat, while others listened with their ears pricked up.

Someone asked: "Your Majesty has just recovered from a serious illness, why don't you rest for a few more days?"

Li Fengqi's voice was neither high nor low, as cold as ice, a bit gloomy in the dark night: "I have something important to report to Your Majesty."

Everyone was thinking about what important matters King Yong'an had at the moment.

Before I could figure out the reason, I heard the bell ringing and the palace door opened wide.

Everyone had no choice but to stop talking, get off the sedan chairs and line up, heading into the imperial city. After crossing the Jinshui Bridge, they arrived at the Square of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

The ministers lined up and climbed up the stairs. Only Li Fengqi was sitting in a wheelchair and was pushed up from the side by Wu Geng.

When we arrived at the entrance of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the servants from the Hall of Supreme Harmony took over.

At five o'clock, he handed the wooden box containing Zhao Yan's head to the chamberlain and told him: "Carry it carefully, but don't drop it."

The chamberlain accepted it obediently before pushing Li Fengqi into the palace.

Everyone lined up according to their official positions, and Li Fengqi's wheelchair was at the front. After everyone stood in line, they saw another person who had arrived late. He was dressed in white and plain clothes. It was Grand Tutor Han Chan.

Han Chan's face looked a little sad. He glanced at Li Fengqi and stood next to him, side by side with him.

Emperor Li Zong has not yet arrived, so no noise is allowed in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and all officials, both civil and military, are silent. After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, Li Zong, wearing a bright yellow dragon suit, appeared.

He had just lost his crown, and his face still had the tenderness of a young man. His complexion was extremely white due to his pampering. The bright yellow dragon robe made him look a little frailer.

If it weren't for the dragon robe on his body, he wouldn't look like a Nine-Five Supreme Being, but more like a somewhat gloomy scholar.

Li Zong walked to the palace and sat down on the large dragon chair. The twelve beads on the crown swayed gently, covering his gloomy and blue face.

He stared at Li Fengqi gloomily, and the hands hidden in his sleeves were clenched into fists. If he hadn't vented his anger in the harem just now, he would have been unable to maintain the calm on his face.

Cui Xi stood by the side and blew his whip: "If you have something to do, report it early, if you have nothing to do, leave the court -"

After the castration, a slightly sharp and high-pitched voice echoed in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and all the officials subconsciously focused their attention on Li Fengqi.

King Yong'an appears, who dares to play first?

However, Li Fengqi seemed oblivious to the gazes around him. His body was relaxed and he leaned on the back of the chair, with his hands folded, leisurely and at ease, as if no one could catch his eye.

At his feet lay the unexpected wooden box.

Everyone was not sure what he meant, and they didn't dare to speak out first. The sound of needles dropping could be heard in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Li Zong's eyes were sinister, and he glanced condescendingly at all the civil and military officials present. When he saw that no one dared to stand out, his expression became even more ugly.

After a long stalemate, he finally couldn't help but speak first: "My dear friends, I have nothing to report today. King Yong'an has just recovered from his serious illness, but he still insists on coming to court. Don't you have nothing to report?"

"I have something to report." Li Fengqi sat upright casually, his eyes met Li Zong's, and they exchanged words in the air.

"What's the matter?" Li Zongqiang calmed himself down, his eyes wandering wildly.

"I received an urgent military report from eight hundred miles north of Xinjiang, saying that Zhao Yan, who joined the army, secretly colluded with Yin Chengru, the governor of Jizhou, to plot rebellion." Li Fengqi downplayed the matter of Zhao Yan and listed Zhao Yan's crimes one by one: "The military report said,

Zhao Yan had only been in the Northern Xinjiang Governor's Mansion for more than ten days. He behaved erratically, demanded and accepted bribes, and even falsely conveyed His Majesty's oral instructions to confuse the soldiers, with the intention of swaying Deputy Governor Zhu Wen to conspire with him in rebellion."

"Zhu Wen first pretended to agree, but actually secretly investigated and collected evidence. He accidentally discovered that Zhao Yan had been exchanging letters with Yin Chengru, the governor of Jizhou, and also found out that Yin Chengru secretly stationed tens of thousands of troops in the mountains at the junction of Wei and Hebei.

The intention is unknown. In order to protect the peace of the two states, the deputy governor wanted to capture Zhao Yan and escort him to Beijing for questioning. Unexpectedly, Zhao Yan noticed the resistance and was beheaded in the melee."

He took out the correspondence from his sleeve and pointed to the wooden box on the ground: "This is the correspondence between the head of Zhao Yan and the two of them who conspired to communicate. I would like to ask your Majesty to read it."

Everyone did not expect that when King Yong'an showed up, he said such fatal things, and they all took a breath.

Li Zong gritted his teeth tightly and forced a ferocious smile: "Cui Xi, bring it up for a look."

Cui Xi heard the sound and walked down the steps, took the letter, and then bent down to look at the wooden box on the ground.

This wooden box is one foot square and completely black. When you get closer, you can smell the faint smell of blood and rot.

He opened the lid of the wooden box with a cold face, and Zhao Yan's ferocious appearance was revealed to everyone.

Cui Xi's face was solemn, and he picked up the wooden box: "Your Majesty, it is indeed Zhao Yan." After saying that, he handed over the correspondence.

Li Zong took it, flipped it over a few times, and threw it on the dragon case.

He knew what was written in the letter without reading it. Zhao Yan went to Northern Xinjiang with his oral instructions, and Yin Chengru also received his secret order to station troops in the mountains. According to the original plan, Zhao Yan went to Northern Xinjiang.

Pretending to inadvertently reveal Li Fengqi's predicament in Beijing, the purpose is to provoke Zhu Wen's anger. Zhu Wen is quick-tempered and irritable, but also loyal to Li Fengqi. As long as he takes action, Li Zong can order Yin Chengru to commit treason.

Lead troops to quell the chaos.

Get rid of Li Fengqi's confidant generals and the Xuanjia Army in an honest and fair manner. By then Li Fengqi will have no backing and will have to bear the charge of treason by his subordinates. Even if he kills people in anger, no one in the world will say anything.

But Zhu Wen didn't fall into the trap, and Zhao Yan and Yin Chengru were also involved.

Zhao Yan will die if he dies, but Yin Chengru must not break in.

Li Zong grinded his teeth and said solemnly: "There are many doubts about this matter, and it still needs to be handed over to the Criminal Department for thorough investigation."

Li Fengqi did not object, and only said: "Jizhou defends Beijing, and treason is related to the country. It is not a trivial matter. I am afraid that the punishment department alone is not enough. Dali Temple and Yushitai three divisions need to be tried together. As for Yin Chengru, the governor of Jizhou, he mobilized his troops privately, regardless of his

Whatever the intention, they all violate military orders. As a precaution, I should first be relieved of my official position and sent to the Dali Temple Prison to await trial."

He looked at the emperor from a distance: "What do you think, Your Majesty?"

Li Zong stared at him for a long time before looking around the hall: "What do you think, sir?"

"Your Majesty, you can't." Ye Zhili, Duke of Qi, said: "The Yin family is full of heart and soul, and they are loyal to the country. If you dismiss someone and send him to prison without finding out the truth, it may chill the hearts of loyal ministers and good generals."

"What Duke Guo Qi said is wrong. Conspiracy is a serious crime against the nine tribes. It's just a matter of temporarily sending people to prison to await trial. How can it make you feel cold?" Wang Qie, the minister of Dali Temple, came out to refute: "I am in charge of ten years of Dali Temple.
To be continued...