Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

Chapter 455: Gradually Boiling

The palace was temporarily quiet.

Outside the palace walls, public opinion was growing.

The topic first turned from Prince Zhongshun to Prince Dong, and then someone mentioned how Princess Zhaoqing Lin had deserved to hold the gold medal specially bestowed by His Majesty.

In particular, it is said that this gold medal also has the power to "execute first and report later"!

Then, some people brought out the fact that when Cao Yu left the capital overnight, he also took the "Imperial Sword" with him, and had the power to "execute first and report later."

——How long have these two appeared? !

The man is not a provincial governor or a senior official, and the woman is not a concubine or a royal bloodline. How can these two boys and girls who haven't even grown all their hair yet be able to do this? ?

The sound grew louder.

Cao Feng was very angry and arrested a few students who were making a lot of noise and punished them by making them copy "Records of the Grand Historian" and "Zizhi Tongjian".

Several people resisted fiercely and even shouted out "Common people should not be subject to etiquette, and officials should not be subject to punishment."

Cao Feng sneered and told them coldly: "When my younger brother was eighteen years old, he could recite the Records of the Grand Historian by heart.

"The recreational book on Princess Zhaoqing's desk is the Zizhi Tongjian.

"Since you call yourselves scholars, you should be able to recognize the phrase 'Seeing a virtuous person, we should strive to emulate him', right?!"

Several students were speechless.

However, looking at the pile of books that was almost as tall as me, I couldn't help but feel regretful that I was satisfying my mouth for a while but was about to break my hands and waist.

Cao Yu was well-known among the dandies in the capital for his photographic memory, so no one doubted that he could recite the "Records of the Grand Historian".

But Princess Zhaoqing was just a little orphan, let alone using "Zizhi Tongjian" for entertainment, it was even hard to say whether she had this set of books at home!

Considering that none of the men in the Rong and Ning mansions were well-read, where did she get this set of books?

Some people laughed at him and said, "Did you read this in your dream?"

Someone who had participated in Lin Ruhai's grand funeral ceremony hesitated for a moment and told the story: "During the grand funeral ceremony of Marquis Wen'an, the chief eunuch of the Palace Department went to the Jia Mansion in person to deliver a book to Princess Zhaoqing.

"I heard from the people in the Jia Mansion that the palace gave Lin a whole set of history books, from the Records of the Grand Historian to the current dynasty, and the most important one was a set of Tongjian..."

The one who fanned the flames suddenly became angry and said, "How can you believe such a rumor?"

The first one was also annoyed: "What Cao Tianguan and I saw with our own eyes were all rumors. You have no evidence for this and are only fanning the flames. How can you say that these are all good things?"

After a lot of back and forth, the two sides finally started fighting and smashed the teahouse and tavern where they were talking to pieces.

When the matter was reported to the King of the East, he sneered and ordered the person who spread the rumor to have his legs broken and thrown into the prison of the Ministry of Justice to die.

The person who debunked the rumor was also beaten with ten sticks and sent back home with the words "This is the fate of those who join in the fun".

More and more people outside are cursing the King of the East.

The result of the interrogation in Dali Temple was urged by everyone three times a day. Everyone around Master Zhitong had been dealt with, except for a few people headed by Wang Ziteng, who could not be opened to mouth.

While he was convinced, Master Zhitong was also upset. He simply sent people out to spread rumors in the opposite direction, throwing dirty water directly back on Prince Yu and Prince Zhongshun.

What about being indecent in front of the emperor, being domineering, selling official positions and placing cronies in positions, controlling the government and forming cliques, and even bullying men and women and being lustful, and so on and so forth, it's as dirty as it can be.

It happened that the Prince of East, the Prince of Dun and Feng Tang got together to discuss military affairs. Qiu Mang, the new commander-in-chief of the Five Cities Army and Commandant of Xuanwu, who was appointed by the Queen of East to be in charge of the capital's ordinary Five Cities Army, came in from outside and told the three of them all.

Dong Wang and Feng Tang both laughed so hard that they spit out their tea.

But Prince Dun was shocked: "This is actually the work of Master Zhitong? Amitabha, he is a monk, how can he say such a thing?!"

The King of the East laughed loudly and said: "The best way to use troops is to defeat the enemy without fighting!

"With just a few words, you can conquer cities and territories. Master, you are a master of military tactics!"

Qiu Mang also laughed and said, "In this way, Prince Yu and his group want to clear their name, but they have no way to defend themselves, and they have suffered a great loss.

"Now we have no choice but to direct all topics to Prince Zhongshun. There are already many more people cursing outside Prince Zhongshun's palace.

"I have doubled the number of soldiers surrounding the mansion."

Feng Tang's heart was slightly moved, and he hurriedly asked, "Where is Prince Zhongshun? Is there no movement?"

“Because His Majesty was directly under house arrest that day, there were still several Qingke aides in his mansion who were unable to leave.

"Now, Prince Zhongshun plays chess and chats with his staff every day to entertain himself. When the weather is fine, they play in the garden behind the mansion. At night or when it is windy or rainy, they go to the study."

Qiu Mang thought about it carefully again and nodded, "That's all."

After a pause, he smiled again, "It's just a pity for his newly married daughter-in-law. Not only can she not see her husband, but she also has no proper mother-in-law in the house. She has to deal with a bunch of concubines every day.

"The family couldn't go out to buy groceries, and rice, flour, salt and oil were all running low. How could those concubines be reasonable?

"These past two days, we can hear people arguing and fighting every day in the mansion!"

Prince Zhongshun’s daughter-in-law?

King Dong looked at Feng Tang curiously: "Whose family is this?"

"The eldest daughter of the Xue family, Wang Ziteng's niece, is very capable and cunning."

After Feng Tang finished speaking, he suddenly got an idea and said with a smile, "This Miss Xue and our Princess Zhaoqing have a long history of love and hate.

"If the men in Master Zhitong's prison cannot be tried, why don't you ask the princess to think of a way to start with the women?"

Prince Dong and Prince Dun looked at each other and nodded at the same time: "Yes!"

Qiu Mang frowned.

A girl, a little girl of fifteen or sixteen, what does she know! ?

Feng Tang understood what he was thinking at a glance and smiled, "The former Tang Princess Pingyang Zhao was also a woman, but she was able to conquer a large territory when her father, brother, and husband were not around.

“Although our princess is young, she has relied on her wisdom over the past three years to overthrow Prince Beijing, cause the Ningguo Mansion to be stripped of its title, and cause the Rongguo Mansion to fall into silence.

“Now, the four families have met with such a fate in just a few months. Although it is because of Your Majesty’s drastic reform of the administration, it is also because this princess wants to avenge her parents.

"Captain Qiu, you must not underestimate her."

Captain Qiu snorted, said "How dare I", and said nothing more.

Feng Tang knew that he was still brooding over the time Feng Ziying got drunk and beat up his son, causing both he and his son to lose face.

As long as it didn't interfere with the political situation, he didn't bother to care and just laughed it off.

The King of the East had already sent someone to mention this idea to Master Zhitong. He turned around and saw the eye contact between Feng and Qiu, and said with a smile:

"With a powerful enemy at hand and a major event at hand, we must all work together."

Feng Tang stood up and agreed with his hands crossed.

Qiu Mang knew that the King of the East was warning him. This outstanding mission was also assigned by the King of the East. He forced a smile and said,

“What the King of the East said is absolutely true.

"I will keep a close eye on Prince Zhongshun's mansion and report any movement immediately."