Sign a Lu Fengxian at the beginning

Chapter 159 Zheng Shangshu, it seems that you won’t shed tears without seeing the coffin.

Cining Palace.

Not long after King Zhou Zhi of Shu left, Zhou Xian, the Eight Sages King, walked into Cining Palace under the leadership of an old eunuch.

"Meet the Queen Mother."

After entering the Cining Palace, Zhou Xian, the Eight Sages King, said respectfully to the Queen Mother.

"The Eighth Emperor Brother is here."

"Hurry and bring a chair to the Eighth Emperor Brother."

The Eight Sages King Zhou Xian and the late Emperor were brothers, and he was also the closest to the late Emperor among many brothers.

Therefore, there was no quarrel between the Queen Mother and the Eight Wise King Zhou Xian.

Seeing the arrival of the Eight Wise King Zhou Xian, the Queen Mother said to the old eunuch who walked in with the Eight Wise King.

The old eunuch who led the Eighth Prince into the Cining Palace immediately moved a chair to the Eighth Prince Zhou Xian.

"Thank you, Queen Mother."

Zhou Xian, the Eight Sage King, sat down.

He secretly guessed that the Queen Mother suddenly summoned him to Cining Palace for some reason.

You must know that since the late emperor's absence, the Queen Mother has rarely summoned him, the Eight Wise King, to Cining Palace.

After the Eighth Sage King sat down, the Queen Mother said to the Eighth Sage King Zhou Xian: "Eighth Emperor Brother, the Ai family has called you here because they want you to take more care of the King of Shu while he returns to Luoyang."

"The court has not been peaceful recently, and the Ai family is afraid that King Shu will be involved if he doesn't know why."

"The Ai family has lived in the palace for a long time and cannot leave the palace all the time."

"So, for matters outside the palace, the Ai family can only trouble the eighth emperor brother."

The Queen Mother looked at the Eight Wise King Zhou Xian, and without beating around the bush, she directly stated the purpose of summoning the Eight Wise King to Cining Palace.

When the Eight Sages King Zhou Xian heard this, a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes.

I originally thought that the Queen Mother suddenly summoned Zhou Xian, the Eight Wise King, to Cining Palace for some important matter, but I didn't expect that it was to take care of the King of Shu.

"Don't worry, Queen Mother, I will take care of the King of Shu."

The Eight Wise King Zhou Xian understood what the Queen Mother meant.

The Queen Mother was afraid that the King of Shu might get involved in some trouble in the court during his return to Luoyang, so she asked him to keep an eye on it.

After all, things in the court have been a bit uneven recently.

Officials were investigated one by one.

Even the six important ministers such as the Minister of Hubu and the Minister of Punishment were captured.

Royal princes like the Eight Sage King Zhou Xian had to be cautious.

"Then the Ai family will cause trouble to the Eighth Emperor."

After the Queen Mother said this, she said nothing more.

Instead, he chatted with Zhou Xian, the Eight Wise King, about other things.

…

At this time, Zhou Zhi had left the palace and returned to the Shu Palace.

Sitting in the hall of Prince Shu's Mansion, Zhou Zhi looked a little ugly.

Zhou Zhi did not expect that the Queen Mother, his mother, would treat him so harshly this time.

It can be said that it was an unprecedented scolding and warning.

This made Zhou Zhi feel very unwilling.

Zhou Zhi couldn't figure out who was the Queen Mother's biological son.

Why did the Queen Mother treat her biological son like this for the sake of the imperial brother who was sitting on the dragon throne and was not her biological son?

"Mother, I will let you see that I am no worse than him at all." A trace of determination flashed across Zhou Zhi's face, and he murmured to himself.

"Three virtues."

Zhou Zhi shouted.

"Your Majesty."

Santoku's figure appeared in the hall.

"Immediately contact the Prime Minister secretly and tell him that I have something important to discuss with him."

Zhou Zhi said.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Santoku turned around and left the meeting hall.

"At this point, there are some things that can't be turned back."

After San De left, Zhou Zhi's eyes were somewhat wandering.

…

The Hall of Nourishing Heart.

After Zhou Chen returned from Cining Palace, he continued to deal with the memorial placed on the Long Case.

Not for a while.

A house guard came in and whispered something in Cao Shaoqin's ear.

"What's wrong?"

"What happened?"

After the chamberlain and factory guard exited, Zhou Chen asked without raising his head.

Cao Shaoqin immediately said, "Your Majesty, some of the maids and eunuchs serving in Cining Palace have just been replaced."

"After the King of Shu left, the Queen Mother announced that the Eight Wise Kings had entered the Cining Palace."

Cao Shaoqin told him the news that the chamberlain and factory guard had just told him.

The disturbance outside cannot be hidden from Dongchang, and the same is true inside the palace.

Even Cining Palace is no exception.

But Cining Palace is still a bit special, after all, it is the residence of the Queen Mother.

Dongchang can only go so far and know the information generally.

To be more specific, it is still unclear why the Queen Mother told the Eight Wise Kings to enter the Cining Palace.

"oh!"

After hearing this, Zhou Chen put down the memorial in his hand and raised his head, his eyes twinkling.

In Zhou Chen's opinion, the Queen Mother is a rather nostalgic person.

The maids and eunuchs serving in Cining Palace are basically old people who have stayed in Cining Palace for many years.

Why did the Queen Mother suddenly change some of the maids and eunuchs in Cining Palace!

After pondering for a moment.

Zhou Chen raised his eyes and glanced at Cao Shaoqin: "Let the people in Dongchang pay attention to the Eight Wise Kings."

"Look what the Eight Wise Kings have been doing these days?"

Zhou Chen said calmly.

Since he knew that Shu King Zhou Zhi was restless, Zhou Chen also paid attention to the Queen Mother's actions.

It's not that Zhou Chen tried to get into the heart of a gentleman with a villain's heart, but he suspected that the Queen Mother was also involved in the plan of King Zhou Zhi of Shu.

But Zhou Chen knew that the most ruthless emperor's family.

In the royal home.

Be ruthless first, and then you will be emperor.

This is the law of survival.

Nothing else.

As both the sons of the Queen Mother, Zhou Chen believed that the Queen Mother would not favor one son over another and would plot against another son for the sake of one son.

No queen has ever done this.

However, as an emperor, Zhou Chen could not regard this belief as complete trust.

The imperial precautions that should be taken are still needed.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Cao Shaoqin bowed and said.

Before, Dongchang had some scruples about people from the royal family.

Without the permission of Emperor Zhou Chen, Dongchang would not monitor anyone in the royal family.

But since the rebellion of Zhou Junxian and Xiaoyao Wang Zhou Qian, Zhou Chen has let go of this right to Dongchang.

In Luoyang, no matter whether it was the relatives of the emperor or the ministers of the court and central government.

Whether they are local officials, traffickers and pawns, they are all Dongchang's targets.

There are no exceptions.

After finishing speaking, Zhou Chen continued to work on the memorial.

I didn't really take this matter to heart.

And Cao Shaoqin also quietly left the Yangxin Hall.

With Dian Wei, the commander of the imperial army, Cao Shaoqin's duty at the Yangxin Hall did not take long.

His focus is mainly on taking charge of Dongchang.

The Minister of Punishment has just been captured, and many things require his, the second governor of Dongchang, to make decisions.

…

A few days after the Minister of Hubu's family was confiscated and his family was exterminated, the Minister of Xingbu was also found guilty of corruption and was arrested.

The Shangshu Mansion of the Ministry of Justice was raided by Dongchang.

This news caused a lot of discussion in Luoyang City.

Although officials have been arrested every day these days for checking the Household Department, those officials are nothing compared to the Minister of Punishment.

The Minister of Justice is one of the six ministers and an important minister in the Zhou Dynasty.

In addition to the four auxiliary ministers, the six ministers in the court have the greatest power.

It would be difficult for such an important official in the imperial court to have his or her home confiscated without arousing discussion.

What's more, this Minister of Punishment has a different origin. He is a member of the Rongyang Zheng family, one of the seven great families in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

With such a background coupled with the high position and authority of the Minister of Punishment, his house was confiscated, which naturally became a topic of discussion among everyone.

The Fan family of Jiexiu, who was the first to be exterminated by the emperor Zhou Chen, was originally broken into pieces, thinking that they would be able to escape the imperial court's execution and hold back the imperial court's troops.

However, they did not expect that they underestimated how deeply the imperial power was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

The emperor Zhou Chen's execution order directly eliminated the Fan family's method of breaking up into parts, forcing local officials to do their best to suppress the Fan family's rebellion in their respective places.

In addition, Cao Zhengchun, Lu Bu and Zhang Liao were pursued and captured.

The people of the Jiexiu Fan family could be said to have suffered a devastating blow.

…

Dongchang Station.

Cao Shaoqin sat on the governor's chair, glanced at a factory guard below, and asked softly, "Shang Shu, how is the torture going?"

This is also Dongchang's consistent approach.

Anyone who is imprisoned in Dongchang's prison will first be tortured using some of Dongchang's methods, so that they can have a taste of Dongchang's methods before being interrogated.

Just like Fan Yongdou, Minister of Household Affairs.

After entering the Dongchang Prison, Fan Yongdou first suffered several kinds of Dongchang torture before Cao Zhengchun began the interrogation.

"Reporting back to the Governor, according to the Governor's instructions, basically all the Ministers of the Ministry of Punishment have been recruited. It's just that they are all those involved in corruption and bribery. I haven't said a word about anything else."

The factory guard bowed and said.

"Yeah?"

Cao Shaoqin laughed ferociously: "It seems that our Minister of Punishment is just like our Minister of Hubu, his mouth and bones are not as hard as usual."

"Walk."

"Follow me and take a look."

Cao Shaoqin got up and left the hall, heading to the Dongchang Prison.

Generally speaking, with Cao Shaoqin's status, there is no need to go to Dongchang Prison in person to see and interrogate these prisoners.

But the Minister of Punishment was different. The Shangshu of the Punishment Department was involved in a major event involving the three major aristocratic families and the King of Shu conspiring to change the world. Cao Shaoqin had to go and see it in person.

The prison in Dongchang was dark, damp, and very dark.

There was an air of decay permeating the air.

After Cao Shaoqin entered the Dongchang Prison, he walked directly to the depths and stopped outside a cell.

The person detained in this cell is none other than the Minister of Punishment.

At this time, the Minister of Punishment was being hung in the prison.

After being subjected to several tortures by Dongchang, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment was scarred all over. He no longer had the authority and calmness he had in the past, and was just in a state of embarrassment.

Cao Shaoqin walked into the cell and looked at the Minister of the Ministry of Justice who was hanging with scars all over his body: "Zheng Shangshu, you have tried several kinds of torture in Dongchang. It doesn't feel good!"

"If you are honest and tell me everything I want to know, I will give you a happy life."

"Otherwise, you will have to taste all of Dongchang's 108 tortures."

Cao Shaoqin looked at the Minister of Punishment and said softly.

The Minister of Punishment raised his head and glanced at Cao Shaoqin with bloodshot lips: "I have confessed everything I have to confess, and I have admitted all my sins."

"What else do you want me to explain?"

The Minister of Punishment said weakly.

Cao Shaoqin Yinrou wants to taste the 108 kinds of torture in Dongchang. The person in the cell next to him is Fan Yongdou, the Minister of Household Affairs."

"Fan Shangshu fainted after tasting Dongchang's thirty-six minutes of torture. I don't know if Zheng Shangshu could endure more or less than him."

Cao Shaoqin looked at the Minister of Punishment gloomily.

When the Minister of Punishment heard this, his pupils couldn't help but shrink.

When he was imprisoned before, the Minister of Punishment saw the people imprisoned in the cell next to him.

Because the person in the cell next to him was lying on the ground with his back to the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Justice did not recognize the person in the cell next to him.

I just saw that the man in the cell next to me looked like a devil, and almost no part of his body was intact.

Obviously, he suffered torture that Dongchang could not imagine.

Originally, the Minister of Punishment was still guessing who the person in the nearby prison was, and it was worthy of Dongchang to use such torture.

Unexpectedly, the person locked up in the next room turned out to be Fan Yongdou, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

After just a few days of not seeing him, he became like that.

It's simply unbelievable.

"What do you want to know?"

"I have confessed everything I have to confess, and I have admitted all my sins. I really don't know what else you want to know?"

The Minister of Punishment looked at Cao Shaoqin again and said.

Cao Shaoqin stopped talking nonsense this time and looked directly at the Minister of Punishment and said: "Zheng Shangshu, I want to know about the conspiracy between your Zheng family and the King of Shu."

As soon as Cao Shaoqin said these words.

The face of the Minister of Punishment immediately changed, but he quickly concealed it.

However, this did not escape Cao Shaoqin's eyes.

"Zheng Shangshu will not tell this governor, you don't know about this!"

Cao Shaoqin looked at the Minister of Punishment.

The Minister of Punishment smiled with bloodshot eyes: "Cao Shaoqin, please tell His Majesty that if you want to deal with the Rongyang Zheng family, you have to find a better excuse."

"There is no need to drag your own brothers into the water."

The Minister of Punishment said sarcastically.

Although he looked calm on the surface, in his heart, the Minister of Punishment had stirred up huge waves.

The Minister of Punishment did not know how their conspiracy was leaked.

How did Cao Shaoqin know this?

However, these are no longer what the Minister of Punishment should consider now.

What the Minister of Punishment is thinking now is that since this matter has been leaked and Dongchang knows it, the person in the palace must also know it.

So can their plan with the King of Shu still succeed?

"Zheng Shangshu, it seems that you won't shed tears without seeing the coffin."

"Fan Yongdou suffered thirty-six kinds of torture before he opened his mouth and confessed the conspiracy between your three aristocratic families and the King of Shu."

"Now you are pretending to be dumbfounded with me. Do you think it is because I don't know?"

Cao Shaoqin looked at the Minister of Punishment and said.

The Minister of Punishment looked back at Cao Shaoqin and smiled weakly: "Since you know Cao Shaoqin, why bother asking me again?"

Cao Shaoqin wanted to deceive him, but it was not that easy.

If Fan Yongdou, the Minister of Household Affairs, really confessed, Cao Shaoqin would not ask him again.

What's more, when the Minister of Punishment gathered with Prime Minister Yuan Bo and King Zhou Zhi of Shu to discuss matters.

The Minister of Punishment already knew from the mouth of Shu King Zhou Zhi that Fan Yongdou and his family were executed by Cao Zhengchun and tortured by Dongchang, but they never spoke.

Now, Cao Shaoqin said that Fan Yongdou had spoken, but the Minister of Punishment didn't believe it at all.

"hehe."

Cao Shaoqin smiled sinisterly.

"Here comes someone."

"I will give Zheng Shangshu a try one by one in my Dongchang's 108 tortures."

"If Zheng Shangshu doesn't open his mouth, don't stop."

"If it still doesn't work, try it again in turn."

"How hard are my bones and mouth?"

Cao Shaoqin said ferociously.

Originally, Cao Shaoqin wanted to deceive the Minister of Punishment! Unexpectedly, the old fox, the Minister of Punishment, would not be fooled.

Then Cao Shaoqin stopped talking nonsense and could only use Dongchang's torture.

"Yes, Second Governor."

The factory guards took the order and began to torture the Minister of Punishment again.

…

(End of chapter)