The Cannon Fodder and Villain’s Happy Ending

Facing Yuan Minggang's sharp eyes like a knife, Duke Cheng'en pretended to be calm and asked, "Commander Yuan, you are so courageous, how dare you let me do something to this gentleman!"

"This is the newly obtained evidence for this dude, why do you rob it!"

Cheng Engong raised his neck and looked at Yuan Minggang, strong on the outside and hard on the inside.

"If the evidence is not evidence, the grandfather of the country should go to the emperor and talk about it."

Yuan Minggang slapped the account book in his hand with a half-smiling smile, "I am also acting according to the order."

His last words seemed meaningful.

Duke Chengen: "..."

Cheng Engong's eyes changed brightly and secretly, and his heart skipped a beat, knowing that something was wrong.

Yuan Minggang made another gesture and ordered, "Take the second prince away too!"

So, two Jin Yiwei sneered and approached Gu Jing, "Your Highness, Second Prince, don't let us hurt His Highness, please, Your Highness, let us go!"

Gu Jing didn't back down after holding on, his mind was in chaos.

Cheng Engong's face was pale. At this point, he also wanted to understand, and silently said three words to Gu Jing with his mouth: "It's a trick!"

Gu Jing: "!"

"Okay, I'll go with you to see the royal father."

Gu Jing flicked his sleeves and walked out of his seat first, his heart was far less calm than he appeared.

Outside the lounge, there was a lot of noise. Those tea guests either hurried to check out and left, or looked around curiously at the same place. Even outside the restaurant, a lot of passersby gathered to watch.

Gu Jing and Duke Cheng En were escorted into the carriage.

The carriage was escorted by a group of Jin Yiwei guards and headed for the palace. On this journey, everyone avoided it. Usually, it took only one incense stick to get there.

Gu Jing and Duke Cheng En have been escorted by Yuan Minggang and several Jinyi guards to the imperial study. In the imperial study, not only the emperor is present, but also several cabinet ministers, Gu Zezhi and several important ministers, apparently waiting for them for a long time. .

Everyone's eyes fell on Gu Jing and Duke Cheng En, with different expressions, most of them with condescending pity.

Gu Zezhi stood leisurely, just glanced at the two of them lightly, and he couldn't tell what he was thinking in his warm and usual expression.

"Your Majesty, Duke Chengen and His Royal Highness the Second Prince have brought them here."

The first person to speak out was Yuan Minggang.

At the same time, Gu Jing and Duke Cheng En described being embarrassed to salute the emperor.

The emperor after the imperial case did not spare the two of them. His sharp eyes shot straight at Duke Cheng En, his eyes were as deep as a boundless sea.

"..." Eunuch Cheng felt bad for a long time, and the eyes of everyone, including the emperor, looking at him at this moment were equivalent to verifying his guess, and his heart sank little by little.

He preemptively said: "Your Majesty, regarding Lord Wei's connection with King Yu, this minister has found new evidence and was about to present it to the Emperor, but it was just taken away by Commander Yuan."

He still didn't give up, trying to fight to the death.

The corners of Gu Zezhi's lips twitched slightly, and he raised his eyes to look out the window.

A small cobweb was formed between a clump of branches and leaves outside the window, and a flying insect was stuck to it by the cobweb, still struggling tremblingly.

Yuan Minggang presented the account book to the emperor. The emperor flipped a few pages at random, and then asked indifferently, "Where did this account book come from?"

Without waiting for Duke Cheng'en to answer, the emperor went down and said, "Did Tang Fengchun bring it from Huahong Teahouse?"

The emperor still said this to Duke Cheng En, he didn't even look at Gu Jing.

"..."

Everyone knew that Tang Fengchun was the second prince concubine, and several courtiers in the imperial study all looked at Gu Jing subconsciously.

Even Duke Chengen is the same.

Gu Jing still maintained his bowing posture, his face was visibly pale again, his eyes were wide and his body was stiff.

The change in Gu Jing's expression was tantamount to answering the doubts in Duke Cheng'en's heart. He immediately had the answer in his heart. The emperor should be right, this account book was indeed brought by Tang Fengchun from Huahong Teahouse.

In other words, all their plans have long been under the emperor's watch;

In other words, the emperor has long been aware of their cooperation with Yuwangfu.

At this moment, the last bit of luck in Duke Cheng's heart was also extinguished, his limbs were cold, and his whole body was as cold as if he was soaked in the freezing winter lake.

They really got it!

In the past few days, the emperor has allowed them to make a fuss in the courtroom, and has always chosen to remain silent, not only to protect Queen Wei and the Wei family, but to dig out this line, but to force the Yu Palace to take action... …

So, they lost at the beginning, but it was a clown who jumped the beam once, and now they lose the whole game.

Others present also saw it and heard it. Most of these people are old ministers who have experienced two dynasties. They have seen many ups and downs in the court. No one sympathized with Duke Chengen at all. It's just a sigh.

The emperor glanced at Gu Zezhi calmly, but Gu Zezhi seemed to be unaware, still staring at the cobweb outside the window.

The struggle of the flying insect caused the cobweb to tremble, and a spider the size of a fingernail crawled out of the shadows and nimbly crawled towards the beast-like flying insect along the thin web, approaching its prey little by little... …

That gesture, that pace, is bound to win!

The emperor leaned back, leaned his back on the back of the chair, and made a gesture to Yuan Minggang, "Yuan Minggang, you continue to speak."

Yuan Minggang continued to report: "Jin Yiwei has already inspected Huahong Teahouse, and has just copied a secret letter from King Yu from Yuzhou, confirming that this restaurant is the stronghold of King Yu in Beijing, and it is specially for Yuzhou. "

"This time, a total of more than 50 people were obtained by following the vine, and they are currently being interrogated in prison."

They had already guessed the fact that King Yu had set up information points in the capital. However, King Yu's information points were not only secretly set up, but they always changed places, so they were very cautious.

Jin Yiwei has been investigating for a long time these years and has not found it, or in other words, there is no starting point at all.

This time, thanks to the Second Prince, they had a clue and got a clue.

Next, following the existing clues, I will be able to dig out more strongholds of King Yu!

Just thinking about it, Yuan Minggang felt eager to try, and his eyes lit up.

Over the years, Jinyiwei has dealt with trivial matters, and they have been idle for a long time, and they have long wanted to make a big ticket!

Obviously Gu Jing was also involved in the case, but the emperor still ignored him and pointed his finger at Duke Chengen:

"Engong Cheng, what do you say?"

"Why was the account book you brought to impeach Wei Xiushi from King Yu's stronghold?"

Almost at the same time, the spider outside the window had already climbed up to its prey and waved its chelicerae high at it...

The emperor stabbed at Duke Chengen like a sword, and said sternly, "What is your relationship...with King Yu!"

The emperor has always been gentle on weekdays, but at this moment, his face was stern, and his whole body naturally released an imperial thunder-like majesty, like the waves of a stormy night, overwhelmingly pressing down on Duke Chengen.

The emperor had never spoken to Duke Chengen in such a tone before, Duke Cheng's heart shrank for a while, his face became paler, his feet softened for a while, and he knelt on the cold hard brick floor with a thud.

He couldn't help looking up at Gu Jing, with a hint of hope in his eyes, hoping that Gu Jing could help him say a few words in front of the emperor to clear the siege.

However, Gu Jing silently averted his eyes, half-drooping his eyes, still maintaining the gesture of bowing.

It was clear that the silver frost charcoal was burning in the imperial study, and it was as warm as spring, but at this moment, Duke Cheng's heart suddenly became cold.

Gu Jing obviously couldn't count on it.

Of course, Duke Chengen wouldn't just accept his fate. He took a deep breath, calmed down, and continued to defend without giving up: "Your Majesty, this account book was obtained by the minister by accident, and someone handed it to the minister anonymously. Is the minister lost investigation.

The minister thought that Lord Wei was guilty, and did not want to fall for King Yu's plan to sow discord. "

He sighed in reproach, looking like he was really confused.

"Oh?"

The emperor looked at Duke Chengen with a half-smile, as if he was listening to a play.

Yuan Minggang twitched the corners of his mouth disapprovingly, feeling that Eunuch Cheng was really immortal without seeing the Yellow River, and there was no trace of heroic bearing.

Also, if he had some vision and foresight, he wouldn't look at the second prince, who couldn't support the wall.

Duke Chengen could only bite the bullet and said again: "It's also my fault for the minister's selfishness! Because the emperor wants to establish a prince, the minister wants to use this to pull the queen down."

"My lord is guilty."

Duke Cheng En kowtowed heavily to the ground, then raised his head again, the turbid eyes on his old face were covered with bloodshot like cobwebs, and he bit to death: "Your Majesty, but this minister definitely did not collude with Yu. king."

At this point, in order to reduce the charges to a minimum, Duke Cheng En could only admit that he had selfishness to bring down Queen Wei. In any case, this was far lighter than the charge of colluding with King Yu.

With the Empress Dowager still in the Liu family, she might be able to keep her title.

After the initial panic, Duke Cheng'en had already made up his mind, and kowtowed again: "This minister was almost used by King Yu because of his own, but fortunately, the emperor was able to see the situation clearly, so it didn't cause a catastrophe.

But the sin of the minister is also unforgivable, so please forgive the emperor. "

The elders of the cabinet next to him are all elites, and he can guess what happened, and he admires the fact that Duke Chengen can be so stubborn.

Gu Jing followed and knelt down next to Duke Cheng'en. He also kowtowed and admitted his mistake: "Father, it's all the fault of the son, and the son didn't correct his grandfather's mistake in time."

"My son has an appointment with my grandfather today. I originally wanted him to find out and then impeach him, so as not to wrong a good person."

Gu Jing looked at the emperor after the imperial case with sincerity, and seemed to hate that iron could not become steel.

Duke Chengen: "..."

Cheng Engong closed his eyes, and the bottom of his eyes was even more gray.

Cheng Engong didn't want to pull Gu Jing out. After all, Gu Jing couldn't alleviate his guilt, but it was just one more person. However, Gu Jing was so anxious to distance himself from him. This attitude made him He was even colder.

He suddenly remembered Qin Zhun, and Gu Jing said the same thing to Qin Zhun at the beginning.

To be honest, he knew that some officials had also discussed that the second prince was too cold in private, but he didn't take it to heart. He felt that Qin Zhun was too stupid and that the second prince would never abandon him. grandfather.

It wasn't until this moment that things really happened to him that he felt that his grandson was really cool. Once his interests were endangered, he was ruthless to the people around him, and he didn't have the style of being a master at all.

Duke Cheng felt his heart shrank for a while, and at this moment, he regretted it.

The emperor's eyes were dark, and he said to Yuan Minggang: "Yuan Minggang, you continue to speak."

Yuan Minggang continued: "Yesterday, Jin Yiwei secretly followed Tang Fengchun to Huahong Tea House yesterday. It was Shen Chu at that time. After a stick of incense, Tang Fengchun came out of the tea house. After that, a group of people continued to follow Tang Fengchun, and another group of people continued to follow Tang Fengchun. Then surround the Huahong Teahouse, check and take people, and not a single fish slips through the net."

"The Jinyi guards who followed Tang Fengchun back to the Second Prince's Mansion have also been guarding outside the Second Prince's Mansion. Since Tang Fengchun returned to the Mansion yesterday, he has not left the Mansion again. His Royal Highness the Second Prince is leaving the Mansion for the first time today and arrived at the Yunbin Restaurant in an instant. "

"After a cup of tea, Duke Chengen also arrived at Yunbin Restaurant, and His Royal Highness the Second Prince gave the account book to Duke Chengen."

Yuan Minggang didn't even look at Gu Jing and Duke Cheng, his voice was calm and powerful.

With his words, Gu Jing and Cheng Engong's foreheads were oozing with fine cold sweat, and their faces were as dead as a wall, as if a knife was placed above their heads.

It's over, it's over, the emperor knows everything clearly!

Gu Zezhi casually brushed off his robe, and saw that the flying insect caught by the spider on the spider web outside the window was struggling more and more weakly, getting weaker and weaker...

The emperor looked at Duke Chengen expressionlessly and asked again, "What else do you want to say?"

Duke Chengen: "..."

Eunuch Cheng's blue-purple lips trembled slightly, but he couldn't say what he wanted to say, and his throat seemed to be burning with pain.

yes.

When things developed to this point, what else could he not understand? The emperor had Jin Yiwei staring at them early in the morning, since he first impeached Wei Xiushi... No, or rather, far before that!

If he is calm and doesn't move for the time being, the emperor will have nothing to do with him, but if they move, then the emperor will take it easy.

To put it bluntly, the emperor didn't come for him and Gu Jing. For the emperor, they were just bait for catching the big fish of King Yu.

Cheng Engong's neck and even his back were already wet with sweat.

He is a minister and the emperor's uncle. In the last few years of the late emperor's reign, his uncle and nephew also supported each other. All along, he thought he knew the emperor quite well. The emperor has always been a soft-hearted monarch. To the son, or to the old ministers.

He always felt that even if the second prince really annoyed the emperor, the emperor always had a father-son relationship with the second prince.

but now……

Cheng Engong was not sure, his eyes flickered.

The emperor didn't hesitate to use the second prince as a bait to catch King Yu, and the emperor watched the second prince get deeper and deeper, and the more he went wrong... I'm afraid that there is not much father-son relationship.

When did it start?

!

Whether it started when the second prince married Tang Fengchun, or when the second prince accepted Qin Xin, or before that, when the second prince had peace talks with Beiyan...

The scenes that had happened in the last year flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern, Duke Cheng's throat was even more dry, his body was weak and weak, and he could no longer say anything to defend.

In the imperial study, it was silent.

With a pale face, Gu Jing looked at Duke Eng from the corner of his eyes, using almost all of his strength to avoid losing his temper.

There is still a glimmer of hope in his heart, hoping that Duke Chengen can help him clear the relationship from this matter.

Cheng Engong closed his eyes again, and when he opened them again, the chaotic eyes had settled down.

He kowtowed to the emperor for the third time, his voice hoarse and old, and said, "This minister is guilty."

Cheng Engong is already in his sixties. In the past, he had always been full of energy and did not appear old, but at this moment, he seemed to have suddenly aged ten years, and his spirit was suddenly vented. .

Duke Cheng'en took a deep breath and continued, "This account book was given to the minister by His Royal Highness the Second Prince, as was the correspondence between Wei Xiushi and Prince Yu before.

The minister did not know where His Highness got the letters and account books. "

Duke Cheng knew that both he and Gu Jing were defeated this time, and there was no way to return to heaven.

When things have developed to this point, it can only be the lesser of two evils.

He is just the emperor's uncle, and the second prince is the emperor's own son. Since ancient times, there have been very few emperors who can kill their own children. Their emperor has always been good-natured. From now on, if he can't turn over, the emperor will not kill him.

Up to now, if the second prince is charged with colluding with King Yu, the Liu family will be protected.

Taking a step back, even if he admits to colluding with King Yu, the second prince can't escape the fate of being imprisoned, but he just let the Liu family in.

The truth is obvious.

Eunuch Cheng gave Gu Jing a quick wink.

Just now, he also tried to help Gu Jing take the blame, but now that the emperor knew that the account book was given to him by Gu Jing, he could not take the blame.

Of course Gu Jing understood Duke Cheng's intentions, but even if he understood, he still felt betrayed.

He knew that his grandfather had always been selfish, putting the Liu family first and himself second, and now it was just another confirmation of his idea.

Although Gu Jing was cold and disappointed, his reason told him that as long as the Liu family was still there, he would still have a chance to turn over.

Gu Jing was silent. At this time, he didn't object to Duke Cheng's words, which means he acquiesced.

The emperor naturally saw the lawsuit between the two people, but he did not break it, and said indifferently: "In this case, Liu Renxun, the Duke of Cheng'en, was dismissed from the title, and he was exiled for 3,000 miles, and his family wealth was confiscated."

Duke Chengen: "..."

The emperor's eyes turned to Gu Jing again, and he continued: "The second prince is imprisoned in the mansion, and he cannot leave the mansion half a step during his lifetime."

"The Jin Yiwei will check the Cheng'en Gong's Mansion and the Second Prince's Mansion."

The emperor issued three orders in a row, which can be described as vigorous and resolute.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Yuan Minggang clasped his fists to take orders, and said the three words loudly.

Thanks to these two, their Jinyiwei has made a great contribution this time.

Yuan Minggang calmly glanced at Gu Zezhi, who seemed to be absent from the beginning to the end.

No, it should be said that it was the blessing of the Duke of Chen County.

Others may not know, but Yuan Minggang, as the commander of Jinyiwei, is the emperor's confidant, and he knows what role Gu Zezhi played in this series of events.

Lord Chengen, no, Liu Renxun and the second prince probably didn't know who they had planted.

This young Prince of Chen County has only been in the capital for just over a year, but he has already accomplished one great thing after another, accomplishing things that many courtiers could never do in their lifetime.

It can be seen that Duan Wang is confused in family affairs.

Yuan Minggang's mood ran away as soon as he was not careful, and his face was still dignified and upright.

And Duke Cheng'en was already shocked. He had no idea that the emperor would be so cruel this time, that he would be punished so severely. Not only would he be deprived of the title, but he would also be exiled. From then on, the Liu family was no longer an honorable person, but a sinner. Can't be...

Liu Renxun's eyes flickered, and he wanted to ask the emperor to ease his punishment, but he also knew that the emperor was afraid of being angry. Now that the senior cabinet members are present, the emperor has opened his mouth.

Liu Ren thought for a while, and finally pleaded for Gu Jing's affection: "Your Majesty, the Qin family in the second prince's mansion is pregnant, and the second prince is inherently uncomfortable, but the future grandson is innocent, please ask the emperor to send some An imperial doctor and a maid will come to the Second Prince's Mansion to take care of them, lest the emperor and grandson make mistakes."

His intention was to remind the emperor that the second prince had the eldest grandson of the emperor, and wanted the emperor to put it down gently in the face of the eldest grandson of the emperor.

Gu Jing's eyes lit up, and he looked up at the emperor with hope.

The surroundings were quiet again.

The emperor looked at Gu Jing steadily, his sharp eyes seemed to penetrate, just as he was about to speak, Zhou Xin came in, and said with a subtle expression: "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother is here."

Several ministers looked at each other, but Liu Renxun and Gu Jing's eyes brightened, sparking a spark of hope.

The emperor's lips pursed into a straight line.

Since he ascended the throne eleven years ago, the Empress Dowager Liu has seldom intervened in the affairs of the court, and has never even been to the imperial study, except that she once questioned whether or not to make Gu Zhen the crown prince.

The emperor knew very well that the Empress Dowager Liu must have heard about Liu Renxun and Gu Jing being escorted into the palace by Jin Yiwei, so she came in a hurry.

The emperor nodded and motioned Zhou Xin to let Empress Dowager Liu come in.

After a while, Empress Dowager Liu brought Madam Feng in, and everyone in the room saluted her.

Empress Dowager Liu's gaze fell on Liu Renxun and Gu Jing, who were kneeling down, and suddenly disappeared from the others around them.

When she saw her brother's pleading eyes, she knew that her brother had done something wrong, and her heart suddenly fell, which was very painful.

The Empress Dowager Liu really came for Liu Renxun and Gu Jing.

After the master was taken away by Jin Yiwei, Gu Jing's servant came to the palace immediately. He couldn't enter the palace, so he asked someone to send a message to Concubine Liu. He could only go to Shouning Palace and ask Empress Dowager Liu to come to intercede for his father and son.

"Empress mother, you must save father and the second prince!"

"Your Majesty... He was reluctant to dispose of the Wei family because of the queen, so he wanted to abandon our Liu family!"

"Empress mother, the Liu family is the emperor's uncle's family, the empress dowager, you must save your father, save the Liu family!"

Concubine Liu Gui's cry and pleading still lingered in the ears of Empress Dowager Liu.

The Empress Dowager Liu didn't know the inside story, but she also knew that something must have happened to the Liu family. The emperor panicked when he wanted to deal with Liu Renxun, so she came over in a hurry. It was only now that she looked at Liu Renxun's guilty face, she gradually calmed down. .

"Mother."

The emperor also got up and saluted Empress Dowager Liu, and asked to bring a chair to Empress Dowager Liu.

Empress Dowager Liu sat down with the help of Madam Feng, and then asked, "Emperor, what's going on?"

She squeezed the bead string in her hand tightly, knowing that what the emperor was going to say would never be what she wanted to hear.

Liu Renxun looked at Empress Dowager Liu with extremely complicated eyes. On the one hand, Empress Dowager Liu was now the Liu family's only hope. On the other hand, he had some resentment towards Empress Dowager Liu. Why didn't Empress Dowager Liu tell him about Prince Yu? He couldn't take the matter of Concubine Fang, but if Empress Dowager Liu told him in advance, he wouldn't have come to this point...

The emperor calmly told the story, and also talked about his treatment of Liu Renxun and Gu Jing.

Empress Dowager Liu: "..."

Empress Dowager Liu clenched the string of beads in her hand tighter and tighter, her heart felt as if she was repeatedly crushed by something heavy, and her head seemed to be pierced by thousands of needles, and even her breathing became rapid and difficult. There is anger, there is disappointment, and there is heartache.

Previously, the emperor told her to hide the fact that Concubine Fang had died. Empress Dowager Liu knew the measure and also guessed that the emperor was going to attack Yuzhou. This matter involved the whole of Daqi, so she didn't say anything.

In the entire harem, only the Empress and her three people knew about it.

However, she never expected that her own brother would actually choose to cooperate with King Yu.

Empress Dowager Liu could probably guess what Liu Renxun was thinking. He must have thought that King Yu had picked up Concubine Fang, and the next step was the northern expedition. He was not optimistic about the emperor, so he planned to cooperate with King Yu to fight for Gu Jing. .

Liu Renxun had betrayed the imperial court, and for his own selfish desires, he did not hesitate to stand on the opposite side of the emperor.

Mammy Feng stroked Empress Dowager Liu's back lightly to give her comfort. This is the imperial study, and without her being a servant, she can only do this.

After listening to the emperor's disposition, Empress Dowager Liu was silent.

Her son, she knew, the emperor was a man of nostalgia, and he had not changed over the years.

The emperor remembered what the Liu family did for him when the late emperor was alive, and also remembered that his grandfather, grandmother, and little uncle died for him, so these years he has been patient with his eldest uncle, Liu Renxun, and gave him many opportunities. , Liu Renxun finally let the emperor and himself disappointed.

Empress Dowager Liu looked at Liu Renxun in disappointment. He was already greedy for profit. He had forgotten what the mother and son of King Yu had done to the late emperor more than ten years ago. For the sake of profit, he could even give up blood relatives and conscience.