late night song

Chapter 53
The next day, early morning.

Fan Li went to the palace to report the investigation. The Internal Defense Forces had detained all the rioters and brought them to justice.

However, Emperor Ming Long Yan was not overjoyed, but instead scolded Fan Li for deceiving the emperor.

Fan Li was puzzled.

"I have reported to Your Majesty that the humble ministers are stupid and have already detained the bandits. How can they deceive you and ignore them?"

Emperor Ming immediately asked Fan Li, where is the Glazed Golden Pagoda?
Fan Li looked surprised and replied: "It will be offered in the main hall of the Forbidden Army headquarters."

Emperor Ming had a dark face, waved his hand and ordered people to bring up the glazed golden pagoda. There were whispers in the court hall. Some people were sweating for Fan Li, while others just sat back and watched the show.

Fan Li was shocked and immediately knelt down, bowing his head in silence.

"Since you said it is enshrined in the main hall just fine, then ask someone to bring it to Gu Gu."

Fan Li did not respond, but knelt down silently.

"What are you doing standing still! Tell your men to get the glazed golden pagoda from the Forbidden Army headquarters. I want to see which one is real and which one is fake?! Xiao Guang, go!" Emperor Ming scolded.

"Take your order!" Xiao Guang immediately withdrew, leaving only the ministers looking at each other in shock.

Xiao Guang hurried back in less time than he could with a stick of incense, holding the agarwood box with the octagonal spire of the pagoda in his hand.

Fan Li clenched his fists, very nervous.

"Open!" Emperor Ming ordered.

Xiao Guang pressed the pine cone-shaped lock on the top of the wooden box, and the octagonal wooden box bloomed like a lotus, and a nine-story pagoda with a free body and gold paint that was almost identical to the one on the temple stood in the box.

There was an uproar everywhere, and Emperor Ming was also very surprised.

Fan Li breathed a sigh of relief and quickly reported the truth to Emperor Ming: "Your Majesty, there were two waves of masked people coming to the Forbidden Army headquarters yesterday. The first wave of people was Qian Jinshou, the second master of Ax Mountain, and others. They were arrested on the spot. The minister and his subordinates captured it, and the person who entered the palace for the second time at night took advantage of the panic in the imperial palace and stole the fakes that I had prepared earlier. Your Majesty, please look carefully, the eaves at the top of the real tower Hanging four layers of peony bud-shaped bells with four petals means that the military and government are stable and everything goes well for the country, while the fake bell only has three layers."

Emperor Ming ordered the chief chamberlain around him to compare and check. The chief chamberlain carefully compared and confirmed that what Commander Fan said was true.But Emperor Ming was still dubious. He then asked Xiang Xiaoguang: "Where did you get this golden pagoda?"

"Your Majesty, I obtained this treasure from the center of the hanging beam in the main hall of the Forbidden Army. When I took it down, the brocade silk outside the box had accumulated several feet of dust, and there was no sign that anyone had touched it." Xiao Guang replied. road.

Emperor Ming knew something in his mind, so he changed his posture and sat upright. He rubbed the golden ball he took out from the belly of the snake last year as usual in his hand, and said as if he was pointing something: "You are quite smart."

"I am guilty. The bandits caused chaos in the city. I failed to take precautions, which is derelict in my duty. However, I was unable to arrest them in time after the riot, which is even more incompetent. Please allow me to resign from the post of commander-in-chief as a warning to others." Fan Li saw that the time was almost up, so he took the blame and took the blame like a good boy.

When Emperor Ming heard what Fan Li said, he laughed out loud: "Well, since you caught the culprit and didn't lose the real glazed golden pagoda, you can make up for your fault. You can take care of your duties as the commander-in-chief of the Forbidden Army." , if something like this happens again, we will be severely punished."

"I thank Your Majesty for your kindness." Fan Li kowtowed, and the big stone in his heart finally fell.

"Your Majesty, even if General Fan catches the perpetrator, the second wave of criminals will still be at large. If they are exempted from punishment, it will be unfair." The Minister of Rites admonished.

"Dare to ask Your Majesty, where did you get this glazed golden pagoda?" Fan Li, neither humble nor arrogant, asked Emperor Ming.

Emperor Ming did not say a word, but his eyes immediately turned cold. At this time, the guilty King Rong knelt down in panic and apologized quickly.

"I'm wronged. This golden pagoda was found by my steward in front of the mansion gate when he got up early. I thought something was fishy, ​​so I hurriedly presented it to my father. I never meant to frame General Fan, please." Father, you are wise."

"Your Majesty, when Your Majesty bestowed upon you the glazed golden pagoda as the headquarters of the Forbidden Army eight years ago, King Rong was only ten years old. How could he remember the gift of the pagoda, let alone understand the significance of this golden pagoda to the Forbidden Army? Wei Chen thought that Someone deliberately set up a trap." Before Emperor Ming could express his attitude, the Minister of Hubu immediately stepped forward to tell the difference for King Rong.

"Perhaps it is because of the vague memory of the golden pagoda that I can't tell what is true and what is false." Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites retorted, changing the focus.

"You are such a mouthful! Father, my son and I have been wronged!" King Rong was shocked, pointing at the Minister of Rites and shouting, forgetting the manners and rules in a panic, and lacking the appearance and composure that a prince should have.

"Shut up." Emperor Ming scolded, "The murder of the envoy has now been explained. As for the matter of the Glazed Golden Pagoda, Dali Temple is responsible for investigating and handling it. King Rong is the most suspicious. He is locked up in the mansion and is not allowed to leave the house until the matter is found out. .”

"My son is really unjust!" Faced with Emperor Ming's order, King Rong kept kowtowing to prove his innocence.Seeing that his legitimate son was so worthless, Emperor Ming frowned in disgust, and he stood up, not bothering to look at him again.

"There's nothing else to do, just retreat."

"Holy Holy Ming!" Seeing that Emperor Ming had made up his mind, all the ministers did not dare to give any more advice, so they greeted Emperor Ming in unison, and Qi Yinan collapsed in fear in the main hall.

Fan Li was very happy to be saved his official position. After the dynasty was over, he quickly thanked the King of Qin.

"General, there is no need to thank you. It was me who got you involved. You are the person I recommended to the Holy One. If you are framed innocently, how can I survive alone?" Qi Jian said with a smile.

"Having said that, I am still grateful to King Qin for his good advice."

"General, don't let your guard down. The person who stole the tower has not been arrested and the mastermind behind it has not been eliminated. This crisis is not over yet. You and I are in the light, and they are in the dark. We must be more careful in the future."

"The King of Qin said that it is very true. I have painted the fake tower with gold paint mixed with a sufficient amount of green vitriol as instructed. The hands of anyone who touches this object will be stained and will fester day by day. If anyone asks the hospital for advice, We will definitely be able to capture him in one fell swoop.”

"What if this person doesn't go to the medical clinic to seek medical advice?" Qi Jian asked rhetorically.

Fan Li didn't know how to answer for a moment.

"The people behind the scenes are very thoughtful. General Fan still needs to strengthen Qidu's internal defense." Qi Jian did not want to make things difficult for him anymore, but just reminded him.

"I will understand at the end."

But Fan Li was still hesitant, so after much thought, he asked.

"There is still something unclear about the general."

"The general wants to ask where that fake golden pagoda came from, right?" Qi Jian had already expected that he would be curious.

"My lord is wise."

"At that time, a total of two gold pagodas were burned in the official kiln. The first one was made as a prototype, and the second one was burned after the Holy Spirit made some slight modifications. Coincidentally, the first one was transferred to Zhangye. I thought it looked like something from an official family, so I I bought it with a lot of money. Later, I ordered someone to check the records of the official kiln in Qidu, and I found out the origin of this golden pagoda."

Qi Jian replied to Fan Li carefully. Although he did not tell the truth, it was enough to explain.

In fact, Emperor Ming secretly ordered Xiao Guang to send this golden pagoda to Concubine Yi's secret tomb eight years ago. The memorial to the deceased was regarded as an odd number, so the bell only has three layers. In addition, the buds are not peonies but plum blossoms. Ordinary people don't think so. You can't tell the difference if you look closely.In order to do this, Qi Jian specially ordered Xiao Yuan to take it out from the secret tomb a few days ago, instead of buying it from elsewhere as he said.

Fan Li didn't completely believe what King Qin said, but he still knew what was going on and didn't ask any more questions. He could just break the situation anyway, and it would be of no use to him whether it was true or false.

In the harem, the queen immediately learned of Emperor Ming's decision in the court. She cherished her parents and children and was extremely anxious. She immediately rushed to the Xingxin Palace to plead with Emperor Ming for a long time, but she did not shake Emperor Ming's decision at all.

"Your Majesty, Nan'er is too innocent to do such a treasonous thing. He must be framed by a traitor. You restrained him without finding out the reason. Doesn't that mean you have condemned him?"

"It's ridiculous. Above the court, Gu Zi has strictly ordered Dali Temple to investigate and handle this matter. Nan'er is indeed the most suspect in this matter. As long as he is not the one who did it, Gu Zi will clear his name after the matter is found out. Many loving mothers Bai'er, Nan'er has been spoiled by you. She panics when things happen, and yells in court, without the proper etiquette of a legitimate son. It's simply embarrassing!"

"In the heart of the Holy Emperor, when did you treat Nan'er as your legitimate son?" Hearing Emperor Ming's scolding of Qi Yinan, the queen thought of her smart eldest son who died young, and felt very sad. She changed from her former virtuous nature and spoke in a very serious tone tough.

"Bold!" Emperor Ming was angry and stared at the queen.

"The concubine made a mistake."

The queen quickly calmed down, then said no more, bowed respectfully, and retreated.

On the way back, her eyes dimmed, as if she recognized the reality in an instant, but she was not afraid and panicked because of Emperor Ming's anger, but she felt desperate from heart to body.

Over the years, no matter how full the harem was, or how many flowers competed for it, she had not paid attention to her. She was the queen of a country, and if she wanted the power of a mother in the world, she had to give up the simplest requirements of a wife for her husband.

And her ambition has never changed. She doesn't need her husband's love and pity, but she must let her child step onto this uninhabited place that is respected by thousands of people, no matter what the price.

(End of this chapter)