Happy Emperor

Chapter 62 Confrontation in the Court

"I......"

Zhen Niumeng's face flushed red.

At this moment, even if he had eight hundred mouths, he still couldn't explain it clearly.

It would have been better if he had admitted from the beginning that Prince Pingdong and the Crown Prince were indeed connected.

At least at this time we can still defend King Pingdong.

But now the explanation seems pale and powerless.

It's like an adulterer being caught in bed by the male owner, and saying that he was hit by a car outside and fell into the bed.

Who can believe it!

Suddenly, Zhen Niumeng's eyes widened and his face regained its initial calmness.

He said loudly, "Your Majesty, the Prince of Pingdong originally wanted to rescue the Crown Prince, so he maintained contact with him. If the King really wanted to harm the Crown Prince, why would he write a letter and give him an excuse to speak out?"

The way the palace's chief officials looked at him changed.

Indeed, if Prince Pingdong wanted to harm the prince, he didn't have to write a letter!

At the same time, they turned their gazes towards Emperor Li.

"Your Majesty, what is the content of the letter from Prince Pingdong? Could you please show it to our chief historians?"

A middle-aged chief official of the palace asked with a bow.

Lin Tian knew this person.

This man's surname is Li and his given name is Yi.

The vassal king he represented was his brother, and also one of the few kings with a different surname.

One of the four kings of other surnames who were awarded during the reign of Emperor Gaozu.

Like the Ouyang family back then, as a reward for military merit, the fiefdom was also a province located at the southernmost tip of Daxia.

Except for the Ouyang and Li families, the remaining vassal states of the Wang and Zhao families were located in the two neighboring provinces at the westernmost end of Daxia.

But since Ji Feng took control of Shengjing, he withdrew the chief secretary of the palace from Shengjing.

From then on, they only paid taxes and silver every year, and basically cut off all contact with Shengjing.

These three foreign princes guarded the transportation fortresses between Daxia and its neighboring countries.

It can also be said that it protected Daxia from invasion by foreign enemies.

The remaining princes are basically all from the Lin family, but their sphere of influence is relatively much smaller.

Even if the fiefdom was originally a province, it was gradually divided due to discord among family members and intentional intervention by the imperial power.

This can also be regarded as a means for Emperor Gaozu and the previous emperor to divide and rule.

"Alas, I didn't want to believe this was true. But the facts before me have no choice but to believe that the emperor's uncle is indeed suspected of treason."

Lin Tian sighed deeply.

"Li Yi, your Li family is a foreign-surnamed royal family specially appointed by Emperor Gaozu. I believe you can recognize the emperor's uncle's handwriting. You can read this letter to everyone!"

Lin Tian handed the letter that had been exchanged long ago to the eunuch and passed it to Li Yi.

"Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty. I will read the letter to everyone word for word." Li Yi took the envelope and said in a deep voice.

As Li Yi read the contents of the letter.

The chief secretaries looked at each other in bewilderment. No one dared to believe that the King of Pingdong, who always prided himself on his loyalty, bravery and courage, had actually done so many disgusting things in private.

Only Ji Qiang's face twisted, and he kept looking at Lin Tian who was full of grief and anger.

"Fortunately, I surrendered to Emperor Li, otherwise I would have been killed sooner or later."

Ji Qiang's mouth twitched slightly, and he thought to himself.

He originally read the letter with the emperor.

The content is roughly about King Pingdong contacting the prince to discuss how to help him escape, and discussing matters such as using troops to attack Baturin.

When did it become about coercion and bribery of Crown Prince Yunyun?

"Li Yi, please stop reading. This was definitely not written by our king. The king of Pingdong is a patriotic man, known to everyone in Daxia."

"When the late emperor passed away, he wanted to pass the throne to our king, but our king decisively refused. How could he possibly have the intention of rebellion?"

The more Zhen Niumeng listened, the tighter his brows furrowed, and his face became frighteningly gloomy.

Before Li Yi finished reading the letter, he roared loudly.

Li Yi was somewhat dissatisfied with being interrupted by Zhen Niumeng.

He said coldly: "I have also had the honor of seeing the memorial of Prince Pingdong, and the handwriting here is indeed the same as that of Prince Pingdong."

However, he soon felt that what Zhen Niumeng said seemed wrong, so he questioned angrily.

"Are you saying this because you suspect that I'm colluding with Your Majesty to frame the Prince of Pingdong?"

"No...no, please don't misunderstand me, Li Changshi. I didn't mean that." Zhen Niumeng hurriedly explained.

He really didn't dare to offend Li Yi.

The largest force in the south of King Pingdong's territory is the Li family. Once a conflict occurs with them.

King Pingdong's Northern Expedition will be greatly hindered.

It would become extremely difficult to take over the three provinces controlled by Emperor Li.

"Emperor Li is really good at this." Zhen Niumeng said in his heart.

Only now did he realize why Emperor Li chose to ask Li Yi to read this letter among so many other chief secretaries in the royal palace.

Just wait for him to question this matter and involve the Li family.

"Are you saying again that I wronged King Pingdong?" Lin Tian questioned Zhen Niumeng in a cold voice.

"Your Majesty...Your Majesty dare not!"

Cold sweat appeared on Zhen Niumeng's forehead.

He really didn't expect that the puppet emperor back then, the good-for-nothing Sixth Prince, had actually hidden so deeply.

Since the founding of the Great Xia Dynasty, the throne has been passed down to the eldest son rather than the youngest. Could it be that the Sixth Prince deliberately pretended to be unlearned and planned step by step to get to where he is today?

If this is true, the Sixth Prince is so scheming that no one in Daxia can match him.

"I also want to take a look at the letter. Maybe someone deliberately imitated my king's handwriting and framed him." Zhen Niumeng bowed and said to Lin Tian.

Li Yi did not hand the letter to Zhen Niumeng, but looked at Emperor Li.

"Li Yi, give the letter to him." Lin Tian said in a deep voice with a frank look on his face.

Even if Zhen Niumeng recognized that the letter was an imitation of King Pingdong's handwriting, what could he do?

Now that there is no evidence, whatever Lin Tian says is the truth.

He really doesn't understand what it means that the final right of interpretation belongs to me!

"This...this handwriting..."

Zhen Niumeng looked at the letter in his hand, his hands trembling slightly.

After checking them one by one, he did find some problems with the handwriting, but he was not completely sure that it was not written by Prince Pingdong.

If even he, who has been with Prince Pingdong for many years, is not completely sure of distinguishing the truth from the false.

So how could those who were not familiar with Pingdong Wang possibly identify him?

If Zhen Niumeng lived in modern times, he might know.

From the very beginning, he had fallen into the self-proving trap that Lin Tian had designed for him.

"Zhen Changshi, do you see any problem?"

Lin Tian looked at Zhen Niumeng coldly and asked word by word.

"There seems to be something wrong with this word."

Zhen Niu looked up at Li Yi, but didn't dare to say anything absolute.

If he completely denies it, it is not written by King Pingdong unless there is solid evidence.

Otherwise, he would completely offend Li Yi and the Li family behind him.

"I can't even confirm that this was written by the Emperor's uncle, that's why I spared you and Zhen Niubi!"

Lin Tian said coldly, "However, since you are leading the way in refusing to pay taxes, I am increasingly convinced that the Emperor's uncle is indeed plotting a rebellion."

The reason why Lin Tian said this.

Because it would be more beneficial to him to insist that the letter was written by Prince Pingdong than to remain ambiguous.

Once it is confirmed that the letter was written by Prince Pingdong, there will be no benefit except killing Zhen Niu Meng.

The princes are not fools, and the reputation of Prince Pingdong is indeed much better than his. If he does it too deliberately, it will arouse suspicion.

By saying this, he not only shows that he will not easily frame loyalty, but also can turn passivity into initiative.

As long as King Pingdong dares to launch another northern expedition, the vassal kings will believe that King Pingdong has long had the intention of rebellion.

The blame was completely put on his head.

At that time, even if the major vassal kings would not help Lin Tian, ​​they would certainly not dare to help King Pingdong easily.