Chapter 149: See your father with a thrush

"Your wife's thrush is the daughter of the Fourth Emperor Uncle. She is my cousin. If the emperor's grandfather knew that your wife was also his granddaughter, the former Princess Changning, maybe the emperor's grandfather would have thought a little more and would not kill you rashly..." Zhu Yunwen pondered for a while, and finally thought of the key to this matter.

Xiao Fan smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I have said it before His Majesty, but His Majesty doesn't believe it. He even said that I betray the monarch..."

Zhu Yunwen was stunned and said anxiously: "I can testify!"

Xiao Fan glanced at him sideways and said, "You didn't give birth to the thrush, what's the use of you to testify?"

"The Fourth Emperor is still in the capital, I ask him to testify..."

A hint of sarcasm appeared in Xiao Fan's eyes and he sneered: "Your Fourth Emperor Uncle has long wished you could get rid of it soon. Now I'm in trouble. Do you think he will save me so generously?"

Zhu Yunwen thought about it and finally lowered his head dejectedly.

Xiao Fan was right. With such an excellent opportunity to kill the enemy, how could the Fourth Emperor Uncle testify for him?

"But... If the thrush cannot prove his identity and you insist on refusing to give up on her, what should the emperor's grandfather do to kill you?" Zhu Yunwen's anxious eyes locked on Xiao Fan's face.

Xiao Fan shook his head silently, and he felt a little sad. In an era of imperial power, when the supreme ruler wants to kill someone, who in this world can save him? Unless Lao Zhu suddenly died overnight before the order to kill him, he really couldn't think of any way to save himself.

Xiao Fan sighed: "Your Majesty wants to kill me, I can't do anything. Maybe it's destined to heaven..."

Zhu Yunwen said anxiously: "There must be a solution. You have many tricks on your daily basis, but now you are in danger. Can't you even save your own life?"

Xiao Fan sighed, "If I don't take off your grandfather's dragon underwear, maybe things will turn around... Alas, I'm too uneasy."

Zhu Yunwen opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but found himself speechless.

Xiao Fan looked up at Zhu Yunwen and said with grief: "If I am really killed by your grandfather, please collect my body..."

Zhu Yunwen looked at Xiao Fan and tears gradually burst out from his eyes. This was the first friend he had made in his life, and perhaps the only friend. This friend just couldn't give up the two deep loves of Huamei and the emperor's sister, but he had to become a victim of maintaining the reputation of the royal family. As the crown prince, he couldn't even save his friends. Zhu Yunwen felt a deep sense of powerlessness in his heart at this moment.

"Your Highness, I have one more thing to ask you..."

Zhu Yunwen choked and said, "You said."

Xiao Fan looked bleak and sighed: "After I die, before burying me, please confirm it a few more times to see if I die or not, can I save it..."

"...Don't worry, I will make up for you twice if you are not dead!" Zhu Yunwen gritted his teeth.

It was already afternoon when Zhu Yunwen walked out of the gate of the imperial prison. The sunlight outside the prison was a little dazzling. Zhu Yunwen narrowed his eyes slightly. When he got used to the light outside the prison, his expression gradually became firm.

"Chang Ning's identity is the key!" Zhu Yunwen turned his head and said to Cao Yi who was following him.

Cao Yi's eyes were quiet, but his tone was a little sad: "Whether the King of Yan would like to recognize her is a problem, there is still a big problem..."

“What’s the problem?”

"There are many ministers in the court who have taken the blame. During the Ding Chou case, all the civil and military officials of the court rose up and attacked Xiao Fan. His Highness saw it at that time. How could they know that those ministers would not use the same trick again today?"

Zhu Yunwen sighed in despair: "Is it really Tianjue Xiao Fan? The emperor's grandfather wants to kill him, but the King of Yan cannot help him. The civil and military officials in the court want to harm him. Do these people have to do things so extreme? What did Xiao Fan do to make these people eliminate him quickly?"

"Because Xiao Fan, a civil and military general in the court, has been regarded as a treacherous slander, since ancient times, loyal and treacherous straits are incompatible. If he does not die, how can those innocent people sleep?" Cao Yi smiled sarcastically.

Zhu Yunwen was so angry that his face turned red and shouted angrily: "What is loyalty? What is traitor? Is this definition given by them? These old bastards! Selfish and self-righteous and corrupt ministers! If I take the lead in the future, I will definitely hold Xiao Fan to a high position and let them all give Xiao Fan the courtesy of a treacherous slander, so that they will know that since ancient times, loyalty and traitor have not been determined by them, but by the emperor! They have exceeded their duties!"

Zhu Yunwen's body gradually began to tremble. The more he spoke, the more angry he became, and the more he became more and more afraid he became.

He could not imagine how much pain he would suffer when his close friend Xiao Fan was chopped off his head by an executioner on the court, and how deep regret he would be filled with in his life.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yunwen's always weak and graceful gentleman appearance disappeared, and his fair and slightly childish handsome face gradually rose to a very rare gloomy and ruthless look.

"Cao Yi."

"I'm here."

"I know your friendship with Xiao Fan, so I won't say nonsense. No matter what method you use, you must save Xiao Fan's life. Remember... no matter what method you use!" Zhu Yunwen stared at Cao Yi and said gloomyly.

"I have already sold this life to Xiao Fan, and I will definitely live up to your entrusted entrusted!"

The third day after Xiao Fan was imprisoned.

Royal Palace.

Zhu Yuanzhang lay on the dragon couch in the warm pavilion of Wuying Palace, covering his mouth from time to time and choking, and a trace of sick redness climbed onto his haggard face covered with age spots.

The eunuch on the side hurried forward and gently massaged his back. A palace maid, carrying the decocted soup, slowly stepped forward, knelt on the ground and handed it to Zhu Yuanzhang respectfully.

Zhu Yuanzhang took the exquisite and clear medicine bowl, raised his head and took a sip when he suddenly coughed violently.

"Bang!"

The medicine bowl fell to the ground, and the dark medicine soup spilled all over the floor, and there was a hint of heat.

The palace maids and eunuchs in the hall were so scared that their faces looked like earth. They hurriedly knelt on the hall, and trembled and said in unison: "Your Majesty, forgive me!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes flashed with anger, and then he was replaced by old age and fatigue.

"Forget it, just fry another bowl, I won't blame you..." Zhu Yuanzhang sighed.

The hero who once dominated the world and looked down on the world now is still unable to even handle a bowl of medicine. Who can understand the sad mood of the old age?

"And Nie..." Zhu Yuanzhang called softly.

A middle-aged eunuch with a pretty face and a white face without a beard hurried forward and said respectfully: "I am here."

After the eunuch Qingtong was shot dead by the Meridian Gate, Zhu Yuanzhang's personal eunuch was replaced by this middle-aged eunuch named Er Nie.

"What is the situation in the Jinyiwei Zhaozhuo?"

Nie's mind is more agile than Qingtong. Although Zhu Yuanzhang asked vaguely, he understood the meaning as soon as he heard it, so he hurriedly bowed and said, "Recently, except for Cao Yi, a thousand households of Jinyiwei, who had visited Xiao Fan in prison, public or privately, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince also visited him once, and there was no one else."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked stunned for a moment, with a very complicated expression on his face. He opened his turbid old eyes blankly and murmured: "What a pity, what a pity..."

Nie looked up in shock, but he didn't understand what Zhu Yuanzhang meant.

After murmuring for a while, Zhu Yuanzhang asked again: "Xiao Fan is imprisoned in the imperial prison, have he expressed his regret?"

Nie lowered his head and whispered: "There is no regrets yet."

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes opened and he was silent for a moment. Suddenly, he laughed at the sky several times. The laughter was extremely violent and fierce. An inexplicable murderous intent gradually spread and hovered in the hall. The eunuchs and palace maids who were kneeling in the hall felt a chill all over and couldn't help but start to tremble.

Xiao Fan, I spent my whole life consolidating the imperial power, it was not so easy to challenge! What you did was beyond the circle I drew for you.

I, I can't tolerate you being presumptuous anymore!

"The order was sent to the Ministry of Justice, formerly the General Gem Yiwei, and the Eastern Palace attendant Xiao Fan was stubborn and unscrupulous, defiled the royal family, and deceived the emperor. He personally reviewed the case by Yang Jing, the Minister of Justice. If it is true, do not report it again and behead him!"

Nie was frightened by Zhu Yuanzhang's gloomy tone and trembled a few times, and he immediately bowed down and said, "Abide by the order."

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes were cold and his face was full of murderous intent.

Seeing Nie hurriedly withdrawing from the palace to deliver the imperial edict, Zhu Yuanzhang sighed lightly, and his body gradually became weaker, and in an instant it seemed that he had become dozens of years older.

Yunwen, the emperor’s grandfather is sorry for you, but I have to kill this Xiao Fan!

The emperor ordered the Ministry of Justice to try Xiao Fan, and the news quickly spread throughout the capital.

When Zhu Yunwen of the Eastern Palace learned the news, he was shocked and hurriedly entered the palace to ask Zhu Yuanzhang to take back his order. Zhu Yuanzhang refused to allow it. Zhu Yunwen was so heartbroken that he knelt down on the white jade steps outside the Wuying Hall for a whole night, but he still did not change his mind.

All the civil and military officials in the court were shocked, and the civil and military ministers were inquiring and asking around like crazy. Of course, what they were concerned about was not Xiao Fan's life and death, but the changes in the court situation.

Xiao Fan has a special identity. He is a close friend of the crown prince. He is also the leader of the so-called "traitor" faction in the court. He is also the second-ranked figure of the Jinyiwei. If the emperor wants to deal with him, does it hide a deeper meaning? Does it mean that the hidden disagreement between the emperor and the crown prince has completely broken out now? Or is it a signal that the emperor intends to cleanse the court again?

No matter what the situation is, it is closely related to the vital interests of the ministers in the court. The distribution of power, the competition for interests, and the level of status. If the emperor uses Xiao Fan's case to purge the court, these are practical issues that cannot be avoided.

Now the ministers could not sit still and sent monk servants to the homes of familiar colleagues and invited each other to the mansion. For a moment, the visits of the official palaces in the capital were flying all over the sky, and the fog of the fog was confusing.

While everyone was inquiring, Huang Zicheng, the official of Chunfang, remained unmoved. He neither connected with the ministers nor invited his colleagues to the government to discuss the government affairs. He just went to court as usual, governed the government and taught the grandson.

Huang Zicheng was calmer than other ministers. He was still observing and waiting. He felt that it was not the best time. Xiao Fan was just being tried, not convicted. It was not appropriate to launch a clear stream to submit a memorial. Before the dust was settled, he would not act rashly, because he had lost to Xiao Fan in the court once, and he would never want to lose a second time again.

Xiao Fan was imprisoned on the fourth day.

In the early morning, the sky was just dawn, and the quiet streets of the capital were sparsely populated. A thin layer of fog enveloped the streets and alleys of the capital. The vast white area was like the current dynasty, which was puzzling.

In front of the gate of the Yan King's Villa, dozens of guards patrolled back and forth, staring around vigilantly.

In the white hazy mist, a graceful and petite figure walked over and over again. He didn't walk very much, but gave people an extremely heavy sense of depression.

When the figure approached, the guards looked closely and saw a little girl in a plain dress and dressed in an elegant manner, heading towards the Yan King's House with a solemn expression.

The guards did not dare to be careless, so they hurriedly pulled out their waist knife, pointed at the little girl and shouted loudly: "Stop! The prince, Prince, King Yan, the other yard, ordinary people are not allowed to approach, if the violators are killed!"

The little girl looked at the guards' sharp steel knives as if nothing had happened, and she never stopped walking straight to the gate.

"Stop! Let's get closer to us!" The guard shouted sternly.

The little girl was still walking forward without fear, until she stopped.

"When I informed the King of Yan, I said that my old friend was visiting and asked him to see him." The little girl's face was as deep as water and her voice was low.

The guard did not dare to relax his vigilance, but still pointed his knife at her and said suspiciously: "You? Are you a little girl the old friend of the King of Yan? Who are you?"

The little girl's quiet face was filled with a little ridicule.

"I am Chang Ning, Princess Chang Ning, the emperor canonized by Prince Yan, the daughter of the King of Yan!"

The inner hall of the Yanwang Villa.

Zhu Di came forward with a look of surprise, and his bearded face kept shaking with extreme joy.

"Chang Ning! It's really you! Are you finally willing to recognize your father?" Zhu Di's voice could not hide his excitement.
To be continued...