vrcanaries Chapter 354: Into the Heavenly Prison
Chapter 354: Into the Heavenly Prison
The two looked at each other and said with their heads down, "Your Highness, there is nothing wrong with the Crown Prince Ding and his wife. Since the Crown Prince's leg healed, he often travels with the Crown Prince's wife, but they usually come back in one day. We two once secretly followed them and found that they were just going to the shops in the town or the county."
He Lingsheng's eyes were cold and stern: "So during the time you two were hiding in the Dingguo Palace, apart from gaining some weight, you didn't bring back any useful information?"
Hearing this, the two of them lowered their heads guiltily and said, "Your Highness, I am useless. Please punish me."
"Waste!" He Lingsheng clenched his fists. He wished he could chop them to death. However, the Ding Palace was impregnable and there was no way to place spies there. The two of them followed the Ding Palace back to the capital and were the only ones who could pass on information from the palace.
"I will give you one last chance. From now on, pay attention to all news from the Ding Palace and report to me at any time."
"Yes!"
As the two of them left the Prince's Mansion, a guard came over and said, "Your Highness, Prime Minister Shang is here."
He Lingsheng frowned and said in a deep voice: "Let him in."
Soon, Shangnian came hurriedly: "Your Highness." He knelt on the ground with a plop: "Your Highness, please save this old minister!"
He Lingsheng sat in the main seat and looked coldly at Shangnian who was kneeling on the ground: "Why do you say that, Lord Shang?"
Shangnian said with a bitter face: "Your Highness, His Majesty has issued an edict of repentance. This old minister, this old minister..."
"Is the Prime Minister involved?" He Lingsheng whispered, "I see that the Emperor has no intention of punishing me."
The emperor had no intention of punishing him because he wanted to keep him to vent his anger on the Prince Ding's palace.
After all, he was the one who planned the death of tens of thousands of soldiers, the massacre of several major families, and the exile of the Dingguo Palace.
"Your Highness, my daughter is about to marry into the Crown Prince's mansion. As long as you can protect my family, I will serve you without hesitation." He took out a map from his arms and handed it to He Lingsheng: "Your Highness, this was obtained by me by accident, and I am willing to present it to you."
He Lingsheng looked at the blueprint and his pupils shrank: "This is..."
"Yes, what is drawn on this map is the treasure left by the previous dynasty." Shangnian said in a low voice: "This is what I found by accident. It is said that this treasure map is divided into four parts, and this is one of them."
He Lingsheng couldn't help but smile when he heard this: "I didn't expect that the Prime Minister would have such a good thing in his hands."
"Your Highness, as you know, my house was robbed before, and I don't have anything worth showing off. I'm sure Your Highness wouldn't look down on these vulgar things, so I can only present this blueprint to Your Highness."
He Lingsheng had heard a long time ago that a huge fortune was left behind before the fall of the previous dynasty, but no one knew where it was hidden. The emperor of the previous dynasty left a treasure map to his descendants, which was divided into four parts. As long as the treasure map was put together, the treasure of the previous dynasty could be found. However, these were all rumors. He Lingsheng did not expect to see the fragments of the treasure map today.
"Since Lord Shang is so kind, I can't help but refuse." He smiled and said, "I will tell my father what Lord Shang wants."
Shangnian was delighted when he heard this: "Thank you, Your Highness!" He smiled and said: "I will do my best to assist Your Highness, and I will also find a way to put together this treasure map."
After Shangnian left, He Lingsheng looked at the treasure map on the table and narrowed his eyes. He thought he knew the old man Shangnian's character very well. He definitely would not have only one copy of this treasure map.
At the morning court the next day, all the civil and military officials dared not say a word, and their eyes occasionally fell on He Yuwen and He Jingheng who were at the front.
"Your Majesty, I beg you to punish the Minister of the Central Secretariat Zheng Qi, Prince Ding He Zhiyuan, and Prime Minister Shangnian, in order to comfort the souls of the soldiers who died tragically at Qijing Pass."
Zheng Qi and He Zhiyuan were thrown into the Sky Prison early in the morning, and now only Shangnian was left kneeling on the ground.
He kept wiping the sweat off his head: "Your Majesty, please have mercy on me. I know I am wrong."
The veins on Emperor Tianshun's forehead were exposed, and he said in a deep voice: "You two have just returned to the court and you are here to ask for punishment in such a threatening manner. Do you still want to punish me?"
He Yuwen did not say a word, only heard He Jingheng say: "Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, but even the Son of Heaven is guilty of the same crime as the common people. Now I am only punishing the instigator of the Qijingguan case." He Jingheng's eyes fell on Emperor Tianshun. His eyes were as sharp as a knife, making Emperor Tianshun's scalp numb, as if the words "instigator" were referring to him and not Shangnian who was kneeling on the ground.
In fact, who among the civil and military officials didn't know what He Jingheng meant?
The person he was referring to was Emperor Tianshun.
"Tens of thousands of soldiers died tragically at Qijing Pass. How can such treacherous and cunning people who are partial to their own interests and pervert the law have the face to live in this world?" As soon as He Jingheng finished speaking, many generals stood up. Some of them had gone to Qijing Pass with He Yuwen and his son. No one knew better than them how tragic the battle was. If it weren't for them, father and son, all the soldiers would have died there.
"I beg your majesty to punish me severely!"
"I beg your majesty to punish me severely!"
"Your Majesty, please punish Shang Cheng with the death penalty to comfort the souls of the generals in heaven."
He Jingheng stepped forward, cupped his hands and said, "Not only that, Your Majesty should also distribute pensions to the families of those soldiers who died tragically."
His words made Emperor Tianshun, who was already on the verge of a rage, even angrier.
There are more than 60,000 people. Even if each person gets 10 taels, it would amount to more than 600,000 taels. This is definitely a huge expense for the imperial court.
At this moment, He Lingsheng stood up, cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to say."
"What?"
"Father," He Lingsheng said in a low voice, "Prime Minister Shang certainly made mistakes, but he has devoted himself to the court over the years and has made great contributions. I think he should be dismissed from his post as prime minister and demoted to a remote place, allowing him to make up for his crime with meritorious service."
"If what the prince said is true, as long as one has made meritorious deeds, one can offset one's sins, then all the people sentenced to death can be exempted from punishment." Xu Yuan said in a cold voice: "Although Prime Minister Shang has made contributions to the court, it is difficult to offset his merits and demerits. Moreover, what Prime Minister Shang has done has shaken the foundation of the country. He deserves death, and not killing him will not be enough to appease the public anger! Your Majesty, please make a decision!"
All the civil and military officials knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, please make a decision."
He Lingsheng had not expected that the Dingguo Palace, which had been away from the court for so long, would still have such a strong appeal. Emperor Tianshun tightly grasped the armrests of the dragon throne with both hands and said in a cold voice: "Come here! Drag Shangnian away, put him in the sky prison, and execute him in the autumn!"
When Shangnian heard this, his heart instantly sank to the bottom. He looked at He Lingsheng in shock, but when he saw that he just looked at him coldly, he quickly lowered his head.