Chapter 1 Outside the Imperial City

Outside the Imperial City.

The East City, where high-ranking officials and nobles gathered.

A bizarre silence permeated a magnificent mansion.

Mei Wenshi, dressed in casual clothes, sat withered and sullen on a chair. The teacup beside him had long since cooled, but he didn't care, his entire attention focused on the outside of the residence.

Outside, the Five City Patrol Command was patrolling the streets, and from time to time there were loud crashes of doors being broken open and homes ransacked, along with the wails of women and children.

Listening to this, a look of regret gathered in Mei Wenshi's eyes.

It seemed the palace coup had failed.

The so-called serious illness was just a trap set by the Emperor.

But he wasn't surprised. Before the uprising, he had anticipated this possibility, so he didn't act personally, but found Zhang Kang as a scapegoat.

"Father, that person has arrived!" Mei Kang strode into the room, approached him, and whispered.

*Clang!*

The teacup beside Mei Wenshi was knocked over. Ignoring these minor matters, he suddenly stood up, frowning, and said, "In this eventful night, what is he doing here? Quickly, invite him in..."

Before he could finish speaking, a hearty voice rang out, interrupting the conversation in the room.

"No need, this king has already arrived."

The two looked up and saw a young man striding into the room, dressed in a black-green scholar's robe and a cloth cap, no different from ordinary scholars.

But his movements revealed a kind of nobility that made it impossible to look directly at him.

He stood there, like a fine jade tree, his smiling face extremely similar to Jiang Chen's.

"King Jiang Zuo!" Mei Wenshi cupped his hands.

His expression was respectful, without the slightest pretense of a powerful court official.

The young man, known as King Jiang Zuo, nodded slightly, accepting the salute as if it were commonplace, and took the seat of honor.

Seeing this, Mei Kang quickly stepped forward, closed the door, and cut off all prying eyes...

The next day.

The sky was clear for ten thousand miles.

Inside the Imperial Palace, the eunuchs and palace maids, who had been busy for most of the night, finally cleaned up all the bloodstains and stains on the imperial road and could return to report.

Although they hadn't witnessed the changes of last night with their own eyes, the bloodstains inside the Imperial City were enough to let them imagine the tragic situation!

In just one night, hundreds of ministers in the court had been beheaded!

Not to mention the family members of officials who were implicated. It was said that their numbers were so large that even the Ministry of Justice's prison couldn't hold them all, and they had to ask the imperial prison for help.

However, being imprisoned was already a better ending.

Those officials who participated in the rebellion, or provided convenience for those who rebelled, were executed on the spot as soon as they were found out! After death, their heads were collected and piled up into a Jingguan (a mound of corpses), erected at the city gate as a warning!

According to the Dali Temple's estimate, the number of people investigated by the Emperor this time was three times that of the assassination case!

And the Five City Patrol Command's actions of destroying homes and exterminating families were even more of a deterrent to the entire Imperial Capital!

After dawn, the surviving ministers were all trembling when they went out.

Some of them even wiped away tears with their families, looking as if they were going to feed tigers instead of attending court.

However, no matter how scared they were, they couldn't skip the court meeting.

The ministers silently walked through Ying Tian Gate and walked to the Golden Luan Hall.

At this time, the bloody smell in the Imperial Palace hadn't completely dissipated, and the remaining aura of肅殺(su sha, grim and murderous) lingered around everyone, frightening their faces even paler.

Everyone with a brain understood that when the Emperor appeared, there would inevitably be another storm!

After all, emperors and powerful officials were natural enemies, destined to fight to the death.

After a while, Jiang Chen appeared!

He walked with dragon-like strides, his movements full of majesty, as if a real dragon had descended, showing no sign of weakness.

Mei Wenshi had long expected this result. His expression didn't change at all, and he held the笏板(hu ban, tablet held by officials in ancient China) in his hand extremely steadily, maintaining an unwavering stance.

The other ministers in the court didn't dare to raise their eyes, for fear of being seen by the Emperor and suspected of having ulterior motives.

They had passed by the city gate on their way to court today.

The bloody Jingguan had left an indelible shadow on them for the rest of their lives. Who dared to speak?

Jiang Chen sat on the dragon throne, overlooking the ministers below.

Finally, his gaze focused on Mei Wenshi, full of coldness.

Without concrete evidence, he couldn't touch this old thief.

The great hall was silent at this court meeting, so quiet that a pin could be heard, and no one spoke.

Although the Emperor didn't speak, they had their own channels of information and knew that last night's events were due to rebellion.

Such a heinous crime was bound to involve a wide range of people.

No one was willing to be the first to stick their head out at this juncture.

Mei Wenshi was also closing his eyes to rest, as if he had never known Zhang Kang, had nothing to do with this person, and knew nothing at all.

Jiang Chen withdrew his gaze and ordered the dismissal of more than a dozen officials, all of whom were Zhang Kang's subordinates and had close ties with the Mei family.

Then, he left the position of Censor-in-Chief vacant, took it into his own hands, and publicly announced that this position would be temporarily vacant, to be filled later.

"Your Majesty, I believe that the crime of treason should be punished with extreme severity to serve as a warning to others! The criminal Zhang Kang should be punished with the extermination of his nine generations of relatives!"

The Prime Minister stood out, his usually amiable face occupied by seriousness, and his words were full of murderous intent, a change from his previous casual attitude of mediating disputes.

Jiang Chen glanced at Mei Wenshi with a meaningful look and said faintly, "There are still many details of the rebellion that have not been investigated. For such a major crime, I must capture all of its accomplices and not let any one escape!"

"Therefore, I will personally try this case. The Prime Minister doesn't need to worry about it. Just cooperate with me in the investigation."

As soon as the words fell, the ministers in the hall all changed color.

Especially those who had had dealings with Zhang Kang in the past, and those who had already defected to Mei Wenshi, they all understood that the Emperor would not let go of this excellent excuse and would definitely eliminate dissidents!

"That's all for now. The Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple, you must thoroughly investigate these prisoners for me. You must not let go of any link. It is better to kill a thousand innocent people than to let one guilty person go! Do you understand?"

Being named.

The Minister of Justice and the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple quickly came out and made a pledge.

It was as if they would lose their official hats and their lives on the spot if they were one step late!

After Jiang Chen finished speaking, he sat for a while, and when he saw that everyone was silent, he said:

"Since you have nothing to report, then today's court meeting will end here. Dismissed."

After speaking, he stood up and left directly, without the storm that everyone had expected. Instead, it was extremely ordinary.

Because in the end, Jiang Chen was not a bloodthirsty person.

The reason why he used harsh measures was because he wanted to secure the dragon throne under his ass. Now that the purpose of deterrence had been achieved, he didn't need to indiscriminately kill these ministers.

Just as Jiang Chen was about to walk out of the Golden Luan Hall, he suddenly stopped, turned his head, and overlooked the ministers kneeling on the ground.

He said faintly, "I am not a tyrannical ruler. As long as you, my beloved ministers, are loyal to your duties and do not commit any fundamental mistakes, I will not arbitrarily deal with you."

"Of course, if any of you have a guilty conscience, I can also consider giving you the opportunity to atone for your sins."

"In the past few days, the doors of the Qin Zheng Hall will be open to you all. Those who want to abandon the darkness and turn to the light can take the initiative to come to me. There is only one chance. You must cherish it!"

After speaking, Jiang Chen flicked his sleeves and left, leaving the ministers in the hall looking at each other...