Chapter 1707: The Emperor played a big one

Rumble, a thunderclap exploded, tearing open half the sky.

Sun Daoning's heart was thumping. Disregarding the heavy rain, he rushed to the Government Affairs Hall.

The Emperor suddenly returned to the palace, which was very unusual; he had to grasp the news in time.

Thinking of Chen Guanlou's crow's mouth, there was a very bad premonition in his heart; I am afraid this time he would be implicated himself. Don't know what attitude Prime Minister Xie had.

When he entered the palace in the rain, he actually found that the other eight members of the Government Affairs Hall were all present, each with a solemn expression.

His heart jumped.

Instantly, there was a sense of frustration and anger at being excluded by everyone.

He found an opportunity and asked in a low voice to a colleague he was familiar with, "What's the situation? Why did His Majesty suddenly return to the palace?"

However, the colleague didn't answer, only signaling him to be quiet and not to be anxious.

How could he not be anxious.

Nine people in the Government Affairs Hall, everyone knew the truth, only he was kept in the dark. Not knowing, he was almost anxious to death. If he couldn't grasp the news in time and couldn't make a judgment in time, if he was not careful, he might die and disappear.

He kept a straight face, looking serious. He wanted to pretend, making it look like he knew everything, but in the end, his skill was the weakest among the nine people in the Government Affairs Hall; he could only sigh, it was better to give up. To avoid adding to the laughter.

Even Zhao Jichong was better at pretending than him.

Perhaps the colleague sympathized with him, or perhaps he thought of the friendship of the past, so he reminded him, "Prince Shuncheng is finished!"

Sun Daoning was stunned.

The Emperor returned to the palace early, what does it have to do with Prince Shuncheng?

These two years, the three brothers of Prince Ning were exceptionally peaceful.

Even Imperial Consort Xiao had quieted down, managing Prince Shuncheng strictly, not allowing him to go to court, not allowing him to talk nonsense. Only allowing him to drink and have fun, being an idle prince.

This imperial villa tour, originally Prince Shuncheng was not on the list.

Halfway through, the Emperor was happy and said he wanted to reward the clan officials, so Prince Shuncheng accepted the decree and went to the imperial villa to receive the reward. That was already more than a month ago.

Calculating the distance from the imperial villa to the capital, at most, Prince Shuncheng stayed in the imperial villa for about a month; what could he do?

Don't understand!

Can't figure it out!

"Since it is Prince Shuncheng who had an accident, why is everyone staying in the Government Affairs Hall?"

Even Prime Minister Xie didn't move, not saying a word.

Very unusual!

The colleague shook his head, signaling Sun Daoning not to speak again; words lead to mistakes.

Sun Daoning's heart caught fire; pretending to be mysterious was clearly bullying him.

At this moment, he actually missed Chen Guanlou immensely, missed Chen Guanlou's quick thinking, missed the other party's open-mindedness, missed the other party's daring to speak and act, missed the other party's sharp ears and eyes, and good brain.

If Chen Guanlou were here, he would definitely have a way to find out what happened.

After staying in the Government Affairs Hall for a full hour, there was finally movement in the palace. The Emperor summoned the four assisting ministers.

Xie Changling led the team and took the other three to the Taiji Palace.

Once the people left, Sun Daoning asked his colleague eagerly, "What exactly happened, can you say it now?"

The colleague hesitated for a moment, "Prince Shuncheng rebelled!"

Sun Daoning exclaimed upon hearing this, then discovered something was wrong. If Prince Shuncheng really rebelled, everyone couldn't have this expression of being hard to speak, there must be an inside story.

"What exactly is going on? It's already this time, still want to hide it?"

The colleague pulled him into a corner and whispered: "I don't know the specific situation either. The news I got is that Prince Shuncheng lingered in the harem, broke into the sleeping quarters of the ladies, held a weapon in his hand, and intended to assassinate His Majesty. This is the crime of rebellion! There is another saying that Prince Shuncheng had an affair with one of the ladies in the harem, His Majesty was furious, so he covered it up with rebellion."

"In other words, you still don't know what exactly happened?"

"I certainly don't know. But Prime Minister Xie must know. I tend to believe the second possibility, Old Sun, what about you?"

Sun Daoning frowned and thought deeply, "Both sayings involve ladies in the harem; it seems Prince Shuncheng is indeed not clean. Just don't know, was he active, or was he calculated by someone? In addition, which lady was involved? Do you know."

The colleague shook his head, indicating he didn't know.

Once the matter happened, the news was blocked.

However, the next day Emperor Yuanding ordered to start the journey back to the capital, not leaving everyone any time to react. There was an impulse to do something.

Sun Daoning remembered Chen Guanlou's prediction back then and muttered: "I am afraid His Majesty's intention is not on Prince Shuncheng, but something else. Prince Shuncheng is just a side effect."

Compared to Prince Shuncheng, who had already had his teeth pulled, the power of the Government Affairs Hall was obviously more important, one hundred times more important.

Using Censor Wang being assassinated to make a fuss could indeed do some articles, but there was no one hundred percent certainty of success. If it failed, Emperor Yuanding definitely wouldn't be reconciled.

What to do?

Simply increase the weight.

Prince Shuncheng is a ready-made tool.

The ladies in the palace are also tools.

Using two tool people, on one hand, to eliminate the eyesore Prince Shuncheng, and knock on Prince Ning's mother and son. On the other hand, to reach the goal of dragging the Government Affairs Hall, planting people, and seizing power.

Thinking through the logic here, Sun Daoning suddenly gasped.

This time, His Majesty is clearly determined to win. Seizing power, it brooks no delay.

Sun Daoning's heart was beating fast, very uneasy.

He glanced at his colleague and walked away silently.

He has to think!

Let the friend die? Let the Taoist die? What exactly is the way to die!

This night, the lights in the Government Affairs Hall did not go out all night.

Inside the Taiji Palace, food and candles were changed batch after batch.

Until dawn, the remaining people in the Government Affairs Hall went to the Taiji Palace together.

Emperor Yuanding stayed up all night, but his spirit was exceptionally excited, his cheeks flushed red.

"Prince Shuncheng is rebellious, I want to eliminate him! However, I am his brother after all, and I promised the late Emperor to love all my brothers. After discussion, Prince Shuncheng's death penalty can be exempted, but living crimes are hard to escape. Deprive Prince Shuncheng of his title, demote him to a commoner, and let the Clan Court be responsible for confinement. Do you ministers have any objections?"

The four assisting ministers didn't move; they had discussed all night, and if they had opinions, they would have reached a consensus long ago.

The other five looked at each other, exchanging glances.

Sun Daoning didn't know if it was a flash of inspiration, or if he was thinking of fighting one last time before "death," he stood up suddenly, startling everyone.

"Your Majesty, I am dull, dare to ask what is Prince Shuncheng's crime, why demote and confine him? How to explain to the world!"

What a brave Minister Sun.

Everyone seemed to be meeting Sun Daoning for the first time, and everyone's gaze at him was full of confusion, disdain, and even gloating.

Emperor Yuanding never expected that it would be the most honest Sun Daoning who jumped out to question.

"Minister Sun thinks I shouldn't demote and confine Prince Shuncheng, and you want to speak up for him?"

"Your Majesty misunderstood! I am the Minister of Justice, remembering the 'Great Gan Law.' What crime did Prince Shuncheng commit, I have been kept in the dark. Please, Your Majesty, solve my confusion!"

What a "Great Gan Law"!

Emperor Yuanding sneered, "Prince Shuncheng is rebellious, disrespectful, offending superiors, offending the dragon face; according to the law, can I execute him?" ===== CHAPTER 1708 =====