Chapter 142: A Glimpse of Previous Events

When Shen Lang mentioned it, it seemed as if he remembered that it was in the court.

So Xuan Xiao decided not to pay his respects.

The courtiers immediately turned their gaze towards the entrance of the main hall——

This is the legendary Prince Dingfei!

He saved the emperor's life.

And he still possesses the bloodline of the Xiao and Yan clans. Even if the Yan clan has fallen now, relying solely on his identity as the legitimate eldest son of the Xiao clan, he can cause a stir in the capital. It's really curious that I came back so unexpectedly during the process of suppressing the Heavenly Cult.

"The guilty minister, Xiao Dingfei, has an audience. Long live my emperor!"

A loud voice suppressed a hint of excitement in grief.

Everyone's hearts were shaken.

Upon closer inspection, a tall man with outstanding features walked in, dressed in a long robe adorned with stone blue brocade and gold thread. There were some similarities between his eyebrows and the Duke of Dingguo, Xiao Yuanguo, who stood in front of him. However, the corners of his lips and eyes had a bit of a carefree and unrestrained aura, and there was also a touch of nobility that should not be underestimated.

As soon as he entered from outside, Shen Lang's gaze fixed on him.

Almost seeing him from head to toe.

In an instant, my heart was already in turmoil!

But he has been sitting on the throne for more than four years, let alone when the previous dynasty seized the throne, he had gone through various struggles in the court, and his joy and anger were not easily manifested in his face. Instead, he laughed twice with "haha", appearing very pleased with his dragon face. Even his face, which had originally appeared somewhat gloomy due to a slight illness, showed a hint of redness and said, "Twenty years have passed, twenty years have passed, and I never expected to see you again! Quickly flatten yourself, quickly flatten yourself."

The emperor is really his mother able to pretend.

Xiao Dingfei knelt on the ground feeling only knee pain. No one dared to ask him to kneel even when he was in the Heavenly Sect. When he arrived at this damn court, there were still many rules to follow. Just in the current situation, a person who doesn't perform well may even lose his head. He only dares to gossip a few words, but on the surface, he stands up moved.

Tears come right away.

More than a decade ago, when beggars begged on the street for food, their ability to sell tragedies was not at all abandoned. People in the main hall couldn't help but cry: "Twenty years later, far away from the capital, trapped in the Heavenly Cult, unable to save the emperor from danger, unable to be loyal to the court, sinful subjects, sinful subjects..."

Duke Dingguo Xiao Yuan stood beside him, watching Xiao Dingfei return all the way, feeling like a stranger and having little contact with him.

Where did you expect him to bow down like this when he went to the hall?

For a moment, he was completely stunned.

Shen Lang remained calm, his eyes flickering slightly, and he looked very puzzled: "Well behaved, how can you call yourself a 'criminal minister'?"

Xiao Dingfei had already memorized the words proficiently and opened his mouth, saying, "When the Prince of Pingnan invaded the capital, both the guilty minister and the emperor were young. How dare they let the emperor go into danger? Loyalty and patriotism are the duties of a servant. When I went to die, I never thought I could survive. When the thief of the Prince of Pingnan saw me, he immediately sent someone to pull the eunuchs in the palace to identify me. I have been accompanying the emperor since childhood, and most eunuchs in the palace also recognize me.". Just like the Empress Dowager at that time, no, now it's time to call herself the Empress Dowager. As the Empress Dowager expected, although the eunuch recognized me, he also knew who the Heavenly Decoration Noble was. Based on the instructions of the Empress, before the eunuch could speak, I sternly called myself "solitary" and rebuked the other party. That eunuch really didn't dare to expose my identity, so the Prince of Pingnan thought I was the crown prince

Not many people from all over the country know about what happened back then.

Without him, twenty years ago when the army of the Prince of Pingnan entered the capital, they first killed all the civil and military personnel of the Manchu Dynasty, and there were not even a few people alive. The officials who were promoted later naturally became much younger than before. If it were not for this, it would be impossible for a civil servant like Xie Wei, no matter how great the credit is, to sit in the position of "Prince Shaoshi", one of the three orphans of the court, even at a young age.

At this moment, I couldn't help but be alarmed to hear Xiao Dingfei talk.

It was only then that I realized that what happened back then was thanks to the Empress Dowager's intervention, who devised a clever plan and dared to use Li Daitao's strategy to save the life of the Holy One!

Xiao Dingfei was sarcastic in his heart, but he wiped a tear from his face sincerely and continued, "The Prince of Pingnan is a rebellious subject and a thief. He hates the former emperor to the extreme. Even if someone ties me up, he will use it to threaten the former emperor. I asked them to fulfill their promise and release the more than three hundred boys. The Prince of Pingnan laughed at the time, saying that his words are irreversible, and then..."

When it comes to this, I feel a bit overwhelmed.

The fine beads hanging from the twelve imperial crowns cast a faint shadow over Shen Lang's face, making it difficult for others to glimpse his expression. He only heard him ask, "How is it?"

Xiao Dingfei suddenly knelt down on the ground and wept, "Then he killed everyone! Three hundred children, their bodies all thrown down from the gatehouse and piled outside the palace gate..."

The Jin Luan Palace was suddenly quiet.

No one can imagine what an unbearable sight it was.

Xiao Yuan's face also darkened.

===Kunning Section 186===

Xie Wei stood quietly in front, his eyes drooping and his eyelashes drooping, blocking the changes in the fundus of his eyes.

Shen Lang sighed and said, "This is my fault, the fault of the court!"

As soon as these words were spoken, both civil and military officials in the entire court trembled, but no one dared to answer.

Only Xiao Dingfei's voice kept coming.

He didn't get up and still knelt down, saying, "At first sight, the guilty minister also had a desire to snatch out and stop me. However, no one is willing to use me as a knife or meat, and I really have no resistance. The Prince of Pingnan saw that I was not honest, so he ordered me to be imprisoned. Soon after, reinforcements from the two major camps in Fengtai, Tongzhou arrived and counterattacked the capital to save me. The Prince of Pingnan wanted to use me as a threat and bound me to the front of the two armies. Unexpectedly, the reinforcements had already known that the emperor was safe and sound at that time, so they could not fail.". The Prince of Pingnan only then realized that he had been tricked. In a fit of anger, he raised his sword and was about to kill me. That day, Wan Xiuzi, who taught me, slapped me twice and sternly asked me who it was. The guilty minister was born into the family of a nobleman. Knowing that the thief had passed away, he bravely died and said, "My name is Xiao Dingfei.". Only then did Prince Pingnan and Wan Xiuzi know their identity as guilty ministers. The guilty minister thought he would die without a doubt, but he never expected that these two people would not die of their evil intentions. In a fit of desperation, they kidnapped the minister to the city gate tower. At that time, it was the Duke of the Country who led the army

As soon as the three words "Guogongye" were spoken, everyone's heart skipped a beat!

How could there be a son in the world who is not called Laozi, but instead is so unfamiliar and called "Guogong Ye"?

Even Shen Lang, who had always remained calm, couldn't help but squint slightly.

Xiao Yuan, however, did not pay attention, and it was unclear whether it was because of Xiao Dingfei's words that he remembered the scene from back then. His face was faintly pale with embarrassment.

Xie Wei remained steadfast.

Gu Chunfang, who was also in the line of civil officials, frowned and said, "Since Prince Pingnan and Wan Xiuzi have known the identity of the Crown Prince, they must have harbored a desire to use the Crown Prince to blackmail the Duke."

Xiao Dingfei glanced at him.

Seeing that he was a terrible old man, he didn't really care, but seeing that he was standing a bit ahead of Xie Wei, he knew that it was mostly an old fox. So he respectfully said, "Your Excellency, you guessed well. Those two thieves had exactly this idea. Although I was young at the time, I knew the severity of the situation and dared not let the army that came to help fall into a dilemma. When the Prince of Pingnan called for help, he whipped and scolded him. I gritted my teeth and didn't dare to cry.". "

That's a child under seven years old!

Luxury clothing and food, the proud son of heaven.

What kind of determination and perseverance should it be that the two armies were whipped and humiliated in front of each other, and were able to grit their teeth without saying a word?

All the officials in the court and in the fields were already knowledgeable. Upon hearing Xiao Dingfei's words, imagining the scene at that time, one couldn't help but feel a sense of pity and sorrow.

Shen Lang's gaze turned to Xiao Yuan.

It has been twenty years since the incident occurred.

Xiao Yuan couldn't help but recall and said in a bitter voice, "When something happened back then, I was not in the palace. When I led my army to rush to the capital, I did indeed confront the two opposing armies of the Prince of Pingnan under the city wall. The other party did indeed capture a child from afar who claimed to be my legitimate son, but it was not clear from afar. For one thing, the child didn't make a sound, didn't cry or make a fuss, and for the other hand, the person who served as a minister died tirelessly. Even though that child was truly my son, he didn't care at that time.". After hesitating for a moment and ignoring it, he stormed straight into the city. He intended to capture the two thieves' heads alive, but he didn't want them to run away too quickly with oil on their feet... "

In this way, the details of what happened back then were all perfectly matched.

But Shen Lang is still a bit uncertain

The child who was studying with him in the same window back then looked back at him before leaving, like the ruins exposed when the water surface fell, slowly appearing in his already blurry memory, overlapping with the eyes of Xiao Dingfei below at this moment, and gradually becoming clear.

Did he actually misunderstand?

Xiao Dingfei is indeed a loyal minister to the emperor. When he went there on his behalf, he had no resentment at all. However, when his mother left Lady Yan as a hostage in the palace to guard against him, it was truly a groundless concern?

Shen Lang rested his hand on the pure gold handrail of the Two Dragons Playing Ball and slowly said, "But when the city was destroyed later, he couldn't find you. At that time, the Duke of the State was also very worried about you, but in the frozen mountain corpse pile in front of the palace gate, he only found your clothes and jade pendant at that time. Did they not kill you?"

Xiao Dingfei said, "This is my punishment!"

He kowtowed to the ground again and said, "When I gritted my teeth and remained silent, the Prince of Pingnan was already extremely angry and wanted to take my life. However, the leader of the Heavenly Cult, Wan Xiuzi, said that keeping my life was of great use. I wanted to take my life at that time, but Wan Xiuzi saw the opportunity too quickly. After being stopped by the generals, he kidnapped me all the way out of the capital and fled to Jiangnan, where I was imprisoned. I begged for death but couldn't, so I wanted to know what their plan was. After enduring for a while, he pretended to comply.". After gaining the trust of the other party for several years, it was only by chance that I overheard that the old thief Wan Xiuzi had left me with his life to win over my heart, in order to one day find an opportunity to bring me back to the capital and restore my identity, so that I could rightfully command the military forces of the two major camps in Fengtai and Tongzhou, and become their puppet. And the death of the minister will inevitably bring discord between the Xiao and Yan clans. Lady Yan is the minister's biological mother, and Yan Mu is the minister's uncle. If we lure him with the news that the minister is still alive, it may not be impossible to win over the Marquis's Mansion

All the civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty were filled with a chill in their hearts. When they heard this, they all thought of the previous case of the Yongyi Marquis's Mansion secretly colluding with rebels!

At that time, it was rumored that letters had been found regarding his dealings with the Prince of Pingnan, Tianjiao, and other anti party members.

One of the letters stated that the Crown Prince Dingfei was still alive.

Everyone in the Southern Study believed that this was the bait deliberately used by the Heavenly Cult to lure the Lord Yongyi's Mansion, but to their surprise, it was true! Looking back on the case of the Marquis's Mansion, suddenly all the irrationality from beginning to end became apparent.

Someone suddenly let out a long sigh and said, "Alas, the unruly officials and thieves are really despicable. The depth of their calculations and the thickness of their plots are truly outrageous! However, the brave and resolute Marquis's Mansion in the past was too confused to have any dealings with these people no matter what! Even if the Crown Prince Dingfei had disappeared in the past, he would have died with all his loyalty. How dare the Marquis's Mansion still hold grudges against the Holy One for such actions?"

Xie Wei's fingers hanging on his side quietly clenched tightly.

A vicious aura surged and rushed through his chest, but he was locked tightly and couldn't find any outlet to vent. Instead, he smashed his entire skin bag into bloody wounds!

Xiao Dingfei knelt on the ground, and in his sight, he could only see Xie Wei's hanging sleeves, robes, and hem. Even though I couldn't see his expression, when I heard a minister say these words, my heart couldn't help but tremble. I glanced at this person and drew a fork on his head, thinking he was a dead person.

Shen Lang asked again, "So this time you were in Tongzhou..."

Xiao Dingfei then said, "After hearing that Gong Yicheng had been arrested by the court in the Heavenly Cult, he was afraid that he would not be able to bear the punishment and reveal many secrets of the Heavenly Cult. Therefore, he sent a heavy army to rob the prison. Moreover, if Gong Yicheng was rescued, it would enable him to plan for his generals to be sent back to the capital. Therefore, he sent his ministers together. It was a coincidence that Mr. Xie saved him, and he was able to escape from the Heavenly Cult and come alive to meet the Holy One, to explain the truth."

Everyone listened without feeling any problem.

Shen Lang also sighed and said, "I see."

Only Zhang Zhe, who stood with his head down, lifted his eyes and asked coldly, "If it were not as the Crown Prince had said, the Crown Prince would have been very happy to know that there were people from the court among the people who had escaped from prison in Tongzhou. Why did he, in a time of crisis, expose Zhang to the Tianjiao Rebellion and expose him as a person being ambushed by the court?"