Besides lying down, I also know a little about power struggles

Chapter 26 Preemptive Strike
That evening, the emperor's carriage returned safely to Beijing, and all officials still welcomed him outside the city.

The emperor stayed in the carriage without showing his face, and only asked the eunuch Chao En to pass on one sentence:

Tomorrow morning court will be held as usual.

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone became accustomed to it. Since their Majesty took power, he has never missed the morning court every day except for holidays and major celebrations.

Watching the imperial carriage go away, the officials followed in twos and threes.

Guo Yin took a few quick steps and walked side by side with Wei Guangzheng, the Imperial Counselor.

"Lord Wei, I'll have to trouble you tomorrow." Guo Yin said softly.

"No problem," Wei Guangzheng nodded gently, "The Censorate has the responsibility to supervise all officials, and this is my job."

"But the prince is deeply favored by His Majesty, and His Majesty has been trying to protect him in the enclosure," Guo Yin said, "and the Censorate is on the prince's side. If they see you impeaching the prince, they will probably be the first to jump out and cause trouble for you."

Wei Guangzheng's face darkened slightly. "Your Majesty set up the Jianyuan and Yushitai to avoid partial listening. As a counselor, I dare to speak out even if Your Majesty is wrong, let alone the Crown Prince."

"Lord Wei is a man of high integrity," Guo Yin smiled. "My general often says that among all the officials in the court, only Lord Wei is upright and incorruptible. If you can help King Ping get justice this time, my general will reward you handsomely."

"No need to thank me." Wei Guangzheng said calmly, "The prince was at fault first, the Censorate did not dare to mention it, but we, the Remonstrance Office, dare to do so."

"Then we'll wait for good news from Lord Wei." Guo Yin smiled and took two slow steps, falling behind the other party and disappearing into the crowd.

Wei Baichuan followed Feng Twelve's carriage and said to the inside of the carriage window, "Your Highness, look at how successful that villain Guo Yin is. I really want to peel off his face to see how thick it is."

"Wei Guangzheng has never been on good terms with the Censorate, so he has found the right person." Feng Twelve said while sitting in the car.

"Your Highness, why are you praising him?" Wei Baichuan was unhappy. "No matter how powerful the Wei guy is, can he be as powerful as our people?"

Feng Twelve did not answer. He looked out the window and said, "We will go back to the mansion later and take the Willow Bridge."

Wei Baichuan responded and said with a smile: "Your Highness would like to order dried fish?"

He heard from Xiaonian that yesterday His Highness asked him which store's dried fish the kitten liked to eat, and when he heard that it had to be reserved in advance, he had no choice but to buy a piece of fish cake.

"Your Highness is so kind to the little fairy." Wei Baichuan sighed.

Feng Twelve lowered the car curtains. Was he good to her? He just felt sorry for her because she couldn't go out.

The next morning, officials of the fifth rank and above attended the morning court as usual and went to the Changqing Palace to discuss matters.

After a great ceremony, everyone divided into two groups.

The emperor sat on the high throne, glanced at the ministers, and smiled: "I have been away from the capital for twenty days. It is all thanks to your diligence in fulfilling your duties. If you have any important matters recently, please report them one by one."

The ministers were silent for a moment. Wei Guangzheng took this opportunity to adjust his official hat and stepped out with his tablet in hand.

"His Majesty."

A voice sounded faster than his, interrupting his steps.

Wei Guangzheng had already moved half of his body out of the queue. He paused when he heard the voice and looked towards the person who spoke.

However, the Chief Censor Liang Han said to the emperor loudly, "Half a month ago, there was a fire at the Baixi Theater in Beijing. I believe Your Majesty has known about this." The emperor's eyes swept across the half-exposed Wei Guangzheng and fell back on Liang Han: "I have read the memorial submitted by the prefect. What do you think, Censor Liang?"

Liang Han held up his ivory tablet and looked straight ahead: "The fire at Baixifang affected the two streets in front and behind, burned down hundreds of houses, and killed and injured 321 people. Currently, 42 homeless orphans, 15 elderly people over 60, and 7 pregnant women are staying in the charity hall."

He reported the detailed figures, and although everyone present had heard about this matter a long time ago, they still looked sympathetic.

The emperor also sighed: "Water and fire are merciless. I have ordered the Ministry of Revenue to allocate funds to resettle the victims, and strictly ordered the government offices to speed up post-disaster reconstruction."

"Your Majesty loves the people like his own children. This is a blessing for Da Zhao and a blessing for the people."

After Liang Han finished speaking, he suddenly changed the subject and became more serious: "But as far as I know, this fire was not an accident, but man-made."

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole audience paid close attention.

Wei Guangzheng had been preparing all night last night, intending to impeach the crown prince for killing his brothers and sisters at today's court meeting. He came with great confidence and wanted to be the first to speak to shock the audience, but the Censorate got there first.

Wei Guangzheng looked at the tablet in his hand. In order to ensure that everything went well, he wrote down his thoughts on the tablet overnight. The tablet was filled with his thoughts, every word was a gem and every sentence was a proverb.

However, his stunning plan was interrupted by Liang Han. Wei Guangzheng was unhappy and interrupted, "Sir Liang, we all know that the fire in Baixifang was caused by an actor who used a fire bowl to iron clothes and accidentally ignited the stage. According to this, it was both an accident and man-made. I wonder what you mean by man-made?"

The Censorate and the Imperial Censorate checked and balanced each other. It was not the first time that Wei Guangzheng had challenged others during a meeting. When Liang Han heard this, his expression remained unchanged and he just nodded slightly at him.

"Master Wei is right. There are not so many accidents in the world. And what I mean by man-made is that this is a homicide."

Wei Guangzheng raised his eyebrows: "Murder case?"

Liang Han nodded, "That's right. The murderer wanted to silence the witnesses, so he set fire to the Baixifang. However, God has eyes, and the witnesses he wanted to silence escaped by chance, which allowed the truth of the fire to see the light of day again."

"Silence?" The emperor tapped the armrest gently. "Silence what?"

Liang Han bowed his head and said, "This matter is of great importance. I dare not speak rashly, but there are witnesses and evidences. I am afraid that things will change over time, so I have no choice but to speak to your majesty in person."

The emperor looked at him and said, "You say."

Liang Han said, "The people who were nearly killed were from two families. They were both women with children. The male owners of these two families worked in the zoo of Baixifang. They made a living by training animals and were good at driving tigers, leopards and other fierce beasts."

When the emperor heard the words "tiger and leopard", his eyes narrowed slightly.

The acrobatics at the Beijing Baixifang were a unique sight. Many officials present had been there. Someone whispered in agreement, "The zoo has trained dozens of tigers and leopards, all as obedient and clever as kittens. The boss of the troupe makes a fortune from this."

Liang Han ignored the emperor's gloomy expression and continued, "The two men's hometowns were on the border of Cangzhou. Later, when the barbarians invaded the border, they joined the army as soldiers. After repelling the barbarians, they brought their wives and children to the capital to make a living. Because their ancestors were hunters and passed on the skills of hunting, they entered the zoo as animal trainers."

"You've been talking for a long time, what do these two have to do with the fire at Baixifang?" Wei Guangzheng asked impatiently, "If you want to kill people, why kill women and children? Where did these two men go?"

Liang Han looked at him and said, "Master Wei is right. The reason why the wives and children of these two families were killed was because their husbands took a large sum of money and went out to do something big."

"What's the matter?" Wei Guangzheng asked.

Liang Han did not answer, but turned to the emperor and said in a deep voice: "I heard that the twelfth prince was in danger in the enclosure a few days ago, and the two murderers are dead. I dare to ask Your Majesty to summon the coroner to take a look at the case file."

(End of this chapter)