Ning Dao Covered with Snow

Chapter 400 Absolutely Flawless

Six days later, the people Xiao Wenyi sent out to investigate Fu Zheng's background returned.

It turns out that Fu Zheng also had a cousin. Thirty years ago, the two brothers went to Youzhou with the army to fight against the Turks. In the end, the Daye army won, but the cousin died on the battlefield.

Xiao Wang came to Qingping Residence and told Yan Ciwan the news.

"His cousin's name is Pei Yan. The two are only half a year apart. According to their neighbors, the brothers are about the same height and build."

Yan Ciwan pressed further, "There were so many soldiers who went to Youzhou with them back then, surely some of them would recognize them?"

Xiao Wang understood her meaning. He said, "Back then, there were as many as 100,000 soldiers sent to Youzhou. They were divided into hundreds of large camps, with smaller camps below them, and then platoons and squads. Fu Zheng was promoted to 10-man commander as soon as he entered the army because his family helped him pull some strings. Two years later, he was promoted to 100-man commander. Later, his troops were ambushed by the enemy, and all of his more than 100 men were wiped out. Only he was captured alive by the enemy and became a prisoner. You should have heard what happened next. He infiltrated the enemy camp, not only killed the enemy commander, but also cooperated with Ye's army from the inside to win a brilliant victory."

Back then, the people who were most familiar with Fu Zheng in the army were definitely the hundred or so soldiers under his command, but all of them are dead.

Yan Ciwan then asked, "What about Fu Zheng's direct superior? Is he dead too?"

Xiao Wang nodded: "Many people died in that war. Without exception, all the soldiers who knew Fu Zheng died on the battlefield."

Yan Ciwan couldn't help but have some doubts: "Isn't this too much of a coincidence? Could someone have secretly tried to silence us?"

"We can't rule out that possibility, but too much time has passed, and it would be extremely difficult to verify it now."

Yan Ciwan was also aware of this, and the only way to get to the bottom of this matter was to start with Fu Zheng.

She asked, "When does Lord Xiao plan to make a move against Fu Zheng?"

Fu Zheng was the emperor's most trusted and capable confidant. To deal with the emperor, Fu Zheng had to be brought down first.

Xiao Wang said, "The Emperor has put my grandfather in charge of investigating the murder of Crown Prince Renxian. Because there are rumors that the person who shot Crown Prince Renxian may be Fu Zheng, my grandfather ordered people to start the investigation with Fu Zheng. Now the people from the Dali Temple have found out Fu Zheng's background, and the witnesses are on their way to Chang'an. Once the witnesses arrive, Fu Zheng's identity will be completely exposed, and at that time, even the Emperor will not be able to protect him."

Hearing him say that, Yan Ciwan felt that it wasn't far from overthrowing the emperor.

She is currently unable to move around and can only stay at home. Even if there is a huge uproar outside, there is nothing she can do.

"I hope everything goes well," Yan Ciwan prayed.

……

The next morning, after the court session, Xiao Wenyi was kept behind alone.

Inside the Sizheng Hall, the emperor looked at the dossier laid out before him. The dossier detailed Fu Zheng's true origins, revealing that his real name was Pei Yan.

The two cousins ​​joined the army together, but Fu Zheng was unfortunately killed by the enemy. Pei Yan, who was lucky enough to survive, impersonated Fu Zheng. In order to conceal this secret, Pei Yan killed many people over the years.

The emperor looked up from the documents and asked Xiao Wenyi.

"I ordered you to investigate the case of Crown Prince Renxian's murder, how did you end up investigating Fu Zheng?"

"Your Majesty, because of rumors circulating that General Fu might be the murderer of Crown Prince Renxian, I listed him as one of the suspects. Originally, I only wanted to investigate his relationship with Crown Prince Renxian, but I did not expect to find out that his identity was problematic as I investigated."

Two deep wrinkles appeared between the emperor's brows, clearly indicating that he was in a very bad mood.

He asked in a deep voice, "How many people know about Fu Zheng's matter?" "Your Majesty has already ordered that it not be spread, but the officials and informants who are investigating this case certainly know. There are probably more than a hundred people involved."

A fierce aura lingered between the emperor's brows.

Xiao Wenyi guessed what he wanted to do, and her heart sank. It seemed that the emperor wanted to silence him.

More than a hundred lives were not as valuable to the emperor as Fu Zheng alone; he could kill him at will.

The emperor said, "Write down the names of those more than one hundred people and give them to me."

Xiao Wenyi nodded in agreement, then, as if remembering something, cautiously asked, "Many people in Pei Yan and Fu Zheng's hometown know them. Should we write down their names as well?"

"Approximately how many people are there?"

"I haven't counted them, but there must be at least several hundred people in the neighborhood. In addition, there are the private school teachers and classmates, the peddlers and flower girls who go from street to street, the village head and their relatives and friends... If we include all those who may have seen Pei Yan and Fu Zheng, the number would probably be in the tens of thousands."

emperor:"……"

He stared at Xiao Wenyi and asked, "Are there really so many people who have seen Pei Yan and Fu Zheng?"

“They may not have all met them, and even if they happened to have met them, they may not be able to recognize them. After all, more than 30 years have passed. I have simply listed all the people who may have met Pei Yan and Fu Zheng to ensure that nothing goes wrong.”

The emperor asked slowly, "Is it truly possible to be completely foolproof?"

Xiao Wenyi lowered her head, unable to give a definite answer.

At this moment, the Sizheng Hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

The emperor was weighing the pros and cons in his mind: should he kill ten thousand people for the sake of Fu Zheng?

Emperor Wen ordered the massacre of nearly ten thousand people, ostensibly due to the witchcraft case, but his true aim was to eradicate the Xie clan's influence in the court. Although this incident severely damaged Emperor Wen's reputation, and even recorded in historical texts, he ultimately achieved his goal. With the Xie clan's downfall, imperial power became more centralized, the court was more united, and the foundation of the nation was more secure. For Emperor Wen, exchanging his reputation for so many benefits was worthwhile.

But the situation is different now.

Fu Zheng was indeed the emperor's capable general. He wanted to keep Fu Zheng to deal with the King of Xizhou. But with so many talented people in the court, was there really no one else available without Fu Zheng?

In fact, the emperor had been cultivating capable talents for many years.

Whether it's Fu Zheng or Xiao Wenyi, the emperor has already chosen their successors. However, those people are still too young and need to be tempered for a few more years. Therefore, the emperor does not want them to stand out for the time being, lest the result be that the most outstanding person in the forest will be destroyed by the wind.

Given the current situation, the emperor had no choice but to let them take the lead ahead of time.

The emperor asked, "When will the witnesses who identified Fu Zheng arrive in Chang'an?"

Knowing that the emperor had made his decision, Xiao Wenyi felt somewhat relieved and respectfully said, "I will arrive by tomorrow night at the latest."

"Once the witnesses arrive, make the arrests." The emperor paused, then added, "This matter must be handled discreetly; the fewer people who know, the better."

"The minister obeys the order."