12dz Chapter 427 The Isolated Prince
Chapter 427 The Isolated Prince
"Hold me responsible for cheating in the imperial examination?"
Chu Ning looked up at the prince and the others, with a playful look on his face: "Are you sure you want to do this, brothers?"
The prince sneered: "Of course, as the chief examiner, if you are not responsible, who will be responsible?"
"Since the Crown Prince has spoken, I can only do my part reluctantly!"
Chu Ning turned to look at the emperor, with a respectful look on his face, and bowed, saying: "Father, since all the brothers want me to take responsibility, please leave the investigation of cheating to me.
The imperial examination will only last for nine days. Once these nine days are over, I will immediately interrogate the arrested persons and find out who is behind this! "
When these words were spoken, the prince and others were stunned.
I want you to be responsible, not to investigate the matter!
The fourth prince became anxious on the spot, staring at Chu Ning and said coldly: "The cheating case happened in your hands, and you still want to lead the case. This is simply unreasonable!"
Chu Ning shrugged and said, "You brothers said that I would be responsible for this. I thought about it for a long time and this is the only solution I could think of.
Of course, if Fourth Brother has other ideas, you can tell me."
The fourth prince narrowed his eyes and sneered, "Father has made the final decision on this matter. How can you and I have any say in this?"
No one can decide this matter, only the emperor can speak.
The emperor glanced at everyone and asked indifferently, "It seems that you will not let this matter go unless it is dealt with today.
Well, in this case, let's do as Chu Ning said and let him handle the imperial examination first, and then investigate the cheating case."
Everyone was immediately dumbfounded.
Let the parties involved in the cheating case investigate?
Check yourself?
How can such a thing be justified in this world?
For a moment, the scene was completely silent.
No one would have thought that the emperor would make such a decision.
Only Chu Ning raised the corner of his mouth slightly, revealing a hint of amusement.
Others may not know what the emperor is thinking, but how could he not know?
What the emperor wanted was checks and balances. So many civil and military officials in the court came from aristocratic families and had connections with princes and ministers. This was too dangerous for the imperial power.
Why is the treasury empty?
Wasn't it that in the past the aristocratic families joined forces with the court officials to secretly take action and completely emptied the national treasury?
After this experience, the emperor completely understood that the key lies in the aristocratic families.
With this imperial examination, they were preparing to inject fresh blood into the court in order to counter the officials from aristocratic families in the court.
Therefore, this imperial examination was of vital importance, and the emperor would not let anything go wrong as long as there was a glimmer of hope.
Thinking of this, Chu Ning immediately stood up and put on a serious expression: "Don't worry, father, I will handle the imperial examination as soon as possible and thoroughly investigate the cheating incident!
Now that the cheating group has been detained in the Ministry of Justice, I have ordered the Minister of Justice, Lord Ling, to personally interrogate them. Maybe there will be a result soon. "
These words made everyone look at the prince with some unfriendly looks in their eyes.
Everyone tacitly targets Chu Ning, but your father-in-law becomes Chu Ning's pawn at the critical moment?
The prince was immediately roasted over the fire and his face instantly turned ugly.
The emperor seemed to realize the key to this matter. He turned to look at the prince and said in a deep voice, "The prince is more familiar with the affairs of the Ministry of Justice. You and Chu Ning should handle this matter together!"
This is a cruel move!
Directly isolate the prince from the crowd.
As long as the prince, Chu Ning and Ling Haoran investigate the case together, it is bound to affect the interests of the aristocratic families, and they will not be able to unite with the aristocratic families in the future.
At worst, the wealthy and powerful families will no longer trust the prince.
Chu Ning narrowed his eyes and realized for the first time how terrifying the emperor was.
He usually keeps a low profile, but delivers a fatal blow at the critical moment.
This move, the product of decades of practice, caught the prince off guard, and he was stunned on the spot.
Chu Ning took the opportunity to smile and said, "With the help of the Crown Prince, I believe it won't be difficult to find the mastermind behind this."
The prince came back to his senses with a gloomy face and glared at Chu Ning fiercely. Although he was very unwilling to be used, he had no right to refuse since the emperor had spoken.
"Don't worry, Father. I will do my best to investigate this matter!"
Although he didn't know who was behind the scenes, the prince immediately made adjustments.
Now that we have been ordered to investigate the matter, we are bound to come into conflict with the wealthy and powerful families. In this case, we might as well be tougher!
If we can really find out who is behind this incident, we can also take credit for it in front of the emperor.
Compared with other princes who are now in a dilemma, his situation is relatively better.
The emperor was very satisfied with the prince's performance. He took the initiative to pat the prince on the shoulder and said with a smile:
"Very good, I believe you can handle this matter!"
After saying this, the emperor glanced at the other princes and civil and military officials, a sneer appearing on the corner of his mouth.
You are too young to fight me!
He waved his sleeves and put them behind his back, and said loudly: "Leave the imperial examination to Chu Ning, I am very relieved, come back to the palace!"
At the command, everyone made way, bowed and respectfully saw the emperor off.
Chu Ning waited for the emperor to leave before he bowed to the prince and the others and said, "My brothers, I have to supervise the exam, so I'm sorry I can't accompany you!"
This is an order to evict you!
The prince snorted coldly: "I will go to the Ministry of Justice first to see if anyone has confessed."
The imperial examination is a foregone conclusion and cannot be changed, so the only way to start is to investigate the cheating.
If the mastermind behind the incident can be found before the scientific expedition is completed, all the credit will have nothing to do with Chu Ning.
Chu Ning naturally understood what the prince was thinking. Hearing this, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "Brother Prince, you really care about the country. I hope you can find the mastermind behind this as soon as possible."
The prince snorted coldly and turned away.
The other princes looked at each other, realized that staying here was just a waste of time, and then left.
When the ministers saw that the party was about to end, they all left immediately.
Only Liu Shouren was a little worried. Before Chu Ning entered the examination room, he hurried forward and said:
"Your Highness, Wen Kaicheng and Yun Jianye have been arrested and are now imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice. I am worried about the Crown Prince..."
Chu Ning shook his head and interrupted, "Don't worry, the two adults are just deputy examiners. As long as the prince is not stupid, he will never touch them."
After a pause, Chu Ning glanced at the examination room and said in a deep voice, "On the contrary, the examination room is missing two deputy examiners, which seems a bit lacking. I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you, Lord Liu, with this matter!"
Liu Shouren was stunned for a moment, then reacted: "Your Highness wants me to be the deputy examiner?"
Chu Ning nodded: "That's right, you go to the Ministry of Revenue to hand over today, and come back to supervise the exam tomorrow."
"I understand!" Liu Shouren knew that the matter was of great importance. Regardless of his negligence, he bowed and left immediately.
Chu Ning looked at Liu Shouren's departing back, with a playful look on his face: "The good show is about to begin, but I don't know if the fish will take the bait."
After saying that, Chu Ning looked at Ran Ming who was standing beside him and said, "I will be here for the next nine days. You go back to the palace and protect its safety."
Ran Ming was about to refuse, but Chu Ning glared at him and said, "Don't bargain with me!"
Ran Ming touched his huge bald head. Although he didn't understand why Chu Ning drove him away, he had no choice but to do as he was told.