MTL - Restart the Protagonist’s Way of Survival-Chapter 120 the truth came out

"Bai Xiang, you also killed him, right?"

Li Zishou's seemingly casual question aroused complex and strong emotions in others.

Shocked, puzzled and disbelieving.

Especially Xie Zhi and Bai Qingyang, the two of them were shocked like the sky was falling, no one expected that a thing that they had never let go of in their hearts would be mentioned here and now.

Only Ji Zhuilu, after a brief moment of stupefaction, slowly smiled, without a trace of punctured shock or embarrassment, only a subtle joy.

Li Zifu was against the light, she had been observing Ji Zhuilu's expression, and the other's reaction told her: her deduction was correct.

Everyone was waiting for an explanation, but Ji Zhuilu just smiled, and he seemed very happy. Li Zishou just looked at him quietly and didn't speak any more.

After he calmed down, he looked up at Li Zishou, and said in a very nostalgic tone, "Four years...? It should be five years ago... It feels like a long time has passed."

Li Zishou: "Being forced to lie dormant for so long is indeed a long time for you."

Ji Zhuilu: "How did you find out?"

Li Zichou thought for a while, and walked slowly under the lights of the Ministry of Criminal Justice: "I have been thinking about a problem. When the massacre happened in the Prime Minister's Mansion, none of the Jingzhao Mansion, Imperial Palace Imperial Army, and Capital City Inspection Department arrived on the scene in time.

"The Yamen of Jingzhao Mansion and the Prime Minister's Mansion, one is in the east of the city and the other is in the west of the city, so it is understandable to be late.

"The imperial palace guards are stationed in the Great Neibei Yamen, and the news is relatively closed, so it is understandable that they can't make it there.

"But the soldiers and horses of your city defense battalion deployed the whole city to control the curfew. It took nearly an hour before they arrived late. This is very problematic."

After hearing this, Xie Zhi suddenly realized that that night, in order to avoid the officers and soldiers, she left the prime minister's mansion fire scene ahead of schedule, but she did not expect that this was the point of doubt and breakthrough.

Li Zichou continued: "You have been the leader of the city gate seven years ago, and you are in charge of the troops in the capital. In Linjing, everything except the imperial palace is under your jurisdiction. It is impossible for you not to know that the prime minister's mansion was burned. .

"You are not late, you just left, right?"

Ji Zhuilu: "You are very smart, you deserve to be Li Fu's daughter."

"Shut up!" Zhang Keji scolded, and looked at Li Zifu's face with some horror, "You can also call the first emperor's name directly?!"

Li Zichou said, "The first emperor was furious. It's not that he didn't know who the real culprit was. On the contrary, it was because he knew you did all this that he couldn't do anything to you."

Xie Zhi: "What... do you mean?"

The first emperor already knew that Ji Zhuilu was the murderer of Prime Minister Bai? So why didn't he bring him to justice? What does "can't do it" mean? How many secrets are there in this?

Seemingly aware of Xie Zhi's question, Li Zishou walked up to Ji Zhuilu, "Does the late Emperor know your identity?"

This time, Ji Zhuilu showed a bit of surprise on his face.

"Let me guess again, are you the heir of King Wei, or the descendant of King Ning?"

"what?!"

Almost everyone couldn't believe what they heard. Their eyes focused on the empress, and then they looked at the embarrassing man who was controlled by others.

Xie Zhi and Bai Qingyang could no longer keep up with the speed of things.

This person is... a descendant of a prince? !

//

Turn back the time to two days before the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet.

"Huaijin, don't you think this person looks familiar?" Li Zichou turned over the portrait in his hand and said to Zhou Huaijin.

"Hmm - it seems... a little familiar." Zhou Huaijin looked closely for a while, and felt familiar, "But I don't think I have seen this lady before?"

Li Zishou: "What if we replace her with a man?"

Zhou Huaijin was confused: "What do you mean, what do you want to say?"

Li Zichou said bluntly: "Don't you think he looks a lot like Ji Zhuilu?"

Zhou Huaijin was taken aback for a moment, then glanced at the portrait again, and found something was wrong: "It does look like it."

The facial features of the woman in the portrait are gentle and dignified, at least seven points similar to Ji Zhuilu, the school captain of the city defense department.

Zhou Huaijin: "How can there be a woman in the portrait of the concubine who is very similar to Captain Ji? Is there any relationship between this empress and Captain Ji?"

Li Zichou shook his head: "I don't know, I remember that Ji Zhuilu was born as an orphan."

Zhou Huaijin also pinched his chin and pondered for a while. Suddenly, Li Zichou seemed to have thought of something: "Huaijin, go to the Ministry of Officials to find the record of the transfer of officials between the court and the central government five years ago."

"Okay, I'll go now."

It took Li Zifu a lot of time to go through all the records of appointments, dismissals and promotions in that year. She seemed to sort out the head end among the messy and entangled clues.

Zhou Huaijin: "Your Majesty, what have you discovered?"

Li Zishou handed him the information he found: "Only Ji Zhuilu has not moved."

Zhou Huaijin looked at it: "So, is there any problem?"

As she had learned before, after Prime Minister Bai was murdered, Emperor Jing carried out reforms and reorganization of the officialdom.

Many high-ranking officials were convicted or demoted. At the same time, some unknown civilian scholars and officials with mediocre achievements were promoted. In particular, the changes of military officers are particularly frequent. Except for a few elderly veterans, almost all military officers have been passive.

Ji Zhuilu is an exception, he is not a veteran, he has been the captain of the city gate seven years ago, and he is still the captain of the city gate seven years later, neither promoted nor relegated.

When the court was in turmoil, he stood still like a rock.

Did Emperor Jing forget to move his stone? Or is it that Emperor Jing can't move him at all?

Zhou Huaijin: "I think I must have forgotten it."

Li Zichou: "How do you say that?"

"When Emperor Jing was tossing the court, Captain Ji was on a mission to **** Shuobei envoys out of the country. He was not in Linjing at the time, so Emperor Jing didn't care about him."

"Then what if Emperor Jing did it on purpose?"

Zhou Huaijin was taken aback: "So what do you say?"

Li Zichou: "That is to say, is there a possibility that Emperor Jing deliberately picked him up when he was not in Linjing to make such a big move?"

Zhou Huaijin frowned: "...?"

Li Zishou: "The City Defense Department escorted the Shuobei envoys back to the grassland, and Ji Zhuilu is the leader appointed by Emperor Jing."

Zhou Huaijin: "Emperor Jing deliberately dismissed Captain Ji? But why did he do that?"

Li Zichou held up the painting again: "Can you make a guess based on this?"

Zhou Huaijin pondered for a while, and finally shook his head: "I can't guess."

"You just asked me if this lady is related to Ji Zhuilu." Li Zichou reminded.

Zhou Huaijin seemed to understand, he widened his eyes: "You mean that Ji Zhuilu might be the heir of this empress, that is to say..."

Li Zichou took his words: "It may also be the descendant of Emperor Lie."

"A descendant of Emperor Lie?!" Zhou Huaijin exclaimed in surprise, "But Ji Zhuilu is too young. If he is the son of Emperor Lie, he must be in his fifties or sixties?"

"You're right, what if—" Li Zichou changed the subject, "What about the younger generation?"

Zhou Huaijin: "A younger generation? A son's son?"

Li Zichou nodded: "Ji Zhuilu is less than 30 this year, the youngest grandchild of Emperor Lie is about the same age, right?"

Zhou Huaijin: "But it's still not right. As early as the Hong'an period, almost all the princes perished, and only Emperor Jing was left. Where did Emperor Lie get other grandchildren of unknown origin?"

Li Zichou: "Aren't there two princes who were not killed by Emperor Jing? One is King Wei who was demoted to common people, and the other is King Ning who was exiled to the south of Lingnan."

Zhou Huaijin: "Do you think Ji Zhuilu is the offspring of these two people?"

"Probably."

"If he is a descendant of the former prince, then he must have no good intentions in becoming an official in the court. Maybe he is still coveting the throne. Why didn't Emperor Jing get rid of him? He doesn't know his true identity?"

Li Zishou: "I think it's the opposite. Emperor Jing couldn't get rid of him because he knew his true identity. He probably took advantage of Emperor Jing's weakness."

"That's why Emperor Jing needs to transfer him away from the capital, and when he can't come back..." Zhou Huaijin seemed to understand, "Replace some officials in the court and attack his party members?"

Li Zichou nodded: "It's not good for Emperor Jing to touch him directly, so he can only operate from the people around him."

Zhou Huaijin still found it incredible: "It's outrageous, after all, aren't these all your guesses?"

"Yes..." Li Zichou looked at the portrait of the woman, "This is all my guess..."

Just relying on a similar portrait without evidence, anyone would find it absurd. But this bold conjecture happens to be able to connect all the mysteries together, and it can also explain the doubts of those old events.

Prince Yu's return, Shuobei's visit, Baixiang's murder, court turmoil, these few major events happened one after another, if they say that they have no connection with each other, Li Zichou will definitely not believe it.

I remember that Li Zichou once asked Yang Dejin what happened to Prince Yu's identity as a woman disguised as a man when she first entered the book.

At that time, Yang Dejin's answer was that someone needed to use the identity of Prince Yu to contain a certain power that seized the throne.

Emperor Jing has the excellent character of brotherhood and brotherhood. He almost wiped out all the other sons of Emperor Lie. Emperor Jing himself had a hard time with his children. The only offspring left behind is the princess Li Chou, and there is a couple with a low sense of existence. The brothers and sisters who know where to recuperate in Dasheng.

With this kind of opening, what kind of power to seize the heirloom should be restrained?

//

Back to the Criminal Department.

Li Zichou: "The first emperor knew that you are the blood of Emperor Lie, and it is very likely that you told him yourself. Your existence will definitely threaten his status, but he can't do anything rashly to you.

"Because when he knew your identity, you had already won over a considerable number of officials in the court, and even took over the garrison in the capital. More importantly, the first emperor was afraid of the bargaining chip in your hand."

Ji Zhuilu laughed louder this time, and even showed appreciation in his eyes: "I was wrong, you are smarter than Li Fu. Over the years, you are the first person to guess my identity."

Li Zichou: "You admitted it."

"There's nothing you can't admit." Ji Zhuilu said indifferently, "I thought about using gentle means to make him Zen, including that you are now able to become the empress, thanks to me."

Li Zichou did not waver after hearing this: "Dasheng has never had a precedent for a princess to be the heir apparent, and opposition from the officials is inevitable.

"Your plan is to let me, a woman, take the position of heir first, which is equivalent to helping you keep the position of the crown prince. When the time is right, you will appear in the public eye as the emperor.

"As long as you can prove that you are a descendant of the fierce emperor, the officials will naturally support you as the new emperor."

Ji Zhuilu said: "His body is so weak, he should die after living a few years at most. I told him, as long as he can pass the throne to me after his death, I can do nothing."

Li Zishou: "But he doesn't trust you. If you want to inherit the throne as the legacy of Emperor Lie, he can also find someone with the blood of Emperor Lie to return to the royal family."

What is this called—walking the path of the villain, leaving the villain nowhere to go.

Speaking of which, Ji Zhuilu stared at Yang Dejin unkindly: "Yes, he found a **** who didn't know where it came from, and said she was the child of Emperor Lie and Concubine De."

Yang Dejin felt uncomfortable being stared at by him, and shouted: "Who are you talking about being a bastard? Believe it or not?!"

Ji Zhuilu withdrew his gaze, and continued, "With Concubine De's jade pendant as evidence, the entire court believes that she is Thirteen Lang, and Prince Yu has quickly become a hot candidate for succession."

The first emperor brought Prince Yu back from the people, not to create obstacles for Li Chou, but to curb the imminent Ji Zhuilu, throwing a stumbling block to him.

The royal family living among the people had to verify their real identity before returning to the royal family. It is impossible for Emperor Jing not to know that Prince Yu is a girl.

He needs a chess piece that can be used to confuse the real one with the fake one; but he doesn't want this chess piece to have the idea of ​​taking the place and replacing it, so this chess piece had better be a girl.

This is why in the original work, Prince Yu maintained a female disguise as a man from the beginning to the end.

As for Yang Dejin's bloodline, she had the concubine De's token on her body, so she was probably related by blood to Concubine De, as to whether she was the youngest daughter of Emperor Lie, it was hard to say.

"The late emperor's act of taking back Prince Yu annoyed you. You have been looking for an opportunity to turn against him. It just so happened that in July of that year, the Shuobei envoy was sent to Dasheng. You wanted to use the power of the grassland people to seize power and usurp the throne. But..."

Ji Zhuilu: "My deal with Shuobei people was broken by Bai Xun."

Xie Zhi's eyes were red, and he gritted his teeth: "So you killed him to silence him, and you also slaughtered more than two hundred people in the prime minister's residence."

"Who told him to run back to the prime minister's residence?" Ji Zhuilu was indifferent, as if the person with blood on his hands was not himself.

"Asshole, I...!"

"Xie Zhi! Calm down!" Yang Dejin hurriedly stopped her.

The veins on the back of Xie Zhi's hands were bulging, and the enemy was right in front of her eyes, she couldn't cut him to pieces, how much she wanted to vent her anger with violence, how much she wanted to repay the suffering she had experienced in these years, how much she wanted him to live Better to die.

The anger that erupted like a mountain torrent turned into a tidal wave of sorrow the moment Yang Dejin grabbed her, drowning her out of breath.

On the contrary, Bai Qingyang was silent, just silent.

She was a little dazed, and a little overwhelmed.

In her previous life, she had changed dynasties, and Ji Zhuilu was the one who opposed her claiming the emperor the most fiercely. She didn't understand why at the time, but thought he was a stubborn old imperial faction. Now it seems that it was because He intercepted his throne by himself.

Later, Ji Zhuilu took bribes, so she exiled him to southern Xinjiang. Just like this, she let the enemy go away with her own hands.

No wonder the murderer couldn't be found no matter how hard he searched.

Li Zichou looked at Bai Qingyang worriedly, pressed her shoulder, and continued: "Bai Cheng was murdered, and the late Emperor was stigmatized, he knew that all of this was done by you.

"After that, the first emperor frequently mobilized his officials and officials, disrupting the layout of the court, and it must have broken a lot of your wings, right?"

Ji Zhuilu sneered: "At that time, he asked me to send the prairie people all the way out of Yongzhou, obviously trying to drive me away."

Li Zishou: "But if you don't go, you are resisting the order, and he just found a reason to deal with you."

Ji Zhuilu: "So I went. One month, just one month, the court changed. In order to cut off my arm, he did not hesitate to promote and appoint some corrupt officials."

Li Zishou was not surprised. Emperor Jing had always paid attention to the balance of the court. Under his intentional suppression, there were very few families who could influence the court. As long as he puts in a little thought and temporarily suspends Zhongshu's sect, in just one month, he will be able to wipe out Ji Chasing's hawks and claws and give the officialdom a big shakeup.

He was the Li Fu who stood out among many brothers by himself and finally became Emperor Dashengjing.

The purpose of appointing civilians and even promoting corrupt officials is to give these people grace, thereby gaining huge supporters, and stabilizing the court through them.

Because Emperor Jing gave them benefits, they would unconditionally support the imperial power, and after Li Chou succeeded to the throne, these people evolved into the current empress faction.

He did not let Ji Zhuilu's usurpation plot succeed and kept his court. However, due to the lack of heirs and unwillingness to pass on the throne to a side branch, Li Chou's status as the crown prince was not deprived until he became the guest of the dragon. Became a notorious female tyrant.

"What the late emperor did has hurt your vitality, so you have to restrain yourself and behave in a low-key manner, waiting for another rebellion." Li Zifu squatted down again, and looked at him, "But you are like this, but he still dare not touch you, What kind of handle are you holding on to him?"

Ji Zhuilu also looked directly at her, the admiration on his face was very real: "The past is almost as you said, you really surprised me.

"But you said one thing wrong. I am not seeking power to usurp the throne. I am taking back what should belong to me. Because I am neither the heir of King Wei nor the descendant of King Ning.

"I am a descendant of Prince Xiaogong, and I am the true orthodoxy of Dasheng."

The officers and soldiers were shocked again, Xie Zhi raised his head, Yang Dejin raised his eyebrows, and now even Li Zifu was startled.

The woman in that painting... is the first princess?

"It's just nonsense! The deposed prince only married the former princess, but I've never heard of him having any heirs!"

"Prince Xiaogong died of illness thirty-five years ago in Hong'an, how could you be his heir?!"

"I think he's plotting to go bankrupt, and he's lost his mind!"

The officials of the Ministry of Punishment who followed all ridiculed and laughed.

"Died of illness?" Ji Zhuilu sneered, "I, Aye, was obviously killed by Li Fu!"

"In order to seize the crown prince, Li Fu planted a secret agent in the Eastern Palace, designed to hurt my Aye's eyes, and finally killed him brutally.

"When A Niang was pregnant with me, it happened that the two kings rebelled. A Niang and a group of concubines were imprisoned in the Jingyang Palace. I am the legacy of Prince Xiaogong. Li Fu, who was the King of Jin at that time, if he knew My existence will definitely be wiped out.

"So A Niang escaped and hid in the underground palace of the imperial mausoleum. I spent my entire childhood in that dark place!"

Xie Zhi noticed a word: Imperial Mausoleum and Underground Palace?

Li Zichou frowned: "The underground palace of the imperial tomb, no wonder no one has found it for so many years, it turned out to be dark under the lamp."

Yang Dejin also came to his senses: "You were responsible for the Dacheng Sect case too?!"

Ji Zhuilu glanced at her and Xie Zhi, and acquiesced.

At the beginning, he didn't pay attention to Li Fu at all. Li Fu had just died, and the spoiled and domineering princess Li Chou succeeded to the throne. He had a lot of time to restore his power.

But I don't know when, this half-hanging daughter-in-law suddenly started to work hard, and the captive queen behind her didn't seem to be as innocent as it appeared on the surface.

So he spent a lot of thought and came up with some actions, just to warn and disturb them.

As a result, Yang Dejin and Xie Zhi, the partnership of these two people, ruined many things for him.

Ji Zhuilu stared at Li Zishou, and said viciously: "Obviously I am the orthodox, but I have to be reduced to this level, why?! I, Aye, is the crown prince appointed by Emperor Lie, and I will be the future monarch of Dasheng , Why did Li Fu treat me like this?!"

Facing his malice, Li Zichou frowned slightly: "For the sake of the throne, he did not hesitate to collude with the enemy, mutilate Zhongliang, and kill so many innocent people. Ji Zhuilu, do you want to be the emperor, or do you want to be a traitor?!"

"Don't mention innocence to me!" Ji Zhuilu refused to bow his head at all, "In terms of innocence, who can have my innocence? Who can have me, Aye, Auntie?!

"Your father was originally a vicious person who could harm his siblings, how dare you accuse me?

"Even Li Fu was timid when he met me, if you dare to treat me like this, you will definitely regret it.

"Let me tell you Li Chou, what your father can be afraid of is the same for you."

"Is this what you're talking about?" a man asked aloud.

People looked at the people who came and went, Zhou Huaijin pushed aside the soldiers in front and walked up to Li Zichou, holding an object wrapped in grosgrain in his hand.

Li Zichou: "Why are you so slow?"

"No, I've been looking at the back for a long time." Zhou Huaijin said while handing her the package in his hand, "Thanks to my knowledge of Feng Shui, otherwise I really wouldn't be able to find it."

Kneeling on the ground, Ji Zhuilu's face changed drastically the moment he saw that thing. This was the first time he showed a panicked expression tonight.

"How did you have that?!" Ji Zhuilu growled and questioned Zhou Huaijin.

Zhou Huaijin didn't speak, but just looked at him with a look that seemed to be reacquainted with a person.

"What are you surprised about?" Li Zichou looked at him contemptuously, "I have had people search your barracks, do you think I will miss your home?"

The author has something to say:

Ji Zhuilu: I'm not pretending anymore, I'm having a showdown.

In the past few days, Kawenka has been dying, and his collection has not increased but decreased. Although there are not many, he still feels a little frustrated and annoyed.