"First tell me what's going on. Who is planning with your father to harm my father?"
When Ding Jinzhi and Li Ruiyun were plotting to persecute Lu Wenzheng, Ding Jiying's close family member Ding Xin happened to be passing by. When Lu Qiuyue learned about this from Ding Jiying, she calmed down and asked him this.
It turns out that Ding Xin is good at Qinggong and has nimble steps. He is also alert and adaptable to changes. In a word, the combination of various causal relationships finally led Ding Xin to successfully steal this secret, but it was not discovered by Li Ruiyun and Ding Jinzhi.
After listening to Ding Jiying's statement, Lu Qiuyue's face froze, her eyebrows tangled, and she fell into deep thought.
Ding Jiying said: "Qiuyue, what's wrong with you? Why don't you want me to go to my father to argue?"
Lu Qiuyue couldn't help but choke, almost swallowing the soreness in her throat, and said miserably: "Jiying, why are you still so naive now? Do you think you can make your father change his mind with just a few words? He is now After getting mixed up with the people from the Tianxiao organization, he has gone crazy and is hopeless!"
Ding Jiying murmured almost absentmindedly, "No, no..."
Lu Qiuyue's melancholy eyes were filled with sparkling light, and she smiled bitterly: "Jiying, you should know how your sister died, but when Li Ruiyun told your father about your sister's death, you still remember that your father was performance?"
Ding Jiying's face immediately turned pale when a painful spot was touched. How could he not remember?
When Li Ruiyun told his sister Ding Mengxuan's death in front of his father and mother without expression, he and his mother were thunderous and cried in each other's arms.
But my father was livid from beginning to end, without a single tear. Finally, he said harshly: "She brought it all upon herself, and she has no one to blame!"
The mother cried heartbreakingly and shouted: "Master, how can you say this? She is your daughter!"
Ding Jinzhi said: "I don't have such an unfaithful and unfilial daughter!" After saying this, he walked away.
Thinking about it now, the words are still ringing in his ears, and Ding Jiying feels his heart become cold to the core.
He was thinking: If his sister, Izumi, knew it, how chilling it would be to hear such heartless words from his father!
He was also thinking that after his sister died, his father didn't seem to feel any sadness at all, and his relationship with Li Ruiyun seemed to be closer.
He didn't understand that his sister was also his biological daughter. Could it be that he was really indifferent to his daughter's death? Doesn't he hold any grudge against the enemy who killed his daughter?
He is confused: Is his father really so ruthless and unjust, as Lu Qiuyue said, has he gone crazy and is hopeless?
His head felt as big as a bucket, and there was a buzzing sound in his head, as if countless mosquitoes were flying around his ears, which made him upset and at a loss. He raised his head and said blankly: "Qiuyue, tell me, what should I do? What should I do to save my father?"
Lu Qiuyue sighed: "Your father is hopeless. What we need to do now is: how to save my father."
Ding Jiying had lost his opinion at this time and became clueless. He just said: "You tell me, I will listen to you in everything."
Lu Qiuyue said: "Do you still remember the man named Mu Wu who once worked as a handyman in our house?"
"Mu Wu?..." Ding Jiying was stunned for a moment...
The sky outside the window is gray, and the originally light clouds in the sky have become dull due to neglect. The air around him seemed to have solidified, making it suffocating.
In the Imperial Palace, Li Zhishan's study.
Just after sending Ding Jinzhi away, Li Zhishan called Sun Guoxiong, "Zhou Shan" and others over, and said with a dark face: "Make arrangements and go to the prison with me immediately."
Suspicious clouds arose in Ling Yun's heart. He thought to himself: "Li Zhishan and Ding Jinzhi have been secretly planning for a long time. I wonder what kind of harming activities they are discussing? Now Li Zhishan suddenly proposes to go to Tianlao. It seems that the conspiracy just now is most likely to be related to Lu." Your Excellency is concerned!"
Thinking about it, I can't help but feel uneasy.
The three of them soon arrived at Tianlao. Passing through the dark prison passage, the air was filled with the stench of blood and turbidity, which was nauseating.
Li Zhishan ordered the jailer to open the cell door, only to hear a "creak" sound, and a soul-crushing sound of opening the door came from the deep and empty prison. The group of people arrived at the cell where Lu Wenzheng was imprisoned.
Through the bars, everyone saw the imperial prisoner sitting on the weeds.
Ling Yun's heart suddenly trembled violently. Huge waves rushed through his chest, and the pain and anger suppressed in his heart burst out. The hands hanging by his sides could not help but slowly clenched.
He could hardly believe his eyes: Was the person in front of him really the majestic and virtuous Mr. Lu whom he cared about day and night?
No part of his clothes was intact, it was stained a messy red with mottled blood; no part of his body was intact either, with countless torture wounds covering everything from his fingertips to his cheeks.
His hair was disheveled and he looked haggard; his two deep-set eyes were hollow and lifeless, showing a sense of numbness and despair, like a dying old man.
His slightly trembling lips were pale and bloodless, and he was still breathing hard. A stream of bright red blood flowed out from the corner of his mouth uncontrollably, dripping down his chin and onto his chest, dyeing his clothes scarlet.
The few people who suddenly appeared in front of him seemed not to have left any images in his mind. He still sat sluggishly, like a statue.
Li Zhishan looked at him for a long time, then slowly spoke: "Master Lu, are you okay?"
Lu Wenzheng blinked his dry eyes, and Ling Yun finally found a glimmer of light in his eyes.
A sneer appeared at the corner of Lu Wenzheng's lips, "It turns out to be Mr. Li. Mr. Li is a noble man and has something important to do. Please make it clear."
Li Zhishan laughed dryly and said: "Master Lu is really quick to talk. In this case, Li will speak frankly. Li is here because of the prince's case."
"Oh? Have you found out anything about the prince's case? Who is the real culprit?"
Li Zhishan's gloomy pupils were like a dark pool, terrifyingly cold, "Lu Wenzheng, are you still arguing to death now? Since the outcome of things is destined to be the same, do you think there is any point in continuing to resist stubbornly? Lu Wen Zheng, now that the matter has come to an end, you should just take it, so as not to suffer unnecessary physical pain."
Lu Wenzheng said: "Master Li, what exactly did you ask me to recruit? I, Lu Wenzheng, am serving as an official to celebrate the New Year. I am loyal to the emperor and the court, and I have no grievances against the prince. Why would I risk the disapproval of the world to harm him?" I, Lu Wenzheng, have a loyal heart, and I can learn from heaven and earth..."
Li Zhishan said impatiently: "Lu Wenzheng, put away the rhetoric you have repeated so many times, my ears are almost calloused. I ask you again: Do you want to commit the murder of the prince?"
Lu Wenzheng said: "You said that I plotted to kill the prince, please provide tangible evidence."
Li Zhishan said coldly: "Even if there is no evidence, we can still punish you."
Lu Wenzheng was stunned for a moment, "What do you mean by this?"
"Lu Wenzheng, you are still clinging to the old habits of your former Minister of Justice and dreaming of your request. Why don't you change the way you think about the problem?"
Li Zhishan had a sneer on his lips, with a dark and unclear meaning, and said grimly: "I can tell you clearly that you are destined to die now, and it doesn't matter whether you confess or not."
Lu Wenzheng sneered: "I understand your methods. Now I can also tell you clearly: life and death are no longer important to Lu. 'Jade can be broken but its whiteness cannot be destroyed; bamboo can be broken but its knots cannot be destroyed.' , Lu looks forward to death, as long as he keeps his innocence."
Li Zhishan's face was tense, blood and anger intertwined in his eyes, "Then just die guarding your so-called innocence!"
After he said these words in a low voice, he snorted lightly and walked away.
Sun Guoxiong followed Li Zhishan out.
Ling Yun looked at Lu Wenzheng silently, feeling cold all over his body, as if his heart had been decisively ripped out and thrown into the ice and snow, and his body trembled involuntarily.
He bit his lip hard, his eyes filled with grief, and lost his voice: "My lord——"
Lu Wenzheng didn't even raise his head and said indifferently: "Who are you?"
Just as Ling Yun was about to speak, he heard Sun Guoxiong calling him from outside. He couldn't help but sigh, cupped his hands to Lu Wenzheng, and turned away.
The night is deep and quiet, the wind whines and the flowers weep.
Ling Yun tossed and turned and couldn't sleep for a long time. The scenes during the day linger in front of my eyes like an electric shock, and I can't get rid of them.
From Li Zhishan's words, he strongly felt a strong murderous intention. He was thinking: "What do those words Li Zhishan mean? Are they going to attack Mr. Lu?..."
At this time, he heard the clear chirping of pigeons outside the window. He hurriedly put on his clothes and got out of bed, opened the window, and the homing pigeon glided in.
He took off the white silk from the pigeon's leg, opened the book and looked at it, but saw the letter: "Ding Jinzhi colluded with Tian Xiao, intending to murder Mr. Lu. Whatever your wishes, please reply immediately! Today."
There was no signature below, but he could tell at a glance that it was Yang Zhen's handwriting.
Yang Zhen's letter and Li Zhishan's meeting with Mr. Lu during the day flashed in his mind. Combining the two together, he finally determined his conclusion: they were going to attack Mr. Lu - Mr. Lu was in danger of his life recently!
His heart clenched. Things suddenly changed, disrupting his planned plan and catching him off guard.
By now, he had no choice but to act immediately.
Otherwise, if something happens to Mr. Lu, it will be too late to regret it. As for the consequences, he has no time to think about it anymore...
