In the side hall of the Yuyang government office, Yuan Hongshan knelt down on a couch, taking a sip from the teacup on the table in front of him, his eyes gloomy. On his way to the government office, he had also heard that a large army was heading east. These were obviously soldiers going to fight in Liaodong and had nothing to do with him. However, an army that was separated from them was heading straight for Wu Ending City. Come.
The dirty things done by the Yuan family, the unknown purpose of the evil army, and the confessions that Zhuojun officials may have confessed all made Yuan Hongshan very nervous; but what made him most pressing was that he had to convince Gao Shi before the army arrived. Kai, Wang Shishi, and Wei Xianzong, let them die on their own.
At this moment, they saw Gao Shikai, Wang Shishi, and Wei Xianzong walking into the side hall with ugly faces, and their faces were all gloomy under their official hats. In fact, Gao Shikai originally planned to go to Yuan Mansion to meet Yi Yuan Wei to discuss countermeasures. When he heard that Yuan Hongshan was coming, he called Wang Shishi and Wei Xianzong over.
As soon as they met, Gao Shi said with a loud voice: "Master Yuan, King Wei is here with his troops."
"I know this!" Yuan Hongshan stood up. When he saw that one and two of them looked like they were about to face a disaster, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief and asked in a nonchalant manner: "Prefect Gao, Wang Changshi, Wei Sima, Now that things have happened, what are your plans?"
Gao Shikai was stunned for a moment, then he cupped his hands and said: "We are so confused and confused that we are planning to ask Duke Yuan for advice. Since you are here, I would like to ask you to give me some advice."
"At this point, my grandfather and I can't produce food; without food, any strategy is useless." Yuan Hongshan's eyes flashed with a cold light, and he said meaningfully: "My brother Hongli and Jin Wenyan, Although Yuan He, Yuan Hu and others fell into the hands of King Wei, according to our ears and eyes, in order to keep the secret and to let their father, wife and children escape from danger, they had already committed suicide one after another and carried everything."
Seeing the three people in front of him with ashen faces and expressions of disbelief, Yuan Hongshan knew that he had heard something different, and then said: "The style of work of our Yuan family is that merit must be rewarded heavily and demerit must be severely punished. Since they are my Yuan family Sacrifice, the Yuan family naturally allows their parents, wives and children to live the best life and allow their children to receive the best education. But if someone is greedy for life and fear death and becomes a traitor, although we cannot bear it, we have no choice but to eradicate it and set an example to others. .”
Gao Shikai, Wang Shishi, and Wei Xianzong were stunned on the spot. They all looked at Yuan Hongshan with disbelief. They were chess pieces, and they also had the consciousness of being abandoned and sacrificed by the chess players, but they never dreamed that this day would come so quickly. .
"Master Yuan!" Gao Shikai saw Wang Shishi and Wei Xianzong trembling and speechless, so he slowly turned his eyes to Yuan Hongshan and asked in a hoarse and trembling voice: "Is this what Duke Yuan meant?"
"Yang Ji is completely different from others. You all know that he celebrates the festival with our Yuan family Yuan sect; now, the whole state is fixing their eyes on the Yicang, and we cannot withstand the investigation. Once Yang Ji is found out, No matter what, everyone will be doomed." Yuan Hongshan sighed secretly and said very bitterly: "Prefect Gao, Wang Changshi, Wei Sima, you are all smart people, you should know that as long as you become a player in the game, We can no longer decide our own lives; we have to make some sacrifices for the overall benefit. At the critical moment, let alone you, even the head of the family, Yuan Taifu, and the ancestors of the family will not hesitate to die. "
"If it's a different place, Yang Ji is no exception."
Having said this, Yuan Hongshan bowed to the ground and walked away.
In the Sui Dynasty, major political forces and various aristocratic families supported officials and generals one after another. However, there were constant overt and covert fights among them, and the number of positions became smaller as one reached higher positions. Therefore, after the limited high-level positions were allocated to various aristocratic families, the Yuan family The positions of governor, chief historian, and commander were only a handful in the world.
These three people, Yuan Hongli, Jin Wenyan and others were pushed by the Yuan family to these positions with great difficulty. Once they are taken down, it means that the Yuan family and Yuan faction will lose many good seats and many fewer people. Competition for central positions. So as long as there is some way, the Yuan family is unwilling and reluctant to sacrifice them.
However, at this time, Yang Ji was coming fiercely and the empty warehouse could not withstand the investigation. In order to take care of the overall situation and let more people survive, the Yuan family had no choice but to cut off their tails to survive and abandon their cars to save their commanders.
There is no other way.
When Gao Shikai, Wang Shishi and Wei Xianzong saw Yuan Hongshan walking away without hesitation, they felt completely desperate.
Yuan Hongshan's words were correct, and they all understood the truth, but his indifferent tone and "you must die", otherwise he would mess with your family, were like poisonous thorns stabbing them. in their hearts, but no matter how unwilling they were and how much they didn't want to die, there was nothing they could do.
"Prefect! What should we do?" Suddenly, Wang Shishi looked at Gao Shikai with blazing eyes, and said viciously: "I am not willing to accept it. I am not willing to be killed at the neck."
"I'm not willing to do it, but if we don't take the initiative to die, we will still die in the end, and in addition, we will also take the lives of our children." Gao Shikai smiled miserably and murmured: "As for resistance? Haha, don't dream."
The Yuan family was originally a behemoth, and it was also a powerful political force that commanded countless clans. Even if the head of the Gao family in Bohai and the Wang family in Taiyuan met the head of the Yuan family, they would have to bow respectfully and stand obediently, pretending to be filial sons and grandsons. He and Wang Shishi are not even affiliated branches of the Gao family and the Wang family. How can the Gao and Wang families stand up for them? Besides, they are guilty of a serious crime now, who dares to stand up for them? Who wants to stand up for it?
But the most important thing is that Yang Ji is coming. Even if someone rescues him, the distant water cannot save the nearby fire.
"Prefect, are we really hopeless?" Sima Wei Xianzong was just a poor scholar with no foundation, so Yuan Hongshan had focused on persuading Gao Shikai and Wang Shishi, not him.
Gao Shikai nodded indifferently and said: "There is no cure!"
Wei Xianzong's body trembled, his lips moved twice, and suddenly he roared crazily: "I don't want to die, and I don't want my children to become slaves of the Yuan family again when they grow up."
"Then what can you do? If you dare to resist, your children will not even be qualified to be slaves." Gao Shikai said: "Because they will be buried with you for your 'greed for life and fear of death'. This is what Yuan Hongshan said before."
Wei Xianzong's face turned pale, he staggered back a few steps, his waist suddenly hunched over, and he could only look at Wang Shishi for help.
Wang Shishi was also unable to protect himself, his mind went blank, and he simply remained silent.
"It's not hopeless. I think you can still try to save it!" Just when the three of them were so desperate that they almost suffocated, a voice came into their ears.
This sentence was like a drop of cold water dropped into a boiling oil pan. The calm scene suddenly became turbulent. The three of them looked at the sound and saw Liu Demin, the legal director, walking out from behind the screen.
"You..." The expressions of the three of them turned pale. Gao Shikai touched his waist as usual, but found that he came in a hurry and the three of them didn't even bring their swords. He asked nervously: "Liu Facao, how are you doing? What did you hear?"
"Not only have I heard everything! I also know very well the illegal things you have done, but you don't need to be nervous, I have no ill intentions." Liu Demin glanced at the three of them, and then said: "Actually, it doesn't matter whether you die or not. It's important, and at the same time, you can't hide anything! Why do you say that? Because your confidants are not as courageous and loyal as you. They are all greedy for life and afraid of death. Now they are writing confessions in the back hall and confessing what you have done over the years. Everything you do.”
Hearing these words, the three of them were stunned: "..."
Liu Demin smiled and said rather disdainfully: "As the mastermind and the main criminal, you don't want to die, and if they are not guilty of death, how can they follow you on a road of no return? I think you should be able to understand them! "
This is really heartbreaking!
However, the three of them could no longer care about this. Gao Shikai took a deep breath and asked coldly: "Who are you? No, who do you belong to?"
"Is there any need to ask?" The pale face of Wang Shishi next to him showed a look of surprise, and he said to Liu Demin quite excitedly: "You are from King Wei, right?"
"I am a member of the imperial court. Anyone who is loyal to the imperial court will do things for them." Liu Demin would not be stupid enough to admit that he was a member of Yang Ji. Otherwise, it would be of no benefit to Yang Ji and the entire Wei Wang family, so he abducted him. Made a turn.
Then, he added: "I don't need to say more about your situation. If you must kill yourself to apologize, I won't stop you. But once you die, then you will be the main criminals of corruption, bribery, and collusion with the enemy. You have to carry everything. As for your little ones... Hey, once the imperial court intervenes, the Yuan family will still hand them over, do you believe it or not?"
As people in the game, the three of them were already confused and confused, so how could they consider so much? At this moment, Liu Demin reminded him, and he suddenly started to sweat: they were involved in the whole process, and they knew very well the extensive involvement and consequences of this case; once the imperial court took over this case, not only would they not be able to die well, but their family would also suffer. If they can't live, the Yuan family doesn't know what to do, so how can they protect the traitor's young family?
What is even more worrying is that if the war ahead goes unfavorably, they, the main criminals responsible for the crime of treason, will be the culprits, and everyone related to them will die.
Death is certainly a terrible thing, but there are too many things that are more terrible than death, such as killing a family, cutting off incense...
After combing through this, Gao Shikai, Wang Shishi, and Wei Xianzong calmed down. Gao Shikai raised his eyes and looked at Liu Demin, and said in a deep voice: "Liu Facao, although you don't admit it, we all know that you are a member of King Wei... You just Tell me, what does King Wei want us to do?"
Seeing the firm eyes of the three people, Liu Demin knew that they were ready. He said to the three of them word by word: "Kill the traitors, kill the real traitors!"
"Liu Facao, are you referring to the Yuan family?" Wang Shishi's eyes showed a hint of crazy excitement.
"It's the Yuan family!" Liu Demin nodded and said: "It is certainly your fault that you have fallen to this point, but the Yuan family is undoubtedly the main driving force. They pushed you step by step into the abyss. Now a disaster is approaching. , but they betrayed and deceived you, what are they if they are not your enemies? I give you this opportunity, firstly, for the country, and secondly, to give you a chance for revenge."
"Stop talking about these useless things!" Gao Shikai waved his hand and said slowly: "We just want to know, what will you get if we do this?"
"Make merit a crime!" Liu Demin said: "From now on, the family will go to Liangzhou to hide their names and live a prosperous life."
"Since you have witnesses, physical evidence, and pockets, why are you going to such trouble?" Wei Xianzong couldn't help but ask.
"Neither the government nor the officers and soldiers can do such things as eradicating evil and eradicating its roots. But you criminals can..." Liu Demin sneered and said in a faint tone: "You know in your heart that the matter has been exposed. When you see the army approaching the city, you are all anxious. You can do meritorious deeds and make meritorious deeds, so you and the soldiers under your command can do anything..."
Gao Shikai was silent for a long time and said to the two fellow victims: "I think it's very reasonable. What do you think?"
"Prefect, we have no choice!" Wang Shishi waved his hand viciously and said to Gao Shikai: "Since they were unkind in the front, don't blame us for being unjust in the back. I did it!"
Wei Xianzong nodded heavily and said, "That's what I meant too. I did it too."
"Then do it!" After a moment of silence, Gao Shikai said to Liu Demin: "Liu Facao, I have another request? I hope you can agree."
Liu Demin frowned, but he still said generously: "If you have any requests, Governor Gao, just say so."
"You also know what the traitors in the back hall have done. For such people, not only your master hates them, but the three of us also hate them very much now. However, it is a pity that their crimes are not punishable by death, and the government cannot sentence them. Death penalty." Gao Shikai paused and said decisively: "If possible, let them join us to 'make meritorious services'! We will definitely deal with these bastards. In this way, we and your master will be relieved of the bad breath in their chests. Everything goes smoothly, and at the same time, it also brings out a bad breath for the people of Yuyang, what do you think?"
Liu Demin thought for a while, nodded and said: "Okay, you just take it with you." Looking at Gao Shikai, Liu Demin shook his head with regret: "You used to be a good and honest official loved by the people; if you had known what would happen today, , why bother in the first place?”
Gao Shikai smiled bitterly and said: "When we are officials here, we are not only tempted and bewitched by all aspects, but also our wealth and life cannot be guaranteed. Over time, it has changed! Once you fall in, you can never look back."
"Okay!" Liu Demin said: "You only have one and a half hours, get ready to act!"
"One and a half hours is enough!" Wang Shishi smiled ferociously.
