"We are not here to fight, but we found out that the assassin is related to the Li family. Come on, bring the witnesses." Following Yuan Renhui's order, only a few Yuan family guards saw a person who looked like The middle-aged boatman pushed up.
"This person was the boss of the ship that saw the assassins. His passenger ship was also placed near Xinzhong Bridge. He happened to see the assassins boarding the two fishing boats from Luoshui. He was afraid of getting into trouble, so he swam down the river and went to Ci He hid in the Caohe River between Huifang and Xunshanfang and entered Nanshi." Yuan Renhui pointed to the middle-aged boatman and said coldly to Chai Shao and Li Xiaoji: "During the boat, he saw the assassin taking advantage of the cover of night. , changed to a passenger ship, which is why the city patrol army caught up with the empty ship, and this passenger ship also came to Nanshi, and was picked up at the pier in front of Hanhai Restaurant, and the man named Li was picked up. "
At this point, Yuan Renhui turned to the boatman and asked, "Am I right?"
"Yes, yes." The middle-aged boatman said tremblingly: "When they landed at the dock, there were many cargo ships unloading, and the dock was ablaze, so not only the villain saw it, but my crew also saw it."
Won In-hye pointed at Lee Hyo-ki and asked, "Is he the one who responded?"
The middle-aged boatman glanced at Li Xiaoji and shook his head timidly: "It's not him, it's a man in his thirties. The man was tall. When he looked at the firelight, the villain saw that he had a beard. But he looks a bit like him."
Chai Shao was shocked. Wasn't the person the boatman was talking about Li Xiaoji's cousin Li Shenfu? It seems that Li Shenfu just came to Luoyang from Guanzhong to escort a batch of goods, and he also took the waterway. Could it be that the Li family really assassinated Yuanshou and his son?
"Since it's not you, then let's go look for someone else! Let's go." Yuan Renhui glanced at Li Xiaoji, turned around and left, but there was an imperceptible smile on the corner of his mouth. He saw that Li Xiaoji clenched his fists. , there was already murderous intent in his eyes.
Li Xiaoji's eyes flashed with murderous intent. During this period, the Li family transported three or four goods from Guanzhong. Such frequent transportation was completely different from the previous shipping rate. The person in charge was Li Shenfu. He also asked about Who is Li Shentong in charge of the capital? Li Shentong only said that he belonged to the Li Dou family and just let him do his duty. He was not allowed to ask any more questions.
The Li family is now headed by the Li Dou family, and Li Xiaoji also knows that the Li Dou family has always been thinking about revenge, and there are abnormalities in the family, so after the assassination happened yesterday, he also suspected that the Li Dou family sent Li Shenfu to do it. .
At this time, after listening to the boatman's words, Li Xiaoji, who was drunk and drunk, became even more convinced. In this case, naturally he cannot let the detailed description and observation of the ship be used as a witness. When he saw that the crew was at the end, he immediately became jealous and made a "kill" gesture to one of his followers. Then Ming casually pulled out his saber, pounced on the crew member, and stabbed him to death from behind.
Yuan Renhui came here just to trick Li Xiaoji on the orders of his father Yuanwei. However, he was not as decisive as Li Xiaoji and dared to kill people in public. However, what he wanted was this kind of effect, so he immediately ordered the guards to go forward and arrest him. There was a sudden chaos in the room, and more than a dozen singers were so frightened that they hid in the corners.
Li Xiaoji also brought several followers. Since the witness was dead, he no longer had any scruples in his heart and ordered: "Hit me!"
Although his followers were skilled in martial arts, Yuan Renhui and Yuan Jie came well prepared and brought more people than Li Xiaoji, so they let the followers fight with the Li family's followers, staring at Li Xiaoji from the corner of their eyes. Filial piety.
"General, what should we do? Fight or not?" An officer from the East Palace asked immediately when he saw Chai Shao stopping the two officers.
"We must not fight!" When Li Xiaoji sent people to take action, Chai Shao already understood that this was a game, a game against Li Xiaoji. Now that Li Xiaoji sent people to kill the so-called witness, its nature is no longer Fights and accidental killings, but evidence of guilty conscience and intentional homicide.
And these officers are all sons of famous families. If they rashly get involved and "help the tiger", their families will be suspected of uniting with the Li family to assassinate Yuanshou and his son. If it is indeed the Li family, their family will also be blamed for them. His impulsiveness was implicated.
At this moment, there was the sound of "Dongdongdong" running upstairs, and dozens of Henan government officials rushed to the second floor. They quickly controlled the exit, and several officials also walked up quickly, headed by The person is Zhao Changwen, Sima of Henan Prefecture.
Zhao Changwen glanced at Yuan Renhui, his eyes fell on the boatman who was pooling in blood, and ordered: "I am Zhao Changwen, Sima of Henan Prefecture, please stop."
When the Yuan family's entourage who was holding down the Li family's entourage and beat him heard this, he immediately stopped.
"They actually caused a loss of life. Take them all away!" Zhao Changwen said, pointing to the singer huddled in the corner, and ordered: "Take them all away as well."
After giving the instructions, Zhao Changwen came to Chai Shao and said, "General Chai, he is dying. I hope the general will cooperate with the Henan government's investigation."
Chai Shao saw that Zhao Changwen and the Yuan family had joined forces, otherwise how could they have come so quickly? However, the matter has come to this, and he has no other choice. He sighed secretly in his heart and bowed his hand to Zhao Changwen: "I will obey Sima's orders."
As Chai Shaozhi expected, when they walked out of Hanhai Restaurant, they found that both buildings were surrounded by Henan government officials; in addition, groups of government officials entered them in an orderly manner, as if searching for something.
This scene also made Chai Shao glad for his previous choice. Judging from the current situation, Henan Mansion obviously believed that the assassin was in Hanhai Restaurant, and even had conclusive evidence, so it was so well prepared, but this also made He was confused about the behavior of the Yuan family. Could it be that the boatman was a real boatman and not a dead member of the Yuan family? Is everything he said true?
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Restaurants and brothels have always been places with a high incidence of fights; and the two parties fighting in restaurants and brothels in the capital are mainly children of famous families and officials who are fighting for their morals; the places where they hang out are high-end places with good backgrounds, usually After the fight and compensation for the boss's losses, that's it. As long as they don't cause any harm, keep the matter private, and the boss doesn't complain, then most of the government will not care. But today, not only did people lose their lives, but under the exaggeration and encouragement of thoughtful people, the incident quickly spread throughout Luoyang City as if it had grown wings.
The contents of various public opinions are similar, that is, Yuan Renhui and Yuan Jie found witnesses who saw the assassin's every move, but they were silenced by Li Xiaoji at the Hanhai Restaurant, the assassin's den. The resulting rumors were the history of the grievances between the Yuan family and the Li family. Soon someone talked about Li Shimin, the second son of Tang Gong who died in Guanzhong, and said that the Li family believed that Li Shimin's assassination was actually caused by Yuan Shou. As a result, the Li family responded yesterday with a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye, but the Li family found the wrong person.
Everything that happened in Hanhai Restaurant quickly reached the Duke of Tang's mansion. The Tang Guogong Mansion is located in the south corner of Huixunfang, covering an area of more than 100 acres. It was a gift from Emperor Yang Guang.
The crown prince Li Jiancheng was stunned for a moment when he learned what happened in his restaurant. He anxiously walked through a yard and came to a very remote room in the back house. He knocked on the door and said urgently: "Aniang, it's me, Jiancheng!"
"Come in!" Li Dou's voice came from the room.
Li Jiancheng pushed the door open and entered. The room was filled with the smell of incense and candles. He saw his mother, wearing linen clothes, kneeling on a futon in the middle of the room. On the altar table in front of her were Li Shimin's spiritual tablet, melons, fruits and miscellaneous animals.
Seeing this, Li Jiancheng shrank his eyes and felt horrified. In terms of age, Li Shimin was a child who died young. According to the rules of etiquette, sacrificial rituals, and clan rituals, he could neither enter the Li family's ancestral graves nor worship him at home. If someone wanted to worship him, , he can only burn incense outside the door and give his soul "cold water rice". However, at some point, his mother actually placed his memorial tablet at home.
What his mother did was not allowed in the Li family. Seeing the steam coming out and smelling the aroma of meat in the air, Li Jiancheng was frightened. He felt that his mother had been staying here this morning and was using a brand new mistress. All the letters of introduction were alluding to something.
Seeing him standing stupidly at the door, Mrs. Li Dou turned around displeased and said to Li Jiancheng calmly: "Since you are here, please give your brother some incense sticks!"
When Li Jiancheng saw these things in front of him, he was angry, anxious, and frightened. At the same time, he also believed that the death of Yuanshou and his son was caused by his mother, and even his father who was far away in Shuofang County did not know about this matter. I would agree, because my father had always opposed my mother's idea of assassinating the Yuan family before, and they even quarreled several times. When I thought about my mother's unexpected stay at home instead of taking office with my father, the answer was ready to come out.
He stayed at the door. After what his mother said, he came back to his senses and hurried forward. However, he did not burn incense. Instead, he stood in front of his mother with a pale face and said in a trembling voice: "Ah Mom, something big happened at Hanhai Restaurant!"
Li Dou was secretly surprised when she heard this. She quickly stood up and asked Li Jiancheng, "What big thing happened?"
Li Jiancheng took a deep breath, tried to calm down, and then told his mother in detail everything he heard and what happened at Hanhai Restaurant.
Li Dou was stunned immediately, her face became as pale as snow, and she said in a trembling voice: "I have arranged everything properly, how could things become like this? It shouldn't be!"
Hearing this sentence that was not an answer but an answer, Li Jiancheng felt like a thunder falling from the sky and hitting his forehead. His mind was pounding. He stood there for a moment, not knowing how to answer.
There was only one thought in my mind: Sure enough, it was the mother who did it behind the back of the father.
After a while, Li Jiancheng came to his senses. He looked at his mother angrily, feeling very sad and angry. He said in a questioning tone: "Auntie, Henan Prefecture has obviously obtained some conclusive evidence, so it sent a large number of soldiers, The government officials sealed off the Hanhai Restaurant. According to the people who reported back, the officers and soldiers have taken control of the entire restaurant and sent people to search them one by one. If there is anything shady in the cellar of the restaurant, it will definitely be thoroughly investigated. Do you think it should be done now? What should I do? What should my Li family do? How should we deal with the revenge of King Wei and the Yuan family?"
Li Jiancheng was completely in despair for his mother, who was extremely eccentric and carried away by her eccentricity: their brothers and sisters all knew that her mother was eccentric and favored Li Shimin, who she had brought up by herself. The status in his mind is probably not as good as that of Erlang in total.
But that's all. But after Erlang died, she actually used her power as the mistress of the Li family to do such stupid things behind everyone's back for the sake of the deceased people. If she were exposed one by one, the entire Li family would most likely be buried with her for her stupidity and selfishness.
Even if she puts the blame on a certain scapegoat and allows the Li family to pass this test relatively safely, the Yuan family will surely retaliate with thunderous force afterwards, and what's more terrible is that she also framed the powerful people Yang Ji.
The Li family couldn't afford to offend either of them, but now, they both came at once.
How will the Li family live in the future?
Hearing her son's question, Ms. Li Dou's mouth trembled and she couldn't say anything. With a "plop" sound, she knelt on the futon again.
The assassins she used were the dowry given to her by the Dou family, and they only obeyed her orders. Even Li Yuan could not order these people. This time, she used the Li family's fleet to transport them to Luoyang one after another. Even Li Shenfu, who is in charge of the Li family's caravan, doesn't know his true identity and what he did yesterday, so he is currently hiding in the cellar of Hanhai Restaurant.
If he was caught red-handed, he would be in big trouble.
She originally thought that she had done it quietly, flawlessly, and without any loopholes. In addition, Yang Ji or Yang Ji's known enemies were behind her afterwards, so the government would never find out about the unknown Li family. Therefore, she never thought about failure. As for the exposure and subsequent events, she never thought about how to resolve it.
Listening to what my son said at this time, I heard that the government found Hanhai Restaurant so quickly.
For a moment, Mrs. Li Dou was confused and despairing, and was speechless. But after all, she was a very decisive and charming woman, and she quickly regained her composure.
She stood up again and resolutely said to Li Jiancheng: "You don't have to worry too much. If something cannot be done, then sacrifice the magic talisman! And our Li family is also a big family with luxuriant branches and big trees. It is inevitable that there will be dead branches. If the government inquires one by one, they will use this to push back."
Li Jiancheng was dumbfounded and horrified. He looked at his mother in disbelief and said in a trembling voice: "Auntie, the magic talisman is my uncle. He is loyal to his father and is his indispensable help. How can he be handed over to the government? Moreover, Uncle Shentong is his elder brother. If Uncle Shentong takes the blame, what will Uncle Shentong think? The Li family will most likely be divided because of this."
"At this point, there is nothing we can do. It's too late to say anything. The top priority is to cut off the tail to survive. Only in this way can the entire Li family be preserved." After finishing speaking, Li Dou stood up and walked outside, saying as he walked : "Don't worry, I already know how to do this."
Li Jiancheng opened his mouth and was speechless.
At this moment, he had a strong thought that he could no longer have this mother and must let his father divorce his wife, otherwise, everyone would be killed by her.
He didn't catch up with his mother until she was far away. But instead of following Li Dou, he went to find his grandmother, Dugu.
