Not far to the north of Huaexianghui Building, there is another tall building named "Qinzhengwu Main Building".
When the night was deep and the lights were brightest, Li Longji walked into the main building of the Qin Government Affairs.
One moment there was a feast, and the next moment it was desolate and quiet.
It seemed that in his life, he was a young man wearing bright clothes and angry horses, and he was a handsome middle-aged man, but when he turned around, he was already in his twilight years with gray hair. The changes were too fast.
"Sage, brought it."
Li Longji looked with a forlorn expression and saw a beautiful little maid being brought up and kneeling in front of the imperial couch.
He liked the youthful atmosphere on her body and said in a gentle tone: "You don't have to be afraid. I am the king of the Tang Dynasty. Tell me everything you know. What is your name?"
"Sage, please spare your life, slave Chuncao."
"Why did Yang Shenjin sell you?"
"My slave did something wrong. Alang wanted to kill me, but Mr. Shi said that he could sell me for ten cows..."
Li Longji asked: "Is Yang Shenjin very short of money?"
With these words, Gao Lishi took out an account book and placed it on the imperial table.
This is the account book stored in the Taifu treasury.
Father and son Yang Chongli and Yang Shenjin have been managing the Taifu's treasury for more than 30 years. In recent years, Li Longji has become increasingly short of money.
"Alang has never been short of money before, but since January he has suddenly been short of money." Chun Cao said, "I even had a big quarrel with my cousin over the land because of this."
"Get up and tell me, what did you see in Yang's house?"
Hearing the saint's kind voice, Chun Cao gradually became less nervous and started talking as if chatting, becoming more and more enthusiastic.
"Mr. Shi's magic is very powerful. The vegetation in the Yang family's ancestral graves oozed blood. Mr. Shi said that the ancestors of the Yang family were blaming Alang and asked Alang to perform rituals to comfort the ancestors. At that time, the celestial phenomena changed. The dark clouds dispersed, the grass and trees stopped bleeding the next day, and the snow stopped..."
Afterwards, Chen Xuanli, the general of Longwu Army, led Xue Hui and Guo Qianli into the palace.
"Sage Shangyuan Ankang!"
Guo Qianli saluted immediately this time. The strange thing was that he felt as if his words had made the saint unhappy again.
Xue Hui spoke simply, saying: "Sage, tonight because a domestic slave reported the death of a concubine of Yang Shenjin, the Jinwu Guards searched Yang's house and found five corpses, four of which were strong and broad, with calluses on their hands. There are also dozens of armors, as well as weapons such as swords and bows and crossbows."
"..."
Li Longji reacted calmly and passed the order: "Summon Xiao Yinzhi, the Minister of Punishment, Li Daosui, the Minister of Dali, Yang Shaoxuan, the Shaoqing, Wang Xuan, the Imperial Censor, and Lu Xuan, the Imperial Censor."
After a while, a group of ministers rushed to the Qinzheng Tower and fell down.
Li Longji did not listen to anyone's advice and made the most perfect arrangements on his own.
"The case is in charge of Xiao Qing and supervised by General Long Wu. Immediately take Yang Shenjin to Dali Temple for a secret trial without disturbing others; the imperial guards strengthen the defense of the palace overnight; send people to Luoyang to detain Yang Shenyu and Yang Shenming..."
"Here."
Li Longji was still concerned about where his money had gone, and added: "Zhang Xuan, the young minister of the Taifu, had a good relationship with Yang Shenjin, and he failed to report the loss. Investigate it."
"Here."
"Sage, please detain one more person." Lu Xuan said: "I thought what happened tonight was that Xue Bai and Yang Shenjin conspired to defraud the Prime Minister of the marriage. They changed their tune when they got wind of it. Xue Bai should be put on trial."
Xiao Yin said: "Since Xue Bai is indeed Xue Ling's son, I think that Yang Shenjin just wanted to seize Xue Bai's property after losing money to the Taifu."
"Xue Bai has a close relationship with this case. Not only does he often interact with Yang Shenjin, but he also went to Yang's house tonight. In addition, Xue Bai was also deeply involved in the case of the Longyou veteran who killed 38 people."
Lu Xuan said, gritted his teeth and said: "It's just that he was brought to Dali Temple for a trial. Could it be that Xiao Shangshu didn't dare to offend him because he was the face of Mrs. Guo Guo?"
"Presumptuous." Gao Lishi shouted softly.
It would be too rude to say "face to face" in front of the emperor.
As expected, Li Longji was in a worse mood, his face darkened, and he said: "Review."
"Here."
Lu Xuan knew that half of what his right minister had told him was done, so he took Xue Bai to Dali Temple only after Gao Lishi scolded him and offended Concubine Yang, so it was impossible for him to come out alive.
The ministers resigned.
Li Longji thought for a moment, then suddenly a light flashed in his eyes, and he said slowly: "Let the prince come to see me."
"I'm going to invite you now, what about the Yuan Banquet?"
"Wait."
A major case finally dampened Li Longji's original cheerful mood.
Once you no longer think about music, dance, and beauty, the entire Shangyuan Night will seem boring.
Although he was angry when someone plotted rebellion, he couldn't bring himself to do it. When he was young, he was able to ascend to the throne under the persecution of the Wu Zhou Dynasty. He had already reached the peak of his power skills. What kind of methods had he never seen before?
After a lifetime of doing this, I'm tired of it.
Lying down on the royal couch, he felt tired.
After all, I am in my sixties and feel dizzy, weak and groggy every time I stay up late.
But no matter what, you must stay up on the Lantern Festival every year, and you must stay up like you did when you were young in this life, otherwise the officials will talk about "the saint is old."
He will never allow anyone to dare to have this thought in their mind. He is an eternal sage who dares to compete with heaven and time and will never grow old!
Subtle snoring sounded, Li Longji closed his eyes and fell asleep.
…
The candles in the Qinzheng Tower were extinguished.
The calyx building was still lively and brightly lit.
~~
Li Tengkong walked to the corridor and looked outside the building. Mian'er and Jiaonu were waiting with a team of Jinwu guards.
Suddenly, she looked back again because an idea came to her mind.
"Suddenly I looked back, and there was that person, in the dim light... He recognized me. It turned out that he had recognized me a long time ago..."
She wiped her eyes, hesitated, then suddenly picked up her skirt and ran back.
After the banquet, there was still a chance to talk to him again.
Even if we can't become husband and wife, we still have to speak clearly and we can't just get separated without any reason.
I ran outside the hall and looked around. Xue Bai was not there. Many officials were sitting on their seats with their heads down and their eyes closed. There were some empty seats. It was time to change clothes.
She went downstairs by the stairs where the maids walked, and looked in the direction of the veranda where she was changing clothes. People were coming and going... Finally, her eyes lit up unconsciously, and she raised her colorful sleeves and waved to him.
"Miss Zong, we meet again."
After actually summoning Xue Bai in front of him, Li Tengkong was a little at a loss when he heard his greetings.
She lowered her head and walked towards the deserted corner of the corridor.
"Come with me, I have something to tell you."
Xue Bai felt a little funny when he saw that this little girl was innocent but serious but serious, as if she had something big going on, so he reluctantly followed her.
Li Tengkong turned around, almost bumping into Xue Bai's arms, and quickly took a few steps back.
"Well... I have a close friend who asked me to ask you, um..."
"It was put together haphazardly."
"What?"
Li Tengkong was stunned and realized that many people had asked him about the lyrics just now, so he answered so directly.
She knew that he wasn't just piecing it together, but carefully describing the scene when they met... Well, she wouldn't point it out for now.
"That's not what I'm asking. My friend wants to know, do you have any grudge against You Xiangfu?"
"Why do you say that?"
"She just wants to know... is it because of hatred that you propose marriage to the Right Prime Minister's Mansion?"
Xue Bai took a deep look at the girl in front of him, sighed slightly, and asked: "Is this friend of Miss Zong the daughter of the prime minister's house?"
Li Tengkong turned sideways and said "hmm".
"I live in this world. I have no hatred in my heart. I just want to settle down and show my ambition." Xue Bai said: "I wonder where she heard this? Can you allow me to explain?"
Li Tengkong hesitated for a moment, glanced up, and saw his magnanimous and calm eyes, and then responded: "I heard about it from Princess Xianyi."
"Please also ask Mrs. Zong to tell me that the grudge or not lies with the right prime minister, not Xue Bai."
After Xue Bai finished speaking, he turned around and took two steps, then turned around and said something.
"By the way, thank you."
"Then you owe me a favor?"
"yes."
Xue Bai's back walked away. Li Tengkong looked at it and couldn't help but be in a daze.
After meeting him, my worries were no longer as heavy as before, because he had no resentment at all, was calm and gentle, and made people see hope.
But if it is said that "the grudge or not depends on the right prime minister", I am the most narrow-minded person in the world.
When the girl thought of this, she couldn't help but become worried again.
~~
Xue Bai walked through the corridor and was alone for a moment in a deserted place.
He has realized more and more deeply that the ecology of the court in the late Xuanzong Dynasty was really bad.
In order to be able to enjoy his life, he deliberately used Li Linfu, who was jealous of talents and good at financial management, as his prime minister. He would kill anyone who threatened him at all.
The East Palace and the Right Prime Minister's Mansion, the only two factions in the court, all had murderous intentions towards him.
Why is it the only one?
Because under Li Longji's control, there should not have been party strife. If possible, he would not even want to establish a prince. But no matter how unwilling it is, the country cannot be without a prince after all, so someone must check and balance the prince.
The fight between the two factions became more and more fierce. Li Linfu became notorious, while Li Heng was submissive and could no longer threaten Li Longji.
But if they are offended, there is no other faction that can compete with them to come forward to protect them. Those with low status will die at any time like ants, while those with high status will live and die entirely depending on Li Longji's likes and dislikes.
Li Longji spares no effort once or twice, this is his mood; Yang Yuhuan and Gao Lishi are willing to take action once or twice, this is their favor. Moods change at will, and favors are used up once they are used.
If there were no closely connected interests and no common demands from the court, how could it be possible to help fight against the East Palace and the Right Prime Minister's Mansion for many years?
There must be a third faction, looking for some people who are truly willing to contribute to national affairs.
It's a pity that most of these people are close to the East Palace...
Tapping his fingers lightly on the railing, the ideas in Xue Bai's mind gradually became clear.
He turned around and prepared to find Yang Hao.
After all, the future interests of the Yang family must be discussed with the real head of the Yang family.
Before reaching the stairs, I saw Li Jingzhong looking around for someone from a distance. After seeing him, I hurriedly ran over here.
It seems that Dong Palace has agreed to kill Pei Mian.
Xue Bai wants more than just stopping. He has used this to test out Dong Gong's fear of being exposed, and can use this to break his intention of using Xue Ling to control him.
I was about to go over to see Li Jingzhong.
Suddenly, another person arrived in front of Xue Bai first.
"Mr. Xue is here. It's easy for me to find you."
Xue Bai recognized this person. When he went to Dali Temple to be questioned by Yang Shenjin, this person was present. He was Lu Xuan, the imperial censor, and a subordinate of the Youxiang Mansion.
"Lu Yuan Ankang, Yuan Ankang."
"Sure enough, Yang Shenjin's case was discovered. Fortunately, Xue Langjun was too quick to recognize him as his father." Lu Xuan looked very cordial and whispered: "I heard that you led the Jinwu Guards to hunt him down tonight?"
"Yes, those thugs were so disgusting that they shocked the Seventeenth Mother."
"Xue Langjun has made another great contribution."
"Don't dare to take credit."
Lu Xuan became more and more cordial and said: "It must be that in the sixth year of this Tianbao, Xue Langjun will get married and be awarded an official, which is a double happiness. I also ask Xue Langjun to help with the case. Let's go to Dali Temple together."
Of course, he could directly order someone to take Xue Bai into custody. Since the saint agreed to let him interrogate, it would be useless even if Xue Bai alerted the Yang sisters, but in this case, it would offend him, so it would be better to evade him with a few words.
Quan Dang coaxes the child, his son is six years older than Xue Bai.
really.
"Thank you so much, Censor Lu. I will do my best to make meritorious service." Even though Xue Baidang agreed to go to Dali Temple, he said, "Censor Lu, please wait a moment. I will go and accuse him before I can leave.
Xue Bai had just taken two steps, but Lu Xuan didn't want him to go to Concubine Yang, so he immediately gave him a look and had him escorted away.
The two Longwu soldiers just moved, but Xue Bai ran away suddenly.
"Hold him!"
Li Jingzhong stood at the corner of the corridor, watching Xue Bai and Lu Xuan talking furtively, thinking that Yang Shenjin had been taken away just now. Unfortunately, Xue Bai did not fall into the trap and temporarily changed his identity to Xue Ling. This person was indeed It's a bit alert.
The next moment, Xue Bai suddenly ran in front of him, picked up his collar, and pressed him against the railing.
"Ah! What are you doing?"
Li Jingzhong was shocked, thinking that Xue Bai was going to kill him.
But I heard a cold word in my ears.
"You are only one step away, right? But after the East Palace is over, I have to go to Dali Temple to explain everything. Yang Shenjin was framed by you. In addition to the two witnesses, you might as well guess how much evidence I have. You can come and silence me. But let’s see whose hands I fall into…”
"you!"
Before Li Jingzhong could react, two more Long Wujun rushed towards him, pulling him away without any explanation and holding Xue Bai firmly.
"Take it away, don't disturb the imperial banquet." Lu Xuan waved his hand.
Li Jingzhong took two steps back and felt his arm being pulled painfully.
He couldn't help but be shocked as he watched Xue Bai being taken away by the Longwu Army, led by people from the Youxiang Mansion.
Xue Bai stopped talking and just stared at Li Jingzhong.
The look in his eyes was full of ferocity and ferocity, and they all meant the same thing - I want Li Heng to be buried with him!
Li Jingzhong was frightened when he saw it.
He kept thinking in his mind: "You have to silence your mouth, you have to find a way to silence your mouth..."
~~
"His Royal Highness is here. I'm tired of finding you."
Upstairs in the calyx, Li Heng turned around and saw Gao Lishi coming over. He quickly called out: "Ah Weng."
Gao Lishi was an old servant of Qiandi. He also helped the saint quell the palace chaos. He was extremely senior and deeply trusted. Even the saint used to call him "general", so the princes and princesses often called him "Aweng".
"The saint summoned His Highness to inquire."
Li Heng felt vaguely uneasy and asked cautiously: "But what is it for?"
"I don't know, old slave."
Li Heng became increasingly wary, thinking about how to ask the other party for a few words of advice.
He grew up in the Ten Kings' House, and was actually not very familiar with Gao Lishi. He used to give gifts to him, but he would not accept them.
But he knew that Gao Lishi had helped him more than once.
In the twenty-sixth year of Kaiyuan, one year after Li Ying's death, Li Linfu strongly advocated the establishment of Li Xuan as the crown prince. It was Gao Lishi who established Li Heng's crown prince position with the sentence "If you push for a long time, who dares to fight again!"
In the fifth year of Tianbao, the Wei Jian and Huangfu Weiming cases broke out, and the East Palace was on the verge of collapse. Gao Lishi secretly persuaded the saint to transfer the military power of Hexi and Longyou to Wang Zhongsi, so that famous generals would still be stationed on the border, and the voices of the imperial court to abolish the prince were silenced.
And this time, the Longyou veteran fell into the hands of Li Linfu. When Li Heng was frightened, it was Gao Lishi who once again reminded the saint that Wang Zhongsi was about to make great achievements in the Western Frontier. Is it a coincidence that someone in the court was checking the Longyou veteran?
So tonight, Xue Bai was arranged to recognize Xue Ling and a possible storm was resolved...
Li Heng knew very well why Gao Lishi did this. It was not for Li Heng alone, but for a stable East Palace and a stable Tang Dynasty.
Therefore, he also knew how to gain the sympathy of the chamberlain.
"Aweng, is it about the Longyou veterans?"
"It should be about Yang Shenjin."
What Li Heng wanted to know was why Yang Shenjin was summoned when it was clear that he had conspired against the saint.
There was deep worry in his eyes, and he said: "Aweng, let me tell you the truth. I did help Longyou veterans, but it was not because I wanted them to help me gain momentum, but because they had fought bloody battles for the Tang Dynasty. But what's the result? Li Linfu and Wang Zhi acted like this, and the old soldiers shed blood and shed tears. If the rent is not stopped, the Tang Dynasty will be in chaos sooner or later! If possible, I am willing to give up my position as the prince and die to remonstrate with my father!"
"The saint does not need the prince to die and remonstrate." Gao Lishi said lightly, "The saint only needs the prince to live in peace."
"Does even Aweng think I'm insecure?"
At this moment, Li Jingzhong hurriedly ran over and exclaimed: "Your Highness!"
"What's the matter?"
Only then did Li Jingzhong see Gao Lishi's back clearly, he quickly stopped talking and stood aside.
Gao Lishi ignored the matter between the master and the servant, raised his hand and said: "Your Highness, please."
Li Heng walked a few steps and glanced over. He could clearly see the sweat on Li Jingzhong's forehead and the panic in his eyes.
He thought about it and stopped.
"There is nothing to hide, Aweng. Tell me, what happened?"
"Your Highness? General, this matter..." Li Jingzhong became increasingly nervous and said, "Xue Bai was detained by Lu Xuan. He said... that he wanted to report on Your Highness."
Gao Lishi also stopped and looked at Li Heng.
When Li Heng saw him, he suddenly felt cold all over. He understood that the sage suspected him of framing Yang Shenjin. Although there was no evidence yet, as long as Longyou was involved, the sage would always be the first to suspect him. It was like this every time. , generally unreasonable.
As long as that foolish prince does not take back the military power of Longyou, he will never trust the upright prince of the Tang Dynasty!
Gao Lishi's meaning was obvious - if His Highness did not clean up, he would have to wait for the saint to wake up when he arrived in front of the saint, but there would be no chance to clean up.
But how to deal with it, and who can be sent to silence them temporarily? What do the saints and general Gao think?
Li Heng swallowed twice and said reluctantly: "Aweng, can you...save Xue Bai again?"
"Your Highness, can't we let him arrive at Dali Temple?"
"yes."
"Does the old slave need to take action to silence him?"
Li Heng was stunned for a moment, unable to guess whether Gao Lishi meant to test him. Thinking of Concubine Yang's protection of Xue Bai, he did not dare to answer randomly and replied: "I have no such intention. I just ask Aweng to save him."
Finally, Gao Lishi sighed and said: "Then please give His Highness the favor of selling an old slave and be more comfortable in the future, okay?"
(End of chapter)
