After Li Shimin saw several people making noises clearly, he called Mi Wei, Zhang Yan, Huo Ge and others to come forward and listen to orders, hoping to calm down the commotion.
"There are a few instigators in the crowd, can you see clearly?"
Several people nodded in agreement.
"Very good! Today's matter is not suitable for mass suppression or killing. You only need to capture the leader to calm it down. Each of you will lead the imperial army and capture a few people quickly. Remember not to hurt the civilians and do not leave anything to the Yizhou princes. handle!"
Several people took the order and dispersed, targeting the person in the crowd who was instigating the people.
At this time, Jiang Wan, Wu Yi and other ministers from Jingzhou and Dongzhou also brought their own escorts to appease the crowd.
Only the princes of Yizhou watched with cold eyes, waiting for His Majesty to make a fool of himself outside the crowd.
As Jiang Wan and others comforted them, some people who were unaware and just joining in the fun gradually stopped crowding.
Mi Wei, Huo Ge and others also captured the instigators one by one.
When the riot had almost calmed down, among the crowd, Zhang Yan was leading several forbidden troops to confront several civilians.
Li Shimin looked from the low platform and saw Zhang Yan standing with a sword in an open space among the crowd not far from the platform.
The people on the opposite side all held swords in their hands.
Zhang Yan wiped off the blood dripping on the sword hilt with her left hand and said angrily:
"You guys who are spreading rumors and provoking riots, why don't you hurry up and arrest them? Are you holding a sword and confronting this girl here, don't you want to die?"
Zhang Yan originally thought that the people making noise were all unarmed people, but she didn't expect that when she met this group of people, they turned out to be people with strong skills and concealed weapons. That's why she accidentally hit a road and was cut open on her right arm.
Li Shimin couldn't hear clearly what Zhang Yan said, but judging from Zhang Yan's movements, he should have met his opponent.
"Mi Wei, hand over the people you captured to Huo Ge, and then lead a few forbidden troops to support Zhang Yan."
Li Shimin was afraid that Zhang Yan would make a mistake, so he quickly asked Mi Wei to support him.
At this time, the public riots had basically stopped, and everyone's eyes were almost focused on Zhang Yan. Everyone wanted to see how His Majesty treated the people of Shu.
Just as everyone was holding their breath, Zhang Yan took action.
Zhang Yan was seen waving the sword in her hand, only to greet the opponent's weapon, intending to knock the opponent's weapon away with brute force.
But the people who were confronting Zhang Yan couldn't care less about that. One person was fighting Zhang Yan head-on, one was attacking the blockade of the forbidden army behind him, and the last one was wandering around Zhang Yan, waiting for an opportunity to attack.
Zhang Yan also felt that the three people in front of her were not ordinary people. If she fought with all her strength, she might be able to kill them. But now His Majesty has clearly ordered not to harm lives, which makes Zhang Yan have to be timid and reluctantly fight to a draw with the three of them.
Seeing that the three of them were about to suppress themselves, they broke through the blockade and fled.
Zhang Yan was anxious, and because her strength was not far greater than the combined strength of the three of them, she gradually lost control of her strength.
While they were fighting, they suddenly heard a cry of "Ah!" and one of them was accidentally stabbed in the center by Zhang Yan. He screamed and fell into a pool of blood.
Seeing their companion fall to the ground, the other two were frightened and had no intention of fighting anymore.
So the two of them ran into the crowd. Zhang Yan raised her sword and chased after him, but they happened to push a civilian over to block the way.
Zhang Yan didn't have time to see who was in front of her, so she subconsciously stabbed out with her sword.
The civilian had no kung fu and was afraid of swords. He froze on the spot for a moment and took a solid blow from Zhang Yan.
Only then did Zhang Yan realize that the person in front of her was not an enemy. She felt frightened and hurriedly went to check on the civilian's injuries.
Seeing that the man was silent, Zhang Yan felt annoyed and stood there at a loss.
At this time, Mi Wei arrived, and while sending people to chase the other two people, he led people to transport the two corpses to the high platform where His Majesty was.
The onlookers complained when they saw that the officers and soldiers not only killed those who resisted with weapons, but also innocent civilians.
The princes of Yizhou saw the whole thing in their eyes and couldn't help but feel proud that Zhang Yan was not only His Majesty's personal guard, but also a descendant of a senator, and the sister of the current queen.
What a person of this status does will definitely represent His Majesty's wishes.
Regardless of the people who were holding swords in the previous confrontation, just the fact that Zhang Yan accidentally killed civilians may make it difficult for His Majesty to end it.
When everyone returned to Li Shimin, Li Shimin felt angry and distressed when he saw two corpses on the ground and Zhang Yan's right arm bleeding.
At this time, He Zong came to Aitai. He Zongxian smiled all over his face and pretended to have accidentally seen two corpses. He Zong put away his smile and said with doubts on his face:
"Your Majesty, I thought that the misunderstanding had been resolved, and I was about to ask your Majesty to lead the ministers back to the palace. Unexpectedly, there were two corpses under the low platform...
This... How does Your Majesty want to deal with this matter before the people of Chengdu and the officials in the DPRK? "
Li Shimin has not fully understood what happened, and it is inconvenient to respond to the matter immediately at this time.
After thinking for a while, Li Shimin innocently said:
"He Qing's family, don't tell me how to deal with it. I don't know the origin of these two corpses, how can I make a conclusion? At least let me understand the cause of the matter first before dealing with it?"
At this time, Jiang Wan and other court officials from Jingzhou and Dongzhou also rushed over.
Seeing two corpses, everyone was surprised. No one expected that His Majesty would allow the guards to kill civilians.
When Jiang Wan saw He Zongzheng standing with a bow, he thought that the Yizhou nobles might have taken advantage of the topic first.
So he quickly bowed his head and said:
"Your Majesty, there are a lot of people talking here, and there has been a public commotion. I am worried that there are still bad people hiding here, why don't you return to the palace first, and other matters can be discussed in court tomorrow morning?"
When He Zong heard that Jiang Wan wanted to rescue His Majesty, he quickly interrupted Jiang Wan and said:
"Your Majesty, I have reminded your Majesty before that the rumors are getting worse and worse. Your Majesty did not take my suggestion and deal with it quickly, which led to today's riot.
Since what happened here, why don't Your Majesty put an end to the rumors in public? "
Li Shimin felt disgusted when he saw He Zong pressing forward step by step, but now civilians died at the hands of the imperial court.
Li Shimin couldn't just prevaricate, so he had no choice but to take a step back and ask the princes of Yizhou how they wanted to deal with it, and then he would try again.
"Since the He Qing family is so concerned about this matter, how should I handle this matter according to the He Qing family's wishes?"
He Zongzheng was about to answer, but Zhang Yan got angry and pointed at He Zong's nose and said:
"I killed the man, so what does it have to do with Your Majesty? You, the civil servants of Yizhou, did not take action during the riot, but you came out to point fingers at Your Majesty after the riot. Do you think you have a long life?"
Zhang Yan was already angry because she failed to complete the things His Majesty told her. Now she saw that the Yizhou princes were unreasonable and intimidating His Majesty step by step. She couldn't help but curse.
He Zong was also afraid that Zhang Yan would get angry and chop himself off, so he quickly took a few steps back and stood behind the two forbidden soldiers.
"We will only discuss the truth. Don't be impulsive and cause trouble for Your Majesty!"
Zhang Yan was furious and was about to draw her sword and move forward, but was stopped by Li Shimin.
"Don't be impatient, little sister. I have made my own decision on this matter. In any case, let the gentlemen of Yizhou finish their words first."
Then he looked at He Zong and said coldly:
"If you have any ideas, why don't you tell me directly? I want to listen. What advice would you give me?"
Seeing His Majesty stop Zhang Yan, He Zong calmed down for a moment, thought for a moment, then nodded and replied:
"Your Majesty, since Miss Zhang Er has personally admitted that she killed two people in a row, I think we should deal with Miss Zhang first and give an explanation to the people of Chengdu, so as to clear the grievances of the people, and then investigate the rumors."
After Li Shimin heard this, he couldn't help being furious. These Yizhou nobles were just fighting with me in the court hall all day long. You actually want to force me to deal with Zhang Yan today?
At this time, the people near the platform probably understood what happened. They were all panicked when they heard that the people around His Majesty had killed two people in a row.
"I only heard it as a rumor, but I didn't expect that His Majesty is really a tyrannical king. He actually sent people around him to kill civilians in order to calm down the riots!"
"In the past, the late emperor and the prime minister were kind to the people of Shu. I don't think your majesty is a murderous person. Maybe there is some misunderstanding?"
"This world belongs to His Majesty. You and I are both fish and meat. It is not easy to survive. Do you still have the leisure to talk about Your Majesty here? I think we should break up here and go about your business!"
Li Shimin heard what the people nearby said and felt that there was still room for maneuver in this matter.
After all, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang had laid a relatively solid foundation, and the people of Shu were grateful to the late emperor for his kindness.
It seems that the people are not pressing for the court to give an immediate explanation on this matter. It seems that this rumor cannot easily change people's opinions.
Thinking of this, Li Shimin had a countermeasure in mind, so he first said loudly:
"Dear citizens of Chengdu, I have determined to inherit the legacy of the late emperor and be a benevolent king. The most urgent task is to find the relatives of the deceased first. No matter who is right or wrong, I will provide for the family of the deceased to express my apology.
What happened today was that first there were gangsters pretending to be members of the courtiers' tribe and they blocked the Holy Spirit's journey, and then there were criminals who instigated the people in an attempt to provoke a civil uprising and threaten the court.
There must be evil people behind this matter, and I want to take the person who instigated the people and take them back to the palace for interrogation.
In a short time, we will be able to find out the right and wrong, find out the culprit behind the scenes, clear the court's name, and give everyone an explanation. "
Speaking of this, Li Shimin stopped Zhang Yan behind him and continued:
"My bodyguard's duty is to hold my arms and protect me.
Today, I also ordered that no civilians be harmed, but the evildoers were too cunning and vicious to confront my guards with swords. What's more, they tried to use civilians as shields to cover their escape, causing my guards to accidentally injure civilians.
I believe that this responsibility should not be entirely attributed to the guards, and I will also provide compensation. I don’t know what you think of the matter of the manslaughter of the guard being dismissed here? "
