Huang Fu felt restless, tossing and turning but couldn't sleep. This radical approach not only failed to have the desired effect, but might actually make him angry.
Once the matter is exposed, this fire will destroy him.
Damn it, the prince's sudden return to Beijing disrupted the whole plan, and Li Qing's fellow also came back. What to do now... Huang Fu's thoughts were flying, and he was filled with anxiety.
He couldn't sleep anyway, so he comforted himself, "Li Shimian is dead, and the emperor's anger should have gone away. This was done secretly, and few people knew about it. Besides, I was not the only one involved. The sky is falling for everyone." Let’s finish playing together…”
While he was muttering to himself, he saw a figure outside the window from the corner of his eye. He sat up in shock, turned around and said, "Who?"
The moonlight was bright outside the window, but there were no human figures anywhere.
"Is it an illusion?"
Huang Fu frowned and wanted to verify it, so he put on his shoes and went out of the room.
"Squeak~!"
As soon as the door opened, the soft moonlight came into view, but soon his vision went dark and he fell unconscious.
…
Huang Fu opened his eyes again and found himself in an unknown wasteland with overgrown weeds and buzzing mosquitoes. His buttocks hurt, but his neck hurt even more.
"Wake up."
Huang Fu was startled, turned his head stiffly, and his pupils suddenly shrank, "Li Shangshu?"
"It's me." Li Qing sneered, "Li Shimian has already confessed. It was under your instruction that he deliberately cursed the emperor, causing the emperor to become critically ill."
Huang Fu's expression changed greatly, but he calmed down immediately: "Li Shangshu, you need evidence to speak."
"Here, this is the evidence." Li Qing took out Li Shimian's testimony, "Take a good look at it."
The moonlight was bright, and if you looked closely, you could still see the words clearly. Huang Fu soon started to sweat on his forehead. He discovered that Li Shimian had sold him cleanly.
"I...I..." Huang Fu trembled, fear written on his face.
Soon, he thought of something, suddenly opened his mouth wide, stuffed the testimony directly into his mouth, chewed it casually, stretched his neck and swallowed it whole.
"Now...ahem...the evidence is gone."
Li Qing smiled indifferently, "It seems you admitted it!"
Huang Fu also grinned: "So what, you have no evidence anyway, the court is handling the case, especially a high-ranking official like me, how can you take people randomly without evidence?
Li Shangshu, it’s you who should be worried now, haha..."
There was no one around, so he had no worries. Li Shimian was already dead, and now that there was no confession and no witnesses or material evidence, he had nothing to fear.
The momentum of the old minister was revealed again, and the villain's triumphant appearance was fully revealed.
Li Qing smiled: "Do you really think I brought you here to tell you the evidence?"
"Ah?" Huang Fu's smile froze, and he said angrily: "You dare to use lynching?"
"You dare to murder the emperor, so why don't I dare to lynch him?" Li Qingxiao asked, "What do you think of this place as a resting place?"
"You want to kill me?" Huang Fu was shocked.
"Otherwise?" Li Qing asked, "Can't I just mess around with you in the middle of the night?"
"you……"
Now, Huang Fu was really scared. He knew that Li Qing could do it.
Li Qing sighed: "In the Hongwu Dynasty, you served as the chief registrar of two counties. Later, you wrote a letter discussing national affairs. Taizu appreciated it and promoted you to the right minister of the Ministry of Industry. It can be said that you reached the sky in one step;
During the Jianwen Dynasty, he was also very relied upon. Although he was not as good as Qi Fanghuang, he was much better than others;
After Taizong's calamity, you joined Taizong and Taizong refused to pursue him. But did you know that you were also on the list of traitors? "
Huang Fu looked ugly and remained silent.
Li Qing added: "After Emperor Taizong conquered Jiaozhi, he appointed you as the envoy of the Provincial Government of Jiaozhi and the envoy of the Chief Envoy, and also the envoy of punishment and inspection.
After the current emperor ascended the throne, he asked you to also take charge of Zhan Shifu;
Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the four emperors have shown great favor to you. Why do you do this? "
Li Qing's tone became colder: "You are really a good player. With your resume, wouldn't you be happy if you retire and return to your hometown one day, and your children and grandchildren will enjoy the blessings?"
He smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Humans are always dissatisfied. Fighting for favors and enmities are nothing more than this. How many officials were killed in Taizu's dynasty? How many people are like you? If you can reach your level as an official, what else is there? What about the dissatisfied ones?
Even if you don't return to Nanjing and don't get involved in maritime trade, how can your life be worse? "
Huang Fu was silent. At this moment, he really regretted it, but it was too late.
"Tell me about it," Li Qing said seriously. "If you tell the truth, your family will not be affected. I can guarantee this."
Huang Fu remained silent for a long time, then he sighed: "Ask me!"
"Did you tamper with the imperial edict?"
"No." Huang Fu shook his head and asked, "The emperor is not planning to make this matter a big deal, is he?"
Li Qing heard the implication and nodded: "Don't worry, those people will meet the same fate as you. No one wants to murder the emperor, and there are no traitors in the court, so you don't have to worry about your family being retaliated by your accomplices."
"The posthumous edict was done by Liu Guan, the censor of the left capital, and Wang Zhang, the censor of the right capital. This is also their letter of submission to the six ministries." Huang Fu was relieved and said it simply.
Li Qing nodded: "Do you know who the eunuch who gave the edict was?"
"I don't know."
Li Qing asked again: "Who among the six tribes was involved in this matter?"
"There are also two ministers from my Ministry of Industry, Zhang Ben, your minister from the Ministry of War, and Guo Zi, your minister from the Ministry of Household Affairs." Huang Fu said.
"Are Jian Yi and Xia Yuanji involved?" Li Qing asked a key question.
Huang Fu shook his head: "No, but..."
He asked rhetorically: "Do you think the two of them don't know the details?"
"Yes, that's right." Li Qing smiled, "You are not as good as them. Seeing how good someone is as an official, you will always win on both sides, at least you won't lose."
Huang Fu smiled bitterly and nodded, with a sarcastic tone: "Jian Yi is just a non-stick pan, Xia Yuanji is talented and has a good reputation, but it is not as glamorous as it seems on the surface. How many clean officials are there?
Not to mention the Ming Dynasty, the Han, Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties, none of them were like this. They were just successful kings and defeated bandits. As long as they did not fall, they were all good officials who served the country and the people. Besides, who doesn’t want to get more and more?
Jian Yi, Xia Yuanji and others are just acting and standing at the same time. "
Li Qing shook his head slightly: "You can't say that. They still have political achievements. Even you, Huang Shangshu, have also made contributions to the country. Whether you are a minister, a chief envoy, an inspector, or a minister, you have done a good job.
Although you have committed a heinous crime, merit is merit and fault is fault. At least before this incident, I personally admire you, and so does the emperor. "
Hearing this, Huang Fu was completely silent, and his intestines were filled with regret.
"Can you leave me a whole body?"
"Can."
…
Li Qing came out in a hurry and had nothing to do with him, so he went back to his house to get a hoe and buried the person. It was almost dawn.
He hid the hoe in the haystack and did not take it away because he would use it later.
~
Li Qing had a bowl of noodles in the restaurant, and then went into the palace as if nothing happened to see the doctor.
Qianqing Palace, inner hall.
After hearing about the people involved, Xiaopang was more sad than angry. In the end, he just sighed and said nothing.
Zhu Zhanji was furious and said that Huang Fu should be sentenced to death and his clan exterminated because he had taken advantage of him.
"Okay, don't be angry." Xiaopang sighed, "There are enough things going on now, we can't miss important things just because of temporary pleasure."
Li Qing opened the needle box and said, "Your Majesty, it's time for acupuncture."
Xiaopang nodded, got up and lay down on the bed, "Zhanji, you go and do your work first."
"Yes, I will retire."
Li Qing took out the silver needle, sterilized it, and inserted it.
"Government affairs should not be handled for more than an hour, and that was done last afternoon." Li Qing asked while acupuncture, "Let the prince oversee the morning dynasty, and let him handle the government affairs. He has the ability to do a good job."
"Yeah, I understand, Brother Qing." The little fat man put his chin on his arm, with a relaxed look on his face, "Brother Qing, let me tell you a story."
Li Qing smiled and said, "Then let's talk about the Three Heroes fighting Lu Bu?"
"Sure." Xiaopang said with a smile.
Even though he had heard it decades ago, he still wanted to hear it.
…
…
Noon morning.
Xiaopang went to court as promised.
Looking at the emperor who looked good, the ministers were surprised, but their faces were full of joy, at least on the surface.
The atmosphere of the court meeting was peaceful, and the turbulent undercurrent returned to calm.
After the afternoon, the news of Huang Fu's disappearance also spread. Some people with ghosts in their hearts couldn't help but think of something, but they were not sure.
~
That night.
Li Qing set out again, this time with more targets, so he started faster and was fully prepared.
The Minister of Household Affairs, the Minister of War, the left and right ministers of the Ministry of Industry, and the left and right censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate were all kidnapped to the wilderness by Li Qing.
Several people were shocked, angry, and even more frightened.
Li Qing looked at them coldly and began to judge: "Censor Liu Du, who among the eunuchs in the palace was involved in the matter of substituting the edict?"
"Li Qing, how dare you..."
"puff……"
Several people only felt a flash of cold light, and when they took another closer look, they saw that the dignified Yushi Zuodu of the Duchayuan was just gone.
The strong smell of blood irritated their nostrils, provoked their nerves, and made them feel like they had fallen into an ice cellar.
Li Qing raised the knife, shook off the blood stains on the knife, and asked again: "Censor of the Royal Capital, please tell me."
"Marquis Yongqing, spare your life, I say, I say it all." Wang Zhang said quickly, "It's Xiao Huangmen, Xiao Chenzi, Xiao Liuzi, and Xiao Dezi who are on duty in the Imperial Study Room."
"Any more?"
"No," Wang Zhang shook his head and said, "For such a big matter, the fewer people who know about it, the better."
"Yes." Li Qing nodded, then raised the knife and dropped it.
"Ah... He's killing people, Li Qing is killing people...!" Several ministers cried and howled, their livers and gallbladders split.
Li Qing stepped forward and killed the left minister of the Ministry of Industry who screamed the loudest with a knife, and the screams of the other three people stopped abruptly.
"Master Shangshu, I am your subordinate. You said that you would protect..."
"Poof...!" The head of the Minister of War fell to the ground and died.
The Minister of Household Affairs and the Right Minister of Industry were so frightened that their voices changed their tone, and they said sharply: "Li Shangshu, you ask, you ask..."
"No need." Li Qing shook his head slowly.
"Li Qing, you must die a happy death...!"
"Li Qing, go to hell with your mother...!"
"Puff..."
The two good heads fell to the ground, but the anger simmering in Li Qing's chest could not dissipate for a long time.
