Chapter 318: You leave the palace and send Gao Lian on his way
The night is quiet, the entire capital is shrouded in a gauze of darkness, but the palace in the north of the city is brightly lit.
Outside the emperor's bedroom, there is a room used to meet with foreign ministers.
Xu Zhenguan had no expression on his face as he listened to the minister's report.
Not long ago, Yuan Li, the Minister of Punishment, and the newly appointed Minister of Dali Temple entered the palace to ask for an audience with the empress.
Xu Zhenguan was about to stay and rest, but he got up to meet him again.
"Your Majesty, the death of Wang Chusheng was due to the poor protection of the Ministry of Punishment. As the minister, I should bear full responsibility!" The minister of the Ministry of Punishment was the first to express his position. He did not shirk the blame and firmly took the blame.
After hearing this, the remaining two people were not willing to be left behind and hurriedly opened their mouths to accept the crime.
In the room, the pillar-type lampshade standing on the light-recognizable hall emits clear light.
Xu Zhenguan looked at the three people in front of him who were bowing to accept the crime with an expressionless expression. After a long time, he said without emotion: "Yuan Li stays."
Then he said to the other two people: "Go and wait outside."
The Minister of Punishment and the Minister of Dali Temple breathed a sigh of relief, did not dare to say anything, and immediately retreated quietly.
When the door closed, only Xu Zhenguan and Yuan Li were left in the room.
"Your Majesty, this is a dereliction of duty. I never expected that those people would be so crazy and dare to do such a thing in the capital." Yuan Li spoke in a deep voice with a tired look on his face.
Xu Zhenguan raised his jade hand and waved it gently, surprisingly calm: "I am in the prison of the Ministry of Punishment, not in the Taiwan Prison of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Mr. Yuan does not have to be like this. If it is said that I made a mistake, it must be my mistake. After removing Pei Kaizhi and Zhou Cheng, the three Dharma Masters no longer restrained each other...
However, those two people have been in business for many years and have only been down for a few months. How can the yamen really be clean? "
"Your Majesty..." Yuan Li opened his mouth.
But Xu Zhenguan had already stood up and walked slowly in the palace: "Yuan Qing, who do you think killed him? Li Yanfu? Or the Shen family? Or Kuangfushe?"
Yuan Li pondered for a moment, shook his head and said: "The matter happened in such a hurry that I can't make a conclusion."
Unsure...Xu Zhenguan glanced at him and said:
"Yuan Qing thinks it's not Prime Minister Li?"
Yuan Li took a deep breath: "In my eyes, Prime Minister Li will not be so stupid."
Xu Zhenguan looked calm and seemed not surprised by the answer:
"Go on."
Yuan Li suddenly said seriously: "I think that the investigation of who is the murderer behind the scenes can be postponed. The most urgent task is the follow-up of the case. In other words, it is not important who killed Wang Chusheng. What is important is that once the matter is spread, "How do people in the world view and think about the imperial court?"
Xu Zhenguan was silent for a moment and sighed softly:
"What Yuan Qing said makes sense, so what do you think we should do?"
Yuan Li hesitated for a moment and said:
I'm afraid that those people will make a big fuss about the death of the person. I think it should be judged as soon as possible and convicted as soon as possible. Although the person is dead, the testimony is still there, as long as the person is convicted. If you resist the pressure and convict, you can safeguard the dignity of the court."
When it is broken, it is broken... Xu Zhenguan seemed to be distracted. After a while, he said noncommittally:
"Thank you for your hard work, Yuan Qing. Go back and rest first. I will think about this matter."
Yuan Li was stunned for a moment, as if he didn't expect such an answer, his eyes darkened.
After all, Your Majesty still has too many worries and is restrained. He doesn't want to speak to the rebels. Does he care about his reputation?
Or is he using the technique of checks and balances, not wanting to attack the "Li Party" too hard, causing the "Qingliu Party" he represents to gain momentum, and fearing that the government will be unbalanced?
Shaking his head, Yuan Li stepped back.
Only Xu Zhenguan was left in the hall, standing in front of the pillar lampshade. He could not see any emotion or anger, and his eyelashes seemed to be holding the light.
Russian qing.
The door to the room was pushed open again, and Mochou walked in respectfully:
"Your Majesty, the three adults have left the palace."
"Yes." Xu Zhenguan came back to his senses and said, "You already know the matter."
Mochou nodded with a serious expression: "Your Majesty, they are in a hurry."
"Yes, I am anxious. It seems that I have finally made them anxious. But the more wealthy the family, the more expensive the shoes on their feet, the more timid and the more patient they can be.
Only the barefoot ones will bite when they are in a hurry. But they are not. This little coercion alone is not enough to make these people bold enough to do this."
Xu Zhenguan's voice was cold, he paused, and said quietly: "Unless they think they have found a new master."
"Your Majesty is talking about the Shen family..." Mochou raised his head.
Xu Zhenguan turned around. His body was thick and dense, and although it was white, if he looked carefully, he could see that his robe, which was also embroidered with dragon patterns, was loose and trailing in a semicircle on the smooth ground.
Xu Zhen stared at her indifferently with lacquer-like eyes and said:
"You come out of the palace and send Gao Lian on his way."
Do you want me to take action against the Li family? In your eyes, am I that stupid?
Mochou's breath tightened, and his brows were filled with evil spirits: "I obey the order." He turned around and walked out of the palace.
…
…
Zhao family.
After seeing Chen Hong off, Zhao Duan stood at the entrance of the courtyard for a while before turning around and returning to the courtyard.
As they faced each other, they saw the girl Zhao Pan walking over in a hurry. The girl was wearing a coat. She seemed to have heard some movement and came out to take a look.
"Brother, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing, something happened." Zhao Duan said perfunctorily, and then for some reason, maybe because he was depressed and wanted to talk to someone, he added: "The county magistrate I captured was killed. ”
"Ah!" Zhao Pan was startled, his autumn eyes widened, "Is it related to that Gao Lian?"
In the past few days, there has been a lot of discussion about this case in the city, and the Zhao family can now be considered among the officials in the capital.
Zhao Pan has also established some connections with some wealthy ladies. Usually, a group of official ladies chat together, and they will also touch on court affairs topics.
"Why do you think so?" Zhao Duan asked with a smile.
Zhao Pan puffed up his cheeks: "Brother, don't think I don't understand. Isn't Wang Chusheng the witness who threatens Gao Lian the most? If he dies, who else will be the most suspected?"
Haha, I really envy your simple thinking... Zhao Duan smiled and said nothing.
He had too little information, but he also sensed intuitively that the entire case, from the Taicang Mansion to the present, was being promoted by a hidden hand.
"Ah, does that mean that Gao Lian can't be convicted?" Zhao Pan frowned.
Zhao Duan smiled and said, "Do you want him to be convicted?"
"Of course, I have heard that this man has a lot of lives on his hands. He has also defiled an innocent woman and framed a whole family. This kind of person will die even ten times. He has been a high official for half his life. If he can still If you enjoy your old age, doesn’t it mean that bad people don’t get retribution?”
Zhao Pan has an enviable and clean view of good and evil. She looked at him again with bright eyes: "Brother, if you catch him back, you definitely don't want him to get away with it, right?"
Zhao Duan was silent for a moment and said noncommittally: "It would be great if everyone in the world thought like you. Okay, you go back, it's cold at night, be careful of the wind and cold."
"Brother, won't you go back?"
"I am in the Shenzhang realm. I am not afraid of the wind and cold. Go back quickly."
"oh."
Wait for someone to leave.
Zhao Duan sat alone in the yard, looking at the stars in the sky, deducing the next step.
Strictly speaking, this matter had little to do with him and there was no need to get involved.
Justice and so on... As a villain, there is no need to care about him.
but……
"If you really overturned the verdict, or even incited public opinion to prove that Wang Chusheng was making a false accusation, wouldn't that mean that I was also deceived?"
"Even worse, will I really be considered as a retaliation for asking for bribes?"
"Of course, I have so many bad reputations, I don't care if I get a few more, but..."
Zhao Duan habitually reached into his chest "pocket" for a cigarette. When he found nothing, he put down his hand angrily and muttered softly: "I came all the way to catch it for you. If I can't be convicted, then Isn’t this officer’s arrest in vain? I’m not happy.”
At some point, Zhao Duan pinched a half-burned yellow incense stick in his hand.
Twisting his fingers, the head of the incense suddenly lit up with scarlet fire, burning a hole in the night, and then curls of green smoke rose into the clouds.
Lean less.
The cold air rippled in circles.
In the ripples, a corner of the priest's robe embroidered with gold thread was slowly outlined.
Like a night elf, the ethereal priest who had not been seen for a long time slowly descended on the courtyard of the Zhao family. He unexpectedly looked at Zhao who was holding a stick of yellow incense between his fingers in a strange gesture.
"Are you back?" Jin Jian's palm-sized face was full of surprise.
No... I've been replying for several days, haven't you heard yet... Zhao Duan took a deep breath, snuffed out the "incense head", and said coolly:
"Take me somewhere."
"……where?"
"Prison Department Prison!"
(End of chapter)