Chapter 149: The East Palace Case (III)

The fog approached like haze, becoming thicker, as if the fog rose from all directions with the darkness, and even flowed down from a high place. Everything around quickly became dark and quiet. Only stray dogs were screaming low. A black wild cat quickly passed through the street, with green light flashing in his eyes, and quietly ran along the tall city walls of Xinghuafang, and soon disappeared in the night fog.

Just as the wild cats disappeared, the sound of rapid footsteps and horse hooves came from afar. Soon, a group of hundreds of soldiers and yamen runners appeared from the night fog, all of whom were fully armed and cold-eyed, and rushed straight to Du Youling's mansion in Xinghuafang.

At the same time, at the other end of Xinghuafang, more than a hundred soldiers broke open Liu Ji's mansion, and the soldiers dragged out Liu Ji, who looked dead and let his family chase and cried.

The sound of soldiers' running footsteps and horse hooves shocked the night of Xinghuafang. The lights of every household were on and then they all turned dark again. Only countless pairs of frightened eyes were exposed in the cracks of the windows and doors, looking out secretly.

Du Youlin and Liu Ji were taken directly to the prison of Dali Temple to be detained separately. Du Youlin didn't know what happened. He was furious and screamed while hissing, struggling desperately, using the prince and even threatening to capture his soldiers, but to no avail. With a loud "clang" sound, he locked him in a deep prison that was boundless, as if isolated from the world.

But Liu Ji knew it was all caused by his impulse, and regret came towards him like a overwhelming locust, gnawing on his heart, his flesh, and all his perceptions. In the end, only one consciousness was left crying alone in the black prison, or regret.

The cell was filled with the stench of rotting flesh, and low sounds came from time to time around. What made people fear was not the source of rotten or the low thing, but he could not see anything. Liu Ji closed his eyes in fear.

I don’t know how long it took, an hour, a night, or a hundred years, Liu Ji sat in a corner, with his back against the cold stone wall. The dampness on the stone wall had soaked his clothes, but he refused to leave the only support. Suddenly, a slight sound of footsteps came from the quiet dungeon, and the footsteps were getting closer and closer, beating his heart and making his ears hurt.

"Crash" a sound of iron chains, and the door of the prison cell was opened by "Crashing", a dim light shot in, and then a black shadow walked into. Liu Ji rushed up, grabbed the iron fence and shouted, "I'm wrong! The letter was written by me when I was drunk. I can't take it seriously, I won't sue! I won't sue anyone."

The black shadow didn't say a word, just looked at him through the thick iron fence for a long time, and finally said, "Liu Ji, you only have two ways to go!"

The voice was cold, without any emotion, 'two roads', three words were like three knives inserted into Liu Ji's chest. He took two steps back suddenly, stared at the shadow tightly, and gritted his teeth and said, "Yang Zhao! You thief, I'm fooled by you."

At this moment, he finally understood that he had fallen into a trap that Yang Zhao dug, and he was exploited, and his letter would become the beginning of a bloody storm. Needless to say, one way must be to cooperate with them, and another way, Yang Zhao in the dark seemed to know what he thought. He nodded, a cruel smile flashed in his eyes, and a word burst out from his tight lips: 'Die!'

"Liu Ji, the above orders you to reiterate the complaint and add these names to the complaint!"

He took out a piece of paper from his arms and smiled faintly, "I'm just waiting here. I must write it well within an hour. If I can't write it well, I'll kill one of your sons."

The long dark night finally passed, Chang'an was embraced by white mist. Above the mist, the clear sky was blue, and the spherical sun was like a large hollow buoy in deep red, rippling on the milky white mist sea.

"Master, there are customers to look for!"

Early in the morning, Li Qing was woken up by Song Mei outside. He was refreshed and was about to turn over, but suddenly he remembered his wife beside him. The strong wind immediately turned into drizzle. He tiptoed up from the bed, afraid that it would disturb her sleep. When the curtain protects her baby, she could not go to the room. As for why Li Qing was refreshed and the secret of the couple was not enough to tell outsiders.

Although Li Qing's movements were slight, she still woke up the curtain. She slightly raised her body, her expression was lazy, and her face was filled with the shyness of last night, "Li Lang, will you not sleep for a while?"

"Lying down quickly! Lying down quickly! You can't move at all."

Li Qing gently helped the curtain down like a child, "It seems that someone is looking for me, I'll go out and take a look!"

Li Qing kissed Yan'er's face, put on his shoes, and took a few steps out of the door, "Who is looking for me?"

"I don't know you, you are an official, and there are a few public men behind you."

"Prince?" Li Qing suddenly remembered something, "Is it that Xianyu Fuli really sued him and the yamen runners came to arrest people?"

Xiaoyu herself did not sell her body, but her parents had it. According to the Tang Dynasty laws, the children born by slaves belonged to the master. Li Qing remembered this at the beginning, but went directly from Chengdu to Yibin. He was so busy that he didn't stop for a while. He gradually forgot about this matter, but he did not expect that he would turn out the old debt today. He had sent someone to Chengdu to find Xian Yu Zhongtong and must do the matter before marrying Xiaoyu.

When he walked into the guest hall, Li Qing was surprised. The person who came was not the yamen runner who caught him, but Cui Qiao, wearing an official uniform, was paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. The few lords standing at the door were also yamen runners of Dali Temple.

"Why don't Uncle Shi go to court? Are you afraid that the Ministry of Personnel will miss the exam?"

Cui Qiao looked solemn, and he said to several officials: "Look at it, no one is allowed to come in."

Immediately, he took Li Qing's hand and walked inside, lowered his voice and said, "What happened last night!

Needless to say, Li Qing knew something was wrong. He sneered in his heart and said without saying a word: "What's the matter?"

Cui Qiao was slightly surprised when he saw his face calm, but at this moment he had no time to think about it and said anxiously: "At the first update last night, Li Linfu sent someone to arrest Du Youlin, the doctor of the Eastern Palace Shanzan and his son-in-law Liu Ji, at Dali Temple at the same time. He heard that he was being punished for treason. In this way, the prince is probably in danger."

Cui Qiao took out a book slip from his arms and handed it to Li Qing quietly and said, "This is a list that one of my confidants wrote down for Liu Ji Shima last night. You can hand it over to the prince for me immediately. I can't stay for a long time, so I have to leave quickly!"

After saying that, he stuffed Shu Jian to Li Qing, turned around and left. When he arrived at the door, he suddenly thought of something and sighed and said to Li Qing: "I just hope you remember one thing. No matter what position I stand in the future, our relationship between father-in-law and son-in-law will never change. Jian'er asked you to take care of her more."

He shook his head and called several men to leave quickly. Li Qing watched his back disappear, and then opened the book. He copied a list of more than a dozen people. The first one at the beginning was Wei Jian, the Minister of Justice. The second one was Wang Zhongsi, the governor of Hexi, and Zhang Qiu Jianqiong, the governor of Jiannan, and Wang Zeng, who was drawn by Li Qing in red yesterday, was also among them.

Li Qing smiled bitterly with the list. What is the meaning of this to the prince? If he really had a rebellion, he could destroy the evidence in time, but it was a false accusation. So what if he notified him? "Well, let the prince prepare earlier!"

He had no time to go back to the inner courtyard, and walked to the gate and said to Lao Yu: "You go and tell your wife later. I have an urgent matter and I may be able to come back for lunch."

After saying that, he turned over and rushed towards the East Palace. There was no court meeting today. The prince was handling official duties in the Mingde Hall of the East Palace, but Li Qing was not looking for the prince himself. There was a record of the clerk in the Mingde Hall. He couldn't speak, so he could only find Li Jingzhong first, and then Li Jingzhong conveyed that the person on duty in the East Palace today happened to be his old subordinate. Now the head of the guard is Li Huqin. When he saw Li Qing again, everyone did not dare to move at will, but his eyes were filled with joy and excitement. Someone had already gone in to report to him. After a while, Li Jingzhong rushed over and laughed from a distance: "General Li has been promoted. Our family thought General Li was disdainful to come to me again!"

Li Qing smiled slightly and bowed to him and said, "How could it be! Li Qing just returned to Chang'an the day before yesterday, and Eunuch Li was the first old man I came to visit."

After saying that, he took out a bottle of medicine from his carry-on bag and handed it to Li Jingzhong: "This is the medicine my father-in-law wanted last time, and I will bring it from Nanzhao."

Li Jingzhong was stunned. When he asked him what medicine he had ever wanted, but after a second thought, he realized that there must be something good in it. He hurriedly took it over. The bottle was heavy. He suddenly felt happy and smiled and said, "General Li came to visit me first. I still remember to give me medicine. Our family is so honored. Why not go in and sit there? Our family can also serve a cup of tea."

Li Qing nodded, "Then I'll disturb my father-in-law!"

Li Jingzhong is different from Gao Lishi. He has no mansion outside, so he lives in the East Palace. He is Li Heng's personal eunuch and housekeeper, and he is also the highest treatment. He has his own courtyard in the building complex outside the East Palace, with more than a dozen rooms, and several palace maids who serve him. After entering the living room, Li cleaned the room and the room was decorated with brilliant golden walls, which were extremely exquisite. There were simulated jade trees and branches in the glass bottle, and several crystal basins were placed on the sandalwood table, filled with coquetta fruits, and a picture of Chang'an Shengshi hung on the front wall. Even the frames used for mounting paintings were covered with gold foil. Compared to Gao Lishi's lightness, Li Jingzhong's room had a bit of vulgarity.

"What's wrong with General Li coming to our family?"

When Li Jingzhong closed the door, his smile disappeared and his tone became serious.

"Eunuch Li is indeed a smart person. It's about the prince. Please convey it."

So Li Qing told Li Jingzhong in detail about the incident, and finally took out Cui Qiao's booklet and handed it over and said, "This is what the Minister of Dali Temple, Lord Cui, gave to the Crown Prince, and that is the person Li Linfu wants to deal with it today."

Li Jingzhong listened attentively, his eyes became more and more shocked. From last year to now, the prince was pressed by Li Linfu step by step, and he had not stopped for almost a day. First, Liu Sheng was involved in the case of stolen goods, Jingzhao Yin Han Chaozong was demoted, and Li Shizhi was dismissed from prefecture. Finally, a case of smuggling in the Hai family made the situation back to resolve the Nanzhao problem, and the prince had a slight advantage. But in a blink of an eye, a case of Du Youlin appeared. He was the prince's father-in-law, and the situation was much more serious than that of Liu Sheng's case of stolen goods.

"No! You must report this to the prince immediately."

Thinking of this, Li Jingzhong hurriedly said, "General Li, please sit down, I will go and tell the prince. If necessary, the prince will summon you."

He didn't wait for Li Qing to answer whether he was willing or not, so he turned around and ran away in a hurry. Since he was already in the Eastern Palace, Li Qing knew that the prince would inevitably see him. Although they were a little embarrassed, the ugly daughter-in-law would have to see her parents-in-law sooner or later.

Sure enough, after a while, Li Jingzhong's footsteps sounded in the yard again. He pushed open the door, waved to Li Qing, and whispered: "General Li, please follow me, Your Highness the Crown Prince wants to see you."

Before he could reach the prince's bedroom, he heard a few crisp cracks. Needless to say, Li Heng must have thrown his cup. It seems that Li Heng had just learned about this from his mouth. He couldn't help but worry about the backward intelligence system of the princelings. It has been five or six hours since the two were arrested. Has no one received any news during this period? If Li Linfu had already arranged the corresponding strategy, it can be seen that Li Heng was indeed not Li Linfu's opponent!

When he walked into the bedroom, Li Qing once again saw the prince Li Heng, who turned against him and drove him out of the Eastern Palace and the residence. He saw that he had a pale face, his eyes were half closed, and his whole body seemed to be full of fatigue. He pressed his head with his hand and was sitting in a wide chair with a weak look on the ground, and several small eunuchs were busy packing up the pieces of porcelain.

Li Qing took two steps forward, knelt on his left knee and saluted Li Heng and said, "Li Qing meets His Highness the Crown Prince!"

Hearing Li Qing's voice, Li Heng raised his tired eyes and said hoarsely: "No gift! Please sit down quickly."

He sighed, barely cheered up and said, "Why are you here to see me now after you come back?"

Li Qing had just sat down and saw Li Heng asking this, then stood up and apologized: "I am not in good health and need to take care of her, so I can't come to pay homage to Your Highness. Please forgive me."

Li Heng nodded, "Just talk! The princess has told me about your wife's situation. I heard that she was learning to fall off on a horse. You should be careful in the future!"

"Thank you, the princess for taking care of her family when she was away. Li Qing was very grateful!"

Li Heng smiled and waved his hand to sit down, "I went to the palace yesterday morning to meet the emperor and suggested appointing you as the crown prince's left guard general, but the emperor disagreed. He heard that he wanted to let you go, but did you propose it yourself?"

"Yes! Is it for me to go to the Western Regions to make achievements. After all, I am too experienced and may attract criticism when I stay in the capital for a long time."

At this time, the people in the bedroom retreated one after another, leaving only Li Qing and Prince Li Heng. Li Heng winked at Li Jingzhong. Li Jingzhong understood and slowly closed the door of the bedroom. The light in the room immediately dimmed. The bedroom was very quiet, neither of them spoke, and Li Heng's eyes flashed. He seemed to be thinking something, but he looked up at Li Qing from time to time. Finally, he finally whispered: "This is the first thing you discovered. I guess you have thought about it, but I don't know what you have to do with it?"

Li Qingzai was confident in this matter. He smiled slightly and said frankly: "I suggest that the prince ask the prince to come to the emperor for the above. In any case, it is much better to explain the matter clearly in person than to hide it and then to doubt each other. I think the emperor is not a fool. Maybe he will use this matter to do something, but as long as each other eliminates their guard, at least your prince will not be lost."

Li Qing's suggestion was exactly the same as Li Heng's heart. He also held this idea. As long as he could maintain his position as the prince, what would happen to other subordinates? He no longer cared about it. His face was heavy and he couldn't help but sigh: "You are right at all. What I worry most now is that the emperor refuses to see me!"
Chapter completed!