Chapter 241 Digging a hole to bury yourself

Chapter 241 Digging a hole to bury yourself

Chapter 241 Digging a hole to bury yourself
Xiao Xia said calmly, "I guess father also knows about the case. I don't need to say more about the public information. I will only tell father what he doesn't know. First, the prince used the Yun family to frame me, but I saw through it.
Second, the person I killed was one of Yuwen Shu's twenty-four guards, named Jiang Ping;
Third, the government wanted to arrest me, but they didn’t dare to do it, so they wanted my father to do it.
Fourth, I suspect the King of Han also had a hand in this.”

Yang Guang's eyes widened. "What are you talking about? Yuwen Shu is helping the prince? Impossible!"

"Father, Yuwen Shu has secretly joined the crown prince. The warriors who clashed with me came from Baotai Martial Arts School. This martial arts school was opened by Yuwen Shu. The owner, Wei Renjie, is one of Yuwen Shu's Ten Guardians. Without Yuwen Shu's consent, how could Baotai Martial Arts School serve as a dog for the Yun family?"

The evidence in front of him made Yang Guang gasp. Yuwen Shu actually betrayed the King of Han and defected to the Crown Prince. What happened in secret was really unexpected.

"What do you mean by the King of Han intervening?"

Xiao Xia shook his head. "This is just my guess, because there is something strange here that cannot be explained."

"Go on, what's the strange thing?"

"Father, you need to know why the county government is unwilling to detain me. It actually has nothing to do with my official position or title."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Xiao Xia took out a gold medal and handed it to his father, "It has something to do with this gold medal!"

Yang Guang picked up the gold medal and was stunned for a moment. It turned out to be the emperor's gold medal that said "As if I were present in person".

"Where did you get this gold medal?"

"My aunt gave it to me before I left for Hexi. Of course it was my grandfather's idea!"

Yang Guang looked through the gold medal carefully, feeling deeply moved. He had been a prince for many years, but his father had never given him anything. It really was a relationship between generations apart.

But that didn't make sense. It had never been given to any other imperial grandson, as if it had never been given to anyone. The first time it was taken out, it was given to a grandson who had no status.

Is this what it means to lose something in one place and gain something in another?

"What does this gold medal have to do with the King of Han?"

"Father, do you think the prince knows that I have this gold medal?"

Yang Guang pondered for a moment, shook his head and said, "If the prince knew you had this gold medal, I'm afraid he wouldn't mess with you, let alone charge you with murder. It's like seeing me in person! Whoever dares to touch you will die in vain. Why would he make a fuss about this matter?"

"But when Wannian County Lieutenant Wang Shengzhi saw the gold medal, he held it in his hands and looked at it for a long time. He must have reported it to County Magistrate Zhao Chu when he returned. The question is, why didn't Zhao Chu tell the prince?"

Yang Guang walked a few steps with his hands behind his back. He understood what his son meant. The county magistrate Zhao Chu did not tell the prince this important information, and Zhao Chu was not his man.

So the son suspected that Zhao Chu was Han Wang's man. This inference was very reasonable and possible. After Han Wang's comeback last year, he had been quietly bribing officials and expanding his territory.

Yang Guang suddenly thought of a key question and asked quickly, "Does your royal grandfather know about this?"

Xiao Xia nodded and said, "Grandfather knows. My aunt has already told him, and he didn't take back my gold medal, so I'm not worried at all."

Yang Guang looked at the confident smile on his son's face, and he suddenly realized that this was actually a trap and the prince had stepped into it.

"If your royal grandfather asks me, what should I say?"

"My father said he just came back and didn't know anything about this!"

...........
Xiao Xia said goodbye and left. Yang Guang felt deeply moved. He now understood why his father valued his youngest son. Not only was his youngest son good at fighting, but he was also resourceful. He was best at turning the tables and setting traps. No wonder he had embarrassed the Crown Prince and the King of Han in Jiangdu.

I'm afraid the prince will suffer a great loss again this time.

Yang Guang thought of the two pieces of news about Yuwen Shu and the county magistrate Zhao Chu again. He felt that he had to be more vigilant. He was very worried about Wang Qiu, the Minister of the Dali Temple. Wang Qiu came to power by betraying Zhang Guo. If such a person betrays once, he will do it again.

.........

In the late afternoon, Yang Guang suddenly received news that the emperor had summoned him.

Yang Guang did not dare to delay and hurried to the imperial study. When he entered the imperial study, he found that in addition to Prime Minister Gao Jiong and Prime Minister Yang Su, Crown Prince Yang Yong was also there. Yang Guang's heart skipped a beat. Could it be because of Sanlang's incident?

Yang Guang stepped forward and bowed, "Your son pays respects to your father!" Emperor Yang Jian smiled gently, "Your Highness has just returned and has started court affairs. Thank you for your hard work."

"There are many things piling up in the Prince Jin's Mansion that need to be handled by your son!"

Yang Jian nodded and said, "I have been reading the war report you wrote all day and considering the rewards. I decided to make Shi Wansui the Grand General and Duke of Chengguo. I am also considering the reward for Xiao Xia, the second most meritorious official. But the prince told me that Xiao Xia committed a crime, so I called you here. Do you know about this case?"

Yang Guang originally wanted to say that he didn't know about it, but seeing his father's half-smile, Yang Guang changed his mind. He bowed and said, "I didn't know about it at first, but my brother came to me this morning and talked about it. I quickly asked Minister Wang, and Minister Wang told me why he didn't approve the detention of Xiao Xia, and I agreed with his reason."

"Oh! What's the reason?"

"Your Majesty, Minister Wang told me that not all murders need to be convicted. It depends on the specific circumstances. For example, if a criminal is committing murder and someone nearby tries to stop the criminal and accidentally kills him, then of course this person cannot be convicted of murder?"

Crown Prince Yang Yong couldn't help but say, "Brother, it's a bit inappropriate to use this example to illustrate this case!"

Yang Guang shook his head. "Brother, this is what the Ministry of Justice investigated. The warriors of Baotai Martial Arts School were beating up the shopkeeper and his employees. Xiao Xia stepped forward to fight them. The Ministry of Justice determined that Xiao Xia killed people in self-defense."

Yang Yong sneered and bowed, "Father, I think the Ministry of Justice should avoid suspicion in this case."

Yang Jian smiled and asked Yang Yong, "Just now you said that this case was a dispute between the Yun family and Xiao Xia. Does it have anything to do with you, Huang'er?"

Yang Yong immediately denied it, "Father, this matter has nothing to do with me, I know nothing about it!"

Yang Jian nodded, "Okay! Let me talk about this case. I may know more about it than you do. After I finish, you can judge it."

Yang Yong secretly felt something was wrong. His father actually knew about this case?
Yang Jian gave him a meaningful look and said calmly, "First, let's talk about that cloth shop. It is located in the southeast corner of Metropolitan City, with the city wall behind it and Qinrenfang behind it. Coincidentally, the house back to back is Xiao Xia's mansion. I don't know why the Yun family bought this inconspicuous cloth shop, but if it is to monitor Xiao Xia, then this cloth shop is indeed the best location."

Gao Jiong and Yang Su looked towards Yang Yong. Of course, there was no need for the Yun family to monitor Xiao Xia, so the only one left was Crown Prince Yang Yong.

Yang Yong felt a surge of fear in his heart, and sweat appeared on his forehead. He never dreamed that his father would actually find out the real reason.

Yang Guang was also very surprised, it turned out that he wanted to monitor his son.

Yang Jian smiled faintly and continued, "Let's just assume that this is just a coincidence! The Yun family wanted to occupy this store without spending a penny. In order to protect themselves, the store posted a notice of transfer, which happened to be seen by Xiao Xia. This is not a coincidence. There is a small door next to the store, which leads directly to Qinrenfang. People in Qinrenfang will take a shortcut. Xiao Xia also took a shortcut and entered the Metropolitan City through the small door. He wanted to go to the Metropolitan City to buy birthday gifts and send them to Cui Hongsheng in the afternoon, and then he saw the transfer notice.

He immediately negotiated with the owner and transferred the shop for 6,000 strings of cash. The cloth shop belonged to him, but how could the Yuan family be willing to do that? However, they only knew that it was transferred to someone else, and they didn't know that it was bought by Xiao Xia. The Yuan family was furious and immediately spent a lot of money to entrust Baotai Martial Arts School.

The next day, Jiang Ping, the leader of the Baotai martial arts school, led more than 20 warriors to smash the store and beat people. Xiao Xia rushed over after hearing the news and saw the shopkeeper and the clerk being beaten up and the signboard being smashed. He then shot five arrows, all hitting the other party's thighs, indicating that Xiao Xia had no intention of killing anyone, but only wanted to stop the other party from committing the crime.

But the other side found out that he was alone, and more than 20 people drew their swords and rushed forward to cut Xiao Xia into pieces. This was very crucial. Yuwen Chengdu visited dozens of shops nearby and interviewed more than a hundred witnesses, and all of them confirmed that they drew their swords and rushed forward to kill people.

As a result, Xiao Xia fought more than 20 people alone and killed and injured four people. With Xiao Xia's martial arts, he could have only injured them without killing them, but Jiang Ping insulted Xiao Xia's family, his father and grandfather. It is said that the insults were very obscene and he wanted to use his grandfather's head as a urinal, so Xiao Xia was furious and killed him. "

After Yang Jian finished speaking, he turned to Gao Jiong and Yang Su and said, "Two Prime Ministers, please judge for yourself. Should Jiang Ping be executed?"

Gao Jiong and Yang Su both understood that the emperor was angry, and this time the prince and the Yun family would probably be in trouble.

The two men bowed and said, "Your Majesty, this Jiang Ping spoke nonsense and deserves death!"

Yang Jian then asked Yang Yong coldly, "Is it because Jiang Ping didn't insult Xiao Xia's uncle, but only insulted his grandfather and father, that you think he shouldn't die and want to hold Xiao Xia accountable for murder?"

Yang Yong could no longer stand, and fell to his knees, trembling all over, and said, "I really don't know these details!"

Yang Jian's eyes flashed with rage, and he gritted his teeth and said, "You disappoint me so much!"

.........

That night, Emperor Yang Jian issued three edicts in succession. The first edict stated that Dingxing had poor official ethics and competed with the people for profit. He was stripped of his title of Duke He and dismissed from his position as Junior Supervisor of the Taifu Temple.

The second decree stated that the prince should not interfere in the Ministry of Personnel and Finance, and should focus on cultivating his virtue. His approval authority over the Ministry of Personnel and Finance was revoked, and he was ordered to strictly control his family members.

The third decree stated that Xiao Xia, the military commander of Zhangye, had made outstanding military achievements in defending Hexi and conquering the west, and had made great contributions to the country. He was promoted to the title of Prince of Xihai County, granted the title of General, and appointed as General of the Right Wuhou Guard, commanding the Fourth Battalion.

(End of this chapter)