Chapter 311 The Li Party's Counterattack
Chapter 311 The Li Party's Counterattack
Tomorrow's court meeting... Zhao Duan was secretly terrified. From the empress's few words, he could tell that there might be a storm coming.
"I understand." Zhao Duan bowed and said goodbye. He took two steps back and suddenly stopped. He hesitated and asked:
"Your Majesty, what crime do you think Gao Lian might be convicted of in the end?"
Xu Zhenguan glanced at him unexpectedly and said calmly:
"According to common sense, this crime is second only to treason and should be executed immediately."
According to common sense...these three words mean that "extraordinary things" can exist.
The game in the court often does not mean there are only two outcomes: "win" or "lose". It is more about different forces fighting each other and finally reaching some kind of compromise.
For example, Gao Lian committed a crime this time, and no matter how hard the Li Party officials tried, it would be impossible for him to be reinstated. But at the same time... it would not be easy to execute him immediately as long as they were willing to put in the effort.
Even though he raped and plundered, relied on his power to kill innocent people, and had many lives on his hands.
"I understand." Zhao Duan nodded and walked out of the palace.
Xu Zhenguan looked at his receding back quietly, wanting to say something, but finally closed his mouth.
I just raised my eyes and looked at the dead leaves flying over the garden.
I thought that by now, the news of the Taicang Prefecture case might have spread.
……
In the courtyard of the rear court of the Censorate.
After reviewing the things piled up on her desk, the clean-looking Yuan Li stood up, looking a little tired, and stretched her body.
The girl in blue clothes walked casually in front of the antique display cabinet in the room, and raised her hand to play with a tea pet jade cabbage on the cabinet.
The beginning of autumn is a rare period of leisure for the Censorate.
The battle between Buddhism and Taoism caused the court to become restless. All factions tacitly stopped fighting and put their weapons into storage.
Afterwards, due to Zhao Duan's performance in the battle of wits, the royal family's prestige was shaken again. For a while, there was a feeling in the officialdom of the capital that the "imperial party" was rising, and the Li party and the Qingliu party were about to cease their activities.
"Sir, sir!" Suddenly, an official came running from outside the courtyard.
Yuan Li's hands trembled, startled by the voice, and he quickly put the jade cabbage back on the museum shelf. He turned around unhappily and glared at the official who came in:
"I am not old and deaf. What happened?"
The official said timidly, "Sir, Chen Hong, Censor Chen is back."
Low-level officials did not dare to call him "Mr. Yuan".
"Huh?" Yuan Li was stunned for a moment, then his eyes lit up and he said, "Hurry up and call him over."
A few moments.
The dusty Chen Yushi came in, bowed and smiled:
"Mr. Yuan, I am back."
Yuan Li smiled and asked him to take a seat:
"You came back so suddenly. Did your trip go smoothly? Wasn't Zhao Duan with you?"
"Lord Zhao entered the palace first." said the middle-aged imperial censor with silver teeth.
Tsk... young people are just impatient... The elegant and handsome man in blue smiled.
Chen Hong said, "The Taicang case has been solved, and the county magistrate Wang Chusheng has been arrested. However, something unexpected happened, and some people were implicated."
"Who?" Yuan Li didn't seem surprised.
"Gao Lian, the temporary governor." Chen Hong spit out the name.
The smile on Yuan Li's face slowly froze, as if he was digesting the news, and his expression became serious:
"Is it really...him? Are you sure?"
Chen Hong said: "The county magistrate personally accused him and has evidence..."
He quickly repeated the process of preparing the speech in his mind.
After hearing this, Yuan Li couldn't help but stand up, paced back and forth in the room, exhaled lightly, and murmured:
"How could it be him... Alas."
He sighed with a headache. The court, which had been calm for a short while, was about to be stirred up again.
……
Prime Minister's Mansion.
A carriage hurriedly stopped at the door, and the "young cabinet minister" with a high nose and about 40 years old jumped out without waiting for the carriage to stop.
He ignored the servants' greetings and ran hurriedly towards the backyard.
He cried out, "Father! Father!"
But it was all in vain.
"Yinglong? The master is taking a nap, don't shout." A beautiful woman came out. She was Li Yanfu's concubine.
This will wave his hands, trying to dissuade.
"Something happened, I'm going to see my father!" Li Yinglong looked anxious, with a sense of hostility lingering on his face. He pushed his beautiful concubine away and went towards the bedroom.
After a while, big hands banged on the door, and then a sound of "enter" was heard from inside the room.
Li Yinglong pushed open the door and saw the bedroom at noon in autumn.
Li Yanfu, the Prime Minister of Dayu, was leaning on the Arhat bed.
His sideburns were like the skin of a hedgehog, his eyebrows were like the edges of purple stones, and his messy and frizzy beard was connected to the sideburns on both sides.
He was wearing a loose dark red robe with white jade buttons hanging on it.
At this moment, he slowly sat up, supporting himself on the bed with one hand, his eyes as sharp as an eagle.
"Father..." Li Yinglong shuddered for no reason as the old prime minister stared at him.
Li Yanfu had no expression on his face, and said in a slightly hurried voice:
"But Zhao Duan is back."
Li Yinglong was stunned, unable to hide his surprise: "Father already knows?"
"I guessed it." Li Yanfu slowly sat up, and Li Yinglong hurried over to support him carefully. "Tell me, what's the result." Li Yanfu's old voice became slow now.
Li Yinglong said anxiously:
"The people below saw that Zhao Duan entered the city about an hour ago, bringing two large prisoner carts. One was for the county magistrate Wang Chusheng, and the other was... Gao Lian!"
Li Yanfu's hands, which were pressed on the bed, with wrinkles and bulging veins, suddenly clenched!
"Father! The prisoner's carriage has been taken to the Imperial Prison. It's difficult for our people to go over and investigate. The specific situation is still unclear, but we can roughly guess it. I'm afraid Gao Lian is involved in this case!
Zhao Duan is indeed our archenemy! You held back at first, but now he has gained momentum and is going to devour us completely!" Li Yinglong said.
"Shut up!"
Li Yanfu scolded, his eyes staring at the young cabinet minister, making him feel scared:
"How dare you bring that up? Have you forgotten who cleaned your ass last time!?"
Li Yinglong's momentum suddenly dropped, and he could only speak anxiously:
"Father, now is not the time to talk about this. Gao Lian is about to die. He and we are... sharing weal and woe. If he talks nonsense in prison..."
"Humph," Li Yanfu shook off his unfilial son and said in a deep voice:
"Gao Lian is not as stupid as you. He won't talk nonsense. If I'm not mistaken, he probably didn't say a few words on the way from Taicang to the capital."
The old prime minister sat cross-legged on the couch, his eyes flickering, as if thinking of a strategy.
Li Yinglong hesitated and said:
"I believe in Governor Gao, but Zhao Duan is vicious and he might have set a trap... Anyway, what I mean is that we can't just sit there and wait for death.
Gao Lian didn't say anything, but he was hoping that we would rescue him. Father, if we just stand by and watch, it won't matter what Gao Lian says in prison. It will be fatal if people lose their morale."
In the previous few times, neither Pei Kaizhi, Zhou Cheng, nor Li Yanfu tried their best.
This had already caused great displeasure among the officials of the Li Party and the major families in Jiangnan, but due to the accumulated prestige of the Prime Minister, they were limited to complaining.
It can still be stable.
But Li Yinglong knew very well that if he kept retreating, the aristocratic families in Jiangnan would not agree, and neither would the officials of Li's party.
"Father! We will cede five cities today and ten cities tomorrow. You said that we should be beaten to let His Majesty vent his anger, and we did it. But His Majesty still won't let go. If we still don't make an effort this time, people's hearts will really fall apart!"
Li Yinglong almost begged.
"I told you to shut up!" Li Yanfu was annoyed and really angry after hearing this. The young cabinet minister was so scared that he trembled and dared not say a word.
The room fell into silence.
After a long while, Li Yanfu closed his eyes, exhaled, and said in a hoarse voice:
"Go gather everyone and have a chat at the mansion."
Li Yinglong raised his head abruptly, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he said excitedly: "Father, you want to..."
"Go call someone," Li Yanfu waved his hand, opened his eyes with an unusually calm expression, his gray eyes were like ancient wells:
"We really can't retreat any further."
If pushed into a corner, even sheep will bite.
Li Yanfu clenched his hands, raised his head, and looked towards the direction of the palace as if his eyes penetrated the roof:
Your Majesty, why are you being so aggressive...
……
……
Zhao family residence.
After lunch, Zhao Pan brought the cooked hawthorn balls and knocked on the door of the master bedroom in the east wing.
"Mom, have some fruit."
The girl stepped over the threshold, and the sunlight behind her passed by her waist in a plain skirt and spread across the smooth wooden floor.
The autumn afternoon sun lights up the antique furniture.
Eugene Hua was wearing a long dress and sitting on a round stool embroidering. She held a round bamboo frame in her left hand and tightened the silk cloth.
The smooth fingers of his right hand held a needle, with a thimble made of mutton-fat jade on his finger.
At this moment, she was tilting her head and biting the silk thread with her silver teeth, and a mandarin duck appeared on the silk cloth in her hand.
"Put it down." Eugene Hua said, looking at her daughter curiously:
"You're being nice to me for no reason. What's the matter? Do you want to go shopping, or do you want your monthly allowance?"
Zhao Pan puffed up his cheeks. After feeding, his oval face had gained a little "autumn fat" and became rounder and cuter:
"Mom, I just want to ask if there is any news about my eldest brother and when he will be back."
Eugene Hua uttered "Ah", sighed softly, and looked worried and concerned:
"Your eldest brother hasn't sent back a letter, so how would mother know? But when he left Beijing, he said he would be back in a month at most, so he should be back soon."
"Oh." Zhao Pan sat down gloomily, in a bad mood.
Eugene looked at her daughter, trying to ease her mood, and showed her the mandarin duck she was embroidering:
"Look, it's embroidered for you."
"Why are you embroidering mandarin ducks?" Zhao Pan frowned.
Eugene Hua smiled and said:
"After the New Year, you are one year older, and it is time for you to look for a future husband. Now our family is not what it used to be, and we are also a wealthy family. With your elder brother here, if you like any of the talented men in the capital, mother will..."
"I don't want to hear you, monks are just chanting sutras." Zhao Pan turned decisively, leaving her mother with a buttocks, and covered her ears with both hands, as if she was resisting the pressure to get married and would never marry:
"Why don't you marry me if you want to?"
"You kid! What nonsense are you talking about?" Eugene Hua was helpless. She raised her hand angrily and poked her head with her finger.
At this moment, the servant's surprised voice came from outside the room:
"The young master is back!"
The mother and daughter were stunned, looked at each other, and stood up and ran out of the house at the same time.
Then I saw Zhao Duan in the courtyard, carrying a lot of bags in his hands, walking into the door with a smile, his eyes lit up:
"Auntie, sister, I'm back."
(End of this chapter)