Chapter 318 You Go Out of the Palace and Send Gao Lian on His Way
Chapter 318 You should leave the palace and send Gao Lian off.
The night was quiet and the entire capital was shrouded in a veil of darkness, but the imperial palace in the north of the city was brightly lit.
Outside the empress's bedroom, there is a room used to meet foreign ministers.
Xu Zhenguan listened to his ministers' report with a blank expression on his face.
Not long ago, Yuan Li, the Minister of Justice, and the newly appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court entered the palace to seek an audience with the Empress.
Xu Zhenguan was about to go to bed to rest, but he stood up again to receive the meeting.
"Your Majesty, Wang Chusheng's death was caused by the Ministry of Justice's inadequate protection. As the Minister, I should take full responsibility!" The Minister of Justice took the lead in expressing his opinion. He did not shirk responsibility and took the blame firmly.
Hearing this, the remaining two people were not willing to be outdone and quickly confessed their crimes.
In the room, the column lampshades standing in the brightly lit hall emitted clear light.
Xu Zhenguan looked at the three people in front of him who were bowing and admitting their guilt with an expressionless face. After a long moment, he said without emotion, "Yuan Li, stay."
Then he said to the other two, "Go wait outside."
The Minister of Justice and the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple breathed a sigh of relief, dared not say a word, and immediately retreated quietly.
When the door was closed, only Xu Zhenguan and Yuan Li were left in the room.
"Your Majesty, I am guilty of this matter. I never expected those people to be so cruel and dare to do such a thing in the capital." Yuan Li spoke in a deep voice, his face tired.
Xu Zhenguan raised her jade hand and waved it gently, surprisingly calm:
"He is in the prison of the Ministry of Justice, not in the prison of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. You don't have to do this, Mr. Yuan. If you say it's a mistake, it's my mistake. I thought that by removing Pei Kaizhi and Zhou Cheng, the three judicial departments would no longer hinder each other...
However, those two had been running the business for many years, and they only fell for a few months. How could the government be really clean?"
"Your Majesty..." Yuan Li opened his mouth.
Xu Zhenguan had already stood up and was pacing slowly in the hall:
"Yuan Qing, who do you think killed him? Li Yanfu? Or the Shen family? Or the Kuangfu Society?"
Yuan Li hesitated for a moment, shook his head and said, "It happened so hastily that I cannot make a conclusion yet."
It’s impossible to be sure…Xu Zhenguan glanced at him and said:
"Yuan Qing thinks it's not Li Xiang?"
Yuan Li took a deep breath and said, "In my opinion, Prime Minister Li is not so stupid."
Xu Zhenguan remained calm, seemingly not surprised by the answer:
"go on."
Yuan Li suddenly said seriously:
"I think that the investigation of who the murderer behind the scenes is can be postponed. The most urgent task is to follow up on this case. In other words, it is not important who killed Wang Chusheng. What is important is how people in the world view the court and what they think once this matter is spread."
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 and said:
"I'm afraid those people will make a big fuss about the death. I think we should make a judgment as soon as possible. Although the person is dead, the testimony is still there. As long as we withstand the pressure and convict him, we can defend the dignity of the court."
It is time to make a decision... Xu Zhenguan seemed to be distracted for a while before he said without making any comment:
"You've worked hard, 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, and his eyes dimmed.
Your Majesty is ultimately too cautious and restrained, not wanting to give the rebels a handle to criticize you. Does he care about his reputation?
Or maybe he is practicing the art of checks and balances, not wanting to deal too harshly to the "Li Party", which would lead to the "Qingliu Party" he represents becoming more powerful and causing the political situation to become unbalanced?
Shaking his head, Yuan Li stepped back.
Xu Zhenguan was the only one left in the hall, standing in front of the lampshade on the pillar. It was impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry, and his eyelashes seemed to be holding back the light.
Russian qing.
The door of the room was pushed open again, and Mo Chou walked in respectfully:
"Your Majesty, the three adults have left the palace."
"Yes." Xu Zhenguan finally came to his senses and said, "You already know what happened."
Mochou nodded, looking serious: "Your Majesty, they are anxious."
"Yes, they are anxious. It seems that I have finally pushed them to the edge. However, the more stable the family is and the more expensive the shoes are, the more timid they are and the more they can endure.
Only barefoot people will bite people when they are forced into a corner. But they are not like that. This little bit of pressure is not enough to make these people so bold. "
Xu Zhenguan's voice was cold, and after a pause, he said quietly:
"Unless they think they have found a new master."
"Your Majesty, are you talking about the Shen family..." Mo Chou looked up.
Xu Zhenguan turned around. His clothes were thick and densely packed. Although they were white, if you looked closely, you could see that his long robe embroidered with dragon patterns was loosely dragging a semicircle on the smooth ground.
Xu Zhen looked at her coldly with his dark eyes and said:
"You should leave the palace and send Gao Lian off."
You want me to take action against the Li family? Am I that stupid in your eyes?
Mo Chou's breathing tightened, and there was a hint of murderous intent between her brows: "I obey your command." She turned around and walked out of the palace.
……
……
Zhao family.
After seeing Chen Hong off, Zhao Duan stood at the gate of the yard for a while before turning around and returning to the yard.
When I came towards them, I saw the girl Zhao Pan walking towards me hurriedly. The girl was wearing a coat and seemed to have heard some noise and came out to check.
"Brother, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, something happened." Zhao Duan said perfunctorily, and then for some reason, perhaps because he was upset and wanted to talk to someone, he added:
"The county magistrate I captured was killed."
"Ah!" Zhao Pan was startled, his eyes widened, "Is it related to Gao Lian?"
There has been a lot of discussion about this case in the city these days, and the Zhao family is now considered to have entered the official circle of the capital.
Zhao Pan also established some connections with some young ladies from wealthy families. When a group of young ladies from official families chatted together, they would also touch on topics related to the court.
"Why do you think so?" Zhao Duan asked with a smile.
Zhao Pan puffed up his snowy cheeks:
"Brother, don't think I don't understand. Isn't Wang Chusheng the biggest witness who threatened Gao Lian? Now that he's dead, who else could be the biggest suspect?"
Haha, I really envy your simple thinking... Zhao Duan smiled and said nothing.
He had too little information, but he intuitively realized that the entire case, from Taicang Prefecture to now, was driven by a hand hidden in the dark.
"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've heard that this man has killed many people. He has also raped innocent women and framed entire families. This kind of person deserves to die ten times. It's a good thing that he has been an official for half his life. If he can still enjoy his old age in peace, wouldn't that mean that bad people don't get their comeuppance?"
Zhao Pan had an enviable sense of good and evil. She looked at him with sparkling eyes:
"Brother, you caught him and you definitely don't want him to get away with it, right?"
Zhao Duan was silent for a moment, and said without comment:
"It would be nice if everyone in the world thought like you. Well, go back now. It's cold at night, be careful of catching a cold."
"Brother, you're not going back?"
"I am in the Godly Chapter Realm. I am not afraid of the cold. Go back quickly."
"Oh."
Wait for someone to leave.
Zhao Duan sat alone in the yard, looking at the stars in the sky and deducing what would happen next.
Strictly speaking, this matter has little to do with him, so there is no need to get involved.
Justice and the like… since he’s a villain, there’s no need to care about that.
but……
"If they really overturn your case, and even incite public opinion to prove that Wang Chusheng was framing you, doesn't that mean I was deceived, too?"
"Even worse, will people really think that I'm seeking revenge when my bribery fails?"
"Of course, I have so many bad reputations that I don't care about adding a few more, but..."
Zhao Duan habitually reached into his chest "pocket" to take out a cigarette, but when he found nothing, he put his hand down in dismay and muttered softly:
"I have come a long way to bring him back to you. If you cannot convict him, then all my efforts would have been in vain... I am not happy about that."
Zhao Duan had grasped a half-burned yellow incense stick in his hand at some point.
With a twist of his fingers, the incense head suddenly lit up with a scarlet flame, burning a hole in the darkness, and then, wisps of green smoke rose into the clouds.
Lean less.
The cold air created ripples.
In the ripples, a corner of a priest's robe embroidered with gold thread slowly emerged.
Like a night elf, the ethereal priest who had not been seen for a long time slowly descended on the Zhao family's patio, and looked unexpectedly at a man named Zhao who was holding a yellow incense stick between his fingers in a strange posture.
"You're back?" Jin Jian's small face, as big as a palm, was full of surprise.
No... I've been back for several days, haven't you heard about it... Zhao Duan took a deep breath, extinguished the "incense stick", and said coolly:
"Take me somewhere."
"……where?"
"Ministry of Justice Prison!"
(End of this chapter)