Chapter 317 The man behind the scenes

Chapter 317 The man behind the scenes

Chapter 317 The man behind the scenes
Dead...dead...

Under the moonlight, Zhao Duan's brain buzzed, and his thoughts were delayed for a moment before he realized what had happened:
"Wang Chusheng? Dead? What happened?"

Chen Hong's face turned pale. As he stared at her, her momentum suddenly weakened for no reason, as if she had done something wrong. She said:

"That's right. About half an hour ago, I suddenly received news that he had died in prison. It was the jailer who noticed that he was motionless and went up to check and found him."

Zhao Duan took a step forward and said in a deep voice: "That's not what I'm asking! How could a person die?"

His first thought was that the person had been silenced.

At this sensitive juncture, the key witness suddenly died, and he couldn't help but make such speculations.

Chen Hong obviously knew what he was concerned about, and hurriedly explained:

"We have been keeping a close watch on him. He is kept in a separate area in the prison, and those who have access to him are strictly screened to prevent any accidents."

But something still happened... Zhao Duan stared at him without saying a word, waiting for what would happen next.

Chen Hong said: "The coroner has conducted an emergency appraisal and said that he died suddenly, so he died silently, but during the examination, they found a needle hole on his body.

We suspect that he was not killed in the cell, but was attacked on the way to the court for interrogation. He might have been poisoned by some delayed onset poison...

But it’s just speculation and has not been confirmed.”

The case was heard in court, and there were many people and eyes... There were many people who had the opportunity to take action...

Zhao Duan took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he had calmed down: "What is the situation now?"

Chen Hong said quickly, "Right now, the officials from the three judicial departments have been alarmed. Lord Yuan and his men have already gone to the palace overnight. They privately told me to come and inform you."

Zhao Duan was so angry that he laughed:
"What's the point of informing me? I'm not the presiding judge of the case! I brought the person back from afar, but he's dead!"

Chen Hong pursed her lips and explained:

"After all, you are the imperial envoy who arrested people. Now that Wang Chusheng is dead, the conviction of the whole case will inevitably be in turmoil. Mr. Yuan is worried that by tomorrow, the news that he committed suicide out of fear of punishment may spread..."

"Okay, let me think about it!" Zhao Duan waved his hand, put his fingers against his forehead, paced in front of the gate of his house, his brain working rapidly.

The bad premonition finally came true.

Recalling the time when the two met in the afternoon, Chen Hong was still saying that with Wang Chusheng as a witness, the situation would be fine. But just a few hours later, he was dead.

Zhao Duan could not hide his anxiety, but more than that, he was in disbelief.

"Is Li Yanfu crazy? How dare he use such means in the capital?"

Zhao Duan didn't understand. This was completely different from the style of the prime minister he knew.

At least in his confrontation with the Li Party over the past few months, this old man who had experienced many ups and downs in the officialdom for many years showed more of the word "forbearance".

Even if they took action, it was still within the "rules of the game" in officialdom. It is really hard to imagine such a brutal method of directly overturning the table.

Perhaps this is also the key factor that caused omissions despite the three judicial departments having strengthened protection:
No one thought that someone would actually dare to take such a risk and silence someone!

"Okay, I understand." Zhao Duan took a deep breath and spoke.

He realized that the most anxious person in this matter was not him, the former imperial envoy. Even if the crime could not be convicted, it seemed that it could not be blamed on him.

So, you can completely stay out of it.

"My lord, please have a good rest. I'll take my leave first." Chen Hong was only here to give the notice. He took his leave and left after seeing the sudden change. He still had a pile of things to deal with.

……

The same night, at the Prime Minister's Mansion.

When the news of Wang Chu's life and death came out, Li Yanfu got the news immediately.

At this moment, the lights in the Xiangguo Mansion's study were brightly on, and several figures inside the room were reflected on the window paper.

"Snapped!"

A blue and white porcelain cup was thrown out with great force. With a humming sound, it brushed the ear of a middle-aged man standing in the study, hit the closed door, and broke into two pieces.

The water splashing from the cup wet the man's luxurious clothes.

This handsome, well-mannered and gentle middle-aged man just took out his handkerchief and wiped his shoulders and neck silently.

He calmly looked at the old man with a sullen look behind the long table in the study and said softly:

"Minister Li, please calm down. Anger is harmful to your health. If you get angry, I can't bear the blame. When I go home, the old lady will scold me."

Li Yanfu threw the cup away, but was still standing under a large vertical ink-splashed painting.

The inky angry dragon in the painting looks like a Dharma statue, hanging behind an old man in a red uniform with messy hair and beard that is fluttering due to extreme anger.

"Anger is harmful to health? Has your Shen family ever cared about this old man's bones? I'm afraid you just hope I die soon!"

Li Yanfu stared at the other person with a grim look.

When a powerful minister of a country gets angry, even though he is just an ordinary man, he makes the room seem like a dark cloud hanging over the sea.

The aura of the superior was like a raging sea, pressing down on the middle-aged man in the room and the "young elder" who was cautiously standing in the corner to reduce his presence. The two of them were like ships on a raging sea, at risk of capsizing at any time.

"Father..." Finally, Li Yinglong mustered up the courage to ease the atmosphere, "Brother Shen was also anxious for the moment, and his concern was distracting."

Li Yanfu was so angry that he laughed.

He did not look at his useless son, but stared at the middle-aged man named Shen:

"You are so concerned that you kill Wang Chusheng behind my back? Just to save your brother-in-law? Do you think I will believe it? Is this your Shen family's idea or your personal action? Nonsense!"

The middle-aged man surnamed Shen remained silent.

The Shen family of Jiancheng was a prominent family among the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River in Dayu. It was also one of the largest families in Jiancheng Dao, and was also the maiden family of Gao Lian's wife.

The middle-aged man was the second brother of Gao Lian’s wife and the younger brother of the head of the Shen family. He was the second most powerful person in the family besides the "ancestor" and the "head of the family".

It was after the Taicang case broke out that the representative of the Jiangnan Group hurried to Beijing to lobby in the past few days.

When Li Yanfu learned of Wang Chu's life and death, he thought of this person.

Unexpectedly, before anyone was sent to look for him, the other party came to visit and readily admitted it.

"Prime Minister Li, His Majesty gave the three judicial departments only ten days to investigate and convict. Now more than half of it has passed. Although there have been some results in public opinion inside and outside the court, how can we save Gao Lian with just these ten days?
If you want to overturn the verdict, Wang Chusheng is the key. Now that he is dead, there is room for maneuver..." The middle-aged man surnamed Shen explained patiently.

Li Yanfu stared at him with his grey eyes and said quietly:
"I see that you are not trying to save him, but are forcing the truth."

The handsome, gentle middle-aged man looked terrified: "I dare not..."

"Haha, I think you guys are very daring, but now, none of you take me seriously," Li Yanfu seemed to be laughing, but there was no smile at all:

"I have said it many times, there is still enough time. Next, as long as we follow the procedures, I still have the means to postpone the case. By then, if you take any action again, His Majesty will naturally back down..."

The middle-aged man surnamed Shen bowed his head, seemingly humble, but interrupted:
"Prime Minister Li, you have been the leader of the party for many years. Have we ever disobeyed your orders? It's not that we don't want to, but the current situation is different from the past.

Pei Kaizhi is still in prison, and the new policy that is killing people is about to be implemented at my doorstep. Now, my wife and brother are also in prison. My wife and brother worked hard on the silver mine, but how much did they get? Don’t you also…”

"Shut up!" Li Yanfu was furious.

The middle-aged man surnamed Shen was "easy to follow the advice" and did not go into details on this topic. He said earnestly:
"Prime Minister Li, what we mean is that you have been in charge of the cabinet for many years, and we should not have any complaints, but the current situation is changing every day, and you are getting old, so you may not be able to see the situation in the court clearly.

If we keep compromising, we know that we are "stepping back to advance" for the sake of the overall situation. But when will this retreat end?
I was too aggressive in what happened to Wang Chusheng, but don't worry, since I dared to do it, this matter will not implicate outsiders. If Your Majesty wants to investigate, just investigate my Shen family."

These words were spoken with sincerity, but Li Yanfu only sneered.

How could he not understand that it didn't matter who controlled Wang Chu's life or death?

The important thing is that outsiders will think that he died at the hands of the Li family.

"… Now that things have come to this, the huge Li Party still has to rely on you, Prime Minister, to preside over the overall situation. If you are unhappy, just punish me alone. The killing of Wang Chusheng was done by me alone, and has nothing to do with the old lady in the family." said the middle-aged man surnamed Shen.

The smile no longer appeared on Li Yanfu's face.

After staring at him for a long time, he suddenly said, "Prince Jing has visited your Shen family, right?"

The middle-aged man in fancy clothes felt his heart tighten suddenly. He raised his head and wanted to explain.

Li Yanfu waved his hand tiredly and said:

"Go away. I will take care of the aftermath of the Three Laws Department."

"Thank you, Prime Minister Li!" The middle-aged man showed a happy expression and bowed to say goodbye.

After everyone left, Li Yinglong, who was standing in the corner, finally couldn't hold it in anymore and took two steps forward:
"Father, are you just going to let him go like this?"

Li Yanfu glanced at him coldly and said unhappily, "Or else?"

Li Yinglong's face was grim:
"Father, I'm afraid the Shen family has already become disloyal. They dared to act like this today, and they must have the support of Prince Jing. Humph, this group of ungrateful bastards, they keep saying that Gao Lian gave money, why don't they mention how much benefit he got? It's simply..."

At this moment, he turned into a mouthpiece, and his attitude was completely different from his previous attitude of always calling "Brother Shen".

Obviously, he is also a master at acting according to the situation.

"Okay, what's the point of saying all this?" Li Yanfu said tiredly, supporting himself on the dark brown tabletop and slowly sitting down.

He sighed: "If I had known this would happen, I would have let Gao Lian die in Taicang."

Li Yinglong said nothing, and said cautiously: "Then what's next..."

Li Yanfu had no expression on his face and regained his composure:

"Now that things have come to this, we can only take advantage of this issue and do our best to protect Gao Lian. Give orders to announce tomorrow that he committed suicide out of fear of punishment."

"Yes."

Li Yinglong left in a hurry.

When there was only one person in the room, Li Yanfu looked up and stared at the quietly burning fire on the table, with red flames dancing in his gray eye sockets.

After a long time, he let out a long sigh.

(End of this chapter)