Chapter 825: Imprisonment
Liang Guangyi stood up quickly and asked, "Are you saying that the person who assassinated Guo Changming last night was not someone you sent?"
"Of course not!"
Seeing Liang Guangyi staring at him with disbelief, Shi Qingrong became a little angry and embarrassed:
"If it really wasn't me, I wouldn't be so reckless as to kill him. If you don't believe me, Liang Xiang, I can swear that if I really sent someone to kill Guo Changming last night, my Shi family would be extinct."
The words that came out of Shi Qingrong's mouth could almost be regarded as a curse on himself. His oath and curse not only did not make Liang Guangyi's expression relax, but made it even uglier. Even Feng Qiuli, who was standing next to him, had a knot between her brows.
Shi Qingrong was angry: "You still don't believe me?"
Feng Qiuli quickly said, "It's not that I don't trust you, but if it wasn't you who sent that person last night, then we would be in big trouble."
Shi Qingrong didn't react for a moment.
Feng Qiuli explained, "Guo Changming's crime carries the death penalty, so he would have acted with caution. However, the news reached your residence and took a detour before it was known that you had arranged to meet him in the west of the city. You even quietly changed the meeting place and arranged for the assassination in advance."
"Uncle Shi, don't you understand what this means?"
Shi Qingrong's expression froze, and the next moment he stood up: "Is there a traitor in the Shi family?"
After he finished speaking, he suddenly remembered Wu Kui, who had so coincidentally rescued Guo Changming and brought him back to the Beijing Patrol Camp, as well as the soldiers of the Beijing Patrol Camp who had heard Guo Changming's words last night. A cloud of gloom fell on his face, "Did the Queen set me up?"
Just because they refused to buy Guo Changming's life and didn't agree to her conditions, she would use any means to harm him?
Is the Queen crazy?!
Shi Qingrong said sternly, "Does she really want to fight us to the death?!"
Liang Guangyi said solemnly: "Not the Queen."
Shi Qingrong turned around suddenly: "Who else could it be if not her? Wu Kui is Xiao Yan's man!"
"Wu Kui is Xiao Yan's man, but that doesn't mean the Queen was responsible for what happened last night. Since you guys discussed dealing with the Queen a few days ago, how could you not be on guard? And why would you tell anyone else about your meeting with Guo Changming?"
Liang Guangyi looked unhappy:
"The Queen does want to exploit the noble families and plunder our wealth to enrich the national treasury, but she would never cut off the noble families' livelihoods and force us into a desperate situation."
He thought he knew Song Tangning quite well. Although she was as ruthless as Xiao Yan, she would also consider the overall situation. Even if she didn't care about the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers at the border or the safety of the border, she would always care about Xiao Yan's life and death.
When they faced each other that day, Liang Guangyi had already found out some of her bottom lines.
She wanted silver, food, and horses, but she had no intention of driving them into poverty and forcing the noble families to rebel.
and……
Liang Guangyi said coldly, "Did you know that Min Yu and Duan Zhiru have returned to Beijing?"
"What did you say?!" Shi Qingrong turned his head suddenly.
Feng Qiuli also stood up instantly, her face full of disbelief. "Weren't Min Yu and the others transferred out of the capital? Duan Zhiru even went to Rongchuan to serve as the governor's chief secretary. They are in charge of local public security. How could they return to the capital without permission?"
Officials transferred to other places were not allowed to return to the capital without an imperial edict, let alone those in charge of important positions in a certain place. Unless the matter was extremely urgent and endangered the court, local officials had to submit a memorial to request to return to the capital even if there was a funeral in the palace. Otherwise, they would be sentenced to death.
In order to get the Duan family to agree to let Duan Zhiru leave the capital, Liang Guangyi had gone to great lengths to select a wealthy Rongchuan for him to take up, even specifically picking a position with real power. But now he's actually returned to the capital...
Feng Qiuli subconsciously wanted to say something, but when he saw Liang Guangyi's ugly face, he opened his mouth in surprise.
"You knew they had returned to Beijing?"
Liang Guangyi was silent.
Feng Qiuli lost her composure for once, completely furious. "Teacher, are you crazy? His Majesty and his men have long been dissatisfied with the aristocratic families. We've retreated again and again to protect ourselves. Their unauthorized return to the capital is a serious crime, and not only did you not stop them, you actually helped cover it up for them?"
He took two steps and suddenly stopped, looking up at him suddenly.
"So, they were responsible for this incident with the Shi family? They wanted to force us to completely break off relations with the Queen?"
Shi Qingrong now realized what Feng Qiuli meant. He was furious: "Is it Min An who is plotting against me?"
He was furious:
"I said I haven't told anyone about Guo Changming's affairs. Min An only came to my house yesterday. He already knew that Min San and the others had returned to Beijing, and he had also started to rebel against the emperor. But he used my Shi family as a pretext..."
At this point, he suddenly remembered something and said, "But Guo Changming also mentioned Min An. What are they trying to achieve by doing this?"
Although everyone was taken away by Wu Kui last night, Guo Changming's words "Shi Qingrong and Min An wanted to kill him to silence him" when he was rescued could not be concealed at all. Min An deliberately framed him and wanted to use him and Guo Changming as pathfinders, but now he dragged the Min family into the water.
What does he want?
Liang Guangyi's eyes were dim. "Perhaps he thought that with the Shi family in front, Guo Changming wouldn't mention him. Or perhaps, even though he plotted against you last night, he really wanted to take Guo Changming's life and then use the Shi family to escape. He probably didn't expect Wu Kui to appear in the west of the city like that and save Guo Changming."
"Teacher, what you mean is that Min An was also cheated, and Min San is not on the same side with them?" Feng Qiuli asked.
Liang Guangyi nodded. Although Min An and the others were dissatisfied with the queen, they were burdened by the gentry behind them. Even if they wanted to do something, they would think twice before doing it. But Min San and the others were different. They had long been abandoned by their families and were far away from the court in Beijing. It would be difficult for them to return to Beijing in this lifetime.
The aristocratic families have a way out, but Min San and his friends don’t.
Naturally, they would try their best to cut off their retreat and force other members of the aristocratic family to join them.
Shi Qingrong's face turned pale and blue: "Crazy, they are simply crazy..."
“Knock knock!”
Suddenly, there was a rapid knock on the door. Before Liang Guangyi could speak, he heard someone lower his voice and speak in an extremely urgent voice:
"Prime Minister, this is bad. The Black Armor Guards have surrounded the mansion. They say Lord Shi sent someone to assassinate Minister Guo. The Empress has ordered the Black Armor Guards to arrest Lord Shi and put him in jail."
Shi Qingrong's face turned pale instantly.
…
As the night deepened, Liang Guangyi led Shi Qingrong out of the mansion and said in a deep voice to the leader of the black-armored guards outside, "I want to see the Queen."
"Please do as you please, my Lord."
Liang Guangyi breathed a sigh of relief and walked out with Shi Qingrong, but just as he took a step, someone blocked their way with a hand.
"Your Excellency may come and go as you please, but the Empress has ordered that Imperial Attendant Shi Qingrong attempt to murder the Minister of Justice. We are following the Empress's decree to arrest Shi Qingrong and imprison him."
"Master Shi, please come in."
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