Chapter 1164 Progress
Tao Yi knew that the world was complicated, and princes would never be punished the same way as common people when they broke the law. So he wrote a letter to impeach those who had attacked the prison with weapons last time. He never expected the Ministry of Justice or the Dali Temple to arrest those people.
But just as the emperor said, this world does not really belong to their Li family. Although he is the emperor, he is not allowed to have his say come true.
So even though the Queen Mother became furious and then fell ill, he still dealt with several of his cousins in succession, punishing those who deserved it and imprisoning those who deserved it.
While everyone was fighting in the capital, news soon arrived from Yizhou City that Dongxi Village in Suizhou was under siege. Tang Zhihe found more than 15,000 private soldiers there, and they were put down without much conflict.
When the memorial was sent to the capital, it seemed that everything was settled.
The Queen Mother softened her tone immediately. If the private soldiers were discovered, it would be considered as confirmation of the crime of the King of Yizhou raising private soldiers. All she could do was to beg for mercy.
But the emperor summoned Wei Zhi and Tang Hui overnight.
He placed the memorial from Yizhou on the table and said in a deep voice, "It says the commanders are Tang Zhihe, the magistrate of Huayang County, and Yang Heshu, the magistrate of Luojiang County. They mobilized the garrisons of Yizhou and Mianzhou to encircle the enemy. Do you believe it?"
Wei Zhi said expressionlessly, "There are no more than a thousand soldiers stationed in a single state, and even fewer in Mianzhou. The Ministry of War only reports a little over six hundred. How can sixteen hundred men surround fifteen thousand? Furthermore, those are the elite troops of the King of Yizhou."
"I don't believe it either." The emperor said in a deep voice, "Besides, there is still no news about Yin Li."
The emperor and Wei Zhi looked at Lord Tang together.
Old Master Tang then bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I have not received any letters from my family in Yizhou. Given this situation, I can only think of one possibility: the King of Yizhou's private soldiers are not only in Dongxi Village."
He said, "From the account books from twelve years ago that Bai Shan and his men handed over, we can see that they were able to maintain over 30,000 private soldiers back then. Twelve years later, it shouldn't be less."
The emperor's heart moved.
The three old foxes exchanged glances. The emperor pondered for a moment and then said, "Since the private soldiers have been confiscated, let's prepare to convict the King of Yizhou. Bai Shan and Zhou Man should also be released. For the past two days, Kong Jijiu has been blocking my way every day, so I have retreated to the small study in the back."
Wei Zhi asked, "What about the Xiang brothers?"
"Xiang Chao, who filed the complaint against the emperor, can be released. Xiang Mingxue is suspected of assassinating a prince of the imperial court. There is no concrete evidence for the Dongxi Manor incident, so he will be detained for the time being."
Old Master Tang said, "Your Majesty, Xiang Mingxue's tendons have been severed. It would be better to release him than not."
The emperor said, "There is no rush for this matter. Take your time. Wait a couple of days and see if the King of Yizhou has anything else to say."
Lord Tang agreed after a brief thought.
Wei Zhi and Old Lord Tang retreated because it was already late at night and it was pitch black outside. Old Lord Tang felt very heavy in his heart.
Wei Zhi also knew that he was worried about his son, so he reached out and patted his shoulder and said, "Yin Li is there, Zhi He should be fine."
Old Master Tang sighed, "We took it for granted. A cunning rabbit has three burrows. We were only focused on Dongxi Manor before. Alas, what a mistake, what a mistake."
Wei Zhi was silent for a moment before suddenly asking, "Are the clan leaders unwilling to leave the capital?"
"Yes, the Queen Mother has been summoning us frequently lately, and our investigations are becoming increasingly difficult."
The Empress Dowager came from an old aristocratic family, and the aristocratic families were intertwined with each other. In recent years, the Emperor had promoted many disciples from humble backgrounds, such as Wei Zhi, who came from a humble family.
But this old guy is not honest either. Although he comes from a poor family, the daughter-in-law he married comes from a noble family.
The emperor was planning to revise the clan records and re-include the various families in the register, which made several major families very dissatisfied.
Old Lord Tang gets a headache whenever he thinks of these things.
Wei knew: "Yang Heshu is also involved. Marquis Yang doesn't seem anxious, but he has always doted on his sons. I'm afraid he won't sit idly by. He is not only the eldest son, but also the smartest and most outstanding one among his peers in the Yang family. Patriarch Yang has always loved him."
Old Master Tang remained silent.
Seeing that he remained silent, Wei Zhi stopped and pointedly said, "Old Tang, Yizhou and Mianzhou are not far from each other, and County Magistrate Tang and County Magistrate Yang are classmates and friends. They should support each other."
To put it bluntly, he was asked to contact the Yang family.
Old Master Tang couldn't help but roll his eyes, "Why don't you go find the Cui family?"
Wei Zhi's eldest daughter-in-law is from the Cui family. She is a cousin of Yang Heshu's wife. The two families should be able to communicate with each other, right?
Wei Zhi said bluntly, "Yang Hou and I don't get along very well. If your going doesn't work, I'll go next."
Old Master Tang snorted, put his hands behind his back and walked past him.
Wei Zhi didn't care either. He followed him leisurely with his hands behind his back. When they left the palace, he asked, "Are you going to talk to Old Feng, or should I?"
Old Master Tang said, "You go. I used to be his superior, and he always feels uncomfortable seeing me. It would be more convenient for you to talk to him."
Besides, he is going to find Yang Hou, so we can't just push everything to him, right?
Wei Zhi nodded indifferently and agreed to it.
Manbao had a constant supply of medicinal herbs, and the four of them ate well in prison. Apart from being brought to court for questioning every now and then, they actually had nothing to do, so their lives were quite comfortable.
In his spare time, Bai Shan reads books or chats with his cellmates about all sorts of things. Sometimes, when he is in a good mood, he will generously give the other person a meal.
Xiang Mingxue also borrowed their books to read.
Manbao, however, was holding a pen and spent most of his time writing and drawing at the only table in the cell, completely immersed in the medical exchanges with Teacher Mo.
The remaining small part was used to treat the two people in the cell.
Because there were only two patients, Manbao and Teacher Mo had almost figured out their cases thoroughly. If the conditions in the cell had not allowed it, she would have wanted to reconnect Xiang Mingxue's tendons.
So with Teacher Mo as their advisor and Man Bao providing dedicated treatment, the injuries of the two began to show signs of qualitative improvement.
Xiang Chao can walk around in the cell now. The wounds on his back have scabbed over. Apart from the itchiness that always makes him want to scratch, the fractures caused by the caning have not yet healed completely, but his internal injuries are almost healed.
Xiang Mingxue's face was not so pale and colorless anymore. Although his lips were still very white and looked bloodless, he could speak a lot every day and was awake for longer periods of time, unlike the first few days when he was in a coma most of the time.
Then, the wounds on his body began to heal. Although the scabbing speed was very slow, Manbao said that it was because he had too many wounds on his body and his body's own healing speed was limited, so it was slower than Xiang Chao's.
But he can sit up now, although the range of motion cannot be too large, but he has no problem eating and drinking by himself.
It was a little troublesome to get to the toilet behind the curtain, but after Xiang Chao was able to move freely, this was no longer a problem. He had nothing but strength.
Otherwise, he would be bored to death, because he could not read and had no interest in learning to read. He was the most boring of the four people in the cell, so bored that he had to quarrel with the cellmate next door every day.
The next update will be around 4pm
(End of this chapter)
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