Cage (15)
This time, he would not look for her again. He wanted her to come back in person, even if she was injured or disabled, she had to crawl back to find him and beg him, and he would never show mercy.
Looking at the many figures still busy digging ashes, Feng Siji felt inexplicably absurd. They were just people being fooled by Li Qi.
He clenched the hairpin and said in a deep voice, "No need to dig, go collect the body."
Ye Shu, who was still digging ashes, straightened up when he heard this, looked over and asked, "Master, are you not digging anymore?"
Feng Siji hummed, then stepped out of the charred ruins, mounted his horse, and said to Ye Shu, "In the name of the Qianzhou Jiedushi case, post wanted notices for the county lady. The more the better."
After saying this, Feng Si rode away quickly.
He first returned to the mansion and entered the main room. He first picked up Li Qi's spirit tablet on the bed and put it aside. Then he took down the mattress stained with his blood and replaced it. Then he took Li Qi's spirit tablet and walked out of the house.
He fetched a bucket of water from the yard, took a handkerchief, wet it, and carefully wiped away the blood and dust on the spirit tablet. Slowly, the two words "Li Qi", which were initially covered with dirty blood, slowly emerged.
After making sure that the spirit tablet was clean and free of dust, Feng Siji picked up the spirit tablet and slowly walked into the ancestral hall.
Among the many tokens on the incense table in the ancestral hall, there was a blank space on the first token, which was very abrupt to the eyes.
He placed the spirit tablet in his hand on the empty space.
Then he pulled a cushion over, knelt down, and looked up at the spirit tablets. The words on his father Feng Yijun's spirit tablet were not very clear due to the candlelight, but the face of his father that appeared in his mind was extremely clear.
He wanted to overturn Wei Ming's case, but as Li Qi said, a person like Wei Ming was not worth overturning.
Wei Ming held a mountain of gold and military power in Qianzhou, possessing supreme money and power, but he was also involved in the fall of Yunzhou City.
It was after Li Qi left that he stayed alone in Qianzhou and slowly investigated and discovered it.
It was then that he suddenly realized that with Li Qi's intelligence, she could think of countless ways to seize Wei Ming's treasury. However, she wanted to kill him and confiscate his property. She also deliberately arranged for an assassin to assassinate Ming Rong and then put the blame on Wei Ming, making the Emperor Liang, whom he loved so much at the time, angry and ordering the confiscation of his property.
Although Emperor Liang had no real power and could only issue orders, the eunuch Privy Councilor Li Ke followed closely with them at the time. With Li Ke around, everything was naturally easy to handle.
It was also the assassin she arranged who asked her to block an arrow for Dong Mingrong, and then Dong Mingrong took her to Kyoto in the name of selecting her.
Qianzhou borders Yunzhou. When Yunzhou asked the court for reinforcements, the first place to mobilize troops should be Qianzhou.
But for some unknown reason, Wei Ming delayed sending troops. He did not show up until the defeat at Qiangu Bay and the fall of Yunzhou, and he did not even submit a single memorial to the court.
Feng Siji had never been involved in military affairs before, so he was unaware of the many implications involved. Li Qi from Qianzhou was mostly just putting on a show for him, so naturally, she wouldn't mention it to him.
He once wanted to uncover all the unjust, false and wrong cases in the world that he could touch, but until the case of Li Qi's revenge killing of Wei Ming, all his past ideas and thoughts were overturned and collapsed.
What constitutes a wrongful conviction? In this case, was Wei Ming wronged, or was Li Qi wronged?
Feng Siji didn't know. He only followed his own heart. He didn't want Li Qi to go to jail because of a scum like Wei Ming. She took action out of hatred, and he died as a way to atone for his sins.
There may be no precise boundaries between false and wrongful convictions. If we ignore the law of emotion and only the law of reason, and people are indifferent and there are wars everywhere, how can there be love?
What's more, he has more than just feelings for Li Qi.
But no matter how much he said, it would not change the fact that he had no intention of overturning Wei Ming's case. To his father, this was favoritism and abuse of power.
A deep sense of guilt flashed across Feng Siji's eyes, and he bowed deeply.
He rested his forehead against the cold ground, the only thing he could see was the corner of his robe.
After a long time, Feng Siji slowly stood up.
He stepped out of the door and entered the study in the front yard, digging out all the information he had investigated about the Wei Ming and Yun Zhou cases over the years.
Now Li Qi is dead in the eyes of outsiders, at least in He Mu's eyes. No matter whether He Mu is dead or not, no matter how much evidence he has in the case of Concubine Li, He Mu will not present it again.
Just because Li Qi is dead, it is useless to submit it.
Therefore, the case of Concubine Li did not threaten Li Qi, but the case of Wei Ming was different.
Wei Ming was indeed killed by Li Qi by having his throat cut, and all the military power and money he held fell into Li Qi's hands.
Now he has only one way to save Li Qi, that is to uncover the Yunzhou case and make it impossible for He Zhangjing and others to turn over. Wei Ming will also become a criminal, and then Li Qi's guilt will be washed away.
But now that He Zhangjing and Chen Hu have joined forces, there may still be some of Zhang Zhouzhu's old subordinates. It is not an easy task to completely eliminate them.
Looking at the messy files, Feng Siji's head was filled with countless chaotic information. He had a splitting headache and gradually felt a little tired.
The sky outside the window was getting darker and darker. He forced himself to stay awake and lit the candle. The light came on, dispelling the darkness in the room and also dispelling some sleepiness.
Just as he sat back at the table, he heard a knock on the door outside. Ye Shu's voice came in: "Sir, it's me."
"Come in."
Feng Siji bent his head to read the file, his slender fingertips turning the pages. He heard the door creak open, but he didn't look up, only asked, "How is it?"
Ye Shu stood in front of his desk and said, "It's all done. The streets and alleys of the city are already covered with wanted posters for the county lady."
After a pause, he continued, "Sir, do you really want to do this? If you dig up Wei Ming's case, I don't know if the county lady will come back. Even if she does, the case of Wei Ming is different from that of Concubine Li. Concubine Li is not dead, but Wei Ming is really gone. She is the real murderer.
"If this happens, wouldn't that give He Zhangjing and the others another handle? What will you do then?"
"She's not the murderer. She's seeking revenge for Yunzhou." Feng Siji paused, then slowly raised his head from the file and said, "Wang Mo is still in my hands. I have a solution."
"What difference does it make? Law and order are ruthless."
"But power comes first," Feng Siji said. "In the face of power, principles and laws are nothing but a string of useless words."
Ye Shu sighed and advised, "I can't argue with you, but no matter what, I still think that it's better for you to let it go. If the county lady really comes back and something happens that you can't solve, and she has to go to jail, what should we do?"
Feng Siji looked at the flickering candlelight on the table and fell silent.
Just let it go? He couldn't let it go, nor could he let her go. He would never allow her to escape.
"I've made up my mind on this matter. There's no need to discuss it further." He lowered his head, looked at the file again, and continued, "Keep a close eye on her. She'll definitely appear near the wanted poster. If you see anyone who looks like her or acts suspiciously, bring them all to me."
"yes."
Ye Shu nodded, turned and left. Just as he reached the threshold, Feng Si called out to him, "Wait."
He turned around and asked: "My Lord, do you have any other instructions?"
Feng Si said quickly: "Take your men to search any place in the city where people might be hiding, inns, taverns, beggars' sheds, etc. Don't miss any of them."
"yes."
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The next day, the sky was clear and the air was fresh.
The sky was not yet fully bright, only a faint red light was hanging high above the distant mountains.
At the foggy dawn, Feng Siji had already gotten up. After washing and dressing himself, he was neatly dressed in a scarlet official robe and a soft bun on his head. He led a group of people out.
It was dimly lit outside, and there were faint voices on the busy street. Carriages rolled across the road one after another, all heading to the school. The stall owners began to clatter and prepare to set up their stalls. Fires were lit in the restaurants, water was boiled, and ingredients were prepared. The aroma gradually wafted out, filling the air and lingering in the nose.
In this familiar aroma, Feng Siji smelled a familiar scent. He looked in the direction where the scent came from and saw that it was the wonton shop.
The stall owner started to cook bone soup, and the faint fragrance formed circles of white mist, floating in the air.
Feng Siji took a step forward and walked over.
The wonton stall was set up in a tent that was neither too big nor too small, with five or six long tables placed underneath. Feng Siji chose a seat by the roadside, and the people who followed him also chose their own seats and sat down.
Normally, Feng Siji didn't like this noisy position next to the road, but now, he wanted this excellent view to observe outside and see if there was someone he wanted among the crowd.
He ordered a bowl of wontons, sat down and began to wait patiently.
Soon the wontons were served in front of him, and the lingering aroma filled his nose, but he had no appetite. He only looked at the wall across the long street, which was covered with countless wanted posters.
As the sky gradually brightened, more people appeared on the road. The wall was crowded with people, pointing at Li Qi's wanted poster and talking. The voices were only a few dozen steps away and reached Feng Siji's ears.
"How can this be another case? I thought Lord Feng was handling the case of the Empress in the Palace!"
"No matter what the case is, as long as you handle it, and the person to be arrested is the Princess of Yun'an, it will be a good thing for us!"
"That's right, Lord Feng is the god of us people! But I heard that even though Prime Minister Zhang ran away, the credit still went to the county lady. Isn't that strange? Last time, outside the county lady's mansion, the prime minister killed someone for her. Aren't they in the same group? Do you think the county lady is going to change her ways..."
"How is that possible!"
Someone pouted at the wanted poster and sneered, "Finally, it's all over! No more arrogance! It's worth my daily tributes to the Qingqi Temple! But it seems that the King of Hell is not as useful as our Lord Feng!"
“…”
Feng Siji withdrew his gaze and looked at the wontons in front of him. The plump white wontons were soaked in the thick soup, with a few green chopped green onions floating on top.
He picked up the long chopsticks and slowly put one into his mouth, but he couldn't taste anything.
At this time, someone was sitting opposite him. He looked up and saw that it was the wonton stall owner.
The stall owner chuckled and said, "Sir, the county lady has escaped. If we can catch her, will she be sentenced to death?"
Feng Si paused, and the wontons he had just picked up fell back into the bowl, splashing a few drops of soup.
He looked at the man in front of him. He had big dark eyes, dark skin, and a very sincere smile. He exuded an honest and simple nature.
It wasn't just this person, there were also many people outside who were cursing at the wanted poster, but they were all prisoners of the truth. In these chaotic times, the only one who could truly bring them peace was Li Qi, not him.
However, they regarded Li Qi as a ghost and themselves as gods.
In fact, I have already betrayed my original intention and am no longer worthy of being treated like this.
Feng Siji put down his chopsticks and before he could say anything, he suddenly noticed a sneaky figure in the crowd opposite him.
He stood up suddenly, pointed at the figure and shouted: "Catch her!"
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