Hanging Knife (8)
Once the He family falls, the next one will be the Chen family. If both families fall, it will be equivalent to eliminating Zhang Zhouzhu's two minions in Kyoto. Even if he returns to Kyoto like he did ten years ago, he will not be able to cause any trouble.
But Feng Siji is about to be imprisoned and his future is bleak. Only Li Qi, who has regained his freedom, can deal with Chen Hu.
How could Feng Siji be sure that he could figure out and see through what he did?
If by any chance she doesn't see it, wouldn't all the efforts be wasted?
Li Qi looked at Feng Siji. The golden sunlight spread a strong edge of light along the outline of his body. He had a calm expression and remained silent, but his eyes showed absolute trust in Li Qi.
Regardless of her personality, her abilities are unquestionable.
"Tear down the temple and save the county princess!" At this time, another messy noise mixed in with the chaotic crowd.
Li Qi turned his head and looked in the direction of the sound, only to see a group of about a hundred common people, led by Yunshan Min, rushing towards them aggressively. They broke through the threshold of Qingqi Temple and forcefully pushed away the noisy crowd.
They were all arrogant, ferocious, and agile. Holding machetes or sticks in their hands, they took down the plaque of Qingqi Temple and threw it on the ground. Shan Min kicked the plaque into several pieces with a few kicks.
The others rushed behind the twelve Yama statues, gathered the strength of a hundred people, and pushed the Yama statues down together.
The statue collapsed with a loud bang, splashing countless turbid dust into the air, blurring Li Qi's vision.
She vaguely saw He Mu kneeling in front of the collapsed statue of Yama, his straight waist hunched over, his head bowed deeply, like a believer who was at a loss after his faith collapsed, trembling in despair.
The statue collapsed into ruins and lay before everyone.
There was silence everywhere. Even the people who were angry just now forgot what to do. Everyone was silent and stared at the collapsed statue. Silence was Li Qi's deepest impression of this scene.
Li Qi felt inexplicably uneasy.
She knew very well that the people of Kyoto hated and feared her. Even though Feng Siji had done so much, their hatred for Li Qi would not disappear in an instant.
He would not immediately hate He.
Because the stone hasn't hit them yet, they can just be a bystander.
Today, Chen Hu released her, and Shan Min did this again. It seems that they dare not vent their anger on Li Qi anymore, but the hatred that has not dissipated will be transferred to other places to vent.
Feng Siji, who took the blame for Li Qi, became the new target of Li Qi's anger.
Who can tolerate the fact that their own beliefs have long since fallen into the mud?
Yunshan Min raised his scimitar and stood on the collapsed head of the statue, shouting: "Back then, He Zhangjing took the silver and secretly replaced the soldiers, replacing the selected soldiers with the old, weak and sick. We suffered greatly from it. It was the county lady who saved us."
Yunshan Min listed one by one what Li Qi had done for them, and even called the beggar mother and daughter who had received help from Li Qi in the beggar's shed before.
But no one can listen. Even if the truth is right in front of them, they still want to confuse right and wrong. It’s not that they don’t understand the truth, but they are unwilling to admit their mistakes.
Therefore, the group of people who hated Li Qi from the beginning did not feel any guilt or any other emotions. Instead, they hated Li Qi even more and were determined to smear her even more to show that they had never been wrong!
"We don't believe Lord Feng is such a person. He must have been seduced by a witch!"
"No fly bites an egg without a crack. Lord Feng must not be a good person!"
"No wonder I protected her before, no wonder!"
"What are these officials waiting for? The time has come, why hasn't the execution been carried out yet? What is the emperor doing? Things have become so chaotic, why haven't we heard any news from the palace yet?"
“…”
"Eunuch Li is here!" Amidst the voices coming one after another, a deep and powerful voice suddenly mixed into the noisy crowd. Li Qi looked over the noisy crowd and saw Li Ke holding a black box and galloping towards him on his horse with the whip waving.
Li Ke grabbed the reins and whipped the horse hard. The horse rushed over with a cry, and its galloping hooves trampled countless people on the ground. Those people fell to the ground in pain, crying out in pain.
Li Ke did not stop, and rushed into the crowd with more than 20 guards behind him, making a path for himself.
The horse galloped in front of Li Qi. Li Ke suddenly pulled the reins, and the wind blew his eunuch uniform in the air. He jumped off the horse, personally holding the box and handed it to Chen Hu who was standing next to Li Qi. He smiled and said in a voice that only a few people could hear:
"This case is Mr. Chen's only chance to turn things around, so we must investigate it thoroughly."
After Li Ke finished speaking, he didn't look at anyone and stepped aside.
Chen Hu looked at Li Ke's meaningful eyes, his heart beating for no reason. He opened the box under everyone's gaze, and what he saw was an imperial edict to confer the title of concubine.
The imperial edict that had previously appointed Li Qi as a concubine.
It was postponed for various reasons. Now that Feng Siji has taken the blame and those who opposed Emperor Liang taking a concubine have been imprisoned, the matter has been put on the agenda again.
Chen Hu looked at Li Ke with some embarrassment.
Li Ke looked back at him with a forced smile.
Chen Hu pondered his meaning for a while, closed the box, and concealed the imperial edict inside. After all, Feng Siji had just announced his relationship with Li Qi in public. If the imperial edict was made public again, it would only cause an uproar.
The king and his ministers are crazy about a witch. What will happen if it gets out?
But no matter what, Li Qi could no longer carry out the execution.
Chen Hu took a deep breath and pointed at the soldiers, saying, "You, you, and you, quickly untie the county lady, arrest the real murderer, and send him to prison! The case of the queen is very complicated and requires further investigation!"
The soldiers stepped forward and uncuffed Li Qi.
With a click, Li Qi was free. She looked at the soldiers and turned around to put the shackles on Feng Siji.
The shackles were a bit heavy and caused a slight pain on his skin. Feng Siji thought he was quite resistant to pain. If he could feel uncomfortable, what about Li Qi?
He looked over and saw red marks on her wrists and ankles.
Chen Hu then shouted loudly: "Take him away!"
The people were very dissatisfied with the result and wanted to cause trouble, but they were suppressed by Dong Linche's troops.
Just like that, Feng Siji and He Mu were treated as accomplices and imprisoned together.
The Qingqi Temple is in ruins and no longer has the popularity it once had.
People's gazes, some of hatred, some of fear, and some of awe, swept over her one by one, but Li Qi was not afraid at all and ignored them. She did not look at Shan Min for fear of exposing the fact that all this was just Feng Siji's plan.
She walked alone to the outside of Qingqi Temple. There was a standard carriage parked outside, with the curtains in bright red, which was a nice touch.
"County Lady," Li Ke brought his men up and said behind her, "Are you going to enter the palace now?"
Li Qi looked up at the dome. The sun was hanging high in the sky like a big golden disc. The bright light was pouring down like hope, making the bright red curtains of the carriage shimmer.
She seemed to have not seen such bright sunshine for a long time.
Li Qi clasped her fingers and said, "Let's go to the prison first."
Since the He family has fallen into Feng Siji's plan, it is her turn to deal with He Zhangjing.
-
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Feng Siji was imprisoned in the same cell where Li Qi was previously imprisoned.
It was no different from before Li Qi left, except that the mattress was a little messier, the books were a little older, and the haystack was a little damper.
There were people all around. Li Qi didn't talk to Feng Siji. She stood in the corridor and watched Chen Hu slowly lock the cell door.
In the cell, Feng Siji leaned against the wall with his head down, avoiding looking at Li Qi.
Chen Hu locked the door, turned around, glanced awkwardly at Li Ke, and then bowed to Li Qi before saying, "Lord Feng said you were husband and wife in front of so many people. It's inevitable that people will suspect you're a couple or something else. In short, to avoid trouble, please don't admit your relationship with him after you leave."
Li Qi stared at Feng Siji in the cell. After hearing Chen Hu's words, he frowned slightly, cleared his throat and wanted to speak, but in the end he did not open his mouth.
Li Qi nodded to Chen Hu.
Chen Hu continued, "I will announce to the public that the case still needs further investigation and delay the execution. I won't let Lord Feng execute the person too early. Therefore, I'm afraid Miss He Mu can't be executed too early..."
Li Qi said, "I understand."
Chen Hu breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought she would be difficult to deal with. He straightened his back slightly, pointed to the front of the corridor and said, "County Lady, please follow me."
He walked around Li Qi and led the way.
Li Qi was a little confused by his sudden respect. She took a last look at Feng Siji and quickened her pace to catch up with Chen Hu.
Li Ke followed closely behind her.
The prison corridor was long and dark, and big rats would occasionally jump out from under Li Qi's skirt, but she ignored them and followed Chen Hu calmly to a relatively spacious and bright cell.
There were two people locked up inside, and the small window on the wall cast sunlight on them. Li Qi saw their faces and found that they were He Rucheng and his son.
The father and son sat at a small table, each sitting on their own side. The older man, perhaps worried about his family, looked much older than before, his cloudy eyes dull, his hair greying, and he seemed to have aged ten years overnight.
The younger one was still well-dressed, with clear features and a hint of elegance and coldness in his serene eyes.
He raised his eyes to look at Li Qi and saw that she was still wearing prison clothes, but no longer in shackles. Chen Hu had a humble look on his face, and Li Ke followed behind her in silence. It was obvious that she was no longer the same as them and had escaped the status of a prisoner.
He Zhangjing snorted lightly and laughed sarcastically: "Don't be too proud. I can destroy Yunzhou, but I can also kill a little refugee like you from Yunzhou."
Li Qi also laughed, standing by the prison door, her eyes looking down at her with a sharp gaze: "Don't be too proud, the He family and Qingqi Temple are just like my former county lord's mansion."
He Zhangjing was stunned.
Of course, he knew what Li Qi meant by "before". The county lady's mansion was attacked by the angry crowd, smashed and captured, and turned into ruins.
He Zhangjing's gaze shifted to Chen Hu. "It's you? How dare you turn against us?"
He Rucheng, who had both legs intact, suddenly rushed over, stretched out his hands from the wooden bars of the cell, and grabbed Chen Hu's collar. Before he could say anything, Chen Hu kicked him away: "Get out!"
Chen Hu glared at him with disdain and ordered someone to open the cell door.
He Rucheng was kicked to the ground, holding his chest and coughing up blood. Blood dripped onto his chest, staining his white prison uniform red.
Chen Hu covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief, walked to the wall, and kicked He Zhangjing. "Get up, you cripple! Crawl before the county lady and beg her to spare your life. Otherwise, I can't save you. Someone told me to hand you over to the county lady myself."
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