Chapter 195 Reactions from All Sides
Li San Niang was already asleep, while some people were still burning the midnight oil, working overtime to process documents.
Zhuque Avenue, the Ministry of War.
Since Xu Jingzhen moved out of the Duke of Ying's mansion and demonstrated by his actions that he would follow Emperor Wu's lead, he had completely broken ties with the Duke of Ying's mansion in public.
For reasons unknown, Emperor Wu directly appointed Xu Jingzhen to a position in the Ministry of War.
Because the matter that Emperor Wu entrusted to Xu Jingzhen was particularly complicated, it could be said that it was both independent of the four departments of the Ministry of War, yet inextricably linked to them.
Therefore, they simply created a separate department called the Assistant Manager to handle affairs.
Xu Jingzhen was the newly appointed secretary of the Ministry of War's Assistant Department.
Xu Jingzhen was in charge of part of the street assassination and riot involving Li San Niang, which involved the Imperial Guards, the Bad People, and the Jingzhao Prefecture.
Although a day and a night had passed, Xu Jingzhen was still busy until late at night dealing with the issues and reporting the matters that needed to be addressed.
After finishing reading the last document, Xu Jingzhen rubbed his forehead. He had only slept for two or three hours each day for the past two days. Even though Xu Jingzhen was a martial artist who had trained his body since childhood, he still felt exhausted.
The government office was quite generous with its lighting; although the room wasn't exactly bright as day, it was still brighter than the dim yellow oil lamps that were common in ordinary households.
Xu Jingzhen took out the tortoise shell, which he had wrapped in a handkerchief and which had been thrown away to save Li Sanniang that day and was now in pieces, from his bosom.
Xu Jingzhen stared at the tortoise shell for a long while, feeling a mix of tenderness and bewilderment.
This tortoise shell has been with Xu Jingzhen for over ten years. It was a gift from his master, who taught him divination, when he first entered the Taoist school.
His master had never told him what it would mean if the tortoise shell were to break one day.
But it couldn't be anything good. After wrapping it up again and putting it back in his arms, Xu Jingzhen called his servant to return to the small courtyard where he was temporarily staying.
After leaving the Ministry of War, walk along Zhuque Avenue to the end to reach the Imperial City. Enter the Imperial City and walk further in to reach Taiji Palace. Pass through Taiji Palace to reach Daming Palace, and finally stop at Xuande Hall.
Emperor Wu, wearing a cloak, was also working late into the night, reviewing memorials.
Unlike Xu Jingzhen, Emperor Wu had two other people accompanying him below him.
As Emperor Wu scribbled on the memorials submitted by his court officials with his vermilion brush, he muttered under his breath, "I've been saying this for so many years. When they submit their memorials, they should just say what they have to say. Why do they have to use flowery language to show me? Do I need to read what they write if I want to read something?"
After waiting for a quarter of an hour, once Emperor Wu had finished reviewing the memorials, Wang Da Dang came out and served tea to all three of them. Only then did Emperor Wu have time to listen to Xue Yao and Mr. Bu Ke's investigation and judgment regarding the Temple Gate and that so-called Holy Son.
"In other words, the reason why that Holy Son is making these little moves is simply to overthrow my rule and want to sit on the chair under my butt himself."
Although Xue Yao had long known that Emperor Wu presented a very different side to her confidants than he did to the ministers during court sessions.
He's rather straightforward.
But Xue Yao found Emperor Wu's summary at this moment very awkward.
These words coming from Emperor Wu's mouth sounded as if the Holy Son of the Temple Gate was a bandit leader from some mountain stronghold, and that he was coming to rob the bandit leader of another mountain stronghold, which was Emperor Wu's wealth and possessions.
Xue Yao mentally scoffed, but continued without changing his expression: "Your Majesty, based on the intelligence we have so far, the Holy Temple has been lying in ambush in Chang'an for a long time. They just haven't made any effort to cause trouble before. If it weren't for the Li San Niang incident, and if their Holy Son hadn't insisted on establishing his authority, they wouldn't have deliberately created such a big scene, and we wouldn't have been able to discover it."
Mr. Bu Ke took over the conversation: "Sage, I have also obtained some information from the small fry we captured. Following Commander Xue's method, we should be able to find some clues within ten days. Moreover, we have made some progress in the Turkic rebellion case and the case of the lost military seal. However, if we want to close the net, it will still take some time."
"They're nothing but a rabble. Well, report back to me when you have the results. You may leave."
"promise."
"promise."
The leader whom Emperor Wu called the mob, the Holy Son of the Temple Gate, was still hiding in another residence in the West Market.
The Holy Son, still dressed in a bright red robe, sat by the window on the second floor, watching the West Market still bustling with prosperity under the night sky.
Behind the Holy Son, the man in black, who was kneeling on one knee, bowed and said, "My lord, the fox has been captured and imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison used by Xue Yao's personal guards. It will take some effort to kill him."
The Holy Son tilted his head back and poured some wine into his mouth. After swallowing, he didn't answer his subordinate's question. Instead, he stood up and pointed at the lights in the West Market with his finger. "Such a prosperous and bustling scene is really tempting to destroy."
After a few breaths, the Holy Son continued, "Spend more money and kill him as soon as possible. He knows too much. The longer we keep him alive, the more information the Bad People can dig out, which is not good for us."
"yes."
...
When Li San Niang woke up in the morning, she didn't know if it was because the calming soup her father had given her the night before had worked, or if she herself was already so strong, but she didn't have a single nightmare during the night.
Of course, it's also very possible that she had a nightmare, but Li San Niang doesn't remember it anymore.
After getting ready, Qiu Xiang and Li San Niang went out. They didn't call a car on the street today, because even if they did, they doubted anyone would dare to take Li San Niang to her shift.
It's human nature to seek advantage and avoid harm; there's nothing more to say about that.
Although Song Dalang was still injured and resting in bed, the donkey and the carriage were still in the Li family's backyard.
Li Erxiong decided to personally drive the donkey cart to take Li Sanniang and Qiuxiang to their shifts. Before getting on the donkey cart, Li Sanniang patted the donkey's rump and said, "Second brother, this donkey is quite bold. It wasn't scared by such a big scene the other day."
Brother Li Er really didn't expect that even though Sister Li San was quite old, she would still go out of her way to pat the donkey's rump. "Don't you mind that it's dirty? It's not that it's brave, it's just that it's slow to react. It was so scared that it didn't run around and throw you out of the carriage. If it were a horse, it would have been startled long ago."
Just before leaving, Sister-in-law Li ran from her house to the door to ask Third Sister Li if she had brought her household registration certificate. "Your eldest brother said last night that they check household registration certificates when people come in and out. Did you bring it?"
Li San Niang patted her chest, "I brought my sister-in-law with me, I haven't forgotten."
Thus, Li San Niang was able to set off smoothly, riding in the carriage driven by Li Er Xiong towards Yongpingfang.
"I'll have to trouble you, Second Brother, for the next few days. It will take at least half a month for Song Dalang to recover. And given my current predicament, it won't be good to ask him to drive for me again. I'm afraid I'll have to borrow someone from Mr. Bu Ke again."
Li Erxiong didn't turn around. He pulled on the reins and gently cracked the whip to make the donkey turn. "It's alright. I'll just pick you up and drop you off sooner or later. However, it's really not good to let Song Jia Dalang drive the carriage anymore. His head injury is quite serious. If we can borrow someone from Mr. Bu Ke, that would be very appropriate."
Qiu Xiang then asked, "Third Sister, would you like me to pass on a message to the Master?"
Li San Niang thought for a moment and nodded: "Alright, you can help pass on a message. The sooner we send someone, the sooner my second brother can rest."
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