Chapter 191 Prison
Xiao Yuan looked at the dim cell and sighed, hoping that the prince would not be stupid enough to plead for him.
Governor Xiao's absence from his post without permission caused an uproar in the court.
Someone immediately linked him to the incident where Zuo Xiang assassinated the Second Prince and broke his leg.
Some even said that Xiao Yuan had never left the capital, and that both the Jiangnan auction and the Xuzhou disaster relief were done by a stand-in.
And Xiao Yuan must be planning something big while hiding in the capital.
The governor of Dongchang is a man of high power. It must be a big deal for him to do something secretly while disregarding his official duties.
As for what it is, the answer is obvious!
Some people immediately retorted that since Governor Xiao had been loyal for so many years, he should be allowed to defend himself in court and clear up everyone's doubts.
This question is for everyone. Even if Governor Xiao is not in the capital to provide disaster relief, he may have a reason to come back.
It is hard to convince the public to convict someone without asking any questions.
When the people arranged by Zhang Zhongyi heard someone say this, they immediately agreed.
Once the person is caught and locked up, he will naturally be tried. However, Governor Xiao is a dangerous person with great martial arts skills, so for the sake of the emperor's safety he should not be allowed to attend the court.
What does Dali Temple do?
What does the Ministry of Justice do?
Why can't so many people judge Xiao Yuan? Why must the emperor judge him personally?
Officials who were on good terms with Xiao Yuan immediately refuted the allegation.
Dongchang itself was independent of the judicial system and had taken over many cases from the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple over the years.
These two places have always been in competition with the East Factory, and now the East Factory Supervisor has fallen into their hands...
Haha, the authenticity of this confession is questionable.
The old emperor looked at the quarrel and angrily shouted before shutting up and walking away, but he said nothing about Xiao Yuan's punishment.
The recent series of events made him upset and confused, and the words of the prince's youngest son made him suspect that Xiao Yuan had sided with the prince.
The old emperor recalled the changes in the court over the past few months and also tasted something.
Although it is not obvious, officials from the prince's lineage are indeed living a better life, while many supporters of the second and third sons have made mistakes one after another.
How could he not understand his own sons?
The third child is the most cunning one, and the second child has the most power.
The prince has lost his fighting spirit due to his own wear and tear, and is only supported by members of the royal family and a group of old-fashioned people who uphold orthodoxy.
But that group of people can't accomplish anything, and he doesn't believe that there are no powerful officials interfering here.
There were only a few powerful officials in the court who could do this. Zhang Zhongyi was the father-in-law of the second son, and the Duke of Ying was the father-in-law of the third son.
After some calculations, although it cannot be confirmed that it is Xiao Yuan, he is also a strong suspect.
Xiao Yuan was the sword he cultivated himself, and he never favored any one prince but followed his lead.
Now he has abandoned his job and come to the capital without informing his master. He really can't trust him anymore.
Xiao Ling watched the emperor in deep thought, feeling anxious but not daring to show it on his face. In his heart, he couldn't help but blame his younger brother for being so troublesome.
If you have any problem, at least let me know. It is not something you can do to do such a big thing rashly.
If you don't do things in a timely manner, you will get nothing even if you work yourself to death.
It would be a big mistake if you didn't tell your master even if something big happened.
After all, Xiao Yuan had been the supervisor of Dongchang for so many years and had great connections. Even though he was imprisoned, he had sent out news that told the prince to stay calm.
Just to avoid arousing suspicion, he didn't dare to improve his living conditions too much. It was a rare hardship for him in all these years.
As for prison cells, it is normal for them to be dark, damp, and full of snakes, insects, rats and ants.
In addition, his legs and private parts were rubbed raw from running thousands of miles, and even after applying medicine, some infection occurred.
The first two days were fine; his people could come in at will and deliver some clean towels and water.
Unexpectedly, on the third day, they all disappeared. I guess something happened at the East Factory.
It is true that something unexpected happened at the East Factory.
The old emperor promoted Chen Kuo to the position of interim governor, and Chen Kuo took the opportunity to purge many people.
Someone reminded the old emperor that he had replaced all the guards in the prison cells with imperial guards, and even brought two of his own personal dragon guards over.
Xiao Yuan took the opportunity to ask for paper and pen and wrote a report to the old emperor, saying that he was assassinated on the way to disaster relief, and the captured assassin revealed that Zhang Zhongyi wanted to murder the emperor.
Although disaster relief was important, the emperor was more important, which was why he rushed back from thousands of miles away to rescue the emperor.
It’s a pity that this report fell on deaf ears, and the old emperor neither examined nor questioned it nor released it.
Xiao Yuan had a bad feeling, but he didn't dare to act rashly as he had no news from the outside world.
The first effort is powerful, the second will weaken and the third will be exhausted.
It would have been easy for Xiao Yuan to fight his way out when he was first locked up, but things hadn't come to that point yet. If he really escaped, then his reason would have become unreasonable.
Maybe Zhang Zhongyi was waiting for him to escape, and in order to prevent him from succeeding, he had to suffer this punishment.
He just overestimated his body.
The cell environment was terrible and he did not have any change of clothes. Even after taking medicine, the infection in his private parts could not be suppressed.
The pain was not the most troublesome thing. The most troublesome thing was that he had a fever.
The news of Xiao Yuan's illness was reported quickly, and he was also betting on what the old emperor's attitude towards him was now.
As long as the old emperor sends the imperial physician, it proves that he still has a chance. If he is left to fend for himself, it means that he wants to give up on him.
By then, he had no choice but to give it a try.
So what if he is a traitor?
What if Qianli escapes?
He has enjoyed a lot of blessings and suffered a lot in his life.
The most important thing now is to live well and grow old with my wife.
Death is a small matter. He is just afraid that after his death his wife will remarry and sleep with another man.
What if the lady finds out about the man's good qualities and regrets sleeping with him? He would probably be so angry that he would lose his soul.
There are thousands of reasons for not wanting to die, and Governor Xiao's is unprecedented and unparalleled.
There are men who are afraid that their wives will remarry, but it is nothing more than the men's self-esteem at work and they don't want to be cuckolded.
But Lord Xiao is different. Of course he doesn't want to be cuckolded, but he is more afraid of losing in a competition of skills in bed.
The old emperor's confidant reported that Xiao Yuan had a fever and was seriously ill, but he did not receive a response for a long time and was doomed that night.
It is not appropriate to say that it was a jailbreak. It was an assassination and a jailbreak. It is obvious that it was committed by two groups of people.
The old emperor delayed in dealing with Xiao Yuan because he knew that many of Xiao Yuan's subordinates would be in turmoil if one move was made. He did not dare to act rashly before Chen Kuang completely controlled Dongchang.
But he really didn't want to use Xiao Yuan anymore.
According to the imperial physician, Zhang Zhongyi only has a few days left to live. He also asked the prince's youngest son, who said he had heard his father tell others that Dongchang would help him with everything.
The prince's youngest son was only 8 years old and started crying when he was threatened. The old emperor asked him repeatedly and finally the child did not lie.
But in fact, the prince never said that.
The child did not lie, but what he heard was just a eunuch who was good at ventriloquism imitating the prince's speech behind the rockery and he mistook him for his father.
The old emperor did not trust Xiao Yuan, so Zhang Zhongyi finally dared to take action. Especially when he got the news that Xiao Yuan was ill, he felt that God was helping him and immediately sent out a killer.
On the surface, they were going to rob the prison, but in fact they wanted to take the opportunity to get rid of him. Even if they failed to get rid of him, it would confirm Xiao Yuan's crime of escaping from prison.
The imperial guards were no match for these killers. They chopped open Xiao Yuan's cell door while shouting at the governor to flee.
Even though Xiao Yuan was fainting from the fever, his kung fu was still there. How could he be fooled by such a fake trick? He snatched the sword from the assassin's hand and stabbed him.
Zuo Xiang's first order was to kill Xiao Yuan once and for all. Now that Xiao Yuan refused to leave, the assassin took ruthless action.
He even smashed the clay jar filled with tung oil, intending to die with everyone in the cell.
Xiao Yuan had been locked up for a few days with insufficient food and water, and his body was burning. When the fire started, he was immediately dizzy from the smoke.
Just when he thought he was going to confess, he suddenly saw a man being smashed into the cell entrance.
Several assassins surrounding him were knocked down by the corpse and rolled into the fire, but before he fell, he heard a sound like heavenly music.
"Husband!"
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