"Li Gang! Don't go too far. Without the grace of Your Majesty, I don't think anyone would dare to search my residence." Li Bangyan knew that Li Gang was daring and daring, so he also tore off his face.
Li Gang said slowly, "Prime Minister Li, your son, Li Xiaoyi, was wearing a dress with gold buttons when he went to Zuixinglou that day. The buttons in the deceased's hand are exactly the same as those on Prime Minister Li's son's clothes. What else do you have to say, Prime Minister Li?"
It turned out that Zhao Huan had just told Li Gang about this matter in his ear, so Li Gang moved out.
Li Bangyan was shocked. His youngest son did have a gold-threaded jacket. This little bastard was capable of anything. Jin Cuilian was most likely his doing. He couldn't have messed with anyone else, so he had to mess with Li Gang. His forehead was covered in sweat.
"Even if the deceased had this gold button on his hand, we cannot conclude that it was worn by my son." Li Bangyan argued.
Li Gang smiled and said, "Yes, is it the one worn by your young master? Send someone to search Li Xiang's residence and we'll know. As long as the buttons on Li Xiang's clothes are intact, then Li Xiang's suspicion will naturally be eliminated. Otherwise, it is likely that the young master of Li Xiang's family is implicated."
"That's fine. You can search my residence. Lord Li Gang, please go to His Majesty and ask Him to issue an edict."
"Li Bangyan!" Li Gang was also furious: "Everyone knows that if I enter the palace, you can turn black into white right now. Okay, Zhan Yunpeng!"
"exist."
"You stay here and watch over them. I'll go back to the palace to find the emperor."
Li Bangyan saw that the situation was not good, so he said, "I came here in a hurry today. Erhu, go home and tell my wife to move the pot of Clivia in my backyard outside to get some sunshine."
The attendant beside Li Bangyan bowed and said, "I will return right away."
"Who dares!" Li Gang shouted, "Li Bangyan, do you want to go home and destroy the body?"
"Li Gang, I am the Prime Minister of the current dynasty. Do you think you can restrict my activities based on your own assumptions? Let me tell you, unless the emperor issues an order, Li Bangyan can go wherever he wants and go home whenever he wants!"
Now that things have come to this, even if Li Bangyan is suspected by others, even if he is suspected by the emperor in the future, he must go home and ask his youngest son to burn the clothes.
Li Gang doesn't care about his tricks. Are those who dare to break into the palace afraid of your intimidation?
"Zhan Yunpeng, keep these people under surveillance. Anyone who dares to leave this yamen will be killed without mercy!"
Zhan Yunpeng said: "Yes, sir!"
"You, you..." Li Bangyan pointed at Li Gang angrily, and then said to Xu Bingzhe: "Sir Xu, Li Gang detained me innocently, what do you say?"
Xu Bingzhe and Li Bangyan were on the same boat, so he ordered the yamen runners: "Whoever dares to stop the prime minister will be arrested!"
The yamen runners drew their swords and surrounded the crowd. The Kaifeng prefect had more than twenty yamen runners on duty, and no matter how skilled Zhan Yunpeng was, he couldn't stop so many people. If just one of them escaped to Prime Minister Li's residence and destroyed the gold-threaded coat, there would be no evidence.
The entire Kaifeng prefecture was on edge, with countless people gathering outside the government office. This was the first time he had ever seen officials protecting and fighting each other, and it was even the first time he had ever seen knives being used in Kaifeng. Old Man Jin was terrified.
At this moment, Zhao Huan took off his hat and looked at Li Bangyan coldly.
Li Bangyan was so frightened that his soul left his body and he was stunned. Looking at Xu Bingzhe, his legs were shaking like sieves and he collapsed to the ground.
Just then, footsteps could be heard outside. Cao Dongsheng, leading a large group of imperial guards, rushed in. The crowd outside the door moved aside, for now it was even more exciting to watch; the imperial guards had arrived.
The scene freezes. Zhao Huan, holding his bamboo hat in his right hand, glares coldly at Li Bangyan. Li Bangyan is frozen in his tracks, Xu Bingzhe a puddle of mud. Zhan Yunpeng prepares to fight, Li Gang stands with his hands behind his back. Yamen runners, swords drawn, surround the group.
"The Emperor has arrived!" Cao Dongsheng and the eunuch in charge of official robes walked towards Zhao Huan, holding the dragon robe.
The yamen runners were so frightened that they threw their swords to the ground. They knelt on the ground and trembled. This was the end of them. This was a heinous crime punishable by the death of nine generations of their clan.
Everyone outside the door was shocked to see the Emperor in person. They all knelt, and Li Bangyan knelt with a thud, sweat dripping down his forehead.
Xu Bingzhe turned into a mollusk and lay paralyzed there as if he had no bones.
Zhao Huan threw the hat in his hand onto Li Bangyan's head, and Li Bangyan shuddered with fear.
The Shangyi official put the dragon robe on Zhao Huan, and Zhao Huan walked towards the court wearing the dragon robe.
Xu Bingzhe looked at Zhao Huan and slid down from his seat.
Zhao Huan patted him, took off his long-winged hat, and made a "please" gesture.
"Please, Master Xu."
Xu Bingzhe supported himself on the ground with his hands and crawled to the bottom of the hall like a dog. The judge became the one being judged.
Zhao Huan sat in the hall and slammed the gavel: "Today, I will try the murder case of Jin Cui Lian for you, Zhan Yunpeng!"
"exist!"
"Quickly take the imperial guards to Prime Minister Li's residence. If you find that gold-threaded shirt, arrest Li Xiaoyi immediately!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Zhan Yunpeng led a dozen imperial guards to Li's residence.
But before Zhan Yunpeng could walk out of the yamen, Li Xiaoyi rushed in with a group of ruffians.
"Whoever dares to bully my dad, beat him up!"
Li Xiaoyi perfectly embodies the concept of "not asking for trouble" (不貴死). Hearing that his father had gone to Kaifeng Prefecture to look for Li Gang, Li Xiaoyi, fearing his father would suffer, hurried to Kaifeng Prefecture with a group of ruffians.
Li Xiaoyi started yelling before he even stepped through the gate. He was stunned when he entered. He had never seen the emperor before, but he recognized the dragon robe. Seeing his father also kneeling on the ground, he was frightened and knelt down in kowtow.
What’s worse is that Li Xiaoyi was still wearing that gold-threaded shirt, but the first row of buttons on his chest was missing.
Everyone was delighted when they saw this. Li Bangyan sat down, knowing that his son's life was in danger.
"Catch this murderer Li Xiaoyi!" Zhao Huan pointed at Li Xiaoyi and slammed the gavel. He found that the gavel was more effective than anything else. As long as he slammed it, the people in the hall would tremble.
Li Xiaoyi was still confused. He struggled to look at Li Bangyan lying on the ground and called out, "Dad."
Li Bangyan supported himself on the ground with his right hand and pointed at him with his trembling left hand: "Rebellious son, surrender to the law quickly!"
"Xu Bingzhe!"
Xu Bingzhe was already frightened out of his wits. The mollusk crawled on the ground and said, "Your Majesty."
"As the prefect of Kaifeng, you cannot distinguish right from wrong and confuse right and wrong. Take off your official uniform and take you to the Heavenly Prison. You will be executed in the autumn!"
"Your Majesty, please spare my life. Please spare my life!" Xu Bingzhe immediately screamed like a pig being slaughtered.
PS: I am not very satisfied with the writing of this chapter. It does not express the feeling of blood boiling.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
