When Wu Ge brought Li Bangyan to the prison, Li Xiaoyi had just finished his interrogation. The two met in the prison corridor.
Li Xiaoyi had suffered a lot, and his whole body was covered in blood. After all, he was his own son, and Li Bangyan could not help but feel heartbroken when he saw him.
"How are you, little one?"
Li Xiaoyi saw his father coming in and couldn't help but feel ashamed. He said weakly: "Dad, it's me who hurt you. Wuuwuwu~" and burst into tears.
Li Bangyan sighed: "Alas, son. This is not your fault. This prison is not a place for human beings. Daddy doesn't blame you."
"Dad," Li Xiaoyi suddenly remembered something and felt he had to explain it to his father. So he struggled: "Dad, it wasn't me. It was your Ninth Madam who seduced me first. I'm an unfilial child."
Li Xiaoyi thought his father had known about it for a long time, but Li Bangyan was actually keeping it a secret. Upon hearing this, he could not help but feel a mixture of shock and anger. He pointed at Li Xiaoyi and said, "You, you little bastard!" He lost his breath and fainted on the spot.
"Dad!" Li Xiaoyi screamed and struggled desperately. Wu Ge waved his hand, and two jailers escorted Li Xiaoyi into the cell.
Two more jailers helped Li Bangyan up. The remaining poison in Li Bangyan's body, coupled with his anger, made him faint. After a while, he finally woke up.
"Help Li Youcheng to the cell over there. The emperor has ordered that Li Youcheng be treated well. Those who disobey will be executed!" Wu Ge looked at Li Bangyan: "Li Youcheng, the emperor has ordered that you must not be treated poorly. His Majesty is being very lenient with you."
Li Bangyan was often favored by Huizong. Zhao Ji even gave him a portrait of Emperor Taizu of Song and asked him to hang it in his hall.
But Li Bangyan was not flattered by this. He always thought that these were what he deserved and were earned through his own hard work.
At this moment, when he heard Wu Ge's words that the emperor had ordered him not to be treated with disrespect, he felt deeply guilty. He felt that he had let down the Song Dynasty and the people, and finally his conscience came to his senses and he burst into tears.
Wu Geben was an official in the same palace with him, and although he did not get along with him on a daily basis, Li Bangyan had made some contributions to the Song Dynasty, otherwise he would not have been able to climb to the position of Junior Prime Minister and Right Prime Minister.
Wu Ge sighed and said, "Li Youcheng, if I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have done it in the first place."
Just as the two jailers were about to help Li Bangyan walk from the corridor to the cell, a voice called out, "The Emperor has arrived!" Everyone knelt down.
Zhao Huan walked in with Cao Dongsheng, who was holding a wooden box in his hand. Zhao Huan saw Li Bangyan kneeling on the ground.
"Everyone, get up. Li Bangyan, I'm here to see you."
Li Bangyan stood up tremblingly, tears streaming down his face. He stretched out his sleeve to wipe away his tears and said: "Your Majesty, I deserve to die!"
Zhao Huan said nothing. He personally walked over and helped Li Bangyan walk into the prison. Li Bangyan was flattered and followed him tremblingly.
"Everyone, get out of here!" Zhao Huan helped Li Bangyan into the prison.
Cao Dongsheng was worried about Zhao Huan's safety: "Your Majesty."
Zhao Huan said angrily: "Can't you hear what I say?"
Everyone had no choice but to leave.
Apart from the prisoners in other rooms, only Zhao Huan and Li Bangyan were left in the cell.
This cell is the best room. It is good because it has a brick bed.
Zhao Huan found a place at the head of the kang and sat down. He extended his hand and said, "Bang Yan, I came to see you today. I want to talk to you. Come, sit down."
Li Bangyan wiped his tears and sat down.
"I have already spanked you since the first day of my morning court session upon ascending the throne. Do you bear a grudge against me?"
"Your Majesty, I dared not do that. At that time, I simply felt that Your Majesty was acting too impulsively and was unfit for such a great responsibility."
Zhao Huan raised his head and looked at the roof. "I know. You are too pessimistic and negative. You always think we can't defeat the Jin people. Oh, and that Bai Shizhong is the same as you."
Li Bangyan knelt down and said: "I know I was wrong. Your Majesty drove the Jin thieves out of the Yellow River, which shows your wisdom. I was wrong about your Majesty."
Zhao Huan quickly helped him up and said, "Today, we, the king and his subject, are just opening our hearts and talking about what's really going on. Oh, look at my brain."
Zhao Huan slapped his forehead as he spoke, and he went outside to bring in the wooden box that Cao Dongsheng had brought.
"Look what I brought you."
Zhao Huan placed the wooden box on the kang and opened it. The aroma of wine filled his nose. A pot of old wine and four small dishes.
"Come, I'll have a couple of drinks with you. No need to be polite, I just want to chat with you."
Li Bangyan also understood that since he was about to die, he simply ignored it. Zhao Huan poured him some wine, and he hurriedly brought it over.
"Bang Yan, you did not agree to open the west gate to let the Jin thieves in. This shows that you still have feelings for the Song Dynasty and for me. Come, I'll toast you a glass!" Zhao Huan held up the wine glass.
Li Bangyan clinked glasses with him and they both drank it in one gulp.
"Good wine!" Li Bangyan touched his mouth, and Zhao Huan filled his glass again.
"Your Majesty, I am guilty of a crime that does not warrant death, but I am still a citizen of the Song Dynasty."
Zhao Huan nodded. "But you killed the Song Dynasty's Western Frontier Army and Yao Pingzhong. Which emperor would let you go? Which common people would forgive you?"
Li Bangyan drank the wine again and said: "One misstep will bring eternal regret. Li Bangyan has no face to face the people of the Song Dynasty, no face to face the people of the world. I wish to die!"
Zhao Huan admired his courage: "I promise you, I won't touch your family. But I won't let Li Xiaoyi go."
Li Bangyan was surprised and delighted when he heard this. According to the rules, his entire family would be executed and his entire clan would be exterminated. He immediately knelt down in panic and kowtowed until his head was broken and bleeding.
"Okay, okay, didn't I tell you? You have no manners." Zhao Huan regretted saying this to him too early.
"No. Your Majesty, I am sincerely grateful. Your Majesty repays grievances with kindness, and I am deeply moved. I have no words to express it, so just let me kowtow a few times." As he said this, he began to kowtow again.
After bowing, Li Bangyan sat back on the kang. He smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I have misjudged you. With a wise ruler like you, the Song Dynasty will not perish. Hahahaha."
Zhao Huan smiled bitterly and said, "I don't dare to be called a wise ruler, but I am a foolish ruler. Come, have a drink!"
That night, Zhao Huan and Li Bangyan talked a lot, sometimes crying and sometimes laughing at each other.
They drank until the bottom of the pot was empty, and then they calmed down.
After a while, Li Bangyan said, "Your Majesty, do you think Yao Pingzhong will forgive me if I go to the underworld?"
Zhao Huan patted him and said, "Yes, as long as you sincerely repent."
Li Bangyan cried, tears rolling down his cheeks. This time they were tears of regret, tears of repentance.
Zhao Huan didn't say anything more. He stood up, left the cell, and walked out.
"Your Majesty," Li Bangyan called out to Zhao Huan as he reached the door, "Your Majesty, be careful of Guo Jing."
After saying this, Li Bangyan hit his head against the prison door post and died instantly.
Zhao Huan sighed and left the prison with his hands behind his back.
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