Chapter 317 The Man Behind the Scenes
Dead...dead...
Under the moonlight, Zhao Duan's mind buzzed, and his thoughts were delayed for a moment before he realized what had happened:
"Wang Chusheng? Dead? What happened?"
Chen Hong's face turned pale as he stared at her. For no reason, her momentum weakened, as if she had done something wrong. She said:
"Exactly. About half an hour ago, I suddenly received news that he had died in prison. It was the jailer who noticed he wasn't moving and went to check on him, and that's when he discovered him."
Zhao Duan stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "That's not what I'm asking! How could someone die?"
His first thought was that the person had been silenced.
At this sensitive juncture, the key witness suddenly died, and he couldn't help but make such speculations.
Chen Hong obviously knew what he was concerned about and hurriedly explained:
"We have been keeping a close watch on him. He is kept in a separate area of the prison, and anyone who has access to him is strictly screened to prevent any accidents."
But something still happened... Zhao Duan stared at him without saying a word, waiting for what would happen next.
Chen Hong said: "The coroner has conducted an emergency appraisal and said that he died suddenly, so he died silently. However, during the examination, they found a needle mark on his body.
We suspect he wasn't killed in the cell, but rather was attacked on his way to court for questioning. He might have been poisoned by some delayed onset poison...
But this is just speculation and has not been confirmed.”
The case was heard in court, with many people and many eyes... There were many people who had the opportunity to take action...
Zhao Duan took a deep breath and calmed himself down.
He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he had calmed down: "What is the situation now?"
Chen Hong quickly said, "Right now, the officials from the Three Judicial Departments have all been alarmed. Lord Yuan and his men have already gone to the palace overnight. They privately instructed me to come and inform you."
Zhao Duan was so angry that he laughed:
"What's the point of informing me? I'm not the presiding judge of the case! I brought him back from thousands of miles away, and he turned out to be dead!"
Chen Hong pursed her lips and explained:
"After all, you are the imperial envoy who arrested the person. Now that Wang Chusheng is dead, the conviction of the entire case will inevitably be complicated. Lord Yuan is worried that the news of his suicide out of fear of punishment may spread tomorrow..."
"Okay, let me think about it!" Zhao Duan waved his hand, put his fingers against his forehead, paced in front of his yard, his brain working rapidly.
The bad premonition finally came true.
Recalling the time when the two met in the afternoon, Chen Hong was still saying that with Wang Chusheng as a witness, the situation was fine. However, just a few hours later, he died.
Zhao Duan could not hide his anxiety, but more than that, he was in disbelief.
"Is Li Yanfu crazy? How dare he use such tactics in the capital?"
Zhao Duan didn't understand. This was completely different from the style of the prime minister he knew.
At least in his confrontation with the Li Party over the past few months, this old man who had experienced many ups and downs in the officialdom for many years showed more of the word "forbearance".
Even if they took action, it was within the "rules of the game" in officialdom. Such brutal means as directly overturning the table are really hard to imagine.
Perhaps this is also the key factor that caused omissions despite the three judicial departments having strengthened their protection:
No one thought that someone would actually dare to take such a risk and silence someone!
"Okay, I understand." Zhao Duan took a deep breath and spoke.
He realized that the most anxious person at the moment was not him, the retired imperial envoy. Even if the crime could not be convicted, it seemed that he could not be blamed.
So, you can completely stay out of it.
"Sir, please have a good rest. I will take my leave first." Chen Hong was only ordered to come to inform you. He took his leave and left after seeing the sudden change. He still had a lot of things to deal with.
…
On the same night, at the Prime Minister's Mansion.
When the news of Wang Chu's life and death came out, Li Yanfu got the news immediately.
At this moment, the lights in the Xiangguo Mansion's study were brightly lit, and several figures inside the room were reflected on the window paper.
“Bang!”
A blue and white porcelain cup was thrown out with great force. With a humming sound, it brushed the ear of a middle-aged man standing in the study, hit the closed door, and broke into two pieces.
The water splashing from the cup wet the man's luxurious clothes.
This handsome, well-mannered, and very refined middle-aged man just took out his handkerchief silently and wiped his shoulders and neck.
He calmly looked at the old man with a sullen look behind the long table in the study and said softly:
"Minister Li, please calm down. Anger is harmful to your health. If you get hurt by anger, I can't bear the blame. When I get home, the old lady at home will scold me."
Li Yanfu threw the cup away, but was still standing under a large vertical ink painting.
The inky angry dragon in the painting looked like a Dharma statue, hanging behind an old man in a red uniform, with messy hair and beard that was spread out due to his extreme anger.
"Anger is harmful to the body? Has your Shen family ever cared about this old man's bones? I'm afraid you just hope I die soon!"
Li Yanfu stared at the other person with a grim look.
When a powerful minister of a country gets angry, even though he is just an ordinary person, the room becomes like a dark cloud hanging over the sea.
The aura of the superior was like a raging sea, pressing down on the middle-aged man in the room and the "young cabinet minister" who was cautiously standing in the corner to reduce his presence, so that they dared not breathe.
The two of them were like ships on a raging sea, in danger of capsizing at any time.
"Father..." Finally, Li Yinglong mustered up the courage to ease the atmosphere, "Brother Shen was also anxious for a moment, and his concern was causing confusion."
Li Yanfu was so angry that he laughed.
He didn't look at his useless son next to him, but stared at the middle-aged man named Shen:
"You're so worried that you killed Wang Chusheng behind my back? Just to save your wife's brother? Do you think I'll believe it?! Is this your Shen family's idea, or your personal action? Nonsense!"
The middle-aged man surnamed Shen remained silent.
The Shen family of Jiancheng was a prominent family among the gentry in the south of Dayu River. It was also one of the largest families in Jiancheng Dao, and was also the family of Gao Lian's wife.
The middle-aged man was the second brother of Gao Lian’s wife and the younger brother of the head of the Shen family. He was the second most powerful person in the family besides the "ancestor" and the "head of the family".
It was also after the Taicang case that the representative of the Jiangnan Group hurried to Beijing to lobby in the past few days.
When Li Yanfu learned of Wang Chu's life and death, he thought of this person.
Unexpectedly, before anyone was sent to look for him, the other party came to visit and readily admitted it.
"Prime Minister Li, His Majesty gave the Three Judicial Departments only ten days to investigate and convict Gao Lian. Most of that time has already passed. While this has had some effect on public opinion both inside and outside the court, how can we save Gao Lian with just this?
If you want to overturn the verdict, Wang Chusheng is the key. Now that he is dead, there is room for maneuver..." The middle-aged man surnamed Shen explained patiently.
Li Yanfu stared at him with his pale grey eyes and said quietly:
"I see you're not trying to save him, but rather forcing the truth."
The handsome, well-mannered middle-aged man looked terrified: "I dare not..."
"Haha, I think you guys are very bold, but now, none of you take me seriously," Li Yanfu seemed to be laughing, but there was no smile at all.
"I have said repeatedly that there is still enough time. From now on, as long as we follow the procedures, I still have the means to postpone the case. By then, if you take any action again, His Majesty will naturally back down..."
The middle-aged man surnamed Shen bowed his head, seemingly humble, but interrupted:
"Prime Minister Li, you've been the party leader for so many years, have we ever disobeyed your orders? It's not that we don't want to, but the current situation is different from before.
Pei Kaizhi is still in jail, and the heartbreaking new policy is about to be implemented at my doorstep. Now, my wife's brother-in-law has also been imprisoned. My wife's brother-in-law worked hard on the silver mine, but how much did they get? Don't you also..."
"Shut up!" Li Yanfu was furious.
The middle-aged man surnamed Shen was "easy to follow good advice" and did not go into details about this topic. He said earnestly:
"Prime Minister Li, what we mean is that you have been in charge of the cabinet for many years, and we should not have any complaints. However, the current situation is changing every day, and you are old, so you may not be able to see the situation in the court clearly.
If we keep compromising, we know that it is a 'retreat to advance' and is for the sake of the overall situation, but when will this retreat ever end?
Regarding Wang Chusheng's matter, I was overreacting, but don't worry, since I dared to do it, this matter will not implicate outsiders. If Your Majesty wants to investigate, just investigate my Shen family."
These words were spoken with sincerity, but Li Yanfu only sneered.
How could he not understand that it didn't matter who controlled Wang Chu's life or death?
The important thing is that outsiders will think that he died at the hands of his Li family.
"...Now that things have come to this, the huge Li Party still has to rely on you, Prime Minister, to preside over the overall situation. If you are not happy, just punish me. Killing Wang Chusheng was my own act and has nothing to do with the old lady at home." said the middle-aged man surnamed Shen.
The smile on Li Yanfu's face disappeared.
She stared at him for a long time, then suddenly said, "Prince Jing has visited your Shen family, right?"
The middle-aged man in fancy clothes felt his heart tighten suddenly and raised his head, wanting to explain.
Li Yanfu waved his hands tiredly and said:
"Go away. I will take care of the aftermath of the Three Law Courts."
"Thank you, Prime Minister Li!" The middle-aged man showed a happy expression and bowed to say goodbye.
After everyone left, Li Yinglong, who had been standing in the corner, finally couldn't hold it in any longer and took two steps forward:
"Father, are you just going to let him go like this?"
Li Yanfu glanced at him coldly and said unhappily, "Or else?"
Li Yinglong's face was grim:
"Father, I'm afraid the Shen family has already become disloyal. They dared to act like this today, so they must have Prince Jing's backing. Humph, this group of ungrateful, white-eyed wolves, they keep saying that Gao Lian gave them money, but why don't they mention how much benefit they got? It's simply..."
At this moment, he turned into a mouthpiece, and his attitude was completely different from his previous attitude of always calling "Brother Chen".
Obviously, he is also a master at acting according to the situation.
"Okay, what's the point of saying this?" Li Yanfu said tiredly, supporting himself on the dark brown table and slowly sitting down.
He sighed and said, "If I had known this would happen, I would have let Gao Lian die in Taicang."
Li Yinglong said nothing, and said cautiously: "Then what's next..."
Li Yanfu had a blank expression on his face and regained his composure:
"Now that things have come to this, we can only use this as an opportunity to protect Gao Lian. Give orders to announce tomorrow that he committed suicide out of fear of punishment."
"yes."
Li Yinglong left in a hurry.
When there was only one person in the room, Li Yanfu looked up and stared at the quietly burning fire on the table, with red flames dancing in his gray eye sockets.
After a long time, he let out a long sigh.
(End of this chapter)
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