Chapter 274 He was not a good father, but he was a king worthy of the world.
Through the layers of barriers, Crown Prince Li Jing's surprised gaze fell upon Prince Pingyang, Li Ying.
This royal relative, who was always outspoken but had no real presence, was obsessed with raising pigeons. He was foolish, powerless, and known as a fence-sitter who would change his mind at will.
He grinned awkwardly, meeting the gazes of everyone in the hall, then frowned and raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
Not only the Crown Prince, but even Jin Shu and Li Jin were stunned on the spot, their probing gazes falling on the old man and the young man.
The moment Prince Li Su met Li Jin's eyes, it seemed as if a puff of white smoke rose from his throat. He raised his hand to cover his eyes and turned his face away.
"Stop looking."
Li Yi snorted coldly from the high platform, "What's so strange about it?" He put one hand behind his back, "You gentlemen have already seen so many oddities today, are you really going to be surprised?"
Not surprised.
Li Jin just didn't expect that the Prince of Pingyang, who had argued fiercely with Zhao Chengping, the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, in the case of Jin Shu's disguise as a man, was the one who was now arguing with him until their faces turned red and neither of them would give in.
The Prince of Pingyang, who always spouts nonsense and whose mission is to liven up the atmosphere, no matter the circumstances.
The one whose name was first crossed off the Crown Prince's list of those expanding his power because he was unreliable was Li Yi's younger brother, the Prince of Pingyang of the Great Wei.
They actually have the ability to deceive everyone.
Every few days, he would cry and wail, claiming that the heir was critically ill, which had become the biggest "heart disease" for the Imperial Hospital.
As it turned out, the prince he mentioned, who probably wouldn't live past winter every year, had been living in anonymity, working as a minor figure in the Six Doors.
The prince's clenched fist trembled slightly.
Knowing that his great cause was ruined and his fate was sealed, he closed his eyes, looked up at the sky, and took a deep breath.
Li Yi looked at Lian Shui, who was tied up in the main hall, and raised his voice a few decibels: "Xu Weiyou, Zhao Wencheng!" He sneered, "I will only ask once."
Xu Weiyou, who was already terrified, staggered and knelt on the ground.
At this moment, Zhao Wencheng looked at the palace gate, which remained completely still, glanced back at Li Jin, and knelt down unwillingly.
"I ask you, where are Lin Zhongyi and Yang Qingyun?"
Xu Weiyou trembled, the gold and silver jewels clinking on his raised arm: "Your subject, Your subject..."
"Have you thought this through?" Li Yi glanced at their faces. "A month ago, how passionately you spoke of Jin Shu of Dingzhou, saying he was guilty of deceiving the emperor?"
He raised his chin slightly, as if he were really trying to remember, and then suddenly realized, "Oh! I remember now, Lord Xu said she bewitches people, she must be a demon!"
Xu Weiyou, who was quite old, knew Li Yi's character well.
The more nonchalant his words were, the more lighthearted his smile, the deeper his murderous intent and the more raging his anger.
Xu Weiyou frowned, a bead of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his nostrils trembled slightly.
Then, a surge of heat rushed to his head, and he was overcome with anger, causing him to sway and fall to the ground.
This scene was completely unexpected.
But not a single person in the entire hall dared to speak up for him.
Even the imperial physician waiting nearby, seeing that Li Yi's face remained completely unmoved, only peeked at him briefly, whispered "stroke" to him, and then withdrew his head, placing his hands in front of him as if he hadn't seen anything.
Li Yi narrowed his eyes, snorted coldly, and his gaze fell icyly on the top of Zhao Wencheng's head.
"Prime Minister, this Xu Weiyou is truly disloyal." He spoke with a hidden meaning. "What should we do? Such a big matter, you wouldn't have told me, would you?"
"You may not know Lin Zhongyi and Yang Qingyun, but you must know Yang Defa, right? Wasn't that urgent message forged in Li Mu's handwriting sent from your Prime Minister's residence?"
Although Zhao Wencheng was pale, he did not appear flustered.
He gritted his teeth, kept silent, and kept his eyes fixed on the ground.
Li Yi took a deep breath, then let out a long sigh. His breath turned into a mist and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
He sighed, "Minister Zhao, Prime Minister Zhao, you're not still waiting for the palace gates to be breached, are you?"
Zhao Wencheng paused for a moment.
Li Yi, holding up the hem of his dragon robe, quickly walked down from the high platform, bent over with a look of astonishment, tilted his head, and stared incredulously at Zhao Wencheng's face.
"Didn't find anything!" Li Yi stood with his hands behind his back, his words full of teasing and amusement. "Lord Zhao is usually so meticulous and calculating, even when issuing a decree he takes precautions against any eventuality. He's the kind of person who makes three sets of documents. But today he's suddenly become so naive!"
He straightened up, waved his hand, lifted the hem of his robe behind him, and threw all imperial rules to the back of his mind. He sat down directly on the steps behind him, put his hands in his sleeves, and craned his neck to watch the show, looking at Zhao Wencheng, who was pretending to be calm.
"Don't wait any longer," he laughed. "I've prepared fireworks outside. After this splendid palace banquet, the courtiers will enjoy a magnificent fireworks display!"
Li Yi smiled brightly, crushing Zhao Wencheng's last hope with one foot: "As for whether Minister Zhao will stand or lie down to watch, I can't say for sure."
He raised his hand, pointing at Zhao Wencheng: "Did Lord Zhao say so?" He then gestured with his arm, pointing at Lian Shui, who was lying on the ground, bound hand and foot, covered in blood, "or did this... incredibly familiar assassin say so?"
Inside the main hall, Zhao Wencheng could only hear his own heartbeat.
Outside the main hall, Kongming lanterns rose slowly, braving the heavy snow and the cold wind, carrying hopes for the new year, and gradually filled the sky.
May your family be harmonious and prosperous, may you achieve academic success, enjoy good health and longevity, and be blessed with peace and happiness...
A lamp, a wish, a glimmer of light, a ray of hope.
Li Yi's gaze passed through Zhao Wencheng's pale face, looking at the Kongming lanterns drifting away in the wind, at so many beautiful expectations for the new year, and he laughed self-deprecatingly.
“You can’t answer that,” he said. “You didn’t even know when the Crown Prince killed people to cover it up.”
Zhao Wencheng was taken aback.
"Just like you don't know, if this coup fails, he's prepared to pin all the blame on you alone."
After saying this, Li Yi turned to Li Jing with a smile and asked, "Father, have you said anything wrong?"
Li Jing remained silent, his face alternating between pale and flushed, and he did not move.
He bit his lip, glaring fiercely at Li Yi. If looks could kill, he would have loved to pierce a hole in Li Yi's chest right then and there.
But Li Yi seemed completely unconcerned. Instead, he earnestly advised Zhao Wencheng, "You are an outsider." He smiled and said, "Xu Weiyou won't live for many more years. Once your daughter becomes the Crown Princess, do you think he will let you truly hold real power?"
"Ha!" he sighed. "Can't you see at all what kind of person Li Jing is?"
At this point, Li Yi chuckled, then took a deep breath: "I'm tired." He waved his hand and looked at Li Jin.
But at this moment, Li Jin hesitated.
It wasn't out of pity, but rather because he couldn't bear to see Li Yi truly nailed to the pillar of shame in history.
He looked at Li Yi and saw a tenderness hidden deep in his eyes beneath that cold, imperial face.
Li Jin pursed her lips and slowly stood up.
It was as if the words that Eunuch Chen had said countless times echoed in my ears.
He said: In the end, His Majesty still cares about Prince Jing.
He was not a good father, but he was a king worthy of the world.
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