Chapter 123 Rebellion
Shi Qinglan is dead.
He was disemboweled and died.
His body was found in Merlin.
.
When Li Daoxuan examined the body, he found that his fists were clenched tightly and the body was not yet completely stiff. Li Daoxuan used a method to spread out the palm of the body and found that he was holding a piece of white paper.
Chen Qing was standing nearby. She didn't have much impression of Shi Qinglan. She vaguely remembered that he was from the Hanlin Academy and was the only child of the Shi family's direct lineage.
Now he died in an unclear manner.
Li Daoxuan pulled out the wrinkled white paper from his palm, looked at it again and again, and then said, "Li Zhibai."
It’s the prince.
She could not possibly link the death of a person to the prince. As everyone knew, the Shi family was the prince's maternal family, and Shi Qinglan was nominally the prince's cousin.
"Are you kidding me? Why would the prince harm my family?"
Li Daoxuan raised the paper in his hand and said, "He is telling everyone who the real murderer is who killed him."
Chen Qing said: "A blank piece of paper? White--" She suddenly stopped.
This paper is called Chuzhibai and has been passed down since the Eastern Han Dynasty. It is made from the bark of the paper mulberry tree. Because it is as white as snow and has a soft texture, it is loved by many wealthy families.
Chu Zhibai, Zhibai Zhibai, isn’t that the prince’s name?
Li Daoxuan made a prompt decision and ordered his servants, "Go find Gu Ze."
There is probably only one thing that can make Li Zhibai cruelly attack his master's family.
The other half of the gilded silver box that fell from Gao Changshi's body.
Soon, the servant hurried back and said, "No one is inside Gu Zhongcheng's house, but there are bloodstains on the ground and traces of a minor struggle extending outside. However, the heavy snow has obliterated all traces outside the house."
Li Daoxuan led his men to Shi Qinglan's guest room and finally found Gu Ze unconscious on the mattress.
After turning the person over, Gu Ze's hands fell weakly to his sides, but the object in his palm was tightly grasped, and he refused to let go even in his sleep.
Li Daoxuan's brows froze, and he swaggered away the gilded silver box from Gu Ze's hand in front of everyone and put it in his arms.
He curled his lips and said, "The Gao family's untold 'treasures' are now all here. It's time to meet the Saint and present this 'great gift'."
"Come here, prepare the horses, and take Gu Zhongcheng down the mountain to recuperate."
Soon the news of Shi Qinglan's death spread in Dongshan Temple, and people were in panic. Many officials thought that there was a demon in Dongshan Temple and clamored to go down the mountain.
However, the abbot forced everyone to stay in the temple on the grounds that the road was blocked by snow.
Finally someone noticed something was wrong.
The sage is seriously ill, the crown prince is acting as regent, and now most officials are in Dongshan Temple. The city of Chang'an is as empty as if its internal organs have been taken out.
Someone quickly realized, "Teacher, something's wrong. The Sage is in poor health. Although the Crown Prince is regent, the court is plagued by intertwined factions. We're trapped here, and I'm afraid there's going to be unrest in the capital."
Someone covered his mouth, and the old man he called "teacher" turned around and shook his head at him.
"The snow is heavy, but once it stops, the road will be open."
“Students don’t understand.”
A glint of shrewdness flashed in the corners of the old man's wrinkled eyes.
"I don't think you understand. Just stay in your nest and don't worry about other things."
.
Li Daoxuan played with a fist-sized gilded silver box, twisting the lock with his fingertips and swishing his fingertips across the cold metal surface. "What does the host want to say?"
"Your Highness, the snow has blocked the road. If you rush down the mountain, something might happen..."
"Is the road blocked by snow?" Li Daoxuan sneered, suddenly raising his voice. "Just now, while investigating the case, I saw with my own eyes fresh horse hoof prints on the back hill. There were also sesame cakes, only sold in shops in Beijing, on the snow. If the road is really blocked, did these things fall from the sky?"
I don’t know which greedy person was exposed.
The host's face darkened slightly.
Li Daoxuan: "Although the host is the host, he is only the host. I imagine that after all these years of being suppressed by my master, the resentment in your heart has probably piled up like a mountain. Now, you are even willing to collude with the crown prince."
"I wonder what favors Second Royal Brother promised you? Did he say that from now on, no one like You Daozi will ever surpass you, or did he promise you the position of Imperial Master, where you will be revered by all?"
The environment suddenly became quiet, with only the sound of wind and snow hitting the window frames.
The abbot managed to maintain his composure. "Your Highness, I do not understand what you are talking about." He clasped his hands together, his knuckles white beneath his robes. "I have been cultivating in Dongshan Temple since childhood, serving the Buddha for over forty years. I have always protected the temple's purity. How could there be any talk of collusion? Immortal You Daozi is a senior and sage. I have always respected him and hold no grudge against him."
Li Daoxuan suddenly smiled, his fingertips tapping the table lightly: "Respect?"
He leaned closer, his voice lowered to a whisper: "Old bald donkey, do you really think you've hidden your ambition well? A person's eyes can't deceive anyone."
"From what I see, the things in your eyes are very dirty."
"Second Brother has promised you the position of Imperial Master, but I'm afraid you won't be able to secure it until he kills his father and usurps the throne. But have you ever considered that once he succeeds, the first person he'll want to silence is you, a 'hero' who knows so many secrets?"
Why did he know all this? Wasn't he just a lazy, idle man who only cared about having fun?
The host's face completely lost its color, his Adam's apple rolling and he couldn't speak. The wind and snow outside happened to pick up a broken branch and hit it with a crisp "clang" sound, which startled him violently.
"Old Monk... Old Monk..." He opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Li Daoxuan raising his hand.
"No need to say more." Li Daoxuan stood up and brushed off the non-existent dust on his robe. "How can someone like you compare to my master?"
The wind and snow outside the window suddenly grew stronger, carrying Merlin's sobs and hitting the window.
He turned and walked out, his bright red robe rustling in the wind and snow. "Prepare the best horse. It's time for me to settle my family affairs."
.
The air in the Hall of Supreme Harmony was filled with the aroma of medicine, making it bitter. A circle of people surrounded the dragon bed in the hall, and the former emperor was lying on it.
The current Emperor Jingren no longer has the vigor of the past, his cheeks are thin and his eyes are dull.
At some point, all the servants in the hall dispersed.
The prince came over with the medicine and sat on the bed. He scooped a spoonful of the black medicine liquid with a spoon, turned the bottom of the spoon and rubbed it lightly on the edge of the jade bowl to scrape off the excess medicine liquid.
The two chatted like an ordinary father and son, and Li Zhibai spoke ramblingly.
"Father, you punished my third brother by sending him to Huazhou to provide disaster relief. But you know what? He always likes to meddle in other people's affairs. He even risked the flood to deal with the piles of rotting corpses."
"Even if I could just wait until the rain stops, or ask a few servants to go, I could just stay in my shell and be good."
"What a pity! My good third brother contracted the disease and died."
Emperor Jingren bent his knuckles like dead branches.
Li Zhibai glanced at him indifferently, his face indifferent, but the words he said became more and more heartbreaking.
"You boast of your fame, but your Concubine Gao loved you so much, but she also abandoned you and ran away alone."
"I often wonder why our mother died. My eldest brother has been trapped in the Eastern Palace since birth, with the title of Crown Prince but never free. How could he have used the art of warding off evil to kill his own mother?"
"I found out later."
Li Zhibai, word by word, uncovered the truth that Emperor Jingren was most reluctant to touch.
"Because you snatched our mother from your own brother. You killed your own brother and snatched her away, just to rely on the power of the Master family and secure your seat on the throne."
"After the enthronement ceremony, your mother gave birth to your eldest brother, and you named him the crown prince. But as time went on, you always felt that your eldest brother was not your child. You suspected that he was your younger brother's child."
"So you imprisoned him in the Eastern Palace and forbade my mother to see him. Later, when the Master family made a mistake, you took advantage of their situation, using the 'Yan Sheng Technique' to stir up trouble, slandering my eldest brother for killing my mother and sentencing him to the death penalty of being torn apart by five horses."
"Aye, am I right?"
Emperor Jingren opened his eyes wide and his pupils dilated.
"What a shame! My father, who hates deviant ways the most, has now become obsessed with the art of cultivating immortality. If not for this, I wouldn't have found the opportunity to secure this position so quickly."
He probed the edge of the bowl with his fingertips and saw that the heat had almost dissipated. Li Zhibai said, "Father, it's time to drink the medicine. Mother is waiting to be reunited with you."
He brought the medicine to Emperor Jingren's lips and forced him to drink it.
No matter how he struggled, the medicine spilled all over his mouth. Seeing that he had taken most of the medicine, he felt bored and put down the bowl, sitting quietly beside the bed, watching Emperor Jingren struggle.
In his eyes, this "father" was extremely divided.
Although he hated his elder brother, he was able to teach him how to read and play, acting like a loving father.
He just said a word to his elder brother, and Emperor Jingren immediately sent people to punish him. On a snowy night, his elder brother's white clothes were soaked in blood and his lips were frozen purple after being flogged, while he was warming himself in a room covered with burning charcoal and thick velvet blankets.
Emperor Jingren told him through repeated practice that all the pain his elder brother suffered was caused by him, and he had no choice but to be forced to avoid his mother and elder brother.
Later, my grandfather died and his head was chopped off by an unknown young man.
The young general who killed him was not punished, but was rewarded instead. He rose to prominence overnight and lived a very happy life. Even their daughter's smile became particularly dazzling.
If his grandfather had not died, how could his master's family have lost power, and how could his mother, who had lost her support, have been murdered by the man beside her?
Li Zhibai was so angry that veins popped out on his forehead.
He squinted at the dead Emperor Jingren, whose eyes were wide open, and gently brushed the corners of his eyes with his fingertips. The next moment, his eyes were red, and he knelt down and cried bitterly, "Aye!"
The eunuch who heard the noise outside pushed the door open and came in. Seeing the dead Emperor Jingren, he knelt down and said, "The Saint is dead!"
The palace's death knell resounded throughout the sky.
The country cannot be without a king for a day, so the prince should naturally take charge of the overall situation.
Now half of the court officials are in Dongshan Temple, most of whom are his confidants. Li Zhibai is quickly preparing for the succession ceremony.
He should have proceeded step by step but was forced to this point. Now the two gilded silver boxes fell into the hands of his good fourth brother. If he didn't hold on tightly, he and his master's family would be the ones to die.
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