As Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty returned to the palace from Chen Yingliang's house, and then returned to his own home from the palace, Tang Guogong Li Yuan's head was always dizzy, and he was so confused that he didn't even know when he would take office in Honghua and who would be the new prefect of Honghua. I have forgotten all the big things, how can I not understand how things will turn out like this? The puzzle and trap that I cleverly set up, not only failed to clean up my son-in-law and enemy as I wished, but also caused myself to lose a general who had been hiding for many years? Li Yuan couldn't figure out what caused the current result even if he broke his head.
It was not until he returned to his house that Li Yuan roughly sorted out the ins and outs of the matter. The jewels he took through his eldest grandson and sister to allow Chen Yingliang to move in front of Pei Yun were given to Yun Dingxing by Chen Yingliang, and Yun Dingxing handed them over to him It was given to Yu Wenshu, during which the three parties probably did not mention a single word about Gao Shilian. Chen Yingliang only exchanged a few craftsmen with Yun Dingxing with gifts, and then let these craftsmen make overseas exotic treasures to keep out the cold cotton coats. He gave the cotton coat to Pei Yun—as for whether Gao Shilian was mentioned between Chen Yingliang and Pei Yun, and whether the false news brought by Changsun Wuji was deliberately arranged by Chen Yingliang, Li Yuan just couldn't tell or guess.
"In this matter, either Chen Yingliang's boy and Changsun Wuji joined forces to plot against me, or Chen Yingliang guessed my plan and used Changsun Wuji to set the old man up!" This is Li Yuan's conclusion on this matter. Conclusion, but Li Yuan is still very confused, "Is there a loophole in the old man's plan? Why didn't there be any clues before?"
Bewildered, he entered the gate of his house, and his precious son Li Er hurried to inquire about the news. Li Yuan, who is still in a state of confusion, spent a lot of effort to introduce the general story to his precious son. Li Er was speechless. , inevitably began to lose his mind, and murmured: "How is it possible? Could it be that what Wuji said to me was all deceiving me? But it's impossible, even if Wuji lied to me, the Guanyin servant girl couldn't possibly lie to me? "
When the father and son looked at each other incomprehensibly, Li Yuan's eldest son, Li Jiancheng, suddenly entered the room, and asked Li Yuan with a somewhat excited expression, "Father, I heard that His Majesty the Emperor came to Yiyangfang today and led all the officials of the Manchu Dynasty. Brother Chen Yingliang's house has caused a sensation in the small half of Daxing City, is it true? The emperor has never even been to our house, so what did Brother Yingliang do to win such an honor?"
Both Li Yuan and Li Er had no intention of answering. They were all thinking hard about the cause and effect of today's incident, and turned a deaf ear to Li Jiancheng's question. Seeing his father and brothers like this, Li Jiancheng couldn't help being confused, and hurriedly asked: "Father, Erlang, what happened? Why are you all so sad?"
Looking up at his elder son who was also outstanding in talent, Li Yuan hesitated for a moment, and then told Li Er: "Erlang, tell your elder brother what happened, he didn't know beforehand, and a bystander can see what he may be able to see? "
Li Er, who had done something wrong to his heart, was a little embarrassed, but he didn't dare not listen to his father's words, so he could only introduce the cause and effect of this matter in a low voice, that is, the general process of how he and his father designed to frame Chen Yingliang but suffered the disaster instead. As a result, Li Jiancheng, who had a good impression of Chen Yingliang, became furious when he heard it, and said angrily, "Father, Erlang, are you going too far? Brother Yingliang revenged his brother-in-law's family with kindness and righteousness, and you are so cruel as to frame him? How can you bear it?"
"Shut up! You don't have to worry about what you do for your father!" Li Yuan, who was furious, scolded, "He's already twenty-five years old, and he still picks people based on his impressions, naive! Childish! Good thing? When he first returned to Daxing, if he directly revealed his identity, your brother-in-law’s family would be so miserable? He begged Wei Xuan and Fan Zigai to forgive your brother-in-law’s family. Do you think he is out of goodwill? He is for himself , trade your brother-in-law's family's never-turning-back-up for his reputation of repaying evil with virtue!"
"Chai Shao did it to himself!" Li Jiancheng said loudly without fear, "He forgave Chai Shao's family only because of his kind nature, and he pitied the tragic fate of the Chai Shao family. This saved Chai Shao's family, and he had the right intentions! For this, he almost took the blame for himself!"
"Fart!" Li Yuan cursed angrily, and said angrily: "If this kid is a good person, he will use Changsun Wuji to set a trap for this old man, causing him to lose one of his generals? Do you know that? How much effort the old man has spent on Su Shichang, this time it is all in vain because of this kid!"
"Father, forgive me for saying something disrespectful, but you have saved the heart of a gentleman with the heart of a villain." Li Jiancheng suppressed the impulse in his chest and said seriously: "Father, think about it calmly, if what happens this time, If it was really a trap set by Brother Yingliang for you, how could Su Shichang be the only one who suffered from it? Why didn’t you get implicated? Based on this alone, I can be sure that Brother Yingliang had nothing to do with our Li family before. Malice, otherwise, how could he miss such a good opportunity?"
The authorities were fascinated, but the onlookers were clear. Li Yuan was stunned by the words of the elder son who had just learned about it. Then he slapped his forehead heavily and screamed: "Understood! This is just a coincidence. It couldn't be more of a coincidence! Otherwise In other words, with the virtues of Pei Ju and Pei Yun, the two traitors, how could they not take the opportunity to set up a trap and take the opportunity to bring down the old man in one fell swoop?!"
"Ah!" Li Er, who also came to his senses, covered his head with his hands, and moaned, "How can there be such a miracle in the world? Chen Yingliang, this fellow, is so lucky!"
"Second brother, Brother Yingliang is not lucky. He is what the Buddhists say is good and good will be rewarded." Li Jiancheng's small characters are called Bishamen, and he believes in Buddhist theory the most. He is naturally very dissatisfied when he hears the nonsense of his second brother, and reprimands him. He said: "In the matter of our Li family and the Chai family, Brother Yingliang has never had any evil thoughts, and he always treats people with kindness. That's why the Buddha let him turn bad luck into good luck and good luck in every disaster. If you say he is lucky, you Why didn't the villainous Chai Shao also get lucky last time?"
Li Er smiled wryly, not daring or wanting to get entangled with his pedantic elder brother on this issue. Li Jiancheng snorted heavily at his second brother again, then turned to Li Yuan, cupped his hands and said, "Father, the matter has come to an end, and it is useless to regret it. , we should try our best to remedy it. Especially Su Shichang, if he sells your father, then our Li family will lose face even more in the Sui court!"
Li Yuan is absolutely confident that Su Shichang will not betray him - because once Su Shichang sells Li Yuan, there will be no one who can rescue Su Shichang from prison. The only thing Li Yuan was worried about was whether Wen Xi Pei would realize that he was behind the scenes? After a little calculation, Li Yuan nodded reluctantly, and said: "Da Lang is right, regretting it is useless now, so I can only make up for it with all my strength. How about this, Da Lang, you and Chen Yingliang have the best friendship, and you will come forward to meet with Chen Yingliang Contact Chen Yingliang and try to find out if he is aware of our Li family's involvement, if not, you can give him a little more compensation, and let our Li family pay him."
"No." Li Jiancheng nodded, and asked again: "Father, what if Chen Yingliang has already noticed?"
"Then there is no other way." Li Yuan said with a wry smile: "The matter has come to this point, it is too late for us to say anything, if he really has noticed, you can decide what to do."
Li Jiancheng nodded silently, while Li Yuan turned to Li Er again, and ordered: "Erlang, go to see Changsun Wuji tomorrow, ask him for news, and tell him that as a father, he has been with his uncle for many years, and he will never sit idly by. We will do everything we can to get his uncle out of prison. But remember, we must not tell him about the matter of using his uncle to design Chen Yingliang."
Li Er agreed, and asked cautiously: "Father, if Gao Shilian's family finds out about this, what should we do?"
Li Yuan was silent, and after a while he replied helplessly: "Then you can decide for yourself. Fortunately, we haven't left any evidence for this matter. As long as Su Shichang doesn't let go, Wenxi Pei will have nothing to do with us."
This time it was Li Er's turn to be silent, and after a long time, Li Er said in his heart, "God bless, I hope Gao Shilian's family doesn't know about this matter, otherwise, Guanyin servant girl..., I will really be ashamed to see her."
…
After a night full of worries, the next morning, Li Er went to Longzhengfang next door early to find out the news from his good friend Changsun Wuji, but it was a pity, because Chen Yingliang went directly to Pei Yun's house on a business trip the first day, the eldest grandson brother and sister did not see each other at all. When meeting Chen Yingliang, Li Er naturally couldn't find any useful information. In desperation, Li Er could only relay Li Yuan's promise to rescue Gao Shilian to the eldest grandson brothers and sisters, in exchange for the gratitude of the eldest grandson brothers and sisters, and then the eldest grandson Wuji also sent an invitation to Li Er, "Erlang, I and Guanyin maidservant is going to visit uncle today, if you are free, how about going with us?"
Li Er, who doesn't have any official position yet and is still single, of course has plenty of time. Considering that he can get the news as soon as possible, and at the same time spend a long time with his eldest grandson Xiaoluoli, Li Er immediately accepted the invitation of his eldest grandson Wuji. Then when it was time to visit the prison, Li Er followed the eldest grandson with clothes and food, and went all the way to the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice to visit Gao Shilian. They proposed to go to the prison to be interrogated at Yushitai. Li Er and his eldest grandson had no choice but to wait patiently in front of the prison gate to see if they could wait for Gao Shilian to return before the visiting time ended.
The luck of Li Er and the eldest grandson brother and sister was not bad. After half time, Gao Shilian was taken back to the sky prison and imprisoned again. The eldest grandson brother and sister were overjoyed, and hurriedly asked the warden for money to visit, but the eldest grandson brother and sister were still rummaging around. When Wei Xuan issued the official document allowing prison visits, the warden had already ordered: "There is no need to take the official document. There is an order above. Your uncle will be detained in an ordinary prison instead of a death row prison when he comes back this time. You can visit him directly. .”
"Uncle is not on death row anymore?" The eldest grandson brothers and sisters were overjoyed together, but Li Er was stunned, and a more ominous premonition immediately came to his mind-Li Er knew very well that although his father was a relative of the emperor, It is considered a high position and authority, but because of his position, he definitely does not have such a great influence in the judicial yamen. He was able to get Gao Shilian out of the death row with the strictest detention and the worst conditions so quickly, and was instead detained in a general prison with better conditions. In the cell. The only ones who can do it are Pei Yun, Wei Xuan and Zheng Shanguo, the bosses of the judicial yamen!
What made the eldest grandson brothers and sisters even more happy was still to come. When they entered the prison, they found that Gao Shilian had not only escaped from the death row full of sewage and stinking smell, but was also locked up alone in a relatively clean small cell. At the same time, the guards in the cell opened the door generously, allowing the eldest grandson brothers and sisters to enter the room to meet Gao Shilian directly.
It was not easy to meet Gao Shilian who was like his own father again. Of course, the eldest grandson and siblings had to cry bitterly. Gao Shilian, who was newly changed into a clean prison uniform, seemed to be in good spirits. After hugging his nephew and niece and crying a few tears, he returned Came over to comfort the eldest grandson brothers and sisters, and said: "Don't worry about uncle, Dr. Pei has personally interrogated me just now, asked me about my relationship with Hu Sizheng, determined that I and Hu Sizheng are just ordinary friends, and told me personally, Said that as long as I find out some more details, I can get out of prison and reunite with you."
"Really?" The eldest grandson brothers and sisters were even more overjoyed.
"Of course it's true. How could uncle lie to you?" Gao Shilian nodded with tears in his eyes, stroking his eldest grandson Wuji's head and said with a smile: "Wuji, Wugou, uncle is really thanks to you this time, you got to know him well." A good friend of Bo Yuntian, he saved me. If it wasn't for him, your uncle might be doomed this time."
Glancing outside the cell door, seeing that no one was listening, Changsun Wuji asked in a low voice: "Uncle, you mean Chen Yingliang and Deputy Chief Chen?"
Gao Shilian smiled and nodded, admitting that his nephew guessed the right person, the eldest grandson Wuji was overjoyed, and hurriedly said: "Uncle, and Tang Guogong, he also put in a lot of effort this time, Brother Yingliang stood for you in front of Dr. Pei The gift of speaking was also borne by Tang Guogong, Uncle Li, for us. And Erlang, he has been worrying about your affairs these days."
A mysterious light flashed in Gao Shilian's eyes, the light flashed past, then Gao Shilian raised his head, nodded to Li Er who was standing beside him and said, "Erlang, you and Tang Guogong's heart, I accept it. Please report back to Tang Guogong Don’t say thank you for your great kindness, Gao Shilian thinks of the source when drinking water, and will form a grass ring in the future, and he will definitely repay it!”
What Gao Shilian said was a thank you that couldn't be more polite, but when he heard the thank you, Li Er, who had a ghost in his heart, felt a gloomy feeling. It's like someone blowing cold air on the back of his neck. Secretly startled, Li Er could only hurriedly bow his hands and salute, and said politely: "Uncle, you are being polite, these are what my nephew and father should do."
Gao Shilian smiled, and then turned to the eldest grandson brothers and sisters again, and whispered a common saying about letting them take care of their grandma and aunt, and then suddenly said: "Wuji, Wugou, if you see Chen Yingliang and Vice-leader Chen again , please tell him that if it is convenient for him, I want to meet him as soon as possible and thank him in person."
The eldest grandson agreed without hesitation, but Gao Shilian added with a smile: "By the way, tell him by the way, I will return the jade pendant to him as soon as possible."
"Jade pendant?" Li Er also knew about the jade pendant, but he didn't know the origin of this jade pendant. Naturally, he was a little confused. What is this jade pendant for?"
Full of doubts, Li Er and his eldest grandson bid farewell to Gao Shilian whose situation had improved significantly. After leaving the prison, the joyful eldest grandson was of course eager to go home to announce the good news, and invited Li Er to Gao Shilian's home together To celebrate, the preoccupied Li Er insisted on refusing, and went back to his home in Xuanzhengfang alone to report the latest situation of Gao Shilian to his father and elder brother.
When Li Er returned home, Li Jiancheng went to Chen Yingliang's place to inquire about the news and hadn't come back yet, but Li Yuan had already returned home from the imperial city and was still sitting beside the stove in the conservatory in a daze. With a sound of agreement, he asked feebly, "How is the situation?"
"Father, Chen Yingliang has already begged to move Pei Yun." Li Er replied dejectedly: "Today, the boy and his eldest grandson went to visit Gao Shilian. In a few days, he will be released from prison safely."
"As expected." Li Yuan sighed, and said: "This morning, the emperor praised Pei Yun in public again, saying that he slept on the pillow made of white folded flowers last night, and found that it was far warmer and more comfortable than a silk pillow. It is softer and more comfortable, and after covering it with a quilt, it is even warmer like spring, more than ten times stronger than ordinary blankets. I praised Pei Yun for his meritorious deeds, and asked the Pei brothers to hurry up to buy Baidiezi from Gaochangguo. Pei Yun Yun has gained so much limelight, is it not just a matter of agreeing to Chen Yingliang's small request?"
"No wonder Gao Shilian is in such a good condition now." Li Er was stunned, and then said cautiously: "Father, Pei Yun seems to have told Gao Shilian everything. Thanks to Chen Yingliang, it should be known that Chen Yingliang contributed the most to this matter."
Li Yuan remained silent, and Li Er said cautiously: "Also, when Gao Shilian thanked the boy, he didn't express anything special other than ordinary words of thanks. Putting it the other way around. Kid suspects, it seems possible he already knew."
"There is no need to doubt." Li Yuan shook his head and interrupted his son's words, and said weakly: "I was not completely sure just now, but now I can be sure. Pei Yun must have told him everything. He already knows about our father and son. Not only did they not save him this time, they also made a big fuss about his imprisonment."
"How did father know?" Li Er was taken aback.
Li Yuan was silent, and suddenly kicked over the brazier in front of him, and shouted: "Because this morning, that old slicker Pei Ju recommended Fang Yanqian as the prefect of Honghua! Yanqian took the position of prefect of Honghua by force! I knew at that time that they all knew that I was the mastermind behind Su Shichang, and they took revenge on me!"
"Ah!" Li Er was tongue-tied, and lost his voice: "Fang Yanqian is appointed as the prefect of Honghua? Father, then it is not easy for you to stay behind in Honghua. That old man has a very good reputation and is notoriously stubborn. It’s just that oil and salt don’t get in, father, if you do anything in Honghua, he must stab the emperor right away!”
"You don't need to point me to these, I understand!" Li Yuan roared, jumped up and kicked the overturned brazier into the air, roaring: "You can't lose rice by stealing chickens! You can't lose rice by stealing chickens! This time, the old man, Honghua, stays behind, and life will be difficult!"
"Chen Yingliang boy, you are really the disaster star of this old man!"
After looking up to the sky and sighing, Li Yuan lowered his head, and said weakly: "Go and make arrangements, immediately send someone to Honghua, tell Changsun Shunde and Liu Hongji to stop contacting the local elite immediately, let them take everyone and go back to my fief Go to hide in Tang County, they all have a criminal record, if Fang Yanqian finds out, they are dead, and they will implicate me soon."
Li Er hurriedly agreed, then was startled, and hurriedly asked: "Father, Gao Shilian found out about this, so what should I do about my matter with Guanyin's maidservant...?"
Li Yuan smiled bitterly, and asked helplessly, "If you ask me, who should I ask?"