It is late at night, but the boats in Yangzhou City are still brightly lit at this time. The boats are connected to each other, and the singing and piano music complement each other. There are many people reciting poems and writing poems. On the decks of the bow and stern, you can see elegant people holding wine glasses from time to time. , standing next to them are young women in gauze skirts, looking at the moon in the sky, boldly expressing their ideals, hoping to arouse the admiration of women.
Lawless passed by here quietly, turning a blind eye to everything on the ship. The two of them chose dark places where the lights could not reach and sneaked quickly.
The bamboo forest was deep, the evening breeze was blowing, and outside the white wall that was as tall as one person, lawless people looked around, then nodded to each other, found a secluded wall base, and jumped over.
The winding path was less wild and unruly, and more elegance. The two of them quietly continued to sneak into this courtyard with not many buildings. Occasionally, they could hear some voices coming from outside.
Walking close to a uniquely built and handsome rockery, I saw Li Jingye and Du Qiuren standing at the light. They were looking gloomy at the moment, with eight soldiers in armor standing behind them. People's eyes are looking at the dim room not far away in front of them.
"Is Li Jingye planning to take action against His Highness?" Wu Tian looked at the soldiers behind Li Jingye and was shocked, and whispered.
"It doesn't look like it. This place is close to the prison of the Yangzhou government. Could it be that Li Jingye gathered the soldiers in the prison?" Wen Bu looked at the few people and said solemnly.
"Chen Jingzhi was not found in the prison. Did you say he would be here?" Wutian asked again.
"Why isn't it possible?"
At this moment, Li Jingye's voice sounded clearly in their ears: "Chen Jingzhi, do you have anything else to say?"
When Lawless heard what Li Jingye said, he was overjoyed. Unexpectedly, after coming out of the prison, he saw soldiers strolling outside the house. He sneaked in out of curiosity. Unexpectedly, he found Chen Jingzhi.
"There is no need to accuse me. You have already convicted me with the dog next to you. Now you still ask me if you have anything to say? I want to say that you colluded with Pei Yan and encouraged Pei Yan to rebel. ,is that useful?"
"Insolent! I, Li Jingye, am a loyal minister. Both my father and my grandfather, the British Duke, are important ministers of the Tang Dynasty. My grandfather, Li Ji, was named one of the twenty-four heroes of Lingyan Pavilion by the late emperor. "I, Li Jingye, have not had enough time to respect the great rivers and mountains that my grandfather worked so hard to conquer with the late emperor. How could it be..." Li Jingye was furious, his face with a short beard full of righteousness, and he scolded.
"Li Jingye, please leave these words to the coming Crown Prince. Tell me, Chen Jingzhi. I, Chen Jingzhi, won't believe a word he says. The British Duke is indeed a loyal minister of the Tang Dynasty, and even more so, the late Emperor." I am a good general and a virtuous minister who I rely on, but you have ruined the noble family tradition. Sometimes I, Chen Jingzhi, really want to ask the court, what qualifications do you, Li Jingye, have to inherit the title of the British father-in-law? Huh, if your father Li Zhen hadn't died earlier! "It's not your turn to dominate Yangzhou City," Chen Jingzhi said proudly, sitting on the threshold, stroking the heavy and cold shackles on his ankles.
"You...Chen Jingzhi, please don't drink the toast and eat the fine wine. Now that there is a mountain of irrefutable evidence that you and Pei Yan secretly colluded, and everyone has taken the stolen goods, you don't even know how to repent..."
"Li Jingye, if I were you, I wouldn't waste my time talking to myself. Wouldn't it be easy to go directly to the execution ground? Why waste time here with a dying person, and then be despised by the dying person? Ridicule, why bother?”
Facing Chen Jingzhi's provocation and ridicule, Li Jingye smiled instead of getting angry. He touched his beard on his chin and suddenly said with a ferocious smile: "You are quite sensible. Since you know that you are about to die, why not hurry up and sign your name?" This will allow me to send you off early to reunite with your wife and children. By the way... let me tell you, the little lady in Lianhuafang is very young. Don't worry about your concubine. Everything With Master Du taking care of you, you can leave with peace of mind."
Chen Jingzhi didn't speak, his face was calm, and he looked like he didn't care about life or death. He looked at the triumphant Li Jingye, and after a moment of silence, he suddenly said: "Li Jingzhi, you are so anxious to complete the case of me colluding with Pei Yan to rebel. Is it because His Royal Highness has arrived in Yangzhou? That makes you have to come here to beg me?"
"So what, do you think he can save you? You are just a local official from the fifth rank. Do you think His Highness the Crown Prince will care about an official like you? I don't know how many places there are in Shangzhou, Zhongzhou and Xiazhou in the Tang Dynasty. Is it possible that every one of them Do the governors, officials, and princes all have to keep it in mind?" Li Jingye didn't seem to be in a hurry. He sat down on the chair brought by the soldier, felt the cool night breeze, and continued: "You guessed it right. Yes, His Highness the Crown Prince has arrived in Yangzhou today, but I disappoint you. Tomorrow His Highness the Crown Prince will board the ship and continue southward. He will only stay in Yangzhou for one night. I have also reported your matter to him, and Du Your Majesty can testify that His Highness the Crown Prince does not care about your life or death at all. Pei Yan is dead and the biggest threat to our country, the Tang Dynasty, has been removed. As for the remaining members of Pei Yan’s party, His Highness has ordered me to handle it with full authority to protect me. The safety of Datang is in danger, so now you have no choice but to plead guilty."
"Then what are you waiting for? Just take me to the execution ground." Chen Jingzhi held a piece of grass that he had pulled out from outside the threshold and put it in his mouth.
Chen Jingzhi half-smiled but looked at Li Jingye, who was silent, and continued: "Don't officials from the fifth rank need to register with the Ministry of Personnel? You are deceiving the superiors and deceiving others in Yangzhou and doing whatever you want, are you still afraid of the sixth grade? The Chief of Staff? Let me guess, you Li Jingye have been asking me to plead guilty, but now Du Qiuren, as the official of Yangzhou, does not have a document from the Ministry of Personnel, could it be that the Ministry of Personnel did not agree with your recommendation of Li Jingye? ?”
Listening to the conversation between Li Jingye and Chen Jingzhi, but because of the wall, Lawless could only see Li Jingye and could not see clearly what Chen Jingzhi looked like.
"What should we do now? Your Highness will leave for Hangzhou tomorrow. Are you just going to watch Chen Jingzhi being framed to death?" Bu Bu poked Wu Tian in front of him and asked in a low voice.
"What can we do? This is not something you and I should care about. As long as we follow His Highness's instructions and find out that he is still alive, I think His Highness will have a plan for the rest, right? Otherwise, it would be impossible for us to find out whether Chen Jingzhi is dead. It's alive." Wutian looked at Li Jingye holding a thick stack of documents, which was obviously Chen Jingzhi's case file, and hoped that he would sign it.
"I won't sign it. As an official of the Tang Dynasty, I believe that the court will give me a fair answer to Chen Jingzhi. Li Jingye, although I have never met His Highness, I have heard a lot of rumors about His Highness. Since His Highness has already We arrived in Yangzhou, and you came all night just to get me to sign. It seems that His Highness didn't say anything to you. Otherwise, you, Li Jingye, wouldn't be so anxious, right?" Chen Jingzhi sighed and put his money in his mouth. The chewed grass was spat in front of Li Jingye, and then he slowly stood up and walked into the dark and damp room.
"Chen Jingzhi!" Li Jingye watched Chen Jingzhi walk into the room. He stood up from the chair in a hurry. Looking at Chen Jingzhi's back still walking forward, he said gloomily: "Chen Jingzhi, even if you don't do anything for yourself, For your own sake, you should also think about your young daughter! Do you want her to be bought into a flower shop as a prostitute, or do you want her to be used as an official prostitute for the entertainment of your former colleagues? "
Li Jingye looked at Chen Jingzhi's back as he spoke. Sure enough, after his words stopped, Chen Jingzhi also stopped and turned around slowly. The expression on his face could not be seen in the dim room. Sadness and joy can only be vaguely felt, Chen Jingzhi's body is shaking, and the handcuffs also make a slight clanking sound.
"As the saying goes: 'No harm will come to the wife and children.' Li Jingye, you are so vicious and vicious, there will definitely be no good retribution in the future."
"To sign or not to sign!" Li Jingye stared at Chen Jingzhi's figure, which seemed to be hidden in the blurry darkness, and asked again.
"It's better to be a piece of jade than to live in ruins! It's her sorrow and her life to become a prostitute and a prostitute in a flower shop! But you will soon die! I really want to see what you, Li Jingye, will do. Choose! But no matter what, you will die with her in sorrow!"
"You!" Li Jingye didn't expect Chen Jingzhi's bones to be so hard! Threatening him with her favorite daughter, she was rejected ruthlessly and coldly by him!
Li Jingye even doubted whether Du Qiuren should go to the government to check whether his daughter was his biological child. How could he treat his daughter so ruthlessly
The moment Chen Jingzhi turned his head, a drop of clear tears slowly flowed out from the corner of his eyes. If he was really so ruined by Li Jingye, how would he face his wife after his death
Li Jingye looked at the door that was like the door to the underworld and slowly closed, and sat slumped on the chair. Li Hong had arrived three days earlier, and he was already feeling on pins and needles.
Chen Jingzhi is like a stone in a latrine, smelly and hard. He threatens him with his daughter, but he even sacrifices his daughter to go against himself! Also let yourself be at the end of your rope!
"Go back home! Give him a night to think, and send someone over tomorrow to give him one last chance!" Li Jingye stood up from the chair, somewhat angrily.
"Mr. British, won't you come in person tomorrow? If you don't come, no one will be able to stop him if he wants to come here. As you know, when he serves as the governor of Yangzhou, he has always been consistent in his words and has great official authority. , even the lower official is in awe of him. If it were anyone else, the lower official would be doing useless work," Du Qiuren followed closely behind Li Jingye and said in a low voice.
"No, it has to be okay. The prince will leave tomorrow morning. If I don't go to see him off, won't it make the prince doubt me even more? Idiot! This can't be done! Find a way. No matter what, I must let Chen Jingzhi tomorrow Confess!"
"Then... it really doesn't work..." Du Qiuren made a gesture of wiping his neck, indicating that he would kill and silence him directly.
"No! His Highness the Crown Prince will probably know sooner or later whether Chen Jingzhi is dead or alive. If he kills him directly, he will be even more passive in the future. We are not yet at that point, so he must plead guilty!" Li Jingye put down the carriage angrily. The door curtain on the side, and then surrounded by soldiers, walked to the British Duke's residence.
(End of chapter)