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"The person in front of me is the surname Li and Mu, and was born in Mayi?"

"yes!"

"Can you confess your guilt for the crime you committed?"

"recognize."

...

After some approval, Sun Fujia looked up at the sky. Noon was over and there was no news in the palace. He could not delay any longer. He sighed and said, "Mr. County Duke, offended it. This happened just now. The servants need to be given..."

"Okay," Li Mu understood what Sun Fujia meant. He wanted to "test the body". Sun Fujia apologized and asked the officers to come over to see Li Mu. Every prisoner would have records when he was imprisoned. For example, he had a round face, a square face, tall face, long arms, and there were wrinkles on his body, and whether there were special things, there were archives. Li Mu also had one, and the officers used this to verify the correctness.

Li Mu stretched out his arms and cooperated with the officer's inspection. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of a masked person in the crowd from the outskirts. He could tell at a glance that this person must be Dugu Jiu. He looked around and found that there were many people wearing masks in the crowd around him, and he became anxious. Dugu Jiu indeed went to gather people from the world and planned to rob the law.

Li Mu wanted to wink Dugu Jiu to leave, but when Dugu Jiu saw him coming, he turned his head and disappeared from Li Mu's sight.

"Okay, are you still finished?" Li Mu pushed away the officer impatiently, reached out to take the knife from the executioner's hand, and wanted to stop Dugu Jiu. All he could do was to kill himself before Dugu Jiu took action!

When Sun Fujia saw Li Mu grabbing the knife, he was so scared that he thought Li Mu was going to hurt someone, so he hurriedly shouted, "Come on!"

Bai Qiaoqiao saw Li Mu grab the knife in his hand, and her eyes turned dark and she fainted.

Jin Chen was not much better either. He caught Bai Qiaoqiao and collapsed on the ground with weak legs.

Some of the onlookers turned their heads unbearably, while others widened their eyes, wanting to see Li Mu's blood splashing for five steps, as if they could only feel at ease when they saw him die with their own eyes.

Dugu Jiu turned around and caught a glimpse of it, immediately screamed, and went to stop the sword, shouting, "Brother! Don't--"

Just in this chaos—

"Stay people under the knife!" Eunuch Gao's sharp voice wrapped around his inner breath and broke through the air. The blades in Li Mu's hand had cut their skin. Hearing the sound of "Stay people under the knife", he quickly let go and fell to the ground.

The crowd was too dense, and Eunuch Gao's horse could not pass. At this time, he didn't care whether he had exposed his skills. He lit up on the horse's back and jumped, used his light skills to cross the wall, landed in front of the guillotine, raised the death-free card and imperial edict in his hand, and shouted, "The imperial edict is here!"

When the onlookers heard the three words of the imperial edict, they all knelt down. The first ones were people from a family with unwilling expressions, and the people only knelt down when they saw them kneeling. Everyone knew the imperial edict, but they had never seen the imperial edict, and they didn't know the rules for receiving the imperial edict.

"In the third year of Wude, Dugu Huai'en joined forces with Liu Wuzhou to rebel. The Tang Dynasty was established for only three years, and it was in danger of being overwhelmed. Fortunately, Tang Jian, Duke of Ju, endured humiliation and exposed the injustice and saved the country from danger. The emperor's grace was used to avoid death once, and specially granted iron certificates as a guarantee."

"Now, the Duke of Luoyang County Li Mu committed a death penalty, and the Duke of Ju Tang Jian was willing to use an iron certificate to avoid death to prevent him from death. I have received great treasures from the Supreme Emperor. I will fulfill the promise of the Supreme Emperor. This is filial piety and also trustworthiness. However, the death penalty can be avoided, but it is still unauthorized. Li Mu was stripped of the Duke of Luoyang County and the position of Chief Minister of the Interior Department, and demoted Li Mu to the magistrate of Luoyang County. There will be no mistakes in taking office in three days."

After reading the imperial edict, Eunuch Gao smiled and handed the imperial edict to Li Mu, saying, "Congratulations to Li County Master, are you scared?"

Li Mu raised his hand and rubbed the blood on his neck, smiled, and said, "Thank you for your grace for me."

Eunuch Gao shook his head and said, "It's not convenient for our family to say this. It's better for the county master to tell His Majesty himself. Your Majesty has an order to invite the county master to come to the palace to see him."

Li Mu looked at Eunuch Gao and said, "Can't you see me?"

"County Master, what do you think?" Eunuch Gao's tone was teasing, as if he was saying, "County Master", what power can you choose?

Li Mu nodded and said, "Okay, see, can you send someone to send my wife home first - no, I will send her to my mother's place, and I will also see my mother later."

"It's easy to say, it's all a trivial matter."

Eunuch Gao agreed, and a little eunuch came over and helped Bai Qiaoqiao and Jin Chen into the car. When Eunuch Gao saw Jin Chen, his brows frowned slightly and said, "This girl, you can go there too."

Li Mu reached out to stop him and said, "Eunuch Gao, there is no need for this?"

"Li Mu, it's better to explain some things clearly to His Majesty."

Li Mu heard the change in his name and said nothing. He glanced at Jin Chen, looked at her face that was already crying, and was exactly the same as his own. He reached out to hold her hand and said, "Don't be afraid, let's go together."

...

Time goes back a few quarters of an hour.

Tang Jian knelt on the ground and begged for bones. Li Shimin looked at him and felt uncomfortable.

Tang Jian was a very special person among the civil and military officials. His family's family was not weaker than the current royal family. Tang Jian was the grandson of Tang Yong, the Minister of the Northern Qi Dynasty, and the son of Tang Jian, the governor of Rongzhou in the Sui Dynasty. His father Tang Jian was close to Li Yuan. When Li Yuan raised an army in Taiyuan, Tang Jian and his son participated in the planning. According to legend, Li Yuan was undecided at that time, Tang Jian went to meet Li Yuan and said that he "looked like a sun-horned dragon court", which was in line with the emperor's destiny and was a person who belonged to heaven. If he did not stand up and save the people from the fire of water and fire, the people would be finished.

It was this action that made Li Yuan make up his mind to create the Tang Dynasty in the future.

The Tang family has been operating for several generations and has a deep foundation in power. When Li Yuan first started his army, he received great help from the Tang family. Li Shimin knew very well.

When the country was first established, Liu Wuzhou and others rebelled, and it was only after Tang Jian reported it that the Tang Dynasty was preserved. But at this point, Tang Jian made contributions to Li Yuan, and Li Shimin truly regarded Tang Jian as his own person because of what happened next.

Liu Wuzhou was defeated and fled to the Turks, leaving behind many weapons and armor prepared for rebellion. At that time, the battle between Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng for the throne had begun to show signs. Logically speaking, these batches of weapons and armor should be presented to the Prince's Mansion. However, Tang Jian chose to seal it and leave it to the Tiance Mansion to accept it. Li Shimin obtained these batches of weapons and armor, which played an important role in establishing his own power in the future.

During the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Tang Jian stood clearly on Li Shimin's side. After Li Shimin ascended the throne, he greatly valued Tang Jian and supported him to become the only "neutral" force in the court and enjoyed a special status. Tang Jian also used his actions to repay Li Shimin. When attacking the Turks, Tang Jian served as an envoy to the Turks, dealing with the Turks' tents, and his life was killed.

Looking at the path Tang Jian has taken, it can be said that Li Shimin cannot tell Tang Jian's fault. Li Shimin once felt that Tang Jian was one of the few people he felt most at ease in the court, but now because of Li Mu's affairs, Tang Jian has also stood up and took out the most precious death-free card for the Tang family. In addition to the previous incident of Changsun Wuji, Li Shimin suddenly felt that he had no one in this world who deliberately trusted completely.

No matter how confident a person is, he will do things that he will not expect.

After thinking for a while, time was delayed a little. Empress Changsun was worried that she had missed the time, so she asked Eunuch Gao to remind Li Shimin. Only then did Li Shimin wake up as if she was dreaming and hurriedly responded to this matter and asked Eunuch Gao to pass the order.

After Eunuch Gao left, Li Shimin sent Tang Jian home and told him that he wanted to retire. He did not agree or said he would not agree. He only discussed with Empress Changsun when he left.

Li Shimin said what he thought. Empress Changsun had a close relationship with him and could understand what Li Shimin's concerns were. After the most reassuring ministers repeatedly did things he had unexpectedly done, Li Shimin's trust in people had dropped to freezing point, not only for Changsun Wuji and Tang Jian, but also for everyone.

He was worried about the two of them, and even more worried about Li Mu. It was better to judge a gentleman by his villain's heart. Li Shimin did think so, so he had to take some precautions.

"What does your Majesty want to do?"

"I can't give Li Mu the opportunity to form a clique."

"That's why your Majesty arranged Li Mu in Luoyang?" Empress Changsun suddenly frowned and said, "But something is wrong. Your Majesty, isn't it said that the power of Jisitang is based in Luoyang? Isn't your Majesty afraid-"

"I think so. If I think about this according to the queen's ideas, Li Mu will definitely not be a member of Jisitang, and it has nothing to do with Li Jiancheng. This is best. With Li Mu suppressing him in Luoyang, Jisitang can also make Jisitang afraid. If Li Mu is a member of Jisitang, he will definitely show his strength, and I can catch them all in one go. In addition, I have a deep meaning to let Li Mu go to Luoyang."

"What is the deep meaning?"

"Luoyang City, no matter what aspect, is more suitable for the capital than Chang'an. My father once considered moving the capital, but I stopped it and failed to make a move! But now my idea has changed. I did not move the capital at that time because of the Turks. Now the great troubles of the Turks have been eliminated, and the capital is moving to Luoyang has many benefits. The simplest food route is that it is much smoother, so the grain ship does not have to pass Sanmenxia, ​​saving a lot of manpower and material resources. If Li Mu could manage Luoyang well, maybe I could still benefit from it and move the capital to Luoyang early, after all, it is the hinterland of the Central Plains."

Empress Changsun smiled and said, "I remembered Li Mu's good luck again now. I don't know if he is willing to serve you after this."

"I don't know either-" Li Shimin sighed and said, "I know, I feel wronged, but I... maybe, this is the helplessness of being an emperor."

Empress Changsun mercilessly exposes, "It's just a stingy, and you won't admit it yet--well, if Your Majesty doesn't make sense, I'll just help Your Majesty persuade you."

"Then I'll thank the Queen."

"But Your Majesty," Empress Changsun asked again, "What should I do if I ask Li Mu to go to Luoyang? As far as I know, there are still many projects in Chang'an that have not been completed, and all the affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs still need his charge."

"I have considered this and I have my own arrangements." Li Shimin smiled, and seemed to have made a decision in his heart.

Empress Changsun said again, "Does Your Majesty have other arrangements for Tang Jian?"

"I haven't made up my mind yet. Let me think about it again. I really don't want to be too mean to the Tang family."

When Empress Changsun heard this, she did not ask any further. The meaning of Li Shimin's words was that he had a mean thought.

After a moment of silence, Li Shimin sighed and said, "I have no choice but to do this!"

"Your Majesty has thought about it."

"Yes." Li Shimin nodded.

...

Tai Chi Palace.

When Li Mu went to Tai Chi Palace, he was relaxed and comfortable, as if he was going back to his own home. Even when he was only him and Li Shimin, Li Mu picked up the pastries on Li Shimin's table and ate them without any restraint.

But this time, Li Mu was obeying the rules and had no point of transcending. Eunuch Gao looked around and complained in his heart. It turned out that this boy was lying if he could not learn the rules. Look at these rules, it was even more standardized than the old nanny who had been in the palace for ten years. It was not impossible to learn, but not to be good at learning!

"County Master, come in?"

"Thank you, Eunuch." Li Mu thanked him and stepped into Tai Chi Palace. As soon as he entered the door, he fell to the ground with a provocation and shouted to thank His Majesty for his kindness.

Seeing him like this, Li Shimin knew that Li Mu did it on purpose and was prepared, but he was still uncomfortable. But he opened his mouth but said nothing. Li Shimin raised his hand. Eunuch Gao came over and helped Li Mu up. A little eunuch brought a chair. Li Mu sat tremblingly, only daring to be next to one point.

"Li Mu, I said that I didn't want to kill you."

"I understand that Your Majesty just wants to take back the death card from Duke Ju." Li Mu replied with a smile, but the meaning of this was to remind Li Shimin that the reason why he was still alive was because Tang Jian took out the death card. He received Tang Jian's favor, not Li Shimin's favor.

Li Shimin looked at Li Mu and clenched his teeth in anger. After a while, he said, "Okay, I won't tell you this. Tell me something serious. Do you know why I asked you to go to Luoyang City?"

"I am about to tell Your Majesty about this." Li Mu stood up, bowed, and said, "I am willing to give away all my property in exchange for Your Majesty to resign."

Li Shimin frowned, "What did you say?"

"I said that I am willing to give everything, and I only ask Your Majesty to allow me to return to my hometown in Dingxiang to farm, and I will live this life."

Li Shimin angrily said, "Li Mu, you know that I can't let you retire! You are not me, and you don't look at the problem from my perspective. If you are me, maybe you did more than me! No matter what, I didn't kill you! Moreover, I will greatly punish those who took the blame to you this time. What else do you want to let me issue a self-criticism and apologize to you?"
Chapter completed!