"Your Majesty, Li Mi was once Li Heng's think tank. He would do anything to restore Li Tang's ancestral temple. What he said today is all a ploy to alienate you, hoping to make your Majesty throw away his arms."
"I have evidence."
When Du Jin started to defend himself, Li Mi immediately pursued him and beat him fiercely.
"In order to protect the Li family's ancestral temple, Mr. Yan arranged for people to come forward to prove His Majesty's life experience. Whenever someone slandered Mr. Yan on this matter, Du Erniang sent people to silence them. It seemed to protect Mr. Yan's reputation, but in fact it was to force Mr. Yan into a dilemma.
Situation. On that day, Du Erniang was invited by Duke Yan to meet in the imperial city. Later, she talked with Wu Lang and learned that His Majesty had secretly returned to Luoyang, so she staged an assassination scene in front of His Majesty to force Duke Yan to take responsibility."
"The amount of gunpowder that can blow up the Tianjin Bridge must be large and cannot be obtained easily. Moreover, the preparation time for this matter is short, so the gunpowder must be taken from near Luoyang. I ordered people to inspect many workshops and arsenals near Dongdu.
No abnormalities were found, and the output and destination were all registered. This must be the reason why Du Erniang always claimed that she had no clues. By the way, during the process, I discovered that Du Erniang had never checked these."
"How do you know I haven't checked?"
"You will know as soon as you ask." Li Bi said, "I visited Li Xiazhou not long ago and confirmed during the conversation that Du Erniang has not made any efforts to investigate the matter since his assassination. Otherwise, given your temperament and ability, how could you have lasted so long?
Didn’t you find the real murderer?”
"Why do we still need to investigate? The ones who assassinated His Majesty are you, the ministers who protect the Li family temple."
Although Du Jin appeared calm on the surface, he was already a little incoherent in response to Li Mi's sharp words.
Li Bi said: "You asked the Yang family to seek status from His Majesty, which intensified the conflict between me and His Majesty, giving me the motive to kill the Yang family. Then you asked Yuan Zai to come forward to complain, and privately sent assassins to get rid of the Yang family."
"You've been saying it for so long, but you still don't have any evidence."
"I have long suspected the Luoshui assassination case, so His Majesty was alert when he mentioned the Yang family name." Li Bi said, "Therefore, earlier today, I have reminded Your Majesty that if you encounter an assassin, you must be Du.
Er Niang sent you to leave the murderer for careful questioning. I just didn't expect that you didn't want to frame me to assassinate His Majesty, but to kill Yang."
"What did you say?"
Du Jin finally looked surprised. She had clearly heard the screams, so she subconsciously turned her head and glanced outside the tent.
Then she looked at Xue Bai. Because she couldn't see Xue Bai's expression clearly, she felt panicked for a moment in front of him for the first time.
"That's not what he said... Your Majesty, those assassins..."
Halfway through his words, Xue Bai leaned forward.
The candlelight illuminated his face, and he could be seen staring directly at Du Jin, his eyes filled with various complex emotions, including suspicion, disappointment, anger, and regret.
Du Jin felt stung by his eyes.
All this time, she had never seen Xue Bai frustrated. No matter how great difficulties and setbacks he faced, he was extremely tenacious and strong.
This made her subconsciously feel that his heart would never be hurt. Only at this moment did she suddenly realize that she might have really hurt him.
Du Jin's eyes sore inexplicably, and she almost shed tears. She wanted to explain, but the next moment, Xue Bai opened his mouth, and his voice was calmer and colder than she expected.
"Those assassins have been killed by me."
Hearing this, Li Mi couldn't help but be surprised.
He was not deceiving Du Jin. He had indeed warned Xue Bai to be careful of assassination this evening and left the murderer to be investigated closely.
Unexpectedly, Xue Bai was so tolerant of Du Jin, which made him feel that things were far more difficult than expected.
But the next moment, Li Mi calmed down and said: "Your Majesty did this because he knew what Du Erniang did..."
"Li Mi."
Xue Bai interrupted Li Mi's words and scolded: "Do you think I don't know what you are thinking?"
"I have no selfish motives."
"You knew that the assassin's target was Yuhuan, you cooperated deliberately, and then waited until it was too late in the evening before you pretended to remind me, you are so good at killing people with a borrowed knife!"
Li Mi fell silent and stopped explaining.
Indeed, he guessed it from the beginning.
Luo Shui's assassination was directed and acted by Du Jin, successfully squeezing out Yan Zhenqing. This simple means of achieving the goal is the easiest to make people rely on, so she will definitely use her old tricks to get rid of Yang Yuhuan and put the blame on him, killing two birds with one stone.
The reason why he did not pretend to assassinate Xue Bai but to get rid of Yang Yuhuan was because Li Mi could see that Du Jin cared too much about Xue Bai and did not dare to take risks with Xue Bai.
In turn, Li Mi wanted to kill two birds with one stone.
He followed suit, hoping to take the opportunity to get rid of the two women who were Xue Bai's "stains".
The death of these two women means that today's crime of "causing trouble in the palace and violating human ethics" has become a dusty past, and those obsessions will slowly fade away.
Not only that, there was another person Li Mi wanted to get rid of.
"If Your Majesty thinks so, I have nothing to say. I just ask Your Majesty to be careful about Yuan Zai. He is corrupt, perverts the law, and colludes with Du Erniang..."
Yuan Zai kept his head down, thinking that the fight between Li Mi and Du Jin would not involve him, so he jumped up immediately after hearing this.
"Li Mi, you slandered me!"
However, since Li Mi spoke about this matter, he must have full evidence.
Even Du Jin's secrets could be discovered, how could Yuan Zai's crimes be concealed?
Yuan Zai himself knew this. Although his voice was loud, he felt weak in his heart. He could only hope that Xue Bai would spare him one more time.
Before he was in Luoyang, he thought that he was destined to die. Asking Du Jin for protection was nothing more than treating a dead horse as a living horse doctor. But Xue Bai really didn't pursue him. Looking into the reason, he guessed that it was for reform.
Since the reform, the ministers of the family have strongly opposed it. However, in Yuan Zai, he was admitted as a Jinshi because of his poor family background. He was also an important financial minister in the dynasty. After Yan Zhenqing resigned as prime minister, he became one of the representatives of the new law.
If Xue Bai trampled on all the bones of Gongqing in front of the Mingtang, and then punished him in the blink of an eye, it would inevitably become a compromise or exchange of interests between the emperor and the family of Gongqing in the eyes of the world. Xue Bai would definitely not want to see such a situation.
This may be the reason why Xue Bai tolerates him.
Therefore, Yuan Zai simply prostrated himself and shouted: "Your Majesty, for the reform, I have offended countless officials and nobles. They have gone to any lengths to slander me. It is really difficult for me to defend myself. If the new law can be achieved after my death, I am willing to be your majesty's business martingale." !”
"Boom!"
Xue Bai suddenly kicked down the brazier in the tent.
The red charcoal fire suddenly poured out, and sparks flew everywhere, hitting the carpet and creating a burning smell.
The three people in the tent were all shocked and quickly took a few steps back to avoid being burned by the charcoal fire.
"You are all the people I trust the most, but you all have selfish agendas. Do you still care about me?!"
Xue Bai tried his best to control his emotions. His voice was not loud, but the anger contained in it was extremely scary.
This time, even Li Mi felt panicked.
He knew that he had caused a big disaster. Yang Yuhuan's death had angered Xue Bai, and the Tang Dynasty might change...
~~
Chang'an, Shengpingfang, Duzhai.
"Something happened!"
It was originally a peaceful morning. Du Wulang was still sleeping, but he was suddenly woken up by a cry from outside the house.
He could tell that it was his grandfather shouting at the top of his lungs, as if he had seen a ghost.
You must know that even during the Liu Ji case, Du Youlin almost died in Dali Temple, but he had never been so panicked.
Du Wulang then wrapped himself in a quilt and ran out of the house.
"What's wrong?"
I saw Du Youlin, his hair uncombed, his clothes disheveled, standing barefoot on the corridor, trying to push Du Wulang's door open.
"The world has changed! Your second sister has offended the saint, Li Mi has been involved in a major rebellion, and Yuan Zai has also lost power. The world is going to change!"
"Grandma, what are you talking about? Are your feet cold?"
Du Wulang didn't understand it at all. He just felt that it was unbecoming of a prime minister to be so confused.
"The court is in chaos, and all the officials don't know what to do. The Du family may be involved this time..."
Du Youlin was still describing the chaos in the court. Du Wulang became more and more confused as he listened, so he had to ask: "What happened?"
"Yang... Mrs. Yang is dead."
"who?"
Du Wulang was stunned for a moment. He didn't believe it at first, and then his mind was in a mess, knowing that the matter was serious.
"How did he die? Who killed him?"
"It is said that Er Niang killed him." Du Youlin's voice was filled with fear and a bit of luck: "It is also said that Li Mi killed him."
"Don't worry, I'll go find out."
Just when Du Wulang was about to put down the quilt wrapped around him, there was already a noise outside the courtyard door.
Soon, someone led a group of subordinates into the courtyard.
"Du Wulang, come with me. I have something to ask you."
"Da Xi Yingying?" Du Wulang asked in surprise.
"Let's go."
Da Xi Yingying's attitude was calm and business-like. He ordered people to take Du Wulang away, and then personally went to Du Jin's room and took away all the documents.
When Du Youlin saw this, he couldn't help but stop Da Xi Yingying and said: "This is the prime minister's residence. You didn't search it just because you asked."
"Duke Du, I am also following orders, please don't make things difficult for me."
"Ms. Daxi, you and Er Niang have known each other for many years." Du Youlin whispered: "Tell me the truth, what happened?"
"It's still unclear how far the situation will go. Duke Du must not interfere with official duties."
"Did you betray Er Niang?"
Da Xi Yingying frowned and was about to speak when Du Wei arrived outside the courtyard gate.
"Grandpa, please cooperate with her."
"Auntie, what's going on?" Du Youlin hurriedly rushed forward when he saw Du Wei.
Du Wei whispered: "Er Niang made a big mistake. Now the Du family just needs to admit their mistake and don't cause trouble again."
"That second lady..."
"Don't worry, Grandpa, I'm here."
Du Jin comforted Du Youlin, but did not protect Du Wulang and allowed him to be taken away. She also promised Da Xi Yingying that she would help her take over all Du Jin's power as soon as possible.
~~
Du Wulang originally thought that he would be taken to Fenghui Bank in the East Market or to Da Xi Yingying's private residence, but unexpectedly he would be taken all the way to the Imperial City.
In the southwest corner of the imperial city, next to the Secretary Prison, the original Sinong Temple Caofang was divided into a small yamen.
"Go in."
Du Wulang looked up and saw a brand new plaque hanging above the yamen, with three words written on it - Imperial City Division.
"Huh? What kind of yamen is this? I haven't been here yet."
"Then the Imperial City Secretary Dalao Wulang has never been here?"
"Such a small yamen still has a large prison?" Du Wulang couldn't help but be curious.
Da Xi Yingying did not actually send him to the cell, but entered a small official room, where already sat a green-robed official, a eunuch, and a clerk with paper and pen spread out to record.
"Du Wulang has brought it, let's get started."
"Da Xidu Si please."
Da Xi Yingying nodded and said: "Du Qi, did you reveal Madam Yang's residence to Du Jin?"
When Du Wulang heard this, he knew something was wrong. He wanted to ask, "Is Madam Yang really dead?" But he also knew that this was not the time to speak.
"I didn't disclose it."
After that, Da Xi Yingying asked many questions in a formal manner, and finally asked Du Wulang to put his fingerprints on all the confessions.
"Let's go."
"Is this good?"
"Um."
"Then I'm leaving."
Du Wulang stood up and walked out, but reluctantly looked back several times.
When the other three people left, he couldn't help but turn back and asked Da Xi Yingying: "What on earth are you doing?"
"I'm learning to be an official."
"ah?"
"In the past, the spy who inquired about private information was arranged by the second mother as she pleased. But now it is different. Now she has an official status." Da Xi Yingying sighed, "Actually, I don't know what to do. In short, I will try my best to make some official articles."
"Have you replaced my second sister?"
"That's right."
"Ms. Yang is really dead? Did my second sister send someone to kill her?"
Da Xi Yingying was silent for a while and then replied: "As far as the clues I have found so far, it is indeed."
Du Wulang said: "No, my second sister is not such a person."
"Isn't she like that?"
Du Wulang scratched his head and thought about it carefully. In fact, with Du Jin's character and ambition, she could indeed do such a thing, especially since she had never had much friendship with Yang Yuhuan.
But he still had to say something for Du Jin after all.
"Second sister cannot disobey His Majesty."
"Jealousy is a common thing among women." Da Xi Yingying said: "You men only know how good it is to have a group of wives and concubines, but you don't understand the suffering that women endure."
Du Wulang has always been single-minded, but he didn't expect that this was said to him by the romantic Daxi Yingying.
"Where is my second sister?"
"Let's stay in the palace for the time being."
"What will your Majesty do with her?"
"Then I don't know." Da Xi Yingying said, "I'm also very tired."
Du Wulang asked: "Of course you are tired, but can you handle the second sister's task?"
"I am only in charge of the Imperial City Department, that is, the intelligence department." Da Xi Yingying said, "Fenghui Bank has been merged with the treasury, and your eldest sister and officials appointed by the imperial court will take over."
"Eldest sister?" Du Wulang said: "Then your Majesty has not angered the Du family?"
"Well, I asked you to come here, which is just a routine question."
Du Wulang asked a few more questions.
Suddenly, he vaguely thought about it. It seemed that Xue Bai had mentioned it a long time ago that Du Jin strongly opposed the Fenghui trip to the imperial court.
"Du Si, everyone has taken it."
Someone suddenly spoke outside the door. Du Wulang turned around and saw Shi Zhong.
Shi Zhong used to be Da Xi Yingying's steward, but now he is wearing a beautiful military robe and a jade belt around his waist. It can be seen from the jade belt that his rank is equivalent to that of an official of the fourth rank.
"Take Wulang out and examine them one by one."
"Here!"
Du Wulang was taken out by Shi Zhong, and soon his eyes widened in surprise.
He saw people dressed in brocade being tied up in strings outside and being escorted along the Imperial City Street.
So, he couldn't help but look back at the Imperial City Department and murmured: "Can such a small yamen hold so many people?"
There were cries of injustice coming from the front.
"It's unfair. What does Li Mi's rebellion have to do with us?"
"It's really none of my business..."
Du Wulang took a closer look and recognized that among them was King Li Qiu of Chu.
Then he discovered that most of the people who were escorted over were members of the Li Tang clan.
He couldn't help but look back at the Imperial City Division again, and this time he finally realized the power that Da Xi Yingying now held.
From this inference, he realized how much power Du Jin had...
~~
After returning to Du's house, Du Wulang sat in the hall, drank some water to calm down his shock, and then fell into a daze.
It hadn't been quiet for long before Du Youlin arrived. Because he was impatient, he scolded him whenever he opened his mouth.
"Gui Zi, why don't you tell me quickly, what happened?"
"Grandpa, I'm thinking, if something goes wrong now, it might not be a bad thing. Let's retreat bravely, shall we?"
"You said you wanted to retreat again, why are you so cowardly?" Du Youlin said, "Did someone wrongfully accuse Erniang? She and Your Majesty are more..."
Du Wulang murmured: "Ms. Yang is dead. Do you think it was the second sister or Li Mi who killed her?"
Du Youlin stroked his beard for a long time and finally spoke his mind.
"Li Changyuan is an upright man and would not resort to assassination unless absolutely necessary. But the second sister really dares to do such a thing?"
No need for Du Wulang to answer, Du Youlin also knew that his second daughter had always been bold.
He finally realized that his position as prime minister was likely to be lost. He sighed, felt unhappy, and went to the study to write his resignation.
Du Wulang continued to sit for a while, but Xue Yunniang came over and said: "Mr. Lang, someone wants to see you."
"who?"
"It's Princess Boping." Xue Yunniang whispered.
They met on the way to Dongdu and have been in contact with each other since then.
"Well, at this time, it's best for me not to see her."
Du Wulang actually knew that Mingzhe was protecting himself, but he was soft-hearted after all, and finally agreed to meet Li Yiniang.
"I have met the eldest princess..."
"Wu Lang is extremely polite. I have something to ask Wu Lang for today."
Li Yiniang grew up in Yeting. She has no polite manners and speaks straight to the point.
"Actually, I also know what happened. It is said that Mr. Li was involved in the assassination of Madam Yang, and by the way, A Tu was found."
"Princess Hezheng?"
"Well, since the death of Prince Zhong and his son, Ah Tu has never shown any hatred on the surface. It was only this time that I learned that she was secretly against His Majesty. A few days ago, she went to see Mr. Li. Imperial City Siyi
After checking, we found out that she had visited Pugu Huai'en back then and had contact with Uighur through Pugu Huai'en's daughter..."
"Such a big thing?!"
Du Wulang was surprised.
He had also met Li Yuetu several times, and his impression was that she was a kind and quiet little woman.
"In that case, no wonder the Imperial City Division arrested so many people today. I still think that Your Majesty is doing it because of the death of Madam Yang."
Speaking of this, Li Yiniang couldn't help but shed tears.
She wiped her eyes and said: "When I was imprisoned in Yeting, Atu was the only one willing to come see me. She was also kind to Your Majesty. Can Wulang beg Your Majesty to spare her life?"
"Does Your Majesty want to kill her?"
"She is still on the run. If she is caught, she will probably die."
Du Wulang was speechless. He found that Princess Boping only cared about her personal preferences and never cared about the justice of the country. She was close to Xue Bai, so she always believed that Xue Bai was Li Qian. She had a good relationship with Li Yuetu, regardless of Li Yuetu.
She had to protect them no matter what she did. As for so many clans, she never interceded on behalf of any of them, and she never said the words "Li's clan temple".
But he could feel from this incident that the Li family temple was in dire straits.
With so many major cases involved, the Li clan is likely to undergo another major purge like during the Wu Zetian period. After this incident, if Xue Bai wants to replace Li Tang, he can do it, even without Du Jin's assistance.
"If I can see Your Majesty, I will speak to Princess Hezheng."
Du Wulang finally agreed.
Although he thought it would be difficult.
~~
In the following days, Du Wulang became increasingly aware of the tension and subtleties of the situation.
The Imperial City Division was dealing with the Li Tang clan mercilessly. In addition to major rebellion cases, they also discovered many crimes of bullying men and dominating women. Based on these crimes, they were executed, exiled, dismissed from office, and their property was confiscated.
Soon, the case affected more officials and ministers.
They probably didn't expect that they were not purged for opposing the emperor's new law, but suffered disaster because they were implicated by the clan.
In the midst of the bloody storm, the high-ranking officials were in panic all day long.
This time no one raised an army to resist.
Herein lies the subtlety.
The emperor's anger arose because of Yang Yuhuan's death, but only a handful of people knew that it was Du Jin who did it. After all, the murderer was executed as a slave of Princess Hezheng. Based on what happened that night, people speculated that
Du Jin, Li Mi, and Yuan Zai all have unshirkable responsibilities.
And Xue Bai's performance was extremely restrained to a certain extent.
He exiled Yuan Zai on charges of corruption, but did not execute Du Jin. As for Li Mi, he was not even dismissed as prime minister.
On the surface, this approach seems a bit biased, but the situation has reached a certain balance.
After this year, most of Yuan Zai's subordinates had been won over and promoted by Li Mi. Together with Cui Youfu and Zhang Xun, they were persuaded by Li Mi to support the reform and became prime ministers. The New Deal was not affected by the loss of Yuan Zai.
Du Jin's loss of power made the officials and officials think that this time was not aimed at them. When they were liquidated along with Li Tang's clan, it was too late to resist.
The most important thing is that Li Mi, as the "chief culprit" of the whole incident, has not been punished. If you guess the reason, it is difficult for the emperor to punish a prime minister for the death of a woman who cannot be made public.
But since Li Mi is still there as prime minister, he has to take responsibility for all the clans and ministers.
Sometimes people's minds are strange. They don't dare to resist the more terrifying Xue Bai, thinking that Xue Bai is originally in this position, but they blame Li Mi for not protecting them well.
As a result, Li Mi took on almost all the pressure from the clan and officials.
Until the Imperial City Secretary killed seventy-six clan officials in one day, Chang'an was shocked. It is said that Li Bi entered the palace to resign that day, but the emperor disappeared.
At this point, rumors of the Xue family replacing the Tang Dynasty were rampant. Some people said that the emperor wanted to change the name of the country to "Xin" and wanted to imitate Wang Mang.
What's even more strange is that under such circumstances, an abnormal balance is still maintained in the court.
This time, everyone was afraid of the emperor's methods and could not guess the emperor's thoughts, so they were cautious and did not dare to act rashly.
It was under this circumstance that Du Wulang learned that Li Yuetu had finally been captured.
After much thought, she decided to ask Xue Bai to intercede for her.
He didn't even plead for Du Jin.
Because he knew that Xue Bai would not kill Du Jin, but he had seen too many people die in disputes recently. He hoped to take the opportunity to persuade Xue Bai to settle this major case, and also to dispel the rumors of replacing Li Tang.