After getting the confession, Sun Fuga's expression changed on the spot, and he said to He Qiu: "Watch this place, no one is allowed to leave before I come back, and no one is allowed to have any contact with outsiders."
Then he said to everyone in the cellar: "I won't tell you how serious the matter is, but you will understand. I am doing this to protect everyone. I hope you don't blame me."
He Qiu said: "Don't worry, Mr. Zheng, I will definitely take good care of everyone. No one can even think of stepping out of the cellar door until you come back."
Other jailers also quickly said: "Don't worry, Sir, we know the seriousness and will never leak a word to anyone."
Sun Fujia nodded, turned around and hurried to the palace.
When Li Shimin heard that he asked for an audience, he immediately put down his government affairs and let him in and said, "But the prisoner confessed?"
Sun Fujia held the confession in both hands and said, "Yes, this is the confession of Cai Binglan, the leader of the thieves. Please ask the saint to read it."
Li Shimin took it and opened it while asking: "Who is the person behind the scenes?"
Sun Fujia lowered his head and said, "A saint will know after seeing it."
Li Shimin's hand paused, and his face became serious. Sun Fujia didn't dare to say directly. The person behind it must not be simple. Is this really not an accident, but a conspiracy against the prince?
He sped up and unfolded several pages of his confession.
Sun Fuga knew where the key points were and put the key confession on the first page. Li Shimin saw it at the first glance.
When he saw clearly the identity of the person behind the scenes, his face was instantly filled with murderous intent: "Is it the Taiyuan Wang family? Okay, okay, okay, I want to see what you want to do."
After flipping through several pages of the confession, his face became even worse and he said: "How can this be unreasonable? How can it be unreasonable? I didn't expect that Chang'an would hide such cruel things. All the officials in Wannian County of Chang'an should die."
Sun Fujia lowered his head and did not dare to say a word.
After losing his temper for a while, Li Shimin calmed down and said: "Go back and look at all the people who know the truth. If the news leaks out, I will question you."
Sun Fuga said: "Here."
Then he hurried back to Dali Temple and found the jailers who comforted him.
The jailers also knew the seriousness of the matter, and they all said that they would live in the cellar until the matter was over and would not go anywhere.
On the other side, Li Shimin called for a meeting with more than 20 dignitaries including Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Gao Shilian, Li Daozong, Yuchi Gong, and Cheng Yaojin.
It was impossible to hide the fact that multiple ministers entered the palace at the same time. People who were well-informed began to speculate whether something big was going to happen.
Is it related to the attack on the prince yesterday? If it is really because of this incident, it is likely that another bloody storm will start.
The people who entered the palace also had the same speculation. Could it be that there was really something hidden behind the prince's injury?
When they read Cai Binglan's confession, they all fell silent.
Li Shimin glanced around and said coldly: "Why don't you say a word, sir?"
Fang Xuanling hesitated for a while and said: "Sage, now we only have the confession of the thief leader Cai Binglan, so we can't determine the authenticity yet. It's better to arrest Wang Xiuqi and bring him to justice, and then make a decision after getting his confession."
Changsun Wuji retorted: "No, if it is really the Wang family, our arrest of Wang Xiuqi will definitely alert the snake. At that time, the Wang family will definitely abandon Wang Xiuqi and save the family."
Fang Xuanling wanted to refute, but seeing Li Shimin's gloomy expression, he immediately shut his mouth.
He knew very well what the emperor meant. Whether it was Wang Xiuqi's personal behavior or the Taiyuan Wang family's conspiracy, it was no longer important at this time.
What the emperor wants is to take this opportunity to eradicate the Wang family and sound the alarm to the powerful nobles who are still stubbornly resisting and refusing to admit defeat.
If he keeps talking, he will probably become like Wei Zheng. Although he is still the prime minister and has a lot of power, he is no longer qualified to participate in key meetings.
So he swallowed all the rest of his words and stopped talking.
"Bang." Yuchi Gong slapped the table and shouted: "His Highness is still lying down in Zixiaoguan. Is there anything else to discuss?"
"The army went over and arrested all the Wang family members and interrogated them one by one. Then they will naturally know the truth."
Cheng Yaojin said calmly: "The saint gave me glory and wealth, and Your Highness is the guarantee for the wealth of my children and grandchildren."
"Gonggong, I want to repay the saint's kindness, and privately, I want to plan for my children and grandchildren... Whoever dares to touch Your Highness will be my sworn enemy, Cheng Zhijie."
Two people expressed their stance one after another, and they were both generals in command of the army. Others also knew that they would have no choice if they did not express their stance, and they all supported taking action against the Wang family.
Li Shimin's eyes showed satisfaction and he said: "Okay, since all the ministers agree, then we will follow this and take down the Wang family in Taiyuan."
Gao Shilian said: "Sage, although the sun has set on the powerful nobles and nobles, the centipede will not freeze even if it is dead. We must prevent them from taking risks out of grief and despair."
Li Shimin nodded and said: "What Duke Shen Guo said is true. Do you have any good strategies?"
Li Daozong replied: "It's better to send generals to various places to guard against unexpected events like the year before."
Others also said: "This method is feasible."
In fact, this was also Li Shimin's plan. Seeing that no one had any objections, he just went along with the flow and agreed.
Then they began to discuss who would guard where.
There are not many places that really need to be guarded, mainly Shandong and Henan, the bases of the northern gentry, and Zhenjiang, Yangzhou, Hangzhou, Kuaiji and other places where the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River are based.
Although there were branches of gentry or powerful forces in other places, they were not enough to pose a threat to the rule of the Tang Dynasty.
In the end, everyone agreed that since the gentry in the south were generally weak, Niu Jinda and Li Daoyan would guard Yangzhou, Hangzhou, Kuaiji and other places.
The northern gentry were stronger, so they sent Wei Chigong to Hebei, Zhang Shigui to Henan, and Wu Heitai to Fanyang to take charge.
Wu Heitao is not well-known, but he is also an old member of Wagang. He followed Cheng Yaojin and Qin Qiong to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, participated in the Xuanwumen Incident, and was named the Founding County Duke.
He is one of the core cadres of the Cheng, Qin, and Yuchi alliance. When he goes to Fanyang, he can cooperate with Yuchi Gong who is guarding Hebei.
After the personnel were assigned, Li Shimin immediately wrote an order to mobilize troops. Fang Xuanling passed it immediately and could set off on the same day.
Then everyone began to discuss who should go to Taiyuan to arrest people. After discussing for a while, the task was handed over to Zhang Jian and Ma Zhou.
Zhang Jian was also a noble of Guanlong, distant relative to the Li family, and had outstanding military exploits. Needless to say, Ma Zhou.
The two of them are civil and military, one is responsible for violent arrests, and the other is responsible for reviewing statistics.
When the meeting was ending, Changsun Wuji suddenly asked a question: "The crown prince's concubine is the daughter of the Wang family, and the eldest princess of Tong'an is also the wife of the Wang family. How should we deal with it?"
Li Shimin said: "The Taiyuan Wang family has been inherited for hundreds of years and has many branch bloodlines. If we deal with them all, it would be too implicated. This time only the main bloodline will be killed. If there are no big mistakes, the branch bloodlines can be left to fend for themselves."
"As for the Crown Prince's concubine, leave it to the Crown Prince to handle. I believe he will handle it well."
…
Chen Jingke learned the news from Changsun Wugu. At that time, Li Chengqian had just entered the operating room and they were waiting outside.
Changsun Wugou told him: "Your interrogation method is indeed effective. The leader of the kidnappers, Cai Binglan, confessed."
Chen Jingke smiled and said: "As long as it works, who is the person behind the scenes?"
Changsun Wugou glanced at him and said, "You know that person too."
Chen Jingke was not surprised, he just said: "I know a lot of people. It's not surprising that there are a few dressed like beasts. Who are they?"
Changsun Wugou said: "Wang Xiuqi, do you still remember?"
"Wang Xiuqi?" Chen Jingke thought for a long time before he remembered who it was, and said in surprise: "It's him? What a coincidence, isn't it?"
Changsun Wugou nodded and said, "Yes, it's such a coincidence. He often buys beautiful girls and brings them home to torture."
"Afraid that someone would find out about the purchase from a tooth shop, I hired a kidnapper to help him kidnap her in private. In the past two years, no less than ten girls have been tortured to death by him."
The smile on Chen Jingke's face has disappeared, replaced by regret, guilt, and pain.
Changsun Wugou said softly: "You regret it, don't you?"
Chen Jingke did not answer, but asked: "Where is he?"
Changsun Wugou said: "I am hiding in a manor outside the city, helping the nobles to spy on the capital's intelligence. I am already under surveillance."
Chen Jingke said angrily: "Why not arrest him? Is it because he is afraid of his status as a nobleman?"
Changsun Wugou sighed and said: "Anger cannot solve the problem, and arresting him now can only punish him alone."
"The saint has already made a plan. This time he will uproot the Wang family. It won't be too late to catch him when Taiyuan takes action."
Chen Jingke nodded and said through gritted teeth: "When someone catches him, hand him over to me, beard and tail."
Changsun Wugou said worriedly: "What do you want to do?"
Chen Jingke showed a hint of sinisterness and said: "Everyone has a dark side in their heart, but it is usually suppressed by the sunny side."
"I also have a dark side. If Wang Xiuqi releases it, he will be responsible for the consequences."
Changsun Wugou immediately thought of the idea he gave to Sun Fujia, knowing that he must have more cruel ways to torture people.
She didn't ask, there was no need, she just said: "Okay, I will tell the people below to try not to hurt him when arresting him, and hand him over to you intact."
After that, the two fell into silence.
Chen Jingke's expression kept changing, sometimes full of guilt, sometimes ferocious, and sometimes extremely angry.
Changsun Wugou knew that he was involved in this matter, and he was worried.
After thinking about it, he went out to find Wu Shu and said something like this:
"Originally, I wanted Xiao Sizi to comfort him, but I was afraid that it would be self-defeating and bring back his bad memories. Please comfort him properly and let him get rid of his inner demons as soon as possible."
After all, some of the girls who were tortured to death by Wang Xiuqi were not much older than Xiao Sizi. Seeing her would probably give Chen Jingke a bad association.
Wu Shu's face was full of worry and he said: "Well, don't worry, Madam, I will comfort him well."
The door to the operating room opened quickly, and Sun Simiao, Hong Ling and others walked out.
The eldest grandson Wugou and Crown Princess Su rushed to greet him: "Master Sun, how is Cheng Qian?"
Sun Simiao took off his mask and said with a smile: "His mission has been fulfilled. His Highness's foot bones have been corrected and the broken bones have been removed. Now we just need to cultivate well and let the broken bones grow back."
Although he believed in Sun Simiao's medical skills, it was only at this moment that Changsun Wugou completely let go and said, "That's great, thank you Master Sun."
Sun Simiao said: "Your Majesty, you are too polite. This is what I should do."
Su Shi finally found an opportunity and interjected: "When will His Highness come out?"
Sun Simiao said: "The medical staff are finishing the work and they will be out soon. However, His Highness fell asleep after taking anesthetic and may have to sleep for a while before he wakes up."
Just as he was talking, several doctors and nurses came over pushing a hospital bed, and everyone rushed to greet it to check the situation.
Li Chengqian was sleeping soundly with his eyes like this, and had no symptoms such as paleness. He looked rosy and healthy.
In fact, the opening of his surgery was not large, it did not take long, there was not much blood loss, and there were no symptoms of blood loss.
After that, everyone escorted him to the ward.
Chen Jingke also came over to take a look, and left when he saw that nothing happened.
Changsun Wugou glanced at his back worriedly, and could only pray in his heart that Wu Shu could comfort him.
After Chen Jingke left the ward, he went to a remote corner alone and sat there silently repenting.
He would not attribute Wang Xiuqi's mistakes to himself, but he still regretted it every time he thought about it.
If he had directly killed Wang Xiuqi, none of this would have happened, and so many innocent girls wouldn't have been killed.
That's more than a dozen lives, all of them as young as flowers.
They must have suffered great abuse and humiliation before they died. Just thinking about that scene would make his heart panic and feel as if it was pinching and painful.
This kind of pain and regret made his soul tortured, and sometimes he wanted to slap himself in the face.
At this time, a hand was placed on his head and stroked gently, and a familiar voice sounded in his ears: "It must be hard."
Chen Jingke let out a long sigh and said, "Yes, this is the first time I know what regret feels like."
Wu Shu said distressedly: "Don't torture yourself like this. You didn't know he would be so mad at that time. Besides, he was a nobleman. Even the saints didn't dare to touch them easily at that time, let alone you."
Chen Jingke said: "I understand the truth, but these are more than a dozen lives, and I can't help but think about it."
Wu Shu was even more worried.
Chen Jingke forced out a smile and said: "Don't worry, I won't fall into a demonic barrier. I just want to remember this feeling now and not make that mistake again in the future."
"And the more I regret now, the deeper my hatred for Wang Xiuqi becomes, and I can work hard to come up with more cruel ways to retaliate against him."
"I want him to regret what he did and come to this world. Once I release the violence in my heart, everything will be fine."
Wu Shu picked up his hand, put it on his abdomen and said, "I believe in you. You will be able to defeat all enemies and protect me and our children."
"My children and I are waiting for the kind-hearted and unscheming Chen Jingke to come back."
Chen Jingke gently took his hand back and said, "Don't worry, I will definitely be back, soon."