"Qian Wen Qian" pounced on the birdcage. He grabbed the birdcage with one claw and stretched his other claw into the cage to grab the parrot. The birdcage shook left and right on the shelf. The parrot inside was so scared that it jumped around and screamed in fear.
Several palace maids in the palace saw this scene and hurried to help.
The ones fighting inside and outside the birdcage were the two pets of the Emperor. They didn't dare to hurt either of them, and it took a lot of effort to separate them. The parrot fluttered its feathers all over the ground, and shrank into a corner of the cage in fear. "Qian Qian" was held in someone's arms, and it stared at its prey with a pair of cat eyes, regretfully looking at it.
All this, of course, was seen by Wu Zetian, and she couldn't help laughing.
"Come on, bring my cat and parrot here, and let me see these two restless little guys."
Wu Zetian said with a smile. When the two pets were brought in front of her, Wu Zetian held the civet cat in her arms and looked at the parrot on the table, and the smile on her face suddenly disappeared.
She was a person who liked to speculate about some things from some strange signs and signs. Looking at the still eager civet cat and the frightened parrot in her arms, she suddenly thought, "Civet cat, civet … Civet? Li? Parrot? Wu? The fight between the civet cat and the parrot, does it mean the fight between the Li family and the Wu family? Is this a warning from God? "
At this time, Wei Tuan 'er finished dealing with some things and just arrived at the hall. After listening to the palace maids tell what had just happened, she came to Wu Zetian and said with a smile, "Everyone, of course, the cat and the parrot can't be kept together. How can they coexist? Let's give the cat to Tuan 'er, and Tuan' er will put it in a safe place, so that it won't attack the parrot again. "
Wu Zetian said slowly, "Are the civet cat and the parrot really incompatible?"
Tuan 'er covered her mouth and laughed, "Everyone, when the cat sees the parrot, how can it not want to eat? If they are together, it will be strange if they can live in harmony. "
"There is a way!"
Wu Zetian said seriously. Her eyes flickered as if she had been inspired by something.
She held the restless civet cat tightly in her hand, preventing it from jumping onto the table. She stroked its fur thoughtfully and comforted it. She said to Wei Tuan'er, "I like this civet cat. Take it and train it well. Get rid of its wildness!"
Wei Tuan 'er agreed and took the cat from Wu Zetian's hands.
Wu Zetian continued, "Why can't a civet cat and a parrot live in harmony? I don't agree! This world belongs to me. Do you think I can't deal with a civet cat? Tuan Er, train it well. No matter what method you use, you must make sure that this civet cat and this parrot can coexist in the same room and not attack each other! "
"Ah?"
Wei Tuan'er held the civet cat with a bitter expression. Civet cats eat birds. This was their instinct. How could she let them coexist in the same room and not attack each other!
The 'Thousand Wen Qian' had been struggling in Wei Tuan 'er's arms for a long time, but it had not been able to reach the parrot on the table. Now that it was in Wei Tuan' er's arms, it could see the parrot's eyes clearly. It struggled a few times, but it could not escape from Wei Tuan 'er's arms. It became angry and raised its claws to scratch her.
A few bloody marks immediately appeared on the back of Wei Tuan 'er's delicate palm; she cried out in pain and let go of her hand. The cat used all its strength to jump onto the table, its head knocked the birdcage over and it fell down the table with a grunt. The parrot was screaming and jumping in the cage, flapping its wings. Its feathers were falling off, making Wu Zetian sneeze a few times.
…
When Lai Junchen arrived at Lichun Tai, he saw that it looked like it had just been cleaned up after a mess. He was very curious. However, he didn't dare to ask too much. He still followed the rules and bowed to Wu Zetian in the Zhou Dynasty. He said respectfully, "I, Lai Junchen, kowtow to Your Majesty!"
"Get up! Lai Junchen, how did you judge Di Renjie and the others? "
Lai Junchen had just stood up, but he quickly bent down again and said, "Your Majesty, I tried to persuade them with emotion and reason. I tried to influence them with Your Majesty's kindness and magnanimity. For those who are too stubborn, I gathered evidence and used it to make them unable to refute. They had no choice but to bow their heads and admit their guilt. "
"Is that so?"
Wu Zetian glanced at him and said, "They all admitted their guilt?"
Lai Junchen said, "Yes! As soon as they were arrested, Di Renjie knew that the situation was hopeless, so he was the first to admit his guilt. After that, Ren Zhigu, Pei Xingben, and the others also pleaded guilty. Up until now, only Wei Yuanzhong refused to admit his guilt. Hou Sizhi wanted to use torture on him, but he had just hung him up when I found out and immediately went to stop him.
I believe that it is not advisable to use torture on these officials. Once torture is used, it will be hard to avoid suspicion that they have been tortured into confessing. We must be fair and use irrefutable evidence to force them to admit their guilt. "
"Yes …"
Wu Zetian slowly said, "You really didn't use torture to extort confessions?"
Lai Junchen smiled and said, "How could I dare to lie to Your Majesty? I can guarantee that no torture was used on the cases I personally tried or handled! I dare not hide anything from Your Majesty. Because Your Majesty has not yet issued a decree to confirm their crimes and announce them to the world, they are still officials. I have not even stripped them of their court uniforms, so how could I use torture on them? "
Wu Zetian's eyes suddenly turned cold. She said in a low voice, "If that's the case, why would Di Renjie send out a letter of blood to complain about his grievances?"
As Wu Zetian spoke, she threw a handkerchief in her hand at Lai Junchen. The handkerchief was light and floated to the ground in midair. Lai Junchen quickly caught up and bent down to pick up the handkerchief. He unfolded it and cursed inwardly, Wang Deshou, this idiot. I told him to keep an eye on that old fox, so how could he still send out a letter of blood?
Lai Junchen thought to himself, but he pretended to be shocked and wronged. He said, "This … I don't know either! Perhaps this Di Renjie is afraid of death and knows that Your Majesty has always favored and trusted him, so … complaining about his grievances is fake and pleading for leniency is real. He hopes that Your Majesty will be softhearted and spare his life! "
"Could it be like this? Di Renjie is using complaining about his grievances in the name of getting my pity? "
Wu Zetian hesitated. Shanghai Wan 'er looked at Lai Junchen and then glanced at Wu Zetian. She gently closed her eyes and said in a gentle voice, "Lieutenant Minister Lai has always been loyal to the affairs of the state and is everyone's trusted right-hand man. What Lieutenant Minister Lai says is not false. But if the Prime Minister is complaining about his grievances and Your Majesty does not intervene, not only will it damage Your Majesty's reputation, but it will also affect Lieutenant Minister Lai … "
Wu Zetian turned her head and asked, "What is Wan 'er's opinion?"
Shanghai Wan 'er said, "Why doesn't Your Majesty bring Di Renjie and the others to Your Majesty and ask them personally?"
As soon as these words came out, Lai Junchen's heart thumped. He was so scared that it almost jumped out of his chest. He immediately pretended to be wronged and said, "Shangguan Dai Zhi's words are wrong! The court has its own laws. How can there be a reason for the Emperor to personally try criminals? What about the country's laws? What about the three departments of law? Once this precedent is set, future Emperors can follow suit and interfere with justice at any time. How can the law be maintained? "
Shanghai Wan 'er immediately said, "In the sixth year of Zhenguan, Emperor Taizong interfered and released three hundred and ninety prisoners on death row to reunite with their families. One year later, they came to the capital to be punished! In the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, Hou Junji rebelled. Emperor Taizong had a private meeting and said, 'For the sake of the Emperor, from now on I cannot go to the Pavilion of Lingyan.' If Emperor Taizong can do it, why can't I, the Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty? "
Although Lai Junchen came from a humble background, he was talented. To be able to write the Weaving Scripture of Weaving and Framing, how could he not have some real ability?
He immediately retorted, "It is true that Emperor Taizong released prisoners to reunite with their families! But that was a decision made by Emperor Taizong when he 'recorded the prisoners', not a special person or a special case to interrogate them. This year's prisoner recording period has not arrived yet, so it cannot be used as a precedent.
As for Emperor Taizong's private meeting with Hou Junji, that is a legend among the people. Since it was a private meeting in a private room, how could others know? Even Emperor Taizong's words seemed to have been seen with their own eyes. There is no such thing in Emperor Taizong's daily records. Let me ask, who was the one who said this?
If Emperor Taizong really met with Hou Junji in a private room, knowing that he was going to die, then Hou Junji could have begged the Son of Heaven to pardon one of his sons and preserve his bloodline. Why did he have to wait until the execution ground to speak of this hope and have the executioner report to the Son of Heaven to pardon one of his sons and exile him to Lingnan? "
Wan 'er's talent mainly came from her literary talent and her ability to manage government affairs. Her knowledge of prisons may not be comparable to that of Lai Junchen, who had written the Weaving Scripture of Weaving. She had grown up in the palace. Her ability to find faults, to find loopholes, and to argue with others could not be compared to Lai Junchen, who was a street thug.
But because she was knowledgeable and familiar with all kinds of stories, she was able to list them out one by one and argue with Lai Junchen. As the two of them bickered, Wu Zetian's energy began to run out. She felt annoyed and said, "Fine, fine. You two don't have to tell me about the past. How about this, I will send an official to the prison to see if he has been tortured or not. Xiao Hai, send an edict. Have Qi Feng, the messenger, go to the Deacon's Courtyard to see if any of the officials have been tortured. "
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Xiao Hai left the hall. Lai Junchen rolled his eyes and said, "Even if Your Majesty did not summon me today, I would still come to the palace to report. Last night, someone broke into the Deacon's Courtyard and tried to break into the prison!"
Hearing this, Wu Zetian was shocked. Her tiredness was swept away. She quickly asked, "Someone dared to break into the prison?"
Lai Junchen said, "Yes! I am afraid there are more than ten intruders. Each of them is highly skilled. They started a massacre in the Deacon's Courtyard. Only after alerting a large number of guards did they escape. They killed fifteen jailers. Not a single one was injured. Their attack was extremely vicious … "
While Lai Junchen was talking, he suddenly remembered the words of an imperial bodyguard who had experienced the prison break last night. He said, "Deputy Prime Minister, although that person tried to conceal herself, I am certain that she is a woman. This woman's skills are extremely high, almost like a demon's! When she makes a move, lightning flashes and thunder roars. Suddenly a gentle breeze and a fine drizzle. She is like the venom of a snake … "
Lai Junchen thought, I wonder who this woman is. She sneaked into the prison with the intention of rescuing an official. This person's martial arts are so high. If her target is me, it is really worrying. I don't know if the six bodyguards I hired with a lot of money are her match. When I go back, I need to hire more martial arts masters to protect me!
Shanghai Wan 'er was thinking about how to use Di Renjie's grievance to make a big fuss. It was okay if she couldn't save Di Renjie and the others. At least she had to bail Yang Fan out. When she heard Lai Junchen's words, she felt like she was drenched in ice. Her heart turned cold. Someone broke into the prison? This is bad!
…
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