Li Dan knew that Lai Junchen was about to impeach him and that Princess Taiping, Wu Chengsi, and the others had decided to join forces to counterattack, but he still did not dare to write a few words and incite the officials still loyal to him to cooperate. He was worried that once the matter was exposed, it would become evidence against him.
In the end, it was under the insistence of Li Chengqi, Li Longji, and the other princes, who specifically stated that the letter could be "burned after reading" that Li Dan finally agreed, trembling with fear, to sign the letter and stamp the Crown Prince's seal.
Li Longji saw Gao Lishi, who was holding the secret letter, out of the hall. He reached out to take off his jade pendant of flowing clouds and hundred blessings and stuffed it into Gao Lishi's hand. He said, "Eunuch, you risked your life to send a message and saved my father and me from danger. I am unable to repay your great kindness. This jade pendant is a small token from me. Please accept it, eunuch! "
Li Longji was under house arrest in the Eastern Palace and did not have any monthly salary. This jade pendant was something he had worn when he had been expelled from the manor and locked up in the Eastern Palace. It was one of the few belongings he had. Li Longji's clothes were tattered and shabby, even worse than Gao Lishi's.
Gao Lishi was not willing to accept his things and hurriedly declined.
Li Longji sincerely said, "This little thing is not worth eunuch risking your life to send a message. How can this little thing buy my life? I'm giving it to Eunuch Gao as a keepsake. In the future, if my father and I can regain our freedom, we will definitely not forget Eunuch Gao's help today. If Eunuch Gao thinks highly of this promise of mine, please accept it! "
Gao Lishi hesitated for a moment and carefully put the jade pendant into his pocket. He bowed deeply to this young prince of similar age and calm temperament and respectfully returned the greeting. "If so, this servant thanks Your Highness for the reward!"
Li Longji nodded. Watching Gao Lishi turn and walk out, there was an unusual look in his eyes. Although he was young, all kinds of hardships had made him far more mature than other youths of his age. He had already begun to pay attention to seizing every opportunity to rope in people he could use.
…
Beside the Yi River, the fishing float on the clear water suddenly sank. Yang Fan hurriedly raised his wrist, and a shiny, fat fish leaped out of the water. Yang Fan swiftly lifted the fish in front of him, took off the hook and put it into the fish basket. Then, he attached a fish worm and threw the thread into the river. He said calmly, "Since everything is ready, let's do it!"
Ren Wei stood behind him and said respectfully, "Yes! In Sect Master's opinion, who should make the first move? "
Yang Fan held the fishing rod in his hand and calmly replied, "Wu Chengsi is cunning. He won't take the bait so easily. It's better to let the Crown Prince's men make the first move!"
"Yes!"
Yang Fan turned his head and said, "Most of the people on the Crown Prince's side have already been killed by the Emperor. The remaining people are all very secretive. Even for us, it is difficult to ascertain who is still loyal to the Crown Prince. Take advantage of this opportunity to keep an eye on those who have emerged and then follow the clues to find out who is usually close to them. These people are friends today, but they may become our enemies in the future! "
"Yes!"
Ren Wei bowed deeply and turned to leave.
The next morning, Wu Zetian had just asked Assistant Minister of War Yao Chong about the progress of sending troops to Liaodong to quell the rebellion when a young eunuch came forward to report, "Your Majesty, the Supervising Imperial Censor Ji Lvzhong requests an audience!"
The position of the supervising imperial censor was not high and did not have the right to accompany the Emperor in court. However, they were imperial censors. If they wanted to impeach someone, they could come to court at any time. Thus, when the civil and military officials heard that the Supervising Imperial Censor requested an audience, they immediately understood that it was to impeach an official.
Wu Zetian was slightly surprised and ordered, "Summon him in!"
Ji Lvzhong was over sixty years old and was already an old official. Although there were as many sixth and seventh rank officials in the capital as there were cows and horses, and this official could only recognize a few of them, Ji Lvzhong had spent his entire life in the Imperial Censor, which was responsible for supervising the officials. Thus, the officials who had been in this yamen for a long time were all recognized by the influential officials in the court.
Ji Lvzhong was an honest and clean official and was highly respected by the court. In the past, there had never been a case where he had impeached someone without any evidence. Moreover, he had never attached himself to the influential officials and wholeheartedly worked for the court. Even Wu Zetian had great respect for this loyal old official.
After a while, the edict was passed down and Ji Lvzhong strode into the hall. When the civil and military officials saw Ji Lvzhong holding court clothes and an official hat, they were all somewhat stunned.
Wu Zetian narrowed her pair of presbyopic eyes and saw Ji Lvzhong's appearance clearly. She also felt somewhat strange. What does Old Ji want to do? Could it be that he wants to retire and return to his hometown?
Ji Lvzhong did not look around and walked into the hall, bowing to Wu Zetian. Wu Zetian could not help but ask with a smile, "Official Ji, you are not wearing court clothes. Why have you come to the hall like this?"
Ji Lvzhong said, "This old official has come to the hall today to impeach the capital governor, Lai Junchen! This old official knows that Lai Junchen has always been trusted by His Majesty and has great power in the court. If I cannot bring Lai Junchen down today, this old official will definitely fall into his evil hands in the future. Therefore, I will be impeached without a hat or robe and dressed in white. If I cannot bring him down, this old official is willing to immediately resign and return to my hometown. I will die of old age in Linquan and henceforth never to participate in court politics again! "
Hearing this, Wu Zetian was displeased and rebuked, "Official Ji's words are too outrageous! The Imperial Censor supervises the officials, hears rumors and reports, and controls the country's laws and regulations to maintain order in the court. This is the power given by the imperial court. Regardless of whether what you say is conclusive or not, who can accuse you? When has Lai Junchen ever been so domineering? Don't hesitate to speak your mind. This Emperor will decide everything for you! "
Ji Lvzhong's voice was like a great bell as he said, "This official thanks Your Majesty! Your Majesty, this official impeaches Lai Junchen for being the mastermind behind Wan Guojun, Huang Jingrong and the other cruel officials massacring the vagabonds and forcing the desolate border to rebel! This official impeaches him for being cruel in accordance with the law, for being obedient to the law, for harming and torturing people's hearts, for having their bones exposed and blood shed. There are many cases of this, and the voices of injustice have filled the sea.
This official impeaches Lai Junchen for being demoted to the same province, for oppressing his colleagues and forcefully taking his wife for himself. He has no sense of shame, and the people are seething with resentment! This official impeaches Lai Junchen for accepting bribes from a rich man while he was a judge in the same province. He actually used grain from the government's treasury to give to the plaintiff, and should be executed for his crime. This official's impeachments are all supported by witnesses and material evidence. They are definitely not false accusations. Your Majesty, please investigate clearly! "
Ji Lvzhong's words were powerful and resounding, and the entire hall immediately erupted into an uproar.
There was actually someone who dared to impeach Lai Junchen. This undoubtedly stirred up the excitement of all the civil and military officials in the court. Only … accusing Lai Junchen?
No one was optimistic about Ji Lvzhong. When some officials who had a good impression of him looked at him, their faces were already full of pity, as if they could already see this old Ji's tragic future.
Wu Zetian had always known that Ji Lvzhong was honest and prudent. He would not impeach an official easily. Once he did, he would definitely have solid evidence.
The group of people from the Imperial Censorate in the Southern Border was to make the court pay more attention to their role. Wu Zetian was already well aware of this. As for Lai Junchen's fondness for good women, she had also heard Wulang and Wulang joke about it when she was in the Inner Palace. Thinking about it this way, perhaps the crimes that Ji Lvzhong impeached were all true.
Wu Zetian did not have many subordinates that she could use now. She really did not want to make an example out of this obedient watchdog. For a moment, she could not help but hesitate, not knowing if she should accept this case. If she did not accept it, Ji Lvzhong even put on a posture of retiring and returning to his hometown. Such an obvious shielding, wouldn't it be like a good ruler accepting admonition, and let the officials laugh at her for being unfair? Following this, if Ji Lvzhong took out solid evidence on the spot, then should Lai Junchen punish him or not?
When Lai Junchen heard that someone was impeaching him, he could only follow the rules and remove his hat and hat. He stood at the front of the civil class and listened with his head lowered. He gritted his teeth inwardly, secretly thinking about how to retaliate.
Wu Chengsi saw the Empress's hesitant expression and was secretly apprehensive. Instantly, he could not keep his composure. He had originally planned to let others take the lead first and observe the situation for a while before deciding whether to advance or retreat. Now that he was anxious to find out his aunt's attitude towards Lai Junchen, he could not care about that. He immediately sent a look to Zhang Jiafu of the Phoenix Pavilion.
When Zhang Jiafu saw that his master had given the signal, he went out and reported, "Your Majesty, there have long been discussions in the court that Lai Junchen has used torture and harsh laws to falsely accuse others of crimes, causing all the civil and military officials of the court to be afraid and not dare to speak out. Today, the Imperial Censorate has impeached Lai Junchen, and I hope that Your Majesty will obey the will of the people and investigate this case strictly. Whether he is guilty or innocent, only after the investigation can the people of the world see justice! "
"I second the motion!"
As soon as Zhang Jiafu finished speaking, Zhao Gan of the Heavenly Official Office, Cui Shi, and many other officials immediately came out to echo his words. Wu Zetian was helpless, and could only order, "Lai Junchen is to close the door and listen! As for the case of Ji Lvzhong's impeachment of Lai Junchen, order the Qiu Guan yamen to conduct an investigation and trial. Subject Ji can hand over all the witnesses and material evidence to the Qiu Guan yamen, and do not mention the matter of retiring and returning to his hometown again! "
…
"So Ji Lvzhong is one of the Crown Prince's people. This old man has really hidden himself well. If not for this, we would not have discovered it!"
On the way back to the city, Yang Fan played with the two children as he said to Ren Wei, "This fire has already been lit, and all sides will do their best. We need to take this opportunity to find out who belongs to which side and record all of them, and from now on, strictly monitor them! "
Ren Wei agreed and quickly passed on Yang Fan's orders …
Ever since the Ministry of Justice took over the investigation of Lai Junchen, Crown Prince Li Dan's people, Prince Wu Chengsi's people, Princess Taiping's people, and even Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yizhi's people all joined in, denouncing and impeaching Lai Junchen.
Lai Junchen's crimes were too numerous to list, and now that they wanted to punish him, the crimes were naturally at their fingertips.
As usual, Lai Junchen was only to close the door and listen, but as his crimes continued to increase, Wu Zetian could no longer protect him, and could only order for him to be arrested and thrown into the Ministry of Justice's prison. As a result, the number of people impeaching Lai Junchen increased by the day.
Only two days later, Wei Suizhong, under Wu Sansi's instructions, came out to testify that Lai Junchen had once bragged about being Shi Le after drinking.
Shi Le was the Emperor of Later Zhao. At first, he was just a slave, but later, he became a general, and then from a general, he became the Emperor. Lai Junchen was originally a ruffian, but now that he was a high-ranking official, he called himself Shi Le. Wasn't this the same as plotting to become the Emperor?
The pitiful Lai Junchen did not know who Shi Le was. He did not even know this person, much less Shi Le's life. But as a result, Lai Junchen's crimes increased layer by layer, and finally, he was about to die.
However, Wu Zetian still did not have any thoughts of executing Lai Junchen. This was because Lai Junchen had offended too many people, and because he had offended too many people, Wu Zetian believed that many of the impeachments were due to personal grudges. And because Lai Junchen had offended too many people, she believed that Lai Junchen could only rely on himself.
As for plotting a rebellion, Wu Zetian could only laugh it off. It was possible for anyone to plot a rebellion, but if someone like Lai Junchen plotted a rebellion, who in this world would follow him?
The crime of plotting a rebellion had always been the most effective way to use Wu Zetian to get rid of political enemies, and it had worked time and time again. However, not even this crime could do anything to Lai Junchen, and the one who had reported him was Lai Junchen's former confidant. Even so, Wu Zetian refused to believe that Lai Junchen had really become an unkillable cockroach.
Wu Chengsi became even more afraid when he saw the Emperor's indifferent reaction. "There are so many crimes, yet the Emperor doesn't even want to kill Lai Junchen. Could it be that the Emperor really wants to use him to get rid of this king and all those who stand in the way of King Liang's ascension to the throne? Jiafu, what should this king do now? "
In Yang Fan's study, Yang Fan was also asking his confidant about this matter. "Ren Wei, what does the Sky Observation Division think about this matter?"
Ren Wei said, "The people of the Sky Observation Division have carefully studied the people the Empress had eliminated over the years. They discovered that there are only four types of people the Empress wants to kill the most. The first type are those who have a grudge against the Empress, and these people were all killed before the Empress ascended to the throne. The second type are those who are disobedient. Lai Junchen is clearly not one of them. The third type are those who pose a threat to the throne … "
Yang Fan continued, "Lai Junchen clearly does not pose any threat to the throne. Wu Chengsi's incitement to Wei Suizhong to put this crime on Lai Junchen is simply overreaching himself."
Ren Wei said, "Understood! The fourth type are those who have completely lost their value. If they are left alive, they will instead affect the Empress's authority! "
Yang Fan muttered to himself for a moment, then said, "Clearly, this is the only way to get rid of Lai Junchen. Have we already figured out the identities of those officials who have always been hidden, but who actually belong to the Second Zhang Clan, the Wu Clan, and Princess Taiping? "
"Understood!"
Yang Fan smiled and said, "Good! Then let's start now and turn Lai Junchen into a street rat! "
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