"The attack inside and outside was not a coincidence. I'm afraid it was aimed at Lin Aoxue …" At this point, Shangguan Qing did not hide anything from him and explained the situation.
After listening to Shangguan Qing, Sima Wentian was no longer in the mood to gloat. He wiped his forehead with his sleeves and felt cold sweat. He immediately guessed that it was Niu Youde's doing. In other words, Niu Youde already knew about Fei Hong's background and had been using Fei Hong to fool Lord Qing. Fei Hong was the person that Sima Wentian had placed beside Niu Youde. How could he not know about such a mistake? Especially when Lord Qing had decided to attack Niu Youde, Fei Hong must have already leaked the news to Niu Youde. No wonder Fei Hong kept saying that she had no chance to get close to Niu Youde.
It also meant that Niu Youde knew that Fei Hong was about to be exposed. That was why Niu Youde saved Fei Hong!
In other words, Lord Qing had been turning a blind eye to Niu Youde all these years because he had provided false information to Niu Youde. This meant that Niu Youde's development to the point where even Lord Qing was afraid of him was due to his contributions. Just thinking about it made Sima Wentian break out in cold sweat!
Sima Wentian could not laugh anymore. His responsibility was no less than Shangguan Qing's. Compared to Defeating Armies and the others outside, he was in even more trouble. How could he still gloat? He stammered and asked nervously, "Shangguan, what should we do?"
Shangguan Qing asked, "I called you here to hear your opinion. What are you going to do?"
Sima Wentian grabbed his wrist. "Shangguan, this is not a small matter. If His Majesty knows about it, both of us will be in trouble!"
Shangguan Qing pushed his hand away, looked around, and said meaningfully in a low voice, "His Majesty will probably summon Gao Guan and ask him to investigate this matter!"
"Yes!" Sima Wentian nodded and said in a low voice, "Why don't you invite Gao Guan over for a discussion?"
Shangguan Qing said, "I have already contacted Gao Guan. He should be here soon."
Sima Wentian blinked his eyes. He knew what Shangguan Qing was thinking. It turned out that Shangguan Qing had called him over to discuss this matter. Shangguan Qing was probably afraid that it would be difficult to persuade Gao Guan alone, so he wanted to bring Sima Wentian along so that he could persuade Gao Guan to show mercy.
Just as Shangguan Qing had said, Gao Guan had arrived, leading a group of men from the Right Division of the Overseer Department.
As always, he was a maverick, expressionless, and always had a cold look on his face. He wore a tall black hat and a black cloak that fluttered in the wind.
As soon as he arrived, the people gathered at the door immediately made way for him. Everyone knew that when something like this happened, it would automatically fall under the jurisdiction of the Right Supervisory Department. Who dared to stop him? This Cold Magistrate was someone who killed without batting an eye. Even Pojun, who often scolded Gao Guan as a treacherous official, waved his hand and signaled the generals below to make way.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Gao Guan's body was straight, and the black boots under the cloak steadily walked forward, the cloak swaying behind him. He stopped in front of the corpse and stared at it coldly. The people of the Right Division lined up on both sides of Gao Guan.
For Gao Guan to bring people here, he had naturally heard about what happened here.
"Who knows who the deceased is?" Gao Guan's indifferent gaze swept across the crowd, and he asked lightly.
Those with lower ranks tried their best not to make a sound. If they were really involved and brought to the Right Supervisory Department by Gao Guan, it would not be comfortable.
Pojun waved his hand, and someone pushed out the temporary housekeeper of Guang Ling Gong's side courtyard. Pojun said, "The dead attacker is a servant of Guang Fu in the Imperial Garden side courtyard. The housekeeper of Guang Fu side courtyard has already confirmed it."
Gao Guan stared at the housekeeper and asked, "Is this true?"
The housekeeper nodded with some fear, "Yes! But Lord Gao, our Guang Fu really did not know about this! "
"Take the person and the corpse away!" Gao Guan said lightly, then tilted his head and said, "Arrest everyone in Guang Fu side courtyard on the spot!"
"Yes!" Someone immediately obeyed the order and directly carried the housekeeper away. The corpse on the ground was also collected.
Gao Guan then said to Pojun, "I'll have to trouble the Left Commander to send a group of people to cooperate with us."
Pojun nodded, waved his hand and pointed at a general, and brought people with him to the Guang Fu side courtyard with the people of the Right Supervisory Department.
Gao Guan's gaze swept across the crowd again, and he said coldly, "Who is the witness?"
Not long after, a group of celestial soldiers and generals stood up uncomfortably.
Gao Guan only said one sentence, "Bring them all back to the Right Supervisory Department for strict investigation!"
Why do you want to arrest us? The group of celestial soldiers and generals felt wronged, and they all looked at Pojun. Today was coincidentally Pojun's Left Commander's duty, but Pojun could only remain silent. This kind of thing was not good for him to stop Gao Guan from investigating the case.
After taking the group of witnesses away, Gao Guan coldly threw down another sentence, "Clear the area, investigate on the spot!"
Once the people at the scene were cleared, Gao Guan casually shook his cloak, and walked into the Li Palace unhurriedly. No one dared to stop him.
Among the pavilions, seeing Gao Guan's arrival, Shangguan Qing and Sima Wentian came to greet him.
Stepping into the pavilion's corridor, Gao Guan saw the attitude of the two and realized that there was something fishy about the matter, but he did not say anything. He only lightly asked, "Chief Steward, do you have any instructions for me to come here?"
Shangguan Qing shook his head and sighed, "Gao Guan, to tell you the truth, today's matter is troublesome …" He then roughly explained the matter.
After listening, Gao Guan understood something from the two's hopeful eyes, and calmly said, "Has this matter been reported to His Majesty?"
Sima Wentian cupped his fists and said with a bitter smile, "The responsibility of this matter is not small. When we return, His Majesty will definitely send you to investigate. I hope Brother Gao will be magnanimous, otherwise, His Majesty will not let us off so easily!"
Shangguan Qing also smiled bitterly and nodded, clearly having the same intention.
Gao Guan was silent for a while, then slowly asked, "Do you know the consequences of hiding this matter? If we work together to conceal this matter, His Majesty's Chief Steward and the Left and Right Supervisory Departments, both of you should weigh the consequences. Once His Majesty finds out, I'm afraid we will not be able to keep our heads, and this will force His Majesty to replace us! We still don't know the situation with Niu Youde, what if Lin Aoxue openly shows up at Niu Youde's side? Do you think we can collude with Niu Youde secretly? "
Sima Wentian pondered, "Lin Aoxue is a convicted criminal, no matter how bold Niu Youde is, he will not let Lin Aoxue openly show up, right?"
Gao Guan said coldly, "This matter is not small, can you guarantee that there are no other spies in His Majesty's hands?"
This sentence immediately made Shangguan Qing and Sima Wentian speechless. If His Majesty found out through other channels, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Gao Guan let out a rare sigh, "In my opinion, the two of you should honestly report to His Majesty! His Majesty will certainly be furious, and he will punish us, but the crime does not warrant death. Moreover, this matter also involves Pojun and Wuqu, will His Majesty kill us all? If we conceal this matter, then Pojun and Wuqu will be fine, but we will definitely die! "
Shangguan Qing and Sima Wentian looked at each other speechlessly …
In the Starry Hall, Qing Zhu, who had both hands on the table, leaned forward like a crouching tiger. His gaze was deep and cold as he glanced at the people standing below him. He said stiffly, word by word, "Right under my nose, the knife is almost at my neck!"
Shangguan Qing, Sima Wentian, Pojun, and Wuqu all lowered their heads slightly and did not speak. Only Gao Guan stood there with an expressionless face, and indeed, he did not have the slightest responsibility.
At this point, the few of them had already communicated about the general situation in advance. Since the matter was revealed to Pojun, it meant that no one dared to conceal it anymore, and just reported everything to Qing Zhu. After they communicated about the situation, the sequence of events became clearer. Guo Yanting did take the opportunity to escape, and someone from the Imperial Guards saw it with their own eyes.
No one dared to speak.
Qing Zhu walked around the long table and slowly walked to the few of them. With a kick, he directly kicked Shangguan Qing to the ground.
Shangguan Qing wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, hurriedly got up and knelt down with his head lowered.
Qing Zhu pointed at him and sneered. "There is actually a spy among the Shadow Guards. There is a spy, and he frequently enters my cultivation place. I trusted you so much, and this is how you repay me?"
Shangguan Qing kowtowed to the ground and said fearfully, "This old servant has betrayed the heaven's grace, and deserves to die ten thousand times!"
"Guards!" Qing Zhu shouted towards the door.
A few people rushed in. Shangguan Qing raised his head and looked at Qing Zhu with a face full of fear and pitiful eyes.
Qing Zhu pointed at him. "Drag him out …" He looked at Shangguan Qing for a while and finally said, "Twenty strikes of the Dragon Taming Whip!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you, Your Majesty … "Shangguan Qing almost choked with sobs. Not chopping off his head meant that he was spared. Although twenty strikes of the Dragon Taming Whip was enough to kill someone, the people below would not be so ignorant to beat him to death.
Holding his arms and dragging him out, Shangguan Qing shouted his thanks along the way.
"You!" Qing Zhu pointed at Sima Wentian's chest, and the latter immediately knelt on the ground.
Qing Zhu gritted his teeth and said, "This is the spy you planted? This is the masterpiece you are so proud of? My Left Monitoring Department is actually dealing with me! "
"This subject deserves to die ten thousand times!" Sima Wentian kowtowed in fear.
"Guards! Drag him out and give him twenty strikes of the Dragon Taming Whip! "
A few people rushed in and immediately grabbed Sima Wentian's arms and dragged him away.
"And the two of you!" Qing Zhu pointed at Defeating Armies and Wuqu and shouted angrily, "Are my personal guards blind? Anyone can come in and go out as they please. What do I need you for if you treat my home as if it's no man's land? Aren't you usually very loud? "Qing Zhu pointed at Defeating Armies and roared in anger!
Defeating Armies and Wuqu immediately knelt on one knee and lowered their heads. "This subject deserves to die ten thousand times!"
"Guards! Drag him out and give him five strikes of the Dragon Taming Whip each. If there is a next time, he will be beheaded without mercy! "
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" The two of them cupped their fists and thanked Qing Zhu. This time, Defeating Armies did not even dare to talk back.
A few more people rushed in and dragged the two of them out as well.
Qing Zhu glanced at Gao Guan from the corner of his eyes. He could not find any reason to scold Gao Guan and was so angry that he paced back and forth with his hands behind his back.
Gao Guan did not say a word and stood there indifferently without moving an inch.
Qing Zhu finally stopped in front of Gao Guan and asked, "What do you think about this matter?"
Gao Guan: "It should be related to Niu Youde!"
"Do I still need to listen to your nonsense now?" Qing Zhu poked his chest and said word by word, "I am asking you what should I do?"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
