Li Linfu was adept at currying favor and always followed Li Longji's wishes. In the twenty-second year of the Kaiyuan era, he became the Minister of Rites. Only two years later, in the twenty-fourth year of the Kaiyuan era, he succeeded Zhang Jiuling and was promoted to the position of Head of the Secretariat. He became a minister with only one person above all.
After five or six years of painstaking management, Li Linfu's position became more and more stable. The number of officials who relied on him to curry favor was almost enough to break through the threshold of the Prime Minister's residence. Li Linfu opened his heart to all of these officials so that his trusted aides could spread throughout the court.
In terms of promotion and transfer of officials, Li Linfu focused on the officials who relied on him. Even if they were ignorant, he would prioritize their promotion and even promote them to important officials. As for high-ranking officials of the capital, if they did not obtain their official position through his recommendation, he would certainly think of ways to frame them and have them demoted.
His opposition to the Crown Prince also made Li Linfu focus on framing officials who were close to the Crown Prince in order to cut off the Crown Prince's wings. In particular, those officials who had a bright future and potential in the Crown Prince's faction were targets that Li Linfu urgently wanted to eliminate.
The younger sister of Wei Jian, the Magistrate of Chang 'an, was the Crown Prince's wife. For this reason, Wei Jian was a staunch supporter of the Crown Prince. Although Wei Jian's position was only the fifth-rank magistrate of the capital, he was rather capable and had outstanding political achievements. Moreover, he had become an official right under the Emperor's nose. There were signs that he was rising up the ranks, and this inevitably aroused Li Linfu's vigilance.
How to frame Wei Jian became the most important matter in Li Linfu's mind. However, Wei Jian was upright and plainspoken, and had never done anything that used his power for personal gain. For the moment, he could not find a reason to frame him. However, even if he could not find any weakness in Wei Jian, he could still use the method of a public promotion but a private demotion. He could transfer Wei Jian to a remote region to be a provincial governor. First, he would have him out of the Emperor's sight, and then find an opportunity to frame him.
"Alang, Zhao Asan of the Right Golden Guard has come and brought important news."
Li Zhonglin, his trusted steward, softly reported.
"What happened to the Right Golden Guard?"
Li Zhonglin gave Li Linfu a detailed report of Yue'er's kidnapping a few hours ago, as well as everything that happened after that.
After listening to the report, Li Linfu couldn't believe his ears. Liu Luogu didn't protect the Divine Bird and had already caused trouble. Now, he was involved in a kidnapping, and the kidnapper was the Gao Lishi's adopted daughter. This person was bitten by a dog and had rabies. If not, how could he be so crazy?
"Liu Luogu sure is bold. He even dared to kidnap the Great General's daughter. That's right, how many people know about this?"
"Alang, Zhao Asan said that he didn't tell us anything. He came here to report it as soon as he could during mealtime."
Hearing this, Li Linfu lowered his head and fell into deep thought. He really didn't understand where Liu Luogu got the guts to kidnap Gao Lishi's adopted daughter. Did he do it on purpose, or was there some other secret? What good would it do him?
"Is there any progress? Who is in charge of this case?"
Li Linfu seriously asked.
"Alang, according to Zhao Asan, County Magistrate Wei and County Magistrate Liu are in charge. In addition, the Right Golden Guard is also investigating this matter. In addition, the capital governor is also paying close attention to this matter and has given County Magistrate Wei three days to solve the case."
A sweet smile appeared on Li Linfu's lips. The fact that this case was placed on Wei Jian's shoulders made him very happy. It was as if he had searched high and low for something, only to find it without even looking for it. This feeling.
Yes, Li Linfu felt that this was an extremely rare opportunity, a chance to strike at Wei Jian.
The kidnapping of Yue'er was certain to alarm the entire capital. As such, everyone's eyes would be focused on this matter. As the person in charge of this case, Wei Jian naturally had to bear the brunt of this attention. If he couldn't solve this case in a short period of time, or if he couldn't solve this case forever, his prestige would suffer a massive blow. In this way, Li Linfu could logically demote Wei Jian or transfer him to some remote and barren land.
"The Annan Protectorate just happens to be lacking a county magistrate. County Magistrate Wei is quite suitable."
Li Linfu cracked a smile, the wrinkles on his cheeks clearly visible.
"Alang, do you have any instructions for Zhao Asan?"
Li Linfu lightly beckoned for Li Zhonglin to come closer and whispered a few words into his ear.
"Alang, can this be done? If the Great General were to find out, then …"
Li Linfu's face turned cold. "As long as you and Zhao Asan don't speak carelessly, how could the Great General know? Just keep your mouths shut."
"Yes, Alang."
Li Zhonglin replied and went to convey Li Linfu's message.
Seeing his trusted aide Li Zhonglin slowly leave, Li Linfu let out a long sigh. He had been trying to frame Wei Jian for many days, but he still couldn't find a reason to demote him. Now that the opportunity was right in front of him, how could he miss it? As for Yue'er's life, it didn't matter to him.
####
On the way to Yanshou Square, Liu Sheng passionately tried to get close to Ang Lee, as if they were old friends who hadn't seen each other for many years. Ang Lee used this opportunity to learn many things about Chang 'an City from Liu Sheng, including the latest development of Yue'er's kidnapping case.
"County Magistrate, we have already found the carriage that entered Yanshou Square at the time of the incident. The owner of the carriage is just an ordinary citizen of the Tang dynasty. He admitted that he entered Yanshou Square at that time, but they aren't bandits, and they didn't kidnap the Great General's daughter."
A yamen runner rushed over and reported the investigation of Yanshou Square to Liu Sheng.
"Has this person's house been searched?"
"County Magistrate, we have searched both inside and outside. There isn't anything suspicious. In addition, a few of our brothers are still guarding his house."
Liu Sheng and Ang Lee looked at each other. "Lieutenant Li, it seems that the bandits must have escaped into Bu Zheng Square."
Ang Lee lightly nodded. "These stupid bandits have underestimated County Magistrate Liu's ability to handle cases. If everything goes smoothly, I think we can capture them tonight and rescue Yue'er.
”
Liu Sheng smiled proudly after being praised by Ang Lee. He led his yamen runners and rushed towards Bu Zheng Square with Ang Lee and the others.
The bandits who kidnapped Yue'er were confined to Bu Zheng Square. As long as they started an investigation in Bu Zheng Square, they could successfully solve this case.
After entering Bu Zheng Square, the yamen runners under Liu Sheng scattered to investigate. Ang Lee and his brothers were also looking for clues on the main road in the square.
"Big Brother, it's already dusk. The square will be closed after dark. Should we gather more brothers to enter Bu Zheng Square?"
Ang Lee lightly nodded. "Kun Xiong, immediately return to Lingzhou and report to the court. Gather thirty brothers to help. We must rescue Yue'er today."
"Yes, Big Brother."
The Tang Dynasty had a night ban policy. As the capital of Chang 'an City, the night ban policy was even stricter. Therefore, as long as it was dark, the city gate and the square would be closed. Then, the soldiers of the Golden Guards would ride their horses and patrol the streets between the squares. Inside each square, there would also be Marquis patrolling to and fro to ensure the stability of public order.
However, in contrast, the night ban in the square was much looser than outside the square. Outside the square, as long as someone broke the night ban, the Golden Guards would definitely arrest and punish him. Inside the square, the Marquis of the Marquis shop would often turn a blind eye. As long as you were willing to bribe them, they might let you go. If you ran away, the Marquis would be too lazy to chase.
When Ang Lee was in the county office, he had already asked County Magistrate Wei Jian for a permit to break the night ban to assist the County Magistrate in investigating the case. However, Wei Jian's power was limited and could only allow Ang Lee to act in the square. If Ang Lee appeared on the street in the middle of the night and was caught by the Golden Guards, he could not do anything.
However, this was enough. The bandits had been confined to Bu Zheng Square. Ang Lee and his brothers could just stay in Bu Zheng Square and look for clues.
Bu Zheng Square was very large and had thousands of residents. Because it was close to the Imperial City, many officials lived here. The ordinary people also had relatively high status. After all, the location was better and the housing prices were higher. If the people were poor, they really could not afford it. The saying "rich in the north and poor in the south" described the people of Chang 'an City. Those who lived in the northern square were the rich class, while those who lived in the southern square were the poor class.
"Big Brother, Bu Zheng Square is so big. How should we find clues?"
After strolling on the main road of Bu Zheng Square for a while, Li Feiyu was a little confused.
Ang Lee was not a criminal investigator. Not now, not in his previous life. Because of this, he felt a little confused. However, he believed that Liu Sheng and the bailiffs would find some clues and then use these clues to further narrow down the scope. As long as the scope was small enough, it would naturally be easy to handle.
"Wait."
Ang Lee stopped and stood in the middle of the road.
Before the gate closed, Li Kunxiong led 30 brothers into Bu Zheng Square and immediately met up with Ang Lee.
The sky gradually darkened. County Magistrate Liu Sheng led a few bailiffs to Ang Lee.
"County Magistrate Liu, did you find anything important?"
Ang Lee quickly asked.
Liu Sheng frowned and said softly, "Most of the houses in Bu Zheng Square have been checked by us. We did not find anything. The remaining few houses are the mansions of the rich and powerful. These people are all from the imperial court. It is impossible for them to do such a thing that goes against their identity. Maybe this group of bandits is not in Bu Zheng Square."
At this moment, Liu Sheng's confidence in himself was a little shaken. He was just a small county magistrate. He did not dare to offend the rich and powerful. Otherwise, he would have already been brought into the rich and powerful mansions to search.
Ang Lee did not have these concerns. He asked directly, "County Magistrate Liu, tell me directly. Where are the places that have not been investigated? I think that even the rich and powerful may be confused."
Liu Sheng nodded and took out the map of Bu Zheng Square. He marked the houses that had not been investigated and explained the information of the owner of the house and who lived in it.
"County Magistrate Liu, you are saying that Liu Luogu lives in this house?"
Ang Lee suddenly had a premonition.
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