Inside the Zichen Hall of the Great Ming Palace, Li Longji slowly stood up from the throne with the help of the little eunuch Yu Chaoen and walked out of the hall.
Because the Gao Lishi wasn't in the palace last night, Li Longji didn't sleep well. After so many years, he was already used to having the Gao Lishi by his side. As long as the Gao Lishi was in the palace, he could sleep soundly. In the records of later generations, it was mentioned that Xuan Zong often said, "If a strong man promises, I will rest peacefully."
This was a tacit understanding formed after more than thirty years of living together. The Gao Lishi had already become a part of Li Longji's life, and no one could replace him.
The little eunuch Yu Chaoen beside him was a very clever boy. He could generally understand the emperor's meaning, but he was still too inexperienced. There were always some areas that Li Longji wasn't too satisfied with. Compared to the Gao Lishi, Yu Chaoen still had a big gap.
Outside the hall, the sky was currently filled with snow. The north wind whistled and the temperature was abnormally cold. Li Longji couldn't help but shiver.
"Everyone, it's too cold outside. Let's go back inside."
Yu Chaoen sensitively felt Li Longji's shiver and suggested with concern.
Li Longji tilted his head and looked at Yu Chaoen. He sighed in his heart. If the Gao Lishi was by his side, he definitely wouldn't say such a stupid suggestion.
He was the current emperor. Didn't he know that it was cold outside? He had walked out of the hall to admire the snow. How could he go against the emperor's wishes? As a servant, he should follow the emperor's wishes. Prepare a fox fur coat and put it on the emperor.
"Zhen's fox fur coat is still on the throne. Bring it over and put it on Zhen."
"Yes, everyone."
Yu Chaoen was startled. He quickly ran to the throne in the main hall, took the fox fur coat, and put it on Li Longji.
With the fox fur coat draped over his body, Li Longji felt much warmer. Looking at the Daming Palace wrapped in silver, Li Longji's mood was quite complicated. At this time, the scenery was beautiful, but the weather was getting colder and colder. Prince Ning Li Longji's body could not stand it.
Li Xian was Li Longji's Big Brother. For the stability of the Tang dynasty, he took the initiative to give up fighting for the throne and gave it to Li Longji. In this way, under the leadership of Li Longji, the Tang dynasty entered the heyday of the Kaiyuan Age.
For Big Brother Li Longji's concession, Li Longji had always been very grateful and had always respected his Big Brother very much. Now, Li Xian was about to be buried, which made Li Longji quite sad.
"The General didn't return to the palace last night. I feel that something is missing. Yu Chaoen, hasn't the General returned to the palace this morning?"
Li Longji looked at Yu Chaoen and was a little anxious.
Hearing this, Yu Chaoen's heart skipped a beat. The Emperor felt that something was missing. He was not very satisfied with Li Longji's service. That was to say, he could not be like Gao Lishi, who was always in line with Li Longji's wishes. When he thought of the fox fur coat on the throne just now because of Li Longji's reminder, Yu Chaoen wanted to slap himself several times.
"Everyone, it seems that something big happened in the General's home yesterday, so he couldn't come back."
"Something big happened?"
Li Longji's heart tightened. He stared at Yu Chaoen and motioned for him to continue.
Yu Chaoen rolled his eyes. "Everyone, it seems that the General's daughter was kidnapped by thieves on the street on the east side of Xi City and was almost buried alive. However, the thieves have been caught, and the General's daughter is fine."
Li Longji was furious when he heard this. "How preposterous! They even dared to kidnap the Great General's daughter. Next time, wouldn't they kidnap my daughter? Was it done by the Tibetans?"
"Everyone, it is not the Tubo people. It is said that the mastermind seems to be called Liu Luogu. He is a subordinate of Commander An in Ying Province."
Li Longji was stunned. "An Lushan's subordinate, Liu Luogu? What reason does he have to do this?"
"Everyone, I also heard it from others. I don't know the specific situation."
Li Longji glared at Yu Chaoen. "Such a big thing happened in the General's home. Why did you only report it now?"
Yu Chaoen trembled for a long time and did not know how to explain. Li Longji just woke up not long ago. It was not too late for him to say it now. He could not wake Li Longji up in the middle of the night because of this matter. Moreover, Yu Chaoen did not expect that Li Longji would value Gao Lishi's family so much.
"Alright, go and wait at the palace gate. As soon as the General returns to the palace, tell him to come and see me immediately."
"Yes, everyone."
Yu Chaoen received the order respectfully. He took a few steps back, stepped on the snow all over the ground, and walked in the direction of the palace gate.
At this moment, Yu Chaoen's heart was filled with emotions. From Li Longji's performance just now, it could be seen that Gao Lishi occupied an important place in Li Longji's heart. As for him, Yu Chaoen, in Li Longji's heart, he was as light as a feather. He was dispensable.
As a physically disabled eunuch, his life's goal was to be appreciated by the Emperor. Gao Lishi had already been appreciated by the Emperor. How long would he, Yu Chaoen, have to wait?
####
After staying in Liu Luogu's house for a night, Ang Lee and the others woke up the next morning. They were surprised to find that Chang 'an City had become a world wrapped in silver.
The bloodstains in Liu Luogu's house were all covered by snow, making the house look like a fairytale world. All the murderous aura and resentment had disappeared without a trace.
Liu Luogu had just been executed and it was snowing. Was this an injustice for Liu Luogu? Was Liu Luogu wronged?
Ang Lee secretly sighed in his heart. However, it was winter at this time. Snow was a very common thing. It was not snow in June. In fact, even if it was snow in June, it was just a coincidence of the weather. There was nothing strange about it.
Of course, Ang Lee felt that Liu Luogu was a little wronged. If he had not eaten the feathered beast that An Lushan wanted to give to Li Longji in anger, Liu Luogu might not hate him so much. In this way, he would not have kidnapped Little Miss Yue 'er in anger and ended up in a situation where he had to die.
However, Ang Lee did not regret it. Liu Luogu was An Lushan's henchman. It was not a pity for such a person to die. If he died, An Lushan's power would be reduced. This was a good thing for Ang Lee and the Tang Empire.
"Big Brother, snowy days are the best for hunting. Why don't we go hunting outside the city?"
Li Kunxiong was interested in hunting.
Ang Lee gently waved his hand and said, "Kunxiong, take our brothers there. Big Brother won't go."
"Yes, Big Brother." Li Kunxiong greeted and led his brothers to go hunting outside the city.
Ang Lee did not go hunting outside the city. The case of Yue 'er's kidnapping involved him, so he had to stay and help Wei Jian solve the case.
As for the matter that Liu Luogu would accuse him of eating the divine bird, he was not very worried at all. First of all, Liu Luogu did not have conclusive evidence to prove that the divine bird was eaten by Ang Lee. Second, Ang Lee had made great contributions in Yuzhou. Before he entered the capital, he saved Yue 'er and her daughter, Queen Zhao Yefu, and was appreciated by Li Longji. In this way, even if Ang Lee was blamed for eating the divine bird, he would not be punished severely. If Li Longji was happy, he might not care about it.
After entering the county government of Chang 'an County, Ang Lee immediately greeted Chang' an County Magistrate Wei Jian and explained his purpose.
Wei Jian was about to ask Ang Lee to help with the investigation. When he saw Ang Lee coming to the county government, he was very happy and asked Ang Lee to sit down and talk.
After a busy night, Wei Jian had only rested for less than four hours. At this moment, his eyes were dark and bloodshot, and he looked rather tired. However, his mood was extremely good. After all, Liu Luogu had already been executed, and Yue'er had also been successfully rescued. All he needed to do now was to interrogate the ins and outs of the case.
"This time, the case can be solved so smoothly. Li Xiaowei deserves the most credit."
Wei Jian was the first to praise him, which made Li An feel very good.
"County Magistrate, you flatter me. If County Magistrate Liu did not limit the location of the criminal to Bu Zheng Fang, I would not think of Liu Luogu."
Wei Jian's eyes flashed. "So, there is indeed a conflict between Li Xiaowei and Liu Luogu."
"When Liu Luogu was in the courier station of Tong Pass, he was too arrogant and domineering. He was taught a lesson by me. Because of this, he has been holding a grudge."
Ang Lee answered bluntly.
Wei Jian smiled faintly. After a night of surprise investigation, he had found out all these things. However, he could not judge whether it was true that Ang Lee ate the divine bird secretly or not. At the same time, he attached great importance to it. After all, it was a tribute to the emperor. It was disrespectful to eat the divine bird secretly.
"Li Xiaowei, according to Liu Luogu's subordinates, they had a huge white eagle and were going to offer it to the emperor. However, it was stolen in Tong Pass. Do you know about this?"
Wei Jian asked indirectly.
Ang Lee grinned. "County Magistrate, you also believe this. I think that Liu Luogu's subordinates must have failed to take care of the white eagle and let it fly away. In order to avoid punishment, they pushed the responsibility to me. At that time, Liu Luogu had just been taught a lesson by me. Naturally, he would suspect me."
Wei Jian looked at Ang Lee suspiciously. "So, this is purely the conjecture of Liu Luogu and his subordinates. Li Xiaowei did not do such a thing at all."
"No, absolutely not."
Ang Lee shook his head repeatedly. He refused to admit that he ate the feathered beast secretly.
Hearing this, Wei Jian breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. I have almost finished investigating this case. As long as I tidy it up a little, I can report to the imperial court. Liu Luogu is doomed."
"County Magistrate, Colonel Zhao Asan of the Right Golden Guards is involved in this case. I wonder who is behind him."
Ang Lee was very interested in the person behind Zhao Asan.
Wei Jian frowned. "Li Xiaowei, don't you know that Zhao Asan was assassinated last night? He is dead."
"What? Zhao Asan was assassinated? Who did it?"
Ang Lee was very surprised. Zhang Daxiong's figure flashed in his mind. Other than Liu Sheng, only Zhang Daxiong knew that Zhao Asan was in contact with Liu Luogu.
"The assassin is a master. He did not leave any clues. However, the reason why Liu Luogu took the general's daughter away is very clear. Zhao Asan's life is not very important. Let the Right Golden Guards investigate it themselves."
Obviously, Wei Jian wanted to close the case as soon as possible to show his administrative efficiency. He was not very concerned about Zhao Asan who was making trouble.
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