Li Qitian looked down at the people in front of him suspiciously. He knew that these people were likely to talk nonsense in order to shirk responsibility.
Seeing that the Emperor was silent, the spies were afraid and hurriedly added to each other.
"Your Majesty, we would never dare to deceive Your Majesty. This matter is absolutely true! At that time, the group of people were not weak, but they did not carry weapons. "
"Exactly. It can be seen that the group of people were secretly protecting Prince Zhongshun's consort, but they were not familiar with each other and Prince Zhongshun's people. "
"Therefore, I suspect that the other party was most likely arranged by another party. Perhaps it was those people who were familiar with Prince Zhongshun! "
They all knew that the Emperor was the most suspicious person. As long as they mentioned that Pang Xiao might be colluding with someone, and that someone might be secretly eyeing the throne, the Emperor would certainly not pay attention to them.
Sure enough, Li Qitian lowered his eyes and pondered. He was surprised and doubtful.
In today's imperial court, who would wallow in the mire with Pang Xiao?
Thinking about it this way, didn't those generals privately call Pang Xiao "God of War Wang Ye"? Their worship of Pang Xiao was almost to the point of blindness. It wasn't the first time that the Imperial Court had quarreled over matters related to Pang Xiao. How could he have overlooked it?
If these people were secretly colluding with Pang Xiao, it would be fine. But what if they were bewitched by Pang Xiao and joined forces to make a scene?
Now that the external and internal troubles had just been resolved, if Pang Xiao got the help of these people, wouldn't he take the opportunity to do something "big"?
Li Qitian's heart was in his mouth. "What about the people of the Pang family now?"
"Replying to Your Majesty, they have been sent to the Ministry of Justice's prison according to your previous instructions."
"Think about it carefully. Are there any characteristics of the people you mentioned just now?"
Everyone's hearts were in their throats again.
They had said these things to attract Li Qitian's attention, so that he would not pay attention to the uproar caused by their return to the capital. Who would have thought that they would find another trouble for themselves?
The spies were afraid that if they couldn't answer, they would be punished by the Emperor. They immediately racked their brains to recall the situation at that time.
As a result, they were reminded of something.
"Oh, right! Your Majesty, those people are wearing the clothes of Da Zhou's commoners, but they seem to be wearing Tatan leather boots! "
After being reminded, a few people who had fought with that group of people that day remembered some details. They nodded and said with certainty, "Yes, Your Majesty, those people were indeed wearing Tatars' cowhide boots. That kind of cowhide is not something that Da Zhou can have, but it is a specialty of the Tatan grassland. They must be Tatars who have sneaked in! "
Li Qitian's eyes darkened, and he said word by word, "Qu, qu, qu?!"
"Yes!" Everyone lowered their heads and answered in a deep voice.
Li Qitian paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. After a moment, he laughed mockingly, "How interesting. I thought that Prince Zhongshun was something, wholeheartedly fighting against the Tatars, even going against the imperial edict. I didn't expect him to be so sanctimonious. On the surface, he is a hero fighting against the Tatars, but he is secretly colluding with the Tatans! "
Everyone was a little flustered when they heard this, because they knew the consequences of Li Qitian causing such a misunderstanding.
However, that group of people were indeed wearing Tatan cowhide boots. This was an indisputable fact. Although the spies were loyal to Li Qitian, they admired Pang Xiao very much. If they said that Pang Xiao was colluding with the Tatan, wouldn't their country be destroyed?
"Come! Send an imperial edict to summon Prince Zhongshun back to the capital to report on his work! "
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Everyone saluted in unison.
The spies heaved a sigh of relief. Just as they were about to leave, Li Qitian said, "In addition, keep an eye on the Qin Clan. Bring out Pang Zhixi's child alone. I will personally go back and ask what kind of secret deal they made with the Tatan! "
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Everyone saluted again.
%%
In the dead of winter, the dungeon was even gloomier than usual. The air was filled with a rotten and moldy smell. At the end of the corridor, there was a small bucket window that didn't let in much light. The thick wooden bars separated Qin Yining from the rest of the people.
Bing Tang, Ji Yun, and Ziyuan were locked together with the wet nurse and the children. The imperial bodyguards were trapped like dumplings and locked in the position furthest away from them. They could only vaguely see their figures.
The wet nurse hugged Brother Xuan and Sister Yun and gently coaxed them. It wasn't easy for her to coax the children to sleep.
Qin Yining leaned weakly against the wall. His hands were tied behind his back. His long hair was messy, his cheeks were dirty, and the corners of his lips were stained with blood. A pair of bright eyes watched the children fall asleep. Only then did he quietly sigh in relief, showing a bit of exhaustion.
"Princess, how are you?" Bing Tang grabbed the wooden bars with both hands and stretched his neck to look in the direction of Qin Yining, who was one cell away.
Qin Yining shook his head. With his back leaning against the moldy straw, he said weakly, "I'm fine, I'm fine. You guys take good care of the children. "
Ji Yun and Bing Tang both nodded.
The wet nurse also hugged the young master and young miss tightly in her arms. "Princess, don't worry. You saved the lives of this servant's entire family. Even if this servant has to sacrifice my life, I won't let anything happen to the young master and young miss."
Qin Yining smiled bitterly. The corner of his lips was torn, and a trace of blood dripped down. "What did I do? Wang Ye and I went to the disaster relief area to do what we should do, but now we've implicated you. If I didn't choose you to be the wet nurse in the fu, you wouldn't have become prisoners today. In the end, I've implicated you. "
"Princess, don't say that!"
"That's right, Princess! If we didn't come to the fu to be the wet nurse that day, we wouldn't have been able to survive at home! Princess saved the lives of our family and gave us jobs. She gave us money to support the old and young at home. We can't thank Princess enough. Princess is kind and never mistreats the servants. We eat and dress well with Princess. There's no reason for us to be thick-skinned when we're enjoying life. Now that we've met with disaster, if we blame you for implicating us, then what kind of people would we be! "
The other wet nurse was the most stupid, but she also nodded in agreement.
These two women in their prime had been tortured by life. They looked like they were almost forty years old, but the sincere smiles on their faces made them look even more gentle and beautiful.
Qin Yining felt a lot more at ease. He smiled and said: "Being able to receive your help is my and Wang Ye's good fortune. If I can escape alive in the future, I'll thank you properly. "
Everyone shook their heads, "Princess, don't worry. You and Wang Ye will be fine."
However, even though they said that, they still felt bad in their hearts.
Because they had seen with their own eyes how the Emperor treated the families of the meritorious officials. They also knew that after the Tatars were driven out, the Emperor summoned Wang Ye back to the capital.
When all these things were connected together, anyone with a bit of intelligence would be able to understand the cause and effect of all this.
Wasn't it because the Emperor was afraid of the meritorious officials?
They didn't have much contact with Wang Ye, but ever since they followed Princess and took care of the young master and young miss, they had been taken care of by Princess. Such good women had been implicated because of this matter.
The men were fighting outside, risking their lives to protect the country, but the women and children were thrown into prison with an uncertain future. What kind of irony was this?
Qin Yining tiredly closed his eyes. He wanted to take advantage of this time to sleep.
Just at this time, there was the sound of the door opening and the sound of metal chains sliding.
Then, the iron door was pushed open with a creak, and a burst of disorderly footsteps came in, echoing in the long and gloomy corridor.
A group of people quickly walked down the corridor towards the innermost side.
Xie Yue and the others couldn't help but stand up. One by one, they looked inside. However, they were in prison and couldn't use their strength. They could only huddle together and stretch their necks to try and see in Qin Yining's direction.
Under the lead of the jailer, the spy walked quickly to Qin Yining's cell and stood still. When the jailer opened the door of Qin Yining's cell, the spy waved his hand casually to the jailer.
The jailer retreated a few steps and stood in the corner.
Qin Yining narrowed his eyes and looked at the person in front of him through his hair. He recognized that this was the person who had made the decision to bring them back. Even the arrogant Jingji guards were respectful to this person. He must be Li Qitian's trusted aide.
The other did not speak, so Qin Yining also did not speak. He quietly sat in his spot and waited.
The secret agent laughed, "Everyone says that the Prince Zhongshun's consort comes from the Qin Clan and is the daughter of the Wise Pan An. She is the most beautiful woman in the capital. Today, it seems that it is true."
His voice was not loud, but the prison of the Ministry of Justice was only so big, and the prison was quite spacious. The surrounding walls echoed quite a bit, and such frivolous words were immediately heard clearly by everyone.
"Presumptuous! You cannot be rude to the wangfei! "
"Dog thief, if you have the skills, come at us!"
Xie Yue and the others were furious. However, they were tightly bound and could not do anything. They could only anxiously shout with their eyes wide open.
Qin Yining was very calm. He looked at the incomer in a manner that was neither servile nor overbearing.
The secret agent laughed, "I have never seen a woman like you. You are clearly a weak woman, but you are full of stubbornness. Even the whips and beatings along the way were not able to subdue you."
He pushed open the door and entered the cell. He squatted down in front of Qin Yining and lifted her messy long hair with one hand. He looked at her starry eyes and her face that was still delicate and beautiful even though it was dirty. His voice was slightly intoxicated.
"You were born with this kind of appearance. If you were willing to make good use of it, would you have suffered so much on the way here?" His finger reached out towards the whip mark on Qin Yining's neck.
Qin Yining tilted her head and dodged his hand, "You came here by imperial decree? What orders does Your Majesty have? "
With one sentence, the secret agent's hand stopped in midair and slowly fell down.
He shook his head and sneered, "You really know how to be a party pooper. Yes, I came here by imperial decree. You shouldn't want to know Your Majesty's orders. "
Qin Yining pursed her pale lips. There was still no color on her lips. The trace of blood at the corner of her lips made her cheeks look extremely pale.
The secret agent sighed and said, "Your Majesty has ordered me to take away your two children.
Children, if you are willing to agree to my request and let me get close to you, I will treat your two children well. Otherwise, I cannot guarantee that they will live to see Your Majesty. Hmm? "
As he spoke, he raised his hand again and moved closer to Qin Yining's face.
Qin Yining's beautiful eyes widened and she gritted her teeth.
She was meat on the chopping block. Since she was captured, she knew that Sister Yun and Brother Xuan would definitely be taken away. If she became hostages, Li Qitian would definitely think that she was not as important as the two children.
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