Chapter 11: Xue Cuo, the Guardian
Seeing that the assassin was stubborn, Li Yu continued to punch and kick him.

Fan Ling was an official under his father's trusted and beloved general.

Even if he made a small mistake, who would dare to move without his father's approval?
"Li Yu, you are the son of the prime minister, not the prime minister. You used private punishment in public. Where do you put the laws of the Tang Dynasty? Or maybe the power given to you by the right prime minister allows you to do whatever you want!"

Li Xuan apologized to He Zhizhang and Li Bai, and in their surprised eyes, he went to the assassination scene and pointed his spear at Li Yu.

This was clearly a muddy water, and assassinating an important official was a capital crime. They didn't understand why Li Xuan jumped in?
During the conversation, they felt that Li Xuan was not the kind of person who acted on impulse.

"A conscienceless assassin like this should be killed by everyone. Li Xuan, stop talking nonsense here."

Li Yu was filled with resentment. Why did this annoying guy linger around and jump out again?
He had never felt so aggrieved before. He really wanted to kick Li Xuan as hard as he kicked the assassin.

"Nevertheless, this is not your concern. Jingzhao Yin and Wannian Ling should supervise this case. The Law of Litigation divides killing into six types, and assassination is murder. The Tang Dynasty has its own criminal law for murder."

Li Xuan spoke slowly, warning them not to resort to lynching.

If the murder is unsuccessful, the penalty is three years in prison; if the murder is successful and the person injures someone, the person is hanged; if the murder is successful and the person is killed, the person is beheaded.

But murdering civilians and murdering a fourth-rank official are two different concepts.

Li Xuan has not conducted any detailed research on this.

"I am the Junior Magistrate of Jingzhao. Am I unable to handle this matter? According to the Tang Code, murdering a provincial governor or county magistrate is considered 'unrighteous' among the ten evils. The ten evils are unpardonable crimes."

Fan Ling was almost stabbed to death and was very angry. He refuted Li Xuan regardless of Li Xuan's identity.

"You should avoid suspicion! Who said that the Ten Evils are unforgivable crimes? Aren't there enough Ten Evils that have been pardoned in this dynasty? Besides, it has not yet been determined whether this person is one of the Ten Evils."

Li Xuan responded to Fan Ling.

"Jingzhao Prefecture will send someone here soon."

Faced with Li Xuan's dominance, Fan Ling felt extremely aggrieved, but he had no way to deal with Li Xuan and could only swallow his anger.

Li Yu took the opportunity to whisper to Fan Ling that all the people in Jingzhao Prefecture were theirs, and asked Fan Ling not to worry.

He wanted to see what tricks Li Xuan could come up with.
At this time, Li Xuan saw Pei Huang and Pei Zhou, uncle and nephew, coming over to join in the fun, and they didn't know what was going on.

"Pei Huang, ride my fast horse back to the Left Prime Minister's residence and ask my father to bring his subordinates to Qujiang Lake. If he doesn't come, say it's urgent."

Li Xuan looked at the assassin's hateful eyes and immediately gave instructions to Pei Huang.

Pei Huang always listened to Li Xuan, so he immediately turned around and left.

The Shao Yin of Jingzhao actually sacrificed five people alive for his deceased son.

If this is true.

Both publicly and privately, Li Xuan wanted to criticize him.

Li Xuan deeply hated the ancient system of burying people alive with their dead, which had always been despised by later generations.

Before the Qin Dynasty, burying people alive with their ancestors was very common among the nobility, and they would often bury more than a hundred people alive for their own selfish desires.

By the Han Dynasty, although the practice of burying people alive with the dead had decreased, there were still many examples of emperors, princes and nobles being buried alive.

In the Tang Dynasty, burial alive with the dead had become burial companions, meaning that meritorious officials and concubines could be buried around the emperor's mausoleum after their death to show their honor.

There were also colorful pottery figurines and ceramics used to replace living people in burials, which became known as the "Tang Sancai" in later generations.

Although the practice of burying slaves alive did occur during the Tang and Korean dynasties, many local dignitaries and gentry still buried their slaves alive.

However, if the number of people buried alive was less than ten, or even one or two, and they were slaves bought and sold, it would be difficult for the government to investigate. Even if they knew about it, they might turn a blind eye.

If it is proven that Fan Ling buried five people alive with his son, even if they were slaves, there is reason to punish him. At the same time, his superior, Jingzhao Yin Xiao Jiong, will also be implicated.

Historically, Li Shizhi was dismissed from his position as prime minister because his subordinate, the Ministry of War, was accused of "false" corruption. Under Luo Qianji's trap, the officials of the Ministry of War were tortured into confessing.

How could Li Xuan let go of this opportunity? Even though he wanted to drink with Li Bai and He Zhizhang, he knew what was important and what was not.

When everyone heard that Li Xuan wanted to invite Li Shizhi, their expressions varied.

Fan Ling and Lu Xuan immediately knew what Li Xuan was going to do.

Buried alive!

Not to mention that being buried alive was only a treatment for the emperor, Fan Ling’s deceased son was not even an official.

Why should he?
Contempt for imperial power?
Fan Ling, in particular, was sweating profusely.

They originally thought that Li Xuan was here to cause trouble and make fun of them.

Now it seems that Li Xuan is coming with murderous intent, holding an invisible sword.

"Don't worry about Li Xuan, take the assassin away and hand him over to the Jingzhao Prefecture for judicial processing."

Li Yu also realized that something was wrong and gave orders to the servants.

"Who dares to move? I am the whistleblower, reporting that Jingzhao Shaoyin Fan Ling buried a living person with the dead and took human life lightly. The Left Prime Minister will personally handle this major case of contempt for the saint. No one may leave before the Left Prime Minister arrives."

Li Xuan stepped sideways and stopped them.

Because he knew that these people might take action in advance and rebuild the graves where living people were buried to destroy the evidence.

"Li Xuan, you..."

Li Yu was so angry that his teeth itched and he pointed at Li Xuan. At the same time, he was thinking about the consequences.

With so many eyes watching us, if we are not careful there will be a huge storm.

"Goro!"

Fan Ling was very anxious and looked at Li Yu, asking him to find a solution.

"You leave first, I will stop Li Xuan. You should know what to do!"

Li Yu gave instructions to Fan Ling in a deep voice.

"it is good……"

Fan Ling nodded, walked around Li Xuan and prepared to leave.

"Fan Shaoyin, I said that no one can leave before the left prime minister arrives."

Li Xuan blocked Fan Ling, his eyes as sharp as lightning.

"Li Xuan, recognize your identity. You have no rank, and no honor. How dare you stop the Jingzhao Shaoyin in red clothes? I will write to the emperor and punish you for interfering in other people's affairs."

In order to curry favor with Li Linfu, Lu Xuan had always been flattering Li Yu, and he jumped out again to accuse Li Xuan.

"Then how dare you, a mere seventh-rank official, stop the prince's guest in purple? What crime should you be punished for?" Li Xuan retorted, and slowly said: "During the Later Han Dynasty, the Imperial Censor Han Lang risked his life to expose the treacherous officials to Emperor Ming of Han, which led to the pardon of thousands of innocent people and the arrest of treasonous officials. I am a member of the royal family, and I am just doing the same thing as Han Lang."

He used the example of Li Yu and Lu Xuan blocking the third-rank official He Zhizhang, which was full of sarcasm. He even used Han Lang, who was also a "Shi Yushi", to compare Lu Xuan, which was a heart-piercing argument.

At this time, Li Xuan was relieved after seeing Fan Ling's actions. If he had not buried a living person, he would not have done this.

The two of them were facing each other, and Li Xuan could even see the panic in his expression. "Stop Li Xuan!"

Seeing that Li Xuan's words were sharp and he refused to budge, Li Yu could only resort to the worst strategy.

"Qi Lang, let me help you."

Pei Zhou, a staunch supporter of Li Xuan, took out a stick he carried with him from his robe and brought two servants with him, not fearing the large number of people Li Yu had.

"You are still a wee bitch, go back and drink your milk!"

Li Yu looked at the clean-skinned Pei Zhou with disdain and signaled his servants to restrain him.

"Who dares to bully my seventh brother?"

Just as the servants of the Right Prime Minister's Mansion rushed over and Li Xuan was about to use his fists and feet, a loud shout was heard.

I saw a young man in a round-necked robe, leading more than twenty burly men towards this side.

"Oh!"

A vicious slave in green clothes tried to stop him, but was kicked over by the young man.

Seeing this, the other evil slaves dared not step forward and could only hide beside Li Yu.

This young man was Li Xuan’s fifth brother Li Lang, who served as the captain of the Zuo Yulin Army.

Because of his love of fun, Li Lang has many bad friends.

He was very generous when dealing with his colleagues, so the subordinates of the Yulin Guard followed his lead.

Li Lang invited his subordinates to drink in Qujiang, and happened to meet Pei Huang. Upon hearing that his seventh brother was in trouble, he came to help.

"Li Lang, the Yulin Army is the saint's personal guard, they are not doing things like this?"

Li Yu knew Li Lang. He glanced at the Yulin Army in plain clothes behind Li Lang and spoke sternly.

"I didn't do anything. I just saw you guys preparing to beat up my seventh brother."

Li Lang didn't care about the reason. He just waved his hand and his subordinates immediately surrounded the place.

Now, let alone Fan Ling, even the servants of the Right Prime Minister’s Mansion can’t even think of leaving.

"Fifth brother, just stop him, don't do anything. Father will be here soon."

Li Xuan came to Li Lang and said.

His fifth brother arrived at the right time, otherwise he might not have stopped these servants from tipping off.

"What happened to alarm Father?"

Li Lang said in surprise.

He knew that Li Xuan had just beaten Li Yi two days ago, and thought that he had a conflict with Li Yu again today.

He thought Li Xuan was more trouble-making than him.

"It's a matter concerning my father. In short, don't let Li Yu and the others leave." Li Xuan couldn't explain it clearly for the moment, so he could only express it solemnly.

Li Lang, like the former "Li Xuan", did not like to study. The former "Li Xuan" was at least proficient in riding and shooting, but Li Lang was neither good at literature nor martial arts.

After hearing what Li Xuan said, Li Lang asked no more questions and ordered his subordinates to beat to death anyone who dared to move.

Li Yu was filled with hatred, but he could do nothing about it.

Fan Ling was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, and even forgot the fear of being assassinated.

He Zhizhang looked at Li Xuan solemnly. An underage boy would actually use political means to seize the opportunity for his father.

Li Bai never understood why Li Xuan wanted to fight with Li Yu. Li Bai, who was casual, would never do such a thing.

This is the essential difference between a political strategist and a great poet.

The former seeks immediate benefits.

The latter will be remembered forever.

The first to arrive were the Southern Yamen Imperial Guards on duty in Qujiang.

Li Xuan was coming with the left prime minister and asked them to wait for a while.

The general of the Southern Yamen Imperial Guards did not want to get involved, so he dispersed the crowd and waited aside.

Even the Southern Court Guards could not be influenced by Li Linfu. The wise Li Linfu would intervene in the border troops but not the Imperial Guards.

Li Longji relied on the imperial guards to complete the Tanglong coup, killing Empress Wei, Princess Anle and other Wei family forces, and supported his father Li Dan to ascend the throne. He also relied on the imperial guards to launch the Xiantian coup, defeat Princess Taiping, wipe out her followers, and gradually control the Tang Dynasty.

Li Longji would ruthlessly kill anyone who dared to attract the attention of the imperial guards.

"What's your name?"

After Li Xuan gained power, he asked the assassin who was still struggling under the servants.

"Xue is wrong."

Although the assassin could not get up, his voice was sonorous and powerful.

He was not a fool, and he had already heard that this young man, whom he had never met before, wanted to punish Fan Ling.

He is not afraid of death, but he knows that he will die. He just hopes to die in peace.

"You are a good shooter? Are you a sergeant?"

Li Xuan suddenly noticed the "韘" on Xue Cuo's left thumb.

A thumb ring is commonly worn by archers. Wearing it can prevent hand injuries and increase the speed of archery.

This braid is made of animal bones, with animal face patterns on it and two horns on its head that look like cow horns.

Moreover, there are obvious calluses on Xue Cuo's fingers, which is caused by frequent archery.

Combined with his "wrong" name, Li Xuan concluded that he was not of noble birth, not a noble, and since he often practiced archery, he was either a hunter or a soldier.

"Anxi Qiuci Army soldiers escort officers."

Xue Cuo said bluntly.

"The guard must command at least fifty soldiers! Please tell me the reason for assassinating Jingzhao Shaoyin. My father is the left prime minister, and he is a righteous man. He will redress your injustice."

It's not that Li Xuan didn't understand the military system. Rather, during the Tianbao period, after the ten major military governors were established throughout the country, the number of soldiers commanded by the military commanders and guard commanders under each governor varied greatly.

There is one escort officer for as few as fifty people and one escort officer for as many as five hundred people.

(End of this chapter)