Chapter 206 Recover Yang Shenjin, I can kill the tiger

"Central Minister Yang, is what I said true?"

Seeing that Yang Shenjin didn't say anything, Li Xuan asked again indifferently.

"Yes or no……"

Yang Shenjin nodded in panic, then quickly shook his head.

His heart was pounding.

All kinds of emotions and doubts filled my chest, making my speech incoherent.

"Isn't that right?"

Li Xuan took advantage of the victory and asked Yang Shenjin another serious question.

"No. The Yang family has lost the artifact for more than a hundred years, and the people of the world are leaning towards the Tang Dynasty. How could I miss the Sui Dynasty again?"

After another moment of silence, Yang Shen calmed down and said.

He deliberately avoided the matter of Shi Jingzhong!

"I know Shi Jingzhong very well. I will capture him now and take him to Xingqing Palace for questioning by the sage. Don't you know the consequences of speaking prophecies as a minister? The will of heaven is with the sage. How can you shake it?"

After Li Xuan finished speaking, he stood up and was about to leave the Censorate.

Yang Shenjin panicked after hearing this. He immediately stopped Li Xuan and said, "Doctor, wait a minute. Shi Jingzhong and I only talked about celestial phenomena. We definitely didn't talk about disloyalty. I hope you can understand this."

Although he believed in Shi Jingzhong, he also knew that the saint could not tolerate this.

If a sage were to learn that Shi Jingzhong's advice was causing chaos under heaven, he would surely be furious.

If Li Xuan then fanned the flames and falsely accused him of intending to use the prophecy to restore the Sui Dynasty, he would not only lose his life, but also his family would be implicated.

"I do not believe!"

After Li Xuan threw out these three words, he continued to move forward.

"If you can trust me, I am willing to help you do anything."

Seeing that Li Xuan was about to step out of the hall, Yang Shenjin gritted his teeth and shouted as he took a few steps forward.

Since he could become the Chief Censor, he was certainly not a stupid person. Li Xuan did not inform directly but told him first.

It was obvious that this was a threat to him.

When it comes to matters concerning his life and property, Yang Shenjin can only give in to Li Xuan.

Not only him, but also his elder brother Yang Shenyu, the Junior Supervisor of the Imperial Household, and his younger brother Yang Shenming, the Magistrate of Luoyang, would be implicated and die.

Because they also have the surname Yang and are the great-great-grandsons of Emperor Yang of Sui.

"I am not Li Linfu! Everything I do is for the country and for the saints. I am incorruptible and fair in my work!"

Li Xuan stopped and turned to Yang Shenjin and said.

"Although the doctor is young, his virtue is as high as the mountains. I will go through fire and water for you."

Yang Shenjin breathed a sigh of relief. Although he felt uncomfortable in his heart, he still had to compliment Li Xuan on the surface.

"Whether it is the Imperial Censor or the Imperial Censor in the Palace, they need to be upright and honest people who abide by the law. Lu Xuan and other Imperial Censors do not have such virtues. Is there any evidence to kick them out of the Imperial Censorate?"

Li Xuan returned to his seat and spoke to Yang Shenjin.

This time, Yang Shenjin didn't dare to sit down.

Li Xuan's words stumped Yang Shenjin again.

This is asking him to show his loyalty!
Lu Xuan and several other Imperial Censors were all Li Linfu's minions.

Like the Supervisory Censors, the Assistant Censors, although of a lower rank, are the core components of the Censorate.

Countless famous ministers and prime ministers have served as Imperial Censors. "The green jackal devours the tiger" refers to the fact that the Imperial Censors, who wear the seventh-rank green official robes, can always control the ministers.

When a sage designated a major case, he would not use officials from the Ministry of Justice or the Dali Temple, but would often have the case tried by the Assistant Censor.

"What? Don't you want to?"

Li Xuan glanced at Yang Shenjin and said calmly.

"At the morning court tomorrow, I will find an opportunity to impeach Lu Xuan and other imperial censors."

Yang Shenjin's heart trembled and he spoke quickly.

"Tomorrow morning, if Yang Zhongcheng can't find evidence to impeach Lu Hyun and others, I will impeach you."

Li Xuan threatened Yang Shenjin.

A mad dog-like villain like Lu Xuan often handled cases in the Censorate. As the Chief Censor, how could he not have evidence against Lu Xuan?
"Yes!"

Yang Shenjin could only obey.

I would rather die than have my friend die. In his mind, he was thinking about how he could prove his loyalty to Li Xuan.

"Okay! I won't go arrest Shi Jingzhong. Yang Zhongcheng's concubines and servants all know about Shi Jingzhong's affairs. I have other evidence. If Yang Zhongcheng can be selfless, I might forget about these bad things."

Li Xuan said to Yang Shenjin again.

This time, of course, it was to scare him.

Li Xuan was not afraid that he would hide Shi Jingzhong because he could still interrogate the people in his house.

The main purpose was to leave a deep impression on Yang Shenjin, making him think that Li Xuan knew something about him that he could not reveal.

"I will definitely follow the doctor's orders, eradicate the treacherous and corrupt, and be fair and just."

Yang Shenjin believed what Li Xuan said.

He was certain that Li Xuan had a spy in his mansion, and the spy might even be his closest concubine.

Otherwise it would be impossible to know it so clearly.

Yang Shenjin could only act as a "traitor" and turn against Li Linfu.

"Take me to see General Wang!"

Only then did Li Xuan stand up.

Yang Shenjin was always behind Li Xuan, guiding him.

The officials of the Censorate were all shocked when they saw this scene.

When Li Xuan and Yang Shenjin came together before, they walked side by side. Although Yang Shenjin was humble, he was still normal.

It’s not like now, where I’m just a follower.

You know, Yang Shenjin and the right prime minister are from the same faction, so he should respect Li Xuan but not be afraid of him.

In such a situation, the officials of the Censorate and some petty clerks all developed a fear of Li Xuan, believing that Li Xuan's methods were even more terrifying than the legend said.

A quarter of an hour later, they arrived at the Taiyuan prison where Wang Zhongsi was imprisoned.

Not long ago, Wang Zhongsi was still a frontier commander with an army of over 100,000 under his command.

Things in this world are unpredictable. Now, not only has he fallen into prisoner, but he is also being bullied by petty officials.

At the prison gate of the Censorate, Palace Attendant Censor Lu Xuan and officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple were waiting for Li Xuan's arrival with their subordinates.

As Li Linfu's most senior henchman, Lu Xuan was designated by Li Linfu as the interrogator of the Censorate.

"Meet the doctor!"

All the officials bowed to Li Xuan together.

"No gift!"

Li Xuan raised his hand and smiled at the Imperial Censor Lu Xuan, saying, "Three years ago, I heard from Imperial Censor Lu that a young elk cried in the forest, and the mother deer was killed by a tiger. Three years ago, I was just a commoner, and you were the Imperial Censor. Now I am a doctor of the Imperial Censorate, and you are still the Imperial Censor. I don't quite understand what you said, can you explain it to me?"

More than three years ago, on the willow bank of Qujiang River, He Zhizhang was still alive at that time, and he and Li Bai were traveling in Qujiang River, when Li Linfu's son Li Yu asked for his poems.

At that time, Lu Xuan was arrogant and relied on Li Linfu's support to bite people. He also looked down on Li Xuan, a commoner, and made Li Xuan mock him with "He knows how to cover the sun and the moon with flying flowers, but he doesn't know that there is clear frost in the world."

In just three years, Li Xuan not only became a world-famous hero, but also became Lu Hyun's boss.

Rather than saying that fate plays tricks on us, it is better to say that it is better to deceive an old man with an old beard than to deceive a young man who is poor.

Lu Xuan was so embarrassed by Li Xuan's words that he wished he could find a hole to crawl into.

He became famous for his dependence on Li Linfu. As long as Li Linfu gave the order, he would launch an attack no matter how high the other party's official position was.

He knew that Li Linfu would protect him.

But the person in front of him was Li Xuan, a difficult person even for his backers.

If he was disrespectful, Li Xuan could be dismissed directly on the grounds of "disrespecting superiors".

Yang Shenjin and the officials around him also knew what was going on.

Li Xuan's "Ode to Willow" is very famous. It is a rare satirical poem in Li Xuan's poems and is widely circulated in Chang'an.

The object of satire, Roh Hyun, also lost his reputation among intellectuals.

There are even phrases like "Don't be like Lu Xuan" which have become a catchphrase among scholars.

Lu Hyun had to answer. He thought for a long time and replied hesitantly: "I am... talking nonsense..."

"Don't say such nonsense in the future. I can kill a tiger!"

Seeing that Lu Hyun had lost all his arrogance, Li Xuan didn't know what to say and could only give him a meaningful warning.

This sentence not only made Lu Hyun feel fearful, but also shocked the officials around him.

"First, show me the results of your recent interrogation."

After arriving at the prison, Li Xuan did not see Wang Zhongsi first. He wanted to figure out all the connections.

In a room inside the prison, Li Xuan was sitting on a couch, with officials from the three divisions standing below.

Yang Shenjin handed over the evidence against Wang Zhongsi to Li Xuan.

Li Xuan picked up the evidence and flipped through it carefully.

"Let's not talk about abuse of power for personal gain, nepotism, corruption and bribery, and looting. We will go to Huangshui and Taiyuan to collect evidence. But this villager named Jiang Tao said that five years ago Wang Zhongsi killed a child on horseback in Tongren Township and then left. Isn't this just one-sided?"

"Similar accusations are the same. Why can such accusations be placed in front of me?"

Li Xuan placed the evidence on the table and asked the three judges and Yang Shenjin to answer.

These people used every possible means to fabricate charges.

If Wang Zhongsi takes all the blame, he will surely be sentenced to death.

Look around Chang'an City, east, west, south, north, and in the streets and markets of the city, there are people suing Wang Zhongsi, either for having their property robbed or for bullying the weak.

It seemed as if Wang Zhongsi had been rampant in and outside the city as soon as he returned to Chang'an. "Doctor, the township assistant Jiang Tao saw it with his own eyes. At that time, Wang Zhongsi was reporting on his work in Chang'an. A seven-year-old child was indeed killed by a horse in Tongren Township. The horse ran away, but was seen by Jiang Tao, who was on duty as the township assistant at the time."

Lu Hyun stood up and spoke in a seemingly reasonable manner.

"Haha! If this is considered evidence of your crime, I can find your writings and randomly pick a sentence from them to execute you."

Li Xuan sneered and was very rude to Lu Hyun.

In the end, it was just one-sided. There were nearly a million people in Chang'an, and for five years, the township officer did not sue anyone else, but sued Wang Zhongsi?

Although the xiangzuo is the manager of a township, he is actually the head of the village.

In the Tang Dynasty, four households formed a neighborhood, five neighborhoods formed a bao, five bao formed a li, and five li formed a township.

Every township has a township chief, who is in charge of the village in rotation among five village heads.

There were more than 16,000 townships in the Tang Dynasty. This would reduce a large number of officials and save tens of thousands of dollars.

The disadvantages are also obvious: a village can easily be controlled by local powerful families.

"Go and bring that man named Jiang Tao to the Censorate."

Li Xuan gave orders to the soldiers of the Censorate.

At the same time, Li Xuan asked Liao Zhengrong to follow with two personal guards to prevent them from doing anything.

This move made the officials think a lot, especially those in the Censorate, who felt like they were sitting on pins and needles.

"The Saint asked us to interrogate Wang Zhongsi to see if he had any connection with the prince's servants, but you seem to be fabricating charges. Is Wang Zhongsi's return to Chang'an really that bad?"

"Someone must have fanned the flames! I will summon and interrogate everyone who has given evidence. If anyone commits a crime I will impeach him for deceiving the emperor!"

Li Xuan didn't even look at the confession and just put it on the table.

Lu Hyun was very scared because he knew where the evidence came from.

Just like when they fabricated charges in Huainan, as long as it was an unresolved case, and as long as Wang Zhongsi was in Chang'an at that time, they would all be thrown at him.

Those who sued Wang Zhongsi were also coerced and bribed by officials from the Censorate.

The two words "Luo" and "Zhi" are both cruel means. It is too easy to fabricate a crime if you think about it, but it will not stand up to scrutiny.

"These testimonies may be the nonsense of unruly people and can be ignored."

Lu Hyun was sweating profusely. He kept looking at Yang Shenjin, hoping that Yang Shenjin would say something.

But Yang Shenjin seemed not to see Lu Hyun's eyes, and his eyes were only on the ceiling.

Lu Hyun could only tell Li Xuan himself.

"Although Wang Zhongsi was not a military governor, he was once a censor. He was also the adopted son of the sage. The sage dismissed him from his post, but did not disown him. How dare you falsely accuse the adopted son of the sage? Ministry of Justice, what crime should this be?"

After Li Xuan asked a question in return, he asked the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Justice.

"He shall be caned fifty times and exiled two thousand miles."

The Deputy Director of the Ministry of Justice replied to Li Xuan.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple! Someone must have instructed them to call Jiang Tao over first and question him."

Li Xuan sat steadily and said.

Jiang Tao was in Chang'an, and soon he was taken to the Censorate.

Jiang Tao was frightened when he learned that Li Xuan was a doctor. He only knew that Li Xuan was a general, but he didn't expect that he would be able to judge cases.

"You are Jiang Tao! Why did you falsely accuse Wang Zhongsi of killing the child?"

After seeing Jiang Tao paying his respects, Li Xuan asked directly.

Jiang Tao was confused. Did Li Xuan know everything?
But Jiang Tao did not give up easily. He bravely said, "I am not slandering you. Every word I say is true!"

"Imperial Censor Lu, I heard that you have a trick called "Using a Donkey to Pull Out a Peg". Try it on this unruly man!"

Li Xuan said to Lu Xuan.

Lu Xuan didn't dare to move. Pulling out the donkey with a stake was a cruel punishment, and Jiang Tao would definitely confess because he couldn't hold on.

I was just shocked as to why Li Xuan knew about the donkey pulling out the peg, as this was his private punishment!
Since it was invented by Wu Zetian, no one dared to use it normally, and it was against the rules. She only used it when interrogating stubborn people.

"Do you know what it means to pull out the pegs like a donkey? They will put you in shackles, hold your feet with their hands, press the wood between your feet, hit the shackle handle forward, and then start pulling your body. When your body is stretched to more than a foot long and your waist is about to break, your eyes and nose will bleed. If you still don't confess, your eyes will bulge out and look like they will fall out at any time. Finally, there will be a bang, and you will be pulled into two pieces, and your internal organs will fall to the ground..."

Seeing that Lu Xuan was different, Li Xuan described to Jiang Tao in vivid detail the horror of the donkey pulling out the peg.

Jiang Tao turned pale and confessed immediately: "It was Censor Li who gave me ten strings of cash to frame Wang Zhongsi. I was the one who saw a villager being killed, but it was not Wang Zhongsi."

These words shocked everyone present.

"Who is Li Yushi?"

Li Xuan headed down the official road.

"My Lord, it is Li Yan, the Imperial Censor of the Taiyuan. He is not present today."

Yang Shenjin then answered.

"Call the other witnesses who have testified."

Li Xuan did not order the arrest of Li Rong immediately, but waited to take action later.

Each team of soldiers is followed by a Shen Ce Guard.

Soon, more than a dozen people who sued Wang Zhongsi were brought to the court.

After being threatened by Li Xuan, they all confessed.

It was all because of Li Yan's coercion and bribery that they put the blame of these old mistakes on Wang Zhongsi.

"Everyone is unanimous, this is the evidence. Li Yan dared to do this, it would not be too much to execute him directly. Yang Zhongcheng, he is a small censor, but he framed Wang Zhongsi, why? Is there someone else who is instigating him?"

Li Xuan asked Yang Shenjin.

Unfortunately, there was only Li Rong, and Li Xuan thought that Lu Xuan was also involved and could take him down directly.

Tomorrow, Yang Shenjin will impeach Lu Hyun, so Li Xuan does not need to rush.

"I will have Li Yan arrested and tortured immediately."

Yang Shenjin replied.

Isn't it obvious? Li Yan was the Imperial Censor promoted by Li Linfu, otherwise he would have nothing better to do than spend more than a hundred strings of cash to frame Wang Zhongsi.

Li Xuan nodded.

Half an hour later, Li Rong was escorted to where Li Xuan was.

Faced with unanimous accusations, Li Yi had no choice but to plead guilty.

But he only confessed his own sins, not anyone else's.

Li Xuan used severe torture, but it failed to scare Li Rong.

Li Linfu had escaped from so many dangers that his minions all thought that it would be difficult for him to capsize.

Li Xuan let it go for now, as tomorrow would be the time to serve Li Linfu the main dish.

"The Saint asked us to thoroughly investigate the case of the prince's servant going to Taiyuan. Instead of those old cases. This will put the cart before the horse and disappoint the Saint. I know that the prince's servant is dead and it is difficult to verify, but if anyone makes a fuss about other issues, I will definitely not let him go."

When Li Xuan spoke, he looked at Lu Xuan and spoke sternly.

"I'll understand later!"

The officials from the three departments bowed together.

After saying this, it was already afternoon and Li Xuan formally went to meet Wang Zhongsi.

"Crench!"

The place where Wang Zhongsi was imprisoned was not a "cage"-like cell, but an airtight cell.

Wang Zhongsi was sitting in the corner of the cell, wearing prison clothes and with disheveled hair.

He was not wearing any chains or anything like that, and his appearance looked neat and tidy, but he could hardly conceal his pale face and listless spirit.

A famous general of the prosperous era was imprisoned in a cell. Even though he was extremely brave and could capture flags and kill generals on the battlefield, he could not resist.

"General Wang!"

It was Li Xuan who called out again, and Wang Zhongsi raised his head only after hearing the familiar voice.

"General Lee!"

Wang Zhongsi was surprised that Li Xuan came to visit him.

After all, this is an extraordinary time!

He was far away in the frontier and heard that the saint favored Li Xuan, but he didn't know exactly how much he favored her.

"General Wang, I will now take over your position as the Imperial Censor and be responsible for judging the matter of the prince's servants. I will make a fair decision, General Wang, please don't think too much!"

With other people around him, Li Xuan did not say anything he shouldn't have said.

"Alas! My affairs have come to that!"

Wang Zhongsi sighed, he could understand Li Xuan.

This matter was more complicated than he had imagined. He thought that even if he was held accountable, he would only be demoted to a lower position.

Now not only is he in danger, but even his children are unable to escape.

In addition, the crown prince, with whom he had a deep relationship, was also implicated, causing him to die with regrets.

If he pleaded guilty, his family and the prince could be saved, and he would die without regrets.

"General Wang, someone has framed you before and I have now locked you up. The only thing left on you is the prince's servant. Think carefully about whether you have ever seen the prince's servant before? Give me the answer the day after tomorrow!"

Li Xuan said solemnly to Wang Zhongsi.

I'm here to meet Wang Zhongsi today, no need to ask too many questions.

Tomorrow he will strike Li Linfu hard and make Li Longji suspicious of him.

Then go to the East Palace to meet the prince.

Li Xuan knew that Wang Zhongsi's son Wang Zhen, daughter Wang Yunxiu, and son-in-law Yuan Zai were all imprisoned in Chang'an.

Li Linfu also tried to find other crimes of Wang Zhongsi from them.

But at this time Yuan Zai had not yet fallen and did not frame his father-in-law.

In order to save his children and allow the prince to continue to keep his position, Wang Zhongsi will obey Li Xuan's arrangements.

(End of this chapter)