Chapter 116： confrontation

Shuobei people caught it?

Li Zishou and Bai Qingyang looked at each other, and they both saw that the other party had mixed joys and sorrows, especially for Li Zishou who knew the plot of the original book, this news was not necessarily something to be happy about.

Li Zishou: "Where is the man now?"

Zhou Huaijin: "It's over there from the viewing platform."

Li Zichou got up: "I'm going over now."

Bai Qingyang quickly supported her: "I'll accompany you."

"Ok."

At the viewing platform, three people were kneeling on the ground with their hands tied to death, and dozens of knives were pointed at them. Soldiers from the city defense battalion and the Ministry of War surrounded them, and officials were watching from the outside.

Despite wearing Futou and robes, Beiyu's appearance and bad accent all indicated that the three men were from Shuobei.

People from Shuobei mixed in in the paddock, and anyone with a little brain would link it with Shengjia's assassination.

Before the appearance of the prairie people, most people thought that there was someone who was ambitious and rebellious, and could be investigated and resolved in the DPRK; but now, spies from the enemy country are involved, and the seriousness of the situation has directly expanded to the entire diplomatic relationship and national defense.

Once something is found out, there will be shocking waves in the Central Plains and grasslands.

You know, something like this happened five years ago.

Xie Zhi looked at those three people, thinking deeply. Yang Dejin beside her turned pale, and could almost foresee what would happen next.

When Ji Zhuilu heard that the people he sent out to search and rescue failed to find the Empress, they kidnapped a few prairie people and brought them back. This surprised and delighted him, and he thought that maybe he could use this to make up for his mistakes.

"Vice General Liu, did you catch this man?" Ji Zhuilu found his subordinates.

"Yes, these prairie people wanted to sneak attack my subordinates, but I found out, they beat them up, and tied them back." Deputy General Liu replied.

"A blind cat met a dead mouse." Ji Zhuilu was overjoyed, and hit him hard with his fist, "You're so lucky, boy!"

He was worried about what to do if the empress blamed it on the head of the city defense department. He was ready to take off his official hat and even lose his head. His subordinates suddenly struggled for a while, and he felt that he could still save him.

Vice General Liu was dissatisfied when he heard this, and gave him an elbow: "It's not my luck, it's my strength."

"Hiss—you son of a bitch, I'm numb!" Ji Zhuilu exaggeratedly complained, clutching his elbow.

"It's really weak."

"What did you say?!"

The interactions between the military officers were neither serious nor serious, and the words between the fellows were also unrestrained, and the two reckless men just started fighting like this.

Xie Zhi glanced at the two of them, and silently pulled Yang Dejin to his other side.

"Your Majesty and Empress Dowager are here!" Someone shouted.

The officers and soldiers gave way one after another, and Bai Qingyang helped Li Zichou to walk in front of those Shuobei people.

Li Zichou looked at those Shuobei people, and asked, "Who captured this?"

Vice General Liu ran over and said, "Your Majesty, it's me."

Li Zichou saw that he was wearing the military uniform of the patrol battalion, and nodded: "Good job."

Vice-General Liu: "Your Majesty has given you too much credit."

Ji Zhuilu pushed through the crowd and came over, only to see the kneeling people. He felt a little strange, and whispered: "...only three people?"

As soon as he said this, Li Zishou and Bai Qingyang who were present, and Yang Dejin and Xie Zhi who came over, had similar thoughts:

How could these three prairie people plan such a large-scale, orderly and planned assassination. The emperor and empress came back one step earlier, and the prairie man was arrested one step later. The timing was too coincidental.

It is very likely that the prairie people were just pushed out, and the real mastermind is probably still hiding in the dark and observing them.

Li Zichou: "Who sent you here?"

Deputy General Liu took out the cloth ball that had blocked the mouths of the Shuobei people: "Our Majesty is asking you something! Tell me quickly!"

Several people from Shuobei lowered their heads, looked at each other, hesitated to speak.

"Say it?!" One of them was kicked, and Ji Zhuilu threatened loudly.

Liang Jing spoke up: "Your Majesty, the grassland people have ulterior motives, why don't you take them down and let them torture you severely, if you don't believe me, you won't be able to pry their mouths open."

Some people disagreed: "Shuobei and Dasheng have had a long-standing grievance. If these three people are not handled properly, people may take the opportunity to make trouble."

"The prairie people lurk in Linjing privately, and even take advantage of the emperor's hunting, and murder my Dasheng monarch, isn't that a big deal?!"

"Your Majesty, the people from Shuobei appeared too strangely. If we make a conclusion too early, I'm afraid that the gain will not be worth the loss. It's better to investigate clearly before..."

"The prairie people have bullied us, what else is there to investigate?! Mr. Neishi, I think you are getting old and your bones have softened!"

"You! Simple-minded savage, don't show off your bravery!"

Seeing that the ministers had strayed away from talking about the real business and began to attack personally, Bai Qingyang couldn't bear it anymore and said, "Shut up for me, Your Majesty is still here."

These ministers quarrel at every turn, what do they look like? ! If it weren't for the fact that they were still useful, Bai Qingyang would have cleaned them up for Li Zifu long ago.

I'm not afraid of being laughed at by Shuobei people!

After the empress scolded, the courtiers calmed down, nodding their heads and lowering their eyebrows, waiting for the empress to speak.

Li Zifu didn't pursue the person who quarreled, she said to one of the people from Shuobei, "I have seen you, you are a subordinate officer of Yeludeira, and he sent you to assassinate me?"

The man quickly shook his head: "No, no, this has nothing to do with His Royal Highness Diel, we... We were also forced!"

"Forced by who?"

"this…"

"Speak out, I will leave you a way out."

"..."

"Don't tell me yet?! Your Majesty has done his best, don't be ignorant!" The soldiers had already attached the blades to the necks of the three of them, and they could draw blood marks with just a little movement.

"I'll say it, I'll say it!" the Shuobei native yelled, "I'll say it all!!"

He raised his head and looked around, Yang Dejin inexplicably met his gaze, and suddenly felt chills.

Sure enough, after seeing her, the man identified her loudly: "It's Prince Yu! He asked me to do it!"

The crowd was in an uproar.

Li Zichou looked at Yang Dejin.

"What nonsense are you talking about?!" Xie Zhi, who had been silent all this time, yelled at him.

Ji Zhuilu was also surprised: "Impossible."

"It's him!" the people from Shuobei continued, "He said, we will help him kill Emperor Sheng, and he will help our Highness become the prince of Shuobei.

"Also said, also said that after he wins the throne, he can forget about the feud with His Highness Diel, and agree to get married!"

The words of the Shuobei people were like a drop of water falling into the frying pan. In less than half a day, the officials and ministers had made a fuss for the second time, and even Zhou Huaijin couldn't stop it. The soldiers also looked at each other, looking at Yang Dejin with wariness in their eyes.

Xie Zhi: "If you continue spreading rumors, I'll cut off your tongue!"

Liang Jing: "Xie Shilang, why are you in such a hurry? Could it be that you know something?"

Zhou Huaijin: "Prime Minister Liang, don't fan the flames here, what's the matter with you?!"

"I am the prime minister!"

"The prime minister can't talk nonsense!"

Zhou and Liang started to have one-on-one again. Amidst the noise, only Li Zichou stared at Yang Dejin silently.

Yang Dejin, what are you doing? Rebuttal!

This kind of inferior frame-up, as long as you justify yourself a few words, I can find an excuse to keep you.

Yang Dejin, what are you in a daze for? You are such a person who can quarrel, quickly refute! Hurry up!

Why don't you talk, maybe you really...

It's a pity that Yang Dejin couldn't hear Li Zishou's heartfelt thoughts. Her mind was in a mess at the moment, and the strong control of the plot was even more terrifying than she imagined. She had tried every means to avoid Li Zishou these days, but in the end, the plot in the book was repeated !

what the **** is it? !

Yang Dejin's face was pale, and compared with Li Zichou, he simply didn't know who was seriously injured.

Although she wanted to deny it, she still couldn't think clearly, and could only say dryly: "I didn't do it, it wasn't me..."

A man from the Ministry of War ran over at this time and said something to their minister. Qin Guang was terrified after hearing this, and hurriedly reported: "Your Majesty, the three thousand soldiers of Prince Yu's Mansion are guarding around Shanglin Garden at this moment. We are surrounded!"

Yang Dejin's eyes widened: "That's..."

"What?! Prince's mansion soldiers?!"

"Prince Yu is trying to fight to the death?!"

"Take it down for me!" Before Li Zifu and the others could react, the blades of the Ministry of War turned around one after another, and Yang Dejin was escorted to kneel on the ground.

"What are you doing?!" Seeing this, Xie Zhi wanted to step forward, but was stopped by someone with a knife.

At the same time, a person is pushed out of the crowd and falls to the ground.

"Yin Niang!"

"Your Highness!"

"This person is Prince Yu's confidant, she is the one who summoned the soldiers under the order of Prince Yu, and the prince's order is on her!"

Now, almost everyone believed the words of the Shuobei people, and Yang Dejin was instantly pushed to the forefront.

"Prince Yu assassinated the Holy Majesty with the intention of treason, he should be punished for his crime!"

"Colleging with an enemy country is even worse!"

"Your Majesty, this traitor must be executed on the spot."

Yang Dejin's shoulder was so painful that someone pressed her, she couldn't explain it: "It's not me! I didn't intend to rebel, the government soldiers were just standing by outside the paddock, I didn't let them surround Shanglinyuan..."

However, no one believed her pale explanation, people only wanted to believe what they saw with their own eyes.

"Your Majesty! During the autumn hunt, I have never left Prince Yu's side, and she has never made any attempt to rebel..."

"Xie Zhirui, shut up!" Zhang Keji stopped.

He was worried that if she offended Yang Dejin again, Xie Zhi would involve himself in it.

Xie Zhi turned a deaf ear to it, and even knelt down to Li Zichou: "It is absolutely impossible for Prince Yu to rebel against her, please Your Majesty to investigate clearly!"

"Xie Shilang, why do you vouch for Prince Yu?!"

"You are his guest of honor, so naturally speak to him!"

"Maybe you are also one of the accomplices!"

Sharp doubts and accusations from others caught their ears, Xie Zhi and Bai Qingyang looked at each other, and said again: "Please, Your Majesty, Your Majesty, check it out!"

Bai Qingyang frowned: "Master Xie, are you sure Prince Yu hasn't left your side during the two days of Autumn Hunting?"

"Of course! I've always..." Xie Zhi stopped talking at this point.

Remembering that she was approached by Meng Shike last night, and then talked to Ji Zhuilu for a while, it really made Yang Dejin out of his sight.

But they didn't separate for a long time, and Yang Dejin just waited in the camp, unable to do anything at all.

However, the people around them interpreted Xie Zhi's pause as guilt, and almost believed that she was protecting Yang Dejin.

Seeing that Xie Zhi was halfway through speaking, Bai Qingyang's expression suddenly became a little ugly, as if he remembered something. She knew Xie Zhi's character, even if he had a close relationship with Prince Yu, Xie Zhi would never lie to her.

Xie Zhi's hesitation indicated that Prince Yu might indeed have left her sight.

If Xie Zhi could guarantee that Prince Yu was always under her surveillance, Bai Qingyang would still be able to find a way to keep Yang Dejin; but now Xie Zhi couldn't guarantee that, no one knew what Prince Yu had done during the time he left, so even Bai Qingyang couldn't help, I can only let Li Zi pay.

Bai Qingyang looked at Li Zichou who was beside him. The empress had been confronting Prince Yu for a long time, and Li Zichou might take this opportunity to get rid of Yang Dejin.

If Prince Yu is really the mastermind behind the scenes, that's fine, but if Prince Yu didn't do it, then he has wronged a good person and served as the mastermind behind the scenes.

Li Zichou looked complicated, looking at Yang Dejin with anxiety, hesitation, and a hint of disappointment.

"No, it's not me..." Yang Dejin shook her head helplessly, "Li... you have to believe me... I haven't done it."

Li Zichou, why don't you believe me? Why?

Li Zichou looked down at her, didn't say anything, just asked Zhou Huaijin to fetch something.

"Is this thing yours?" Li Zichou asked Yang Dejin holding the pocket crossbow.

Yang Dejin looked at the short arrow: "...what?"

Zhou Huaijin: "This is the back arrow that His Majesty encountered while hunting the white tiger the day before yesterday. Your Highness Prince Yu, this is exactly the same as the bow and crossbow you brought."

The improved individual crossbows were indeed equipped on a large scale in the army, but the city defense department did not equip them with guns, and the troops sent by the Ministry of War and the Imperial Army to Shanglinyuan were only infantry and cavalry, and the battalions did not come.

To be precise, the crossbowmen did not come. In the entire Shanglin Garden, only Yang Dejin brought a single crossbow.

"Impossible! The day before yesterday I was hunting on the grasslands to the west, and you were in the mountains to the east. It is impossible for me to use it to assassinate you!" Yang Dejin shouted at Li Zishou, "Both Xie Shilang and Ji Xiaowei can testify!"

Liang Jing: "Hmph! They are your party members, of course they are loyal to you."

Yang Dejin glared at him viciously, Xie Zhi gritted his molars, and even Ji Zhuilu, who was always talkative, lowered his face: "Prime Minister Liang, you can eat indiscriminately, but you can't talk indiscriminately."

Liang Jing was disdainful: "Then you tell me where I made a mistake?"

Yang Dejin: "Besides the two of them, there were other people on the grassland at that time, and they all saw me!" After speaking, she looked at those people, hoping that they would come out and testify for herself.

However, those officials just lowered their heads and remained silent.

Seeing this situation, Yang Dejin cursed angrily, her lips were about to be bitten off by herself.

That's right, these people only want to stay safe and follow the crowd, so what does Yang Dejin's life and death have to do with them?

Li Zichou: "Do you have anything else to say?"

Yang Dejin racked his brains and said, "I only have twenty crossbow bolts. For recycling, I have to recycle each one I use. Now those twenty crossbow bolts are in my camp, and one is quite a lot. You can search for them. !"

Liang Jing: "You said you only brought twenty, I have to believe it, then I will..."

"Go and search first." Li Zichou interrupted Liang Jing and sent his followers to search in the prince's camp.

The crossbow arrows were handed over to Yang Dejin by Li Zichou himself, of course she knew that Yang Dejin only had twenty arrows. As long as Yang Dejin's arrows are not missing, it proves that the arrow in her hand must have come from somewhere else, and Li Zifu will have a chance to save Yang Dejin.

However-

"Your Majesty, there are only nineteen." The servant who searched the tent came back to report.

"What did you say?"

"What did you say?!"

Li Zichou and Yang Dejin said in unison.

Li Zifu took the quiver from him, no matter how he counted it, there were only nineteen.

"Nineteen..." Li Zichou murmured, "Are you sure you didn't find any leaks? Have you searched elsewhere?"

"I've searched all of them, and there are only nineteen in this quiver."

"It's impossible, I obviously..." Yang Dejin was about to say that someone must have stolen one, but suddenly realized something.

She met Xie Zhi's eyes, and the other party seemed to remember - the one that was used in the tent last night!

Because the view was not good last night, and it rained lightly again at the monastery, they thought they would find it after dawn, but too many things happened, and they forgot.

"Your Majesty, there is another one that should be near the prince's tent, because I didn't have time to pick it up last night."

Liang Jing wanted to say something again, but Li Zichou raised his hand again and said, "Then go find it."

A quarter of an hour passed, and the servant came back: "I tell Your Majesty, I have searched all around, but there is nothing."

"How could it be...?" Yang Dejin was completely desperate.

Xie Zhi also couldn't figure out what went wrong. Could it be that someone picked it up?

"Your Majesty, don't believe the nonsense of this traitor, he is simply delaying time!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, now that the people of Shuobei have confessed, and Shanglin Garden has been besieged, Prince Yu's charges have been confirmed. Don't soften your heart."

The ministers persuaded them earnestly, especially the Queen's Party, they refused to let go of this opportunity to eradicate the Prince's Party, and incited Li Zishou with a few words.

Bai Qingyang looked at her worriedly: "Reward..."

Li Zishou and Yang Dejin were relatively speechless, they just looked at each other quietly.

One was standing, surrounded by the crowd; the other was kneeling, being escorted to the ground. The distance of two steps seems to be separated by a gap.

After being silent for an unknown amount of time, Li Zichou finally said, "Prison Prince Yu into Zongzheng..."

After a pause, he changed his words again: "Forget it... directly sent to the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice."

As soon as the empress finished speaking, Yang Dejin was forcibly dragged away.

"Yang Dejin!" Xie Zhi wanted to rush over, but was stopped by Zhang Shangshu and the doctors of the Ministry of Justice.

"Xie Zhi, you can't go!"

"Brother Zhi Rui, don't be impulsive!"

Yang Dejin's eyes widened, she couldn't believe that Li Zichou really suspected her.

The fear was magnified countless times at this moment, and she couldn't break free from the guards' tyrannical control, so she could only yell at Li Zifu with all her strength:

"How could you do this to me?!

"Why?! Why do you shut me up?!

"Are you crazy! Are you really addicted to being an emperor??!"

"...!!" Yang Dejin's heart-piercing accusation did not win the sympathy of others, but was covered by people's mouth because of her radical remarks.

Li Zichou looked away, not wanting to look at Yang Dejin's red eyes, she casually took a short arrow from the quiver bag, and threw the rest to Zhou Huaijin.

"Pei Shaoqing, these three people from Shuobei will be handed over to you at Dali Temple."

"...Yes." Pei Yu complied, then waved, "Come on, take it down."

Liang Jing leaned forward and slandered: "Your Majesty, Prince Yu's treason has shocked the government and the public. We should cut through the mess quickly and wipe out this scourge as soon as possible." He also made a gesture of wiping his neck.

Xie Zhi was furious, she pointed at Liang Jing's nose and cursed: "Liang thief, framing Zhongliang is too much, what are you going to do?!"

When Liang Jing was scolded like this, she was also furious and ready to scold: "What did you say?!"

He can't take care of Zhou Huaijin's little boy, and he can't take care of a little servant? !

"Enough." Li Zichou said in a deep voice, and she took a deep look at Liang Jing, "The day after tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet, I don't want to see blood before that."

"Regardless of Prince Yu or Shuobei Xizuo, we will wait until the palace banquet is over before the trial!

"Return to court!"

The author has something to say:

Yang Dejin unlocked a new achievement: squatting.

ps: As people get older, their bones become brittle.