Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 5045 Killing in Public

The censors were stunned for a moment, and then they came to their senses when they saw Yatai fall down from the car and land on the rain-soaked bluestone road. They came forward one after another, helping Liu Xiangdao up and blocking the sight of the people around them. The dignified censor, the current Yatai, was in such a state of disgrace, the face of the censorate was completely lost...

Ordinary officials have a natural fear of the Censorate. Who can say that they are clean and innocent in the officialdom?

Moreover, even if one is truly clean and innocent, once the Censorate spots one, one may not be able to escape unscathed...

The terrified and confused officials spread out and saw the people from the Censorate standing in a circle around the carriage station. They were confused and fearful. Even though they had some doubts, they did not dare to step forward to check or ask questions. They just walked around the people from the Censorate.

In this way, with the Censorate's carriage as the center, the crowds dispersed in chaos around it like a tide, while the people in the Censorate in the middle seemed to be standing still despite the stormy waves.

The officials watching the excitement nearby couldn't help but sigh, this is indeed the Censorate that is fair, honest, and as hard as iron!

Liu Xiangdao was helped up from the ground by his colleagues. Without even bothering to put his shoes on, he covered his forehead, which was the first to fall to the ground, and asked in a hurry, "Why did someone shout murder just now? Where was the murder?"

Sun Chuyue said: "I haven't found out yet."

Liu Xiangdao was impatient: "Follow me and go check it out!"

"Here!"

Sun Chuyue and a group of colleagues surrounded Liu Xiangdao and hurried to Chengtian Gate, which was the center of the crowd.

When they got closer, they saw more than a hundred scholars dressed in white linen clothes gathered together. They were surrounded by the Taiji Palace guards and yamen runners from Chang'an and Wannian counties. They were murderous and ready to fight, and they surrounded the scholars.

The Tang Dynasty Code stipulates that "scholars taking exams are not allowed to wear official uniforms." Whether they are scholars or Jinshi, as long as they have not taken up their posts, they are not considered officials, so they are not allowed to wear various official uniforms. However, they all wore white linen robes, and this became a custom and a trend.

Although these scholars have not yet taken office as officials, they will become officials sooner or later and have a bright future, so the term "white-robed ministers" began to spread...

And among the crowd, there were bursts of women wailing.

The nearby guards and yamen runners saw the people from the Censorate coming aggressively, and quickly made way for them. Liu Xiangdao's forehead was bruised and his clothes were soaked, but he walked with great momentum. Seeing Wannian County Magistrate Li Anqi standing nearby, he stopped and pointed at him and asked, "What happened?"

The previous sentence "murder" made him feel uneasy and terrified. He knew that something big must have happened, so he did not arrive at the scene immediately, but first figured out the situation and then decided how to deal with it.

Li Anqi took two steps forward and bowed: "Your humble servant greets Yatai..."

Liu Xiangdao had a sullen face and waved his hand: "At this time, there is no need for all these red tape! This number of scholars gathered here to petition the emperor is unprecedented in our dynasty. The impact is extremely far-reaching and must be properly resolved! Explain the situation quickly."

"Here!"

Li Anqi looked anxious, but his tone was steady and his words were concise: "There was a scholar named Cai Ben who failed the imperial examination this time. Today, he and his wife went to Xingfu Temple in Xinghuafang to burn incense and make a wish, hoping to pass the imperial examination next year... When passing by the Imperial College in Wubenfang, they happened to meet dozens of scholars and scholars who went to Chengtian Gate to knock on the gate and make a petition, so they came together. However, after they arrived, the situation became chaotic. The guards and yamen runners ensured the safety of Chengtian Gate and did not allow students to approach. The two sides clashed, and in the chaos, Cai Ben threw himself at the yamen runner's horizontal sword and was stabbed in the vitals, killing him on the spot."

The cause and effect are clear.

However, Liu Xiangdao did not believe that the matter was so simple, and asked loudly: "These students are just petitioning, why did the yamen runners draw their swords to suppress them?"

Li Anqi slightly turned sideways and pointed at the nearby guards and yamen runners: "Yatai, please look."

Liu Xiangdao looked in the direction he pointed and was immediately shocked to see dozens of guards and yamen runners with their armor in disarray. They did not look like elite soldiers at all. Their helmets had fallen off, their hair was disheveled, and their bodies and faces were covered in scratches and blood.

"Is this what the students did?"

"That's right. For some reason, those students were extremely excited. They kept saying, 'There are treacherous people in the court. We must rectify the source and get rid of the emperor's entourage.' They ignored the guards and runners and kept moving forward. They scratched and bit, and the guards and runners had to draw their swords to defend themselves, which led to the tragedy."

"..."

Liu Xiangdao remained silent.

Although the students were of noble character, the guards and yamen runners should not have drawn their swords to stop them, but this was Chengtian Gate, the door to the Forbidden Palace and the keys to the palace, so how could they allow the students to attack the palace gate?

But no one should die...

His heart was filled with doubts, and he felt as if an invisible hand was pinching his neck, as if it wanted to press him down and sink him into the mud...

Taking a deep breath, Liu Xiangdao stepped forward: "Let's go and take a look!"

"Here!"

The imperial guards, yamen runners, and censors crowded around Liu Xiangdao as he walked forward. At this moment, they were surrounded by people and looked very imposing.

The onlookers had already run to one side for fear of getting into trouble, and the core area was filled with students in white. When these students saw Liu Xiangdao, they immediately gathered around him as if they had seen a relative, talking at once, with many opinions, some angrily scolding the yamen runners for accidentally killing Cai Ben with their knives, and some asking Liu Xiangdao to take them to "clean up the court"...

Liu Xiangdao's eyelids twitched, and he scolded, "Nonsense! Your Majesty is wise and enlightened, and all the ministers are dedicated to their duties and the court is full of righteousness. How can a treacherous person ask you to 'clean up the emperor's side'? Don't say such evil words to confuse the people, otherwise I will not let you off easily!"

Seeing that several students were still entangled, he quickly pointed at Zhu Wenyuan and said, "You go and organize them. Persuade the students to go aside. I will deal with it after I see the deceased."

"Here!"

Zhu Wenyuan quickly called Yu Zhichong and won over several other candidates from the same class to persuade the students to stop protesting. The scene finally quieted down.

Only then was Liu Xiangdao able to step forward.

Not far from Chengtian Gate, a student in white clothes was lying on the ground motionless. His white clothes were stained with blood and drenched by rain, and he still looked in a miserable state. A woman in simple clothes was lying on top of him, howling. Perhaps she had been crying for too long, and her cry was dry and hoarse, which made people feel pity.

On the other side, a young man in yamen uniform was pressed down on his shoulders and kneeled on the ground, looking dejected, with a sword on the ground in front of him...

An official from the Wannian County Office shouted at the woman, "What's the point of crying here? The Imperial Censor is in front of you. If you have any grievances, you can speak out freely!"

The woman finally came to her senses, climbed up from the dead body and wiped away her tears. Although she was already in her twenties, she had a slender figure and fair skin. At this moment, she was crying, and the rain soaked her clothes, revealing her curves. She was actually quite pretty.

The woman did not stand up. She crawled on her knees in the rain and came to Liu Xiangdao. She opened her arms and hugged Liu Xiangdao's thighs, crying, "My husband was murdered in public. It's clear in the eyes of everyone. But the murderer is a messenger from the county government. I'm afraid the officials will protect each other. Please, censor, help me!"

Although this woman suffered the pain of losing her husband, she was still clear-headed and spoke eloquently in a hurry. She did not look like an ordinary ignorant woman...

Liu Xiangdao didn't care about much. The woman's clothes were soaked and she hugged his legs tightly. He could even feel the warmth and softness. How could such an upright gentleman bear it?

He quickly said, "Let go, I will do justice for you!"

"I won't send you off! If you don't let the murderer pay for my husband's life, I will die here!"

"You, you, you, please talk it over nicely. Why are you entangled like this? Someone, pull this woman away!"

Under the watchful eyes of hundreds of people, Liu Xiangdao felt a little embarrassed and quickly asked someone to pull the woman away.

After straightening his official robe, Liu Xiangdao looked at the Wannian County Yamen officer kneeling beside him and asked, "Who are you?"

The yamen runner was trembling all over, and no one knew whether it was because of the coldness from the rain or because of the shock from accidentally killing someone. His teeth were chattering: "I... I am from Wannian, my name is Lai Cao, and I am a yamen runner in the county government."

"Cai Ben died at your hands. Do you plead guilty?"

Lai Cao bowed his head and cried, "It is true that someone died at my hands, but I do not plead guilty! These students gathered together to cause trouble, and even called their friends to rush to Chengtian Gate, knocking on the gate and petitioning. They were so loud and ostentatious that many people came to join in the fun. The situation was very chaotic, so the county magistrate ordered us, the yamen runners, to control the situation and ensure the safety of the people."

"Then why did you kill people?"

"I didn't kill them! At first, it was fine. These students only shouted things like 'knocking on the palace gate to petition' and 'rectifying discipline'. But later, for some reason, they suddenly became wild and scratched and bit us. We had no choice but to draw our swords to intimidate them. Unexpectedly, Cai Ben actually charged at us. I couldn't retract my sword in time and stabbed him in the vitals, killing him on the spot... Yatai, I am innocent. I didn't kill him. He charged at me on his own!"

"I will make my own judgment. If the blame is not on you, then you will not be wronged!"

Liu Xiangdao shouted, looked around, and asked in a deep voice: "Did you see the situation at that time? Is it what this person said?"

The nearby guards and bailiffs all spoke up: "Yes, that's what happened!"

"This group of students are so crazy that they actually want to attack Chengtian Gate. When we tried to stop them, they went crazy and hit, bit and scratched us. They were not afraid of pulling out knives!"

"How can they be called students? It's not an exaggeration to call them thugs!"

"This man ran straight into Lai Cao's knife, thinking that Lai Cao would put away the knife. Unexpectedly, he miscalculated and died. We all saw it!"

Everyone agrees, and there seems to be nothing to question.

The woman listened to the guards and yamen runners talking about Lai Cao's permit. She was stunned for a moment, then suddenly stood up, with disheveled hair, and rushed towards the people around her, crying shrilly and terrifyingly: "You are all talking nonsense, it's not like that! Lai Cao has been coveting me for a long time, and this time he killed my husband just to occupy me. I will never let him succeed even if I die!"

The crowd was in an uproar.