Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 5046 Self-defeating
The raindrops gradually became denser and fell on the glazed tiles on the roof of the Wude Hall. After washing away the dust, they gathered into streams, and the rain poured down from the eaves like a pearl curtain.

Li Chengqian stood in front of the window with his hands behind his back, feeling the abundant moisture blowing towards him. The flowers and trees in the courtyard were lush and flourishing.

Li Ji and Liu Ji stood behind him with their heads bowed. No one spoke in the imperial study, and there was silence except for the sound of raindrops falling from the eaves.

After a while, Li Chengqian turned around and said calmly, "Tell me, what's going on?"

Li Ji remained silent as usual.

Liu Li hesitated for a moment, then said cautiously, "This matter all started because Duke Yue sought official positions for his relatives, which caused dissatisfaction among the other Jinshi and students, so they gathered together and went to Chengtian Gate to knock on the palace gate and petition. The Holy Emperor is in power, and he will surely be able to see through everything and punish the treacherous and cunning people to rectify the rules and regulations."

Li Chengqian was surprised, "Just because they believed rumors and were dissatisfied, they gathered together to knock on the gate and petition? There are hundreds of millions of people in this world, and there are countless grievances every day. If anyone who is dissatisfied comes to Chengtian Gate to knock on the gate and petition, wouldn't I be exhausted to death?"

"Your Majesty clearly shows you!"

Liu Li quickly explained, "How can anyone enter Chengtian Gate? If they disturb Your Majesty, it will be an unforgivable crime! However, these students are different after all. They are of noble status and are valued by Your Majesty. In the future, they will become officials of the empire, so they must be entertained and comforted."

Li Chengqian disagreed: "You are just a student now, not yet an official, yet you can disregard the law like this. When you are appointed as a prime minister and given an official title, I am afraid that you will not go to Chengtian Gate to petition, but will go straight to my bedroom."

These words were a bit murderous, and Liu Li was sweating a little: "Your Majesty is wise and wise, and he would never do such a thing!"

Li Chengqian sneered: "Can you guarantee it?"

Without waiting for Liu Li to reply, he asked again: "What guarantee do you have? Are you going to use your own head to guarantee the safety of my head?"

Liu Li was sweating profusely. He bowed to the ground and dared not say anything more.

But in his heart, he could not help but complain, as a king, he spoke in such a weird way, he really did not look like a wise ruler...

The students gathered together to cause trouble, knocked on the palace gate and petitioned at Chengtian Gate, which dealt an unparalleled blow to the king's prestige. If the king was wise and the court had virtuous people, why would the white-clothed students have to go to the point of knocking on the palace gate?
But the key point is that the bigger the trend becomes, the greater the loss of the emperor's prestige will be, and Fang Jun, the instigator of this incident, will suffer greater backlash.

Exchanging the prestige of the king for the prestige of Fang Jun, and at the same time reaping the heartfelt love of the new scholars and students taking the imperial examinations, it is never a loss.

Therefore, Liu Li concluded that even though the emperor in front of him cursed harshly, his emperor must have been behind the whole thing and fanned the flames.

It might even be possible to manage it all by myself...

As for Liu Xiangdao?
That's a target...

Liu Li didn't know why this happened, but fortunately, footsteps were heard outside the door at this moment, and soon, Li Junxian, dressed in armor, walked in quickly.

Li Chengqian then turned his gaze away from Liu Li, took a deep look at Li Ji who remained silent, and asked Li Junxian who had walked in, "What's the situation outside Chengtian Gate?"

Li Junxian knelt on one knee and saluted. After hearing "Stand up," he stood up and said respectfully, "The situation is not good. The students are full of resentment and are shouting to break through the Chengtian Gate to see the emperor. They want Your Majesty to maintain fairness and justice in the selection of officials and... depose the Duke of Yue who abused his power for personal gain and disrupted the order."

"Humph!"

Li Chengqian snorted angrily: "Duke Yue has made great contributions to the country and has made outstanding achievements. How can he be impeached and removed from office by just a few students? It is totally unreasonable!"

Liu Li lowered his head, staring at the shiny gold bricks on the ground. He became more and more convinced that this matter was instructed by His Majesty. The purpose was very simple, to severely undermine Fang Jun's prestige. Even if he would not really depose him or drive him out of office, he would classify him as a "flatterer".

Your Majesty needs a Fang Jun who is extremely loyal and can command the three armies, but you do not need a Fang Jun who can overpower the court and influence government affairs.

Liu Li didn't want to talk, but Li Chengqian didn't intend to let him go: "How does the Minister of the Central Secretariat think this matter should be handled?"

Liu Li had no choice but to say, "Although the Duke of Yue cannot step down because of the impeachment of the students, the storm has already started. Public opinion is mixed and the people are angry. If it cannot be properly appeased, it may lead to disaster. These students are the pillars of the empire. How can they be led astray because of this incident? In my humble opinion, the Censorate should be ordered to investigate and review this matter to see whether the reason why Zhang Zizhou was recruited by the Ministry of Works was because of the Duke of Yue. If he used intimidation, coercion, bribery and other means, he should be severely punished."

The words were said, but it was as good as not saying them.

First, he said that Fang Jun could not step down because of the impeachment of the student, and then he said that he should be severely punished. His meaning was self-evident: Your Majesty, you can decide how to deal with him, I have no opinion.

Li Chengqian was obviously very dissatisfied. He glanced at Liu Li and snorted.

How could he say "examine Fang Jun"? Someone had to bring it up before he could follow through, but Liu Li was slippery and didn't want to offend Fang Jun for no reason, so he was ambiguous.

Then he looked at Li Junxian and asked, "Where is the Imperial Censor?"

"When I came back to report, there was news that the Censorate had come in full force. I think the situation will be stabilized soon."

"Well, Liu Xiangdao is still very capable."

Li Chengqian nodded.

The position of Chief Censor was very noble and had always been regarded as the embodiment of "justice". Liu Xiangdao was a serious and strict person and was very popular among the literati. As long as he showed up in person, those students who were making trouble would be appeased and the situation would be calmed down.

Just make a fuss about it. It will give the Censorate a reason to intervene in Zhang Zizhou's affairs. Just conduct a casual investigation and that will be enough.

The most important point in this matter is the review of Fang Jun. As long as this procedure exists, it doesn't matter whether the problem can be found.

Even if it was really discovered that Fang Jun secretly arranged for Zhang Zizhou to enter the Ministry of Works, Li Chengqian would have to cover up for Fang Jun...

It is okay to undermine Fang Jun's prestige, but it is not okay to defeat Fang Jun.

Wang De hurried in from outside the door, his usually calm face showing unusual anxiety. He went straight into the imperial study and whispered, "Your Majesty, a student has been killed outside Chengtian Gate!"

The four people in the imperial study were suddenly shocked, and Li Ji, who had always been "standing idly by" and "quiet and inactive", raised his eyebrows.

Everyone knows that His Majesty attaches great importance to the successful candidates in this subject and wants to train all of them to become the emperor's right-hand men. Now, some people dare to kill the "Emperor's disciples" outside Chengtian Gate and Taiji Palace. This is simply an offense against His Majesty!
Is there anyone who wants to challenge the imperial power? !

Li Chengqian's face turned pale and he cursed, "Idiot!"

Things had gotten to the point where someone died, and it was clearly out of control. It was obvious who the "idiot" was insulting.

It can only be Liu Xiangdao.

It backfired...

Li Ji finally spoke: "Your Majesty, we must take strong measures to stop the chaos at Chengtian Gate in time, and then order the three judicial departments to intervene together, investigate thoroughly and find out the murderer!"

Liu Xiangdao didn’t care whether he lived or died. What he cared about was that the imperial power could not be shaken, which was the foundation of the empire.

Li Chengqian was a little hesitant: "This... it's better to figure it out first. If we rashly use the three judicial departments, it will easily lead to turmoil in the situation."

Li Ji sighed and said no more.

There were only a few people in the imperial court who dared to kill someone outside Chengtian Gate, and there was only one person involved in this incident. If the three judicial officials intervened, it would mean that His Majesty would directly break off relations with the culprit behind the scenes. His Majesty obviously did not want things to reach that point.

But the problem is that now they have fallen out with each other because of your methods, and your most valued student was killed in public outside Chengtian Gate, but you still want to retreat and tolerate... Where is the trace of decisiveness in killing?

Not even a hair of Emperor Taizong can compare to him.

Li Ji even couldn't help but have a thought in his mind: If the King of Jin were in power, how would he decide?
Liu Li didn't want to get involved in this matter. He wouldn't get any benefits, but would easily be hated by Fang Jun. That idiot was reckless and reckless, and who knows if he would hit his own door directly...

Seeing that the two were silent, Li Chengqian said to Li Junxian, "Send more guards to stabilize the situation, and let Liu Xiangdao enter the palace to see the emperor."

"Here!"

Li Junxian turned and walked out of the imperial study.

Li Chengqian felt a little frustrated. How could something that was planned so well end up like this?
*****
Outside Chengtian Gate.

Rainwater gathered into streams on the bluestone pavement, flowing slowly into the drainage ditches in the low-lying areas, and then discharged out of Chang'an City along the entire imperial city's excellent and complete drainage system. This city wall, which gathered all the lifelong learning of the great craftsman Yuwen Kai, would not suffer from flooding even in the heaviest rain.

In the square, everyone's eyes were focused on Cai Ben's wife and the yamen runner Lai Cao, with a mixture of sorrow and excitement.

I thought it was a vicious incident to suppress students' petition, but in the end it turned out to be a romantic case?
Throughout history, people have always paid great attention to this kind of thing, not to mention that it happened right before our eyes...

When Liu Xiangdao heard Cai Ben’s wife’s crying, he felt greatly relieved.

Originally it was a political incident, and the Censorate could have just taken advantage of the situation to investigate Fang Jun, Zhang Zizhou, and even the Ministry of Works. However, people died and the nature of the incident changed drastically.

These students are all children of aristocratic families. It is inappropriate for one of them to die rashly, let alone die when they knock on the gate of Chengtian?

If things go wrong, it will cause a huge storm of aristocratic families against the central government...

But if it is a "murder of passion", it is completely different.

He wished he could kill this guy right now for the crime of "killing someone out of jealousy and stealing someone's wife"...

Therefore, this case cannot be tried in public.

"Come here, temporarily detain Lai Cao in the Imperial Censorate Prison, and bring back Cai Benzhi's body. Order the coroner to examine the cause of death."

He also said to Cai Ben's wife gently, "My lady, don't be too sad. The dead are gone. The Censorate will definitely find out the truth and give you an explanation!"

The woman seemed very well-educated and well-mannered. Although she was still crying, she obeyed the arrangements and followed the soldiers to transport Cai Ben's body to the Censorate.