Records of the Cattle and Horses of Chang'an

Cui Bianxu lifted his robe and strode into the study. The study was large. To the left was a huge bookcase filled with scrolls of all kinds. To the right was a desk. Li Xinglian was sitting upright behind the desk. He didn't stand up when he saw them. "Master Cui, please sit down."

"Li Zuocheng, I hope you can forgive me for bothering you." Cui Bianxu bowed and sat down. In such occasions, Wang Leisheng also knew the importance of the matter. He bowed and sat down, lowering his head and saying nothing. He didn't know why Cui Bianxu wanted to follow him.

Li Xinglian only glanced at the official robe on his body, and then turned his attention back to Cui Bianxu. He had heard of the cases that this young man had handled before, and he knew what not to do.

A new emperor appoints new ministers. He is already old. Unless something unexpected happens, he will not live to see the new emperor ascend the throne. His three sons are not in important positions. As long as they live a stable life, there will always be opportunities in the future.

"I wonder if Shaoqing Cui is here for my brother's matter?" Li Xinglian asked directly. He and Cui Bianxu had no contact with each other. The only thing that could make the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple come to him was his family's troublesome matter.

If he had known that this matter would be delayed for so long, he would have regretted reporting it to the police and lost his family's face in vain.

"Yes, I went to Li Zhubu's house early this morning and re-interrogated Li's servants. There was something that surprised me. This matter is of great importance. After thinking about it, I decided to tell Li Zuocheng about it." Cui Bianxu has been very tense since he entered the door, and there is no extra expression on his face that Li Xinglian can guess.

But Li Xinglian is a veteran in officialdom. Only young people, for fear of revealing their true colors, would try their best not to have any unnecessary expressions. The veteran can control all kinds of expressions freely.

At this moment, he became slightly serious, which was very appropriate for the situation. "What's the matter, Mr. Cui, please speak frankly."

Cui Bianxu's eyes moved slightly. According to common sense, Li Xingquan should tell his brother about this matter as soon as possible. After all, in a family, the most capable person often has the greatest say, and the same is true for the Li family.

But Li Xingquan didn't send anyone to tell him? Did he really not tell him, or was Li Xinglian just playing dumb?

If Li Xinglian was pretending to be stupid, then Liu Dewei's plan of letting him take on the responsibility would probably be difficult to implement.

However, the spirit in the bones of the Chinese nation can be summed up in four words - since he is here and sitting here, he has to tell it no matter whether it is true or false. He will tell it and see how Li Xinglian reacts. This matter cannot bring disaster to the Dali Temple.

"Li Zuocheng, this is Wang Leisheng, the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple. He's been working with me to investigate the case of Li Zhubu's family."

Cui Bianxu first introduced Wang Leisheng, who quickly bowed again when he was called, somewhat confused. What was going on? His boss was coming to talk to Li Zuocheng about the Li family's scandalous cuckoldry, so why was he being called on?

He suddenly had a bad feeling. No way, Cui Shaoqing, why are you holding such a grudge?!

Of course, Li Xinglian could see that Wang Leisheng's official position was just a small Sizhi, so he didn't take it seriously. But now that Cui Bianxu had introduced him specifically, he looked at this small official again.

Well, he looks like a person with impetuous personality and not very smart.

It must be said that the old ones are the wisest, and Li Xinglian is quite good at judging people.

Nodding at Wang Leisheng, he turned his gaze back to Cui Bianxu: "Mr. Cui, just tell me what's going on." He didn't have time to play guessing games with them.

"It's not a big deal, actually. It's just that early this morning, the servant guarding the back door of the Li family suddenly changed his statement and said that on the night of July 13th, Zhao and her maid left through the back door with someone." Cui Bianxu smiled slightly, picked up the tea on the table and took a sip - it tasted bad.

Li Xinglian's face froze for a moment, but he quickly returned to normal. "Haha, Mr. Cui really loves to joke. Although my sister-in-law is from a commoner family, she is not ignorant of etiquette. The words of a servant should not be trusted. Mr. Cui, please be careful with your words when you are not sure whether they are true or not."

"What Li Zuocheng said is true." Cui Bianxu did not want to engage in meaningless verbal disputes with him. She was not his wife, nor was she his cuckold, and it was not the Cui family's reputation that was lost. Why should he be so anxious?

He raised his chin towards Wang Leisheng and said, "Wang Sizhi, tell Li Zuocheng everything that the servant said today. Don't leave anything out."

Oh my God!

Wang Leisheng felt like the sky was falling. Cui Bianxu was really too vindictive!

Knowing about it is one thing, following it is another, but who says it out loud is even more...

However, the official positions of these two people were higher than his own. Wang Leisheng couldn't escape and didn't dare to move. He could only keep comforting himself that tit for tat, the matter was over, and he and Cui Bianxu should be considered to have broken the ice.

Thinking this way, he told everyone what happened in the morning without missing a word, despite the huge pressure.

As Wang Leisheng told the story vividly, carefully and clearly, Li Xinglian's face became more and more gloomy. At this time, he already understood why Cui Bianxu came to him. It involved the private affairs of His Majesty and could not be dealt with casually.

The reason why he was upset was not because of anything else, but because his younger brother didn't even come to tell him about such a big thing. Even if he didn't come, what's wrong with letting his nephew come?

But with outsiders present, this wasn't the time to dwell on this. Li Xinglian's face, covered in wrinkles and age spots, was now solemn. He pondered calmly for a few breaths, then said solemnly, "This matter is of great importance. I hope that Mr. Cui will keep it to himself for now. I will submit a memorial immediately and have someone send it to Luoyang."

Even a new minister like Cui Bianxu would not believe that Li Shimin could do such a thing, let alone him?

"Master Cui, I have taken note of this matter and will report it to you later."

Li Xinglian's words were indeed sincere. It was absolutely impossible that His Majesty was responsible for Zhao's disappearance. If it was His Majesty's doing, the Li family should have given Zhao a grand funeral by now.

If it wasn't Your Majesty's doing, then who was so bold as to use the Li family to throw dirty water on Your Majesty?

He had countless guesses in his mind, but there was only one thing: Zhao was definitely not innocent.

A woman's husband is her husband's wife. Since Zhao had married into the Li family, no matter what she did, the Li family would be held responsible. If this matter were reported to the Dali Temple, the Li family would have no chance of recovery.

Cui Bianxu came today so that he could submit the memorial in person and let him do the matter. No matter what the final result is, at least he can get away with it.

Therefore, his gratitude to Cui Bianxu was sincere.