The First National Preceptor of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 196

Xu Tian then appeared and walked to the woman's side, saying to her, "Didn't you need money to support your family? Why are you using it for a drinking game?"

"This..." The woman chuckled awkwardly, accepted the silver, and stopped playing the drinking game with the other party.

Seeing this, no one said much. Instead, while Xu Tian was in the fields, they found the person in charge of the post station and conducted another investigation.

They then investigated for more than three days in the early morning, but never heard of any news about Grand Tutor Xu forcibly abducting women.

Finally, they went to find Xu Tian and the woman to get to the bottom of things.

For some time now, we've been collecting evidence and looking for clues, but we couldn't find them at 1 p.m., so we simply skipped that step and went straight to interrogation, which was much less convenient.

Xu Tian was not surprised at all when he saw the people from the Dali Temple arrive. He knew that if Prime Minister Liu spread the news of this matter in Chang'an, Li Er would definitely send someone to investigate in order to salvage his reputation and ensure fairness.

"I know nothing about the abduction of women, and I don't even have many women around me. I rescued a woman a few days ago, and I'm afraid that some people might exaggerate the story and spread it around," Xu Tian told them.

The woman stated frankly, "Me and Grand Tutor Xu? He is my savior. I wanted to repay him with my body, but he refused, so I made a scene. I'm afraid this is why others misunderstood."

Upon hearing this, the investigators were at a loss for words.

Thus, three days later.

After receiving the investigation results from his subordinates, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review immediately reported them to Li Er.

Li Er took the letter, read it carefully, and his face turned as cold as ice.

"Someone, summon Prime Minister Liu," he said coldly.

Prime Minister Liu arrived at the palace quickly. As soon as he entered the imperial study, he saw Li Er's cold and indifferent expression.

His heart skipped a beat, a bad premonition creeping into his heart. "Your Majesty, I don't know..."

"What do you not know?" Li Er interrupted immediately, then looked at him coldly. "Prime Minister, I know you have always been dissatisfied with Grand Tutor Xu, but if you want to submit a memorial, bring some real information! Don't slander him!"

At this moment, Prime Minister Liu's heart was pounding like a drum. He was unsure whether his secret had been exposed or not. If it had been exposed, his position as prime minister might be in jeopardy.

"That woman was merely taken in by Grand Tutor Xu out of pity for her severe injuries. He brought her back to the post station. There was no abduction of a woman or beating of her. That's utter nonsense!" Li Er then asked coldly, "Prime Minister, where do you place the dignity of the court now?!"

Seeing that Emperor Li Er was truly enraged, Prime Minister Liu immediately kowtowed to the ground, repeatedly saying, "Your Majesty, I know I was wrong!"

"You admit your mistake?" Li Er sneered. "I've considered your past service, your status as a veteran official, and your many years of service to me, so I won't hold it against you! But these past few days, I've seen you become confused! Go back to your residence and reflect on your mistakes behind closed doors!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace!"

When a king is enraged, the consequences are truly unpredictable; life and death can be decided in an instant.

Therefore, Prime Minister Liu was even more afraid that Li Er would become even angrier, so he immediately shouted, "Thank you for your mercy, Your Majesty!"

"Let's go back," Li Er said, rubbing his temples.

Prime Minister Liu then left immediately.

He returned to his residence, his anger growing with each passing thought, yet he couldn't pinpoint what had gone wrong.

Did the person I bribed betray me?!

His eyes were bloodshot with anger, but he dared not continue to oppose Xu Tian.