"If we kill them, the Great Tang will fall into chaos, but if we don't kill them, the Great Tang will prosper!”
Du Ruhui's words silenced the entire hall.
The ministers who had been clamoring to kill Kong Yan all quieted down.
Du Ruhui's words carried too much weight. Du Ruhui himself was also very important in the Great Tang.
Before Li Shimin ascended to the throne, Du Ruhui was a middle-ranking officer in Prince Qin's residence and ranked first among the eighteen scholars.
After becoming Li Shi Min's advisor, he had been involved in every war that Li Shi Min fought.
During the incident at Xuanwu Gate, he had joined forces with Fang Xuanling to participate in the planning. He had also taken the lead and was granted the title of Prince's Left Concubine and Duke of Lai.
Now that he and Fang Xuanling were both Great Tang servants, they had the reputation of being able to plot against each other.
In the future, among the twenty-four meritorious officials of Lingyan Pavilion, Du Ruhui was ranked third because of his early death, ranking before Fang Xuanling.
His words held great weight in the Great Tang, and so did Li Shiming.
Li Shiming's face turned serious. He didn't expect Du Ruhui to think so highly of Kong Yan.
"If we kill them, the Great Tang will fall into chaos, but if we don't kill them, the Great Tang will prosper.”Li Shimin recited in a low voice. He vaguely understood the first half of the sentence. Kong Yan's men had caused a great disturbance in Chang 'an last night. If they really had the intention of rebelling, none of the civil and military officials in the court would be spared, even the Crown Prince.
If they really decided to kill Kong Yan, the Great Tang would be in chaos.
However, the second half of the sentence,'If we don't kill the Great Tang, we will prosper,' was a bit too exaggerated.
How could the rise and fall of a country depend on one person?
Even Li Shiming himself didn't dare to say that if the Great Tang flourished in the future, all of this power would belong to him!
"Minister Du, what do you mean?" Li Shimin asked.”
Du Ruhui said in a low voice,"He has a plan to make the people rich and strengthen the country."”
"Enrich the people and strengthen the country?" Li Shi Min understood.
"When His Majesty recruited him to Chang 'an, he probably had this intention.”Du Ruhui said,"The Great Tang needs talents like him.”
"But he burned down most of Chang 'an and beat up the Crown Prince..." a minister objected.
"Did anyone really get killed?" Du Ruhui asked lightly.”
"This…" The ministers fell silent.
The fire burned half of Chang 'an. Some people were injured, but no one died.
"You can punish him severely, but you can't kill him!" Du Ruhui returned to his position and stopped talking.
The final decision was in Li Shi Min's hands.
"..."
Li Shimin did not express his stance in the court meeting. He only asked the ministers to go back and calculate the losses of each family.
After the end of the court session, Li Shimin went to the Qing Ning Palace to chat with Empress Zhangsun and Princess Changle. He told them about what happened last night.
Princess Changle and Empress Zhangsun were both shocked.
"Is there such a powerful force behind that child?”Empress Zhangsun's pink lips were so shocked that she could not close them.
"Crown Prince and Green Sparrow were also beaten up?”Princess Chang Le revealed a curious expression.
Li Shiming snorted and cursed Kong Yan in front of the two of them. Then, he went to the small palace where he had stayed last night.
"I might have to part with you for a while.”Li Shi Min sighed.
"Because of the fire last night?" A cold voice came from the bedroom.
Li Shi Min said with a bitter expression,"I thought I wouldn't hear your voice again before sending you away.”
The sleeping hall was silent.
Li Shi Min laughed at himself and said,"You might not believe it, but the young man I told you about last night, his men burned down half of Chang 'an City in order to find him. Almost all the officials in the court were hung up and interrogated.”
"But even so, there are still important officials in the court who advised me not to kill him!”
Li Shimin didn't care about the lack of response and continued,""Zhen is hesitating whether to kill him or not.”
"In the future, he will definitely die in your hands.”An affirmative voice came from the bedroom.
"You're right. Even if I don't kill him this time, he will die in the future!" Li Shi Min laughed.”
"You're scared!" The cold voice seemed to be filled with sarcasm.
"The Great Tang's empire was conquered by this one on horseback. This one is not afraid of anyone!”Li Shiming calmly said,"We want to kill him not because we are afraid, but because his existence threatens the stability of the Great Tang!”
Li Shi Min waited for a moment, but no one responded. He chuckled and said,"I'm thinking that I might be able to get rid of him with Wanshun's help tonight!”
"If that's the case, his people will definitely vent all their anger on Wanshun.”
"You're still afraid." A faint voice came from the palace.
Li Shi Min sneered and asked,""What am I afraid of?"
There was no more sound from the bedroom.
Li Shi Min's face gradually turned cold. He glanced at the door of the bedroom, his expression uncertain. In the end, he didn't step in.
"There are no exceptions to what Zhen wants!”
After saying this, Li Shi Min walked out of the small palace and returned to Taiji Palace, waiting quietly.
Before three quarters of an hour, Li Junxian entered the hall and kowtowed.
"We found their traces at the bank of Weishui River.”Li Junxian got down on one knee.
Li Shi Min nodded and asked,"Do you have the confidence to save Li Jing?"
"The enemy is very alert and has set up a large tent." Li Junxian shook his head.”
"What about the secret passage of the Lotus Garden?"
"Duke Wu's mansion, which was once the Qi King's mansion, has an ancient well in the backyard. There is a secret passage hidden in the well that leads directly to the tributary of the Qu River in the Lotus Garden.”Li Junxian replied.
During the coup of the Black Tortoise Sect, King Qi Li Yuanji had died under Yuchi Jingde's arrow. After that, Li Shimin had given the mansion of King Qi to Yuchi Jingde, making it the mansion of the current Duke of Wu.
"Are you sure Wanshun has no connection with Kong Yan?”Li Shiming squinted his eyes and asked.
"This subject has not found any connection between them." Li Junxian lowered his brow.”
"We found another group of people in the western suburbs of Chang 'an," he said after a moment of hesitation."They should be Kong Yan."”
"Oh? It seemed that they had gained something from last night.”Li Shi Min's heart turned cold.
Li Junxian was speechless. When he returned home last night, he had also been drugged and hung.
"How long does it take to get from Taiji Palace to the temporary bridge at Wei River?”Li Shi Min asked.
Li Junxian made a mental estimate and said,"About an hour."
"An hour…"
Li Shiming closed his eyes and said nothing. His fingers tapped lightly on the armrest of the throne.
Li Junxian silently retreated to the side.
At the same time, Kong Yan and Li Jing were tied together. Their backs were against each other, and their limbs were trapped together.
"Brat, didn't you overreach yourself?”Li Jing couldn't help but sneer and said proudly,"His Majesty will definitely send people to save me, but you…hehe."”
Kong Yan secretly rolled his eyes and said helplessly,""General Li, why don't you think about it? If His Majesty really intends to break his promise, who will that lady kill first?”
Li
Jing's face twitched, and he suppressed his doubts about Li Shiming's character. He snorted and said,""If this old man dies, you definitely won't be able to live either.”
Kong Yan sighed and said faintly,""When a person is unlucky, they might even pee on themselves. Do you think I'm innocent? I peed by the river and all this happened!”
"Heh, you're innocent? Wouldn't this old man be even more wronged?" Li Jing's face was black as iron. He hated Kong Yan so much that he gritted his teeth. He was the one who had truly suffered an undeserved calamity.
Originally, this matter had nothing to do with him, but because of Kong Yan's suggestion, he had become a hostage!
Kong Yan sighed."We're both in dire straits. I just hope that Your Majesty can have some humanity. Please don't kill General Li for a sister-in-law."”
Li Jing's face darkened even more. He grunted,""If you dare to talk nonsense about His Majesty again, this old man will definitely report you when we return!”
"Who would believe that?" Kong Yan sneered, then narrowed his eyes and said,"Oh right, I heard that General Li was the one who asked me to donate five million taels of silver during the court meeting?”
"Cough cough ~" Li Jing's face turned red."Don't listen to people's nonsense. Some people even said that you want to be my son-in-law. Are you worthy?"
“……”
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