They all say I'm a tyrant

Chapter 39

The cold wind was biting, Gao Yong carefully put on a fur coat for Lin Ce, glanced at the open space not far away, and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, it's freezing outside here, you just need the wind chill, It’s fine to have a servant for such a trivial matter, why don’t you go back and warm yourself first.”

Lin Ce casually raised his hands and tightened his neckline, as if this would protect him from the cold wind, he tilted his head, and glanced at the pale-faced Empress Dowager Wu beside him: "The show hasn't started yet, I'm a son How can you leave the queen mother here alone?" After speaking, he waved his hand to signal Gao Yong, "Do it."

Gao Yong saluted Lin Ce first, then turned to Empress Dowager Wu, and then walked to the open space, and said expressionlessly: "These three people have colluded with treacherous ministers, deceived the Empress Dowager, offended the current Holy Majesty, and have wrong intentions. Kill, do it."

The next moment, wailing and begging for mercy resounded everywhere, disturbing the peace of Changle Palace completely. Lin Ce shrank his hands into his fur coat, but kept his eyes on Empress Dowager Wu's face, watching her face getting more and more ugly, The corner of the mouth couldn't help but raised: "After all, he is the queen mother's close servant, and I still feel a little bit unbearable to think about coming to the queen mother."

Empress Dowager Wu glanced at him, and when she was about to speak, she heard his voice change, and continued: "It's just my mother, you have stayed in this palace for decades, so you should understand that the worst thing you can do is to be in the emperor's house. It’s the benevolence of this woman, it’s not that I can’t save their lives, but if that’s the case, how can I deter the people in the harem, and how can I govern the world?”

Empress Dowager Wu frowned, and after a while she said in a low voice: "Is it the other people in the harem that you want to intimidate, or the Ai family?"

Lin Ce laughed: "If my mother thinks that way, there is nothing I can do. In fact, my mother should know that all along, what I want is very simple, the world is peaceful, and the harem is peaceful. To disturb this tranquility, I can only do it myself to clean up these dishes."

Empress Dowager Wu closed her eyes slightly, and said in a shy voice: "Believe it or not, everything the Ai family does is for your own good. The only son of the Ai family is you, and everything today is from you, Ai family I know in my heart, how could I unite with outsiders to harm you?"

"If that's the case, that would be the best." Lin Ce glanced at Gao Yong, and Gao Yong immediately ordered someone to gag the mouths of those people, covering up all the wailing sounds.Only then did Lin Ce continue to say to Empress Dowager Wu, "It's really cold today. Empress Mother is too old to catch the cold. I will order Gao Yong to send you back."

Gao Yong immediately responded: "Your maid obeys the order."

"Didn't someone donate a few Buddhist scriptures last time, saying they were orphans?" Lin Ce said, "Take them together and send them to Zhaoyang Hall. Winter is coming soon, and it's not suitable for the mother to go out. Why don't you go out in Zhaoyang?" How about reading Buddhist scriptures in the temple, burning incense, and worshiping the Buddha with all your heart?"

Empress Dowager Wu looked at Lin Ce for a while: "The Ai family is also tired, and the Ai family will not bother about the emperor's affairs in the future." She closed her eyes, "The Ai family has gone back."

"Mother, go slowly." Lin Ce leaned forward slightly, "After I have finished taking care of the trivial matters in the court, I will go to pay my respects to my mother."

Empress Dowager Wu waved her hand, and walked away slowly with the support of her servants.Lin Ce kept staring at her disappearing figure, and then let out a long sigh of relief, and his frown that had been wrinkled slowly eased away.

Gao Yong glanced at the open space where the execution was still going on, and said to Lin Ce: "Your Majesty, this servant reckons it will take a while here, and this servant is guarding here, why don't you go back to the hall first?"

"Show me, Dali Temple." Lin Ce said, "It's been so long since the incident happened, it's time for me to see Li Bu. He probably has a lot to say to me."

Gao Yong was stunned for a moment, and then responded: "Your servant, let people prepare the imperial chariot."

A place like Dali Temple will always give people a sense of oppression and dullness, especially when the king of a country appears here, this feeling will become more intense.

The Minister of Dali Temple has been busy with the Li Bu case for a while, and when he suddenly heard that Sheng Jia was coming, he panicked and went out to pick him up in a hurry, only to find that the Holy Majesty's trip was extremely low-key, except for his personal guards, he only brought one personal attendant with him , It's not like coming to inquire about the crime, so he breathed a sigh of relief, bowed his head and saluted: "My minister sees Your Majesty."

Lin Ce waved his hand: "I'm here today to meet Li Bu."

The Minister of Dali Temple never expected that in this weather, the current emperor ran to Dali Temple from the imperial city just to meet the criminal minister involved in a serious case, and he was taken aback before replying: "Li Bu is being held in the The dungeon, there... I still have someone bring him out."

"No problem." Lin Ce said, "I'll go to the dungeon."

"My minister complies with the decree." Dali Temple Minister did not dare to refute, and personally led the way, leading Lin Ce all the way to the dungeon.

No matter where the dungeon is, it is not a good place. It is dark, damp, and mixed with all kinds of smells that make people frown. It made the current emperor to come to such a place, and Dali Siqing was very disturbed.But Lin Ce didn't seem to notice it at all. Standing in front of Li Bu's cell door, he glanced inside by the dim light of the lantern in Gao Yong's hand, only to see a figure hiding in the darkness.

Lin Ce turned his head sideways: "You all go down, I want to have a chat with him alone." As he spoke, he took the lantern from Gao Yong.

There was a little hesitation on the faces of the crowd, but in the end it was Gao Yong who spoke first: "Your maid obeys the order." Then he led the crowd back.

Lin Ce slowly withdrew his gaze, looked at the figure again, and said coldly, "Li Qing, please stay safe."

There was a short silence to answer him, but Lin Ce was not in a hurry. He lowered his head and played with the lantern in his hand until he heard Li Bu's hoarse voice: "Your Majesty actually came to this kind of place to visit the old minister in person. I don't know if he is considered a veteran." an honor."

"Li Qing is worthy of being the elder of the three dynasties. Even in this kind of place, he can be so calm." Lin Ce chuckled, "Li Qing worked hard for me in the Southern Wei Dynasty. Although I ended up in such a fate, I should always come Look. According to Li Qing's means, there should be old acquaintances in places like Dali Temple, so there should be no need for me to ask the Secretary of Dali Temple to take special care of him."

"The old minister would like to thank His Majesty for his compassion." There was the sound of clothes being rubbed in the darkness, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps. Li Bu got up and walked to the prison door.The lantern in Lin Ce's hand illuminated his entire face, and he was in unprecedented embarrassment.

"Li Qing, when you were rampant in the court, did you ever think that you would end up like this today?" Lin Ce held the lantern in one hand and put the other behind his back, "As an old minister, as long as you If you stick to your duty, I will naturally keep you safe for the rest of your life, so why do you want to touch my bottom line?"

"Abiding by one's duty?" Li Bu let out a chuckle, "The old minister is dull, I don't know what His Majesty's words about keeping one's duty refer to? In the eyes of the old minister, everything I do is my duty as a minister. That’s all. It’s just that I collected some rewards from those people, but they are willing to give it.”

"The duty of being a minister?" Lin Ce nodded, without a sense of surprise on his face, "Li Qing is worthy of being a veteran minister who has gone through three dynasties. This confidence is indeed beyond the reach of others. However, have you exceeded It is my duty to have the trial by the third division, and I will not interfere. If I think about it, the third division will definitely give it to the world, and I will also give you Li Qing an explanation."

Li Bu stared at Lin Ce closely, and after a while, he suddenly laughed: "In the final analysis, I still underestimated the Holy Majesty. Back then, no matter whether it was the first prince or the sixth prince, or the other heirs of the first emperor, anyone was better than him." Your Majesty, you are more likely to get the throne, but you never thought that your name was written in the last emperor's edict, which really surprised the old minister and others. For many years, the old minister has been doubtful, the edict Was it really written by the first emperor, or did your Majesty adopt some unscrupulous means in order to obtain the throne?"

Lin Ce smiled lowly: "Li Qing not only underestimated me, but also underestimated the father. Although the father made a lot of mistakes in his life, and even allowed his own sons to seize the heir, causing a bloody storm in the court, in the end, he still Sober." Lin Ce raised his head and looked at Li Bu, "But this happened many years ago, and there is no need for me to explain my father's thoughts to Li Qing."

"That's right, regardless of whether the edict is true or not, you are the one who finally sat on the throne." Li Bu sighed for a long time. The country is safe and the people are safe, the world is peaceful, Your Majesty's throne is much more stable, and I can no longer tolerate old officials like the late emperor staying in the court, so the selection of concubines should be a trap set by the Holy Majesty from the very beginning."

"Li Qing's ability to bite back is not small," Lin Ce said, "Didn't it be that you took the initiative to choose a concubine for me, and even united with the Queen Mother and courtiers to put pressure on me? If I don't follow the trend, I will be disappointed. Li Qing, your kindness?"

Li Bu closed his eyes and smiled lightly: "Then speaking of it, the old man is too impatient." He raised his eyes slightly, "Although the old man hides some unworthy thoughts, the selection of concubines for the emperor is also for my Southern Wei Dynasty. Your Majesty, the emperor's family should be ruthless, not to mention, between two men. You put all your thoughts on the general, and because of this, you disregard the people of the country and the ancestors. You really think that the two of you Can it last long?"

Lin Ce's hand holding the lantern was slowly clenched, but the smile on his face remained undiminished: "Then don't bother Li Qing to worry about this kind of thing."

Li Bu shook his head lightly: "How could this old man worry about His Majesty when he ended up like this? But does His Majesty think that as long as I get rid of this old man and all the people who are related to this old man, that's a good thing." The court will be completely clean, and your throne will be able to sit securely?" He took a few steps forward, put his face on the prison door, and slowly raised his lips, "The old man is here I will watch Your Majesty, see how you took the blame for yourself, how you let the world of the Southern Wei Dynasty fall into your own hands."

After saying that, he slowly leaned over: "I hope Your Majesty will take good care of the dragon body, and the old minister will not send it away."

Contrary to Li Bu's expectations, Lin Ce was not furious because of his words, and even when Li Bu's words fell, the corners of his mouth rose a little: "Li Qing's words sound like a curse, but to me It's more like a reminder."

Lin Ce took a step forward and got a little closer to the prison door: "I have been looking through Li Qing's case files for a while, and it seems that everything has been settled and cannot be refuted, but it is also because of this , let me be a little more confused. You have been in the court for decades, although you are greedy, you are cautious in every way. There are a few things on the file that really don't look like your handwriting, but Li Qing recognizes it. Refreshing, so I made a special trip here today to see what you have to say to me."

"It seems that Li Qing won't say anything to me anymore, but the doubts in my heart have been resolved, and I don't need it anymore." Lin Ce raised his hand and brushed off the dust that didn't exist on his front, "Li Qing is so sure of my It will be their own fault, and I don’t know if I can get what I want.”

Speaking of this, Lin Ce put away the lantern in his hand, turned his back, and waved at Li Bu: "However, Li Qing did a lot of evil when he was alive. Bear the consequences, no matter what the outcome is, no matter what the state of the Southern Wei Dynasty is like, you probably won't have the chance to see it."