Qi Rong fabricated a story out of thin air and played the victim to provoke Li Haichang into a fit of rage. Li Haichang knelt heavily on the ground, begging the emperor for justice.
The emperor, Qi Hong, couldn't tell the truth from falsehood for a moment. However, his face remained gloomy, and he didn't stop Qi Rong's actions as Li Haichang had requested.
A faint, imperceptible sneer flitted across Qi Rong's lips. He sauntered up to Li Haichang, showing no sign of toning down his overbearing aura. He continued to question Li Haichang, "If you, Lord Li, keep insisting on your innocence, how do you explain secretly sending people to Longchang to gather information? And even after learning that the crown prince was going to Longchang, you hired people to ambush him on the way?"
Gazing at Li Haichang's stunned face, Qi Rong let out a cold snort. Without waiting for the other to deny it flat - out, he drawled, "I wouldn't accuse you in front of His Majesty the emperor without solid evidence."
"If I'm not wrong, it was you, Lord Li, who reported to His Majesty the emperor that the prime minister was colluding with the enemy and betraying the country, right?"
Hearing this, the emperor frowned. The look in his eyes as he stared at Li Haichang was already tinged with suspicion.
Previously, after Crown Prince Qi Yu returned to the capital from Longchang, he had privately talked to the emperor about the assassination attempt and said that he suspected the Li family was behind it. At that time, the emperor didn't take the crown prince's words seriously because he subconsciously thought it was a struggle between the Li and Lin families, and the crown prince had been influenced. Maybe the queen and the Lin family wanted to frame the Li family to weaken their power and make the Lin family dominant.
As the emperor, if he wanted to secure his throne, the first thing he had to do was to know how to balance the various forces in the court and make them check and balance each other. Naturally, he wouldn't allow any one force to become too powerful and threaten the imperial power.
The Li family was his mother's family, and the Duke of Xun was his own uncle. He had made great contributions when the emperor ascended the throne and was regarded as the emperor's most powerful ally. So even though he had heard some bad rumors about the Li family, he didn't take them to heart and even allowed the Li family's power to be greater than that of the Lin family.
However, now he found that some of his power was gradually being eroded, and there were some things that made him have to be vigilant.
Sensing the emperor's suspicious gaze, Li Haichang was shocked both physically and mentally. He shouted out his innocence, "Your Majesty is wise and mighty. Don't be misled by the slander of villains!"
"Yun Sheng is suspected of colluding with the enemy and betraying the country because the prime minister's mansion was visited by the dead - men of the Li country several times, and the Metropolitan Prefecture has a record of it! And all the signs indicate that Yun Sheng did have contacts with the royal family of the Li country! I just heard about this and thought it was a matter of great importance, so I had to report it to Your Majesty. If Your Majesty has doubts, you can ask the Metropolitan Prefect Liang Sheng in person, and you'll know the truth."
At that time, Li Haichang learned the news that the dead - men of the Li country had broken into the prime minister's mansion at night from the Metropolitan Prefecture. Although this matter didn't go through Liang Sheng, after the emperor learned about it, he sent the imperial bodyguards to secretly investigate and collect evidence before convicting Yun Sheng.
Now, Qi Rong was using this matter to drive a wedge between him and the emperor. How could he bear this unjust blame in vain?
Li Haichang pulled out the Metropolitan Prefect Liang Sheng to testify, and the emperor also turned his gaze to Liang Sheng. "Liang Sheng, how do you explain this to Lord Li?"
Hearing the emperor's question, the Metropolitan Prefect Liang Sheng immediately stepped forward. After silently exchanging glances with Qi Rong, he bowed respectfully and said, "Your Majesty, several months ago, the Metropolitan Prefecture did capture a black - clothed man in the prime minister's mansion. This man held a scimitar, and there was a skull tattoo of a dead - man of the Li country on his arm. Judging from his build and clothing, he was indeed a dead - man of the Li country."
As soon as Liang Sheng said this, all the officials were in an uproar. Li Haichang showed a smug smile on his face, while the emperor's eyes became sharp and intimidating. "Since you've known for a long time that the dead - men of the Li country frequently broke into the prime minister's mansion at night and even captured one of them, why did you conceal this information?"
"Do you not put me in your eyes for such an important matter?!"
The emperor was furious. His brows were tightly knitted, and there was a fierce anger in his eyes.
When he first heard about this matter, he immediately sent the imperial bodyguards to investigate it and knew that what Li Haichang said was true. He also heard that the military tally that the late emperor had once controlled might be in Yun Sheng's hands, so when the Li country took an interest in it, he became even more anxious.
Everyone in the world knew that he didn't obtain the throne in a proper way. Therefore, the military tally that should have been passed down by the late emperor never fell into his hands. And with the passing of the late emperor, the whereabouts of the military tally was lost.
So, when he heard the clue about the military tally again, when the truth of the matter was still in a mess, he directly threw Yun Sheng into the imperial prison.
After silently exchanging glances with Qi Rong again, Liang Sheng said, "Your Majesty, I haven't finished yet."
"Fine, I'd like to hear what else you have to say!" The emperor sneered coldly, fidgeting with the jade thumb - ring on his left thumb. His head also began to throb.
Liang Sheng straightened his body, turned to look at Li Haichang, and said slowly, "Lord Li, I don't know from which official in the Metropolitan Prefecture you heard this news, but it was inappropriate for you to rush to report it to His Majesty without verifying it with me."
Hearing the reproach in Liang Sheng's words, Li Haichang's expression changed. He frowned and said, "What do you mean, Lord Liang? It's bad enough that you didn't report such a big thing to His Majesty in time. Do you still want me to keep silent like you?"
"Do you know that your dereliction of duty may bring great disasters to the Liu country?!"
Li Haichang was overbearing and instead blamed Liang Sheng.
Facing Li Haichang's overbearing momentum, Liang Sheng just shook his head gently, looking helpless. "Lord Li, you've misunderstood me."
"That night, the Metropolitan Prefecture did capture a man who seemed to be a dead - man of the Li country in the prime minister's mansion. But because his characteristics were too obvious, it made me suspicious. So, I ordered my men to investigate for more than a month and finally found out his identity information."
Then Liang Sheng turned to Emperor Qi Hong and explained, "This man, Li Hanguang, is not from the Li country at all. He's from Chongzhou and deliberately pretended to be a dead - man of the Li country to confuse people. But when the constables of the Metropolitan Prefecture captured him, he took poison and committed suicide, so we couldn't trace any more clues."
"If I had known that the prime minister was arrested and imprisoned because of this, I would never have suppressed this matter for fear of disturbing Your Majesty."
So, he didn't deliberately conceal the information. The fact was not like that, and he didn't want to make a mountain out of a molehill.
"This is impossible!" Li Haichang, who had thought he had found an ally and was so confident a moment ago, suddenly changed his color and questioned Liang Sheng's words. Because this was completely different from what he knew. And indeed, the Li country had sent dead - men to break into the prime minister's mansion at night. There was absolutely no mistake about this.
"This man was captured by the Metropolitan Prefecture, and the information was also found by the Metropolitan Prefecture after a month - long investigation. There are clear records! Does Lord Li know more about the affairs of the Metropolitan Prefecture than I do?"