Oriole Line

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Two nights ago, Wen Tao was resting in Sijian Pavilion with his eyes closed, and he hadn't appeared since that day when Qi Dai asked him to consider whether to take Jianzhen San.

It was late at night when Qi Dai came, although he was smiling, his nerves were tense.

"I'll take you to meet someone." It was rare for Qi Dai not to exchange pleasantries that night, and directly took Wen Tao to a closed cell.The person inside had his limbs bound and a black cloth bag was placed over his head.

When Wen Tao saw the man's figure, his heart tightened, Qi Dai pulled back the black cloth bag covering the man's head with a "huh", Wen Tao's heart sank, it really was Xiang Hu!At this moment, his eyes were closed tightly, and he seemed to be in a coma.

"Why is he here?" Wen Tao asked in shock, "You went to Pu's Mansion?"

Qi Dai shook his head: "I dare not arrest anyone in Da Sima's mansion. General Xiang was arrested by my hidden guards in Luoyang Palace."

"Luoyang Palace? Why is he in Luoyang Palace?"

Qi Dai patted Xiang Hu's face hard and said to Wen Tao, "Ask him yourself."

Xiang Hu woke up leisurely, saw Wen Tao at a glance, and exclaimed: "Master Wen!"

Wen Tao grabbed Xiang Hu's skirt: "Why did General Xiang go to Luoyang Palace?"

Xiang Hu gave Qi Dai a bitter look: "I have nothing to say, just kill or cut whatever you want!"

"To be killed or to be cut? General Xiang's words are so light. General Xiang committed the capital crime of assassinating His Majesty. The map of the secret road of Luoyang Palace that you handed over to His Majesty deliberately concealed one place. Secret Dao secretly sneaked into Luoyang Palace, intending to assassinate His Majesty, but was caught by my people on the spot. The evidence is solid, you are naturally bound to die, and according to the law, even the great Sima can't escape the responsibility!" Qi Dai said.

"The Patriarch knows nothing about this matter, it's all done by me alone!" Xiang Hu roared, "I do things by myself, and I have nothing to do with the Patriarch!"

Wen Tao suppressed his shock, met Qi Dai's gaze, why did Xiang Hu suddenly assassinate Zhou Yu, what happened?He stared at Xiang Hu and said, "What happened?"

Xiang Hu was filled with grief and indignation: "I am going to die here anyway, so let's just say it happily! Your Majesty is too deceitful. The Wuchang Army was withdrawn, and the Patriarch actually swallowed his anger! Now, even Master Wen has been arrested. Drive our Da Sima Mansion to a dead end! Our 15 Wuchang Army are all heroes who ascended the throne of His Majesty, so many brothers died to be today. Your Majesty can't tolerate heroes, why should I tolerate Your Majesty!"

"Shut up!" Qi Dai shouted, covering Xiang Hu's mouth with a ball of cloth to prevent him from uttering any more outrageous words.

Xiang Hu was babbling, not knowing what else he was talking about, Wen Tao took a deep look at Qi Dai, it seems that this matter was caused by the splitting of the Wuchang Army.Splitting the Wuchang Army, Pu Chen and Wen Tao mentioned it, Wen Tao thought it would be difficult, but he didn't expect Xiang Hu to cause such a big disaster, and wanted to use the secret way to assassinate Zhou Yu!Qi Dai winked at him, and led Wen Tao out of Xiang Hu's cell.

"How is Your Majesty doing?" Wen Tao asked bluntly as soon as he came out.

"Your Majesty is fine. Xiang Hu's secret road leads directly to the Mingzheng Palace. Fortunately, His Majesty was not in the palace at that time."

"Not in the palace?" Wen Tao frowned, "Could it be that His Majesty didn't know about this?"

Qi Dai smiled: "If His Majesty already knew about it and alarmed the Imperial Army, then Xiang Hu is not the only one imprisoned here at this moment, there should also be Da Sima."

"Why?" Wen Tao was shocked, "If I guessed correctly, the 15 Wuchang Army of Da Sima is a serious problem for His Majesty and your confidantes. Isn't Sima punishing him once and for all?"

Qi Dai looked at him: "I admit, what you said makes sense. But, I don't want His Majesty to know about this."

"Why?"

Qi Dai let out a sigh of relief: "First, what happened today was done by Xiang Hu alone, and has nothing to do with Da Sima, who didn't know about it."

"How can you be sure?" Wen Tao was puzzled.Today's incident really doesn't look like Puchen was involved. With his temperament, it is impossible to allow Xiang Hu to do such a risky and reckless move by himself.But Qi Dai was able to confirm that Pu Chen was not involved, which surprised Wen Tao.

"I let Xiang Hu drink the Jianzhen powder you don't want to drink." Qi Dai said, "I have tried everything that needs to be tried. If I didn't make sure that this matter really has nothing to do with Da Sima, do you think I would easily let him go? ?”

"So that's how it is." Wen Tao said, "Then why didn't you tell His Majesty, instead of telling me?"

"You've always been extremely smart, why don't you take a guess."

Wen Tao thought for a moment: "You specifically told me this matter. If I guessed correctly, it was to exchange something with me. Xiang Hu's matter is in your hands, and you can stab His Majesty or the imperial army at any time. At that time, Regardless of whether Da Sima really participated or not, the entire Da Sima Mansion is a place of death without a burial."

Qi Dai clapped his hands: "Sure enough, working with you saves effort."

Wen Tao sneered: "Then what chips do you want in my hand?"

Qi Dai looked at him and paused every word: "Testimony of imperial examination fraud."

"I said, this matter has nothing to do with me."

"I know, that's why I want you to give false testimony."

"perjury?"

"The list of fraudulent imperial examinations is well known to the entire Ministry of Criminal Affairs and even the imperial court. Even the people are discussing it. The delay in deciding the case is because you have not pleaded guilty. I know you are innocent, and Da Sima is also innocent. That kid Chen Mao You have already been recruited. Zheng Yong wrote your name on it before he died to make His Majesty be afraid to investigate this matter. However, if this matter is not investigated in detail and severely punished, His Majesty's imperial examination policy will be difficult to win. It's up to people."

"You can close the case earlier and make the findings known to the public. I am innocent, and the Da Sima Mansion is also innocent." Wen Tao said.

"Do you think I don't want to?" Qi Dai gave Wen Tao a meaningful look, "If the final result of this case is that all 25 people except you are determined to be fraudulent, and only Da Simafu is innocent, do you think others will What do you think, what will the officials think?"

Wen Tao's heart suddenly sank. The whole world knows the great Sima's efforts in Zhou Yu's ascension to the throne. He came from the Da Sima's mansion, won the first place in the imperial examination, and appeared on Zheng Yong's fraud list. Even if Zhou Yuhe Qi Dai claims that he is innocent, and the Da Sima Mansion is innocent, what will the world think?

Wen Tao said in a deep voice, "People in the world will think that Your Majesty bends the law for personal gain."

"That's right! Even if I have testimonies and even evidence to prove your innocence, the officials and the underprivileged children of the world will not believe it. They will only think that because His Majesty has a good personal relationship with Da Sima, they are doing favoritism."

"So I have to bear this injustice?"

"As I said, we are exchanging. If you are willing to cooperate and admit that you have participated in the fraudulent imperial examinations, then the 26 people on Zheng Yong's list can be wiped out in one go, and those aristocratic families will never have any luck. Those involved in crimes will be investigated equally! Only in this way, His Majesty's first imperial examination will not fail, and His Majesty will not lose the hearts of scholars in the world."

Wen Tao frowned: "If I admit to participating in the imperial examination fraud, I will definitely implicate Da Sima."

"Hmph, Da Sima will be implicated no matter what." Qi Dai said quietly, "Da Sima has made outstanding achievements. If he wants to split up the Wuchang Army, how can his people swallow this breath? How can the split be smooth sailing? Only Da Sima was killed. Only by convicting the Wuchang Army can the Wuchang Army go smoothly and be dismantled. Da Sima was either implicated by Xiang Hu or by you. Do you think he was implicated because of treason or because of imperial examination fraud? good?"

"You mean, if I make this exchange with you, admitting that the Grand Sima Mansion participated in the imperial examination fraud, you will let Xiang Hu assassinate His Majesty?"

"That's right." Qi Dai sternly said, "The matter of Xiang Hu can be exposed. From then on, God knows, you know and I know. Don't worry about the hidden guard in my hand."

Wen Tao thought about the matter from the beginning to the end, he bit his lip hard, and a little blood oozes out.When the Wuchang Army was split up, it was inevitable that the army would be indignant, but once the Wuchang Army changed, the whole scene would be in turmoil.And only if Pu Chen was convicted, and he was convicted because of himself, the people in the army would not mutiny and rebel.Wen Tao said in a deep voice: "I can make this exchange with you, and I can also admit that the Grand Sima Mansion participated in the imperial examination fraud. But Pu Chen won't believe it."

Qi Dai chuckled: "Then it depends on your skill. Whether he believes it or not depends on what you say. If you make him believe it or not, he will hate me and His Majesty from then on, and even rely on the Wuchang Army to do some things." What you and I don't want to see, then Da Sima will be convicted of treason, and then neither you nor Da Sima will escape death." Qi Dai looked at Wen Tao meaningfully, " However, if you convince him, he will only hate you from now on. He hates you for dragging the Da Sima Mansion, hating you for causing him to lose his reputation, and hating you for causing him to suffer injustice. At that time, if His Majesty is kind, Maybe he can keep his position as commander in Youzhou."

Wen Tao's teeth chattered: "He obviously didn't do anything, but you gave him two ways, one to kill him, the other to kill him."

Qi Dai turned around and sighed softly: "Wen Tao, believe it or not, this second road is already the best ending I can think of for Da Sima."

Wen Tao took a deep breath, but he didn't answer, he didn't want to think that Qi Dai might be right on this matter.If only Zhu Xin can exchange Pu Chen's life, then the only person in the world who can afford to be this executioner is himself.

Wen Tao slowly closed his eyes.

105, 105.

Wen Tao's thoughts returned to reality, and he said to Qi Dai: "Since that's the case, I have done everything you asked me to do.